***

"So are you guys going home for christmas?", Taehyung asked their group of friends this evening, they all sat in Taehyung and Jungkook's room, had some beer and snacks and just enjoyed some of their last evenings before christmas break would start and all of them would go back home for the next three weeks.
It wasn't a goodbye for most of them since they were all going to the same town-, except for Jess who came from further away.
Jungkook's face left every expression, "Fuck I have no gift for you yet", he panicked, staring at Taehyung in pure fear.

"It's more than a week until christmas, baby", Taehyung hummed while Jungkook already had pulled his phone out to search for gift ideas for boyfriends on pinterest.
Winter came pretty quick this year, midterm season went over and there it already was; right in front of them - christmas.

For most people christmas time was the happiest time of the year, not so much for these kids though. Not even Jungkook who used to love his parents so dearly, was in the mood to go back home and spend the holidays in that house.
Christmas was nothing but a fake show of a non-existent family for most of them. Days where you put on a fluffy sweater, play happy christmas songs, eat a huge dinner and pretend for a while that everything was just fine. That there were no tears being shed on a daily basis, no cheating or money issues. No harm in raising children, all of these things were ignored for those special days of the year.

And those teenagers were more than just sick of it.

"Yeah, can't wait to get send to bed at 8pm so my stepmother can have my Dad to herself", Lia grumbled, not amused by the memory of her past few christmas eves. Since this woman was in their house, it was all different. Lia and her father used to bake cookies together on christmas mornings, go ice skating in the afternoon and head to church by the evening- they did this for years after her mother passed away. But ever since that young woman got into their lives, Lia had not only lost her father but also the place she called home.
"Can we all agree that Christmas sucks?", Jimin laughed out and the others nodded, drinking a toast on that.

"Why don't we just all not go and celebrate christmas on our own?", Lyza chuckled and everyone, except for Jungkook, was hyped by that idea.
"No, there's stuff I need to take care of at home", he said, biting his lips as he kept scrolling through his phone madly. God, why was it so hard to find proper gift ideas?
Maybe he should just put on a christmas dress and surprise Taehyung with that-

Taehyung glanced at him as if he could read his thoughts, smirking a little. He knew his boyfriend too well.

"So, when are you guys leaving?", Jess asked curiously.
"Tomorrow morning", Taehyung shrugged, "Gosh, it will be so weird to be back in town-"

"True", Lyza said, "Last time we've been there we were all so young and dumb-"

"Lyz that was like four months ago", Jimin giggled but the girl silenced him with a look, "Still! College is changing all of us. Look at Taehyung and Jungkook, all grown up and mature~"

"Last night they thought they were someone else and then got upset over it when they tried to hook up", Jess reminded Lyza of the boys recent fail. "Oh, right-, scratch that", she laughed.

"I'm excited to see the others again", Taehyung said, "Aylie, Hoseok and Yoongi. I wanna know how things went for them", he shrugged.
"Aren't you talking to them anymore?", Lia asked surprised, "They used to be your best friends-"

"No I'm not talking to anyone a lot", Taehyung looked down a little awkwardly, "I feel like they're better off without me. Since I'm gone they're probably safe from drama."
"Oh come on", Lia said, "Don't think like that. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you."

"Nah, it's fine, I'm good", Taehyung smiled. He didn't like the feeling of being a burden to anyone, and especially Aylie, Hoseok and Yoongi had done a lot for him during his worst times. Even though, at certain moments, he doubted their intentions, in the end they always wanted the best for him.
For now he tried not to bother them. And it seemed to work out right, especially because none of them was ever calling him too.

Lia let out a sigh but didn't say anything further.
Taehyung would always feel like this, all thanks to his parents who basically raised him thinking he was a burden to anyone.

*

"That's weird", Taehyung hummed and pulled out his credit card from the check-out counter. They were in a small shop at the train station to get food for their long train ride home today. But when Taehyung tried to pay for their food the card got declined and the lady at the counter told him that his bank account wasn't charged.
"I have at least 100k on my bank account", he hummed, confused. "It's fine I'll pay", Jungkook quickly interferred, a bit embarrassed by the situation so he quickly paid for the stuff and then turned back around to Taehyung who still seemed utterly irritated by what just happened.

"Where's Jimin?", Jungkook asked, looking around because the boy somehow dipped and said he was going to buy some magazines for the drive.
Before they could further question where he went, the boy came running around the corner and stopped next to them-, breathlessly.

"Dude?", Taehyung asked confused, "This isn't a marathon, no need to run like an idiot."

"I just shoplifted", Jimin giggled, showing the magazines he had hidden under his jacket.

"You did WHAT", Jungkook blurted out but Jimin was way too proud of himself and the fact he didn't get caught.
"Ya my card wasn't working so I went to another shop and just grabbed stuff and walked away, worked fine", Jimin shrugged, grinning at the boys through his sunglasses.

"No idea how you can be my brother", Taehyung sighed, "I'd never do anything illegal."

