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💝

Combined Beings (xv)

PAIRING: mafia/ceo!bts x chubby!reader

SUMMARY: You are bullied on a constant because korea’s beauty standards do not fit girls on the heavier side. The bullying gets worse once a ceo is attracted to you and he mentions you to the other 6.

WARNINGS IN THIS PART AND UPCOMING PARTS: cursing, smut even (first time writing… English isn’t my first language so just to warn you all 😭), deep conversations based on beauty standards, body dysmorphia, mental health issues, harassment/bullying, gore/violence

TAGLIST (CLOSED) : @scuzmunkie @princess-sunshyn @bangtans-momma @stupendousliteraturewritingoaf @babygirl-277 @elliott-calls @yoonallthetime @atiny-angel @tokiodori @lovwoni @littlrmills14-blog @7soulstars @lizzymizzy-blogg @itzz-me-duh @mma7 @4ukiyo4 @xiusmarshmallow @maliktheking @fluffyspaceprincess @svnbangtansworld @passionandsuga @m0v3m3ntsblog @kungsoonie @idkreallys-blog @generouschildcolor @miriamxsworld @fluffy-canada-pancakes @icravebooks @singukieee @ilymygs-fatima @cryingpages @embrace-themagic @luvlee1313 @skyys-universe @allamericanuniverse @emu007 @needausernamepl @asmenar-ams @stellauniverse @namjoonswaifu @juju-227592 @mageprincess7 @eclipse-darling @iamkookiesforyou @kissme-ornot @foreverweareyoung7 @lovelgirl22 @xyahrinx @guinhosletters @amara-mars @shadowyjellyfishfest @hobiswhore @kooslilhoe @sugaglaze93 (to the bold usernames, your accounts wouldn’t show up. pls fix your visibility settings!)

A/N: feedback is appreciated!

before & after

“Boss, I wanted to tell you something.”

Namjoon looked up from the papers he was currently writing on, watching as Jae stepped forward, a stoic expression etched on his face.

“What is it?” He questioned, placing his pen on the desk and paying his full attention to his head guard. Jae passed him his phone where a picture of a necklace displayed on a mannequin. Namjoon looked at him with eyebrows raised, clearly confused as to what he was looking at.

“Y/n was looking at that for 5 minutes yesterday,” Jae answered. “My wife only stares at something for that long if she wants it and Y/n couldn’t look away. She kept looking at the card and back at the necklace as if she wanted to buy it but she bought your gifts.”

“That girl,” Namjoon chuckled, shaking his head as he already visualized your reaction. He hummed. “Send me the picture and the place. I’ll go get it myself.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Also, Jae,” Namjoon called out for him as soon as the man turned around to leave. Said man turned and he saw his boss staring down at the documents again, “Y/n bought your kids something at the mall yesterday.”

Jae looked at the way Namjoon grabbed some gifts nicely wrapped, noticing your handwriting on a card.

“Really…?” Jae questioned and Namjoon nodded.

“She felt grateful for you being by her side protecting her, so she wanted to buy some gifts for your kids, and wife, and you,” he smiled, making Jae stoically stare at the new gifts Namjoon had passed him. “She wanted me to give it to you since she was going to be spending time with Jin in the garden and she was afraid she would forget.”

“I’ll tell her thank you when I can,” Jae curtly nodded, bowing before taking his leave, the gifts in his hands as he wondered what you bought them all. He even wondered how you even got to buy them without him noticing.

“Ah, so that’s your mom and sister?”

You nodded at Jin’s words as you two ate some snacks after gardening for an hour or two, hands well cleaned after your palms and nails were filled with dirt.

“Yep,” you simply said, a sigh escaping your lips. “It’s crazy to think that I saw them with Iseul’s mom. My mom was never one to make friends and my sister has never liked my mom.”

“Do you think they’re planning something?” Jin questioned, eating the apple slices Yoongi had cut for both of you.

You breathed in and shrugged. “I don’t know… but I’m just worrying about the wedding for now. Do you think it’ll be okay to go…?”

“It’s your decision, sweets,” Jin replied, finishing the last slice before leaning back against his palms, staring at you as best as he could under the sun. “Whatever you choose, you know we’ll be there for you.”

You smiled at him but, your eyebrows furrowed once you realized something.

“Isn’t Iseul’s stepdad someone you all work with?” Jin nodded. “Would he be there at wedding perhaps?”

“I don’t think so,” Jin said, shaking his head. “If it’s events with Iseul and her mother, he won’t join. He’s usually busy with his business and busy with meetings so he doesn’t go out with them. But, it also depends if he’s close to your sister and mother.” He eyed you one more time. “If you’re worried Iseul might’ve snitched on you, he won’t do you any harm. He doesn’t care about Iseul’s… issues because he knows he’s spoiled her way too much.”

“Iseul is genuinely such a beautiful girl,” you stated, a frown still etched on your face. “It just sucks her personalities isn’t…”

“As beautiful as her,” Jin finished for you, noticing that you didn’t want to sound rude. You nodded and he grabbed your hand. “Hey, listen, don’t let her get into your pretty head and make you worry. She and her mom probably have something planned but what they don’t know is that you’re with us. If they harm you, we will cut off any type of work with Iseul’s dad. We give him the money, but we don’t need him as much as he needs us. So whatever they have for you is going to bite them back in the ass.”

You listened intently to Jin’s rant, nodding. “Just… promise to protect me against them.”

He smiled at you, bringing you closer to his side while giving you a kiss on the head. “You know we will. If they try anything, though, and we miss you, you have the bracelet. We will get you more.”

You two stayed quiet, enjoying the serenity of nature that enveloped you both.

“You two are going to get your clothes dirty!” You two turned to look at the source of voice and came to find Yoongi standing by the doorway of the kitchen where a maid of theirs was doing dinner. “Come inside.”

You snorted and Jin stood up, helping you off the ground. You grabbed his hand and you two walked towards the man awaiting for you both with your hands stuck together.

“Thank you for the food, Yoongi,” you smiled at him since he had in fact prepared your food, the maid having just gotten there a couple of minutes ago. From what Jin had told you, she usually isn’t there, only when none of the boys feel like cooking themselves.

“Also, Jungkook is looking for you,” Yoongi told you as he smiled at your words. You nodded and let go of Jin’s hand, who unknowingly tried to reach for your hand again. “He’s in the living room.”

You hummed and turned to look at Jin. “Thank you for spending time with me.”

With one last kiss on the cheek, you headed off towards the youngest of the group, while the oldest stayed behind to process your actions. Yoongi chuckled.

“She’s getting to you,” he teased Jin. Jin simply gave him a look before shaking his head, a ghost of a smile developing on his lips.

You immediately headed towards the living room, finding Jungkook there with some documents in his hands. He looked up once he saw and smiled, putting his work on the table.

“Come here, baby,” he patted his lip and you hesitantly did so, wondering why he called for you as he placed his hand on your thigh. “So, I got a few gifts for you.”

“I-” You simply let out before softly swatting his leg. “You need to stop spoiling me.”

“Take it as a gift for buying me something,” he innocently smiled at you and you squinted your eyes, not believing his words. “But, I’ll admit, with how crazy Iseul and her mother are, I wanted to give you this jewelry as a way for you to be able to press on a piece and it’ll give us a signal of some sort.”

He leaned forward a bit, placing a dainty necklace with a pendant and he gave you some earrings.

“They’re so pretty,” you mumbled, fidgeting with the new jewelry.

“Mmm, you make it look so much more pretty,” Jungkook commented, giving you a grin that had you snickering. “I mean it, too.”

“I know,” you smiled at him before hugging him. “Thank you. I love them.”

“Now, you don’t have to wear them all the time, just when we go out or when you go out,” Jungkook continued, watching you grab his arm, the inked one, and trace the tattoos from his forearm to his hand. You did get easily distracted. He smiled. As silence surrounded you both with you tracing his tattoos, he sighed a little. “I’m going to get your name tattooed one day.”

Your head immediately snapped to look at him. “Don’t do that.”

“What?” He chuckled as he saw your frown. The pads of his thumbs reached up to your forehead, swiping it so he could help get rid of it. “I’m being serious, baby. Wouldn’t it look pretty?”

“Hmm,” you hummed at his words. “We’ll talk about this more later.”

“I’ll come up with a good argument by then,” he continued to smile before he grabbed your face, making you lean down. “You don’t know how badly I’ve been wanting to kiss you by the way.”

The way he immediately kissed you had your breath hitch in your throat, your lips molding with his as perfectly as it had with Jimin. He kissed you so passionate, his hand placing itself on your back to prevent you from leaning way back until you fell off. You could feel the coldness of his lip ring, but you could only focus on the way his tongue swiped at your bottom lip.

He pulled away with a grin as he tried catching his breath, just like you needed to, too. He was enjoying this too much, finally having you as theirs. He could only wish the weekend was way more than just Saturday and Sunday because then, he could enjoy you a bit more, show you how loved you are in their relationship and are going to be.

“Are you two done making out?”

You jumped at the new voice, turning to find Taehyung standing there with a smirk tilted on his lips.

“Yeah, we actually are,” Jungkook replied, his fingers digging on your sides to hold you still since you almost fell. “Do you need to take her away from me?”

“No,” Taehyung shook his head, sitting down next to Jungkook on the couch. He looked at you. “I do want cuddles, though. Business makes me tired so I want to take a nap.”

You chuckled and got off of Jungkook’s lap, heading towards Taehyung, who quickly took you guys down, laying down on your sides while your legs were on Jungkook. He didn’t seem to mind as he continued working, looking over the documents again while his other hand was placed on yours and Taehyung’s calves.

You stared at Taehyung as he did, too. “I like how Im just being passed around.”

“As you should,” he grunted, bringing you even closer to him so he could nuzzle your neck. “We all want to be with you and just hold you. I missed holding you.”

You gasped as his hand traveled from your waist to your ass, making you slap his arm as gently as you had swatted Jungkook’s leg. The action made him and Jungkook laugh simultaneously.

“Calm down and go to sleep,” you shook your head as small laughter escaped your lips, too. You snuggled closer to Taehyung as you now felt sleepy. “I’m feeling pretty tired now that you’re getting warmer.”

“Yeah, you stayed up late with Jimin and Hobi,” Taehyung pointed out. “When I went to go find you three, I just see marshmallows in your hands.”

“They were so fluffy. But, I can’t stare at them right now. I got a stomachache when I woke up.”

“I know, Jimin told me you ate almost half of the bag because you were craving sweet things at night,” Taehyung said before sighing. “Baby, next time you already feel a stomachache, do not continue eating marshmallows.”

“But they were so good,” you defended yourself.

“I know they were but your stomach was hurting.”

You stayed quiet and Taehyung noticed your eyes closing and your breath becoming steady. He stayed quiet and Jungkook stayed, too, and they both listened to you fall asleep almost immediately.

“So, we need to talk to Mr. Kim about Iseul and his wife,” Jungkook spoke up and Taehyung deeply inhaled. “We don’t know what those two have planned. Especially at the wedding. We need to be careful.”

“Iseul is so fucking crazy,” Taehyung nodded in agreement. “And her mom just goes along with her stupid shit for no reason. She’s also as crazy as Iseul.”

“No what I’m wondering is how her mom and sister fit into this,” Jungkook said, passing him the papers. Taehyung stood up a bit, being careful not to wake you. “Her mom isn’t in the same status as Iseul and her mother, doesn’t work for her or with her, doesn’t have any type of relation with Mrs. Kim at all. I even found out where Mrs. Kim or Iseul have been going to and Y/n’s mother hasn’t been in any of those.”

“Then we need to find out how her mom and sister fit into this,” Taehyung breathed out. “I always thought she would somehow get mixed in with our business, be in danger because of other gangs, but she’s only been dealing with jealous women.”

“And that stupid worker,” Jungkook pointed out, grabbing another file. “I searched him up. His record is clean. Everything. I did see the camera in the lobby, he grabbed her when she was leaving and wouldn’t let go if Jae hadn’t been there. He might be connected to Iseul and her mother.”

“In the meantime,” Taehyung started, grabbing his phone from his pocket while you, thankfully, still remained still, “the shipment is coming next week. Mr. Kim already sent us the address and time and from who it’s coming from. Hobi tracked it, already sent some of our men to keep a closer eye on it.”

“Around how much would we gain from it?”

“Another 750 million,” Taehyung answered the youngest. “There’s some people with Yoongi, though, because someone spread news about our sweet girl to other groups.”

“Which means we have go up our security on her.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want her to feel suffocated by it all,” Jungkook nodded in agreement as he crossed a leg over the other. “We only got her yesterday and suddenly they’re threatening to take her away from us. What bullshit is that?”

“I’m more worried about her not being able to handle the threats,” Jungkook sighed and Taehyung hummed, his eyes setting down on your face where hair strands covered your face. “I still want her to work, have her freedom. With this new shipment, especially with that amount of money, we’ll either get more respect or more enemies.”

“I think right now, we’re going to get more threats,” the two turned to look at the new source of voice and came to find Hobi heading towards them. “There was some activity by the new shipment. Two of our men dead, two others, not ours, dead. Mr. Kim’s men.”

“Mr. Kim is trying to sabotage his business with us?” Jungkook questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“He’s meeting up with Namjoon,” Hobi answered before glancing at your sleeping form. “She was just awake not so long ago. How did you get her to sleep?”

“My warmth,” Taehyung smiled cheekily, hand resting on your thigh, caressing the skin. “I’m surprised you’re not sleepy either.”

“Oh, I am,” Hobi nodded his head rapidly. “But I’m hiding it behind the caffeine Yoongi made me drink.”

“Ew.”

“Now, put her with Jimin,” Hobi instructed. “He’s taking a nap in his room. We have a meeting after Mr. Kim with Namjoon and more men and women to take care of our angel here. We also have to come up with something just in case Iseul and her mom have something planned.”

Taehyung nodded and grabbed your form, making you wrap your legs around his waist while he carried you towards Jimin’s room.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the shipment issues have something to do with those two.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised either. If anything, those two need to be immediately looked into. We can’t bear having Y/n get into their hands. There’s something that’s in it for her mom and sister because Mrs. Kim wouldn’t hang out with someone who’s not in her status.”

Jungkook shook his head up and down. “That’s what we were talking about. There’s something in it for them. The wedding was just used an excuse to have Y/n there. We need to look into the sister and the groom.”

“There’s nothing based on the groom,” Hobi shrugged. “I’ve searched up everything but nothing is coming into the picture. We have to wait until the wedding.”

They remained silent, taking your sleeping form towards Jimin who was silently sleeping on his bed, covers hiding his body from stray eyes.

“Place her carefully.”

When there was a shift on the bed, Jimin opened his eyes and came to find the boys carrying your body next to his own. He lifted his blanket in a tired manner, eyes starting to close by the lack of sleep.

“I need cuddles,” he mumbled and cuddled did he get because as soon as his body met yours, you two snuggled even more closer.

The three awake glanced at you two one more time before walking away with a smile.

“Check on them. Make sure no one gets in. We’ll go in. Right now, we’re going to have people over, I do not want them in there or coming close to this room. If they wake up, lead them away from the meeting.”

“Yes, sir.”

I felt the fluff dripping out of my ears

Combined Beings (xvi)

PAIRING: mafia/ceo!bts x chubby!reader

SUMMARY: You are bullied on a constant because korea’s beauty standards do not fit girls on the heavier side. The bullying gets worse once a ceo is attracted to you and he mentions you to the other 6.

WARNINGS IN THIS PART AND UPCOMING PARTS: cursing, smut even (first time writing… English isn’t my first language so just to warn you all 😭), deep conversations based on beauty standards, body dysmorphia, mental health issues, harassment/bullying, gore/violence

TAGLIST (CLOSED) : @scuzmunkie @princess-sunshyn @bangtans-momma @stupendousliteraturewritingoaf @babygirl-277 @elliott-calls @yoonallthetime @atiny-angel @tokiodori @lovwoni @littlrmills14-blog @7soulstars @lizzymizzy-blogg @itzz-me-duh @mma7 @4ukiyo4 @xiusmarshmallow @maliktheking @fluffyspaceprincess @svnbangtansworld @passionandsuga @m0v3m3ntsblog @kungsoonie @idkreallys-blog @generouschildcolor @miriamxsworld @fluffy-canada-pancakes @icravebooks @singukieee @ilymygs-fatima @cryingpages @embrace-themagic @luvlee1313 @skyys-universe @allamericanuniverse @emu007 @needausernamepl @asmenar-ams @stellauniverse @namjoonswaifu @juju-227592 @mageprincess7 @eclipse-darling @iamkookiesforyou @kissme-ornot @foreverweareyoung7 @lovelgirl22 @xyahrinx @guinhosletters @amara-mars @shadowyjellyfishfest @hobiswhore @kooslilhoe @sugaglaze93 (to the bold usernames, your accounts wouldn’t show up. pls fix your visibility settings!)

A/N: feedback is very much appreciated! <3

before and after

“Hi, guys—”

You walked into your friend’s office, coming face to face with Eunji and Ari who had smiles plastered on their faces. You squinted your eyes and gave them suspicious looks, slowly taking off your sweater.

“So,” you began, placing your sweater on your forearm while you slowly closed the office door behind you, “why are you two staring at me like that?”

“Jimin texted us,” Eunji started before clearing her throat rather dramatically, squinting at her phone screen. “He told us in our groupchat that we needed to watch out for Daeseong, doesn’t want his girlfriend and her friends being in danger.”

“You’re dating them?” Ari grabbed your hands and you snorted at their enthusiasm, nodding. Your friend swatted your arm. “Why didn’t you text us? I have amazing memes that I’ve been wanting to use!”

“I’ve just been enjoying my weekend with them,” you replied, a small tilted on your lips as they both stared at you, listening to every word you were saying. “And I didn’t know if they felt comfortable with me telling some people I’m dating them so, I just stayed quiet.”

“Well, Jimin is obviously very proud.”

“Wait,” you frowned as you processed Eunji’s words, “you’re in a groupchat with him?”

“Well, all the other 6, too,” Eunji grinned before she and Ari pulled you into a hug. “We’re so happy for you! We’ll definitely keep an an eye out for Daeseong. He does give me creep vibes.”

“He wants to go on a date with Ari,” you looked at said woman, who wrinkled her nose, making a face. You snickered, a teasing smile starting to spread on your lips once you saw the reaction you wanted to get. “Go give Daeseong a kiss.”

Ari scoffed, flipping you off as you puckered your lips, making kissing noises. Eunji joined you.

“Shut up, I don’t want that creep,” Ari playfully rolled her eyes, pushing you away from her. “You know what? Go give your boys a kiss.”

“I will,” you replied before glancing at the clock. You turned to look at her, “after I finish work.”

“Ugh, work, bleh,” Ari shuddered. She turned around and opened the door. “Y/n, go kiss Namjoon and convince him to give us another week off work.”

“Yeah, right, like that’ll work,” you chuckled at her antics, waving at Eunji goodbye. You and Ari headed towards your desks, avoiding the gaze of Daeseong who was trying his hardest not to look at you two. “Also, why are there guards now during the entrance of the elevators?”

“The boys increased security for you,” Ari answered, wiggling her eyebrows as she passed you a little container that her mom had stored food in for you. “There’s more on this floor just in case they need to step in when someone harasses you or,” she leaned closer, “when the creep even thinks about putting his hand on you. Don’t worry, by the way, they also increased for everyone’s safety, too.”

“I need to be added to this groupchat because I need to be in the loop of things,” you breathed out and she nodded, understanding. “But, it’s so crazy, Ari.” You whispered your next few words. “Can you believe I’m dating all 7?”

“I do,” she mumbled. “Since I’ve been telling you from the beginning.”

You smiled and you two got to work.

The boys understood that you liked getting work done, so they all texted you either a simple “have a good day baby/angel/sweets/flower ❤️” or “come up during your lunch break, I miss your face!” which made you smile. You texted them here and there when you were handing in finished work, and they were just happy you were having a good day so far.

But it didn’t last long.

Chaewon, the same girl who had been harassing you after Iseul got fired, was now sticking her nose in your business.

It didn’t help that her followers went along with her words, nodding their heads in agreement when Chaewon would mention you were “whoring” around with the bosses. You didn’t really care. You knew what your relationship was with them and that’s all that mattered. But she wasn’t happy with the fact that her words didn’t phase you.

Her biggest mistake after… spewing more hateful words about your outfit and how your body didn’t seem right enough to be wearing it.

“Send her up,” Jin muttered as Jimin and Yoongi sat in front of him, eating the food you and him had packed for everyone. Jimin gave him a questioning look but Jin waved him off.

Chaewon was grabbed by the men by the elevators when she had come back from the restroom, panic engulfing her body once she saw the floor she was being taken to. Everyone talked about it since the eldest Kim resided on it, knowing that if you went there, you pissed off someone of full authority. Her mind immediately went to you and you, on the other hand, clearly not knowing about the situation, continued doing your work and revising it with Eunji.

“Over here,” a man let out, softly pushing her into the office of the eldest.

Chaewon couldn’t contain her gasp, though, when she came to find not just one of her bosses, but 3. They were awaiting her, but the one glaring at her made her nervous and got her frightened.

“Who are you?” Jimin asked, arching and eyebrow.

“Chaewon.”

