SPACE ;; TAEGGUK

;;;

"gguk, you will
not believe this,"
jimin, chubby in all his glory,

 turned around
in his seat to
face the small boy,
excitement and
mischief painted
across his pretty features.

but do not be mistaken

park jimin was

not jeongguk's friend,
you'd think being
the only other
korean kid in his
year, he'd be
the least bit civil
with him.

but he wasn't.
because park
jimin's radiant,
blinding smile,
aphrodisiac
aura and the
happiness
that spilled from
him
like milk
and honey...
was too much for
jeongguk to take
in on a gloomy
thursday
morning.

but he guessed he had to
bare it.
because park jimin
followed him everywhere.

they were currently sat
in the second half of
his art class, cheeks
still flushed from his
not-so-short
trip to the
bathroom.

he hadn't looked
mr kim in the eye,
he'd simply
scuttled to the
back of the room
once more,
head dipped down
so low, and
cheeks burning
so hot that he
may as well
have been an ostrich.

jeongguk huffed a
sigh, and continued
with his art work,
not really
paying heed to
the irrelevant
words that were
coming
from jimin's plump lips.

taehyung had told the
class that for the rest of
the lesson,
they could work on their
portfolios, apparently
they'd get the opportunity
to go back and
finish then once
they had completed
the new topic.

he told them to
think of an idea
for next lesson
and a style
they wished
to illustrate
their work in.

oh, jeongguk had
an idea, alright.

so he
ignored park jimin,
or
at least, he tried to.

until jimin slammed
his tiny fucking
baby hands down
on jeongguk's table,
his water ricocheting
dangerously
in the thin glass cup,
threatening to tip
over the edges like
jeongguk's growing
temper.

jeongguk glared at him,
clenching his jaw in
annoyance.

"what?" he spat;
jeongguk wasn't
aggressive,
but jimin pissed him
off so much that he
felt that there was
simply no other
option.

jimin grinned,
finally having
the boy's
full attention.

"i heard someone
wanking in the
freaking
toilets!" jimin squealed,
excitedly. he sounded
like a six year old boy that
had just discovered another
swearword.

jeongguk choked.

"y-you wh-wha-"

"you know, durin'
our toilet break?
yeah, so basically,
i went into the
toilet and i heard some
weird noises and oh my god,
i washed my hands and
stuff and then i was
about to leave when i heard
someone moaning?
like actually moaning!
i was so confused and
then i listened again
because i thought it was a
girl at first, oh gguk, he
sounded so feminine! and then
i opened the door and
pretended to leave
and then i
closed it and then
i could have sworn
he said 'taehyu-'"

"okay! jimin,i get the
picture, ugh, could
you just turn
around?!" jeongguk
practically screamed at him.

at least it
was someone
as dumb as park
jimin; if it had been
anyone else, jeongguk
would already have digged
his grave.

"but that's not the point,
gguk, it has to be a guy
from our class! we're the
only class that has taehyung-
unless he-"

maybe jimin
wasn't so dumb
afterall.

"shut up,
jimin, you're
probably just hearing
things again!"
the small boy
answered back,
trying to stop
his voice from
quivering in
his throat.

he put his hands over
his ears to signal
to jimin that he was
not listening and ducked
his head to show he was
annoyed (when in reality,
it was to hide his burning
cheeks.)

apparently,
jimin wasn't having
it.

"no, gguk, you
don't understand!
i know what i heard
okay?! and what i
heard, was a guy
wankin' in the toilets
i'm tellin' y-"

jimin slammed his
fists down on the
table so hard,
that jeongguk's
water fell over.

or at least, it
was about to.

but a familiar
large, tanned hand
caught it in time,
a millisecond before
it spilt its contents.

jeongguk's breath hitched
in his throat,
once more.

taehyung picked
the glass up gently
and placed it
back in its
rightful position,
next to
jeongguk's painting.

"is everything okay
boys?"
the man's voice
resonated around the
room, a dull rumble in
jeongguk's mind, despite his
covered ears.

great. taehyung
had probably
heard the majority
of their
conversation.

in another lifetime,
he would have thanked
jimin for reacting
quickly to defend
them, conjuring up
some lame
excuse about arguing
over a video game- the
chubby boy swiveled
around in his chair
again, in response to taehyung's

"turn around, jimin."

well, that put jeongguk at ease.

at least it wasn't just his name that he 

now knew.

he was glad that jimin

had turned around 

now, though. leaving jeongguk 

in peace.

except, he wasn't
in peace.
he could feel
taehyung's stare,
piercing through his
skull.

did he look
at other students
the same way?

jeongguk can't remember.

he refused to
lift his head,
squeezing his hands
over his ears even tighter
than before.

but it did
nothing to
muffle taehyung's
husky, deep voice.

"jeongguk... look
at me."

and jeongguk does.