▃ 1962, July 17th, 7:15 PM

After that day, Jungkook was beyond confused.

Two boys... flirting... talking about sex... was Jungkook missing something?

He was now sitting on the beach, his shoes laying beside him as his toes dug into the sand.

The breeze was warm and salty because of the ocean, the sun setting and casting an orange and pink glow on his skin.

He wore some shorts and a loose hawaiian-printed shirt, some of it unbuttoned and revealing his chest.

He took in a deep breath, watching the waves calmly crash against the shore and then recede.

Life was hard. Sitting here on this beach seemed to trap him in his thoughts, causing them to swirl around in a frenzy and upset him even more, but also calming him at the same time because the beach was so peaceful.

Suddenly he felt a presence beside him, turning and seeing Seokjin sitting down on the sand.

"How are you doing, buddy?" Seokjin asked with a soft groan, his knees cracking as he sat down slowly.

"I'm alright, I guess." Jungkook murmured.

"Have you and Namjoon talked at all yet?" He asked, staring out at the horizon with him.

"Nope. He's just basking in his glory right now." Jungkook sighed.

"I'm gonna talk some sense into that boy, just you wait." Seokjin muttered.

Jungkook laughed, shaking his head. "It's okay. Don't bother, I'll find a time to talk to him." He said, standing up and brushing the sand off his butt and thighs.

"I'll give you a burger and a shake, on the house." Seokjin said, groaning as he stood up. "Damn, I'm gettin' old." He muttered.

"No, you don't have to do that!" He said, blushing.

"Aw hush kid, you're getting it no matter what." He chuckled, ruffling his hair as they walked toward the diner.

They entered inside, the entire place filled with surfers and bikers. The biker girls were up on stage singing, their beautiful voices flowing throughout the air.

Jungkook saw Taehyung sitting in a booth with Yoongi and a couple other bikers, one of them being a stunning girl with long copper hair.

She seemed elegant in such a rebellious way. She wore black leather shorts, framing her thin waist with a red and white striped tube top, a black leather jacket thrown over it.

Jungkook was shocked by her sheer beauty, bright led lips forming into a cheerful smile as she laughed at whatever was said.

But there was a slight problem.

Jungkook wasn't necessarily attracted to her. Even though he should be, because she was beautiful.

He was admiring her, and wanting to be like her.

Thoughts of himself wearing the same outfit in the mirror flitted around in his head, red lipstick on his lips as he turned and observed his backside in the shorts.

He quickly blinked, shaking his head.

Why would you think that?! Disgusting!! Guys should never wear women's clothing!

He realised he had been staring too long when she glanced over, smiling when she noticed his gaze.

Taehyung glanced over as well, smirking as he saw the surfer.

"Jungkook!" Seokjin's voice called out.

He mentally thanked the man for saving him from an awkward stare down, quickly turning and heading toward the counter.

"Here's your free meal." He said, handing him a basket of fries and a big, mouth-watering burger.

"Thank you Jin, anything I can do to repay you?" He asked.

"Just keep smiling." Seokjin stated, causing Jungkook to instinctively smile.

He turned away and joined his friends at a table, sitting down and grabbing the ketchup, squeezing it into his basket and dipping a fry into the sauce.

"Hey Jungkook, why'd you run off the other day?" Yugyeom asked, frowning.

"I was just upset. I'm better now." He replied, eating more fries.

"Okay. I was worried about you." Yugyeom pouted.

Jungkook just laughed, biting into his burger and taking a sip of his soda.

Suddenly, he heard heels clicking against the floor. He looked up, seeing that same girl from Taehyung's table walking over, heading straight toward him.

"Hey there, cutie." She said once she arrived at Jungkook's table, resting her hand on his shoulder.

He gulped, staring up at her in surprise.

"Cat got your tongue?" She asked, tilting her head with a smile.

Yugyeom and Jinyoung were gaping at her, stunned by how gorgeous she was. Completely looking past the fact she was a biker.

