After (Jikook version)

Chapter 16

"Dare" Jungkook answers before I even ask him.

What should I dare him to do? I know he will do whatever it is, just because that's how he is. "I . . . hmm. I dare you to . . ."

"To what?" he says impatiently. I almost dare him to say something nice about each person in the group but I decide against it, however amusing it would have been.

"Take your shirt off and keep it off the entire game!" Molly yells out, and I'm glad. Not because Jungkook will be taking his shirt off, of course, but because I couldn't think of anything.

"How juvenile," he says, but he lifts his shirt over his head. Without meaning to, my eyes go directly to his long torso and the way the black tattoo ink stretches across his surprisingly tan skin. Under the swallows, he has a large butterfly inked onto the skin of his stomach, and it looks much better than a butterfly should be on a guy. His upper arms have many more tattoos than I expected. As soon as I realize what I'm thinking ,I tear my eyes away from him, praying that no one saw me staring. Ishould not be finding anything about a guy 'attractive', I'm straight. The game continues. Molly kisses Taehyung and Namjoon both. Hoseok tells us about his first time having sex. Yoongi kisses the other girl.How did I find myself in the middle of this group of hormonal college students?

"Jimin, truth or dare?"

"Why even ask? We know he will say truth—" Jungkook interupts.

"Dare," I say, surprising them and myself.

"Hmm . . . Jimin, I dare you to . . .take a shot of vodka," Taehyung says,smiling.

"I don't drink."

"That's the point of the dare."

"Look, if you don't want to do it . . ." Suga starts to say and I look over at Jungkook and Molly sharing a laugh at my expense.

"Fine, one shot," I say and Jungkook's eyes meet mine. He's giving me a strange look.

Seconds later, someone hands me the clear bottle of vodka. I mistakenly put my nose against the top, smelling the foul liquid,which burns my nostrils. I scrunch my nose, trying to ignore the chuckles behind me. I try not to think of all the mouths that have been on the bottle before me, and I just tilt it back and take a drink. The vodka feels hot and burns all the way down to my stomach,but I manage to swallow it. It tastes horrible. The group claps and laughs a little, except Jungkook. If I didn't know him any better, I would think he was mad or disappointed. He is so strange.After a short time, I can feel the heat in my cheeks and then, later, the small amount of alcohol in my veins that grows with each round that I am dared to take another shot. I oblige, and I have to admit I feel pretty relaxed for once. I feel good. With this feeling,everything seems a little easier.

"Same dare," Namjoon says with a laugh and takes a drink from the bottle before handing it to me for the fifth time. I don't even remember the dares and truths that have been happening around me for the last few rounds. This time I take two big drinks of the vodka before it's ripped from my grasp.

"I think you've had enough," Jungkook says and hands the bottle to Taehyung, who takes a drink. Who the hell is Jeon Jungkook to tell me when I have had enough? Everyone else is still drinking, so I can too. I grab the bottle back from Taehyung and take a drink again, making sure to give Jungkook a smirk as the bottle touches my lips.

"I can't believe you have never been drunk before, Jimin. It's fun, right?" Namjoon asks and I giggle. Thoughts of irresponsibility flood my mind, but I push them back.It's only one night.

" Jungkook, truth or dare?" Molly asks.He answers.

"Dare," of course.

"I dare you to kiss Jimin," she says and gives him a fake smile. Jungkook's eyes go wide, and though the alcohol is making everything more exciting, I really just want to run away from him.

"No, I have a girlfriend," I say,making everyone laugh at me for the hundredth time tonight. Why am I even hanging around these people who keep laughing at me?

"So? It's just a dare. Just do it,"Molly says, pressuring me.

"No, I'm not kissing anyone, especially a guy" I snap and stand up. Without looking at me, Jungkook just takes a drink from his cup.I hope he's offended. Actually, I don't care if he is. He hates me and is just too rude anyway.

As I get to my feet, the full effect of the alcohol hits me. I stumble but manage to pull myself together and walk away from the group. Somehow I find the front door through the crowd.As soon as I'm outside, the fall breeze hits me. I close my eyes and breathe in the fresh air before going to sit on the familiar stone wall. Before I realize what I am doing, my phone is in my hands, dialing Seulgi.

"Hello?" she says. The familiarity of her voice makes me miss her more.

"Hey . . . babe," I say and bring my knees to my chest.A beat of silence passes.

"Jimin, are you drunk?" Her voice is full of judgment. I shouldn't have called her.

"No . . . of course not," I lie and hang up the phone. I press my finger down on the power button. I don't want her to call back. She's ruining the good feeling from the vodka, worse than even Jungkook did.I stumble back inside, ignoring whistles and crude comments from drunk frat guys. I grab a bottle of brown liquor off the counter in the kitchen and take a drink. It tastes worse than the vodka and my throat feels like it's on fire. My hands fumble for a cup of anything to get the taste out of my mouth. I end upopening the cabinet and using a real glass to pour some water from the sink.

It helps the burn a little, but not much.Through a break in the crowd, I see that the group of my "friends" are still sitting in a circle playing their stupid game.Are they my friends? I don't think they are. They only want me around so they can laugh at me and my inexperience.How dare Molly tell Jungkook to kiss me, she knows that I have a girlfriend. I've kissed only two girls in my life, Seulgi and Jeongyeon, a girl in third grade who kicked me in the shin right after. Would Jungkook have gone along with the dare? I doubt it. His lips are so pink and full,and my head plays an image of Jungkook leaning over to kiss me and my pulse begins to race.What the hell? Why am I thinking about him like that? I am never drinking again.

Minutes later, the room begins to spin and I feel dizzy. My feet lead me upstairs to the bathroom and I sit in front of the toilet, expecting to throw up. Nothing happens. I groan and pull myself up. I am ready to go back to the dorms, but I know Hosoek won't be ready for hours.

Before I can stop myself, my hand is turning the knob on the only room I'm somewhat familiar with in this over size house. Jungkook's bedroom door opens without a problem.. It looks the same as before,only this time the room is moving around beneath my unsteady feet.A copy of Wuthering Heights is missing from where it was on the shelf, but I find it on the bedside table, next to Pride and Prejudice. Jungkook's comments about the novel replay in my mind. He has obviously read it before and understood it, which is rare for our age group, and for a boy especially.Maybe he had to read it for class before, that's why. But why is this copy of Wuthering Heights out? I grab it and sit on the bed, opening the book halfway through. My eyes scan the pages and the room stops spinning.

I'm so lost in the world of Catherine and Heathcliff that when the dooropens, I don't hear it.

"What part of 'No One Comes Into My Room' did you not understand?" Jungkook booms. His angry expression scares me, but somehow humors me at the same time.

"S-sorry. I . . ."

"Get out," he spits, and I glare at him. The vodka is still fresh in my system, too fresh to let Jungkook yell at me.

"You don't have to be such a jerk!"My voice comes out much louder than I had intended.

"You're in my room, again, after I told you not to be. So get out!" he yells,stepping closer to me.And with Jungkook looming in front of me, mad, see thing with scorn and making it seem like I'm the worst person on earth to him, something inside me snaps. Any composure I had snaps in half, and I ask the question that's been at the front of my brain without my wanting to acknowledge it.

"Why do you hate me?" I am not sure what possessed me to ask this, but, to be honest,I don't really think my already wounded ego can take the answer.

Thank you reading!