"Yeah like doing me before I turned 18", Jungkook rolled his eyes but Taehyung only looked at him all serious, "Sorry that I care about rules. Why don't you go back to your gangster boyfriend right here then?", he teased, pointing on Jimin who looked like he had no care for the world left.

"No thank you, I like good boys", Jungkook said with a innocent smile, "Especially the ones who look good but turn into a bad boy in bed."

"No details, thank you", Jimin scrunched his nose in disgust, not wanting to imagine Jungkook and Taehyung together.

The boys kept joking around a little more, forgetting about the declined credit cards and for the first time in so long things seemed to be finally getting better between them. No jealousy or hatred in between them for now, Jimin seemed to officially found closure in his crush on Jungkook while Taehyung and Jungkook found peace within their relationship and felt no need to further provoke the other.
With a lot less tension than the past year, the three boys got into the train and took their seats.
"You know what?", Taehyung asked the boys with a big smile on his lips, "I think 2021 will be so much better", he winked and leaned back in his seat, "I have a good feeling about it."

Jimin chuckled weakly, "Oh Tae", he said amused but didn't say anything further.

Jungkook took the older's hand and squeezed it lovingly, "Maybe you're right, we deserve it."

And when Taehyung turned his head to the window and started to look outside, he could see the first snowflakes falling this year. Huge, fluffy flakes that fell of the thick, gray sky and painted the country beautifully white. As if it was covered in cotton candy.
During their three hour train ride, the landscape turned fully white and the boys snuggled up more and more together, Jungkook and Taehyung shared one pair of headphones and listened to music together while Jimin went on a phone call with god knows who-, he had earphones in so the others couldn't make out who was on the other end of the call.

*

"Oh dear", Mrs Jeon said happily as she finally got to see the three boys again. They met at the entrance of the train station at their hometown, exchanged hugs and then headed to the car. While Jimin was still being lovely and wholehearted with the parents, Taehyung and Jungkook both kept their distance from them and only gave them polite answers, not really knowing how to interact with them after their issues almost ended their relationship.
"I'm sure you've grown even taller Taehyung", she said with a big smile on her face. "Well, maybe", he smiled awkwardly.

Mr Jeon was oddly quiet today, a worried look on his face as he watched the boys getting into the car and talking freely with each other. He didn't say much, he just drove them home with a expressionsless face on.

Of course Jungkook noticed that, so he blurted out, "You alright, Dad?", he asked sharply, "Or did you get too many late night work hours in your office lately?"

His father knew exactly what he meant, his wife inhaling deeply. But he only smiled bitterly to himself and shook his head, "I haven't been working a lot ever since last year", he answered shortly and Jungkook felt the anger in his father's words for bringing it up again-, especially in front of the other two boys.

"That's great, that means more time for you and Mom, right?", he snapped and his father nodded, looking exhausted. "Yeah, it's been amazing, son."

"Good."
Jungkook went silent again, leaning his head on Taehyung's shoulder as they drove home. Mr Jeon turned the radio on, listening to the news while the conversation in that car had died down and no one was talking anymore.

Once they arrived, Jungkook and Taehyung headed to their room real quick to avoid anything that had to do with Jungkook's parents.
"We're invited to an event later", Mrs Jeon yelled after them, "I'll leave money on the table for you to order food, alright?"

"What event?", Jimin asked curiously.

Mr Jeon gulped and let his wife have the word, turning around to walk off and put his suit on.
"Oh, it's nothing Sweetie", the woman said carefully, "It's just a welcoming event for business partners we used to have who just got back in business."

"Oh, that's great", Jimin said, "What a good thing to celebrate! Have fun."

"Thank you", the woman looked down, she seemed so small when she stood there like this in her huge coat and with an upset look all over her face.
"Or isn't it great?", Jimin asked a little worried when he saw her reaction.

"No, no it's-, you know what? Nevermind. Go and enjoy the night, maybe invite some friends over or something."
With that she walked off and headed out of the door, companied by her husband who was on the phone and kept arguing with someone.

Jimin stood there a little helplessly, not knowing what to do with himself. Jungkook and Taehyung had left him standing when they headed off to their room and probably wanted to have some alone time.
The boy headed to the sofa, laid down and pulled his phone out. He texted Hoseok to see if he was in town but he only got a short "yep" as a reply that felt so impersonal that Jimin didn't even feel the need to text back.
So he went to watch Netflix, ordered a huge pizza for himself and had a good time on his own while he tried to ignore the moans that came from upstairs.

*

"So, where are they?!", a harsh voice ripped Mr Jeon out of his thoughts. He sat at his table and sipped on his beer when a man grabbed him by his shoulders to pull him around.
God, the way he hated this creature.
"At home", Mr Jeon replied calmly, "Where they should be."

"This is their home", the man replied. "And I'll make sure to get them back."

***

🥰 if u thought we were done with angst, well we're not ✨