"Uh..." Jungkook mumbled.

"I saw you lookin' at me earlier, thought I might as well introduce myself. I'm Lisa." She said, rubbing his shoulder.

"Jungkook." He replied, a bit confused as to what was happening.

"Come dance with me, surfer boy." She said, grabbing his hand and tugging him out of his seat.

"Hmph!" He let out as she dragged him in front of the stage where an upbeat song was playing.

"I uh... I don't really feel like dancing right now." He muttered, seeing some of the other surfers eyeing them.

"Too bad, you're dancing." She said, wrapping her arms around his neck. Everyone else joined in, starting to dance around them.

Jungkook stood there awkwardly, before she scoffed. "Put your hands on my waist." She ordered.

He hesitantly did so, holding her waist as they started swaying to a slow song.

"Now, why were you staring at me, hm?" She asked, looking up at him with her round eyes.

"I-I... I dunno... I liked your outfit." He said quietly.

"No, you just liked how I looked in it didn't you?" She asked, smirking.

"N-No, I just liked your outfit." He repeated, causing her to tilt her head, eyes narrowing in confusion.

Suddenly, her eyes widened and she smiled, laughing.

"Aw, you're that one bunny boy Taehyung was telling me about right??" She asked.

"W-What?" He questioned, blushing deeply.

"You're Jungkook!" She said.

"How did you know that?" He asked curiously.

"Well you certainly look like a bunny, and Taehyung suspects that you're not into women. Which is pretty obvious now, so he was right!" She laughed.

His eyes went wide, face blooming red. "What?! I-I'm totally into girls!! What's his problem?!" Jungkook asked.

"Well aren't you just the cutest thing?" She said, giggling.

"Lisa, I think you're making him a bit uncomfortable." A deep voice spoke up from beside them.

Jungkook looked over, seeing Taehyung. He blushed and looked down, biting his lip.

Whenever Taehyung was around, it did something to Jungkook. Maybe he was intimidated, maybe he was scared, he didn't know. All he did know was that his presence made the surfer feel shy and flustered, as well as his stomach flip.

"Why don't I take it from here, Lisa?" Taehyung asked, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, sure!" She said with a wink, letting go of Jungkook and strutting away.

Taehyung sighed, standing in front of Jungkook. More upbeat music was playing again so they were just loosely dancing to the beat.

"What the hell, Taehyung!" Jungkook scoffed, slapping his shoulder.

"What??" He asked, confused.

"She said you told her that I wasn't into women. What's your problem??" He asked.

Taehyung smirked, chuckling. "Oh, that! Right. I said that you just give me a vibe that you're not that into women. I'm not saying that you aren't, though. My vibe could be wrong." He shrugged.

"What do you mean a vibe? I'm not some stupid queer!" Jungkook whisper-shouted.

Taehyung's amused expression instantly dropped, his face contorting into that of a frown.

"Don't say that." He said, his voice sounding broken and sad.

Jungkook immediately shut his mouth, staring at Taehyung when he noticed the look of pure angst on his face.

Jungkook was about to speak up again before Taehyung interrupted. "You should watch what you say before throwing your words around all over the place. Queer people aren't stupid. Being queer isn't a bad thing. You never know who you might be offending when you speak like that." He muttered, turning and walking away.

Jungkook pouted, biting his lip before quickly running after him.

"Taehyung, wait!" He said.

The biker had disappeared outside, Jungkook quickly pushing through other surfers and bikers to leave the diner.

He tripped on the step and fell through the doors, stumbling a bit but catching himself. He looked up, seeing Taehyung walking to his motorcycle.

"Taehyung!" Jungkook called out after him.

The biker climbed onto his bike, but Jungkook quickly caught up and stopped him from starting it.

"What do you want, Jungkook?" Taehyung asked with a sigh.

"Where are you going?" He asked, panting a bit from all of the frantic running he just did.

