DUAL

//17

He had nothing but worry filling his head. Rather than worrying about himself, his concern grew only for her despite her decision to care none of what people would say of her. He couldn't help but to say it to her again and Chaeyoung only gazed at him for a long moment, long enough to leave him confused.

"Do you have any idea who my future husband is?"

Jungkook had done his best to shut out any stories of her marriage to the fine Healer whose identity was still unknown to him. He refused to let the man's identity visit his mind. Whoever that man might be, he didn't think it should concern him. He didn't want to know.

"Junhoe," she muttered, pressing her face into his bare chest as she sighed heavily. "Koo Junhoe."

His brows knitted, fingers on her arm tightening slightly. He recalled seeing the man with a woman from the Defense Sector, intimate like how lovers would. And shortly after that day, he remembered witnessing the same man with a Healer, intimacy shown almost similar to when he saw Junhoe with the first woman. Jungkook remembered listening to the man's name whispered around, the story of him and his history of wild adventures with different women of different sectors.

That was the man who was chosen to marry Chaeyoung? That was the man who was chosen to take Chaeyoung into his care? How was he going to care for Chaeyoung when he owned no love in his heart? How was he going to make her feel like she was the only woman in his life if loyalty didn't exist within him?

"Sacrificing this way..." she softly said, fingers fidgeting with his on his stomach. "It seems so wrong."

Jungkook nodded lightly, his chin softly tickled by her blond hair. "It is."

She spoke no more after that. Her fingers had stopped playing with his. She seemed to have fallen asleep on his chest. Jungkook's arm that was draped around her gently pressed her closer to his side, pulling his thin shirt that barely blanket them upward, enough to cover her body up until her shoulder though the chill of the night wasn't something that he needed to be concerned of in case of her.

During that tranquil moment, Jungkook's words to her marched into his mind. It really was something they should do in the situation they were in, but was it even doable? Even without her persistence to stop him from avoiding her, he knew he hadn't the power to do so.

It would be the hardest thing to do anyhow, Jungkook thought in his head in the quiet night with her breathing calmly within his embrace.

Chaeyoung's fingers on his body slightly twitched and she shifted. When he looked down at her, she lifted her head and her eyes were holding him in a delicate gaze. She merely stared at him, bemused and questioning. He blinked, realizing that she hadn't actually been sleeping.

"What is?" Chaeyoung softly asked.

He inhaled sharply. He had spoken it out loud rather than in his head. Jungkook caught the few of her tresses falling, pushed them away from her face and he moved, turning while holding her until she was on her back, her head supported by his arm.

"Forgetting you," he cradled her face, "is just impossible to do."

*

Chaeyoung's eyelids flew open when Jungkook jerked, his breaths ragged. She immediately sat up and gently held his arm but the panting only got worst. He was sweating so much she could see beads scattered on his skins very clearly. His head shook from left to right, brows drawn together and forehead furrowing deeper.

The groan that left his mouth mirrored pain. He let out a grunt and his veins popped out on his neck and forehead.

"Jungkook." She tried to shake him. He was having a nightmare. "Jungkook, wake up!"