Set Aflame

34

Knock knock knock.

"Y/n?"

"Go away. I want to be alone."

The door opens and Jungkook walks into the room.

"I said go away," you warn, though you really don't want him to leave.

The door closes again, and you think he's gone, but then a massive weight plops onto the bed behind you, jostling you out of your comfy position. You sit up and fix Jungkook with a glare so that he knows you're annoyed, only to lose all of your scariness when you sniffle.

Jungkook leans down to your level and looks you in the eyes.

"We're you cr-"

"No."

"Wanna talk abo-"

"No."

Jungkook purses his lips, never breaking eye contact, then holds his hand up to your face and brushes his thumb underneath your eye to catch a tear you didn't realize was there.

"Your brothers and Yoongi are worried about you," he says.

"I'm worried about me. What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"We," Jungkook corrects. "What are we supposed to do now. You're not alone."

"I'm the only one with powers here."

"And if we're not together, we could both potentially die."

He has a point.

It is now that you realize his hand is still on your face. You bat it away and lay back down on your side, facing away from him.

"I'm fine," you say. "You don't have to check up on me."

"I'd leave you but you keep burning."

Oh. You didn't notice.

"You know... it's okay to be scared."

"I'm not scared," you say. You tug the blanket over yourself and hold it close to your chest.

"Right," Jungkook says. He pats your shoulder. "Okay. But you are feeling helpless."

You don't respond to that. He's right. You do feel helpless. Not sure what he's trying to achieve by guessing your feelings.

"You're worried that you're eventually going to have to give up your powers."

Again, not wrong. If it gets dangerous enough and you can't pull your friends and family out of this, the best option would be to let them catch you.

"But you can't do that, okay? Promise you won't do that?"

You turn your head around to look at Jungkook.

"Why not?"

"Because you're different than the 'Imperionims' we read about. Your powers aren't in your bloodstream. They're from a demon. So it can't be extracted the same way. What will happen if they try?"

You look away as this new thought enters your mind. Jungkook is right once again. He's thought of everything.

"They just... won't extract the powers then. Who says they'll take something else in its place?"

"This machine that my dad says he built can't be that good yet. It's still fairly new. Mistakes can happen. Point is, none of us want you to do it."

"I didn't say I was going to-"

"I'm putting down the choice before it becomes an option." Jungkook says it with finality, as if he needs you to know that he's serious, and you won't be turning yourself in.