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yoongi sighed resting his head on the steering wheel of his car. he glanced at his phone a final time before he pocketed it, trying to conjure up some sort of strength to keep his irritation at bay.
kook
hyung, taehyung’s at the pastoral office again 3:25pm
kook
i’m not sure what he did this time. 3: 25pm
kook
i’m sorry i said i would keep an eye on him 3:26pm
kook
i’m really sorry hyung 3:30pm
yoongi didn’t blame jeongguk, of course he couldn’t blame jeongguk. what responsibility did the younger have over taehyung’s own stupid, thoughtless actions? it was bad enough he had taken it upon himself to shepard taehyung as if he was a stray little lamb. yoongi was glad taehyung had jeongguk.
with one last groan, yoongi unlocked the door to his car and stepped out onto the empty car park of his former high school. the sky was painted a dismal sad blue, looking as dull and grey as yoongi felt. he wrapped his scarf firmly around his lower face, and pulled the sleeves of his shirt down under his jacket, before he shut the door, and started his familiar amble to the entrance of the building he has seen way too much for a graduate of two years ago.
treading through the oh so familiar halls, he allowed his memory to lead him to the right floor, the right hall, the right door. knocking ruefully as a sharp voice called-
“come in.”
it’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, how yoongi was suddenly back to being the troublesome yet scared 18 year old that holds his past, almost fearing what was on the other side of the door.
“yoongi-ssi, you’ve become a frequent visitor of my office, heck i’m certain you’ve been here more times since you left my care.”
ah. mr choi. regretfully he still had the same sarcastic humour that taunted yoongi for the majority of his high school life. yoongi was really hoping that sometime between last week and now, he would have lost the act and realised how fucking annoying he actually was.
politely bowing to his old pastoral leader, yoongi’s eyes landed on the sole reason of his anger, annoyance, pity and turmoil.
kim taehyung was sat in a chair on a makeshift desk beside mr choi. his legs which were dressed in the most ghastly pair of ripped jeans, were thrown across the desk, crossed at the ankles. taehyung liked to push at boundaries, sporting a shirt with a v-line so low yoongi was surprised he didn’t get sent home as soon as he walked in. his hair was still the fiery shade of red yoongi had seen off last night, however there was a new addition to the art of kim taehyung.
right below his left eye, on the sharp of his cheekbone, lay an ugly bruise, sporting shades of purples and greens. taehyung wasn’t phased. his cheshire cat smile assured yoongi of such.
it seemed that taehyung was never phased.
it was as if taehyung never cared.
not anymore.
“mr choi, i’m sorry about this, i would love to tell you this won’t happen again- but it probably will.” yoongi said bluntly, and taehyung’s smile only grew wider at this.
mr choi nodded gravely, lecturing the pair of the code of conduct, even though yoongi was a graduate, no longer needing to slave by the rules.
when he finally let them go, yoongi led the way in silence. it wasn’t comfortable like their silences used to be, it wasn’t comforting and it wasn’t peaceful this silence carried tension in a bubble, it hauled unspoken anger.
it carried on to the car, until-
“you look very cute in that scarf hyung.” taehyung said with a smirk, his deep voice breaking the silence, breaking the bubble and yoongi’s patience along with it.
“what the fuck kim taehyung. what the actual fuck.”
“yes, that’s my name. and i only want to be fucking y-“
“don’t. taehyung im serious. again? what the fuck happened this time.”
taehyung shrugged as he kicked his feet on the dashboard, “i felt like it.”
yoongi’s vision was clouded with red. bright, scarlet red.
he slapped taehyung’s feet off the dashboard, ignoring the indignant cry of pain from the younger as he turned around in his seat, allowing taehyung to get the full blast of his glare.
“because you felt like it? because you fucking felt like it? god stop me now- are you an actual idiot taehyung?”
“come back to me with that question” he joked, still rubbing at his ankles.
“taehyung. i am not joking. i’m tired- i am sick, of this! what am i- your babysitter? i’m your fucking boyfriend. this isn’t only affecting you anymore, i can’t even work on my course because i’m called out every week- once a week if i’m fucking lucky- to be told to come and pick up my boyfriend from fucking school because he doesn’t understand that he can’t pick fights with people as if he’s still in fucking nursery.”
“taehyung you are fucking eighteen! you’re meant to graduate this year, but if you carry on this way i assure you that you won’t. what is wrong with you-“
“why the fuck are you allowed to lecture me. you weren’t any better when you were my age, i still remember walking the halls and hearing tales of what the oh so fucking great min yoongi had got up to now. causing a fight, breaking a window, keying the principles car- fuck hyung you weren’t any better than me- we’re the same!” taehyung all but spat.
“yeah and guess what? i finally took my head out of my fucking arse and changed. i was man enough to realise that i was heading down a path that i was going to regret. we are not the same taehyung. i didn’t allow myself to stay a coward. i changed.”
throughout this outburst, taehyung’s smirk had slowly slid off of his face, the air of arrogance thinning out to nothingness. the cracks in his act were widening. he stared right ahead, hands clenching and head down, like a little boy.
“so we’re going to play this game?” yoongi said when he was answered with silence.
he jabbed the key in the ignition hole and started the car, speeding out of the car park, and onto the journey leading to taehyung’s house.
yoongi was mad, he had all right to be mad.
yoongi remembers all the times he had acted up back in the day, how it was him sat in the pastoral office, being lectured day in and day out. he remembers seeing taehyung in the halls, the weird tall kid with the nice face and big ears. he remembers falling in love slowly with taehyung, remembers sharing their first kiss.
it was funnily enough during detention one day.
yoongi sauntered into the old classroom, hands in his pockets and smirk on his face. the room was empty safe for a boy with his head on the desk, face covered.
yoongi could point him out from anywhere.
it was kim taehyung.
yoongi had been having this sort of rivalry with the younger, a rivalry of who could woo the other the fastest, through the arts of pranks and fights.
the head of bright orange lifted itself off the desk, and a small smirk crept onto taehyung’s face as his half sleepy state recognised yoongi’s form.
