Empty Space | Jeon Jungkook

Part 21

**

You don't mean to disrupt his life like this but a part of you is glad that Jungkook's around again, which is silly since you're the one who pushed him away in the first place.

But if the time apart, and now the time together, made anything clear to you, is that whatever anger you felt at the loss of your best friend and of him using and betraying you, that has gone away. He tried to make amends, gave you space when you asked for it, and would still spend every waking hour he could to make sure nobody will hurt you again.

It's day 8 since the call with Young-il; it's also day 8 of Jungkook sleeping on the couch of your apartment. You decided to tell your bosses of the whole situation, prompting them to give you shorter shifts and making sure you never step out of the cafe alone. Jungkook makes it to his shift but finds ways to make sure you're driven to work and back home everyday.

He's tired, like always, and your couch really isn't the most comfortable one out there.

You hear a bit from his conversations, and based on what you gather, the man is probably a lone wolf because the gang that Young-il angered doesn't have strong connections to the gangs in Seoul, prompting them to hire a mercenary. He's the only one you've been seeing anyway. So you make your own plan.

"Use me as a pawn," you tell him as you sit next to him. "And we have to break up."

Jungkook's eyes go wide like saucers. "What?! No! I can't— Wait, break up?"

"It makes sense! You've been staying with me all week, he definitely knows that. He doesn't know you're a police officer so he probably thinks you're my boyfriend. If we put on a show that we break up and he sees me alone, he'll come for me and you'll be there to take him down and then—"

"I just told you I'm not gonna put you in danger. I can't expose you like that."

"Then how else will you catch him?" You ask, standing up now. "The only time he made a move was when I was alone, Jungkook. I haven't been alone since then. He'll just be watching and trailing me from afar, and I'll always be anxious and in fear. I don't want to live like that!"

You wipe the tears off your face before they see the light of day. And Jungkook sees just how hard this has been for you.

"I don't want to be scared anymore," you tell him.

The hidden meaning is not lost on you. You're telling him but you're telling yourself the same thing.

Jungkook, on his end, makes it mean more than that. I don't want you to be scared anymore, too, he wishes he could say.

**

The plan is set to action and as it turns out, the man is more amateur than you all thought.

He took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. You made sure he was around when you made a show of fighting with Jungkook outside your apartment, yelling at him to "go back to your fucking girlfriend, you cheating asshole," earning him a glare not long after because that "wasn't part of the script," although you did admit that you got carried away and just wanted it to be more believable.

You temporarily went back to the night shift, with Jungkook on guard, and it's on the third night when the man makes an appearance, sneaks on you from behind with a knife as you're closing up, ready to split you open, only to be laced with confusion at you wearing a bulletproof vest.

Jungkook makes his move and the man stupidly tries to put up a fight. Jungkook rams the man on the ground and gets punched in the face, so he punches him back then turns him over to put on the handcuffs.

"You're gonna regret ever laying a hand on her," he yells, and despite the chaos, you know you'd be clenching your thighs at how hot he looks if you weren't so shaken up.

You couldn't quite reconcile the initially shy computer nerd and avid gamer from four years ago, who was hot just the same, with the man who's kicking assholes and handcuffing them to the ground and sending bad people to jail in front of you. But you'll take it. He's every bit as gorgeous as he was before.

Jungkook takes the man, who turns to you with a sly look on his face, sending shivers down your spine. The voice and the touch now have a face, and you know it's one you won't forget for a while.

"I should've finished you that first time," he calls out, trying his best to intimidate you as his last resort.

This causes Jungkook to pull the man by his collar.

"I'm gonna make sure you'll regret that, you piece of shit."

Jungkook roughly pushes the man towards Taehyung before he runs to you. He takes your face in his hands, the fear and worry in his eyes unmissable.

"I'm okay," you tell him shakily before he could say anything, a tear running down your face at the relief that it's over, and he immediately wipes it off.

You're shaking in fear and he holds your hands tightly.

"I shouldn't have exposed you like that," he states frustratingly.

"We got him, though," you look up at him with a weak smile.

He softens at this. "Yes, we got him."

He kisses your forehead, causing sensation to course through you once more, and you close your eyes at the feeling. Even with the siren ringing in your ears and the lights blinding you, this time with Jungkook, you feel safe.

He takes you to the station again for a statement, the car ride still quiet but now devoid of any tension. You give your statement and insist on waiting for him because you want him to be the one to take you home, and there's no way he can resist you.

**