Rapscallion ll 18+

Chapter-23

The sharp hiss of water came to a stop as Jungkook ran a hand through his soaked dark hair, pushing the wet strands away from his forehead. Droplets slid down his sculpted frame, tracing the ridges of his chest, catching briefly on the contours of his tattoos before dripping to the tiled floor. He reached for the towel and wrapped it low around his waist while water still clung to his skin.

He stepped out while steam curled around his shoulders like smoke. The cool air met his damp skin but it still didn't make him shiver slightly but his brows pulled together subtly as he saw Annie in his room with some kind of report or file.

She was unaware of his presence, her gaze was locked on the picture frame perched neatly on his desk. It was a photo of his family, him with Ellie and their son. She stood in a quiet trance with her eyes unreadable while Jungkook trailed his eyes frame before her. "Was I also looking like this when I stared at the picture of her and her husband in that perfect little house?"

Something twisted in his chest. He slowly approached her and Annie visibly stiffened but she didn't turn. Then, his hand came up, large, veined and slightly wet from the shower before it rested softly but firmly on the wooden surface in front of her, caging her between him and the desk and she froze.

She could feel the warmth radiating off him, the dampness of his skin. Her eyes flicked downward avoiding the reflection of his bare torso in the glass of the picture frame. Jungkook leaned in and whispered huskily. "Are you admiring my family......or expressing grief with those eyes?"

Her breath hitched and slowly she turned her head to look at him. Their faces were close.....too close. His eyes were dark and intense, lashes still damp, a single droplet trailed from his temple down his jaw. She turned her face away quickly as her eyes darted to the floor.

A smirk played on the edge of his lips. That same dangerous softness he always wore when he knew he was getting under someone's skin. "Y-Your dad sent me t-to give this to you" she stammered holding up a sealed envelope she'd almost forgotten in her hand. He exhaled quietly, a warm puff of air that brushed against the side of her neck, making her pulse jump but he didn't move away.

She stayed rooted, she could hear her loud heartbeat in her ears and still......he stood there. She shut her eyes tightly as her fists clenched at her sides, trembling slightly not from fear but from the storm brewing inside her chest. "I didn't want to come into his room.......But his dad specifically told me to give this to him..... maybe because it is a medical report?"

She turned desperate to retreat from his presence but then his voice, deep and still, paused her as he spoke near her ear still standing behind her. "I was in grief every time I looked at your picture with him.......Each picture of you two together......it was a dagger to my heart"

Her breath caught and she didn't turn right away. She couldn't. That name.......Yoongi, was a wound that never fully healed. It burned every time it was touched. She clenched her jaw, trying to steady herself as memories rushed in like a tidal wave. Every time Jungkook said his name, it wasn't just a memory, it was an exorcism. Her eyes slowly shifted over her shoulder and she saw Jungkook staring at the framed wedding photo on the dresser. His fingers hovered over the glass, tracing it without touching. In the image, he smiled next to Ellie and he murmured. "I wonder, who's actually happy"

She didn't respond. She couldn't find the words. But before she could even process, Ellie's voice cut through the silence outside the room making her head snapped towards the door. "Oh no!" She barely had a second to react and immediately got away but Jungkook's hand reached for her wrist, gripping it not roughly, but firmly and pulled her towards him. She gasped and looked at him with wide eyes as saucers, as his other arm wrapped tightly around her waist, yanking her flush against his chest.