“Now, Chaewon,” Jin spoke, clasping his hands together in front of him as he stared at the woman. He glanced at his phone, “you know, I got sent a message not so long ago by one of my men letting me know that you have been harassing workers.”

Both Jimin and Yoongi’s heads snapped towards the woman, eyes hardening as they realized why she was there.

“I-” Chaewon let out, clearly not expecting to be hit with that. She nervously chuckled. “I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong—”

Jin clicked his tongue, shaking his head while he stood up, walking towards her. “I saw your records, you were a good student and you are a good worker. But nothing pisses me off more than a person thinking they’re better than everyone else because of their appearance.”

Chaewon gulped as he stood in front of her, her eyes immediately landing on something else so she wouldn’t have to make eye contact with him.

“I am not that person,” Chaewon scoffed, trying to keep her composure in place, though, it was breaking down when the other two stared at her as intensely as Jin.

“Chaewon, there’s no reason to lie when I have witnesses,” Jin sarcastically smiled, “and I even have cameras that caught your voice, and even figure, harassing people.” He looked at her but she stayed quiet. “Your words don’t hurt y/n, but when you started berating her for ‘whoring’ around with her bosses, well… I had to step in.”

“It was a joke.”

“A joke is when someone says something to make people laugh,” Yoongi stoically commented, eyes boring holes on her head as he looked at something on his phone. Presumably the video. “Do you see people laughing?”

“No, sir…”

“Then how was it a joke?”

Chaewon’s face was already red with embarrassment and anger. Why was she being berated like this and not you?

“Why are you bringing me here?” She huffed, allowing some of her true colors to show. The three glanced at each other. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Oh, Chaewon,” Jin scoffed, a bit of laughter escaping his lips. Since she was showing who she really was, Jin will allow his to come to display, too. “I didn’t bring you here for that, though.”

“Then what?” She watched as he went to go sit back down.

“Come sit down,” he gestured towards the other empty seat next to Jimin. She tentatively did so and she saw Jin’s face immediately change. He leaned closer. “If you ever touch, insult, or even look at y/n, your family will have to deal with putting missing posters with your face on it.”

“Are you threatening me, Mr. Kim?” Chaewon frowned and he shook his head up and down, a smile on his face.

“Of course I am,” he replied. “I’m simply stating what will happen in the future if you don’t start acting like a decent human being instead of a spoiled one. Your choice.”

“What does Y/n have to do with anything?” She continued to pester him unknowingly. “She can’t exactly mean that much to you.”

Her eyes dropped to the wrist of his left hand that he had raised, his fingers rubbing his lower lip out of annoyance. Her eyes widened once she saw the Diamond bracelet. You had been wearing an exact one. She turned to look at Jimin and Yoongi’s hands, the same bracelet adorning their wrists.

“You finally caught on?” Jimin chuckled a bit at her expression.

“You’re dating her,” Chaewon mumbled, her chest heaving up and down as if she had done laps around the building. “You’re dating Y/n.”

“We are.”

“Is that why you care so much?” The girl harshly scoffed. “You don’t even care about how your other employees are being affected. You simply care—”

“I do care about the other employees,” Jin cut her off, a smile still on his face as he remained calm. “But, I know your guys’ little… game. You bully her the most don’t you? Simply because she doesn’t fit your standard, or whatever it is. You don’t like how she’s different.”

“Iseul always mentioned having a thin waist—”

“Iseul is a bitch,” Jimin then cut her off, his playful gaze dispersing as he heard her words. “Are you a follower Chaewon? Hmm?” She shook her head. “Then why are you listening to a girl who didn’t even care about you, huh?”

Chaewon stayed silent.

“If I hear anyone bully another employee,” Jin started, “I will fire you.”

“Me?” Chaewon gasped, not understanding why she had to face the consequences. “It wouldn’t be my fault.”

“Well, Iseul isn’t here,” Jin simply answered, shrugging his shoulders. “You’re the next person in the office who is berating others for their appearance and encouraging the rest to do the same. But wait, why can’t I just fire you right now?”

“No, no,” Chaewon shook her head. “I can’t bear to lose this job…”

“Then you would know I’m not kidding around,” Jin glared at her and she gulped at the gaze. “Leave Y/n alone and then I won’t cause your parents to be looking for their bully of a daughter until the day they die. Got it?”

Chaewon rapidly nodded and Jin gestured for his guards to grab her. They did so and they led her outside where she headed towards the elevator, hands nervously shaking.

Jimin hummed in approval before he gave Yoongi a side-glance. The two hid their smiles as they looked at Jin.

“So…” Jimin started, a smirk tilting at the end of his lips as Jin looked down at the papers in front of him, “Y/n finally wove herself into your heart, huh?”

Jin chuckled and didn’t respond, giving him the answer he was looking for. Jimin couldn’t help but smile. He had been waiting for this moment since the very beginning. It was such a sight watching Jin smile at just thinking about you.

On your floor, you watched as Chaewon headed to her desk, petrified. Her eyes caught yours and you immediately looked away, not wanting to deal with her harsh words.

“I have no idea,” you mumbled, eyeing your work. “It’s this weekend. The theme color is a sage green and a pastel yellow. Seems like my mom took over the wedding, though, since those are her favorite colors.”

“Ew, your mom still pisses me off,” Ari commented. “I told you that if I ever met her, I would slap her.”

“I know,” you chuckled, shaking your head at her words. “It’s just been so long since I saw them last. At least my sister, though, was willing to invite me instead of forgetting about me.“

“I agree with the boys, though,” Ari hummed, glancing at you and then at Daeseong who was still trying his hardest to pretend like he wasn’t looking at you two. “There’s something suspicious here.”

“Daeseong is suspicious.”

“I’m going to ask Eunji during lunch to give me his last name,” Ari said, glancing at her watch. “You remember how I found that one guy’s address and sister’s name?”

“You searched his number on Google and he lived with his sister,” you chuckled and she waved you off. “But, yeah… he’s not very discreet.”

“If he ends up being the bad guy,” Ari started, her voice dramatically lowering to a whisper as if what she was telling you was a secret… and it kind of was, “he’s a terrible one. He screams it.”

You two glanced at said man, who was now talking to another employee. You and Ari made a face to one another as you saw him flirting and the girl being way into it.

“We need to save her.”

“She’ll learn.”

Lunch came quick and the first thing that the 7 men did was text you to come up quick, a surprise waiting for you. In other words, get your lunch and head up because they’re not going to let you go.

Thankfully, your friends let you get away since you three would be heading to Eunji’s tomorrow for dinner. After all, you missed her food and her child. He was always telling you silly jokes he heard and he always tried making you laugh. He always did.

“Y/n!”

You looked up from the elevator as soon as it opened and saw Binna there in all her glory. You gasped and headed towards her, hugging her.

“Binna!” You exclaimed, the two of you smiling. “It’s so nice to see you again! I missed you.” You two pulled away. “Oh, my God. How’s your baby? Did everything go smoothly?”

“Well, first, I missed you, too,” she squealed, causing the two of you to move side to side, “and my daughter is doing well, very healthy and growing, and everything, thankfully, went smoothly.“

“I’m so happy to see you,” you said and she smiled at you. “It’s so weird coming up here and not seeing you or talking to you.”

“Ah, yeah, Mr. Park told me about the girl who replaced me for a while,” Binna let out an annoyed sigh. “She messed up everything on my computer. I had to fix my planner because she kept putting her personal things on there.”

“That sucks.”

“It did!” Binna exclaimed before she looked down at your neck adorned with a necklace. She smirked. “So… you and the 7 huh?”

“Oh, God,” you covered your face.

“I knew it,” she teased. “From the beginning. Especially since Jimin kept telling you to come up every day. That’s very cute.”

“Surprise!” You two turned to see Jimin with a smile on his lips as he headed towards you. He came up from behind you, resting a hand on your waist while the other one spread out to Binna. “Did you like the surprise?”

“I loved it!” You happily told him, a smile forming on your face as you hugged the older girl. “I missed Binna.”

“I know the other girl was a pain in the ass and I also missed Binna so, I made sure she was okay to come back,” Jimin smiled at the way you were happy, clearly excited to have seen the woman, who you had become friends with when you repeatedly came to his office in the beginning, again. “Alright, girls, I have to take Y/n away now, Binna. But are you happy?”

“Very,” you laughed and waved goodbye at Binna as you walked with Jimin to his office. “Thank you for that. It definitely made my day better.”

“And I thought seeing us would make your day better,” Hobi teased as Jimin opened the door for you to walk inside. “Hi, angel.”

“Hi, Hobi,” you smiled, hugging him. He hugged you tighter before letting go so you could hug the rest.

When you came to the last, Jungkook held you a bit tighter and kissed you as if he hadn’t seen you in days. His actions caused the others to argue, letting out words that he always got the most attention. You couldn’t help but chuckle at their dramatics, knowing they were just playing around.

“So,” Namjoon started as you all started to eat, “Daeseong hasn’t done anything to you?”

“No, but I did found out you 7 have a groupchat with Ari and Eunji,” you raised an eyebrow and you snickered once they all froze and gave each other looks.

“Well, they’re your friends, baby,” Jungkook spoke first. “You trust them so, we should, too. Just in case something happens when we’re not there, we also want them to be able to text us.”

“And we plan things to keep you safe,” Taehyung admitted next. You frowned.

“Am I still in danger?” You questioned, your anxiety spiking up at the thought of being in danger. Jimin, who sat beside you, grabbed your hand.

“No, flower,” he reassured you and you breathed out a sigh of relief. “Well, actually, we’re just worried. We don’t trust Iseul and her mom. We don’t trust Daeseong either. We want to make sure you’re safe.”

“That’s why you’re gonna stay with us for a while,” Jin continued and they all nodded. “We want to take things at the pace you want so we don’t want to pressure you to move in automatically. We just want you to… think of it as vacation time. You’ll have more protection at our home and when danger passes, you’ll go back home and we’ll come stay you and take turns.”

“That sound okay?”

You nodded. “That sounds fine. Thank you.”

“But enough of all that,” Jimin waved it off and he grabbed both your hands in his. “We’re going shopping after work. We need to buy suits and you need to buy a dress. We also want more jewelry because you said the wedding is sage green and yellow pastel, right?” You nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll have Jungkook pick you up from your floor okay?”

“Mhm, okay, I’ll be waiting.”

And you were in fact waiting.

Thankfully, Eunji and Ari stayed behind when they had noticed that Daeseong had stayed, too. The two, though, were in Eunji’s office, talking about Ari’s documents she needed to turn in. They had to go to her office because they had assumed Jungkook would be coming quickly.

“Hey,” you internally sighed as you heard the voice from behind. Daeseong appeared in front of you. “Did you ask Ari if she can give me her phone number?”

“Um, I haven’t,” you tried smiling at him and he smiled back. You looked down at your phone, sighing when you noticed Jungkook hadn’t texted yet. “You haven’t tried talking to her?”

“I have but she’s always with you and I don’t want to just… butt in,” he chuckled nervously and you nodded. “But, can you still try?”

“I’ll see if I can tomorrow,” you told him. “Right now I can’t since she’s talking to someone and I’m waiting for someone.”

“Oh, I’ll just wait with you.”

“No, that’s okay,” you now nervously chuckled, moving away. You tried looking for the guards but they had moved to the lower floor since there was an incident. “He’ll be here in a minute or so.”

“I’m here, baby.”

You looked over Daeseong’s shoulder and smiled when you came to see Jungkook. He smiled back at you once he saw your head peeking out, opening his arms to hug you.

“Is that him?” He asked in your ear when you hugged and you nodded. He nodded, too, before backing away, sticking out a hand for the man to shake. You could only roll your eyes at the fact he stuck out his inked hand. “Hi, I’m Jungkook.”

“I’m Daeseong,” Daeseong smiled before his eyes briefly looked at you. Jungkook stood in front of you, a smile still on his lips to hide his annoyance. “Um, I was just talking to y/n about Ari.”

“Well, I have to take her away,” Jungkook hummed, waving goodbye as you two turned to the guards awaiting for you. But, before the elevators could close, he eyed Daeseong. “Also, call me Mr. Jeon. After all, I am your boss.”

Jungkook couldn’t help but smirk at the man’s expression even though you had hit his chest at the revelation.

“Kook, you just revealed to him I’m with you.”

He snorted because although you all swore to not reveal anything to anyone—who aren’t your friends—he couldn’t help but boast it up to Daeseong. It’s definitely going to bite him right back in the ass, but he’ll do anything to protect you and the others.

He brought you closer to his side, kissing your head.

“Good. He’ll know you’re mine, ours.”

Enjoy @numinousher

ok, confession time.

pairing: miguel o’hara x reader

summary: confession time ٩( ᐛ )و

warnings: none.

a/n: I caved…

“Alright, hear me out.” “No.”

Miguel interrupts without missing a beat. You scoff as you watch him turn his back to you as he refocuses on the many projectors in front of him. “All that technology is going to rot your brain,” you mumble out under your breath.

“What?”

“Nothing. Anyways,” you curl your two middle fingers inward towards your palm as you direct a web to the floating island Miguel was on. “As I was saying, hear me out.” You hear a distressed sigh coming from the man in front of you but decided to brush it off. He was going to hear you out.

He remained silent, an indirect indication for you to continue your thoughts.

“Being stressed all the time is going to do no good for the spiderverse.”

“Arachnoid humanoid poly multiverse.”

“Yeah, that, so as I was saying… having one dinner wouldn’t doom the multiverse.”

Another sigh was let out this time, but this time it was out of exhaustion. He calls out your name causing your back to straighten as he finally turns to face you.

“The fate of the multiverse,” he begins before getting cut off by a web, coming from you, connecting with his torso and jerking him towards your direction.

He tilted his head at you once you stopped pulling him closer, leaving probably three centimeters of space between you two.

He wasn’t surprised by this action, no, you’ve done this multiple times. Pulled him too close for comfort, causing all logical thoughts in his brain to short circuit as it filled with thoughts of you.

You could hear his heartbeat. It’s one of the pros that come with being a spider person, your heightened senses. In moments like these where your own heartbeat was far too hard for you control you’d rely on his to calm you down, however it seemed to have done the opposite.

Why was it so fast?

Hearing your name managed to take you out of your momentarily dazed self.

“Is everything alright?” Miguel, whose body was practically leaning on yours, lightly shook you for he was disturbed by your suddenly quiet self.

“Yeah,” you replied far too quickly as you forced yourself to take a few steps back to create some distance between you two.

“Anyways,” you stuttered out, “I was just going to say how you always loose me whenever you start talking about the multiverse. Yeah, always manages to make my brain shut off.”

Miguel stared at you confused as you start to awkwardly ramble on about how the very premise of the multiverse is strange.

“And it’s so weird how technically-“

“Stop talking.”

You immediately close your mouth.

For the third time tonight, Miguel lets out a sigh as he closes the distance between the two of you. One second your mouth is opening to question why he’s taking more steps than necessary, and the next it’s occupied by the mouth of his.

When you don’t push him away and instead lean into his body, his hand travels up to your neck and his thumb presses against the area where your adams apple would’ve been to tilt your head up slightly more.

The one to end the kiss first is you, Miguel attempts to follow and close that distance once again but gets interrupted by the hand you put on his chest to stop him.

For a second Miguel starts to think he read the entire situation wrong. But you leaned into him so what does that mean-

“Miguel,” you begin saying softly and you looked up at him, “how did you know,” when he gives you a blank expression you let out a small snicker before continuing, “that I liked you.”

He tilts his head again as he looked down at you, “You thought I wasn’t able to sense your heartbeat? Cariño, even though I don’t have the spider sense that you have, my senses are still heightened.”

“Oh,” you say dumbfounded. Right.

“Yeah,” he says quietly as he tries to kiss you again.

“Wait,” you interrupt. “So, do you…like me too?”

“…We just kissed.”

“Yeah but, friends with benefits exist-“

Miguel groaned as you began to ramble on about how kissing doesn’t mean requited feelings, and while he understood what you were saying he’d much rather feel your lips on his than watch them speak about a scenario that wasn’t the case with this situation.

“Ok, then how about we get dinner.”

You widened your eyes at his words, a smile threatens to show on your face but you try to keep your composure, “…Ok. So…is this a date?”

“Yes,” he exhales, “Yes, it will be a date.”

“Ok.” You say excitedly before connecting a web with the ground beneath you two and jumping down, “See you in…?”

“Does thirty minutes sound good?”

“Yeah,” you start to smile, “yeah, thirty minutes sounds good.” You give him an actual smile before turning around getting ready to run through the halls of hq to tell Peter and Mayday all about this interaction.

“Ok,” Miguel says under his breath as he watches you leave.

“Why are you so awkward?”

“Lyla shut up.”

@numinousher

an: i’m tired and depressed and am in need of a big, irish-mexican man to put me to sleep

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

miguel brushes your hair, however curly or straight it is, as you snuggle up into him, nose kissing his neck, breath fanning him comfortably, legs adding the perfect amount of weight and pressure to his hips as he click clackity clicks away, smooching your benign features lovingly. when someone barges in and you perk your head up suddenly as to not be caught in this vulnerable position, he shushes to you so sweetly, caresses your hair once more, smoothing it down, and whispers:

“it’s okay, baby. relax. go back to sleep, okay?”

he glared at whoever the disturber of his precious was and discusses anomalies galore all the while gently shifting his chair side-to-side to rock you, his ‘love’ to sleep.

WELCOME TO THE HEARTBREAK SHOW ── jungkook

summary: you’re in love with your partner in class that everyone fears (and loves) due to his stoic facial expression and the way he rejects girls rather harshly. as you get to know him, will he be able to handle your heart that you so willingly gave him to care for or, will he break it due to his hatred for people who are in love with him?

pairing: kind-of-tsundere!jungkook x female!reader

genre: college!au, angst, fluff, strangers to friends to lovers, “she fell first, he fell harder”, very orange cat gf x black cat bf

warning: mean comments, second-hand embarrassment?, stalker, mentions of assault, mentions of cheating (not from main characters), daddy/mommy issues, puking, might be fast paced/over the place but bear with me please 🙏🏼

note: also, there will be some inspiration from the anime “romantic killer” (definitely recommend), and not my best work 🥲 also word count is 28k

“Y/n, you literally like him because he made eye contact with you once. And that was to glare at you.”

Minjee and Jimin, your best friends, stood in front of you, eyeing the way your eyes followed Jungkook’s movements toward the building where you had your upcoming class in. You were currently staring at Jungkook because your heart still beats whenever your peripheral vision sees the tattoos inked on his arm and the way he avoided any type of girl that blocked his way. Though your hands were busy at the moment holding onto some small birthday bags for another friend, you clutched your chest rather dramatically.

“You guys do not understand,” you breathed out in almost a dreamy sigh. “It’s just knowing that there’s something there. I felt goosebumps.”

“I’m pretty sure that was you being cold because it was freezing the day you two met,” Jimin chuckled, clearly amused by your awestruck expression, almost as if you were in a trance. And you probably were because as soon as Jeon Jungkook disappeared, you shook your head and looked at your friends who looked back at you, their innocent friend (who wasn’t so innocent because she had the humor of a 13-year-old boy).

“Let me be delusional,” you halted, raising a hand. Jimin and Minjee simply glanced at one another, and they walked forward to be next to you.

“Honey,” Jimin softly spoke, his arm wrapping itself around your shoulder, “do not start acting crazy for a man.”

“But you’re a man, and I’ll go crazy for you anytime,” you teased, a smile forming on your face. He stared at you and snapped his head towards Minjee.

“I’ll gladly feed on to her delusions,” he commented before nuzzling his cheek with yours, a hand of his squishing your cheeks to make you look like a fish. “Look at this innocent face. I’m sure if he gets to know her, he’ll immediately fall in love.”

Minjee snorted and nodded. “Alright, alright, I agree.” She turned to look at you once Jimin let go. “Just… don’t let him know that you’re crushing on him, okay?”

You nodded your head rapidly. “I won’t.” You eyed the almost empty hallway and checked your phone, a gasp escaping your lips. “Shit, I have 5 minutes to get to class. I won’t be able to choose a good seat now!”

“We’ll pick you up to go to Hobi’s party!”

Waving hurriedly at your friends, you sped-walked towards your class, making sure you got the class number right before going in. Thankfully, some people were also late, so you didn’t feel everyone eyeing you and just you.

Your eyes ran themselves over the crowd and quickly spotted the only seat available next to a person with their head down. You mentally cursed once you saw it was a seat in the far back, but you dismissed it because so far everyone had eyed the gifts in your hand and gave you an annoyed look. Maybe this was a sign.

As you got closer to the chair, you sighed as you came to find a backpack blocking it. You cleared your throat and shifted from one foot to another. You spoke up.

“Hey, uh, I’m sorry but I have to sit here. There’s no other seat available, and no one wants me next to them because I’m carrying birthday bags for my friend.”

The person simply grunted out in response to your ranting and got rid of the backpack. They let it flop next to them on the floor, and you sighed in relief.

Muttering a small “thank you” before sitting down, you heard the professor come into the room.

Getting out the things you use to write notes, you breathed in and out to focus on the first lesson being taught almost immediately.

Then you saw it.

You froze in your place quickly, back straightening at what you had just come across.

