Whiplash | jjk.

[07]: Thick Skin

"Yo!"

For the love of god, why!?

You don't look behind you - you don't dare.

"Haru, come on now!" Jungkook grumbles, jogging to catch up to you as you march forward. "Bro."

"Just leave me alone, dude." you say, "I'm going home."

"Hey," Jungkook catches up, tugging on your shoulder but you nudge him off, and keep walking. "Just chill out, let me talk to you."

He grabs your arm again and you turn around, throwing him away with seething aggression.

"Why!? You didn't get enough fucking with me in there, and you wanna bring it out to the street?"

Jungkook suddenly isn't smiling anymore.

"Or maybe you want another chance to beat the shit outta me? Huh? Well, rest assured, I'm sure there will be plenty more of that."

He stared at you, still and speechless.

You scoff and turn, continuing on your path to head home.

"Dude. I'm sorry."

Sorry?

"The fuck are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry for pissing you off," he admits, but you can hear there is a whisper of his unyielding dignity still in there. "But I can't go easy. There's something off about you."

"'Off'?"

"I can't have you bringing some sketchy shit into my dojo, around my family. And I can tell you're hiding something." Jungkook steps forward, slowly shortening the distance between you. "And I'm gonna be the one to figure it out."

You gulp.

Then, you blink.

"Sure. Go ahead."

You turn around a final time, and are pleased to find that Jungkook is ready to let you leave.

You bite your bottom lip and maintain your stride, while Jungkook watches you march off into the night.

——————

The next day at the gym leaves no room for you to forget what had happened the night before.

Everyone looked at you when you walked in, but it was different to last time. There was a sense of caution in the air, like they're all treading on eggshells.

Like they have to make it anymore obvious...

Walking towards the lockers, you meet eyes with Jimin. The sweet curves of his face seem to soften your spikes for a moment.

But you feel like shit. Your face and eyes reflect your severe mental burnout, as they seem to suck in the light around you like weeping sinkholes.

You muster up a smile for him anyway.

It's flat and vacant.

"Hey." he mutters. "You're later than usual today."

"Yeah," you agree, throwing your bag into your slot and unzipping it to find your wraps. "Spent some extra time cleaning my place this afternoon."

"Well 'late' for you is still early for everyone else. So, i'd say you're good."

Your smile is still a flat line, "Good."

"How are you anyways?"

Your tone heightens. "Good."

Maybe too high.

The energy between you is weird and forced. Jimin didn't normally approach you, especially not to start up some insincere small talk before training.

There had to be an ulterior motive. Why else would he leave his troop of prepubescent schoolboys to come and talk to you; an even more prepubescent schoolboy.

"Look, don't worry about Jungkook."

Ah. There it is.

He's come to clean up his friends' mess, and try to mend the severed bridge between you.

Newsflash: it's not gonna happen.

"I'm not." you say, "He can be as much of an asshole as he pleases, it's not gonna change my life."

"Yeah, but he gives you a hard time in here."

"No shit."

"He's just fascinated by you."

Huh?

"Why?"

You hoped Jimin could maybe give you some insight as to why Jungkook had been so focused on making your life a living hell. Or maybe, why he had become suspicious of you in the first place, or maybe how much he knew.

"I dunno. But, he was the same with me when I first met him. He's just gotta warm up to you."

Nothing.

"Yeah. I'm sure he'll warm up to me when there's a cold day in hell."

Jimin laughs. "Just be patient."

You turn to him, a false smile plastered over your lips. "Sure. But don't worry about me, I'm good."

"I know you are," Jimin nudges your shoulder with a closed fist. "You got thick skin, bro."

Thick skin...

Yeah, you do.

Even your momentary failure from last night wasn't going to change how much of a good sport you had been.

The others could see, you knew how to take some serious shit.

———————

The gym was filled with the rhythmic sound of gloves hitting bags, the grunts of determined boxers, and the metallic clink of weights being lifted and dropped.

You stood in your own corner, alone. You were focused in on the speed bag swinging in front of you. Sweat dripped down your brow, as you relentlessly pounded away, lost in the thought of improvement.

There was also an undertone of rage that fuelling your punches, as you used this opportunity to release your frustrations.

Your arms were doused in sweat as they flew back and fourth from the bag, as you bobbed and weaved, making streamline punches.

Your technique had improved exponentially since you first joined the gym.

During your full-speed set, you couldn't help but notice a figure approaching you from the corner of your eye.

There was no question as to who it was, even though you couldn't tell by just his statue.

His aura alone was enough to tick you off.

Jungkook approached you, and confusion washed over you as you were unsure what could have provoked him to come over, in the middle of sole-training.

Jungkook, with an unlikely smile on his face, came and stood right beside you. He cleared his throat, and his voice was uncharacteristically soft.

"Hey, Haru."

You paused very briefly between punches, deathly out of breath.

"Go feed your own ego, Jungkook. I'm busy."

"Whoa." he acted shocked. "Good to know you won't be treating me any different, now that you know my intentions."

"Yup," you grunted as you hit the bag hard, then again. "Still hate you."

Jungkook is grinning. "I know."