Nobody Knows | Jeon Jungkook

•18•

I groan as I sit upright from my lying position. The stabbing pain in my ribs feels even worse, even though it's been two days. I had hoped the pain would subside with time and I could move normally again, but it seems I was wrong about that.

And of course, all of this has to happen at just the right time. I roll my eyes at my own stupidity, but at least now I know that there are districts where I should be more careful or even keep my nose out altogether. Having to take the exam next week with a disfigured face makes me cringe, and I hope the severe headache goes away by tomorrow at the latest so I can get on with my studying.

Yesterday I just slept all day, the throbbing in my head just didn't end and after taking pain killers I fell asleep. Irina didn't have time yesterday anyway, so I took advantage of my loneliness. I wonder what she does, though.

These things she always has to take care of seem to happen more often than I would have thought. But then, what else can you expect with a woman who is so focused and determined. I wish I had just a fraction of her single-mindedness, I probably would have been famous by now.

I laugh to myself but hiss and my hand jumps to my ribs again. The internet hasn't really done much for me in terms of research on thug wounds. Or maybe I'm just incompetent at doctoring my own wounds.

Just as I'm about to go back to my lying position, I hear a light knock on my door. Drawing my eyebrows together in pain, I slowly get up from the bed and move toward my not-yet-known visitor. But looking at the time, I actually already know who is on the other side of the wooden door.

And my assumptions prove correct when I see Irina a few steps in front of me. She looks into the hallway, but with the opening of the door, I get her attention, to which she directs her gaze at me with a smile. But the smile immediately wipes away as she sees my disfigured face and her eyes widen in shock.

"What happened?" she asks quickly, raising her hand to touch my cheek.

"Ah!" I pull my face back as her delicate fingers grasp at the bruise under my eye.

She immediately pulls her hand back, an apologetic look written in her eyes. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Come on in." I say, making room for her to enter. "It's not as bad as it looks."

"I doubt that." she frowns. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. I accidentally hit the closet door in my face." I joke, laughing as she then rolls her eyes.

She takes a step towards me, lifts my shirt up, and scowls at me when she sees the bruises on my ribs. "Must have been a huge closet." she scoffs sarcastically and I grin down at her.

"Okay, you got me there," I sigh. "I was jogging a few blocks from here the night before last and then these big guys attacked me. You should have seen their faces though, they looked worse than me." No they didn't.

"Yeah, sure." she raises her eyebrow and crosses her arms over her chest, "I bet you were looking for trouble."

I pout. "No, I was actually being pretty reasonable." I protest.

"Do you have any healing ointment? The way you treated that, I'm sure it won't heal anytime soon," she says after sighing heavily. Her gaze is already speaking a thousand words, and I'm sure one of them is annoyance.

"I don't know if it'll do any good, but there's a cream in the bathroom," I answer and she nods before heading to the bathroom.

But she stops in her steps and I can hear a very slight vibration coming from nearby. Reaching for her pocket, Irina pulls out her cell phone and stares at the screen. She's probably getting a call, but I can't quite determine who it might be, because her expression changes to confusion and unease at the same time. She looks up at me from the display and when our eyes meet, she quickly puts on a smile.