Chapter Text
Jungkook, simply put, has had a rough day.
Not even just an irritating type of day, but a true, pain-in-the-ass type of shit day. He started it off by arriving late to his final examination, which resulted in the reprimanding of a lifetime from his professor, and then everything sort of spiralled from there.
He got lunch with Yoongi, but the chicken didn’t sit right and he felt unwell for the remainder of the day, his mother called around 3pm to tell him his father would be home for the week when he arrived back home from campus, and then was reprimanded, yet again, when he had arrived home by a very irritated Jimin when he found him passed out drunk on the couch at only 7pm.
In Jungkook’s personal opinion, he had every right to down the bottle, no matter what Jimin said.
“Kook, c’mon, it’s only tuesday. You have one more final tomorrow and if you don’t sober up you’re gonna feel like absolute shit come morning,” Jimin’s voice piped from the kitchen.
“Nnng.” Was Jungkook’s only response.
After about 15 seconds of uninterrupted, peaceful silence, Jungkook felt a kick to his left leg. So much for tranquility.
“Dude. The fuck.” He grumbled.
“Here’s a peanut butter sandwich, some water and an advil, you ungrateful bitch. I’m trying to protect future you from having another mental breakdown tomorrow.” Jimin responded.
As much as Jungkook just wanted to stay in place and fall back asleep, somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that Jimin was right. He had his Calculus final tomorrow, and god help him if he’s late to another one. With a groan, he shifted upright on the couch.
“Thanks hyung.” He begrudgingly murmured. All he got in response was a half amused, half annoyed huff as Jimin got up and made his way into his room.
The sandwich was kind of shit, if he was being honest. It was made from some kind of organic, honey infused almond butter that Jimin was obsessed with and whole wheat bread. He rates it about a four out of ten, but he’s grateful nonetheless. He downs the painkiller with a large gulp of water, feeling himself sober up already.
“A shitty sandwich for a shitty day.” Jungkook mutters to himself, holding up the sandwich to the light and silently cheersing in his head.
__________________
Despite his irritations from yesterday, the following day ended up passing by relatively smoothly.
He came out of his final feeling confident, leaving only two answers blank, after arriving on time and feeling well prepared. He made a mental note to thank Jimin later. He arrived back at the dorm shortly after to pack his things. His train didn’t depart until five, but he had nothing better to do.
Jimin popped his head into the living room. “Excited to go home for the summer?” he asked.
Jungkook sighed. “Yea, I suppose. There’s some things I’m looking forward to and others I’m not. How about you, hyung?”
“Very excited. I’m staying with Yoongi-hyung at his place for the first couple weeks cause my parents aren’t home yet and I get to meet his niece.”
Jungkook waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Ah, so then I suppose you’ll have plenty of alone time?” He teased.
Jimin, used to the younger’s antics, just rolled his eyes. “You know it’s not like that. We’ve been friends for ages.”
Jungkook settles on dropping the topic, uttering a small, “mhm”, before resuming packing his things.
Jimin pipes up again. “Is your father gonna be home?” He asks, very gently.
Jungkook nods stiffly, not really wanting to talk about it. Jimin seems to understand though, and drops the topic.
After being life long friends, Jimin gets it. He’s had countless talks with him and many tear-filled nights in Jimin’s room back in Busan because of something his father did or said that upset him. It makes Jimin beyond angry, but he knows the only thing he can do for his friend is offer him a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on, because Jungkook hates when he can’t do things on his own. He knows Jungkook has been better since moving in on campus and being free from his father’s controlling grasp and judgmental gaze, but the thought of him going back over the summer has him chewing on his bottom lip in anxiousness. He reassures himself with the thought that Jungkook can take care of himself now, and that he will be back in Busan after his two weeks with Yoongi are up.
He’s okay with letting him go home, for now.
“Well, I should probably start packing too to be honest. Seeing you start is making me feel lazy.” Jimin says, and the subject is dropped.
With Jimin back in his room, Jungkook retreats into his and closes the door after packing up what he needed from the living room. Thank God for Jimin, he thinks to himself, as a small smile settles itself on his face. He’s been thankful for him from the moment they first met in highschool, all those years ago.
Truth be told, Jungkook didn’t have a lot of friends, aside from Jimin, Yoongi, and Namjoon. He had always struggled in making new relationships with people, his posture a little too awkward and his words a little too stuttered. He had always been like that, but Jimin had introduced him to the others once university had started and things started to look up from there. He had them, and it was enough.
______________________
Jungkook said his final goodbyes to Jimin as they hugged on the platform before boarding their separate trains.
“Don’t miss me too much hyung.” Jungkook teased with a wink and a smile in Jimin’s direction.
Jimin scoffed. “Oh please, I’ll finally have a quiet week where I don’t have to look after your ungrateful ass, you punk.” And proceeded to punch Jungkook in the shoulder playfully.
Jungkook smirked, picking up his bag and taking a step onto the train. “I’m pretty sure with Yoongi-hyung there, it’ll be anything other than quiet.”
