The sound of the bell ringing was music to everyone's ears as they abruptly stood and prepared to go home.

Taehyung, who was busy looking by the window, didn't hear the sound at all nor notice his surroundings.

He was clearly spacing out like how he had been for the whole day even during discussions.

"Hey."

The loud kick on his chair almost turned him over if not for his quick reflex.

Taehyung glared at the culprit and saw Yoongi and his usual bored face.

"Not planning to go?" Yoongi asked, not really waiting for a reply as he went ahead even before Taehyung could answer.

He sighed, picking his bag before following the smaller male out where his friends were already waiting for him.

"Let's go to our usual place before going home, yeah?" Jackson grinned, wriggling his brows in excitement as the rest agreed.

"Can't wait to have some booze." Joshua smirked.

"Shut your mouth, dude. Walls have ears." Mark warned as they passed by the hallway with few students stopping to get a quick stare.

They're barely legal to drink except for Yoongi and Mark who are already 18, a year older than the rest.

As they made their way out of the building and headed for the main gate, they saw a group of men sitting by the bleachers.

They're a bit loud, just like how his friends were whenever they're together.

"Class 3-B." Jackson whispered, pertaining to the group as they walked closer.

"Don't look at them to avoid conflict." Mark suggested.

It's not like they have a feud with the students from Class 3-B. It's just that whenever a group of men encounters another group, more or less a conflict arises just because of trivial things.

Like how the other finds one's gaze rather intimidating which could immediately result to a fight.

With this in mind, they silently passed by the group but was halted when they heard a call.

"Yo! Yoongi."

All of them stopped and turned to look at the owner of the voice and saw the guy waving his hand with a bright smile.

"Jung Hoseok." JB whispered as he gazed at Yoongi who looked so done.

"Hey, shithead." Yoongi greeted back to which the other just laughed.

The rest of the group are now looking their way which easily gave them the chance to identify their faces.

"Heading home already?" Hoseok asked.

"Nah. It's Friday." Yoongi answered which made the other grin.

"Of course." Hoseok responded, understanding what he meant.

During the whole exchange, Taehyung was just silent as his eyes caught sight of a certain blond who's now staring at him.

He saw him smile as he brushed a hand on his hair, revealing a bit of tattoo on his arm hidden by his jacket.

"If it isn't 'The Jeon Jungkook'." Jackson whistled, making Taehyung break eye contact with the said man.

"Don't swoon." Mark warned which made the other grimace.

"Hell no." Jackson said as he looked at Yoongi who's now getting all chummy with Hoseok.

"Should we leave?" Taehyung boredly asked as he ran a hand on his raven hair.

He turned his back on the group, not wanting to see the blond's face anymore.

"Hey, Yoongi. Let's get going." JB called the other as the rest of them began walking toward the school gate.

At the call of his name, Yoongi just gave Hoseok a tap on the shoulder before following his friends out of the school premises.

----------

The karaoke room was filled with laughter as a drunk Jackson began to take the microphone and sing way out of tune.

He was dancing like a madman as Mark filmed him through his phone to show him the next morning and make fun of how wasted he was.

Taehyung couldn't help but to shake his head as he took another sip, face grimacing at the taste.

He didn't really like the taste of alcohol, so he would just take a sip from time to time.

"Twerk that booty!" Joshua laughed as he stood to dance with Jackson.

"Yeah, baby!" JB joined the chaos which only earned a laughter from the rest.

Even Yoongi couldn't stop himself from showing his gummy smile.

As the three idiots danced and sang like lunatics, Taehyung felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

He almost cursed, seeing his sister's name plastered on the screen.

He could just ignore it but knowing his sister, he decided to just take it.

Taehyung immediately excused himself as he went out of the karaoke room before answering the call.

"What is it?" He asked, walking far away from the rooms just to make sure his sister wouldn't find out he's still not home.

Jennie texted him earlier that she'll have a few things to finish in her friend's house, so she might spend the night there.

"Have you eaten? Did you see the food in the fridge?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I can handle myself." Taehyung responded.

"I doubt. I'm calling because I know you can't handle yourself, you shithead." Jennie snickered which made Taehyung roll his eyes.

"Fine. I'll hang up now." Taehyung boredly said.

"Don't forget to lock the doors." Jennie reminded once more before finally ending the call.

This made Taehyung sigh as he decided to make his way to the restroom before heading back to the karaoke room.

On his way, Taehyung saw a crying girl in their school's uniform walking out of one of the rooms there.

He wouldn't have given a damn, if not for the drunk man that followed the girl.

"Where are you going?" the man yanked the girl's arm, making her cry even more.

"I'm going home!" She cried, pulling her arm away from the man in a desperate manner.

"But we're still having fun." The guy insisted.

"No! Let go!" The girl was struggling but the guy didn't budge.

"The girl said let go, dude." Taehyung intervened as he couldn't help not to do anything.

He saw the two look at him and based on the change in the girl's face, Taehyung could tell she knows him.

"Don't meddle, kid." the guy spat before forcing the girl to get back inside the room.

Taehyung shakes his head as he neared the guy and without a word kicked him in the stomach.

This forced the man to release the girl's arm as he balanced himself to stand.

"When a girl said let go, you should let go." Taehyung said as he turned his attention to the girl.

"You okay?" He asked.

Taehyung saw the woman nod as she wiped her tears.

"Go home." He added before getting back at the guy who's looking at him with murderous eyes.

