Two-Sided Coin

Chapter 21

"Should I change?"

"You look fine, Kookie."

"Well, I'm sorry that I want to look nice for the legendary Jin."

God, this boy will kill me with his sarcasm alone.

"Just get over here. We're going to be late."

Jungkook shot me a glare, then brushed the front of his shirt down one last time before following through with my command and strolling out the door. I mumbled a soft 'Aish, this kid', then walked after him, locking the door behind us. We had decided to meet with Jin for a late lunch at the same place as last time and I was honestly extremely excited. I'm pretty sure Jungkook was as well; he kept biting his lip and running his hands through his hair.

"What's his full name again?" he asked.

"Kim Seokjin."

Jungkook nodded and repeated the name under his breath a few times as we walked. A few minutes later, we were standing outside of the restaurant. I didn't see Jin and for some reason, that made me more nervous.

"Kim Taehyung!"

I turned around and spotted him approaching us, looking fashionable as always. It made me seriously wonder how a simple blue sweater, black skinnies, and a simple silver chain could look so good on someone.

He smiled at me and cocked his head, reaching his hand up to scratch the back of his neck, the scooped cut of his shirt slipping down slightly to reveal his prominent collarbones. I bit my lip to restrain my smile, already feeling my heart fluttering giddily.

Suddenly, I felt Jungkook elbow my ribs.

"Ya. Taehyung," he mumbled, snapping me out of my daydream. I blinked hard, then cleared my throat.

"Right, uh, Jin, this is Jungkook. I told you a bit about him yesterday, I've been living with him since I..." I trailed off slowly, staring off into the distance, then shook my head slightly and smiled at him again.

Jin was looking intently at Jungkook, his bright smile never once wavering.

"Nice to meet you," he said quite earnestly, holding out his hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the person who'd kept Tae on his feet."

Jungkook hesitated, eyeing his hand for a moment, then shook it and smiled slightly.

"Nice to meet you, too," he answered carefully, letting his hand drop to his side. There was an awkward silence as Jungkook watched Jin suspiciously, Jin smiled back, and I looked between them.

Finally, Jin cleared his throat.

"Shall we go in?" he offered and I nodded, taking a hold of Jungkook's wrist and practically pulling him inside. The three of us sat down in one of the booths and pretended to be fascinated by the menu, even though none of us actually needed to read it since Jin probably knew what he would buy and Jungkook and I probably wouldn't order anything other than water.

I didn't know why, but there was a thick tension in the air. The back of my neck prickled and I kept watching Jungkook, the young boy looking like he wanted to punch something. Or someone. Jin? Was he mad at Jin? I mean, V and I declared our love for him, but that doesn't give him a reason to hate him, right? Unless...

No, that was ridiculous. That's why I kept getting into trouble; I kept having ridiculous thoughts. There was no way...

"May I help you?"

God bless waiters with good timing.

"One order of naengmyun," Jin said politely, carefully handing the menu to the girl with a winning smile still blooming on his face. She stared at him for a moment, a soft blush rising to her cheeks, and she accepted the menu as if it was a proposal.

"I'll just have water," I told her. She looked at me, looking like she had forgotten we were there, then nodded and took the order.

"Same for me," Jungkook muttered, not taking his eyes off of Jin. She nodded again and left, her gaze lingering on the oldest of us three.

"So, Jungkook," Jin started, ignoring the youngest's intense gaze. "How old are you?"

"Born in '97."

Silence.

I didn't think that Jungkook would be so cold. Why did he offer to come if he was just going to stare at Jin the whole time?

"Jungkook," I tried, my voice clipped, placing a hand on his knee to get his attention. The younger boy finally looked my way.

"Can I talk to you outside?" I asked. He sighed, then nodded and got out of the booth, stuffing his hands into his pockets before heading out. I mumbled an apology to Jin and followed after him.

"What is up with you, Jungkook?" I exclaimed when the door swung shut behind me.

"Well, I'm sorry if I can't easily befriend the very boy who might be the reason V wants to kill me," he snapped.

"I never asked you to befriend him," I pointed out coldly. "All you have to do is smile or something. Or speak more kindly. Or do anything other than stare daggers into him. He's very important to me and I don't want to lose either of you. If you two are on good terms, you're both on the path to being safe from V."

Jungkook looked back at me, annoyance evident on his face. I didn't understand why. What did I do this time?

"If he's so important to you, why don't you go live with him instead?" Jungkook retorted, then let out an angry breath and stormed off. I stood outside the restaurant for a few minutes, watching him leave. I honestly had no clue why he was acting like this. Could it be that he was actually...jealous? Why? Did he think that I would forget about him?

"Taehyung?"

I blinked hard and turned to see Jin standing in the doorway, concern etched on his face.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, then searched the street for a moment. "Where's Jungkook?"

I moistened my lips and swallowed.

"You know what? I'm not sure," I honestly replied, then walked back into the restaurant. Maybe I should have followed him. Maybe I should have found him and comforted him. Maybe I shouldn't have walked back inside.

But at this moment, I just wanted to sit down with this beautiful man next to me and just talk. At this moment, I wanted to just relax and clear my mind of burden, even if it was just for an hour or two. And, at this moment, all I wanted was to look upon the flawless face and try to ignore the itch of guilt as the back of my consciousness imagined the face of another.