Jimin squawked and made to punch him again, but Jungkook was already hurtling onto the train. He took a seat next to the window, puffed out a breath, and drew a smiley face and a heart onto the glass. Jimin flipped him off in return, but he had a smile on his face whilst doing so.
With one final wave, he was off. Inserting his earbuds and resting his head on the back of his seat, Jungkook submerged himself into his own little world, where only thoughts about the beach and his mom and brother lived, blocking out all his fears of his father.
__________________
“Jungkook, my dear!” a voice echoed when Jungkook stepped off the train. Craning his neck to the side, he spotted his mother waving her arms frantically, trying to gain his attention. With a beaming smile on his face, he made his way over to her and enveloped her into a crushing hug.
“Mom, I missed you.” He said, feeling happiness swell in his chest.
His mum, feeling a little weepy, pinched his cheeks and smiled back just as brightly. “Then you should’ve called more! You know I await them all the time and you still only call twice a week! What am I to do with you.” She teased.
Jungkook loved his mother. All things aside, she did everything she could for him and his brother. She loved them and protected them, stood up for them and gave them all the support in the world. To be honest, he missed her a lot, and often felt guilty for not going home as often as he should.
“I know mom. I’ll make a better effort next year, I promise.”
She responded by tutting and waving her hand, mentioning something about just teasing him, before the two of them made their way to the car to haul his bags into the trunk.
When they pulled into the driveway, Jungkook couldn’t help the trepidation he felt that settled into his veins. He opened the car door with an uneven grip before making his way to haul his bags out of the back. To say he was totally okay with being home would be wrong.
His mother, sensing his worry, gave him an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. It’s only for a week, I promise. I couldn’t get him to stay for a shorter period of time.”
Jungkook nodded, trying to swallow down the feeling of resentment that always creeped its way into his mind when he saw his mother around his father. He can’t bring himself to fully blame her, she loved him. She loved him for her whole life. He doesn’t have any expectations of her choosing him or his father, he could never want to do that to her.
With a weak smile he just nodded, and followed his mother into the house as she turned the keys into the lock. Immediately upon walking in, he’s greeted with an enormous hug from his older brother, Junghyun.
“Oomf- Hyung!” Jungkook muffled into his shoulder, laughing at the mild suffocation.
“Missed you Kook, it’s been a while.” Junghyun said after releasing his grip on him.
“It certainly has.” A gruff voice sounded from the kitchen.
Jungkook stiffened slightly, but managed a curt. “Dad.”
His dad came along and gave him a clap on the shoulder, gripping just a little too aggressively, making Jungkook wince.
“Welcome home son. It’s nice to see that you look healthy and chipper.” His father said.
Jungkook gave him a small smile before picking up his bags yet again, claiming he was going to drop them off in his room upstairs. His mother gave him a supportive pat on the back and a comforting smile before he made his way up the stairs. Upon opening his door, he let out a sigh of relief.
All things considered, that could have been a lot worse, Jungkook thinks to himself. He could’ve brought up the topic of his sexuality, or asked if he had changed his mind on his degree. He knew with certainty that his mother had said something to him before he had arrived.
“Jungkook-ah! We’re all going to the beach to celebrate you coming home, just like old times.” He heard Junghyun’s voice from the hall.
“Okay hyung, coming down shortly!” He responded back.
The Jeon family property was quaint but placed right on the sea shore. Jungkook had grown up with sand in his toes and sun screen in his hair nearly every day, even when it got colder. He lived for the smell of the water and the feel of the ocean breeze tickling his skin. It calmed him down many nights when the screaming was too much for him. Coincidentally, it was also where he met Jimin, at the end of the pier one night when they were both confused as to why the other was there so late at night.
Jungkook was always grateful to have grown up in such a beautiful place, and for being a part of a family who loved the seaside as much as he did.
He promptly changed into a loose fitted white tee and a pair of blue swim trunks and sandals, before making his way downstairs and out the back door.
So far, everything seemed okay.
_____________________
Jungkook had spoken too soon, as by the time dinner came, it seemed his father had spent the majority of the afternoon sitting and festering with his thoughts.
It was right as he had taken the first bite out of the japchae that his mother had made that the first comment came out.
“How are you enjoying your photography program, son?” His father asked, an a tone that would normally come off as indifferent, but Jungkook knew better.
He saw his mother fixate his father with a look, but he answered with, “Really well, actually. Our end of term assignment was to explore lights and darks, and I got top mark in the class.” Despite it all, there was still a part of him that was desperate for some sort of approval from his father, no matter what form it came in.
His father took another bite of his dinner, before replying with, “And your calculus and finance courses? How are those going?”
Jungkook could already feel himself tensing up, and his brother put a hand on his arm and squeezed lightly.
“I passed, I think. I felt confident in my finals. They were good courses to take to cover the context credits, but I probably won’t be following up with them.”
His father looked like he was about to respond with something sarcastic, but his mother coughed and he moved onto something else.
“And how about relationship status son, any girls we should be meeting anytime soon?”
