Room 409

Chapter 4

BITS OF MEMORIES

Jennie couldn't remember what happened after that incident. The only thing that lingered in the back of her mind was 'him'. She tried to shake off the unease as she made her way to the news station the next day, hoping to find some answers or at least some closure.

As she entered the bustling newsroom, the atmosphere was heavy with tension and worry. Colleagues huddled in groups, whispering anxiously. Jennie's heart sank when she overheard snippets of their conversations. "Did you hear about the shooting?" one of them muttered. "Yeah. The killer escaped the scene." another voice chimed in.

Fear gripped Jennie's heart as she rushed towards her desk, her eyes scanning the room for any familiar faces. Panic rose within her as she noticed the absence of her crew members. She frantically grabbed the nearest colleague and asked, "Where are they? What happened?"

"They've been admitted to the hospital," she replied gently. "They were caught in the shooting."

Jennie's legs felt weak beneath her as the weight of the news settled in her bones. Guilt gnawed at her conscience, knowing that she could have been there with them if she hadn't ran away with Jungkook.

Her eyes drifted to the empty seat beside hers, but she quickly pushed it out of sight. No. Not now. I have a job to do. Her eyes scanned over each article on her desk, her gaze catching an article about the shooting near the top, which featured a photo of a young police officer. That had to be Kim Taehyung.

The name sounded familiar to her ears as she skimmed through the article, but when she reached the end, her eyes locked onto the article about the missing officers. It read something like,  ‘A search and rescue operation is currently underway for the two missing officers, Jeon Jeongmin and Kim Taehyung. The search has yet to produce any results, so far’.

--

It's been a week to that event and today here she was standing in funeral of her cameraman.  The guilt she felt was enough to drive her insane; it took everything in her power not to just walk straight out of the funeral home. But she refused to allow anyone else to see that side of her.
She walked past her old colleagues who seemed to notice her presence and turned around, offering small waves of condolence.

"We meet again" someone called out cheerfully, causing Jennie to flinch as she heard the words leave the mouth of a man she knew all too well. She looked up at him and saw his usual smirk.

"And it definitely isn't nice to meet you...again" she retorted dryly, looking up at him as he continued to walk forward, his arms crossed behind his back. "and why's that so?"Was he seriously asking this?

"BECAUSE IF YOU DIDNT PULL ME WITH YOU, I WOULD'VE BEEN WITH THEM AND—"

"And done what? Save them? How? By sacrificing yourself?" He was unusually calm in contrast to her sudden burst of rage.

There was a moment of silence between them before Jennie said, "If you don't care about them, then why are you here?" She spat the last sentence as venomously as she could muster, trying to mask how hurt she truly was.

"Let's see...maybe because I thought I'd see you here and guess what? I wasn't wrong" Jungkook smirked down at her and Jennie rolled her eyes, pushing past him, ignoring his laughter as it followed her. Was this a joke?

Jennie couldn't understand him at all. He saved her that day yet was so inhumane to others death.  He had no reason to save her, she didn't owe him anything. She was tired. This entire situation was tiring. The whole ordeal had worn her down and she wanted a break from everything, even if it meant spending it alone.

"you shouldn't have saved me" she turned around to make herself clear to him.  "I woudlve been fine without you.""Then prove it!" His voice boomed as he stepped closer to her, his face twisted into a scowl. He was practically breathing fire at her right now. If looks could kill, she'd be long dead. "Prove that you would've been fine with me"

She grabbed him by the collar pulling him close "Jung—"

"Jungkook!!" A female voice interrupted the scene, bringing them both back to reality.  It was Hanni with other 2 girls which Jungkook failed to recognize. The male pulled away from her, looking down at her with a look she never imagined possible coming out of a human being. It was cold and unfeeling.

"What are you doing here?"He questioned. "I can ask you the same" Hanni responded angrily, pointing at Jennie who had been quiet this whole time. "who are you, Miss?" she glared at Jennie.

"Um..." she didn't know what to say at first, glancing back at Jungkook. "I'm Chan's colleague" "You must be Jennie" One of the two girls spoke up. "I'm Chan's cousin, Hyolyn" Jungkook was listening to their conversation attentively. Hanni was here with her friend who happened to be cousin of Jennie's cameraman.

"And oppa why are you here?"
"That's none of your business. Get home straight early after this" and with that he left.
They all stood staring after him for a few minutes until Hanni turned to Jennie. "Are you ok?" she asked. "Is he bothering you?"
The older girl shook her head, waving her hands dismissively. Jennie thought it wasn't right to tell such a young girl about a horrifying event.

--

Next day of work awaited her for more trouble. "Jennie, we have new cameraman who joined us today and he'd be working with you once your crew is finally together again" she explained to Jennie, gesturing towards Jungkook who sat at the desk closest to the door.
When everyone looked over at him in curiosity, he glanced up at them, giving them a friendly smile. Jennie's heart skipped a beat. "Nice to meet you guys" he grinned.

The rest of the afternoon passed in relative peace and Jennie found herself relaxing somewhat, though she was still worried about how Jungkook had reacted to yesterday's events.
But thankfully it didn't come to pass. Jungkook had remained in a distant state for much of the day and she had managed to avoid any contact with him, though occasionally the feeling of his stare would burn on the back of her neck. At first, she had thought it was nerves from having to interact with him again, but as the hours went by, the uncomfortable sensation grew stronger and stronger. As if he was watching her every move.

Her mind filled with thousands of thoughts. He came out of nowhere that day then saved her. Then showed up at funeral home and acted like a jerk and now he had joined her as her cameraman. And why is he always around her? and what does he want from her? Most importantly.... who exactly was he?

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