Bad Guys Like You(Taekook)
¹
Rumor had it that Jeon Jungkook's father ran a butcher shop in Jaecheon-dong.
It was a large market district, known mostly for its livestock trade — the kind of place where the smell of raw meat clung to everything, where the sounds of early mornings were sharp and wet. People said he grew up there, in that world of blood and bone and the unglamorous work of feeding people.
The guys at school thought that was funny. The ones who ate samgyeopsal every weekend without a second thought, who never once considered where the meat on their plates came from — those were the same ones who whispered about Jungkook's father behind cupped hands
It was almost impressive, how comfortably they looked down on a man they'd never had the courage to face. Even more impressive was how quickly those same boys went silent the moment Jungkook actually walked into the room.
Because Jeon Jungkook was terrifying.
Not in a loud way. He didn't need to be loud. He was built like someone had sculpted him specifically to take up space — broad shoulders, arms that strained against his sleeves, standing at over 190 centimeters. Taller than anyone on the basketball team. Dark eyes that didn't blink often enough to be comfortable. When he walked into a room, the room noticed.
The boys who whispered about his father shrank like paper in water when Jungkook was actually in front of them. Then they'd laugh again the moment his back was turned. It was ugly to watch.
But honestly? Taehyung wasn't much different from them.
He told himself he just minded his own business. That he wasn't afraid, just... careful. Jungkook was overbearing and had a reputation for violence, and Taehyung was someone who preferred quiet corners and leaving school without incident. Staying out of Jungkook's orbit wasn't fear. It was common sense.
That's what he told himself, anyway.
The summer of sophomore year had a particular kind of emptiness to it. Not bad exactly — just hollow. First year was all adjustment and anxiety, third year would be consumed by entrance exams, but second year just... existed. Taehyung drifted through his days like background music, present but not really doing anything.
Today was different though, and not in a good way.
He genuinely needed to go home.
The classroom air conditioner had given up sometime before third period, and what replaced it was a thick, stagnant heat that pressed against everyone like a wet cloth. There was a fan — ancient, loud, wobbling slightly with each rotation — but it did little except push the hot air around. Half the class had shut the windows to keep out the dust, which meant the smell of thirty-something teenagers in summer had nowhere to go.
Taehyung, with his deep tan and his tendency to overheat, was suffering more than most. Sweat had darkened the collar of his shirt. His face — all sharp jaw and pretty features under normal circumstances — had gone an alarming shade of red, lips pale and dry. He was folded over his desk like a wilting flower, eyes half-closed, not really seeing the board.
？？？
Yah, just go home. It's self-study anyway
？？？
*His friend nudged his shoulder.*
Kim Taehyung
*opened his eyes slowly. The words took a moment to land*
Kim Taehyung
...Yeah. Okay. I'll go to the office.
What came out of his mouth was something closer to a mumble with air in it.
The teacher took one look at his face and sent him home without argument. Taehyung wasn't the type to fake illness — anyone who knew him knew that. He came back to collect his bag while his classmates muttered enviously behind him.
"Wish I could leave early."
"Can't beat Kim Taehyung, look at his face."
Kim Taehyung
*He didn't respond. Didn't have the energy. He just wanted his bed, a cold shower, and silence.*
The walk home from school took about twenty minutes out the back gate. The bus technically ran the route, but the stops were spaced out and it looped around the long way — walking the alley was faster, even in this heat.
The alley was empty, like it usually was at this hour. Most people weren't wandering around in the afternoon sun unless they had to.
That's when Taehyung saw him.
Jeon Jungkook was leaning in the shade of the parking area on the ground floor of a nearby villa building, one hand holding a cigarette pack, the other turning a lighter over and over between his fingers. No friends with him today, which was unusual — Jungkook typically had people trailing him
His school shirt was unbuttoned at the top, the black shirt underneath visible, half-sleeves revealing the forearms that everyone at school had opinions about. He was just standing there, watching Taehyung approach from beneath dark lashes.