Ever since Jungkook had mentioned that he liked boys as well as girls, his father had told him he was never to bring a boy under their roof if he was not a friend, and was suspicious of any friend he had ever made ever since. Since the prospect of dating girls wasn’t entirely out of the picture, he made sure to drill the idea of girls girls girls into his brain whenever he could.
Jungkook’s nostrils flared. “No dad, and no boys either.” He commented, his tone sharp.
His mother uttered a soft “honey” under her breath, but Jungkook knew the damage was already done.
“Well since we must respect our family’s history of a normal, healthy bloodline, I’m sure you can understand why you mustn’t include relationships of that nature with boys in any of your thoughts at all, right son?” He clipped, not even bothering to look at Jungkook.
“Well since it’s quite honestly none of your business, dad, I’m sure you can understand that I’d like you to shut the fuck up.”
Sue him, he was defensive. He had to be after all those years of being told he would never be normal if he didn’t get over this phase of his.
Inhaling sharply, his mother grabbed his father’s arm as he started to rise from the table, and Junghyun instinctively shuffled a little closer to protect him.
“You don’t speak to me that way, in such a disrespectful manner,” his father seethed.
“Give respect to gain respect, dad.” he responded, putting emphasis on the dad.
“Get out.” He half-shouted.
“Honey, please, we just got him home again after a year, can we please just eat our din-” his mother started, but was cut off.
“No, don’t worry, I’m already gone.” Jungkook muttered, wiping his mouth after finishing barely half of his plate. He put on his sandals and stormed out the back door, ignoring his mother’s incessant insisting that he stay and that she was sorry. Nonetheless, he was angry and he needed to walk.
He knew he would go back sometime late in the night, he never stayed out long, either getting too cold or too lonely or too scared. But right now, he kicked up water with his feet and ran his hands angrily through his hair.
How long was this going to last? The constant unacceptance, the constant taunting, the constant feeling of never being good enough? He was frustrated. He should have stayed in Seoul another week, just until his father left.
In the middle of his frantic hair tugging and his raging thoughts, he heard a male voice interrupt his thoughts.
“Um kid, I’m not sure if you’re just having a bad day or if you always pull your hair that damn hard, but I’d like to advise you to stop, maybe? You look like you’re hurting yourself.”
Jungkook jerked his hands away from his head and looked to his right, seeing a man who looked only slightly older than he was sitting in the sand, cigarette in hand.
“Oh, uh, sorry. No I don’t always do that. Bad day, I guess you could say.” he said, feeling only mildly embarrassed. The other guy, though, didn’t seem to care and gave him a smile in return.
“Cigarette?” he offered, holding out his pack at the suggestion.
Jungkook observed the man, his tanned face glowing orange in the sunset's light. He had sandy brown hair parted in the middle that billowed delicately in the wind, a strong jawline and a long face that would normally seem unattractive but suited his face perfectly, his lean body sat upright in the sand.
“No, thank you but I don’t smoke.” Jungkook replied with a shake of his head.
“Suit yourself.” He shrugged, taking another slow drag from his cigarette before exhaling.
And Jungkook, having no filter whatsoever, swiftly replies with, “smoking kills you,” before mentally smacking himself in the face. He doesn’t even know the guy.
To his luck, the guy smirks, “we all die at some point, why not enjoy life’s pleasures?” he says, gesturing to the sea. “A smoke by the sea at sunset. I’m treating myself.”
Jungkook doesn’t see how torturing your lungs is a form of treating oneself, but he has the self restraint to remain silent this time.
With a sigh, he says, “sorry about, well, whatever that was. And thank you, I guess, I was too far into my head.” he admits sheepishly.
The man blows out another puff of smoke. “Nah, I get it don’t worry. We’ve all got those days.”
Jungkook fixes him with a curious look, wondering if he’s ever seen the guy before. He doesn’t recall ever seeing his face, and Jungkook knew everyone along the stretch by the shore. It was the kind of small community where everyone knew everyone, and anyone new was the talk of the town. This guy, Jungkook definitely would’ve heard about.
Before he has the chance to voice these thoughts aloud though, the man puts out his cigarette in the sand next to him before putting the butt in with the pack.
“No littering!” he declares cheerfully, before turning towards Jungkook, putting out his hand. Jungkook looks at it oddly before it clicks that he’s asking Jungkook to help him up. Despite the odd request, he takes his hand before pulling. Once he’s on his feet, he dusts himself off.
“Thanks. I gotta get going now, my friend is texting me saying he needs help with dinner. I’ll see you around…?” he trails off.
Oh. He’s asking for a name. “Jungkook,” he fills in.
The man smiles, possibly brighter than before. “Jungkook. I’m Hoseok, nice to meet you,” he says, before turning on his heel and making his way up the shore.
Hoseok disappears into a house about 3 units down from Jungkook’s. Jungkook watches him until he closes the door behind him, suddenly curious about who this guy is.
Jungkook turns to look at the sun, seeing it almost completely fallen, a deep purple sky settling over the water. Feeling much calmer than before, he makes his way back to his house, Hoseok on his mind.