it hurts to know,
ㅡ

'smile, beautiful'

jimin blinked at the card and beautiful red rose in his hand as the first thought came to his mind.

jungkook.

the older shook his head, cursing himself mentally because, what the hell? he shouldn't have guessed jungkook first, he should have guessed jaebum first.

im jaebum, his boyfriend. he should have thought of him first.

jimin inhaled the sweet scent of the flower and sighed, closing his locker as he walked to class slowly, a small smile on his face.

jungkook got out from his hiding spot behind the wall as he stared at jimin's figure momentarily before smiling to himself bitterly, heart beating painfully agaist his chest as he took slow steps towards the classroom.

"yo kook" jungkook jumped a little as he felt someone slinging an arm over his shoulder, turning to find seungcheol smiling at him.

"hey" seungcheol noticed the sad demeanor radiating from his best friend and tried to make him smile along the way, laughing as well when he suceeded.

"so i guess all this is because of jimin and jaebum right?" seungcheol piped up as they neared the classroom. "oh and i heard you got back your memory, cool man"

"yeah, and i feel kind of awkward now but i'm getting used to it" seungcheol rolled his eyes as he blew a bubble from his bubblegum when a pink haired male walked past them.

"that's your friend right? candy boy" seungcheol clicked his tongue as jungkook's eyes wandered to where the male was pointing.

"taehyung? yeah he is, why?" jungkook perked up an eyebrow interestingly at the teasing smile that graced the other's lips, shaking his head as they reached the classroom.

"hey man" seungcheol settled down beside jaebum as jungkook sat in front of them, his seat was beside jimin for english lessons.

jaebum shot the the black haired a glare that came unnoticed by the said male as he was quietly playing his phone, the teacher not yet arriving. jimin bit his bottom lip as he tried to restrain himself from asking jungkook whether it was him who placed the card and rose in his locker or not.

the older unconsciously studied his feature from the side and jungkook looked up, sensing himself being watched. jimin came to his senses but still looked at him, an array of emotions filling both of their eyes as they stared at each other, the air around them feeling thick.

"did you- were you the once who placed this in my locker?" jimin finally breathed out as he played with the stem of the rose, unaware of the pricks that were there. jimin had asked jaebum, his boyfriend giving him a confused look before it turned into jealousy as he frowned at the card and flower in jimin's hands.

jungkook's face turned a deep red as he bit his lip, unsure of what to say. he didn't want to lie to the other so he nodded his head softly, bringing up his gaze to the other. jimin's lips tugged into a bright smile as his eyes turned into crescent moons that made jungkook's heart thump against his ribcage rapidly as his breath hitched at the sight before him.

"thank you, i really needed it" jimin replied softly as he kept playing with the flower in his hands.

"y-yeah, sure. i'm glad it made you happy" jungkook rubbed his nape as he looked at jimin shyly while the other look back to the flower in his hand when he let out a small hiss. jaebum didn't realised since he was talking and listening to jinyoung that was a table behind him tentively but jungkook did.

"hyung, oh god why are you so clumsy?" jungkook took the rose away from him as jimin hissed, the prick stinging his finger and he was about to rub the blood on his jeans when jungkook took his hand.

"it will only hurt more that way" jungkook brought the older's finger to his lips, the metallic iron taste of blood invading his taste buds. jimin's eyes widened as he froze, breath caught in his throat.

jungkook realised what he was doing and looked up into jimin's wide, confused eyes as he removed the finger from his lips.

"sorry i didn't mean to-"

"it's alright"

"shit, i think we have to go the infirmary to get a plaster. i don't have any" jungkook groaned which made jimin laughed.

"no, why are you laughing? come on" before the older male could utter a reply, they were already out the door, not minding the bell that rang a few seconds ago.

jungkook told jimin to clean his finger in the washroom before taking a plaster from the infirmary, smiling at the other when he entered the washroom.

"it was the last one left, you're lucky" jungkook mumbled as he opened it and plastered the still slightly bleeding finger.

"i could have done it myself you know, but thank you" jimin chuckled and turned to his side, looking at jungkook.

"the last time you had your finger pricked, you were fussing all over that i ended up having to pamper you for the hour" jungkook rolled his eyes playfully at the memory and jimin scoffed.

"come on! that was last time!"

"you won't even let me touch you this time round" it came out as a mumble of a whisper as jungkook blinked his eyes harshly to make the tears that were threatening to fall subside. jimin fell silent as he took in the younger's tired and pleading look. it made him feel sick that it was still affecting him in all means.

"i can take care of-"

"i still want to take care of you" jimin's eyes flickered up to jungkook, honesty and warmth surrounding his beautiful dark, watering orbs that it made jimin's heart squeeze.

"jungkook"

"i know jimin, i know you're with someone else, that you're not available anymore and i had messed up too much to be given another chance but there's hope in me that says maybe one day, i'll be happy again even if i want you the most in my life right now and miss you so much eventhough you're right in front of me so just please, let me take care of you for this time being until i find myself, until i figure out how to soothe this numbing pain in me, please just let me take care of you like how i used to in the past"

jimin saw the look in his eyes. the broken and pained looked in the younger's eyes and it tore him because jungkook, jungkook was still a part of him. and will always be even if he belongs to someone else.

"jungkook, you're like a fossil, a part of my heart. i can never forget you" jimin said in all honesty as he saw jungkook releasing a shaky breath.

"but i've been hurt too much and i don't ever want to feel that type of hurt again. i'm scared jungkook. what if i give you another chance and end up breaking apart again? i can't jungkook, i just can't"

both didn't know how they ended up being an inch close to each other but jungkook gently placed his hands on jimin's face and pulled him in a long, searing kiss that was filled with passion, every feeling that jungkook had been bottling up being poured into the kiss as he slowly caressed jimin's cheek with one hand. the younger smiled into the kiss when jimin began to move his lips against him, wrapping his arms around his neck as their eyes fluttered shut, enjoying the blissful moment that seemed overdued.

when they finally broke away, both panting while resting their forehead against each other, jungkook opened his eyes, seeing closed eyelids as they had no remaining gap between them, and he swore he would do anything to get back the precious person in front of him.

"then i'll fight for your love, and earn it back"

✦
that you belong to someone else.