Kim Taehyung
*steps slowed for just a moment.*
Kim Taehyung
*Then he kept walking.*
Kim Taehyung
Think of it as a mural. That was the trick. Don't make eye contact, don't slow down, don't acknowledge💭
There was no reason for Jungkook to speak to him. They sat in the same class and had exchanged exactly zero words since the semester started. Taehyung was nobody to Jungkook, and that was perfectly fine with him.
Kim Taehyung
*was almost past the parking area when —*
Low. Like it came from somewhere deep in the chest. Taehyung's steps stuttered, but he kept moving. There had to be someone else nearby. There was no reason. No reason at all.
Heavy footsteps. Getting closer.
Jeon Jungkook
Hey. Kim Taehyung.
Kim Taehyung
*turned slowly, and found Jungkook had stepped out of the shade and was now standing in the full sunlight of the alley, looking directly at him*
He was even more imposing up close — the kind of tall that made Taehyung very aware of his own height in comparison, which was saying something because Taehyung wasn't short.
Jeon Jungkook
Where are you going?
Kim Taehyung
*His heat-addled brain tried to make sense of the question*
Kim Taehyung
Are we... close enough for this conversation?💭
Kim Taehyung
*glanced sideways instinctively, half-expecting a teacher to be somewhere nearby using Jungkook as a messenger*
Kim Taehyung
...The teacher didn't send me to find you
Jeon Jungkook
*brow furrowed, a crinkle forming between his eyes. More expressive than Taehyung had expected*
Jeon Jungkook
Who asked that? Where are you going?
The voice was rough. Blunt. Not mean, exactly, but with no softness to cushion it. Taehyung found himself speaking more carefully in response, which was strange.
Kim Taehyung
*just looked at him*
Kim Taehyung
Is that a real question? 💭
Kim Taehyung
*waited, hoping his silence would communicate that he wasn't sure how to answer something so obvious*
Jeon Jungkook
*stared back, apparently waiting too*
Kim Taehyung
...I'm not feeling well
Jeon Jungkook
Where does it hurt?
Jeon Jungkook
*eyes dropped briefly to Taehyung's stomach*
Jeon Jungkook
Upset stomach?
Kim Taehyung
*shook his head*
Kim Taehyung
I'm melting. I just want to go home💭
Jeon Jungkook
Ah.*A pause* Hospital?
Kim Taehyung
I don't need a hospital. I just need to rest
Jeon Jungkook
Something cold, then?
Kim Taehyung
I'll drink water when I get home, take a bath— I really just need to—
Jungkook reached up and scratched the back of his neck. Then he fiddled with his sideburns for a moment, a small restless gesture that looked strange on someone who otherwise seemed so still. The cigarette pack had disappeared — Taehyung hadn't even noticed when.
Taehyung glanced in the direction of home. The road ahead shimmered with heat. He just needed to get past this moment.
Then Jungkook's hand closed around his wrist.
Warm. Firm. Not rough, but not asking permission either.
Jeon Jungkook
Come on. Let's get something to drink.
And just like that, Jeon Jungkook started walking, pulling Kim Taehyung along behind him like it was the most natural thing in the world.
²
The ice cubes rattled against the glass as Taehyung stared at his green tea latte, barely touched. Across the table, Jungkook was stirring the last of his orange juice with a straw until he gave up and just poured the ice straight into his mouth.
Jeon Jungkook
*crunch crunch crunch*
Kim Taehyung
*watched the ice disappear between Jungkook's teeth and had the very specific thought that he might be next*
They were sitting in a room café downtown — all pastel sofas and dried flowers. Way too cute for two boys in school uniforms. The air conditioning was blasting and Taehyung had goosebumps under his sleeves, which was almost funny considering twenty minutes ago he was dying of heat.
He still wasn't sure how he'd ended up here. One moment he was walking home. Then Jungkook's hand was on his wrist. Then somehow he was in a taxi watching school disappear behind them.
The taxi driver had kept glancing at Taehyung in the rearview mirror with a worried look — understandable, given that Jungkook was built like something from a different weight class entirely.
Jeon Jungkook
(to the driver) Eyes on the road, uncle.