There, next to you, Jungkook was sitting, having raised his head to pay attention to what was being taught. You wouldn’t have exactly paid much attention until you came to see the tattoos that peaked through the sleeve of his sweater. He had raised the sleeve a bit, but only because it had been in the way of his writing.

And now it was your turn to mentally freak out. Mentally cursing and mentally freaking out because it was the first day of the second semester, and here you were, next to your crush, next to the guy you had been crushing on because he had been playing with a butterfly the first time you met with the most serious face known to man.

“Hey,” you heard a whisper, and you turned your head to see that the greeting wasn’t meant for you. A girl was whispering to Jungkook, who snapped his head to look at her. He didn’t acknowledge her greeting and just stared. “I thought you were cute, and I want to make a friend. What’s your name?”

He didn’t respond, and instead, he turned to look at you, causing you to look at the board, pretending as if you hadn’t been watching the interaction.

“Hey,” he started, making you turn your head once realizing he was now talking to you, “she wants to make a friend. Do you want to make a friend?”

You looked between him and the girl, and you sniffed, shaking your head while your pen was twirling between your fingers. “I’m okay.”

“She’s okay,” he shrugged, not looking at the girl. But he side-eyed her to glare at her. “Leave me alone.”

You could hear the girl scoff, and you cleared your throat this time to get rid of the awkwardness that consumed you three. You pursed your lips and continued writing, eyeing your letters.

“I’m guessing you get that a lot?” You mumbled, though; you weren’t exactly expecting a response, seeing how irritated he had looked. But you were proven wrong by coming to hear a hum of agreement. A sigh escaped his lips this time.

“It’s annoying,” you immediately internally winced at even thinking of the past few moments where you were staring at him. God, you were creepy. “Maybe if they took a hint, I wouldn’t have to be so harsh.”

“I mean,” you began, placing your pencil down and looking at him. You leaned back against your chair as you continued to talk lowly: “If they’re harassing you, it’s understandable for you to be mean.”

“Huh,” he let out before snorting and nodding, hands buried in his pockets. “‘Harassing’. You’re right. I never wanted to use that word, but it’s literally what they do.”

“You don’t like the attention?” You frowned, now paying attention to him, and he shook his head, placing his hands out to fiddle with the rings on his fingers. He had also leaned back against his chair, glancing at you here and there.

“It’s not very good when it attracts bad attention,” he continued, and it looked as if he wanted to say more, but he quieted down and looked at his paper. “Now, pay attention. I heard she uses questions in quizzes and exams that she uses in the lessons.”

You nodded and looked away, going back to taking your notes. You ignored the way your heart fluttered to hear his voice for the first time and the way he looked up close, but you knew now that, despite wanting to make advances, it was better not to. He hated it, and even if you wanted to get to know him more, you could do it while keeping in mind to just be his friend.

“Also,” you whispered, not looking at him, “if you want, we can change seats. It seems like you have an audience.”

At hearing your words, he turns to glance over his shoulder, only to come across a group of girls staring at him already. The way they never looked away, only waved or whispered to one another, was enough to make him nod in agreement.

“Next class.”

After that brief conversation, you stayed silent for the entire class. Thankfully, time passed by quickly, much to your relief.

“We will be doing projects in this class,” your professor said before she dismissed the class. “Because of that, you will be partnered up with the person next to you, so exchange phone numbers or social media, whatever. As long as you keep in touch. Your assignment is already posted; we will go more into it next class; it’s not due yet. You’re dismissed.”

Everyone packed up, and you could hear that, despite being told off in a dispiteous manner, the girl who had talked to Jungkook was whispering to her friends rather excitedly.

“At least he talked to me,” she giggled, standing up from her seat while swinging her bag over her shoulder. “I call that an improvement.”

“He is so hot,” you continued to hear, this time from another girl. You subtly glanced over at the man beside you who was frozen in his spot, too, hand clutching his backpack strap. “Do you think he’s good in bed?”

You and Jungkook simultaneously scrunched your noses at hearing the words. He scoffed and shook his head, looking down at the girls.

“You’ll never find out,” he stoically voiced out, lightly pursing his lips. “Sexualize me more, but do it louder so everyone can hear how low of a human being you are.”

He didn’t give them one more glance and simply walked away, clearly agitated by the way his stance was; he stood straight, chin high, and eyes hooded.

“He’s so mean!”

“You have to admit, though, that was attractive.”

With one last sigh, you walked away, your phone buzzing with notifications. You already knew who it was because only Minjee and Jimin took up all of your notifications. So, staring at your lock screen, you chuckled as you read the arguments between your best friends and then how they wanted to see you so you could back whoever up.

Looking at Jungkook’s back one more time since he was close by talking to his own best friend, you walked away, unknowingly being looked at by said person.

“So, how was class?” Minjee asked as soon as you stood in front of them. She and Jimin were looking at you so you could talk. You puffed your cheeks.

“Well, I have Jungkook in my class.” Your friends' eyes immediately widened at your words, and their mouths slightly opened. “And,” you dragged out, “he sits next to me.”

“What?” They exclaimed, trying to process the news dropped on them since they had been talking about your crush on him an hour ago.

“Yep, and we talk—”

“Hey!” Your friends looked over your figure to see that Jungkook was walking towards you, ignoring the looks thrown his way. You turned to see him, and he stopped in front of you, clearing his throat. “Um, we need to have something to keep in touch for projects.”

“Oh!” You remembered. “I’m sorry, uh, if you don’t feel comfortable with phone numbers, we can do emails or social media, whichever you’re comfortable with.”

“Here, I’ll give you my Instagram.”

You nodded, and he gave you his phone, all while eyeing your very silent friends behind you. He ignored them even when Minjee waved at him, but he looked away once he saw how they were looking at him. He knew that Jimin was close to shaking out of fear if he looked at them any longer, so he looked away.

“Shit!”

Their heads snapped towards you, and they saw that Jungkook’s phone had slipped out of your hand and had landed on the floor. It was broken, especially since it didn’t have a case, and you winced as you eyed its damages.

“Oh, God…” Jimin breathed out, cringing out of second-hand embarrassment. Minjee frowned and stepped forward, making sure to step in if things got out of hand, especially since she knew that Jungkook was very serious.

“I am so sorry!” You rushed, leaning down to grab it at the same time as Jungkook did.

He stayed quiet as he grabbed his phone, eyeing the back of it, where it was cracked. He pressed the power button and stayed quiet once he saw that it wasn’t turning on at all.

“Don’t worry about it,” he grunted, waving you off. “I’ll—”

“Let me pay for your new phone, please,” you pleaded, your face and body warm at how embarrassed you felt for entirely breaking your crush’s phone.

He looked down at you. “I’ll come to you once I get a new phone. In the meantime, I’ll give you my email next class so we can keep in touch.”

“Okay…” He gave you one curt nod, and just as he left, you uttered a small, “I’m sorry.”

Not having heard you, he walked away, his phone in his hand.

“What the fuck just happened?” Jimin exclaimed, and he and Minjee were frozen in their places with their mouths agape. “Dude, you just broke Jungkook’s phone. That’s so embarrassing!”

“Shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up.” You immediately covered your ears, moving away from your friends as best as you could since you also closed your eyes shut, trying to shake off the memory. “Oh, my God. I broke it! In my defense, though, I was trying to give it to him after I put in my username. Maybe this is a sign I should get away from him.”

“No,” Minjee huffed, nudging Jimin on the side with her elbow. “Take it as a sign that now he gets to talk to you even more.”

“She’s right,” Jimin straightened up, sniffing away the second-hand embarrassment he had felt not even a minute ago. “Maybe the phone breaking was meant to be.”

“Okay, you two are feeding my delusions way too much.” You mumbled, shaking your head while pushing them away from the building you were just in. “Now, let’s go eat while you two talk about your argument.”

“Jimin started it!”

“Yeah, blame me, the only guy! I’m starting to think maybe you’re the problem.”

Smiling at your friends’ argument, you tried not to let yourself think about what had happened. You’ll just apologize to him next class.

The next class arrived rather quickly, and Jimin and Minjee dropped you off with their thumbs up, all while giving you good luck and encouragement.

“Can I sit here?”

“No, maybe I should sit next to him!”

“I called dibs.”

You looked towards your seat, eyeing the girls who surrounded Jungkook. He was uncomfortable and annoyed. He was fidgeting in his seat as he played with his fingers, and although he tried to hide his discomfort, you were familiar with being hit on by people who didn’t take a hint, so his mannerisms stood out to you.

“Excuse me,” you softly said, pushing past the small crowd of people as nicely as you could without hurting anyone. “Sorry, you’re blocking my seat.”

“Who is she?”

The murmurs came back, but now they were all aimed at you. You gulped and set your things down, sitting on the seat from two days ago that told you your fate in this class. You nervously watched as they all grumbled under their breath, aiming their anger at you, before they eventually left.

“Good morning,” you choked out, clearing your throat. You took out your things and didn’t dare to look at Jungkook without feeling the same embarrassment for breaking his phone.

“Mmm,” he hummed in acknowledgment.

You looked straight ahead, lightly tapping the tip of your foot on the carpeted ground. Though you jumped a bit once you saw something being handed to you.

“Huh…?” You let out a blink. “Um, you got a new phone?”

He snorted. “Yes, I need my phone for school and other things.” You opened your mouth to speak, and he placed a hand up. “You didn’t have to buy me another one, Y/n. After all, I needed a new one, so you kind of did me a favor.”

“Do you still need my username?” You asked, and he shook his head, looking away from your gaze, his ears turning pink.

“I, uh, forgot my passwords for my Instagram and any other social media, so just give me your phone number,” he explained through small coughs, but he looked at you seriously shortly after, and his mouth opened again. “Listen, do not share my phone number with anyone, or I will have my friend find a way to give everyone your phone number.”

You squinted your eyes at him. “I know what friend you’re talking about. I know his mom.”

“You don’t know what friend I’m talking about,” he bickered back, now facing you. You scoffed and nodded.

“I do.” You typed out your phone number. “Taehyung is my bitch. I grew up with him.”

That sentence caught him off-guard. Taehyung was your bitch? He couldn’t help but cover the small chuckle that threatened to escape his lips, obviously not believing that his friend would be scared of you. Taehyung wasn’t even afraid of him. He was never afraid of anyone.

“Hmm, he’s never mentioned you,” Jungkook said, shrugging and playing with his pencil.

“I’ll speak to him after class,” you commented, giving him back his phone. He took it, and you smiled. “Last time we saw each other, he pulled my hair, so I’m trying to grab a fistful of his until he buys me whatever I want.”

“Now I see how you two can be friends.”

For the entirety of the class, you two were silent. He would speak once in a while to ask for some of your highlighters or ask for some parts he missed—the professor was rushing—but other than that, you two were too focused on the lesson.

After taking notes, your professor went over the assignment that involved two people, aka you and your partner, aka you and Jungkook. Thankfully, it wasn’t as awkward as you had expected it to be, judging from the fact that he looked like he hated where he was, but he easily made conversation even if he was curt with his responses.

“Again, this project will not be due until next week on Wednesday, so please stay in contact with your partner. Class dismissed.”

Everyone started packing, and the skin of your arm brushed against Jungkook’s bare skin, eliciting goosebumps to rise in their wake on your skin (and his).

“We never switched seats, by the way,” you pointed out, grabbing the highlighter he had been using previously from his hand in front of you. “Though, I’m a bit surprised they didn’t try anything this time.”

“Good,” Jungkook shortly answered, as usual, the two of you walking down the stairs of your lecture room together. “I’ll text you to meet up. I took a peek at the PDF, and we can easily separate the work between us two.”

“What is it about?” You asked, silently thanking him once he unconsciously opened the door for you, letting you through first. “All she said was to read over the article with our partner, but she never specified what we should do after or what the articles are about.”

“It’s just analyzing the articles she assigned specifically to every partner,” he replied. “I’m guessing she did it during class when she asked us to write our names on that paper, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” you nodded, remembering how in your first class, your professor had suggested writing your name and placing the paper in front of you. You just assumed it was for attendance. “Continue.”

“Well, she assigned us an article, and she already sent it to me, so I’ll share it with you, and we have to do a presentation,” he continued, glancing down at his phone before he saw Taehyung not so far from him. You lightly groaned, and he nodded in agreement. “I know. But thankfully, we got an easy topic.” You sighed, and you watched his eyes look around the hallway, clearly looking for someone. He immediately set his eyes on someone in a nearby crowd. “Taehyung!”

Said man turned his head and smiled at coming to see his friend. Though his smile faded once he came to make eye contact with you. He let out a small screech and dashed towards Jungkook to grab his arm so he could shield him from you.

“Leave me alone!” He exclaimed, and Jungkook looked at him over his shoulder, not amused to be used as a protector, much less as a shield. “I know what you want to do to me. Back off, gremlin.”

“You pulled my hair last time, you jerk.” You moved to the side to head towards him, but he would just squeal and move Jungkook towards where you were heading. “Come here before I call your mom and cry to her.”

“That’s not fair,” he whined, furrowing his brows as he peaked over Jungkook’s shoulder. “You know she loves you.”

“What can I say?” You smiled. “It’s not my fault she’s been wanting a daughter. Now come here!”

“No.”

He dodged you, and he quickly hurried outside, where Minjee and Jimin were already waiting for you. Recognizing and knowing they were your friends, he ran towards them.

“Um, why is Taehyung heading here?” Minjee questioned, gulping once she saw the handsome man sprint behind them, his hands gripping their shoulders rather tightly. “Hello?”

“Your friend wants to kill me!” He whispered rather harshly, ducking his head so you wouldn’t see him. But you and Jungkook gave each other looks since you could see his figure over Minjee’s own considering the girl was short.

“What did you do?” Jimin asked, fully aware of your friendship with Taehyung.

“I pulled her hair last time we saw each other at my house,” he rushed out, and he flinched once he felt your hand gripping his hair. The others watched his rather tall figure being dragged away, and Jungkook just stayed still with his arms crossed over his chest, knowing that his friend deserved this. “Ow! I did not pull your hair that hard last time.”

“Yes, you did, you ass.” You squinted your eyes at him, making him look at you. You two stared at one another, conversing with your eyes, and it was hard for you to not laugh at the way his body was hunched. You let go of pity and crossed your arms, staring at him like a disappointed mother. “I’m still going to tell your mom.”

As you two then bickered like siblings and hit each other like ones, Minjee found the perfect opportunity to look at Jungkook for answers. “They know each other?”

“They’re childhood friends,” Jimin said once he saw Jungkook respond with a shrug. He didn’t like to talk. “I remember I had seen Taehyung in pictures with her mom and his mom, and I had asked her about it since I knew how his mom looked because of orientation.”

“I never expected them to be friends,” Minjee commented, giggles escaping her lips once she saw you and the boy swat each other’s arms back and forth.

Luckily for Taehyung, she and Jungkook intervened. Jungkook took him away from your grip while your best friend grabbed your hands away from him because you decided to fight him. Again. What college students you two were, acting like children, but it was his fault. He started it, and you fully blamed him. And, very college style, too, no one cared what you two were doing, so you continued to slap his arm despite being dragged away.

After dragging you and Taehyung away a second time—he went back to get his revenge and pull your hair—your groups sadly parted ways. Not before Taehyung admitted he’d get you a month's worth of free food if you didn’t snitch on him to his mother.

Eyeing Jungkook one more time over your shoulder, you smiled at his and Taehyung’s bickering and turned around to talk with your own best friends, who were holding onto your arms.

“That’s so crazy,” Minjee said after a moment of silence. You and Jimin glanced at her, giving her a look so she could continue with her sentence. She chuckled in disbelief. “You are friends with Taehyung.”

You snorted, shrugging sheepishly. “Our mothers were best friends. After my mom left, his mom helped my dad raise me, and she became like a second mother while he became a brother figure.”

“Why do you guys never talk on campus?” Minjee continued, curious about everything. You understood why. She became a close friend of yours and Jimin’s that school year, and she was getting to know you two more and more. Jimin only knew a bit after he came across picture after picture on the nightstands in your room after having moved in together. He didn’t question you as much, though.

“We do talk,” you answered. “But we have our friend group. We just prefer talking more in person with our families over dinner or just when I head to his house in general. The only time you’ll see us talk is if his mom wants him to give me something or if my dad wants me to give him something.”

“And here we were worried about you never talking to Jungkook when you could’ve just told Taehyung to talk about you to him.” Minjee rushed out rather excitedly, and you immediately shook your head, humming your disapproval.

“No,” you firmly said, as if you were determined to finish some type of mission. “Taehyung is my best friend, my brother, and it’s not fair for me to use him in a way that’s offensive towards him to get closer to his friend. After all, Jungkook should know me from me and not that butt face.”

If only that “butt-face” knew when to shut his mouth because, in the current moment, Taehyung was spewing so much shit about you to Jungkook that would have you strangling him.

“You just never told me about her,” Jungkook shrugged, and Taehyung snorted, hands buried in the front pockets of his hoodie.

“I figured she didn’t want to be associated with me,” he softly explained, as if he hadn’t revealed the fact that you used to stick your boogers on kids who liked you not even a second ago. “Y/n is, like, a sister, you know? I’m already embarrassing as it is—”

“I know.”

Taehyung ignored his comment and continued. “She’s the nicest person ever, though. She just didn’t grow up in a very nice home.”

“How so?” Jungkook asked, looking away from his friend’s face to show he wasn’t as interested as he was.

“Sorry, sister code.”

“I knew you were a girl.”

“She’s my sister, stupid!”

During the next few weeks of January, you spent your entire time finishing work with Jungkook until it was the month couples adored.

Now, despite the way your personality was, you never really enjoyed Valentine’s Day. Yes, it was nice when you would receive candy and chocolate from classmates after you had to when you were children, but now it just showcased the status of people. That was a reason, though. The other was that your parents argued more around this month, and it was hard. It led to their divorce, and much to your luck—sarcasm—after your parents tried to split their time with you, your mom was never great, hence why Taehyung’s mom came into the picture since she was your mom’s best friend and didn’t agree with her actions.

But you were happy this time. You got to befriend the guy you’ve had a crush on since orientation of the first year of college, so why wouldn’t you be happy? It may not be a big deal, but it was a big improvement on your part since you could never utter a single word to any of the guys you used to like, so being able to be friends with Jungkook made you happy.

“I brought you snacks!” You exclaimed once you reached him with a smile on your lips. You ignored the looks you received from other people and passed him a bento filled with food. “And good morning, Jungkook.”

“Good morning,” he muttered back, watching you sit down in your seat. Your hands quickly moved to take out your assignments and things you needed for class, and when you finished, you looked back at him with your hands neatly folded in front of you. He raised an eyebrow. “Hmm?”

“Try it,” you encouraged, gesturing towards the bento, and he sighed, opening the lid. “I made it with love.”

He looked up at you through his lashes at hearing you sing song the last word rather dramatically. He even noticed you had a little heart with your hands to emphasize it, and he could simply smile a bit, shaking his head at your antics.

“I’ll eat a bit, alright?” He mumbled out, grabbing the spoon you provided rather gently in between his ring-cladded fingers. He looked up to see you looking at him with a hopeful look and made sure to see if the professor was coming in. Seeing that she wasn’t, he ate the food you provided him and savored it.

“Well?” You bit your lower lip nervously while watching him eat. He slowly hummed, and you couldn’t even find any type of answer on his face that told you if he liked it or not.

He continued to eat with furrowed brows, and he still couldn’t give you a full answer. He was savoring it so much that he would immediately wave off any type of chocolate he would get from people coming to give it to him.

“Jungkook,” you whined, grabbing his forearm and lightly shaking him so he wouldn’t choke on his food. “How is it?”

You could hear the soft snickering he let out under his breath as he gulped down his food before turning to look at you. “It’s so fucking good. You need to make more.”

“God,” you playfully rolled your eyes at him and placed a hand over your chest by your heart, “just say you fell in love with me.”

He opened his mouth to say something once you turned away from him to cover the food, but he got cut off once your teacher came in, greeting everyone.

“Sorry for holding up the class. There was traffic.”

As she rambled on, you started writing in your notebook to calm down your heart, which was rapidly pumping. He loved your food.

“Hey,” you heard, turning your head and looking at Jungkook, who was glancing at his iPad. “Taehyung and I are going to eat at the café that you told me about. You wanna come with your friends, um, Mina, and, um, what’s his name?”

“Minjee and Jimin, Jungkook,” you corrected with humor laced in your voice. He always sees them after you two get out of class together, but that’s it; they all just look at one another and ignore each other.

“Yeah, them,” he sighed. “Anyway, do you want to come to the café?”

You nodded and smiled at his question. “Of course I will. My last class doesn’t end until 3:45, though.”

“It’s fine,” he shrugged, leaning back on his seat. He gave you a look. “Just text me. You have my number.”

You nodded with a happy hum and looked away from his gaze. But, you let his question settle in your head and hid your smile.

“You remembered I—”

“Bring it up, and I won’t take you.”

With a silent giggle, you continued to write your notes. Your hands felt clammy against your pencil, and you couldn’t process the fact that Jungkook had remembered that small moment. After all, you mentioned it once, two weeks ago or so, when you heard some girls talking about it from behind you two.

Getting out of class together, you two were stopped almost immediately by a girl handing Jungkook a letter nervously.

“Hi, Jungkook.” She placed a piece of hair behind her ear rather shyly, and you noticed her friends looking at her in the background. You stepped aside to not intervene, and although it did pain you to do so, you didn’t want to be a nuisance.

