VMIN / THE GUTTER

7

tw bullying, violence

"You ran away on Thursday." Taehyung accuses, when he returns to school on Monday morning, and immediately goes to find Jungkook, who's, once again, lurking around the travel section of the library. There's something a tad violet about him, like a soft hue of mulberry wine across his neck, bleeding upward to his face. He looks sick, and he hunches over the shelf, not glancing at Taehyung's face. Dark curls spoil and toil, twisting into his eyes, obscuring the view of his pale features. Taehyung watches the black fingerless glove he always wears, as he runs a hand down the shelf, and the gangrene singe of his mud-encrusted nails makes Taehyung unintentionally grimace. "Hey." He says again, trying to grasp at his attentions. "Anyone there?" He waves his own hand out before the younger's face.

Jungkook's eyes flicker to him, but he remains in the same position, and, with a guilty kind of sigh, he says, "you had another guest."

And Taehyung sighs to himself, realising his suspicions had been correct — Jungkook left because of Jimin. "He was just dropping off some work."

The younger shakes his head and stares at the shelf ahead of him. "He's so mean to you." He says, and he whispers it out, and it trembles in the air, like a horrific gas leak, full of something insanely deadly.

Taehyung sighs again, this time a bit louder, and leans his shoulder against the shelf, right in front of the younger, so he can feel him breathe down his neck. "What? You're scared of him now?" He inquires, one brow raised, like he's unimpressed. "I thought you said there was nothing to be scared of with him."

Jungkook gives a soft little shrug.

Taehyung watches him, watches how dreary he looks, as all the colours of expiry wash out his previously sanguine aptitude for life. Colour coded in grey, green and black, he practically melts against the shelf, and Taehyung bites his lip, momentarily glancing around the room. He almost chokes when, as soon as he peers up, a pair of eyes latch onto his, constant and red as a poppy.

They're wide and bulging and Taehyung gasps, jumps back. Jungkook glances at him with worry, but then the figure is gone, and, Taehyung sees behind what it was covering. The figure was stood just in front of Kim Seokjin, who, too, is staring curiously at him.

Kim Seokjin is sat in the adjacent corner, a book out in front of him, but his eyes are set clearly upon Taehyung, looking as if he wants to pounce on him and bite open his skull, gorge on every postulation that lives in his brain. Kim Seokjin was currently repeating his final year — due to unfortunate personal circumstances, he was absent for a majority of his own final year, so, he willingly decided to wait another to graduate, so as to ensure he achieves the best grades possible to get the hell out of this town.

He tends to keep to himself, and no one really bothers him, let's him sit in the corners of classrooms and the shadows of the library. He makes it easy for people to forget about his existence. Alas, right now, his stare is sweltering, and makes Taehyung feel slightly ill.

"Uh." He murmurs, and Jungkook glances at him, then over to where Seokjin is sat, and immediately crumples to the ground, folding himself into a ball. Taehyung pats his hair and whispers, "I'll be right back."

Jungkook groans, like he's embarrassed, as if he was the one being stared at, and just cocoons himself deep inside his own skin. Taking that as permission to go, the blue-haired boy walks slowly through the library, eyes forever locked on Seokjin's, even as he reaches his table and stands over him.

"Long time no see." He says to him, softly, and Seokjin squints his eyes at him, a faint twinkle of amusement living there, dormant, but nonetheless omnipresent. "Uh," Upon receiving no response, he lets out a soft chuckle, heinous in how awkward it is. "You're staring at me pretty hard." He tells him, and one of Seokjin's brows raise. "Just wanted to see if you're okay? I haven't really... you know, we haven't spoken much since, uh, you know."