Kim Taehyung
*All the warmth left Taehyung's body instantly.*
He'd been half convinced he was about to be sold somewhere. But Jungkook paid the fare politely and walked them straight into the nearest café with a sign that said
"Full Air-conditioning! Beat the heat at M House!"
Jungkook sat across from him — one leg crossed, arm draped over the back of the floral sofa, thighs so thick his knee sat high. He kept glancing at his phone then back at Taehyung. Every time their eyes met, Taehyung found something fascinating on the table.
There was an ashtray. Despite a separate smoking room near the entrance, cigarette smell drifted through anyway. When Taehyung's gaze landed on the ashtray—
Jeon Jungkook
Kim Taehyung. Do you smoke?
Kim Taehyung
*Shakes head before the question even finishes* No.
Jeon Jungkook
*looked like he was developing withdrawal symptoms in real time. Jaw tight. Leg bouncing. Fingers curling and uncurling*
Kim Taehyung
You can smoke if you want. I don't mind.
Jeon Jungkook
*poured more ice into his mouth instead*
Kim Taehyung
...Why did you bring me here?
Jeon Jungkook
*set the glass down. Settled back. Scratched his chin slowly. Took a breath, moistened his lips, tilted his head. His eyes blinked a little faster than usual.*
Kim Taehyung
He wants something. Something I'm not going to like. The list of things Jungkook could want from me was very short.💭
Kim Taehyung
I don't have money
Jeon Jungkook
*brow creased*
Kim Taehyung
I mean — not much. This is all I have.
Kim Taehyung
*fished in his pocket and pulled out two folded 10,000 won bills from behind his phone case. Held them out with both hands like an offering*
Kim Taehyung
I'm not lying. That's everything.
Jeon Jungkook
*stared at the bills. Then looked up.*
Jeon Jungkook
Kim Taehyung.
Jeon Jungkook
I have money. Who do you think you're looking at?
Kim Taehyung
*thought with complete clarity.*
Kim Taehyung
I am looking at a bully.💭
The crumpled bills sat on the table between them, sad and wrinkled.
Kim Taehyung
...Then why did you bring me here?
Jeon Jungkook
Is it still hot?
Jeon Jungkook
Why aren't you drinking?
Kim Taehyung
I am, I just—
Jeon Jungkook
You came to a café and ordered green tea.
Kim Taehyung
I can't drink coffee.
Jeon Jungkook
Are you seeing anyone?
Kim Taehyung
*automatically* No
Kim Taehyung
*Then his brain caught up. He looked at Jungkook with sudden suspicion.*
Kim Taehyung
Why is he asking that?💭
Jeon Jungkook
You don't have a... lover?
The word landed strangely. Not girlfriend. Not someone you like. Lover — oddly open-ended. Taehyung felt heat prick the back of his neck that had nothing to do with summer.
Kim Taehyung
*He shook his head slowly.*
Small. Just the corner of his mouth loosening, the hard line of his jaw softening. A bunny-ish quality that made absolutely no sense on someone with his reputation. There and gone so fast Taehyung almost convinced himself he imagined it.
Kim Taehyung
What is happening?💭
Jeon Jungkook
*rubbed his palm against his thigh once. Then he reached across the table — big hand, tattooed fingers — and held it out toward Taehyung*
Jeon Jungkook
Then go out with me.
Kim Taehyung
*word left his mouth before his brain had any say. He pressed his lips together and placed his hands carefully in his lap.*
Kim Taehyung
*looked up slowly*
Jeon Jungkook
*smile was gone. Completely. Something flat had replaced it — but with an edge underneath, like still water with a current. One brow raised in an uneven arch.*
Kim Taehyung
he would have preferred being robbed of the 20,000 won.💭
Kim Taehyung
I— I don't think we can...
Not even a question. Just a word, dropped flat.
Kim Taehyung
We're... both guys.
Jeon Jungkook
Kim Taehyung. You're so outdated.
Kim Taehyung
From Jeon Jungkook, of all people.💭
Kim Taehyung
And we've never even talked before
Jeon Jungkook
*tilted his head. Then straightened up, and the angle of looking down at Taehyung made everything feel more pointed than it probably was.*
Jeon Jungkook
I've seen you talk plenty. Why can't you talk like that with me?