“What do you want?” He raised a brow, an annoyed expression crossing his face.

You winced at his tone and continued to watch, feeling bad for the poor girl who was shaking in her shoes. She gulped and cleared her throat.

“Um, I have been thinking of you,” the girl confessed, fidgeting with the paper as she continued her profession, “and I can’t—”

Jungkook immediately scoffed at the words spewing out of her mouth and looked away. “I don’t want it. Share it with someone else.”

“But—”

“Weren’t you one of the girls who was wondering what I was like in bed?” The girl’s face turned red in a flash, showcasing the embarrassment she felt at that moment since there were girls around her and the guy in front of her. “I don’t like girls who sexualize me.”

With one last scoff, Jungkook walked away. But he made sure you were still following behind him since he knew that the girls who liked him would blame you as quickly as they professed their love for him.

You sped away from the girl and the crowd, hearing the way she started to cry out of anger and embarrassment. You caught up to Jungkook and puffed your cheeks.

“Are you okay?” You softly asked, making sure to not overstep. He glanced down at you before eyeing your best friends and his friend together.

“I don’t want them to get the wrong idea,” he simply stated and continued walking towards your small group. You didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by questioning it even more, so you immediately smiled at seeing your friends.

You were the only one in the friend group who had one more class. It was about a 3-hour lecture, so as soon as you guys grabbed some food to eat, you were dropped off at your class by all 4.

“I’ll see you guys later!”

Your grin made three of your friends smile back, waving at you. Jungkook stood by and simply waved back before he and the others walked away.

“I miss her already,” Minjee sighed, pursing her lips. Jimin and Taehyung let out hums of agreement simultaneously, stating that they, of course, missed you as much. However, they heard a deeper tone and snapped their heads towards Jungkook, who wasn’t looking at them but rather seemed more interested in playing with his lip ring and eyeing the flowers of a nearby bush.

“Did you agree?”

“No.”

He did.

On the other hand, you weren’t having a good time.

A 3-hour lecture was not something you wanted right now because you were too excited to focus since you were going to be able to hang out with your friends. Especially Jungkook. Because of that reason, it was no surprise that you were the first person gone as soon as the teacher announced it was time to pack.

Jungkook was waiting for you at the front of the building your class was in. You noticed his stoic expression heightening when he would get approached or when he could hear people talking about him, so you took it as a sign to pull him away once someone approached him and wouldn’t leave him alone.

“Hi,” you smiled at the person before waving, your hand wrapping itself around Jungkook’s wrist. You then glanced at the person with the same sheepish smile. “Bye.”You led Jungkook away and once you made sure you were at a distance away from everyone, you looked at him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he breathed out before clearing his throat. “Come on. The others are waiting by the supermarket.”

“Let’s go!”

It wasn’t the first time walking together, of course, but it was the first time walking off campus. He kept glancing at you here and there—you were too busy talking to notice—and he debated whether he should thank you once you were done explaining to him how you had to find a partner in class.

It was nerve-wracking; to be surrounded by a bunch of people who were obsessed with wanting to be with you. Jungkook didn’t mind it, but once he felt the hands and remembered the face of someone he once knew in his life that negatively impacted his life, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by some people fighting to be with him. He stood up for himself as best as he could, but they just wouldn’t listen.

“Finally.”

He snapped out of his thoughts once he came to hear another voice, a familiar one, and even heard sounds of agreement coming from your friends.

“Sorry,” you winced. “We came as fast as we could. We can go now.”

“Be thankful it’s right around the corner,” Taehyung squinted his eyes playfully as he spoke, obviously just wanting to tease you. You rolled your eyes and smacked the back of his head once you passed by him to hang out with Minjee. The other three stayed behind to keep a close eye on you two, all while also talking to each other. Since Jungkook wasn’t a big talker and liked admiring instead, Taehyung and Jimin spoke the most and even added comments that allowed Jungkook to answer with a hum.

“Woah,” Minjee let out once you 5 arrived at the café.

It was already halfway packed and there were so many college students there that it started to make Jungkook anxious at the idea of someone hitting on him when he was with his friends. Thankfully, you and Taehyung noticed his change of demeanor and made him sit between you two.

“It looks so pretty,” Jimin said, his eyes looking around the place to eye the decorations that caught his attention. “Wait, I need to take pictures!”

You snorted under your breath and watched your friend immediately take out his phone, snapping away.

You made sure they all knew what to order first before you went back to the digital menu on your phone to see what you wanted.

“Jungkook,” you whispered since the others were talking with a waiter. Said man turned to look at you and he saw your brows furrowed in concentration. “Which one sounds good?”

You pointed your phone towards him, allowing him to see the options. He hummed and eyed the options meticulously before choosing.

“The first one.”

“Okay, okay.”

Once you all ordered, you were too distracted to notice that Jungkook had taken out his bento and continued to eat it, savoring each drop. He stayed quiet, like always, and the scenery in front of you was funny considering that this intimidating man wearing all black was in a place with rather bright colors. It was simply amusing.

“How was Y/n as a child?” Minjee asked, throwing a teasing smile your way once she saw that your smile had faded and a groan had escaped them instead.

“Do not tell them, Taehyung.”

He simply smirked and leaned closer. “She was an annoying crybaby.”

You scoffed at his words and leaned over Jungkook’s figure to smack his arm. “No, I wasn’t you ass.”

“Yes, you were!” He exclaimed back at you, smacking you back. He then turned to look back at your friends all while Minjee and Jimin listened with amusement and Jungkook continued eating—he was listening, though. “There was this one time she was chasing me and next thing you know, I heard crying, and my mom went to go check… she had merely tripped on a pair of shoes and fell.”

“I was bleeding from my nose?” You give him an incredulous that has hid him snickering. “He was laughing the entire time and his poor mom was wiping my nose. He got in trouble, though.”

“Yeah, and then you punched me in the nose,” Taehyung spoke in a loud tone, emphasizing every word. He rolled his eyes. “I’m never forgiving you for that one.”

“You punched him?” Jungkook side-glanced you and you cleared your throat, looking away from his gaze. You light shrugged.

“Maybe.”

You heard him snort and stared at him now. Jungkook had a small smirk on his face, shaking his head.

“It’s a good thing then,” he said, making eye contact with you. You hid your smile as best as you could and nodded.

“He deserves it once in a while,” you chuckled and he hummed in agreement with you as he chewed on his food. “Wait, you’re eating it?”

“I told you it’s good, did I not?” He arched his pierced brow at you and you gulped at how attractive he looked doing that. Nervously nodding, he looked away. “Just say you don’t listen to me.”

“I-” Shocked at his teasing tone, your eyes slightly widened. “Are you teasing me?”

“I don’t know, am I?” While swallowing his food, he spared you one more look before looking away again. “Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies.”

“Woah!” You and Jungkook eyed Taehyung who spoke, his eyes and the others on you two. “I’ve never heard you talk like that, Kook.”

“Because you’re annoying,” Jungkook rolled his eyes, pushing his face away from his since he was about to rest his head on his shoulder.

“I’m just surprised because this is the longest I’ve heard you talk,” Minjee commented with Jimin agreeing with her. Jungkook shrugged.

“I don’t feel like talking half of the time,” he simply explained, closing the bento once he finished with his food. He gave you your tupperware back, a small “thank you” escaping the lips he kept licking to savor any leftover sauce.

“Here are your drinks.” Your waiter arrived—thanks to Jungkook’s relief—to give you all the things you ordered, and you fidgeted in your seat once you had noticed a phone number on the sleeve of the cup that was given to you.

“Um, I think this phone number is for you,” you said, giving the cup to Minjee. She frowned and grabbed it from you before she rolled her eyes with a smile playing on her lips.

“Honey, that’s for you,” she chuckled. You pursed your lips and eyed it. You looked around for the waiter and your eyes met with his because he was currently looking at you.

“Uh, but what I don’t want to call him…?” You studied the paper and you heard Jungkook from beside you sigh.

“Here,” he grabbed the cup and stood up, ignoring the looks he received as he walked towards the boy behind the counter.

You could see him talking and the waiter peaked at you, his mouth moving to talk back to Jungkook. You saw Jungkook curtly nod before he walked away with a new sleeve on your cup and he propped it in front of you.

“He won’t bother you.”

Minjee, Jimin, and Taehyung gave each other looks while containing their giggles at the way he said those words to you.

“What’d you tell him?” You questioned and he shrugged.

“Just that you felt uncomfortable,” he replied, taking a sip of his smoothie.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Hiding your smile while taking a sip of your drink, your eyes met your friends who were wiggling their eyebrows at you. You subtly threw them the middle finger but you couldn’t help but feel that familiar tingling coursing through your body. Unknowingly, the new events would bring you and Jungkook closer.

Jungkook surprised you the next day.

Before class, you had texted him that you’ll be in class earlier so you’ll get him some treats, considering that he had told you he had been getting headaches during class because he doesn’t eat.

Taehyung had told you to get him some banana milk and you got him other snacks that you’d hope he’d enjoy.

Walking to class, you were stopped, though, by a girl and a guy, their smiles so fake you could spot it a mile away. You frowned, not knowing who they were, and smiled confusedly.

“Hi?” You questioned.

“You’re Jungkook’s friend, right?” The girl spoke first and you hummed, not giving them a clear answer. “Well, he changed his phone number and we wanted to contact him because we wanted to interview him.”

“Uhuh,” you mused, clearly not believing in their lies. You had crossed your arms over your chest, an amused expression on your face. “Sorry, I advise you to talk to him about it first because I don’t give his phone number out to anyone.”

“Yeah, but he won’t know it came from you,” the guy said next, staring at you up and down. You ignored the way he was giving you an attitude and you rolled your eyes.

“He’s my friend and that’s why I won’t give you his phone number,” you threw them a fake smile, too. “Now, if you allow me, I have class.”

They stepped in front of you, blocking your way. The girl spoke again. “You have class with him, right?”

“Why?”

“We can drop you off!” The girl enthusiastically exclaimed, clapping her hands as if what they were about to do was so amazing. You scoffed.

“Sorry?” You made sure you heard them right. And just as they grabbed your arms to drag you to your class, you kept your feet planted on the ground to keep you in place. “This is creepy to another level. Leave him alone.”

“What are you talking about?” The guy snickered. “We’re just going to drop off our friend.”

“You don’t even know my name,” you pointed out, crossing your arms and staring them down.

As they opened their mouths to speak, they shut them close as soon as a figure emerged from behind you, a glare set on his face.

“What the hell are you doing?” You sighed in relief at hearing Jungkook’s voice from behind you. You felt his fingers grab your forearm and place you right beside him. “I told you two to leave me alone and now you’re harassing my friend?”

The girl gulped at listening to his tone and waved her hand, dismissing his words. “We just wanted—”

“Wanted what, huh?” Jungkook got closer to her to stare her down even more. He leaned a bit closer to whisper to them both. “Do not put your hands on her ever again. If you want to ask me something, ask it to me face to face. Do not speak to her.”

At not hearing a single word or sound coming out of them, he angrily scoffed and turned to look at you. His eyes shifted to the way your brows were furrowed out of worry, gaze on the other two. He grabbed your hand and led you away, ignoring the whispers thrown your way, and took you to a reserved spot.

“Are you okay?” You immediately asked, noticing his figure shaking a bit. He nodded.

“I’m sorry about that,” he sighed, sitting down on a bench near your classroom. He placed his palms on his face, elbows propped on his thighs, and soft breaths leaving his mouth and nose. “Listen, if you don’t want to be my friend—”

“Jungkook shut up,” you smiled at him and sat on his side. “Just because a few people beg me to give them your phone number, it’s not going to make me stop being your friend. I wouldn’t be a real friend if I ran away.”

“Really?” He asked and you nodded.

“Don’t worry,” you reassured. “I’m just there you got there in time. Nice to know you’ll protect me against people like that.”

“Of course,” he mumbled, looking back at his lap. He played with his lip ring. “Thank you for what you said by the way. Thank you for having my back.”

“Of course, you’re my best friend,” you childishly grinned at him, passing him his snacks and drink. “Here ya go!”

“You texted Tae, I’m guessing,” he chuckled as he noticed the banana milk. You nodded. “Thank you.”

“And thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” he waved you off. “I’ll always be there for whatever you need.”

And he stood by his word.

A couple of days later, you were heading towards the place a peer of yours had told you to go to. You were a bit lost as you never discovered more of your college campus, but you tried your hardest to navigate around without looking too lost.

“Where are you going?”

You turned your head and smiled once you came to see Jungkook standing not so far from you, hands inside the pockets of his sweater.

“Do you know who,” you glanced at your phone, “Do-yun is?”

He immediately sighed, briefly closing his eyes in clear disappointment. “Are you going to meet up with a random stranger?”

You shook your head. “He’s my partner in one of my other classes. I was just telling you to see if you knew him.”

Of course, Jungkook knew him.

The guy was an asshole, and that’s saying something, considering Jungkook was the biggest asshole. But Do-yun was a cheater, and he loved playing around with people’s feelings. It didn’t matter what gender they were, as long as they had a heart and were extremely sensitive. You were a target now, considering that you were so chirpy, happy, and empathetic.

Jungkook immediately frowned.

“I’ll go with you,” he said, watching you hum and curtly nod with a smile on your face. You immediately grabbed onto his arm, dragging him towards where Do-yun was waiting for you.

You struggled a bit, but Jungkook guided you towards the place Do-yun requested you to go. At noticing the place, Jungkook was happy he saw you because where you were heading was a pretty quiet spot with no one around unless one came across it.

“Do-yun?” You called out once you reached your destination. Said man turned around at hearing his name being called and smiled.

“Hey-Oh…” His smile faded once he came to find the tall, stoic, tattooed man next to you, glares being thrown at him. He rapidly shook his head to wave off his shock and you eyed the way a smile started forming on his face again. “Hey, I was just expecting you and not,” he glanced at Jungkook, “anyone else.”

You smiled and patted Jungkook’s arm softly. “Jungkook is my friend, and he just wanted to come with me.”

“Hmm,” Do-yun hummed, a fake smile spreading on his lips because he and Jungkook did not get along. Jungkook did not take his shit, and Do-yun just wanted to punch that stupid face of his 24/7. “Anyway, are you okay with coming to my house to work on the project?”

“Why can’t we just meet up at the library?” You frowned, and Jungkook praised you in his head for being smart about the situation. Knowing the man in front of you, he knows he has other plans in mind. “I don’t feel safe going to someone’s house, especially someone I don’t know.”

“That’s reasonable,” Do-yun said, and Jungkook almost laughed at the way he tried to charm you. It was obvious what he was trying to do with you, and Jungkook hated it. He just wanted to punch the shit out of him for even daring to look at you with those nasty eyes of his. “We can just meet up in the library then.”

“Um, is it okay if Jungkook can join us?” You questioned, and though Jungkook might think you’re naive, you’re not. You can see the way Do-yun looked at you, and it was uncomfortable, so you hoped Jungkook would say “yes” to your request.

Upon noticing both of you had turned to look at him, Jungkook didn’t waste a second mentally agreeing to be there.

“Um, isn’t it supposed to be partners only?” Do-Yun questioned, glaring back at Jungkook once you looked away to look at your phone. “I don’t think we need another person there that isn’t in our class.”

“I’ll be there.”

You smiled at hearing Jungkook’s words and grinned at the guy in front of you, who immediately waved off the glare he was sending toward Jungkook. “Don’t worry. He won’t bother us. He’s just there so he can take me home.”

Do-Yun hummed and slowly nodded, still not up to having Jungkook ruin his plans. After all, you were so pretty, he had to get to you. Being Jimin’s best friend—he liked playing around with everyone—and Minjee’s—she just loved making friends—you were sought out, too. They were popular, and you were popular by association. You didn’t like it, as you liked your little group of friends, but it was a title that followed you. You didn’t need the popularity. But you were more popular now that you were associated with the guy everyone tries to go after and are even friends with his best friend—no one knows you and Taehyung are childhood friends—who was the most popular guy on campus because of his looks. Of course, he’d want you. To finally snag the girl everyone wants to befriend because of her friends? Yeah, you piqued his interest.

“I also don’t trust you,” Jungkook stated, continuing to burn holes into Do-yun’s head.

“You don’t trust me?” Do-yun scoffed.

“I don’t trust you.”

Jungkook made sure to empathize his words before he left with you, eyes not straying away from the guy now glaring back at him since your back was facing towards him.

“He’s such a creep,” you sighed as soon as Do-yun was out of earshot. “He tried pulling some moves on Minjee, too, so I know all about his dumb little game.”

“And that is?”

“And that is to get in my pants,” you answered, shivering out of cringe. You couldn’t ignore the way the blonde-haired guy tried pulling a move on you in class. That’s why you ended up as partners.

“You’re not as dumb as other people are,” Jungkook hummed and you snorted at his comment. With his hands in the pockets of his jacket and his hair swaying with the wind, you eyed the way he looked as he said that comment because one thing Jungkook is good at is insulting you and complimenting you at the same time.

“Well, you’re not an asshole like other people are.”

“Shut up, you think I am.”

You giggled at his comment and continued walking side by side, arm brushing against the leather material of his jacket.

After class was finished, Minjee came to pick you up so you two could go out and eat. It had been a while since you two hung out, just you two girls, so while Jimin was out making friends with Taehyung, you two went to the music store that she liked going to.

“He likes you.”

You snorted at Minjee’s comment as you eyed the objects in the store.

“He’s just being friendly,” you waved off, briefly smiling at some people who passed and you awkwardly made eye contact with him. “He rejects everyone who confesses to him. He’ll reject me and he’ll stop being friends with me.”

“Have you thought about the fact that he, I don’t know,” Minjee said, her voice dropping a bit while her hands held some albums, “maybe rejects them because he doesn’t know them? Random people are throwing themselves at him and he doesn’t know them at all.”

“That’s true,” you mumbled. “But, it doesn’t mean anything. We’re friends, best friends in my head. That might be how he is with Taehyung, too.”

Minjee thought about it and nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” You two continued to walk around and you waved at the store owner, Yoongi, aka Minjee’s cousin, as soon as you came to see him looking at the door rather miserably. “Ah, he gets passed down my grandparents' store and he hates it. What a boob.”

“Shut up, Minjee, before I make your parents make you work.”

“I’ll gladly work here.”

You eyed their banter and walked away to let them be because much like how Minjee was with Jimin and Jimin was with her, they’ll bring you into their arguments and make you choose a side, which you don’t mind but it was hard to choose when they were both wrong.

You eyed some t-shirts here and there that fit Jungkook’s style, and snapped pictures to send to him. You even made sure to snap pictures of jewelry that screamed him.

Looking around once more while Minjee caught up with her cousin, you looked back at the pictures. However, something caught your eye in one of them once you sent it. There, in the background, Do-Yun stood with the two people he always hung out with, his back facing you. Thankfully he hadn’t noticed you and sighed in relief, but you felt like you jinxed it once you heard him calling your name.

Turning around, a smile that didn’t reach your eyes came to be, and you stayed in your place.

“Hi, Do-Yun,” you greeted.

“Hi, Y/n,” he grinned. He looked over his shoulders, hands sticking out. “Guys, this is Y/n, the girl I told you about.”

“Oh, the hot one,” a friend of his commented and you mentally groaned because, of course, it would be a moment like this. “You are hot, you know that?”

“Ah, yes, because I was seeking a compliment,” you sweetly stated, hoping that they would notice your attitude and take a hint. “Anyway, I’m heading out.”

“Wait.”

You felt a hand on your arm and you immediately pulled away. “Don’t touch me, Do-yun.”

“Damn, why are you so fucking angry?” He chuckled as if your attitude was the funniest thing ever. You rolled your eyes and ignored him. “Wow, are you riding Jeon’s dick this hard you can’t even talk to me?”

“Leave him out of this.” You gave him a look. “I’m simply telling you to leave me alone but that small ass brain of yours isn’t working, is it?” His friends chuckled at your words and Do-yun was not laughing anymore. “I was nice letting you be my partner, but seeing you now after school, I want nothing to do with you, so please look for another person.”

“Come on, Y/n,” Do-yun grabbed your wrist. You closed your eyes at his actions and looked around to make eye contact with Minjee. Luckily she had been looking around for you, too, and her eyes widened at your situation. “This attitude of yours can simply be fixed if you hang out with me.”

“Are you that desperate to sleep with someone?” You commented. “Like, are you? I’m telling you no and I’m showing you that I don’t want to be your partner anymore, and you still talk about wanting to take me out?”

The silence was deafening, but you thanked your best friend for immediately walking to you.

“Leave her alone, Do-Yun,” she sternly stated, her hand wrapping itself around his own. She took your hand away from his and pushed him away. “You’re so fucking annoying. Take a hint.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Jee,” Do-Yun sneered, getting closer. “Leave us the fuck alone.”

“No, no, no,” Minjee waved a finger in front of his face and you gulped down your chuckle. “You leave me the fuck alone and you leave her the fuck alone because your desperation is showing. You really can’t bag anyone if this is how far you have to go.”

“How about you shut the f—”

“Alright, buddy,” your heads snapped towards the voice and you all made eye contact with Yoongi’s glare, “get out of my damn store.”

