loser. ✓

TWENTY NINEㅡSTIGMA

jeongguk and taehyung both felt their hearts swell as they watched their friends graduate the next day, both males holding hands as they watched hoseok walk across the stage, then namjoon (who taehyung had mixed feelings for, now), and finally, seokjin.

taehyung was doing surprisingly well at holding back his tears, only getting a bit choked up when hoseok's name was called.

oh, but when seokjin's name was called, the dam had not only burst but it had also been completely forgotten.

who wouldn't cry when one of their childhood best friends was one step closer to fulfilling their dreams and becoming happy?

and though seokjin and namjoon both went through a lot the night before, both males' tired, red-rimmed eyes brightened the second they walked across the stage. taehyung clung tightly to jeongguk shortly after he made eye contact with a teary-eyed and smiling seokjin, and his boyfriend just laughed before continuing to shout 'go seokjin-hyung!' at the top of his lungs.

taehyung was so happy in that moment that he didn't care about the world around them being a shitty place. he had seokjin. he had yoongi he had jimin. he had hoseok. he had namjoon (sort of). and, most importantly, he had jeongguk.

most stories would end thereㅡhappy.

but don't forget:

this is only the beginning.

×

taehyung held a single, slightly damp cardboard box against his chest, waiting for seokjin to finish his struggle with opening the trunk of his car in the pouring rain. the older dropped his keys a second time, and he cursed as he set down a cardboard box of his own to pick up the keys.

"i can't do shit," seokjin exclaimed, as he finally got the trunk unlocked, and taehyung giggled at his friend. "i can barely even hear myself over this mess."

the brunette was eventually able to shove both boxes into the trunk, heaving as he attempted to fit them in the little space that was left. the last few boxes would have to be placed haphazardly in the backseat; jeongguk was inside of the house now, taping up the boxes and labeling them (sorta) neatly, since he had offered to do that. he was "too lazy" to carry boxes out to the car right now.

"is everything done in here, gukkie?" taehyung asked, trying not to laugh as he realized his drenched hair was sticking to his forehead from being out in the rain for too long. seokjin was downstairs, gathering a few snacks for his trip to the university.

"yesh," the male replied, a piece of tape caught between his teeth. he quickly took the small bit of tape from his mouth and placed it in a random place on one of the boxes. "i've just gotta shove the rest of these things into this last box and i'll be done. can you and seokjin carry these other two while i finish this one? it'll take a few minutes but i've got it handled."

taehyung nodded, pecking jeongguk's noseㅡwho wrinkled it and made some sort of exaggerated strangled noise in reply, and called for seokjin as he stepped forward and picked up one of the boxes. he took one glance around the nearly empty room that he practically grew up in, his second home, and he felt something in his heart shatter. this hurt in the happiest way imaginable, and taehyung knew he might never experience something like this for another few years.

soon enough, seokjin's loud and fast-approaching footsteps pounding up the stairs and into the bedroom broke him out of his slight mourning as his brunette friend lifted the other box off of the floor. "come on, taehyung, i don't wanna spend too much time in the rain!"

he chuckled, clumsily running behind seokjin down the stairs and to the car, but he froze as soon as the gears in his mind starting turning.

seokjin was leaving today. after they pack up his car.

what if this is the last time you see seokjin?

"taehyung?" seokjin asked, and the blonde looked up at the other male, his eyes locking with dark brown eyes of his best friend.

best friend.

so, why? if seokjin was his best friend, what was making taehyung suddenly feel like this? why did seokjin's eyes suddenly look so much more deep and interesting, like he didn't want to look at anything else? why was seokjin's slightly see-through white shirt, thanks to excessive amount of rain suddenly so noticeable? why was seokjin's wet hair dripping onto his face and down to his lips making taehyug feel things he shouldn't feel for his best friend?

why was seokjin suddenly so beautiful?

why did seokjin's lips suddenly look so plump and kissable?

"-yung? hello, is anyone there?" the older was staring at taehyung with furrowed eyebrows. "why did you freeze up all of a sudden? we're gonna get sick if you keep us standing out for here for much longer, taehyung, and i'm going to be very-"

"kiss me."

seokjin looked taken aback by the younger's words, and taehyung shakily set the box he was holding on the top of the car before hooking his fingers around seokjin's neck, the ends of seokjin's now dark brown hair curling around his fingertip as he pulled the other male's face towards his, and it wasn't long before their lips collided.

seokjin struggled to pull away from taehyung's grasp, and when he finally did, the younger was staring in shock at his hands.

"i-i don't know why i did that. seokjin, you can't tell jeongguk about th-that, please," taehyung pleaded. "i-"

thump.

taehyung whipped his head around, and jeongguk was standing on the front doorstep, a mostly-ruined cardboard box resting against his shoes. "hide what from me, kim taehyung? i wonder what you could possibly try to hide. i mean, it's not like you just kissed your best friend."

"jeongguk, he just got-"

seokjin was cut off by jeongguk slamming him against the car, the box he was holding falling to the ground, something glass shattering inside of it. the younger turned back to taehyung.

"maybe we were wrong to try to fix things between us too early, because we really fucked things up now, haven't we?" jeongguk spat, letting go of seokjin, who just stared in shock at something in front of him. "i may have had sex with hoseok, but really? we weren't even technically together then, taehyung."

taehyung grabs onto his head, tugging on his hair gently as his body shakes gently. his vision blurs through the tears, and the only things that process through his mind in the next few seconds are touch, and sound.

jeongguk is desperately holding onto this wrist, his body wracking with sobs as he yells. "why did you do it? why the hell did you do it?"

and somethingㅡno, someoneㅡis pulling jeongguk away from taehyung, screaming at the aforementioned through tears of their. "stop! please, jeongguk, let him go!"

he can't see, but he's pretty sure it's seokjin.

jeongguk finally gives in to seokjin, pulling away from taehyung as all three males catch their breaths. it's stopped raining, taehyung thought. maybe, since the sun is out, things will be happy again now.

but the raven-haired male wipes his eyes and stands up straight. "we have to break up, taehyung, and for good this time. i don't know if i'm sorry or not, but it's over. what started out so innocent is starting to become toxic, and i don't want things getting worse. taehyung,

i never want to see you again."

jeongguk moved to the united kingdom over the summer, and he apparently received his wish. jeongguk didn't, and probably never will, see the blonde again.

but taehyung didn't have it in him to be surprised. after all,

humans don't get along, it's as simple as that.

END OF PUERITIA.