But Then I Fell in Love

Chapter Five

 "He agreed?!"

"It was his idea, actually."

Namjoon threw his hands up in the air, excited. "Well, thank god! Hopefully this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"

Jungkook laughed. "I don't want to get too far ahead of myself here, though. I mean, it's not like I can just say, 'Hey, is your boyfriend abusing you?' tomorrow or something."

"Yeah, but this is the first step to gaining his trust. This is all working out!"

Jungkook nodded. "It seems that way for now. But let's just not get our hopes up too high just yet."

Namjoon nodded, but Jungkook could tell he was still excited.

Soon, the other guys joined them at Namjoon's and Seokjin's apartment, and were all excited to hear the recent turn of events.

"So, do you think you'll just go to the campus cafe, or off campus?" Hoseok asked.

"Are you going to ask him if he has a boyfriend?" Jimin wondered.

"Do you think he'll be honest with you?" Taehyung said.

"Are you going – "

"Guys, calm down!" Seokjin said over everyone else's questions. "Let the guy breathe!"

Jungkook chuckled. "I get it...everyone is worried about their friend, and want to be a part of helping him. It's okay." He looked around. "I'll probably suggest off campus, to ensure Chul doesn't come across us at the campus cafe. I'm not planning to ask him yet if he's single or not, but we'll see how the conversation goes. I think he'll be honest with me, though I highly doubt he'll bring up anything about Chul."

Everyone nodded. "Gosh, this is so exciting," Taehyung said. "I really hope this goes well."

"And that he'll want to continue hanging out with you," Namjoon said. "You've gotten further than any of us since this whole thing started."

Jungkook nodded. He hoped Yoongi would want to hang out again, too.

-

"Hey, Yoongi!"

Jungkook just happened to see Yoongi before he went to his first class of the day. But to his surprise, Yoongi looked over at him with wide eyes before averting them and walking away quickly. Jungkook paused. What was that all about?

Suddenly, Jungkook felt eyes on him, and he looked back at where he'd first seen Yoongi. A guy older than him, but with a similar physique, was glaring daggers at him.

'Oh, shit,' Jungkook thought. 'That must be Chul.'

Jungkook watched as he sped after Yoongi, grabbed him harshly by the upper arm and whispered something to him. Yoongi shook his head, looking fearful. Then Chul pushed Yoongi ahead of him, and threw one last disparaging look back at Jungkook before they disappeared.

Jungkook took out his phone and quickly texted Jimin.

I think we might have a problem.

It wasn't until after their fourth class that Jungkook saw Yoongi again. Jungkook was walking along outside of the production booths when a hand thrust itself out of one of them, grabbed his arm, and pulled him in.

"What the – "

He turned around and to his great surprise, he found Yoongi standing there, looking sheepish.

"I-I'm sorry," Yoongi said timidly. "I needed to talk to you."

"It's okay," Jungkook assured him. "Is everything alright?"

"Um, kinda? Look, my boyfriend walks me to my first class every day to make sure – " He seemed to think better of his next words, so he diverted. "He walks me to my class. So, if you see me then, please don't acknowledge me, okay?"

"That's...a bit odd, but okay," Jungkook said, playing dumb.

Yoongi sighed. "He gets jealous easily. He even gets jealous of my close friends sometimes. It's silly, really. But I don't like to upset him."

Jungkook shrugged. "Sure, man, that's fine. Sounds a little possessive, but it's cool. I get it, I guess."

Jungkook couldn't help but notice that Yoongi flinched at the word 'possessive'. Jungkook eyed him carefully.

"Is...everything okay, Yoongi?"

Yoongi nodded. "Yeah, I'm – I'm fine."

"Okay."

But he wasn't fine, Jungkook could tell that much. And as he watched Yoongi avert his eyes from him for the second time that day and look down like a reprimanded child, Jungkook found himself surprised that all of Yoongi's friends insisted he was the strong, tough, self-assured pillar of their group. Chul had done some deep damage here, and it made Jungkook sick and sad.

"So, uh, are we still on for our coffee date?" Jungkook asked.

Yoongi's cheeks flushed as his head snapped up. "What?"

"Oh, sorry," Jungkook quickly recovered. "I shouldn't have said it like that minutes after finding out you have a boyfriend. I meant, do you still want to grab coffee later?"

Yoongi's cheeks stayed tinted. "Sure, if you do."

Jungkook was surprised, but delighted. "Yeah, of course!"

"Can we go somewhere off campus?" Yoongi asked quietly.

"Definitely," Jungkook said. "I was gonna ask you the same thing. The coffee at the campus cafe kinda sucks."

Yoongi smiled a very small smile. "I, uh...I agree."

They made plans to meet at a small, hole-in-the-wall cafe a few blocks away from campus after their last classes of the day.

The rest of the day, Jungkook found himself feeling more and more anxious. What if Chul found out about their meeting? Jungkook was sure Yoongi had given Chul some sort of excuse in order to be able to go. What if Chul found out he lied?

What would happen to Yoongi, in that case?

He decided to voice these concerns to the person who seemed to be the most level-headed of Yoongi's group of friends.

"I don't know, I'm just getting a really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach."

Namjoon nodded. "Honestly, me, too."

This did not make Jungkook feel any better. He was hoping for encouragement.

"I don't want to be the reason he gets hurt any more than he already has been."

"But what other option do we have?" Namjoon asked quietly.

Jungkook sighed. "I don't know."

They both sat there quietly, contemplating.

"Maybe," Namjoon suddenly said. "Maybe one of us could try to find and keep an eye on Chul when you and Yoongi are together. If we see anything suspicious, we can call or text you and let you know. And you can get Yoongi back somewhere safe."

Jungkook blinked. "That's actually a really great idea."

"It can't be me," Namjoon said. "Out of all of us, Chul would recognize me the most since I'm Yoongs's best friend."

"Then who would be best?"

Namjoon thought it over. "Probably Hoseok. Not only would Chul likely not recognize him as well, but he also would be best to blend into a crowd and to not let his emotions get the best of him."

"Then let's give him a call."