“But—”

“No, don’t disrespect my family like that and expect to be welcome nicely here,” Yoongi raised his eyebrows as if to tell them to test him and he gestured towards the door. “Get out before I let Minjee get the pepper spray.”

Do-Yun exhaled loudly and walked away, clearly embarrassed at the situation he was in. He was more embarrassed that he was talking like that in front of his friends, but you and Minjee did not care. You were tired of his actions and you knew you shouldn’t have partnered with him.

Yoongi was paranoid about the situation and your guys’ safety, so he closed down the shop early to drop you two off at your apartment.

Saying goodbye and thanking him, you walked home, and your mouth couldn’t stop spewing curse words directed towards Do-yun.

“What an asshole,” you scoffed, opening your door with your key. “He tried putting his hands on me and said my “attitude” would be fixed if I hung out with him?” You opened your door and walked in, ignoring the voices in the background. “I mean, he’s such a piece of shit. I’m gonna punch him tomorrow, I’m not kidding. No, I’m going to do worse because how dare you touch me.”

“Y/n.”

“No,” you waved off, placing your bag on the table harshly. You placed your keys on the bowl nearby and took off your sweater. “Like, how entitled do you have to be?”

“What happened?” Jimin whispered. Minjee sighed, plopping next to him.

“Do-Yun,” Minjee made sure he knew who she was talking about before continuing, “was at the store we went to today, and he didn’t let Y/n go because he held her wrist.”

“What?”

You turned around and froze in your steps, because right across from Jimin was Taehyung and Jungkook who had gotten up at the revelation.

“What did he do?” Taehyung asked, eyebrows furrowing out of anger.

“That asshole was just annoying me,” you waved it off, though, you were seething. A second incident of someone grabbing you irritated you because of the nerve some people have. “I told him to find another partner because it’s not going to be me.”

“He grabbed you?” Taehyung asked, stepping forward to make sure you were okay. You nodded. “I’m going to kill him.”

“I’m just so angry,” you groaned, and Jungkook watched your actions because he had never seen this side of you. You were annoyed and irritated and furious all at once, and your hands were fidgeting with your fidget rings he never saw you play with.

“Don’t stress about it too much,” Jimin frowned, petting your head. “He’s not worth thinking about.”

“I’m more pissed he was talking back to Minjee,” you said, wrapping your arms around your friend. Minjee smiled and hugged you back, rubbing your back because she could feel your heart pounding against your chest from adrenaline.

“We’ll deal with it.”

You didn’t think they’d deal with it. Well, you did because both Jimin and Taehyung are fighters once their friends are harmed. You never doubted Jungkook, but you honestly didn’t expect him and the others to go by their own words. You don’t know why, but the three would do anything for you and Minjee, so if you two get harassed by an obvious asshole, they needed to step in.

The next day after the incident, Jungkook, Jimin, and Taehyung looked for Do-yun. Jimin followed him on Instagram and he immediately alerted them of where he was since Do-yun had taken a video and posted it on his story. So, the three of them sauntered off towards where Do-yun was, and they made sure to be away from any type of crowd.

“Hey, Do-yun!”

Said man looked over his shoulder and saw that the three were walking towards him, obviously pissed.

“What the hell is wrong with you harassing Minjee and Y/n, huh?” Taehyung asked. “Are you that much of a pussy you have to say shit to them?”

“Oh, what saviors you are,” Do-Yun rolled his eyes. He looked over his shoulder to make sure his friends were there, but his shoulders sagged once he saw that they had backed away. “Look, it’s not my fault that Y/n has to be saved or whatever and brought Minjee into it. If anything, it’s her fault.”

“Oh, yeah just blame Y/n and not your stupid ass self, huh?” Jimin laughed sarcastically, not liking the way this doofus in front of him was talking about his friends. He eyed, Jungkook, though once he saw that he was quiet and observing.

“Y/n was exaggerating my actions, dude,” Do-Yun rolled his eyes before setting themselves on Jungkook. “If she wasn’t dick-riding you so hard, she wouldn’t have made it a big deal.”

“I dare you to fucking talk about her again, asshole,” Jungkook said, a scoff escaping his lips.

“You're just jealous that I took a chance to talk to her about feelings,” Do-yun spat out. “Let’s not forget how you can’t have a single girl talk to you without you suddenly shaking.”

“At least he has girls talking to him,” Jimin commented, snorting at his comment. Do-yun glared at Jimin and he turned to look back at Jungkook.

“Just admit it, Jeon, if I wanted to, I could fuck her—”

Jungkook didn’t even let him finish his sentence before punching him across the face, making his bleed from his nose. Do-yun, though, didn’t want to look like a fool in front of his friends, so he struck back, though, his fist landed on Jungkook’s mouth instead. Hard but not too hard. Just hard enough that Jungkook started bleeding. It didn’t stop from there because Jungkook swung back at him sbd punched him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Watching him fall, Jungkook took a step back, wiping away some blood with the back of his inked hand.

“Stay away from her, you fucking idiot.”

Walking away, Jimin and Taehyung looked between the body on the floor groaning and then at their friend leaving. They laughed simultaneously at Do-yin’s face and followed behind Jungkook like children.

“oh, my god,” Jimin laughed. “His face was funny.”

“I hope you know that Y/n is going to be mad at you,” Taehyung smiled, snickering at the way Jungkook sighed.

“I know.”

And you were.

“So you decide to fight him?”

Jungkook winced at your scolding as you wiped away the wound on his lip. The others stood by and snickered at the scolding he was receiving and Minjee was secretly recording.

“Y/n—”

“No, Jungkook,” you glared at him, “you could’ve gotten hurt. No, not even that, if a staff member had seen you two, you would’ve gotten punished. What he did isn’t worth you fighting for and getting in trouble for.”

“He grabbed you!” Jungkook spoke in a louder tone than usual. “I told you I would be there if you need anything.”

Noticing that this was a moment you two needed, just you two, you made sure to give Minjee a look that had her pushing away your friends outside.

At the silence, your gaze softened as you eyed Jungkook.

“Look,” you started, eyes meeting his, “I appreciate you punching him, okay? I do.” He nodded. “I just don’t want you to regret doing that if you get in trouble.”

“I don’t regret it,” he reassured. “I promise.”

“But I’m still mad,” you pointed a finger at him. “I was supposed to punch him.”

Jungkook lowly chuckled at your words and eyed your concentrated face. “You can still do that tomorrow.”

You giggled. “Okay.”

And Jungkook, of course, didn’t think you’d try something, because when he found you the next day, you were scolding Do-yun.

“You better be thankful that Jungkook already hit you hard enough or else I would’ve broken your nose,” you sneered, shaking your head in disappointment.

“Yeah, what my friend said,” Minjee commented from beside you. Do-Yun was just silent, his friends holding in their laughs that these two girls were threatening him.

“Yeah, so come at me,” you got closer to him. However, a hand stopped you from doing so, and you looked over your shoulder to see that Jungkook was holding onto your backpack. “No, let go of me, I will jump him.”

You heard him sigh and he continued dragging you away while you continued to spew threats at Do-yun.

“You should be lucky Jungkook came here or else I would’ve knocked your ass out for hitting his pretty face!”

But Jungkook couldn’t do anything other than smile at himself.

“Idiot…”

It was midterm week and that meant so many students stressing. However, what Jungkook didn’t expect is you missing.

He was currently looking for you in class, his head snapping side to side to see if you would appear out of thin air but nothing.

He was feeling fidgety, and your presence alone comforts him every day since you always distract him by talking to him about your day or gossip you’ve heard about from others. And now here he was, alone, and he would glare at whoever would try to sit on your seat. That’s your seat. Even though you weren’t there next to him, he doesn’t want someone else to talk his ear off.

“Where is she?” He mumbled under his breath, frowning. His phone was in his hand, nervously playing with it as he waited for your response, but nothing happened. He looked at the time, and all he could do was write down the notes of the lesson because, knowing you, he’d know that you’d be very dramatic about knowing you missed a lesson.

It was a while later that Jimin texted him. He didn’t expect it, but he knew your best friend wouldn’t have texted him out of nowhere, considering that Jimin was scared of him. So, as he was packing his bag, he opened the message, his eyes running over the words.

Jaemin ( y/n friend ) : Y/n is sick. I just wanted to tell you so you can do her a favor in doing her notes, pls 🙏🏼

That’s why, Jungkook sighed and put away his phone.

He hummed and looked at the time, knowing that he had his last class in a bit, but he needed to make sure you were okay. Not that he cared, but he needed to make sure you were okay.

Walking towards where your apartment was, he softly knocked, holding onto his backpack strap. He still held his serious expression, and it didn’t change once Jimin opened the door with a shocked expression.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, his mouth slightly agape at eyeing the broad-shouldered, tattooed man. “Um, Y/n is sick.”

“Where is she?” Jungkook asked and Jimin moved aside to let him in. The latter simply hummed and went into their home, briefly looking around the place since it was a bit messy, and looked at Jimin with a raised eyebrow.

“She’s in her room,” Jimin replied, pointing towards the door that had your name in cursive. Jungkook nodded and headed towards it, but Jimin’s voice was heard again. “Just letting you know, she will most likely kick you out. She doesn’t like anyone caring for her.”

Jungkook hesitated, his hand hovering above your doorknob, but he just shrugged and walked in, met with a smell so nice and comforting.

He looked around and heard coughing from the bathroom. He made his way towards it and knocked, catching your attention.

“I’m okay, Jimin,” he heard you croak out before you went back to coughing. He rolled his eyes and knocked again, not wanting to let you know it was him because you’d most likely not open the door. “Oh, my God. I’m going, ‘m going.”

You opened the door, and there he was.

Jungkook eyed your face and the way your nose crinkled since it was stuffy. You were holding a wet towel with some droplets dripping out of it, and he ignored how shocked you were when he just gave you a look.

“You should be resting,” he stoically commented, taking away the towel from your hand. He dropped his backpack on the floor and took off his jacket, going into the bathroom to get rid of any excessive water left behind. “Jimin told me you didn’t like anyone caring for you.”

You softly groaned and leaned on the door frame, croaking out, “I’m just used to taking care of myself, so you can leave.”

“No,” the man simply stated, keeping his eyes on you through the mirror. “Either way, help would be nice to be considered considering your state right now.”

“I’m fine,” you sniffed, giving him a smile that would maybe convince him you were. But he saw the way you slightly swayed, holding onto the side of your head.

He sighed out of annoyance and walked towards you, grabbing onto your waist. You didn’t even process what he was doing and instead winced at the pain flashing in your head, almost as if the pain was traveling like thunderstorms.

“Fine my ass,” he retorted, leading you towards your bed. He felt your warmth even through the layers you had on, and he felt your forehead once you laid down. “You feel extremely warm. I’ll go make you some tea, okay?”

“No!” you whined, shaking your head. You held onto his hand. “Please stay. I’m very sleepy.”

He watched you silently. He placed the wet towel on your forehead and sighed, looking around your room with his hands on his hips. He looked at the slight mess and immediately sauntered towards the spare chair you had, grabbing it so he could place it by your side.

“I’ll stay, but once you wake up,” he pointed a finger at you threateningly, “you’re drinking it. Got it?”

You hummed and cuddled into your pillow. But you started to fidget and stuck out your hand.

“Give me.”

“Give you what?” He asked, brushing away some strands of hair landing on the towel. “Hmm?”

“Your hand,” you frowned. “It was very cold, and I feel like my entire body is burning, so it felt nice to hold your hand.”

Without a word, he gave you his hand and fingers dressed in rings, and he got comfortable once you placed his hand on your cheek, cuddling it. He softly groaned as he felt uncomfortable in the position he was in. So he glared at the bed and made you scoot over, his hand still placed on your face. You didn’t seem to mind his intrusion, scooting even more until you were close to your wall.

“Now, sleep,” he muttered, fixing the wet towel one more time before he heard you hum in satisfaction. His hand felt cold against your warm cheek, and he looked at the way your breathing slowed. Though he could tell you weren’t sleeping yet. “Why didn’t you let Jimin take care of you?”

Your eyes fluttered open, but you closed them again once you felt your headache pulse due to the light. You shrugged and sniffed, cheeks smushed against his hand bigger than your entire face.

“My parents were never home and always worked, whether I got sick or not,” you started, clearing your throat. “So, I just started taking care of myself without needing the help of anyone.”

“So you were neglected as a child?” He asked, unsure if he sounded too mean. He didn’t want to hurt your feelings.

“I mean, you could say that.” You smiled a bit. Though he could sense the lack of genuineness behind it, and then did he note that you do that a lot? Almost as if dismissing your pain. “I never minded it. After all, I was happy I had a roof over my head.”

He frowned at hearing that. “Were your parents ever there when you got awards or anything other than not being there?”

You slowly shook your head. “They were busy. Again, I knew they were, so I couldn’t complain. It’s why I stopped looking forward to ceremonies or birthdays.”

He stayed quiet, and you opened an eye to make sure he didn’t fall asleep. You saw him stare at the ceiling quietly, chewing on his bottom lip.

“I’m sorry…” He mumbled, and you softly chuckled.

“It’s okay,” you said, closing your eyes. “It just makes my friends' birthdays much more special and their achievements. You know I will always be in the crowd or be there next to you. I know what it feels like to not be seen, so it’s up to me to make sure others don’t feel that way.”

He looked down at you as soon as he heard a yawn escaping your lips. Your words were slightly slurred due to exhaustion, and before he could utter a word, soft snores escaped your mouth. He frowned, and he now thought about the times he had seen you.

The first day you two met, it was during class. You had bags with you, and he was annoyed, but he remembered you telling him it was your friend’s birthday and how, after class, you would be heading towards him to give them to him.

God, you were such an amazing friend. You even took care of him although he was cold towards you, but it was necessary. He couldn’t bear another situation like last time. He couldn’t. But he could see how genuine you were with him.

With one last look towards you, he just looks up at the ceiling, eyeing the glow-in-the-dark stars. And his heart clenched because he knew somewhere in you, your inner child was wounded by not having parents there for you.

After taking care of you the entire day, Jungkook stayed until the next day. Thankfully, he hadn’t gotten sick, and he simply told you (once you had asked how he couldn’t have), “I work out.”

He was relieved once you felt better and came to class, feeling less anxious that now half of the girls could see that they didn’t have a chance to sit next to him. He would’ve lost it if you hadn’t been there.

“The test is next week, so this entire week will be filled with an overview of the lessons.” Your professor spoke out loud, and you pursed your lips, eyes set on the notes you had taken. “Again, there are resources if you’re struggling. Come to my office hours or go to some clubs that will help you even more with this subject. If not, partner up with someone and—”

You and Jungkook immediately turned to look at one another, curtly nodding as unsaid words were told by the stare. He immediately wrote something on a piece of paper, and you even complimented his handwriting for now becoming neater after he started to take notes as neat as yours. The two of you ignored the stares you felt on you both.

“So, when—” You jumped back at feeling something on your forehead, your vision blocked by something white. You took it off and came to find a sticky note with “Jungkook’s partner. Back off” in all caps. You gave Jungkook a look before chuckling. “Okay, okay, I’ll put it back.”

He watched as you placed the sign back on your forehead, and he helped you pack up your things once he saw it was difficult for you to see. Thankfully, all the girls who had come up to him left as soon as they saw what you had on. It was pretty obvious that Jungkook had written it.

“Let’s go to the library,” Jungkook instructed, taking off the paper as soon as you two walked out. You hummed with a determined look on your face, turning to grab onto the backpack he was carrying so you two could snatch a decent seat. But he moved away from your hands. “You’re small, and you won’t be able to carry this, so let me carry it. I’m taller.”

You gave him a deadpan expression. “Jungkook, I can carry it.”

“I’m stronger.”

“And I don’t care!”

As you two bickered while continuing to walk towards the library, your best friends, Jimin, Taehyung, and Minjee, stood not so far from you two, obviously entertained.

“So,” Taehyung hummed, leaning against the wall, “how long do you think it’ll be until Jungkook notices Y/n likes him?”

“Never,” Minjee stated, shaking her head at their total obliviousness. “I think the question here is when is Jungkook going to notice that he likes Y/n?”

“Our friends are stupid.”

In the meantime, you and Jungkook thankfully found a table that no one was using, so while he stuck out the chair for you to sit on, you checked your phone.

“When are you free?” You questioned him, hearing him plop your backpack on the floor. You eyed him, and he stayed quiet, sitting next to you.

“I’m free every day,” he shrugged, sticking his hands inside his sweater. “Though, I do go to the gym, like, around 6-ish.”

“I’m going to make a calendar for us, so download the app I’m going to send you,” you instructed, and he pretended like he wasn’t listening, even though you knew full well who he was by the way he subtly took out his phone.

“Hey, Jungkook.”

“Fuck off,” he said before the guy on the side of him could continue speaking. The guy gave him a look of disbelief because he barely spoke. Why would Jungkook cut him off without hearing him?

“You didn’t even—”

“What then?”

The guy cleared his throat, his cheeks turning a dark pink that then traveled up to his ears, showing off his embarrassment.

“Do you want to be my part—”

“I already have one,” Jungkook cut him off again, gesturing your way without his eyes wavering from his phone. “I made it clear in class.”

“Sorry,” the guy squeaked out and when he left, you turned to slap Jungkook on the arm. He barely flinched and just gave you a look as if he was asking why you would do that.

“Stop being so mean,” you commented, a small scoff escaping your lips. He rolled his eyes and showed you his screen on the calendar app he downloaded, all while not caring about your words.

“They need to start taking hints.”

Understanding his reasoning, you dropped it, and you two continued to blend your schedules to meet up for your new project.

It didn’t take long—you wished it had—and he walked you towards your apartment to make sure you made it home safe. When you had teased him about it, all he said was: “Mention it and this will be the last time I’ll do this.”

You walked inside and smiled once you came to find Jimin, Taehyung, and Taehyung’s mom there, conversing.

“Mom!” You excitedly exclaimed, rushing towards your mother figure. You heard her laugh by your ear and her arms tightened around you. “I missed you!”

“Oh, honey, I missed you,” she smushed her cheek against yours and you smiled at her affection, relishing in the warmth. “I’m happy we made these plans beforehand because guess what I got you?”

“My strawberry milk?” You grinned and you felt her nod. “You’re a goddess!”

“I've been told before,” Taehyung’s mom giggled at your words and she watched as Taehyung took out your drink and passed it to you.

Sitting down, Jimin eyed you three. He knew your situation with your parents, and he was just happy you had people who cared about you. He didn’t expect to see Taehyung, the guy everyone was crushing on, in his house, with his mom, talking with him as if they’d known each other for so long, but everything was worth it once he saw your smile conversing with the older lady.

“So, how’s life been?”

Before you could answer, Taehyung opened his mouth, a smirk spreading on his face like usual. “Yeah, Y/n, tell Mom how you have a thing with Jungkook.”

Taehyung’s mom gasped. “Jeon Jungkook?” Her son nodded and she turned to look at you. “Spill everything.”

“We’re friends,” you groaned, hiding your face away from them.

“Yeah, who have intense feelings,” Taehyung continued and you glared at him, kicking his leg. He kicked yours back and Jimin chuckled.

“Let’s just say Y/n’s feelings may not be one-sided,” he stated and the older woman looked at him with wide eyes.

“Really?”

“He defended her and beat up someone for her,” Jimin named off, his hands sticking out to name events. “He was flirting with her when we went to the café and then went and told the waiter who had given her his phone number something to have him change the cup, and then he threatened some people to leave her alone and not to touch her.”

“Shut up,” you waved off.

“Y/n, he likes you!” Taehyung’s mom giggled excitedly, wanting to hear more. “I met him before so it’s nice to see you two getting along.”

“He’s such a nice person.”

You spent an hour or two talking with Taehyung’s mom, and she spent the night over so you two could privately talk more without Taehyung or Jimin intervening. She also stayed over once you had mentioned that you might throw Jimin a small party for his birthday coming up, stating that she’ll make some food before she leaves because she can’t handle leaving her kids by themselves without their stomachs full and without leftovers. You couldn’t even say no to that because you always liked eating whatever she made.

You threw Jimin a small get-together with your friend group 2 days later.

He was very happy about it and was extremely thankful to you for preparing it. He had heard you fixing everything before he woke up and you had brought him breakfast in bed at 9 am to surprise him. He was happy knowing that he had a friend like you, but he also knew he wasn’t a good friend for going out on your birthday. He always assumed you truly didn’t want anything, and now he notes your fallen expression.

“Smile!”

You were squatting here and there to get the right angles for Jimin’s pictures. He was laughing at your antics and he posed and smiled, holding on to the gifts you had given him. Taehyung stood in the background, shining a flashlight over you two to help with the photo shoot, and Minjee and Jungkook stood back and watched their friends.

Minjee smiled at you three and she saw you, your soft little smile once you saw how the pictures came out. Along with your expression, she noted your outfit and Jungkook’s own correlated in some way because you two

were wearing black shirts, blue jeans, and those damn Doc Martens you two wore. It was as if you planned but you two just looked at one another up and down confusedly and waved it off.

“She looks pretty, huh?” Minjee smirked behind the red cup she was drinking from, eyeing Jungkook’s expression from the corner of her eye.

He cleared his throat. “I mean, yeah…”

The two quieted down and the only thing loud enough was your guys’ laughter and the music playing in the background.

Minjee continued looking at you.