"Fucking kid doesn't know how to mind his own business!" the guy bellowed.

Taehyung didn't budge. Instead, he fished his phone and showed it to the man.

"One wrong move and I'm calling the police." He warned, but the man just smirked.

"Go ahead. So both of us would end up in jail." He grinned, raking his eyes on his uniform.

Taehyung halted and almost cursed. He shouldn't call the police or they will question him and even his friends for being in a place like that.

Not to mention, they're minors and having a drink. One look at Jackson and they're done.

They would even get the owner of the karaoke bar behind bars.

"Go ahead pretty boy. Call the police." The man taunted which made Taehyung sigh.

He ran a hand on his hair, trying to compose himself when he suddenly felt an arm over his shoulders, followed by a voice he knew too well.

"Need a hand?"

Taehyung stiffened as he slowly gazed at the man's face a few inches away from him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked to which the blond just shrugged.

He looked at the drunk man and smiled.

"Mister, you shouldn't be bullying students." Jungkook said, still resting his arm over Taehyung's shoulder.

"You're already drunk. Might as well go home." He added, but the man just became angrier than he already was.

"Fucking stupid kids!" He bellowed.

Jungkook snickered before placing a hand on Taehyung's hair, ruffling it a little.

"I got you." He whispered before going forward.

Everything happened so fast that Taehyung wasn't able to grasp what's going on.

He saw the man was already lying down the ground as the blond continued to step on his face before a lot of people came and stopped the chaos.

Everything didn't register to his mind. The next thing Taehyung knew was the two of them were already being thrown out of the establishment by the owner of the bar for causing trouble.

They were prohibited to go back inside because the owner was afraid of getting in trouble and having the police involved.

Taehyung didn't get the chance to go back to his friends nor get his things. He just texted Yoongi about what happened and asked him to bring his bag with him.

"Here."

The ravenette lifted his head and saw a juice being handed to him.

He silently took it as Jungkook sat next to him in the pavement.

"What a night." Jungkook sighed, sipping on his own drink as he gazed at the night sky.

Taehyung silently took a sip, feeling the cold breeze as his raven hair danced with the wind.

He glanced at the man next to him and caught him staring.

"What?" Taehyung asked in monotone.

Jungkook just shrugged, his blond hair moving in sync with the direction of the wind, covering his eyes a little from time to time.

"I've heard you like men?" He suddenly said out of nowhere.

"Was that a question or a statement?" Taehyung responded.

"Both?" Jungkook smiled.

Taehyung looked away before gulping down a drink once more.

"Don't tell me you actually believed that?" He said, darting his gaze to the cars passing by.

"So it's not true?" Jungkook asked in a curious tone.

"Of course not. You should have known." Taehyung responded.

"Hmm.." The blond just hummed, placing the drink on his side before glancing right back to the starry sky.

"Too bad, then." He whispered, enough for Taehyung to hear.

The ravenette turned to look at the blond with his brow arched as if saying 'What the hell does that mean?'

Jungkook dropped his gaze to the ravenette, staring deeply at those hazel eyes.

"I actually hoped you're really into men." He confessed with a small smile.

Taehyung didn't comment, seeing how Jungkook slowly closed the gap between them.

"Because that would've increased my chance to at least fifty percent." Jungkook added, leaning forward, the tip of his nose almost pressing against Taehyung's own.

He was smiling, his usual boyish grin that could melt anyone's resolve as his eyes sparkle like polished gems.

"You're still the same, Jungkook." Taehyung uttered instead as he moved away.

"You still don't know the concept of personal space." He added which made the blond chuckle.

"You used to be the same, Tae. Always clinging by my side whenever you get the chance." Jungkook retorted back with his eyes seemingly smiling just how those lips curve into a sexy grin.

Taehyung didn't say anything as he went back to observe the cars and the blinding lights on the highway.

"Man.. those were the days I've wished to go back to."

He heard Jungkook say in such a hopeful way that stirred something in him.

Maybe, in one way or another, he had wished to go back to those times too.

"We've both changed, Jungkook. Going back to those times is impossible." Taehyung said, finishing off his drink.

He didn't hear any word from the blond. Just a hum and nothing more.

"I'd better get going." Taehyung uttered as he stood.

"What about your friends?" Jungkook asked as he looked up to Taehyung.

"I'll just text them." The ravenette responded.

"Bye, then." He waved his hand a little before turning his back to the blond.

He hasn't taken a few steps when he heard Jungkook's voice once more.

"I've missed this."

Taehyung stopped for a while and looked back at Jungkook who's staring at the night sky.

"More than the conversation, I've missed the person more." Jungkook added before dropping his gaze on the ravenette.

"I've missed you, Tae." He said with a sad smile.

Taehyung couldn't say anything as he stared at those raven eyes for the longest time in the past years.

He quickly averted Jungkook's gaze and continued to walk away.

"Dumb. You could still call me whenever you feel like it." Taehyung said after a while.

"What?" Jungkook asked in a surprised tone.

"Whatever." Taehyung waved his hand to dismiss the topic.

"But I don't have your number!" Jungkook called out in panic which made Taehyung smile.

"Tae!"

He heard Jungkook call out once more followed by his rushed footsteps as he made his way to him.

Taehyung looked back and saw Jungkook's face as he ran towards him.

He's smiling with those eyes sparkling even brighter than the starry sky, just like back then.

Back to the time when the two of them used to be inseparable.

----------

Love you 💜