Winding/JJK ⁷

Safe?

You stood there for a moment, feeling awkward after what Jungkook had said however you didn't hesitate for long to take on his offer, wrapping your arm around his waist before looking towards BongJu and DaeHo, your two 'friends' from the past.

"Right babe, they are some old friends from middle school.BongJu and DaeHo . Guys this is my boyfriend. Jungkook." You introduced them with a smile, trying your best to not look nervous as you were at that moment then you turned your gaze at Jungkook whom cause of some unexplainable reason - once your two friends stood better under the light-  his facial expression seemed to tense up and his aura made a drastic shift from the friendly persona you were introduced to.

You wondered for an instant what was wrong but he quickly put a smile on his lips and greeted them politely with a bow then he let his arm rest on your shoulders, pulling you closer to him as if he knew that you didn't want to be near them even though you had told him that they were your friends.

"Oh! That's such a surprise Y/N. We never thought that you would be so proud of your boyfriend and even bring him home so casually." DaeHo commented while giving you a weird look which you knew well what it meant but you didn't care much of his doubts or whatever twisted thoughts he was having.

"Nonetheless it's nice to meet you. You two should come to hang out with us sometime since we will be here all summer. Y/N already knows where to find us. Right Y/N?" BongJu smiled at Jungkook as he unleashed his friendly side which you knew well that it was only a facade that hid the evilness they both carried inside them. That whole group of friends was nothing more than a bunch of horrible individuals that you wanted no longer to have anything to do with.

"We will, someday...Of course. Say 'Hi' to the rest for me, till I come to see you." You replied, doing your best to look casual and all because you couldn't tell them your true feelings about them or their actions. You were always afraid of them and that was why you had yet to fully escape from this nightmare.

"Okay, take care~" They waved at you, not taking the effort to come near you again and give you a hug, thing that you assumed that it was because of Jungkook's presence which you were greatly thankful for at that moment.

You observed them turn around and walk away and once they were at a long enough distance, you left an exhale escape your lips, feeling relieved however you had forgotten for a moment that Jungkook was still there and as you looked at his direction and took notice of the close proximity and the skinship you were having with a practical stranger, you jumped a foot away real quick, surprising him a bit with your sudden action.

"It's okay. I am clean now. I took a shower." He said while smiling, joking about you pulling away because of his body condition which was mostly dirty while at work.

"Ah...It's wasn't cause of that. We just..aren't that close to being hugging each other or anything. I barely know your name." You responded honestly and his smile grew bigger.

"It's okay. We can get to know each other more... If you would like to that is." He looked at your eyes as if he was searching for something and you looked away, finding that eye contact somehow feeling too intimate.

"Ah..well...I wouldn't mind. Would you like to join me? I was planning to walk a bit more till the time goes to get back home for dinner." You decided to play it casual and not let him notice the nervousness that had gotten over you at that moment and he thankfully played along, not questioning or commenting on anything that happened earlier. 

"Oh! I have chips with me. Do you want some?" You suddenly remembered and blurred out the first thing, in an attempt to create some kind of normal conversation and a more comfortable atmosphere between you. 

"Sure, I love chips." He smiled brightly at you and for a moment as you were looking at him, you thought that his smile was somehow familiar. It was so sweet and he looked so innocent while smiling that in a way made you feel safer with him despite the fact that he was still a stranger to you whom you had just meet for the first time some hours ago.

You took your backpack off and unzipped it, grabbing the bag of chips and handed it to him then you took the water bottle out for yourself as after all that running you did, you were in need of it. You opened it and drunk a bit then you placed it back on its place again and as you shoved your backpack on your shoulder, you turned and faced Jungkook with a smile. You took off towards the park that wasn't too far away and it was actually a nice place to be at. It had lights so even though it was already dark, the place wouldn't seem scary. Also, the park was in the middle of the sea and the forest that laid above, on the hills. Your town had a really nice geographic position if you were to think of it but it wasn't so developed and the people that live there were mostly of the third age, the younger generations leaving the place more and more every day for economical reasons and better employment opportunities.

On the whole way to there, Jungkook didn't say a word as he seemed to be focused on eating the chips and you didn't mind the silence as it made you feel at ease. Your headphones were still hanging on your neck and because of the quietness, the music was able to be heard in the atmosphere, enabling your emotions to calm down, even more, soon your focus drifting to nature and the place that you hadn't stepped at for almost a year. Nothing seemed to have changed around but that wasn't a surprise. Nothing ever changed in this town. Since you were little the rocks on the pavement had remained the same, the houses, the few shops that were still around, even the sea looked the same even though you know well that the waters change.

"Do you come to this park often? " Jungkook's sudden question drew your attention back to his presence and you looked at him for a moment before throwing your eyes ahead again and replying to him.

"When I was younger, I used to come every afternoon with my friends. We would arrive from school, eat, do our homework and then head out to play here, on the seaside of the park." Surprisingly your answer was more detailed than you would usually reply to people as you weren't from the ones that like to give information about your life easily. However, you got carried away by the silence and the comfortable atmosphere that had gotten established between you two while walking to the park and ended up saying more than you would have liked to say.

"All nine  of you?" 

"Yes. All of us." You smiled a bit while you were trying in your head to find a way to change the conversation to something unrelated to your old friends however as you were trying to do that, you had failed to take notice of something important and that was the fact that you had never mentioned to him how many of you were in your old group of friends.

---To be continued.....