“You know,” she began, “she’s always so thoughtful.”

“She is,” Jungkook agreed, glancing down at his drink. He could see her cheeks flushed because the alcohol was getting to her, so he hoped she wouldn’t reveal anything too much.

“And she’s so nice,” her eyes started to water as she expressed her gratitude for you. Very funny she was doing so when it was Jimin’s party. “You know, she deserves so much and here she is at a party she prepared all while she’s never celebrated her birthday.”

Jungkook looked back at you and watched you take pictures of Jimin very excitedly. He was holding onto your big gifts, and a grin was spread on his lips, clearly excited about what he had received from you.

“Why doesn’t she?” Jungkook questioned, his eyebrows starting to furrow. He eyed your friend before he turned to look at your shaking figure, clearly out of excitement. “But… she looks—”

“Y/n pretends to hate her birthday or even say that she doesn’t care,” Minjee cut him off, a sigh escaping her lips. “Her parents are assholes, and they slowly forgot about her birthday so she assumed it wasn’t as important, and she has never celebrated it. I feel bad, though, because we’re not good friends for throwing her something but we thought she didn’t want us to intervene.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Jungkook muttered in almost a hush, continuing to look at you with such an intense expression.

“You like her,” Minjee simply stated. He immediately went to open his mouth, but she rolled her eyes and raised her hand, shutting him. “Dude, I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

“I don’t look at her in any type of way.”

“Whether you admit it or not,” Minjee rolled her eyes, “you like my best friend, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m sure you’ll make her happy. I only hate to admit it because you’re very… kept off, and you sometimes say hurtful things. She’s like my sister, and I don’t want her hurt.”

“You know I’ll never hurt her.”

“You better not, please.”

He eyed the way Minjee looked at you with tears in her eyes, smiling at the way you smothered Jimin with hugs. And then he looked at you, and the way your smile was so bright that it lit up the entire room more than the fairy lights you had hung up.

How could something as big as your birthday not be celebrated? You just wanted to be celebrated without asking for it, yet you got let down repeatedly and stopped celebrating the day you were born.

He could see the way your smile didn’t reach your eyes, and then did he stop and focus on you. You were sad, but you were happy because it was your best friend’s birthday. And you got ready, and you were beautiful, but you got ready for a party that wasn’t yours and a party you wished someone threw for you.

He remembered when you got sick and the way you held yourself. You didn’t like being taken care of because you taught yourself to do so since your parents were busy. A beautiful soul like you who did everything for her friends and loved as her life depended on it, but, again, you were simply a girl with her inner child hurt.

He could sense your emotions now. And he wished you could see how loved you are. You had him, and he had you, so knowing your birthday, he got to work.

It wasn’t hard to get everything ready.

He got you everything you liked, and Taehyung, Jimin, Minjee, and Taehyung’s mom helped get everything ready.

He knew to bring in your friends, Hobi and Jin, who were older than you but were like older brothers. He was sure to get the cake from a guy named Namjoon and his grandmother, who worked at the bakery you liked going to, and he knew you liked going to it because a music store was next to it that someone by the name of Yoongi—he found out it was Minjee’s cousin when they argued as soon as they saw each other—took care of.

Through it all, he made sure you didn’t know a single thing about your birthday party. And it wasn’t hard because you were very nonchalant about the days getting closer to your birthday, almost as if you’d forgotten it, too.

“Kook!” You gasped as you looked at the café you loved going to. He noted the nickname but you have been hanging out with him and Taehyung much more recently and Taehyung called him that so he didn’t think much of it—yes he did. “Look! They remodeled it.”

He eyed the small, cozy place and nodded. “They changed the sign, right? Or was it the lights?”

“It’s both,” you said, and he sighed in relief that his plan worked at getting you distracted.

He already knew the café had been remodeled a bit. It was enough, though, to keep you distracted a bit until your friends and Tae’s mom were finished.

“I heard they also added some new drinks to the menu,” Jungkook commented, smiling to himself at the way your face lit up at the mention of new drinks. He eyed the way you walked inside and grabbed his phone.

jungkook 😘: almost done?

tae: we’re ready! >:)

Jungkook walked towards you, and he saw you taking pictures of the new menu. Not letting out a word, he dragged you away so that it had you whining out of protest.

“Jungkook, I wanted to get one,” you dragged out. When he didn’t budge, you let out a huff and crossed your arms, well, you tried crossing your arms. “It’s my birthday, so I demand that you let me go so I can get myself one.”

“We’ll invite our friends. Come on.”

At the suggestion, you nodded happily and hummed, letting him drag you away to, you’re guessing, your house.

“Hold on.”

You nodded and stood behind him with your hands clasped together as if your house wasn’t yours and it was his instead. You frowned with a confused smile tilted on your lips.

“Jungkook, we can go inside.”

jungkook 😘: here

tae: we’re ready!

Jungkook moved aside.

“You’re right, sorry,” he stoically stated, and you eyed him. “What?”

“Why are you acting weird?” You questioned him, looking at him over your shoulder now that you had opened the door.

He looked over your head and smiled. Curious, you did so, too, and gasped at the sight.

Taehyung stood in between Minjee and Jimin with his mom on the side recording. He was holding a cake with your name on it. Candles lit up the house, which was mostly lit up by fairy lights forming hearts on the walls.

“Happy birthday, gremlin,” Taehyung grinned, his eyes tearing up at the way your own eyes were.

You stayed still, frozen in your spot, and your eyes were watering at the scenery. “Is that for me?”

“Duh, dummy,” Minjee sniffed, her chin resting on her clasped hands.

“Come on, blow your candles.”

With a nudge, you walked towards your family.

Your chest hurts, and soft, short pants escaped your mouth because you were close to sobbing. Your fingers shook, and you remembered the way your parents, together, celebrated you. When their issues began and more arguments became normal in your household, you did not remind them of your birthday so as not to be a burden.

Remembering it all, you eyed the people in front of you. They loved you so much, and they made you happy because this was all you wanted. And it healed something inside of you.

You remember being a child. You remembered sitting at the table, staring between your parents in the early morning, having hope they remembered. But they never said anything.

The more years went by, the more you realized you weren’t as important in their lives as you were. So while learning to take care of yourself when you were sick, eating alone, celebrating your achievements, and being alone during senior graduation, you gave up on thinking your parents would be there. Taehyung and his mom were there, but they celebrated together, and you just wanted your parents.

“You have us now.” You turned your head to the side and saw Jungkook staring at you, his eyes showing everything. He grabbed your hand tightly against his and sighed as the others started to sing. “You’ll never be alone during moments like these, okay? I know you were alone and you went through stuff, but we’ll always show up for you.”

You felt his fingers wipe away the tears escaping your waterline and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

He smiled back, and you could see the way he blinked away his tears. He felt empathy because here you were, letting your inner child be happy and healed.

“Happy birthday.”

At the end of the night, everyone was hammered, and who knew that Jungkook would get along with Jin and Hobi? Because in the current moment, he had to get rid of their arms around him holding him tight.

“Oh, my God,” Jungkook groaned. “Let go of me, old man.”

“Excuse me?” Jin gasped rather dramatically. “How dare you?”

“Let go of me and I’ll give you a better name,” Jungkook rolled his eyes, making sure you were nowhere in sight so he could continue pushing Jin away from him. “I’m gonna punch you.”

“And I’ll slap you, so I dare you.”

Jungkook groaned one last time before he succeeded in getting out of Jin’s hold. He watched him stumble a bit in his steps and noticed Minjee and Hobi on the floor, drunkenly speaking to one another about nonsense.

He ran a hand through his hair, hands landing to rest on his hips, and looked around for you. Taehyung’s mom had gone home, Taehyung was sprawled out on the couch watching the TV, and Jimin was next to him, sleeping. For people who claimed to handle their alcohol very well, they sure got drunk very quickly.

Noticing that the front door was unlocked, Jungkook made sure your friends weren’t doing anything stupid before walking out. There, he saw you on the stairs of your front porch, a piece of cake on a plastic plate, and your strawberry milk on your side.

“Hey.”

You turned your head and smiled at coming to see Jungkook there. He sat down next to you as you greeted him. “Hi.”

“What are you doing here by yourself, hmm?” He asked, nudging his shoulder with yours. You quietly chuckled and shrugged.

“Nothing, I’m just very happy about today so I wanted to come out here to reflect, I guess,” you answered. He nodded along and you looked at his side profile before clearing your throat. “Thank you for this.”

“I didn’t do anything,” he dismissed, but you had noticed the signs.

“Uhuh, so distracting me wasn’t part of the plan, or what?” You raised a brow and he didn’t look at you because he knew you knew. “After all, Taehyung told me.”

“He has such a big mouth,” Jungkook sighed, dropping his head. He turned to look at your very amused face and rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

“I just didn’t expect you to be a softy,” you teased, a grin on your lips. He snorted and pushed you away as soft as he could. “Again, thank you, though.”

“It’s nothing,” he whispered back. He looked down at yours and his shoes with a sullen expression. “Um, Minjee told me something on Jimin’s birthday.”

“Ah, when she gets tipsy she tends to reveal—not secrets but just private things, which explains why we’re always so cautious with her,” you explained. “Why? What did she tell you?”

“She was telling me about how you never celebrated your birthday, parents were assholes,” he replied and he saw you freezing in your spot. You shook your head and he heard you laughing a bit.

“That girl,” you commented. “She’s lucky I love her and know that she didn’t mean any harm.” You placed your plate on the floor and rubbed your thighs with your palms. “It’s true. Like I told you when I got sick, I never celebrated my birthday. During that time, my dad had found out about my mom having an affair, so to burden them… I just never said anything about my birthday or brought it up. It was better for me to stay quiet and mind my own business.”

“Where are your parents now?” Jungkook asked, leaning back on his hands.

“My mom, I have no idea,” you shrugged. “She didn’t want anything to do with me after their divorce so she gave full custody to my dad and left.” Jungkook could see that you weren’t entirely phased by it. “As for my dad… He tried his hardest taking care of me and he didn’t do it alone. Taehyung’s mom taught me things I needed to be taught by a mother figure, and my dad didn't worry. He helps me pay for school but other than that, we only message one another during holidays.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” You chuckled and you reassuringly smiled at him. You looked at his shoulder and back at his eyes, asking for permission, and he nodded. Leaning your head on his shoulder, you sighed. “It’s kind of bad when you think about the fact that my entire life, the one thing I’ve ever wanted was a birthday.”

“It’s not bad,” Jungkook explained, tongue running itself over his lips to soothe the dryness that came to slap him on the face. “You just had a rough childhood and though you may have had a roof over your head, it’s not bad to want things.”

You smiled at his words and waved off the tears welling up in your eyes. “What about you? You never talk about your parents, either.”

“Eh, I get too angry talking about my dad,” Jungkook shook his head at even imagining his father. “How do I say it? He’s an asshole.”

“Really?”

“Yep,” he nodded in confirmation. “He’s the type of person that doesn’t like it when men cry. Toxic masculinity, if you will. He slapped me once when I did so and my mom left him. But, I'm not too entirely phased since I have a stepdad who is more like a father.”

“That’s very good you have a support system,” you smiled at him and he chuckled at your actions. “Is that why it’s hard for you to open up to people?”

He hummed at your question. “It’s partly a reason.” He debated whether he should tell you the real reason for his actions, but being next to you, warmth radiating off of your body to his own, and watching the stars littered on the sky, he didn't want you to leave. Call him selfish but he wanted you in his life. “He just-After an event happened, he blamed it on me so, I thought it was my fault for everything that had happened and I just closed off, I guess.”

“I’ll fight your dad,” you grumbled out. He could feel your fingers subconsciously playing with his fidget rings, hearing the swishing sound of the ring being played with. The background music that Taehyung had suggested you guys play was still playing in the background. Your heart couldn’t help but skip a beat at the moment you two were sharing. “All I know is that you just needed your dad and I'm sorry you had to go through that. No one deserves it.”

He gave you a ghost of a smile on his lips and gulped down his feelings. “Thank you.” He looked off, a sense of relief overcoming his body at being able to share his emotions. Well, some of them. “Just for never judging me and for being understanding.”

“Of course,” you smiled. “You’ve been there for me, so just see me repaying you.”

“Hmm, how about you repay me tomorrow by making me that one dish you sent me?” You looked up at his face and he had raised a brow at you. “Taehyung and I were talking about it and we started craving it.”

You snorted. “I’ll make it. Especially since Taehyung will be having a major headache tomorrow.”

“We told him not to drink,” Jungkook recounted, remembering that Taehyung had told two friends he was a “beast” at handling his alcohol. You two just couldn’t wait to make fun of him. “He’s an idiot.”

“Sadly, he’s our friend,” you chuckled, shaking your head at how you could hear him talking now that he woke up. “Bet you $20 he’s going to cry once he pukes.”

“Deal.”

“Honey,” you two turned to look at the source of the voice and you came to find Hobi hiccuping. He pointed to the back with his thumb. “Your friend is crying in the bathroom because he threw up.”

“Ha!” You giggled rather enthusiastically. “You owe me $20, Kook.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll give it to you tomorrow,” Jungkook playfully rolled his eyes, following behind you to head toward the bathroom. There, Taehyung sat by the toilet, sobbing, as if he had just received the worst news in the world.

“Aw, Tae,” you pouted, leaning down to sit next to him. Jungkook flushed the toilet immediately sprayed some of the perfume you had nearby, and made sure that Hobi was okay. “What’s wrong?”

“I threw up,” he sobbed. “I want my mom.”

As soon as those words escaped Tae’s mouth, Jungkook snickered. “I am so totally recording this and blackmailing him with it.”

At seeing his newfound humor, you grinned to yourself while consoling Taehyung at the same time, placing a headband on his head to push away his hair from his face.

You and Jungkook took care of him, making sure to get rid of his jewelry and his oversized sweater. You also cleaned his face, too, since Taehyung had always been a big skincare person. He would immediately come at you if he knew you didn’t at least help him clean his face. After all, he bought you a majority of your skincare just for situations like these.

“What if I smack him?” Jungkook harshly whispered to you from across the room. Since Taehyung had been knocked out after you cleaned his face, you two did not want to wake him up.

“You will take care of him,” you whispered back just as harshly, slapping his hand away from Taehyung’s face. “Leave him alone. It was hard getting him to stay still while taking off his sweater, I don’t want to deal with him.”

“At least we’ve got one drunk to sleep.”

“Yeah, at least.”

You two didn't even make it out of the room without halting in your steps because right in front of you, all of your friends were knocked out. You two sighed.

“I’ll get the blankets.”

“I’ll get the pillows.”

It seemed as if you and Jungkook had gotten closer after that night.

You weren’t able to see each other the following day because he was so busy taking care of Taehyung and you were too busy taking care of your friends who swore alcohol off.

y/n :) : guess what

kook 🩷: what?

y/n :) : I just baked the best brownies ever

kook 🩷 : im omw to steal u away

You snorted at his message and gave some brownies to Jimin and Hobi who, after talking at your party, became closer and started to talk. It had only been 3 days after your party, but it seemed as if they had known one another for years. Not only that but you had been introduced to Jim’s best friend, Namjoon, who you have met since his store was next to Yoongi’s.

“And then our dear friend over here is so head over heels for Jungkook,” Jimin smirked at you, he and Hobi finding amusement in you smiling down at your phone.

“Shut up, you two,” you dismissed your friend’s comment, placing the small plate in their hands. “I’ll probably make some banana bread later.”

“What did Jungkook say that’s got you smiling like that?” Hobi asked, taking a bite of the brownie as his gaze set on you. You knew they weren’t going to drop the subject, so you stood by your counter and leaned against it.

“I just told him I baked some brownies and he said he was on his way to steal me away,” you replied, shrugging it off as no big deal. But, they looked over at one another as if they were able to see you were internally freaking out, and you were.

“I mean, he and Tsehyung do not live far away so I won’t be surprised if he shows up in like 3 minutes,” Jimin said, glancing at his phone to eye the time. “I’m just wondering when you’re going to tell him you like him.”

“Oh, God, probably never,” you shivered out because just thinking about telling him your feelings made you want to throw up. “He and I are at a good place right now and it’s nice.”

“Does he know he likes you, too?” Hobi continued to question, clearly interested in your love life.

“I honestly do not think he likes me,” you said as you eyed your brownies as if they were the most interesting things in the world. “He finally opened up to me, guys. He has trusted me and even if I don’t get to confess my feelings for him, I don’t care. Being his friend is the best thing ever.”

Both your friends eyed your expression and the way your eyes twinkled underneath the light of the kitchen you stood under, and they could feel the respect you had for Jungkook. And who knew life would be like this? Because months had passed since you and Jungkook got paired up and now here you were, being one of his best friends if anything.

Before they could utter a word after the moment of silence that consumed you three, a knock was heard on the front door. It didn’t take long, though, for Jungkook to come inside, eyes looking around the room for you.

“You need to keep the door closed,” he commented before he could even greet any of you. “What if something happens? Jimin is too much of a deep sleeper to notice.”

“Kook, I’m pretty sure someone won’t break into our house mid-day when they both know how to fight and me of course,” you mused.

Your eyes then trailed toward his outfit and noted that he had a casual look today compared to the outfits he usually wore, which usually consisted of all-black clothing. Now, here he was, looking all comfy. He was wearing an oversized shirt you had bought him after you went back to the music store with Minjee and he was wearing baggy jeans. He was also wearing some Convers, but he looked so comfortable yet intimidating and you just wanted to hug him.

“Still, I can be worried about you,” he shook his head rather disappointingly. “You better be taking care of her, Park.”

“I am, I am, geez,” Jimin said, his hands going up. Jungkook rolled his eyes at his actions and walked closer to you. “Also, Jeon, love the new look.”

“I don’t always wear skinny jeans, Jimin,” Jungkook retorted, a small smile forming on his face once your hand hovered to give him a piece. He bit into it and his brows furrowed. “That’s good.”

“I started to think you wore skinny jeans to sleep,” Jimin continued to tease, receiving a contagious laugh from Hobi. “I dig this look. Don’t you do, too, Y/n?”

You froze in place and gulped down the dryness forming in your throat. You slowly looked up and you wanted to slap the smirks off of Jimin and Hobi’s faces because they did this on purpose. Jungkook looked down at you while continuing to eat the dessert and tentatively waited.

“I like it,” you commented after a half-second silence. “But, I just like your tattoos so I’m a bit sad I won’t be able to see those.”

Jungkook nodded along and all he could do was take off his sweater. There, underneath it, was a tight-fitted shirt that showcased every muscle he had. His inked arm flexed and suddenly, the room became warm once you could see the veins running up and down his forearm to his hands. You gulped and looked away.

“Also,” Jungkook started. “I’m taking your friend,” he then grabbed a mitten, “and the brownies, so bye. Don’t wait for us.”

Thankfully, he gave you some time to put on your slippers, but he then grabbed your arm and dragged you off.

When you found out he and Taehyung didn’t live that far from your house, you had let him know you’d walk by yourself there. Jungkook did not like that idea.

Getting to know each other a bit more, he has gotten a bit more… protective of you, some may say. He made sure that every window in your apartment was safe and didn’t open very easily, he gave you a little knife just in case, pepper spray, and he doesn’t let you get home unless you’re walking next to him. You didn’t mind it, of course. You loved spending time with him.

“We look dumb just carrying a tray of brownies,” you chuckled, quickly taking out your phone to snap pictures of the situation. “Also, are you simply taking me because you want me to do that dish I told you about?”

“Um, maybe?” He lightly laughed sheepishly. “Look, we’ll pass by the supermarket and I’ll buy you whatever you need. How does that sound?”

You hummed and smiled. “That sounds like a pretty good deal.”

“Good, let’s go.”

Walking towards the supermarket, a security guard looked at you two weirdly before glaring at the tray of brownies as if it were a target.

“Sorry, you can’t come in with that.”

You two figured this would happen so you turned to look at one another.

“Just head to my house,” Jungkook instructed. “It's the only one with a mailbox that is colorful because Taehyung wanted it to be so.”

You nodded. “Sounds like Taehyung alright. But, I’ll wait for you there, okay? Be safe.”

“You, too. Call me if anything happens.”

You nodded at his request but you couldn’t help but find his worry cute. His apartment was literally around the corner and you spotted the mailbox he had been talking about.

Walking there with a tray in your hand, your footsteps slowed down once you noticed a figure standing by, looking around. You frowned but ignored her as hard as you could considering she looked lost.

“Hi, Y/n,” you jumped at hearing the voice and turned to look at the girl who spoke to you. Your gut immediately alerted you something was off, but you let her continue so she could say something other than a greeting and your name. “I’m Jia.”

“Um, I’m sorry do I know you?” You asked, fidgeting around.

“Oh!” She smiled. “I just wanted to know if Jungkook lives here.” You didn’t say anything and simply stared at her. “Oh, didn’t he tell you? I’m his girlfriend!”

“Oh,” you could feel your chest hurting at the revelation and cleared your throat. “I’m sorry. We can wait for him but I just still don’t feel comfortable disclosing any type of information of his to people I don’t know.”

“Aw, I wanted to surprise him,” the girl dramatically pouted, crossing her arms.

You nervously chuckled. “Maybe I should go.”

You turned around to leave and you heard the girl scurry over to prevent you from walking any further.

