Red Thread Of Fate

CHAPTER 6

Day 8

I head to the usual spot. I'm excited today. I'm excited to see how our relationship has progressed. I walk into the campus and head towards the art room.

I suddenly felt a tug.

My eyes dart to my pinky. That was weird. When I look back up, I spot Chul leaving the art room.

Fuck.

Once he was out of sight, I speed walk to the art room. Jungkook was sitting at his usual spot with his head down. My eyes follow his gaze and that's when I notice the mess around him. There were paintbrushes scattered on the ground and his canvas had a hole in the middle.

"Jungkook? What happened?" I ask, concerned.

His head darts up and my eyes widen. He was almost in tears. What caught my eye was his swollen cheek, with a fresh bruise appearing.

He looks away once our eyes make contact. It looked like he was trying to think of an excuse.

That fucker Chul!

I want to ask. But I don't think it's the right time. He seems out of it.

I kneel and start picking up the paintbrushes. I set the cup of paintbrushes on the nearest desk.

"I'll be back"

He watches me leave the room in silence. After 5 minutes, I walk back in, holding a bag of ice that I got from the university cafeteria. He watched me quietly. I pressed the ice against his cheek and he flinched.

"Ice helps reduce the swelling."

He seemed conflicted, almost like he didn't know whether to accept my help or push me away.

"We're friends, remember? We promised to help each other out" I remind him while sitting beside him, still holding the ice to his face.

His expression immediately relaxes. He replaces my hand with his and holds the ice to his face.

"Also, I brought some snacks. Let's eat!"

I pull out two packets of chips and two banana milk. He was looking at me with an expression I didn't understand. It looked like he was about to cry.

Why was my heart hurting? Why did I want to hug him?

We stared into each other's eyes for a second before I decided to speak.

"From now on, you can talk to me Jungkook. You can rely on me. I understand if you can't tell me everything so I'll wait for you. I'll wait until you're ready to trust me. You're not alone anymore. I'm here now" I smile reassuringly.

A single tear dropped down his cheek. It's as if he's been waiting to hear those words. He blinks his tear away and lets out a shaky breath.

I stab a straw into both drinks and hand him one while sipping the other. He looks down at the banana milk, and another tear drops onto the table.

"Thank you" he finally says.

His voice was soft but his words were genuine. He takes the milk and starts drinking it.

I smiled. I know it's not the right time to think this, but he was kind of cute.

While we ate and drank, I started talking about random topics trying to distract him. It was starting to work. He was starting to smile again.

The rest of the day went smoothly. He started a new painting and I followed. He didn't mind. He gave me some pointers, which completely changed the way I painted. He's so talented. We also planned to go to karaoke after this.