Fight for You | JJK

16

Having Namjoon around is like being with a friend or an older brother more than being with a bodyguard.

He's one of your father's most trusted men who does a little bit of everything, but mostly plans the logistics of your family's international travels. You even had him with you during your first few months of grad school in London, and that was the time you two got close and you felt for the first time what it was like to have a sibling.

He's trained to protect, first and foremost, but he's a better planner, and it's a good arrangement for him to detail you and work on other things during the hours you're busy.

You had it all figured out, thanks to your best friends' help. You knew that the quickest way for Mr. Han to agree with your request was to come up with a plan.

Namjoon was the best choice for a replacement, and with an important conference happening in Incheon at the end of the week, you convinced Mr. Han to get Jungkook onboarded on your father's security team as soon as possible.

It's why the transition was quick, perhaps catching Jungkook off guard, hence the hurtful phone call. It's also why for the rest of the week, you don't see him.

Apart from you barely seeing your father in the office, Jungkook's initiation and integration in the security team takes place in your parents' estate. With the conference happening, you're given at least a week to get your bearings and recover from the utter humiliation of getting rejected by your personal bodyguard.

After overhearing the phone call, Mr. Sim and Namjoon don't bring Jungkook up again. You're thankful that, including Mrs. Hwang, they don't look at you with sadness or pity; you do that enough to yourself when you look in the mirror every morning and see crestfallen eyes staring back at you.

But you need to recover, you tell yourself. You go shopping, visit the orphanage to read the kids bedtime stories, get pampered, go to a karaoke with your best friends, and drink wine as you enjoy your hot bath every night.

It's more the shame you're trying to get over, as you try to convince yourself that liking Jungkook was silly. You'd been stupid to interpret his actions as anything more than him fulfilling his job, as he'd so painfully pointed out.

Because he's right - he was paid to protect you. He was paid to know things about you, to keep you safe, to make sure that your reputation and dignity are intact. You'd been the delusional one to think that something was there when he was just doing his job, something he's always been very good at.

Over a week later, your father calls a meeting to update everyone on the conference and the billion-won deal the company's working on. You're seated near the back of the meeting room, mindlessly doodling on your iPad.

Everyone is quiet as your father enters with his security team, and that's when you see Jungkook - dressed in all black, his hair pushed back, looking more intimidating than you remember.

His presence shouldn't surprise you but it does, causing you to choke on your coffee and cough in the noiseless room, grabbing everyone's attention.

Namjoon is quick to give you a glass of water, his warm eyes comforting you, as he knows what got you worked up.

Jungkook glances at you as he assesses the room. You look at him briefly and spot the gun holster and the earpiece immediately, thinking how differently he looks now. It fits him.

He still has his stoic look, but there's a tinge of anger painted on his face and you can't help the pang in your chest knowing it's because of you. You turn away and nibble your lips, trying to find out how you can keep your focus on the meeting when you know that Jungkook is in the room, the embarrassment from last week still plaguing your mind.