“No, no, it’s okay,” she continued to smile, though, you swore her eye twitched just by being close to you. “Please, whoever Jungkook is friends with is a friend of mine.”

“Yeah, it was nice to meet you, again,” you nervously began, trying to move away from her. But, she simply would follow your move. “Look, I just want to leave.”

“No, it’s okay,” the girl waved you off. “Tell me all about how you know Jungkook. Though, don’t tell me too much, or else I will go crazy.”

She later laughed as if it was the funniest thing and you laughed uncomfortably.

“Maybe he’ll explain it to you,” you continued to repeat, but it was as if your words went from one ear to another. “I just find it weird he didn’t tell you where he lived if you’re his girlfriend…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, okay?”

“I will worry about it considering he’s someone I know,” you replied, slightly glaring at her. She walked closer to you but she stayed in her place once she felt someone.

“Leave her the fuck alone, Jia.”

You immediately felt comfort at hearing the voice and Jungkook placed you behind him, shielding you away from the girl's gaze.

“Jungkook, my love, I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Jia gasped, reaching forward to touch him. But, he pushed her aside.

“How did you find me?”

“I was scrolling on my social media and I recognized this guy,” she took out her phone as she spoke, “and I saw that you were in the background.”

Jungkook looked closer at the pic and noted that Jin had posted on his public account a picture of you and he noticed that there was a picture of him in the background talking with you. She must’ve found you first and later tracked him down.

“Leave me alone.”

“No, Jungkook,” Jis continued to cry out. “Please, I love you.”

“I helped you get your books off the floor and I just told you you’re welcome,” Jungkook hissed, body shaking with nerves and anxiety. You grabbed his hand and gripped it tight, allowing him to take a hint you were there. “You’re fucking delusional.”

“No, no, Jungkook,” the girl nervously giggled, getting closer to him. “You can’t leave me.”

Jungkook was close to exploding. But he saw that you stepped in and protected him from the girl in front of you two, staring at you with a crazed look.

“Jungkook told you to leave him, so leave him alone,” you clarified, hoping to prove your point. “I-I will call the police so please leave.” You turned around and grabbed Jungkook. “Let’s go.”

You grabbed his hand and walked the opposite way of his apartment so Jia wouldn’t see which apartment he lived in.

“Let’s go to your apartment. I’ll let Taehyung know.”

You heard the shaky pants he was letting out in between words and his hands shook as he carried the bag that contained the things you needed for the food you were going to make.

“Here, I’ll make you some tea, okay?” You frowned, walking inside your house as soon as you reached it. He nodded and you curtly waved at Jimin and Hobi who were still there. They became concerned noticing Jungkook’s current state, but you placed a hand in front of you to let them know not to question anything. “jimin can you put water for tea?”

He nodded without hesitation and stood up to do so. You led Jungkook towards your room, fixing the pillows and fluffing it up so he could sit down. But as soon as the door closed behind you, he fell to the floor, chest rising up and down.

“Jungkook,” you gasped, following after him but keeping your distance so as to not overwhelm him. “You’re okay. You’re okay. She’s gone now.”

Jungkook tightened his hand and formed it into a fist. “How did she even approach you? How did she find you here?”

The last question he asked seemed like it was directed more toward him, so you answered the first one.

“She called me by my name so I just looked at her thinking she was someone I knew,” you answered. “Then, she wanted to know where you lived but I told her I didn’t feel comfortable just sharing your LG Ouse with anyone, so she said she was your girlfriend.”

Jungkook looked like he wanted to throw up just at the mention of that. He continued to shake and you stuck out your hands so he wouldn’t dig his nails into his skin.

“Did you believe her?” Jungkook questioned, glancing at you through his lashes. You rapidly shook your head.

“No,” you said, rubbing your thumb on the space between his thumb and forefinger. “Something about her… I felt something was off once I saw her just looking around.”

“She’s the reason I'm closed off,” Jungkook mumbled, fixing his posture. He leaned back to rest his back on the wall, glancing at his hands. “She started stalking me during high school.”

“What?” You breathed out, backing up a bit as you processed the news.

You noted his response to other people’s actions and the way he was always so alert. Every time he would walk with you, he would usually look over his shoulder every few minutes. You had assumed it might’ve been because of the fact lousy people would be behind you the majority of the time.

“I thought I got rid of her, I did,” he sighed, running a hand over his face. “That’s why I came here because it was far away from home but, it’s not a coincidence she randomly found Jin’s account unless she was looking for universities and student accounts.”

“But Jin isn’t a student here,” you pointed out. “Though he is a mentor here and well-known… and has been in newspapers for his achievements, but still, it’s just extremely creepy.”

“Well, that’s how Jia is,” Jungkook gulped down his feelings. He breathed in and out to calm down and you made sure he knew he was safe. “I just… need to calm down before I tell you, okay?”

“That's okay,” you reassured him, softly patting his head. “I’ll go make you your tea, okay? Be right back.”

You stood up to leave but a hand enclosing around your wrist stopped you from walking any further. You looked down and Jungkook wasn’t staring at you, his gaze on his legs, but his grip on your hand was so soft.

“Don’t go please,” he muttered under his breath. “Just be here with me for a bit longer.”

You couldn’t help but feel your heart clench at the way he looked so defeated. You sat next to him and you two just stayed seated by one another.

“Are you going to be okay, Kook?” You asked, frowning at the idea of the girl coming back. He sighed and shrugged.

“I just need you right now,” he said in a quiet tone. He briefly looked up to look at the stars littered on your ceiling. “*I simply helped her pick up her books off the floor after I got out of school. She tripped in front of my friends and me and they ignored her, but I felt bad so I stepped in to help her. That’s all I did. I just gave her the books!”

He couldn’t help but freak out more as he recounted the events that led to moving away. “Then she started sending me stuff. Starting sending me more clothes, money, and letters, and it became so overwhelming.” He sighed yet again, just like he had been doing. “When my parents found out, my mom called the police, and my dad blamed me.”

“What?” You were close to exclaiming. You had stared at him with wide eyes and an agape mouth. “Why?”

“He thought I led her on but I just gave her the damn books,” he repeated, shaking his head, and trying to dismiss those memories. “My mom divorced him after he slapped me. I had stood up to him and here he was hitting me all because I said I didn’t lead her on. He wanted me to apologize.”

“Did you?” You asked, almost afraid of his answer.

“Fuck no,” he grumbled out. “I didn’t do anything. Whenever I would start talking to girls, they’d randomly break it off. I asked a girl once why and she said a woman threatened her. Shortly after, Jia tried breaking into my house when we were all gone. I noticed because I had installed a camera in my room and I saw her. She kept repeating that she just wanted to check up on her boyfriend.”

“Did the police believe you?” You continued to ask, making sure you weren’t coming off too strong.

“Thankfully, they did,” he said. He then looked at you. “They got a restraining order but a temporary one. It was enough for me to live a bit peacefully. Knowing her, though, it wouldn’t have lasted long.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” you frowned. You couldn’t even imagine being in his shoes. For your last year of high school, the Worst thing that had happened to you was not having classes with your friends. You couldn’t even imagine having a stalker, someone who watched your every move rather obsessively.

“After all those years, you know,” Jungkook began again, a shaky breath escaping his lips, “I looked over my shoulder. I always imagined she was there and I always saw her face in every girl's face whenever they came up to me. That’s why I was always… mean to them all. I couldn’t bear dealing with another situation like I dealt with Jia.”

“Yeah, I always wondered why you did such a thing,” you said, glancing between his eyes and his clammy hands, “but now I understand.”

“Thank you, though. You noticed it. You felt that something was wrong and thank you for that.”

You let out a small chuckle and waved him off. “It’s okay, Jungkook. You know I’d do anything to protect you as much as you protect me. You have us.”

You immediately panicked once you saw his eyes glistening with tears. He dropped his head against the wall, gulping down the lump in his throat.

“You have made me feel so safe,” Jungkook croaked out, licking his lips. “From the beginning. You have stood up for me when I couldn’t defend myself, defended me because you wanted to, and you were just there. I hope you know how much of a safe space you’ve been to me and I hope you understand the reason why I was always so quiet.”

He wiped away his tears with the back of his hand and you felt your own eyes stinging with tears at watching him cry for the first time.

“I’m going to hug the shit out of you if that’s okay,” you sniffed and he looked at you while wiping away the tears dropping. He nodded and you took that as your sign.

You tightly hugged him around his shoulders, bringing him closer to you. His arms wrapped back around your torso just as tight, and for the first time since you’ve met, he sobbed.

He felt relief. Taehyung knew about the situation, and he just couldn’t ask him for a hug without feeling embarrassed. So, he relished in the warmth of your body and the scent he always deciphered to you, and took in how safe you felt. If he could, he’d stay there.

“Is it okay if I can stay here?” He whispered in your ear. You smiled a bit and nodded against his shoulder.

“Of course,” you whispered back, almost as if you two were sharing secrets. “Sleep here in the meantime and I’ll be back with your tea, okay?” He nodded. “Is it okay if I can summarize the situation with Hobi and Jimin? I think they can help.”

He nodded. “That’ll be fine, please. I don’t want to say it all again.”

“Okay,” you said in a small tone. “I’ll call Taehyung, too, and let him know to come here. I’ll call Minjee and Jin for some things. They’ll help, too.”

“Thank you, Y/n.”

“That’s horrible…”

“I know,” you lowly said, trying to be quiet since Jungkook was sleeping in your bed. You looked at Minjee. “Hey, I know you have connections, especially with your status, and just in case—”

“I know, I know,” Minjee smiled. “I’ll call my grandpa, and make sure he finds out more about Jia. There’s no way she could’ve gotten away with this.”

“Status?” You two turned to look at Taehyung who was staring at you two with a confused expression. Hobi, Jin, and Jimin were there, too, looking for an answer.

You snorted. “Minjee is rich.”

“Huh?” Taehyung let out.

“My grandparents own one of the biggest, influential companies here,” Minjee stated as if it were nothing. “I’ve been waiting for you guys to find out. They’re always trending.”

“Oh, my God,” Jimin gaped at his best friend. “I didn’t know!”

“Jimin,” you patted his shoulder, “she gave you the newest phone, a laptop, front seat tickets to your favorite concert, rented out a whole store for us to shop in, and you didn’t question it?”

“No!”

“This all happened within a week,” you chuckled at how slow your friend was sometimes. “I always make jokes about her wealth!”

“Listen, leave me alone,” he playfully scoffed. However, he was still processing the news he just received.

“Now, Jin,” you looked at your friend. “You’re a lawyer. Will you help us if we need to?”

“Of course,” he nodded. “Anything for Jungkook.”

“Hobi, your brother-in-law is a police officer,” you then looked at your other friend. “Can’t you find out what we can do?”

“I’ll ask.”

“Thank you.”

As they all fell into their conversations, you sighed as you stared at your cup. Taehyung, from the other side of you, nudged you.

“Hey,” he greeted and you repeated it. “Listen, Jungkook will lash out. Not a lot but he will get annoyed easily due to being paranoid. Whatever happens, just… talk to me, okay? I’ll stay here.”

You nodded.

“Mhm, thank you, Taehyung.”

And Taehyung was not kidding.

Jungkook didn’t lash out at you, though. He never did. He was always seeet to you and he was always thankful for taking care of him.

He would bicker with Taehyung, but it was the norm. The one thing they did argue about the longest was how Taehyung ate Jungkook’s cookie, the one you had made for him.

As for Jia, there was nothing. She did show up, though, and it was at your house that she did show up. Because Jimin had installed cameras, you all saw her just staring at the camera from afar, and glancing at the windows. It brought shivers.

Jungkook had gone back to therapy. He came back home and you two reflected on everything that has occurred in your life. After all, you dealt with people who wanted him, Do-yun, and he helped heal a piece of you that was always forgotten. It was just crazy as to what you dealt with together, but that’s why you two were close now.

It was Saturday. Finals were soon and still, no sight of Jia. At that point, Taehyung and Jungkook had moved in and you and Jimin didn’t mind because they weren’t entirely messy, and Jungkook liked cooking and Yaehyung liked cleaning. You didn’t mind having them at all.

You would usually head to Jungkook as soon as you came from classes and would tell him about your day considering he listened to you. He had also told you he didn’t mind how talkative you were after you apologized because he liked listening to you speak more than just listening to his thoughts. You liked the little schedule you two had and you liked knowing how well he treated you. In Minjee’s words, he treated you like a “princess.”

“Jungkook,” you sang as soon as you walked inside of your house, a smile on your face.

Though, you noticed the tension coming off between Taehyung and Jungkook because they were glaring at each other and not doing anything else. You gulped and much like what you used to do as a child, you would try to distract your parents from one another by telling them about things that happened in your life.

“Hey, guys,” you waved, giving them both a smile and a wave. They didn’t reciprocate it. Taehyung simply gave you a small smile and Jungkook kept his gaze on his best friend. “Did you guys see that the neighbor brought her baby home? I think I might do her some food considering she’s a single mom.”

“That’s nice of you, Y/n,” Yaehyung commented. “Remember that Mom left some things so, take them with you, okay?”

“Mhm,” you hummed enthusiastically. “Also, the man from next door was asking when you guys would come over. Said his grandson loved you guys and was bragging to everyone about having cool neighbors.”

“We’ll probably go tomorrow because he told us his grandson visits during the weekend,” Taehyung continued to answer, eyeing Jungkook who was still very annoyed. They had gotten over a stupid argument he didn’t even remember what about, but it got bad to the point they started insulting each other.

“Oh, Jungkook,” he didn't turn to look at you which you didn’t mind as much, “I got you some of your favorite snacks and I even got you that new one you wanted.”

Silence.

“I’m sure he’ll like it, Y/n,” Taehyung reassured, glancing at his quiet friend who was distracted by his thoughts.

“Oh, you guys are having the house by yourselves tomorrow,” you continued, remembering you had somewhere to be. “I’m going out and Jimin is going to go out with Hobi to a concert, I think? I’m not entirely sure but, just keep in mind to keep all the doors closed and be safe—”

“Y/n shut up, please.”

There it was.

Taehyung’a head immediately snapped towards Jungkook’s way, a stoic expression etched on his face now. You frowned and turned to look back at your friend, too, confused.

“Excuse me?” You asked, making sure you heard right.

“Just stay quiet for a sec,” Jungkook exasperatedly stressed. “It is not the time to fucking yap when you can see that we are not in the mood.”

“Look, Jungkook,” you breathed in, “I get it you’re going through things, I do, but it’s not an excuse to be rude to us. We are your friends. We are looking out for you and you’re pushing us away because you’re scared.” You sighed. “You don't need to apologize to me, but apologize to Taehyung because he’s been handling all of the insults you’ve thrown at him, and he’s been there.”

“Y/n…” Taehyung started but you raised a hand to stop him.

“Talk to me when you realize that you have people who care about you,” you gave him a pleasing pleading look. “Again, your feelings are valid. It’s okay to be scared, paranoid, and anxious, but how will we be able to help you when you’re constantly belittling those closer to you?” You closed the fridge you had opened. “Don’t be an ass.”

Walking away, Jungkook was left in silence at your words. Taehyung didn’t know if he felt relief because of your words or was completely worried about how it affected Jungkook. But, he knew you were right.

Jungkook was going through something, and he tended to lash out when he would get anxious in a sense of protection. That’s the way he learned to communicate whenever his dad yelled at him.

“Why have you been insulting me, Kookie?” Taehyung softly asked, using the nickname Jungkook didn’t like without wrinkling his nose.

Jungkook sighed, dropping the act. He pulled out his phone and opened a message where message after message was sent.

“Jia always finds a way to send threats,” he mumbled out. “She knows where Y/n lives and she’s been knowing. She knows her age, her parents, grandparents, and she even knows where she’s from. She knows who you are, knows what happened with your dad, and why you and Y/n are close. She knows Jimin, Jimin’s parents, and Jimin’s whole schedule. It’s terrifying. I know I should’ve come to you guys but, Jia’s uncle is a police officer, too, and is a reason why she doesn’t go to jail.”

“Ah, the system is corrupt,” Taehyung commented, shaking his head, and Jungkook gave him a look that told him it wansny the time. “It doesn’t excuse your rude words. I hope you know that.”

“It’s better for you guys to be tired of me and drop me as a friend,” Jungkook frowned, slumping in his chair, “than know you guys were in danger. I was already looking for places to move to as soon as you guys kicked me out.”

“Jungkook, you’re fucking crazy,” Taehyung shook his head, rubbing the skin of his forehead. “A big dummy. I forgive you but, you hurt Y/n’s feelings.”

“I know,” he winced at just watching your facial expressions. “I know how much she likes to talk so I figured it would be something I can insult in a way.”

“Yeah, you’re sleeping on the couch,” the other man chuckled, shaking his head. “My poor sister bought you snacks, and here you are insulting her because you’re scared of us getting hurt. We’re not like your high school friends, Kook. We won’t leave you that quickly.”

“I’m sorry for being an asshole.”

“Call yourself a fart head and I’ll forgive you.”

“You already told me you forgive me, idiot.”

“Shit.”

Not talking to you was utter hell.

It had only been a day but still, it was utter hell.

Taehyunf was right, though. He did have to sleep on the couch. And it was funny how you let him know without saying anything because you had blankets and a pillow and you simply let them plop on the couch. Jimin and Taehyung were just watching between you two, almost as if it was a drama come to life.

Jungkook wasn’t impressed with their teasing, but he let them do so since he hurt them with his idiocy.

Days passed after the incident and Jungkook hated it. He would try talking to you, but you would quickly avoid him and go back to your room, only coming out once the others were there, too. He had gotten so used to your ranting and you spewing out a small little summary as to what you did during the entire day, and he loved it. He knew you loved talking. He knew because you did it to him every day, and he did not mind one bit.

“Where’s Y/n?” Jungkook asked once he got out of the shower, a white shirt clinging onto his skin that caused the boys there to whistle at him. He rolled his eyes as he rubbed his towel over his wet hair, eyes wanting to meet yours but nothing. He frowned. “Where’d she go?”

“She went to Namjoon’s bakery,” Jimin answered and Jungkook nodded, heading towards the kitchen to grab a banana milk from the fridge. But, he groaned once he noticed something. “What is it?”

“He finally noticed that the reason why there was always banana milk was because Y/n always repacked it,” Taehyung snorted and he raised his hands in mock surrender once Jungkook turned to glare at him to shut up. “What? The consequences of your actions.”

“I just didn’t want her to go out considering Jia was seen on camera in the morning,” Jungkook stressed, sitting on a nearby chair. “I just hope she’s safe because she walks back here and it’s getting late.”

“She’ll come back safe, don’t worry.”

And they shouldn’t have worried because you were minding your own business talking to Namjoon’s girlfriend and his grandma.

“He said that?” Namjoon’s girlfriend gasped and you nodded, taking a sip of your drink. “What an asshole!”

“Don’t get me wrong,” you started, leaning back on your chair, “but he’s just going through something. And it’s not an excuse but, he tends to insult so he could protect his feelings.”

“Yeah, but that’s so dumb,” she continued to say, though, she calmed down a bit. “I hope he apologizes and learns from his stupid mistake. I’ll beat him up for you, Y/n. Me and Grandma, right Grandma?”

You two turned to look at Namjoon’s grandma who was listening to every word you two said and nodded. “Honey, he better respect you.”

“He does, Grandma don’t worry,” you smiled at her, tapping her hand before sticking your wrist out. You lightly gasped. “It’s late! I have to walk home.”

“I would’ve given you a ride but Namjoon took my car,” you snickered at the idea of seeing the giant driving, “I know, I know, bad idea. But, I’m sorry, babe. Call me, though, if anything happens, and you already know I’ll be there before you can blink.”

You smiled. “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow, though. I’ll come back.”

“Okay, see you!”

“Bye!” She waved at you. “Bye, Grandma!”

Smiling at the way she smiled at you, you walked off and walked towards Yoongi’s store. Opening it, you also said your goodbyes and received a curt wave from him since he was busy with customers.

You looked ahead at the sidewalk and groaned at how long it seemed, and you made sure you had your phone in one hand and your taser was neatly kept in your pocket.

You saw that you didn’t have any messages before you left, and continued your journey home. You took it as a time to start thinking about everything and you sighed. Because you just wanted to talk to Jungkook, and you couldn’t. You couldn’t stop thinking about his words and they echoed in your head like a mantra.

Did he find you that annoying? Is that bothersome? But he had told you he liked it when you would just talk and that it soothed him. Did he lie about that, too? And if he did, what else has he lied about?

You shook your head at your overthinking.

“Asshole,” you grumbled under your breath.

You continued walking and the hairs on your arm immediately went up once you sensed something. You looked over your shoulder at heard hushed whispers and quiet footsteps, and your heart started beating faster once you saw two guys standing there.

“Hey!” One of them yelled and you pretended to ignore it. Though, their footsteps got heavier and closer and before you knew it, they stood in front of you. “We were talking to you.”

You gulped. “Who are you?”

“I'm sorry, girl,” one of the guys said with an empty tone, “but someone told us that a stupid rich girl would be coming out today to this restaurant, gave us exactly what you are wearing.”

“Who told you?” You frowned, maintaining your face neutral once one of the guys got closer to you to grab your wrist. “Oh, my God. Not again.”

