Chap 1 : The Rooftop Wish

Author's Note

This chapter contains bullying and emotional distress.

Please read comfortably and take care of yourself. ♡

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Rain poured endlessly over Hanseo University.

Students hurried through the campus with umbrellas above their heads while warm classroom lights glowed softly against the storm.

Everything looked peaceful from outside.

But for Jeon Jungkook-

this place felt like hell.

Classroom 304 buzzed with laughter as students packed their bags after lectures.

Meanwhile Jungkook sat silently near the window, oversized black hoodie hiding most of his face.

His notebook remained half empty.

Not because he didn't understand the lecture.

Because his mind felt too exhausted to focus anymore.

Dark circles rested beneath his eyes, and his fingers trembled faintly around his pen.

He hadn't slept properly in days.

"Still acting depressed for attention?"

The classroom instantly quieted.

Jungkook's grip tightened slightly.

He already knew that voice.

Slowly, he lifted his head.

Seo Minjae leaned lazily against the front desk, expensive rings shining beneath the fluorescent lights.

Beside him stood Park Sungho with a cruel grin stretched across his face.

Several students immediately pulled out their phones.

Again.

Jungkook lowered his gaze.

Don't react.

If he reacted-

it would only get worse.

Minjae walked closer slowly.

"You know," he sighed dramatically, "I almost feel bad for you."

Laughter spread quietly around the room.

"Almost."

Sungho suddenly kicked Jungkook's chair hard enough to shake the entire desk.

The loud sound echoed painfully through the classroom.

Jungkook flinched instinctively.

And that tiny reaction made Sungho laugh harder.

"There it is."

Minjae crouched slightly beside Jungkook's desk.

"C'mon, say something."

Jungkook stayed silent.

Not because he was brave.

Because he genuinely felt too tired to fight anymore.

That only annoyed Minjae more.

"Wow," he muttered. "You really are pathetic."

Near the back door-

someone's expression darkened.

Min Yoongi had just arrived after spending the entire night working at his studio.

And somehow the first thing he saw was this.

Again.

His jaw clenched tightly.

He hated this school.

More specifically-

he hated the way everyone simply watched.

"Move."

Yoongi's cold voice sliced through the room instantly.

The atmosphere changed immediately.

Even Sungho frowned slightly.

Yoongi walked toward Jungkook before quietly placing a canned coffee on the desk beside him.

"You skipped lunch."

Jungkook blinked slowly.

Of course Yoongi noticed.

He always noticed.

"...I wasn't hungry."

"That's a lie."

Yoongi answered flatly.

Not cruelly.

Just honest.

Minjae scoffed loudly.

"What are you, his babysitter?"

Several students laughed again.

But Yoongi didn't even look embarrassed.

Instead, he stared directly at Minjae.

Calmly.

Coldly.

"My problem is that you're still talking."

The classroom went silent.

Even Minjae's smile faded slightly.

Yoongi rarely got angry.

But when he did-

it felt dangerous.

Sungho clicked his tongue.

"Tch. Crazy bastards."

The group finally walked out laughing loudly.

But before leaving-

Sungho shoved Jungkook's shoulder harshly.

"Try not to cry today."

The classroom door slammed shut behind them.

Silence filled the room afterward.

Heavy.

Painful.

Yoongi leaned against the desk beside Jungkook quietly.

"You okay?"

The question almost made Jungkook laugh.

Not because it was funny.

Because nobody asked him that anymore.

"Yeah."

A lie.

Yoongi sighed softly.

"You're terrible at lying."

Jungkook stared silently at the canned coffee.

Warm.

Yoongi always bought the exact flavor he liked.

His chest hurt strangely.

Kindness felt unfamiliar now.

"Sorry."

Yoongi immediately frowned.

"There you go again."

"...What?"

"Apologizing for existing."

Jungkook froze completely.

Because the worst part was-

Yoongi was right.

Rain became heavier by evening.

After finishing his café shift, Jungkook walked slowly through the empty campus with wet sleeves hiding fading bruises near his wrists.

His body felt numb from exhaustion.

His phone suddenly vibrated.

Unknown Number.

Jungkook frowned before opening the message.

Check the university forum.

His stomach dropped instantly.

Hands trembling slightly, he clicked the link.

A video opened.

And Jungkook stopped breathing.

It was him.

Curled up inside a bathroom stall during last week's panic attack.

His shaking hands.

His uneven breathing.

His terrified expression.

Everything secretly recorded.

The caption read:

"Scholarship psycho finally losing it LOL."

Comments flooded endlessly underneath.

"This is embarrassing."

"Someone expel him already."

"He's definitely insane."

Uploaded by:

Choi Doyun

Jungkook stared blankly at the screen.

Something inside him shattered quietly.

He had begged Doyun to delete that video.

Begged.

And people still laughed.

A weak sound escaped Jungkook's throat.

Not crying.

Not anger.

Just emptiness.

Later that night-

without answering Yoongi's calls-

Jungkook climbed the university rooftop alone.

The storm roared violently above him.

Rain soaked through his oversized hoodie instantly.

Cold wind brushed against his skin.

But he barely felt it.

His breathing shook unevenly.

Everything hurt.

The humiliation.

The loneliness.

The exhaustion.

The feeling of disappearing while everyone watched.

"What did I even do...?"

His voice sounded painfully small beneath the storm.

Tears mixed with rain against his cheeks.

"Why does everyone hate me so much...?"

The memories wouldn't stop.

Coffee thrown at him.

Bruises hidden beneath sleeves.

Students laughing while he bled.

Professors pretending not to notice.

Comments telling him to disappear.

Something inside Jungkook finally broke.

He laughed weakly.

Empty.

Hopeless.

"If nobody's going to save me..."

Lightning flashed violently across the sky.

"Then let the people who hurt me suffer more than I ever did."

The wind suddenly stopped.

Completely.

Jungkook frowned slowly.

The rooftop became unnaturally silent.

Then-

a voice spoke behind him.

"Careful what you wish for, pretty boy."

Jungkook froze.

Slowly-

he turned around.

And his breath caught instantly.

A tall man stood near the rooftop entrance.

Black wings spread slightly behind him.

Crimson eyes glowing softly within the darkness.

Wet black hair falling across an inhumanly beautiful face.

Black feathers scattered across the rooftop floor like living shadows.

The stranger smiled softly.

Playfully.

Dangerously.

"A human wishing for revenge this desperately..."

He stepped closer slowly.

"How adorable."

Jungkook instinctively stepped backward.

But the stranger only tilted his head curiously.

Almost teasingly.

"Aw," he murmured softly. "Are you scared already?"

His voice sounded warm.

That somehow made him even more terrifying.

Lightning flashed again.

For one horrifying second-

Jungkook saw blood staining the stranger's hands.

Then the man gently lifted Jungkook's chin.

His crimson eyes glowed brighter.

"My name is Taehyung."

Kim Taehyung smiled beautifully beneath the storm.

"Now tell me who deserves to suffer first."

...Taehyung finally appeared 👀...

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