17. questioning

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The entire car ride home was silent. The air was heavy and neither Jungkook or Kendra had looked at each other, beside the subtle glances of their peripheral view. Jungkook stared at the road in front of him still attempting to comprehend what all had happened and why Kendra had become so uneasy.

"You okay?" He finally broke the awkward silence, letting his hand tap on the wheel to the tune that played quietly on the radio. The woman jumped when she heard his voice, being shaken from her own thoughts and worries. "Everything is fine." She smiled but it was so obviously fake that he just couldn't let it go.

"You can tell me anything, Kendra."

"Not anything." She replied.

And with that, the silence was restored again until they got back home. Jungkook found it odd that she hadn't even asked for food or even to stop at a random gas station or restaurant to pee. She was so hauntingly quiet which gave Jungkook a chance to finally control the conversation. He had been practicing english and learning to pick up on things Kendra said frequently.

Suddenly he began to regret taking her back to that place. He hoped it would spark something in her to make her feel the way he felt about her, but she had constantly proved over and over that Jungkook wasn't the one. Everything she did felt like it was out of pity for him, just stringing him along because she knew she made an irreversible mistake.

Sitting down on the couch, Jungkook reached out for Kendra's hands. She had been sitting there on her worn sofa, hands in her lap with her head down. "I really want to be honest...about my past. If I don't tell you the truth now I'll have to live with the guilt forever and I just can't do that."

Hardly understanding a word she said, he listened attentively. The tone of her voice made his stomach drop as he pulled out his phone and hurriedly opened the translator app. This made Kendra more nervous but she knew it would only come back to haunt her If she didn't accept what was happening.

"I used to dance."

Jungkook placed the phone close to her lips so that it would pick up every word she said. He read as she spoke slowly, not exactly understanding what her point was just yet.

"The club that you met me at, I used to dance there. Before it became just a nightclub. I was only 16 at the time and my relationship with my mother was at an all time low and I was left on the streets to fend for myself."

She paused for a moment, a bitter tear falling down her eyes and into the crease of her lips as she pursed them together. Jungkook watched as the screen randomly translated words—very poorly at that—but he was getting the gist of it. She used to be a dancer, that's no big deal. He's a dancer too.

"So when my mother kicked me out I stayed with friends and other relatives until one day I met Dontae. We were young, dumb, in love, and we had so many dreams. But we were broke. He had been selling drugs for a living so he had certain connections to certain people, that's how I ended up meeting Cee. The man you saw at the club."

As much as he wasn't understanding the story he finally understood who Dontae was and It made his blood simmer with jealousy but he ignored it, letting her have her moment of vulnerability.

"Cee told me he could get me a job at his club just serving drinks, but It ended up being a lot more than that. I was pretty thin and young so not many men paid much attention to my dancing. Cee wasn't happy with how little money I was bringing in so he gave me an offer that was hard for me to refuse."

She paused again, only to wipe her tears away as they unwarrantedly began to stream down her face. Jungkook just stared at her in disbelief and concern, still not completely understood where she was going with this.

"He said I'd have enough money to buy whatever I desired. Not just clothes and shoes but houses and cars. Large sums of money for an exchange on my dignity and innocence. I wanted a place to call my own so badly and to spend however much my heart desired so I accepted his offer. It was hard to say no to that kind of money so I did what I was told and of course none of my dreams came true that easily. I constantly found myself owing him money no matter how hard I worked for him..."

"So he eventually put me on the corner until I could pay back what I owed him."

Sitting there with a blank expression It was all starting to make sense. The words emerged onto his screen letter by letter, like puzzle pieces. He stared down at his phone, reading the last sentence over and over again.

"The corner?" He asked.

She hung her head low, not sure what to say.

There really was nothing to say, except the truth.

"I was having sex for money."

His eyes shut tight when those words appeared. He hoped when he opened them they would somehow disappear or were just a mistranslation. He knew it wouldn't be perfect but it wouldn't be that far off either. Looking up at her face he examined her a bit before taking a moment to think for himself.

That night began to play out much differently in his mind. The delusions of love and lust suddenly shifted as reality set in for him. His chest suddenly became tight as pictures of the past played through his mind but this time through her point of view. Instead he of that feeling of infatuation he normally felt when be thought about that night, he felt bitter. The visions seeped with malicious intent this time as he came to a conclusion.

"I was only doing what I was told and I needed to pay my debt off or else I'd be dropped from the club. It would be back to square one for me."

Jungkook had stopped looking down at his phone completely, trying to recall every single memory from that night that led up to where he was today. He suddenly felt claustrophobic—trapped. His lungs were begging for him to breathe, but he sat there not moving a muscle.








It was all planned.

——

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for such inconsistent updates, I'll try to be a lot better. Also this story is about to get really juicy (Don't be mad at me!)

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