“Now, is that who you are, huh?” The man pushed you to a nearby wall. “You’re a stupid rich girl?” He grabbed your purse. “Let’s see how much you have on you if you are.”

You loudly sighed. “I’m not rich. At all. I’m a college student, geniuses.” You regretted those words as they came out of your mouth, and then did you remember how your mom had said you talking back would get you in trouble? You didn’t believe her considering you had just talked back when she said she didn’t want to see you. “Let go of me.”

“She’s right,” the talker guy said, showing off your wallet where only a few bills stood out. “There’s nothing.”

“Let’s see your jewel—” Someone snatched the closest man to you and threw him on the ground.

With hope vibrating in you, you simply sighed with relief once you had noticed that Namjoon was standing there. His car was messily parked on the side of the sidewalk, telling you he immediately got out to get you.

Not only that, but Yoongi was there, too, since he had been with him to get some food.

“You okay?” Yoongi asked once he reached you, taking you away from the scene. You nodded in confirmation, shaking in his hands. “Get in the car. I already alerted my brothers to come get them.”

“Thank you, Yoongi.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Namjoon spat out, punching both of the guys until they landed on the floor. “Who do you think you are to attack a defenseless person at this time of day when nobody is around?”

“Someone paid us,” the taller man explained. “She told us to do this and she even paid us a sum, too, that was enough.”

You frowned. “Did she have, like, long, dark blue hair?” The man nodded and you groaned. “I know who it is.” You turned to look at Namjoon. “Is it okay if we can leave? I don’t want to be here.”

“Yeah,” Namjoon nodded, passing Yoongi his keys. “Take her home. I’ll take care of these idiots. Your brothers were in my bakery when you called them so they’ll be here shortly.”

Yoongi nodded and helped you get inside the car before closing your door. He got in the driver's seat and made sure Namjoon was okay before driving off.

God, was it always like this with Jungkook? Because this is the third incident where someone grabbed you on your arm and tried threatening you.

You were silent the whole ride but everything hit you all at once. You never process any type of event and now, you allowed yourself to feel and understand what you were feeling. So far, you just wanted a hug.

“Here, I’ll take you to your house,” Yoongi said and you nodded, not saying a word, and got out. He followed behind and knocked on the door once he saw you were a bit distracted with your thoughts.

He looked up at hearing the door open and came to find Jimin. “Hi, Jimin.”

“Yoongi?” Jimin questioned. “What are you—” His eyes trailed towards you. “Y/n?”

Everyone’s ears perked at the mention of your name and Jungkook was the first one to stand next to Himin to see if you were okay. But, once you saw him, you simply jutted out your bottom lip and wrapped your arms around his torso.

Confused, Jungkook glanced up at Yoongi’s face before wrapping his arm around your shoulders and the other arm went around your head so his inked hand intertwined itself with your hair.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. “What happened?”

“She was close to getting jumped,” Yoongi started to explain. “Two guys stopped her and wanted to steal money from her.”

“What?” Both Jimin and Jungkook exclaimed. The others, Taehyung and Minjee, perked up at the sound and walked towards them to see what was happening. It was now Minjee’s turn to frown.

“Yoongi, what are you doing here?”

“Look, your friend almost got jumped,” he simply summed up. “Namjoon and I stepped in, and I have to hurry back because I left him to watch over the guys since he punched them.”

“Why did they do that?” Taehyung asked, eyes on his phone since he was calling up Hobi and Jin, having an inkling as to who it was.

“They said they got told by someone that a stupid rich girl would be in Namjoon’s bakery,” you mumbled as best as you could because your face was buried in Jungkook’s chest.

“Jia,” Jungkook sighed. He looked back at Yoongi. “Thank you for saving her. I’ll grab my jacket and I’ll go with you to—”

“No, Jungkook, stay here,” Taehyung instructed, spreading putting on his sweater. “Stay with Y/n. We’ll go talk with the police and Jin is going to come here to talk to you about Jia and what you can do. Minjee already dealt with paying Jin to represent you because although he would’ve done so for free, Minjee wanted to repay him, so don’t worry.”

“Okay, I’ll stay here,” Jungkook nodded. The others nodded and quickly put on their shoes. They all dismissed themselves and rapidly got inside the car where Yoongi drove off as soon as the doors closed.

You and Jungkook were left alone in silence and he could even hear your heartbeat from having you in his arms.

“Don’t let go,” you muttered. He sadly smiled and nodded, continuing to scratch your head.

“Let’s go to your room, okay?” He asked. “We need to talk after all.”

He felt you nod and you now stood by his side to walk towards your room. He closed the door and he watched you plop onto your bed, obviously comforting yourself. He walked towards you and you made space to let him in, moving aside until your back was on the wall.

“Are you okay?” Jungkook softly asked, his thumb rubbing the spot by your cheekbone to soothe you. You sighed. “I know, Y/n. I’m sorry for what you went through, I-I am. I’m sorry.”

“It was just scary, Kook,” you let out a shaky breath. “I mean, no one was around. No one was there. What if Namjoon and Yoongi hadn’t seen me? What would’ve happened?”

“You can’t think things like that,” he continued to speak softly. His brows were furrowed together and they depicted the stress and worry he felt. He sighed and leaned his face against your pillow, staring at you. “Listen, I’m sorry. For what I said… I wanted you to be away from me so something like this could’ve been prevented. You could’ve been hurt.”

“You only hurt me so I could get away from you?” You questioned with humor lacing your voice. You squinted your eyes before you started hitting his arm. “Fuckinf idiot! What a stupid idea, I swear. A good one, but a stupid idea.” You placed your hands on each side of his, squishing it so his lips could slightly pucker. “Do you think a woman who is obsessed with you scares me? Well, she does scare me, but it won’t make me leave you.”

“Really?” He frowned.

You nodded. “Just try some shit like that again, I will give you a wedgie while you’re sleeping and get a sharpie and just draw glasses around your eyes.”

“I-” He let out, staring at you with a perplexed look. “Yeah, remind me to never piss you off.”

You snorted and closed your eyes. But, you could feel him staring at you, his gaze burning holes in the places he looked at.

“I can feel you staring,” you whispered.

“I can beat them up if you want,” Jungkook said with the same hushed tone. “For scaring you. Did you get your purse back?”

“No,” you shook your head, keeping your eyes closed as the events brought some type of exhaustion to you. “They quickly took me out of there. I couldn’t blink before they just came and Yoongi told me he’d take me home.”

“I’ll have to repay them for getting to you,” Jungkook thought out loud. He looked at you. “From now on, I’ll be your ride, okay? I’ll drop you off and pick you up, okay?”

“Okay,” you sleepily nodded. “Also, just scare the guys. Don’t hurt them. Now, give me your hand.” Jungkook did so and you guided it towards the back of your head. “I got slammed on the wall so rub my head.”

“Y/n!” He exclaimed, sitting up. “We need to take you to the hospital.”

“They didn’t slam me hard,” you reassured him, guiding him back to lie down. “It was more, like, if you bump against the wall.”

“We’re going to the hospital tomorrow,” Jungkook waved a finger to you threateningly. You nodded and you couldn’t help but just look at him the way he was looking at you. His head was fluffy, resting on his forehead since he had taken a shower. And he looked so soft with his fitted shirt and sweatpants that displayed the size of his waist, something Minjee had teased him about. He was looking at you and he was looking. His eyes kept glancing between your eyes and your lips, and he kept rubbing your cheek with the pad of his thumb. You softly traced his tattoos. “Now, rest well, okay? I’ll stay h—”

“Can I sleep with you?” Your abrupt question caught him off guard. He opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. You chuckled. “Not like that, geez.”

Jungkook smiled. “Take me on a date first.” He nodded shortly after, though laughter spilled his lips. “Yes, I’ll sleep with you. It’ll help me, too. Are you going to take a nap right now?”

You nodded. “The events tired me out.”

“Okay then,” he smiled, tilting his head to the side as he was now propping himself on his elbow. “Rest, okay?” He kissed your forehead and you gulped down the squeal that wanted to escape. “I’ll be here.”

He wasn’t kidding.

jungkook stayed by your side until Minjee, Jimin, and Taehyung came back with Jin, Hobi, and Hobi’s brother-in-law. He just didn’t expect to see that Hobi’s brother was not only a police officer but a sergeant.

“Is she sleeping?” Minjee asked, frowning at the thought of her best friend hurt. Jungkook nodded in his response.

“Yeah, the events tired her out,” Jungkook repeated after you. He looked at Them all. “What happened?”

“We found Jia close to where the events happened,” Hobi explained, frowning at the way he saw the girl's face. “Even confirmed that she planned to have Y/n injured in hopes of teaching her a lesson: stay away from you.”

“We found that this isn’t the first time she’s done this… whole stalking thing,” Minjee explained after, catching everyone’s attention. “My dad called and said her uncle tried hiding her records so she would have more job opportunities. Stalked two guys and had to move away from city to city because everyone knew about her tendencies.”

“Right now,” Hobi’s brother-in-law began to say, “She’ll be arrested. We’ll have a chat with her uncle, too.”

“Just warning you, though,” Jin winced, “she might not get time in prison. She might plead not guilty for reason of insanity. If not then, she will get 3 years in state prison and may pay a heavy fine.”

“Look, I don’t care,” Jungkook sighed. “I just… want to stop being paranoid I have to look over my shoulder. I don’t want to see her ever again.”

Jin nodded in understanding. “I’ll try to talk to her lawyer.”

“Thank you,” Jungkook bowed his head before he glanced back to look at your door. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep.”

Everyone bid their goodnights and didn’t mind it when he went into your room since he was staying there before he got kicked out to the couch. Though they didn’t expect to see you two cuddled up, they only found out because Minjee dropped off some things in your room and saw the two heads peaking from your blanket.

“Guys!” Minjee harshly whispered, closing your door a bit. “They’re cuddling!”

“What? No way!”

“Let me see!”

“Move out of the way, Jimin.”

No events happened shortly after.

Well, Jia did end up going to a hospital to stay in. But that’s all you and Jungkook wanted to know. However, her mom was left to pay some fines for the way Jia tried to harass Jungkook when he was a minor, and Jia’s uncle was suspended for using his work as a way to do personal things.

You and Jungkook went back to being the same as before. Well, except he went back to live in his apartment with Taehyung. Not only that, he was getting nervous each day because he wanted to confess.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Jungkook began, hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie as you two walked off the college campus, “my mom requested to meet you.”

You gasped and pointed at yourself. “Me?”

“Yes, you, dummy,” he smiled. He looked ahead and let his smile fade to glare at people glancing at him. “Wants to thank you for just doing everything you could.”

“There’s no need to thank me,” you waved your hand off as a way to show you dismissing his words. “You’re an important person to me, of course, I would want to help.”

“Just let her take you out, okay?” He raised an eyebrow and you couldn’t help but nod along with his words. “You’ll love her, and don’t let her serious face scare you. I swear she is a big teddy bear.”

You snorted. “So she’s you?”

A scoff escaped Jungkook’s lips. “Not even. I’m going to tell her you said that.”

“No,” you whined, grabbing onto his arm and shaking him. “Ugh, I need to talk to your mom about you either way. The attitude you give me… despicable, I’m telling you.”

“My attitude is the one thing you like about me shut up,” he softly pushed you away by bumping into you. “Anyway, let’s go out on a walk.”

“I mean,” you gestured towards your surroundings, “we are walking.” He gave you an incredulous look by the way you said it so seriously. “I’m kidding, I'm kidding. Where do you want to go?”

“Let’s go to that one park near here,” he answered, grabbing onto your hand to prevent you from bumping into someone since you had been so distracted checking your phone to see if it was going to rain. “I think we both deserve just finally having some peace.”

“Oh, yeah,” you nodded. “It was a mess. But let’s get snacks first!”

“Okay, okay,” Jungkook chuckled, your hands still clasped together. You dragged him towards the nearest convenience store and by the end of it, you two had a bagful of goods—that he paid for—that made your mouth salivate.

“Kook, I want to marry this strawberry milk,” you spoke in awe as you held the can of milk close to you. “Thank you for buying it, even though I offered but you pushed me aside.”

He smiled at your sarcastic remark. “Can’t I spoil you?”

“Sheesh, just say you love me,” you teased, budging his shoulder repeatedly until he was doing it back to you.

As you sauntered off towards the park, you noticed the difference between the way Jungkook acted now to before. He seemed more protective of you in a way, pushing you away from a group of people who wouldn’t move or pushing them away, making sure you stayed on the inside of the sidewalk, and even glared at people who looked at you wrongly for even being him. Not only that, but he had a different personality with you—Minjee and Taehyung had let you know about this, too—where he glared at everyone, but he couldn’t stop smiling with you. Well, he had his moments where he seemed that way but Jungkook was just quieter compared to you. It was nice in some type of way.

“Let’s sit on the swings.”

You nodded and walked side by side. You looked at him out of the corner of your eye, admiring him. He was looking around and the hood of his hoodie was on. Since it was cold, he had worn an oversized sweater that he put on with some black jeans. To add more to his height, he wore his usual boots, and he liked teasing you more for being taller. His fingers were clothed with rings and he even had some of the jewelry you had gotten him which consisted of a necklace, earrings, and rings. He looked very cute and you just wanted to squish his cheeks together and coddle him to death. Liking him will never go away.

“Kook, why don’t you give me a nickname?” You had asked him as soon as you two sat in the empty swings. Considering it was not good weather to be playing around, the playground was rather empty and it was just you two.

jungkook pondered over your question. “Usually, your friends don’t call you that. They mostly call you honey.”

“Ah,” you simply let out. “I didn’t even notice they did that a lot.”

“And your name,” he looked down at his shoes, “I love it. It’s beautiful on its own.”

Your body heated up at his comment. You couldn’t help but try to hide your smile, making sure he wouldn’t see that his comment affected you.

You were entirely wrong, however, because he was laughing to himself while drinking his milk. You eyed him weirdly.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Tell me,” you softly kicked his foot and he continued to laugh.

“You look away so I won’t notice that my words affect you,” he pointed out. He looked at you, a small smirk hidden behind his stoic face. “It’s cute.”

“Shut up, your words don’t have an effect on me,” you cleared your throat, hoping he wouldn’t notice the lie. But, you mentally facepalmed when you even noticed how it was very obvious you were lying.

“Oh, yeah?” He raised his pierced brow, clearly testing you. You nodded and held onto your milk rather tightly once he got closer to your house. You noticed he did the triangle technique, glancing from one eye to your lips and then to your other eye. It had you holding your breath. “If I kiss you right now would you stop me?” You shook your head rather slowly, almost as if you were in a daze. “I need words, Y/n.”

The way he said your name in a demanding tone made you drop everything and kiss the fuck out of him but, you just gulped again.

“I wouldn’t stop you,” you muttered, glancing at his own lips before looking up into his eyes.

his gaze burnt and the way he looked at you made you want to see yourself in his point of view because Jungkook was shy and quiet, and here he was looking like he wanted to devour you and savor you all at once.

“I’ve been thinking about you for months,” he started, his lips brushing against yours, clearly teasing you. “Not even months, years. I’ve been thinking about you since the day we met 2 years ago during the first year of college. I always hated being stared at, but when I looked at you, you were more interested in the butterfly I was looking at. When you did look at me, though, I always hoped you continued to stare at me.”

“I always did,” you whispered. “I could never keep my eyes away from you.”

He gave you a tight-lipped smile. “I’m supposed to be affecting you, not you affecting me, idiot.” You smiled at the name, knowing he didn’t mean anything eitj that name. “Damn it… Look away.”

“Why?”

“You know why,” he rolled his eyes, covering your eyes with the palm of his hand. You tried peaking over the top of his hands but he immediately followed your eyesight.

“I don’t think I know why,” you said and you weren’t lying. You were a bit clueless when it came to hints but you were just stating the obvious.

“I have liked you ever since I saw you being yourself around Taehyung,” he admitted, lowering his hand a bit. You perked up at his words and let your eyes find his own. But, he rapidly put his hand over your eyes again. “Don’t look at me, please. I won’t be able to handle my emotions and I will kiss you.”

“you will?” You breathed out.

“Yes, so please don’t look at me or I’ll forget about what I’m trying to confess,” he admitted. You looked at his palm and licked your lips. “I have liked you ever since I saw you being yourself around Taehyung, so when you tell me I’m the one you’ve been looking at, my heart feels like it’s about to escape my chest.”

“But it has been you,” you confessed, frowning a bit. You slowly raise your head and let your eyes meet his doe ones. It was a little awkward at first considering you were both on swings and your bodies needed to situate themselves right, but you ignored the ache and looked. “I’ve liked you since the first year of college when I saw this boy just playing around with a butterfly. You looked so cute so, I left. I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

He let the corner of his lips slowly raise. “When I first saw you with Taehyung, fighting him, it reassured me knowing that you had good intentions getting to know me. You weren't faking it and I loved that about you, especially when I saw you being the nicest person in the world to other people when they didn’t deserve it.”

“Are you talking about the time when the girls were debating who should sit next to you?” You snorted at his idea of nice.

“You said “excuse me”, which, by the way, I would not be able to do.” Of course, he found amusement in that situation. “I would’ve been punching my way through that crowd because they decided to fight over the empty seat in the morning.”

“Ah, those days,” you dramatically sighed at the thought, considering that nowadays you two were in your final month of school. “But, you liked me since that day?” He nodded. “Wait, what did you tell the waiter when went to the cafe?”

He seemed taken aback by the question once he processed what you said. Scratching the back of his head, he looked away from you again.

“I told him that if he could change it because you had someone,” he winced saying it out loud. You simply watched him as he fidgeted under your gaze. “In my defense…”

“Uhuh.”

“You felt uncomfortable so it made him back off,” he shrugged and you could almost cackle at the way he was dismissing the obvious jealousy. “Hey, you probably like the fact that I got jealous so shut up.”

“I’m not saying anything,” you said between chuckles. hearing your laughter, he couldn’t help but join in, too. He smiled at a thought of his before he shared it with you.

“You know,” he started, “the reason I was never upset with you when you broke my phone was because you unknowingly saved my life. I hope you know.”

“How so?” You questioned, tilting your head to the side to look at him.

“When we met first year, you had been late which is why you were looking at me,” he went to explain. “Well, because you did that, I guess some girl thought we were dating because she said we looked like a cute couple. Not only that but, just as you came to class this semester, the girls behind me were playing rock, paper, scissors. Whoever won would sit next to me. When you broke my phone, someone had leaked my phone number before that, and the stress I felt… But, you broke it and it was the most freeing thing. So, Y/n, thank you. For saving me. You have saved me so many times and it’s been you since the beginning.”

You could cry at the way he mentioned the events. Thinking back, you were always around Jungkook. He was always there and you always would mention you were lucky. But you could see now it was more than that.

“I’m happy I got to save you in some sense,” you smiled reassuringly. He did, too.

“I’m happy, too.”

“And I’m very happy to know you reciprocate my feelings, you know?” He nodded. “It feels great. Total confidence boost.”

He snorted, taking a sip of his milk while you two continued to face one another. “I’m happy I get to be liked by you. I’d rather no one love me and fan over me if they’re not you.”

You smiled and you lightly pouted at the way he looked at you and expressed his emotions. “Kook.”

You then maintained contact, just staring at one another, because for the first time in months, you two felt at ease and at peace. Here you are confessing your feelings in a playground with tiny droplets of rain dropping on you two. So, you two admired one another.

“Fuck it,” he mumbled under his breath, and you looked at him confusedly at hearing his words. Jumping back a bit, he stood in front of you, leaned down, grabbed your face between his cold hands, and dipped his head.

Jungkook kissed you, and he kissed you as if you were going to disappear. One of his hands lowered to rest itself by your throat, gripping it a bit to bring you closer to him if possible. The other grabbed onto your hip, fingers dipping into the fabric of your sweater. With the emotion of it all, you two wanted more.

You could feel the way your knees felt weak, and if you were standing, you might’ve probably fell to the ground because of the way his hand just stayed to rest on your throat. His thumb was rubbing the base of your jaw and his lips fit so well with yours.

At needing air, you two backed away but not too far from each other. Your lips brushed against the others and they were itching to kiss again.

“I’m craving you more than ever,” he whispered in a low tone, continuously pecking your lips. “Can I show you?”

“Yes.”

“Yours or mine?”

“Mine. Taehyung had texted me to keep you away because he was bringing a girl.”

“He’ll be fine. He has commitment issues so he doesn’t get girls.”

EXTRA,

Minjee and Jimin looked up from their studies at hearing the door open. They glanced at one another once they saw you and Jungkook coming inside, your hands intertwined together. You were giggling and he had that soft smile on his face that he usually wore around you. But, there was something different about you two.

“Hello,” Jimin greeted, giving you Teo a smile.

You giggled and waved before clearing your throat. “Um, we have to study so, we’ll be in my room.”

Minjee slowly nodded her head. “Okay…”

“Bye.”

Jungkook curtly waved, following after your hurried steps.

Once the door closed and the two heard it lock behind Jungkook, they simply stated at the door with an amused expression.

“I’m guessing they told each other,” Minjee suggested and Jimin agreed with her without no hesitation. “And they’re about to fuck.”

“Yep,” Jimin pursed his lips. The two friends looked at each other again rather comically. “So, should we go bother Taehyung?”

“Yeah, we both know he does not have a girl over.”

“Ah, commitment issues.”