Two-Sided Coin

Chapter 1

"Hyung!"

Jungkook's voice rang out through the hallway and into my room, pulling me into consciousness. I groaned softly, turning onto my side, but suddenly coughed when a sharp, familiar smell assaulted my nose. My eyes snapped open and I lifted myself up, gripping my left wrist tightly with my right hand to stop the bleeding, and yelled out my dongsaeng's name. He immediately sprinted to my room, unlocking the door quickly and running to me, snatching a roll of yellowing bandages from my desk on the way.

I gritted my teeth, my wrist stinging painfully, and carefully moved my right hand away to give Jungkook room to nurse my wound. Uncomfortable silence settled over the two of us as he applied an ointment to the fresh marks on my already-tainted skin, but I didn't dare break it. Anger and fear blossomed in my heart as I thought of how those cuts got there and I felt the urge to hug my younger friend to forget.

"Done," he announced in a quiet voice, pressing a gentle kiss on each of my bandaged wrists, as he did every time. It brought a smile to my face and I let out a small hum of contentment.

"Thanks, Kookie," I said brightly, touching a finger to the cloth that was already slightly blood stained from previous traumas. He merely gave a nod and stood with a sigh, turning to leave and finish preparing breakfast. It was silent once more and my skin began to crawl at the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Not wanting to stay alone any longer, I jumped out of bed and moved to the kitchen, passing through our empty, peeling hallway. Jungkook was standing by the counter top, his back facing to me, and seemed to be preparing something to eat. Probably instant ramen which he emptied into bowls to make it look homemade. Meaning, what we had every day.

"Can't we eat real food for once?" I complained, coming up from behind him. He flinched at the sound of my voice, but looked at me over his shoulder and smiled slightly.

"If you learn how to cook, then sure," he reasoned, swooping up the two bowls and carrying them to the small round coffee table that served as our dining table. "Until then, it's instant ramen for you."

I sighed and nodded, crouching before our meal and picking up my chopsticks, almost dropping them when pain shot through my wrist again. Jungkook jumped to help, but I just waved him off.

"I'm fine," I insisted, carefully picking up my utensils again and smiling at him. "See? I can do it."

He nodded slowly, unconvinced, but didn't bother me further.

As we were almost finished with our breakfast, and just as Jungkook shoveled an especially large bunch of ramen into his mouth, I asked the question that was itching in the back of my mind all morning.

"Was it V again?"

Jungkook froze for a moment, then started coughing violently, choking on his noodles. Eyes widening, I stood and patted his back until he finally caught his breath again. He cleared his throat and avoided my gaze as he answered with a quiet, "Yes."

Sighing, I nodded and stood, collecting our bowls and moving to put them in the sink.

"Why can't you just fight him off?" I questioned, adding dots of dish soap to my bowl in the shape of a smiley face. "If you just get rid of him, he won't bother us any more."

A few minutes passed as I washed our dishes and Jungkook didn't speak. Finally, I turned around to see him sitting on the end of the couch, his arms crossed and resting on his knees, his face buried in them, and his shoulders shaking.

"Kookie?" I called carefully, my voice wavering slightly. I quickly put down the chopsticks I was rinsing, wiped my hands on my jeans, and rushed to his side, sitting close to him and putting an arm around his back.

"Kookie?" I tried again, leaning down to get closer to his head. I gently pried his face away from his arms and found it stained with tears.

"I'm fine," he mumbled and tried to leave, but I gripped his shoulders tighter, not letting him move. For a moment, I just stared at his wet eyes, then began wiping the tears from his cheeks with the pad of my thumb. He swallowed thickly and lowered his gaze, but let me dry him, sniffling softly. Once I was done, I placed a hand on the back of his neck and lead his head to my shoulder where he immediately buried himself in the crook of my neck.

We stayed like that for a while, Jungkook crying silently into my shirt and me holding him close. For some reason, my heart was pounding hard and I felt a fluttering in my stomach, but I tried to ignore it and drew him nearer.

I don't know how much time had passed, but he eventually peeled his face from me and sniffled slightly, managing a small smile.

"Sorry, hyung," he mumbled, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

"It's okay, Kookie," I replied with a smile, rubbing my hands up and down his arms in reassurance. He managed a small smile back and stood with a sigh.

"We have to hurry. School starts in twenty minutes," he reminded me and moved to his room. I groaned and ran my hands over my face, then stood and walked into my bathroom to make myself look presentable.

I cursed under my breath when I walked inside and saw the mirror that was usually hanging above the sink was now on the floor, face down, with small bits of glass arranged in a messy array around it.

"V," I muttered with disdain as I cleaned up and hung the now cracked mirror back onto the wall. A rock started forming in the pit of my stomach when I saw my reflection through the wisps of cracks.

As always, my cheeks were hollowed and my skin was deathly pale, though there was a lively glint in my eyes that I always loved. My damaged, orange hair was matted, the limp and dirty bangs plastered on my forehead.

With a heavy sigh, I swept my hair to the side and washed my face, then lined my eyes carefully and put on a cherry flavored chapstick. There wasn't much I could do with how sickly I looked, but I managed to make my hair not look like I haven't washed it in one and a half weeks to save water.

"Hyung!"

"Coming!" I yelled downstairs, already moving towards my dongsaeng's voice. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs and waiting for me, his eyes closed and his backpack slung over one shoulder.

I grabbed my own backpack and smiled at him, opening the door to leave.

"How much time do we have left?" I asked him, locking the door behind the two of us. He glanced at the cheap watch on his thin wrist.

"Five minutes," he sighed, adjusting his bag, and started to jog in the direction of the school.

The run to class was silent as we both focused on not being late. Our morning was off to a bad start already and I barely had enough time to worry about the school seeing my fresh bandages and asking about my endeavours. It's not like I could tell them of the intruder that haunts me at night without them questioning my sanity. Jungkook had already warned me not to speak of it to others, so I trust his judgement and keep quiet.