Kim Taehyung
...Where have you seen that?
Kim Taehyung
*regretted asking the moment it left his mouth. Obvious answer.*
Kim Taehyung
*looked away*
Kim Taehyung
Watching someone talk and actually talking to them are completely different things
Jeon Jungkook
*tongue pressed briefly to the inside of his cheek. He exhaled something short and quiet that was almost a swear word*
Jeon Jungkook
*rubbed his whole face with one hand, like he was trying to reset something*
Jeon Jungkook
What do you want me to do, then.
author
no one told you that getting a boyfriend is not that easy?
Kim Taehyung
*didn't have an answer*
Jeon Jungkook
*swore again, properly this time, and let out a long breath*
Jeon Jungkook
Fine. Talk first.
Jeon Jungkook
You don't want to go out with me right now. Okay. We talk. And then we go out.
Kim Taehyung
*stared at him*
That was just... moving the problem further down the road. That wasn't a solution, that was a delay tactic with confidence behind it. And yet the complete lack of embarrassment in how Jungkook said it made Taehyung's brain go a little quiet.
Kim Taehyung
...Do you like me?
And that was the moment Jeon Jungkook — who had walked through three years of school like he owned every room he entered — cracked.
Not completely. But something shifted behind his eyes. Something unguarded and a little lost that he clearly hadn't meant to show. He didn't answer. He looked away instead, jaw tight, and Taehyung's gaze drifted without thinking to the side of his face.
The tips of his ears were red.
Visibly, unmistakably red.
Kim Taehyung
He actually does.💭
Jungkook ordered two more drinks while Taehyung slowly worked through his first. He drank through them quietly and steadily, like thirst was just another thing to handle. They didn't talk much. But the silence felt different now — less like tension, more like two people sitting with something that had just been quietly confirmed between them.
When Taehyung's glass was nearly empty, Jungkook slid his phone across the table without a word.
Jeon Jungkook
*lifted his chin slightly*
Jeon Jungkook
Your number.
Kim Taehyung
*picked up the phone with both hands. Typed it in carefully. Handed it back without saving anything or saying anything.*
Jeon Jungkook
*looked at the screen and called immediately.*
Kim Taehyung
*pocket buzzed.*
Kim Taehyung
*pulled out his phone. Eleven digits. He closed his hand around it.*
Kim Taehyung
I want to go home.
Jungkook made a low sound that communicated dissatisfaction without bothering to form words. He looked at Taehyung for a moment.
Jeon Jungkook
Fine. Let's go.
Taehyung got up too, his joints cracking from the awkward way he'd been sitting. He rolled his neck. Glanced at Jungkook.
Jungkook tapped the table twice with his fingers on the way out.
Taehyung flinched. Then felt embarrassed for flinching.
He followed him out into the summer heat and thought about red ears, and the word lover, and how nothing about this afternoon had gone the way it was supposed to.
³
Park Jimin
Hey, Kim Taehyung. Let's go eat.
It was Park Jimin who called him. Jimin had been Taehyung's closest friend since first year. His nickname around school was 'Chim' but Taehyung was the only one who refused to call him that, partly because he found it low-effort and partly because he genuinely enjoyed watching Jimin puff up every time someone used it. 'Why are you calling the name my parents gave me like that!' — same reaction every time, without fail.
Taehyung had barely registered that it was already lunchtime. The air conditioning was working better today than yesterday at least, but stepping out into the hallway would still be its own kind of suffering. He was already tired just thinking about walking to the cafeteria.
He dragged himself up from his seat and shuffled toward the back door — and immediately made eye contact with Jeon Jungkook, who was standing in the middle of a group of guys, not really talking, just existing in that quiet way he did that somehow still managed to take up the most space in the room.
Kim Taehyung
*looked away first. He always looked away first.*
He pushed his hands into his pockets and kept moving, but his mind snagged on last night. Jungkook had tried to walk him home and Taehyung had refused — he didn't particularly want Jungkook to know where he lived — and thankfully Jungkook had let him go alone. But then he'd gotten home and found three messages waiting for him, sent exactly ten minutes apart.
