Between Us [JK x JIN x Reader]

Part 5

The following weeks were horrendous. You and Seokjin barely spoke to each other except for work. You tried to keep it together, occupying yourself with work and hoping no one would notice why you had been doing over time so often.

You were glad that there was a surge in the workload, so you could take your mind off Seokjin.

"Are you okay? You seem to be working non-stop lately. I can help, you know," Jungkook asked, genuinely concerned as he swung his bag strap over his shoulder. It was the end of the day, Jungkook had already stayed behind working with you for 2 hours. Somehow you kind of wished that Jungkook would stay, so you don't have to be in the office alone. These days, you don't handle loneliness very well and Jungkook's presence had been a blessing to you. But holding Jungkook behind for your selfish means was just too much to ask for.

"Yes, go home," you snapped at him, unintentionally.

You avoided Jungkook's eye contact hoping he would not be able to read your expression.

"Hey..." Jungkook said softly as he tilted his head sideways in an attempt to block your computer screen.

Seeing Jungkook's warm brown eyes filled with concern somehow broke the lock that you had been using to lock all the emotions away. A tear escaped and came rolling down your cheek. Jungkook reached out and wiped the tear off with his thumb. His touch made you realized how much you missed being around someone who cared for you. You burst into tears as Jungkook pulled you in slowly for a hug, letting you cry on his shoulder as he pat your head lightly, whispering to you that everything was gonna be okay.

You managed to tell Jungkook everything after you calmed down from your meltdown. Jungkook was an exceptional great listener. You were thankful that Jungkook had been around most of the time after your relationship ended with Seokjin.

"Thanks for telling me that. It was driving me nuts for the past weeks. I didn't know what's wrong or how to help you," Jungkook said as he walked you to your apartment door.

With Jungkook knowing what had happened, he became protective of you. Whenever your colleagues mentioned Seokjin's name or talk about him, Jungkook would divert your attention or change the subject. Both of you started spending more time together, during work hours and after work hours. Even the boss at his favorite lamb skewers place that both of you often patronized thought you were his girlfriend.

"I thought you were his girlfriend!" the food stall owner, a lady in her fifties said cheerfully.

You shook your head politely at the ahjumma.

"Aigoo, Jungkook here is a nice boy, he would be the perfect boyfriend!" the ahjumma praised happily.

"I know," you blurted out.

"You two would look so good together. Ah!" the ahjumma said with a smile.

You looked over at Jungkook who was smiling shyly, revealing his cute front teeth. You could not help but smiled, there was a warm feeling forming inside you. You liked the feeling but wasn't sure what it was.

Jungkook walked you home, seemingly happy about the ahjumma's and your compliment as you could see the lightness in his footsteps.

"Alright, I'll be going up now. Goodn-" Jungkook pulled you into for a hug, cutting you off mid-sentence.

It wasn't weird that he hugged you, what's weird was the fact that the hug lasted a little longer than a friendly hug.

"I really like you, Noona," Jungkook said softly into your ears. Caught off guard, you stood there frozen as Jungkook released you from his hug.

"I'll go now. See you tomorrow!" Jungkook said as if everything was normal as he turned and lightly skipped down the steps in front of the building.

You nodded, and lightly waved to him with a smile. It was only when you stepped into your dark empty apartment did you realized what just happened.

What did he mean by he like me? you thought and suddenly felt a slight panic.

............

Rumors seemed to start spreading around the office.

You could feel the people in the office stopped talking when you stepped within the radar. You had tried to ignore the looks some of the office staffs were giving as you walked towards the pantry. Finally, you thought as you reached the hallway leading to the pantry, away from the curious eyes. You stopped at the entrance of the pantry when you heard voices talking about you and Jungkook.

You peeped slightly into the pantry and saw two young staffs in their early twenties, which you remembered were from the Sales and Customer Service Department.

"Don't you think Jungkook is a little too young for her?" one of the girls with long silky hair said as she lifted her coffee cup to her lips.

The other girl smirked a little and rolled her eyes.

"I don't understand why is she always sticking to him. Like, you are just a supervisor... Ugh." the other girl said with a disgusted look.

You cleared your throat and walked into the pantry hoping they would stop talking about you.

"Oh, wow. Look, it's the cougar," the girl with the long silky hair said with a smirk as the other girl laughed.

"Seriously, the management should look into who they place the interns with. I hope Jungkook knows he can report to the higher management about sexual harassment," the other girl said as they burst into laughter.

Your knuckles whitened as you tighten your fingers around the mug trying to hold your anger in.

"If you guys are done having your break, please get back to work." a voice spoke sternly from behind you. The two girls seemed shocked.

"Please refrain from gossiping and making up nonsensical rumors about your fellow colleagues. I don't think you girls would enjoy a 4-hour session on work behavior and ethics," Seokjin stated, expressionless.

The two girls gave a small embarrassed laugh and shuffled quickly out of the pantry. You stood there still hurt and furious, having to hear the rumors with your own ears.

"You okay?," Seokjin asked, his voice filled with concern. You were so caught up in your anger that you did not notice him approaching you.

"I'm fine," you spat, avoiding his eye contact. You were ashamed and furious at yourself and the fact that Seokjin heard such rumors about you.

"C'mon, you are not okay. Look at me," Seokjin said softly as he reached out for both your hands. He was right, you looked up at his beautiful face with angry tears welling up in your eyes.

"Come with me. We can go get-" Seokjin said as he tugged your hand, pulling you behind him.

"No, please," you pleaded. You took a glance at Seokjin's face. His face was etched with confusion and perhaps hurt. Feeling guilty, you fixed your glance on the wooden floor.

"I don't think I should be near any of you at this point," you said softly and without waiting for a reply, you walked out of the pantry, leaving Seokjin alone yet again.