"Home, why do you care?"

"Because I don't want you to go." Jungkook said, a sad look on his face.

Taehyung stared at him for a moment, shaking his head.

"Why, Jungkook? Why don't you want me to go? I'm just some lame old biker who causes a lot of trouble, wouldn't you rather have me gone? So I can get out of the diner and leave it to the surfers? So it can be cleansed of my filth?" He asked, grabbing his helmet and putting it on over his head.

"That's not true, Taehyung. You're not what others think, they need to get to know you first." Jungkook said softly.

Taehyung scoffed, a dry laugh coming out of his mouth.

"It's the same concept with queers, Jungkook. But you're so quick to judge by what others say. Once you get to know a queer, they're not bad after all either. They're the same as us." He began, buckling up his helmet underneath his chin, "I thought you were different, and that you were nice, but you're just the same as the rest of them. You're a hypocrite and you're close minded." Taehyung finished with a disappointed sigh, kickstarting his motorcycle.

Jungkook felt hurt, watching as Taehyung gave him one last look before driving off, kicking up some sand from how fast he took off.

Taehyung was right.

Jungkook was now laying in his bed, staring up at the pretty ocean poster on his ceiling.

He was a hypocrite. He was rude and stupid. It really was the same concept with queers and bikers. They're all human, and can all be really cool people once you get to know them. Jungkook's never met a queer, (or an openly queer person,) but he's met a biker. A biker that opened up his eyes and allowed him to see that this damn feud between the two was bullshit. And that certain things didn't matter. That you could do whatever you wanted.

Jungkook sighed, turning over and glancing at the time on his alarm clock. The second hand ticked past twelve, starting a new minute. He observed the other two hands, seeing that it was 9:53 PM.

Taehyung would still be awake... right?

Jungkook got out of bed, pulling on some clothes and quickly leaving his small beach house.

He found his normal bike, not a motorcycle, resting against the side of his house.

He quickly grabbed it, wheeling it out across the sand and then hopping on once he got to the sidewalk.

He biked all the way to Taehyung's repair shop, glancing at his watch to see that it was now 10:08 PM.

He rested his bike against the side of the shop, walking around to see that the shop was connected to a house. Taehyung must live here too.

He goes up to the front door, hesitantly knocking.

He heard some rustling and some exchanging of words before the door opens.

There stands Taehyung, but something seems different about him.

That's when Jungkook notices the hickeys on his neck, his red swollen lips, and a half naked Yoongi laying on the couch behind him with hickeys on his milky skin as well.

Jungkook blinks, staring dumbly at Taehyung.

"What is it, Kook? I'm kind of busy." He murmured.

"I-I wanted to say that I'm sorry." He squeaked.

Taehyung stared at him for a long moment, eyes taking in the desperate expression and pure guilt in his eyes.

"Did you run all the way here?" He asked, noticing how the boy was panting a bit.

"I rode my bicycle." Jungkook quickly responded.

Taehyung laughed softly, shaking his head. Jungkook never knew a laugh could sound like music to his ears, but it did.

"Come in, just sit in the chair." He said, opening the door.

Jungkook walked in, sitting down. He watched as Taehyung dragged Yoongi into a different room, waiting patiently.

He heard the two talking, and he could even distinctly hear a few words being said.

".....I know, I'm sorry..... He came all this way.... Okay, next time....."

The door then opened, Yoongi was fully dressed and Taehyung was walking him toward the door.

Jungkook saw them exchanging a couple more words at the door, before Yoongi went on his tippy toes and pressed a kiss to Taehyung's lips.

Jungkook gasped, eyes wide. Oh fuck. No wonder Taehyung got so upset, he's a queer! And I just disrespected his entire community to his face! Oh no, now I have to rethink my apology. I had it all scripted on the way here! Now there's a bajillion more things that I could say!!

"Okay, bunny. Talk."

❍

hehe, some more drama uwu

- nat ♡