Jeon Jungkook
Did you get home?💬
Jeon Jungkook
Did you eat?💬
Jeon Jungkook
Let's call?💬
He'd sat there staring at them without responding and Jungkook had just... called anyway. And then proceeded to talk about nothing important for an unreasonable amount of time.
Kim Taehyung
*was still thinking about this when —*
Jeon Jungkook
Kim Taehyung.
Jeon Jungkook
*was waving at him from across the room*
The five people standing around him all turned to look at Taehyung at once. Taehyung stood very still, like a fish drying in the sun.
Jeon Jungkook
Come eat with me.
Kim Taehyung
I— my friend—
Kim Taehyung
*eyes cut sideways to Jimin*
Park Jimin
'what do you want me to do'
Park Jimin
*with zero intention of helping.*
Jeon Jungkook
*gaze moved to Jimin*
Park Jimin
*immediately smiled the smile of someone who had already decided to abandon his best friend, smoothly inserted himself into the class president's group who were filing out the door, and called back cheerfully*
Park Jimin
Taehyungie, I'm going with someone else! You two eat together, okay~
Kim Taehyung
Absolute traitor.💭
Kim Taehyung
*stared at the doorway Jimin had disappeared through. Then he looked back at Jungkook, who had already crossed the room and was now standing directly in front of him*
Up close and at this height difference, Taehyung had to tilt his chin up just to see his face properly.
Jeon Jungkook
*put a hand on his shoulder — large, warm, bearing exactly as much weight as it needed to — and walked ahead*
There was really no other word for how Jungkook ate. He had somehow charmed every single one of the aunties serving food into giving him extra portions, and they were delighted to do it.
???
Our Jungkookie eats so well~ come back if you want more~.
His tray was stacked higher than the teachers' trays. He was also holding three bottles of the banana-flavored drinks they served as dessert. In one hand. Just holding them like it was nothing.
Kim Taehyung
*ate normally across from him and tried not to stare*
It was difficult not to stare. Jungkook ate with complete focus, nose practically to the plate, spoon moving without pause. No chopsticks. Just the one spoon, doing everything.
Jeon Jungkook
*After a while looked up*
Jeon Jungkook
What are you looking at.
Kim Taehyung
*shook his head*
Jeon Jungkook
*glanced at Taehyung's tray, then at his own, then scratched the back of his nose and slid all three of the banana drinks across the table*
author
Why is he so cute TvT
Kim Taehyung
Why are you giving me these?
Jeon Jungkook
You're skinny. You look weak. Drink.
Taehyung was fairly certain banana drinks didn't have any particular health benefits but they did taste good, so he took one. Jungkook looked at the remaining two and then back at him.
Jeon Jungkook
You drink the rest.
Kim Taehyung
I don't drink that much.
Jungkook said nothing. Just looked at him for a moment, nodded once, and opened one of the bottles with his large hand and put it to his mouth.
Taehyung watched Jungkook drink a banana-flavored beverage with the focused sincerity of a baby deer and felt something laugh-adjacent rise up in his chest before he could stop it. He pressed his lips together.
The tips of Jungkook's ears were red again.
Taehyung noticed. He said nothing. He looked back at his food and pretended he hadn't seen anything.
After lunch Jungkook went to the school store and Taehyung followed without being asked, which he chose not to think too hard about. Jungkook moved through the crowd of students the way a ship moves through water — people just got out of the way, automatically, without Jungkook doing anything beyond existing and walking forward.
He came back from the stand with his arms full. Three breads and two drinks.
Kim Taehyung
*looked at him*
Kim Taehyung
Why did you buy so much?
Jeon Jungkook
*scratched his nose*
Jeon Jungkook
That little?
Jeon Jungkook
*made a face*
Kim Taehyung
*made a face back*
Neither of them moved for a moment.
