After (Jikook version)

Chapter 38

After hearing these awful and hurtful words Hoseok walks in and right away wraps his arms around me. It's odd that his frail arms can feel so comforting. 

"Thank you for making him leave," I say, sobbing, and he hugs me tighter. My tears really are flowing now and I don't see an end in sight. 

"Jungkook may be my friend, but so are you, and I don't want him upsetting you. I'm sorry, this is all my fault. I knew I should have given my key to V, and I shouldn't have let him come around you all the time. He can be a real dick." 

"No, it's not your fault at all. I am sorry, I don't want to come in between your friendship." 

"Oh please," he says. I pull out of his embrace and see the look of concern on his face. I appreciate him being here with me more than he will ever know.

I feel completely alone: Seulgi's taking time to decide whether to break up with me or not, Jungkook is an asshole, my mother would lose it if I talked to her about this, and Seokjin would be disappointed in me if he knew the depth of my situation with Jungkook. I literally have no one except this flame-haired, tattooed boy who I never expected would become my friend. But I'm really glad he did. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" 

I do, actually, I want to get it all off my chest. I tell him everything, from the first time I kissed Jungkook, to our day at the river, to the orgasm I gave him and how he called my name in his sleep, to the way he destroyed every ounce of respect I had for him when he made me tell Seulgi. Hoseok's face goes from concerned to shocked to sad during my story. My shirt is soaked with tears by the time I finish and he is holding my hand.

"Wow, I had no idea that so much happened. You could have told me after the first time. I knew something was up when Jungkook showed up here the night we were going to the movies. I had literally just got off the phone with him, then he shows up, so I'd suspected he came here to see you. Listen, Jungkook is a good guy, sometimes. I mean, deep down he just doesn't know how to really care for someone the way that you—well, most girls and boys—need to be cared for. If I was you, I would try to make things work with Seulgi because Jungkook isn't capable of being anyone's boyfriend," he says and squeezes my hand. 

I know everything he is saying is true and he is right. So why does it hurt so bad? 

On Monday morning, Jin is leaning against the brick outside the coffeehouse, waiting for me. I wave when I see him, but then I notice he has a blue-purple ring around his left eye. And when I look closer, I see another bruise on his cheek. 

"What happened to your eye?!" I exclaim, running up to him. 

Realization hits me like a truck. "Jin! Did Jungkook do this?" My voice is shaky. 

"Yeah . . ." he admits and I am horrified. 

"Why? What happened?" I want to kill Jungkook for hurting Jin. 

"He stormed out of the house after you left and then came back about an hour later. He was so pissed. He started looking around for more stuff to break, so I stopped him. Well, I fought with him. It wasn't so bad, actually. I think both of us got a lot of our anger toward each other out. I got quite a few good hits on him, too," he boasts. 

I don't know what to say. I'm surprised at Jin's light tone while talking about fighting with Jungkook. 

"Are you sure you're okay? Is there anything I can do?" I ask him. I feel like this is my fault. Jungkook was mad because of me, but assaulting Jin? 

"No, really, I'm okay." He smiles. 

While we walk to class he tells me how Jungkook's father broke up their fight, luckily arriving home before they killed each other, and how his mother cried when she realized Jungkook had broken all her dishes. Though they didn't have any sentimental value, she was hurt that Jungkook would do that nonetheless.