“oh yoongi-ssi, i’m glad you were able to join me.” he let out cockily, stretching his long arms over his head. yoongi perched on the kids desk, crossing his legs as he shrugged,
“had nowhere better to be.” he simply stated.
that earned him a grin from taehyung. the two spent the hour teasing each other, it was clear no teacher was coming to supervise them, seeing as it was just the two boys, the teachers seemed to have not bothered.
the original hour turned into two, which slowly turned onto three. somehow the pair found themselves laughing too loudly and way too hard at a story yoongi told.
an odd look flickered on the younger’s face before he grabbed yoongi’s thighs, pulling him closer and looking up at the others confused face, as yoongi towered over him from his place on the desk.
“yoongi-ssi- yoongi please, can you please kiss me. i really want to- i don’t want to play this game anymore- kiss me hyung.” he whispered, eyes wide and shining.
the words and look seemed wrong coming from the mouth of kim taehyung, already notorious for his pranks and frequent punishment.
whether it was the term of familiarity, or yoongi’s overwhelming feelings he leaned down and pressed his lips against taehyung’s. the kiss was sweet but hungry, gentle yet longing.
it was all taehyung, and yoongi loved it.
the pair had grown as people since then, yoongi soon changed, channelling his energy into something productive, such as the basketball team, such as music production, such as his grades. taehyung had also grown, he was taller than yoongi by the summer of yoongi’s graduation year, he grew into his ears and dyed his hair lavender.
taehyung had also grown into the most troublesome kid at school, there wasn’t s day where he wasn’t caught causing trouble.
the pair had also grown as a couple, learning what annoyed the other and what made them blush, learning how to support one another, love one another.
like when: yoongi’s parents kicked him out temporarily for coming out. taehyung had his warmth and comfort ready and waiting for him.
like when: yoongi found himself falling, falling down the rabbit hole of his sadness, gloom, pain. the only person, the only thing on this earth that was able to pull yoongi out was the tempting existence of kim taehyung. his heart reading let me love you.
and also: when taehyung’s lost himself in his anger, drowning in the sea of resentment. he allowed yoongi be his buoy, his lifeboat.
and also: when taehyung lost his best friend, his other half to the hands of change. jimin hadn’t died, but he might as well had, taehyung cried for weeks over his best friend moving to the oceans away. it was then that yoongi realised how fragile taehyung actually was.
how he feared change.
taehyung was a good person, he was just a troubled one.
yoongi arrived at the front of taehyung’s parents house, luckily they both worked late and wouldn’t notice how late their son was returning. not that they wouldn’t notice the fact taehyung was home, he had been crashing at yoongi’s for the past few weeks.
it was clear to the both of them how angry yoongi was by bringing him here instead of his own apartment.
“go on then.” yoongi said after an uncomfortable silence, filled with taehyung fidgeting. the younger sighed as he collected his bag, hand on the door handle before he he stopped, frozen in his actions.
“he called me a boy toy.” his deep voice uttered, cutting through the thick silence.
yoongi’s eyes widened in shock by the sudden statement before his brows furrowed in confusion as he let it sink in, “who called you that taehyung?”
“jackson. the dick i beat up.” taehyung said through gritted teeth. “that wasn’t why i beat him up. i-i did it because he said that- said that you didn’t love me.”
”he said you were using me, that you couldn’t ever love a somebody like me who’s probably going to fail school and not get into college, he said i’m too young for you, too immature for you-“ taehyung was cut off by his own sharp breath, and yoongi knew he was trying to fight back tears.
yoongi’s anger and annoyance was replaced with guilt. taehyung had beat up a kid for saying the things yoongi just spat in his face.
“taehyung-“ he started, grabbing the others shaking hand.
“ hyung- hyung i like you so much. hyung i want to change- i will change. please don’t leave me, you let me breathe.” the younger pleaded, tears brimming his wide eyes as he stared at yoongi. and suddenly yoongi was eighteen again, he was in the stuffy old classroom, perched on a defaced desk, a young kim taehyung asking, pleading, to kiss him.
yoongi pulled on his hand, pulling the younger towards him as he threw his arms around him, dragging him as close as the seats of the car would let him. it was awkward and the gear shift was digging uncomfortably into his waist.
“taehyung i could never leave you, you call and i come, that’s how it’s been, that’s how it’s going to be. for as long as time allows it.” he whispered into the younger’s hair, knowing from the shaking of taehyung’s shoulders that he was crying.
“taehyung you have time, and as long as you have a dream you don’t need to worry. you have me, you’ll always have me. if i could change- so can you. we have all the time in the world.”
this stayed in the air for a while, minutes or hours yoongi was not sure, but eventually taehyung lifted his head. his tears had stop falling but his eyes were still dewey, his nose was still red, his voice was still shaky.
“i’ll keep wishing on a star then hyung,” he whispered in a cracked voice. “- for us.”
yoongi couldn’t help the pained smile he gave taehyung, the boy was strong, stronger than he gave himself credit for.
“take me home hyung- take us home. please.”
and home they went, because despite the differences and despite the fights, taehyung and yoongi would forever have two things in common.
their love for each other, and their wishes on the fallen star.