Sunshine in her Shadows (Rosekook AU)

9

Jungkook POV:
"Did you wait till she got on the bus?", my mom asked as soon as I entered the house.
"Of course Mom", I say and walk past her to my room.
She followed me to my room and stood at the door staring at me.
"She is cute and sweet. I approve", she said.
"There is nothing to approve Mom, we are just friends", I chuckled.
"Sure son. I saw the way you look at her, and you said she doesn't talk to anyone at school. She talked perfectly well with us. And you two seemed a lot closer than you tell me considering all the inside jokes and side glances I saw. Don't think I did not notice", she said walking away from the door.
"Think whatever you want to Mom, we are just friends", I shouted for her to hear.
Her head peeped into the room and she said, "You know who else were "just friends"? Me and your dad", she went away laughing.
"MOM", I screamed in protest but I could only hear more laughter in reply.
I smiled at how childish she was and went to take a shower.
I lay down on my bed and my thoughts started drifting toward her.
She really is a mysterious girl. No one knows anything about her. People call her crazy and intimidating. She is grumpy sure, she doesn't talk much. Not more than needed. But recently she has been talking to me. Maybe all she needed was a true friend. I am not saying she turned a completely new leaf and is a ball of sunshine now. No. She is still moody, angry, and grumpy but there are times when she smiles while talking about something or her cute self comes out unintentionally.

But even as her only friend, I have no clue about her personal life. I was shocked when I heard her voice today. She works hard, at school, after school. And she spoke well to my parents too. I thought she would be moody or uninterested. But she genuinely seemed happy to be there. And the hug she gave my mom. I saw her face. She was taking it all in. She just needs good people around her.
As I toss around, her words keep ringing in my mind - I need the money Jungkook. I cannot give the details but I am very much dependent on this money. So I need this job, it pays really well and I make great tips.

I think about how hard she is working for a while and soon fall asleep.

I don't see Chaeyoung at school the next day. I went to the restaurant later in the evening and I didn't find her there too.
This happened for two more days.
It has been three days since I last saw her. I don't have her number to contact her. I never thought about asking it since I was scared she would think I was prying into her personal life. I kept rethinking about the last time I saw her. She seemed happy and completely fine. And she didn't do anything to induce a cold or something.
'I should ask her for her number', I mentally noted.
She came to school on the fourth day. I ran to her to ask her why she was absent from school for the past three days. She just said she wasn't feeling well and that she didn't want to talk about it. She is being silent today, it must be one of those days I thought and went to class.

I couldn't find her in the cafeteria during lunch, so I went to her last class. I know her schedule by heart. On the days she is silent like today I just make sure I am beside her. I don't know why I started doing it, but I feel she is sad even behind her usual expressionless face on days like this.

Everyone else may not notice the difference, but I can. She needs me beside her on days like this though she will never admit it.

The class is empty and she is sitting there alone, her head lying down on the desk. I slowly approached her and she woke up before I could call her.

"Lunch?" I asked. "Not in a mood to eat, you can have lunch alone today", she said and lay down again.
I sat beside her and lay down facing her. She faced the other side.

"Chae, should we go visit that new corndog stand today? Apparently their cheesy corndogs are amazing", I tried to talk to her.

"Not interested Jungkook", she said, in a slightly irritated voice.

I got up realizing she needed some time alone. I left my stuff with her and went out to get the corndogs myself. I am not letting her stay hungry. I understand she is sick and has no appetite because of that, but she needs to eat something to gain some energy.
I came back to find her exactly where I left her, I sat down beside her and placed the corndogs on the desk whose amazing aroma filled the classroom.

"I am not leaving you alone Chae, I got a few for you, eat them when you feel like it. I will just sit here and enjoy my corndogs", I said silently unwrapping my regular corndog.

She still sat there unmoving. "Mmmmm", I made exaggerated sounds. She turned her head to face me. "It is delicious", I said. She looked at me unamused. I finished my corndog and opened another cheese corndog to taste. This one was really tasty. I made another Mmmm sound subconsciously. She gave the tiniest smile she could and whispered, "Now that is genuine, I need to taste that one."
She sat up and took a cheese corndog from the bag. I stared at her slowly eating my corndog still not able to understand what made her change her mind. She seems to have read my mind, "Don't look so confused Jungkook, you make a really cute angry face with your eyebrows scrunched up when you love the food you eat. The first time you were faking it to lure me. But the second one your eyebrows scrunched and you genuinely liked it. That made me appreciate your attempt at the fake trap. And you are sitting here all alone with me. The least I can do is not make you feel alone."

"CUTE? I AM NOT CUTE!?" I get defensive about it. And I didn't know I made an angry face when I ate something delicious. She sits with me every day for lunch so she must have observed it. She smiles and shrugs not talking much. After we finish eating I take the sticks and the cover to go drop them in a bin. Before I stand up, she holds my hand and says, "Stay. For a while."
I look at her and she avoids my eyes. I folded the cover neatly ready to dispose and sat down beside her. She looks extremely sad today. She lies down facing me again. I keep staring at her face but she doesn't respond. She is zoned out. "Chae", I call her in a whisper. She is still zoned out. I touch her arm to bring her back to her senses. As soon as I touch her left arm she hisses in pain.
My eyes widen in panic. She comes out of her trance and looks at me shocked as if I found out something I should not. Maybe I did. I held her wrist. Even as she struggled to let herself go I held on firmly and quickly pulled up her sleeve to see a huge bruise. It was in a faded purple color and it looked swollen. But not completely swollen. It looks like it has been healing for a few days now. I know for sure something happened. This is not something you get from being "sick".
I looked at it stunned. I slowly tried to touch it again and she pulled her hand back and covered it with her sleeve. She did not speak but the way her eyes were scared to meet mine said that she was not comfortable talking about it. I place my hand on her cheek and say, "Wait right here"

I take all the stuff I need to dispose of and walk out of the classroom. I go to the nurses' office and ask for some ice saying I sprained my ankle. The nurse checked it and with my amazing acting, I scored some ice. I know she needs a medicated cream for it too. But for now, ice should work. It should work on the swelling for now.

I run back to class after I am far away from the nurses' office and find Chaeyoung still sitting there, this time with her head in her hands as if she made a huge mistake.

I walk to her. I sit beside her and extend my hand out asking her to place her arm in mine. She does so reluctantly. I take her hand and carefully pull up the sleeve. I slowly press the ice pack onto it. She hisses again turning her face away and closing her eyes tight.
After a few minutes, she tells me it is enough and she doesn't want it anymore. I place the ice pack on the desk and look at her. I take her hand and give it a silent squeeze like I always do to assure her I am here. She just whispers a small sorry, she is hurt so badly and all she can think about is how she cannot talk to me about it yet. This girl is truly insane. She lies down burying her face into the desk and I stroke her hair slowly.
"You don't need to tell me anything you are not comfortable with Chae. This will not change anything between us. I will be a silent companion as always and once you feel better you can be your normal self. I am not going to treat you differently because of this. But please let me take care of you", I say in a low but firm tone so she knows I am serious. She just turns towards me, nods, and closes her eyes. I remove my hand from her hair only for her to hold it and place it back on her hair again. "Thank you Kook", she whispers as she slowly strokes her hair with my hand as if telling me to continue. I take the cue and continue stroking her hair gently. She buries her head into her arms on the desk again but just before she turns I see a teardrop rolling down her cheek from the corner of her eye. As I continue stroking her hair I make a promise to myself to never leave her side when she needs me.
"I am here for you Chae", I mumble.