Two-Sided Coin

Chapter 20

"I don't suppose you'll let me go to school today," Jungkook stated in between bites of ramen. I shook my head quickly.

"You have to rest so you can heal," I ordered, then added, "Also, you can keep me company."

He laughed, covering his mouth with one hand. I smiled back and shrugged.

"What?" I demanded lightly. "I'm getting bored all alone."

He waved me off as he attempted to stifle his laughter so he could finish his bite of food. I watched him carefully, making sure he doesn't choke, my lips pulled up into a smile. The ramen was soon gone and we just sat there, staring off into space, both of us lost in our thoughts. I couldn't guess what Jungkook was thinking about, but I was wondering how I could get back at V. It would be nice to at least know his motivation. Suddenly, Jungkook spoke.

"Who's Jin?" he asked, his voice distracted. I swallowed, looking down at my wringing hands.

"He's...just a friend," I finally answered quietly, seeing him nod out of the corner of my eyes. "Why?"

"Oh, just... V mentioned him earlier."

My head snapped up and I stared at Jungkook.

"He talked about Jin? What did he say exactly? Was he going to hurt him?"

Jungkook noted my sudden attention and shifted in his seat, a sad smile on his face.

"Just a friend, huh?" he teased hollowly. I bit my lip and lowered my gaze again. Jungkook sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"No, it was nothing like that," he assured me, though his tone was bitter. "In fact, he said that I was getting between him and Jin and that he'd...do something bad to me if I continued."

My face fell. Why was V acting like this? Was Jin really that special to him? I mean, Jin was quite important even in my eyes, but how could he speak like that to Jungkook, the one who had helped us stay alive for the past few years? My blood began to boil once more and I clenched my fists, trying to stay calm.

"So," he continued, setting his bowl down. "Who's Jin?"

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"He was my first love," I confessed. "I met up with him for the first time in eight years yesterday."

Jungkook sighed heavily, falling back into the couch. Neither of us spoke nor moved as he processed the information. It took me a few seconds to realize the impact the words had. Not only was I providing him with an important detail of my past, but I've also technically come out to him.

I shut my eyes tightly and bit my lip, wanting to hear how he would react and terrified at the same time. A lump had forming in my throat and my pulse quickened as I waited. Simply put, I wanted for him to say something. Anything. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he took a deep breath.

"Can I meet him?" he asked gently. I opened one of my eyes a slit, surprised by the question. Why was Jungkook so calm about this? Why wasn't he shocked? Confused? Disgusted? Wasn't he going to question the fact that I had just told him my first love was a guy?

"Sure," I agreed slowly, still confused. No matter how dismissive his response was, I was beginning to feel uncomfortable sitting there with him looking at me, even though he had proven to me that he wouldn't judge. After a second of silence, I stood quickly, my head hanging forward to cover the blush creeping up into my cheeks. He watched me, not moving or speaking as I left and shut the door of my room behind me before face-planting onto my bed.

...

"Hyung," Jungkook cooed through my door, knocking lightly.

It had been a good hour since I'd locked myself in my room and I still couldn't bear to face him. My confession seemed to have shocked me more than him, but I still felt like it must have left some sort of impact. I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling.

"Taehyung," Jungkook called me again and I sighed, slowly sitting up. No matter how heavy my heart was as I trudged to the door, I felt like I needed to just get this over with. Taking a deep breath, I cracked the door open. Jungkook quickly moved to look at me the best he could through the small space.

"Can I meet him?" he asked again after a few silent seconds. I bit my lip and looked down at my feet, then nodded slightly. I couldn't understand why he wanted to meet Jin, but why the hell not?

"We can meet with him after his hospital shift," I mumbled, then shut the door and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

That wasn't so bad.

Grabbing my phone, I slowly slid down with my back against the door and opened Jin's contact. It was only seven in the morning, so I just sent him a quick text, offering to grab lunch. But, of course, my inner ten-year-old wouldn't let me just 'send a quick text'. Because to ten-year-old Taehyung who'd been crushing on Jin for years now, sending a quick text meant typing in a text, staring for five minutes, deleting it, rewriting it, almost pressing send, deleting it again, rewriting it for the third time, finally being somewhat happy with it, then pressing send and immediately throwing the phone across the room with a squeal as if that would help save me from further embarrassment.

"Hyung? You okay?" Jungkook asked through the door, a trace of panic in his voice.

I jumped slightly hearing him speak.

"You're still here?" I called. He didn't speak for a second.

"Did you...?" Jungkook started, then hesitated and sighed. "What did you do?" His voice was taking a note of exasperation as if he was beginning to realize what happened.

"Ummm," I drew out, shifting in my seat. "I may have...flung my phone across the room?"

There was a pause, then Jungkook's muffled giggles were heard.

"Is he really that cute?" he asked teasingly.

"What are you talking about?" I mumbled, touching my blushing cheeks.

"You're so fanboying right now," he laughed, then quickly dashed to his room as I shot to my feet and opened my door.

"Ya! Jeon Jungkook! Get back here!" I yelled, wrinkling my nose and looking up the stairs. His door slammed shut and I heard him burst out into laughter.

"You know I can hear you," I shouted and the chuckling died down slightly. I stayed there, staring at his bedroom door, for a few moments, then sighed and turned away, shaking my head slightly. It was impossible to describe the relief I felt with his seemingly undying support. I just hoped that things would stay this way forever, regardless of V's intentions.