Chapter 3: Taehyung’s Strange Ways

It started with a scraped knee.

A harmless stumble on the school stairs—Jungkook landed awkwardly, skin tearing just below his right knee. Nothing serious, just enough to sting and draw blood. But by the time he reached the nurse’s office, Taehyung was already there.

“I was in the area,” Taehyung said casually, flipping through a comic book he hadn’t touched until Jungkook limped in. “Not stalking you or anything. That’d be weird.”

Jungkook narrowed his eyes. “You’re sitting in the nurse’s chair.”

“I like the cushion.”

“Right.”

Taehyung dropped the comic and walked over. His expression shifted—faint concern traced beneath his usual mischief.

“That looks nasty. Did you fall chasing someone?” he asked, crouching in front of Jungkook to get a better look.

“I tripped,” Jungkook mumbled. “Thanks for pointing it out like I’m five.”

Taehyung gently prodded around the injury. “You bruise easy.”

“Did you come to insult my skin now?”

“I came to…” Taehyung paused. “Okay, I don’t know. It just felt wrong when I saw you on the stairs like that.”

Jungkook blinked. “You saw me fall?”

Taehyung looked sheepish. “...Yes. From the second floor. I may have screamed your name and knocked over two juniors on the way down.”

“You what—”

The nurse returned just in time to stop the conversation from spiraling. She ushered Taehyung out while tending to Jungkook’s knee, but not before he whispered, “Don’t die from a paper cut or something. I’d never forgive you.”

Later that day, Jungkook found a small bandage tucked into his pencil case.

It was one of those cute novelty ones—white, with little cartoon bears and the words "You’re tougher than you think."

No name, but only one person in the universe was cheesy and bold enough to pull that off.

Jungkook stared at it for a long moment… and then smiled.

The week grew stranger from there.

Taehyung’s antics continued—but they started to shift.

He still mocked Jungkook’s love for quiet corners and black hoodies, but he also began to show up with oddly specific snacks. Shrimp crackers when Jungkook was hungry. Warm lemon tea on the day he had a sore throat. A packet of wet wipes after lunch, thrown at him with a lazy, “You’ve got sauce on your face, Bunny.”

“Why are you so prepared?” Jungkook asked once.

“I am chaos incarnate,” Taehyung replied. “But organized chaos.”

Jungkook snorted. “You’re an enigma with a backpack full of band-aids.”

“Don’t ruin my image.”

The class noticed too.

“You two are weird,” said Minji from the front row one afternoon.

Jungkook looked up. “What?”

“You and Taehyung. It’s like… he teases you non-stop but then acts like your bodyguard.”

“He’s unpredictable.”

“He likes you.”

Jungkook nearly choked on his water.

Minji smirked. “Just saying. It’s obvious.”

Jungkook shook his head. “He calls me fungus, Minji.”

“Yeah. Cute fungus.”

The confusion only deepened when Jungkook caught Taehyung staring at him during history class.

Not a passing glance—a stare. Intense. Silent. Thoughtful.

“What?” Jungkook asked, self-conscious.

Taehyung blinked, snapped out of whatever dreamscape he’d been lost in.

“I was just thinking,” he said softly, “you look different when you’re not sad.”

Jungkook’s heart stumbled. “Is that… good?”

“I don’t know yet.” Taehyung leaned closer. “But I think I like both versions.”

And with that, he leaned back again and went back to doodling a banana sword fight in his notebook like nothing had happened.

After school, it rained.

Not the kind of rain that let you walk home with a hood and hope—this was merciless, sideways, soaking rain.

Jungkook stood under the awning, cursing his umbrella-less optimism. He watched the puddles grow and sighed. Guess I’m getting wet today.

Then something smacked him in the chest.

An umbrella. Thrown at him from the gate.

Taehyung stood a few feet away, dripping under the storm.

“Take it,” he shouted.

“But—what about you?” Jungkook called back.

“I like rain!” Taehyung shouted, walking off with his hands stuffed in his pockets, soaked to the bone. “Besides, your books are more important!”

Jungkook watched him disappear into the storm, speechless.

That night, he sat on his bed, holding the umbrella.

It smelled like lemon shampoo and chaos.

And it was definitely the dumbest thing that had ever made his heart feel full.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***