Kim Taehyung
*pushing some of the bread back toward him*
Jeon Jungkook
*sighed like this was deeply unreasonable and handed him one of the drinks instead. Apple flavor. Pack drink with a straw.*
He took Taehyung to the empty stairwell around the corner, the one near the storage room that always smelled faintly of cigarettes because students got caught smoking there on a regular basis — Jungkook among them, presumably. Taehyung didn't love this spot but he didn't say so.
Jungkook sat him down on the steps and then sat beside him. He took up a significant portion of the staircase. His school uniform pulled across his thighs in a way that looked structurally concerning. His ankles stuck out past the hem of his pants, and Taehyung, for some reason, looked at them — expecting something rough and angular — but they were round and smooth, faintly pink like a peach.
Taehyung put his straw in the drink and sipped it quietly. Jungkook turned and looked at his face.
Taehyung said nothing. He was being polite. Normally he'd say what are you looking at but he was choosing, consciously, not to. Not because he was scared. Just because.
The staring didn't stop.
The stairwell was quiet. Just wind occasionally and the distant buzz of cicadas somewhere outside. Taehyung fanned himself with his hand because it was still hot even in the shade, and he genuinely couldn't tell whether the heat was from the weather or from being looked at that directly for that long. It was the weather. Definitely the weather.
Kim Taehyung
...Stop staring,
Kim Taehyung
*said finally, looking straight ahead.*
Kim Taehyung
...Is it not hot for you?
Jeon Jungkook
I don't really get hot.
Kim Taehyung
Good for you💭
Then Jungkook raised his hand and Taehyung immediately pulled back — shoulders up, legs drawing in slightly, the whole thing — and it was a little embarrassing how obvious it was. Jungkook paused, brow creasing for just a second. But he moved his hand forward anyway, slowly, and started fanning Taehyung with it.
Kim Taehyung
*stared at him*
The wind from Jungkook's hand was small and inconsistent and not particularly effective against June humidity. But Taehyung stared at it happening with his straw still in his mouth and couldn't quite find words.
Jeon Jungkook
*eyes asked if it helped*
Kim Taehyung
I want to go back to class
Jeon Jungkook
You'll just sit there doing nothing
Kim Taehyung
That's what I do in class.
Jungkook stood up without warning. His shadow fell across Taehyung completely. He reached down and wrapped a hand around Taehyung's wrist.
He pulled him back up the stairs, around the corner, back into the canteen. It was more crowded than before. In the far corner there were four sofas arranged around low tables — always the most popular spot, always full. Today was no different.
Except that some of Jungkook's friends were sitting there.
They waved when they saw him. Taehyung recognized them as people he had categorized, in his mind, as bullies two through four. Bully number one was currently holding his wrist.
Jeon Jungkook
Let him sit.
The corner seat — the one directly under the air conditioner, with the best airflow in the entire canteen — opened up. Taehyung was placed in it. He sank into the sofa cushion and felt the cold air hit him and almost forgave Jungkook for everything.
The original occupant of the seat stared at him from where he'd been relocated. Taehyung looked at his lap.
Jungkook was already walking back to the stand. He came back with a frezzie bar — chocolate flavored — and hit it against the edge of the table so it split, and handed half to Taehyung.
？？？
What's your problem, Jungkook
One of the guys said, with the tone of someone who didn't actually expect an answer.
Kim Taehyung
*fidgeted with the frezzie bar. Then unwrapped it and put it in his mouth*
Jeon Jungkook
*looked at him*
Jeon Jungkook
*At his mouth, specifically*
Taehyung stopped. Pulled the frezzie bar back. Held it in his hand instead and sort of pressed it between his fingers awkwardly. Jungkook's gaze moved to his hand. He wasn't blinking very much.
Kim Taehyung
*slightly alarmed, held out a small piece toward him*
Jeon Jungkook
*shook his head*
Every visible part of Taehyung's face and neck went warm. It was worse than the sun outside and that was saying something.
Then Jungkook leaned forward and covered Taehyung's eyes with his palm, big hand blocking out the light and the stares and everything else. He said it quietly, like the other people sitting right there weren't sitting right there.
Kim Taehyung
*didn't move*
Jeon Jungkook
I'll buy it for you every day.
Download NovelToon APP on App Store and Google Play
