Empty Space | Jeon Jungkook

Part 06

**

"He's here? In the flesh? You saw him? What did he do? What did you do? Did you cuss him out? Did you hug him?"

It's the last question that earns Yeonjun a smack on the arm.

"Why the fuck would I hug him? He's a fucking coward, shitbag, manipulative traitor, bastard, shitbag—"

"You said that already," Yeonjun interrupts and refills your glass with Soju. "The question is - is he still charming and stupidly gorgeous and fucking sexy?"

You glare at him and chug your drink, anger bubbling at the exact words you used to describe Jungkook to Yi-soo and Yeonjun. You pour yourself another glass, chug that one, too, cross your arms, and pout.

"I take that as a yes," he replies.

"Actually, I don't know. I barely looked at him. I almost bore holes at the way I was staring and pounding at the cash register screen. But he had the fucking audacity to say that my cheese bread is good?" You bellow, fingers gripping the burger you're eating.

"Hmm. How ironic that you meet again after all these years over cheese and yam bread, which is exactly what got you two flirting in the first place. I mean, what are the fucking odds, ___? The universe is telling you something, don't you think?"

You put down your food and with a hazy mind, you say, "I don't get it, Yeonjun. Where's your anger towards him? Why aren't you resentful? Why aren't you—"

"He didn't pull the trigger, ___," he levels with you. "I'm angry at Han who had the gun on him and I'm angry at my brother who put all of us in danger. They're why Yi-soo is gone. Not Jungkook."

You look at the young man who's matured way more than you have over the years. He was but an 18-year old who got the call that his sister had been killed and his brother was being imprisoned for drug dealing. He's the one who got himself together and earned a scholarship in a university in Seoul and took you with him, worked his ass off to get a good job, managed to accept what had become of his life, mourned for the people he lost, but remained thankful for the one he has left. While you, on the other hand, hasn't done much accepting nor proper mourning nor any thanking.

"I miss her everyday and I swear I could still hear her laughter but she's gone, ___. We can't take her back. She would've wanted me to graduate and chase my dreams and that's what I'm doing and I—"

He pauses at the sight of you slumped over the table by the foot of your couch, arms crossed over your face trying to muffle your cries. He goes to you and takes you in his arms to calm you down.

"I'm such a bad guardian to you, Yeonjun. You lost your family and I'm the one who can't move on."

He holds you tighter. "My brother was always a stranger. You and Yi-soo were the only family I knew and I still have you."

He takes your face in his hands. "I know you lost more than family that day, ___. You lost him, too. And that's another kind of pain on its own."

**