DRIVE | J.JK

8

JUNGKOOK

"Hmm, checked off for attendance today—" The teacher looks at me, and I get to my feet. Min was missing, and I automatically expect her to be smoking with her back against the school wall.

But when I get there, she isn't smoking at all.

Her eyes flash up to me the moment I pause, and her slender hands hurry to pull down her sleeves. She gets to her feet, fixing a nonchalant expression on her face.

But I'd already seen.

"Min." I say firmly, and her teeth tugs on her lip. "Is it okay if I see your arm for a second?"

"No."

I don't expect her to agree easily, but she even shifts back, eyes staring me down. But this time I don't submit, because the panic and shock is stronger.

"Then I'm going to have to make you."

"Try me." She hisses, her features furious. Her hands fist tightly by her side, her entire body tense as a stick. "Try me, Jungkook."

The stance she'd instinctively taken tells me she knows how to fight, and how to fight well.

But somehow she doesn't do a single thing as I wrap my arms around her waist, tugging her to my chest. When I look down at her, I see a flicker of an exhausted, on-edge girl.

Not the ice-cold street racer— just a girl.

Gripping her wrist gingerly, I push up her sleeve. My eyes widen in circles when I realize that the damage was much worse than the glimpse I'd gotten.

Streaks of red and angry scars mark almost the entire length of her left arm, and I turn to her in shock.

"Y-You.... don't tell me that you—"

"Cut myself?" She raises an eyebrow, and that street racer is back. She pushes me off, tugging the sleeve back down on her scars.

"Honestly, I get why you'd say that. He screwed up pretty bad— must not have learned how to write. But that's incorrect."

"W-What? He...?" My face goes pale in realization, but her grip is tight on my wrist as she tugs me back inside. "Who's he? Someone did that?!"

"I have to go." She suddenly says, and I just blink at her in astonishment. She couldn't just— leave after showing me all that. She couldn't just expect me to accept that as something regular and walk away.

"No, you're not going anywhere." I say, until her dark eyes flash over. And then I slightly adjust. "I meant— I meant until you answer my question. That's what I meant."

She suddenly turns back, and her cold fingers brush against my cheek.

"Easy there." She says, and her hand slips off my skin. I swallow, and her lips curve into a slight smile when she notices the shocked expression in my face.

"Go to class, Jungkook."

________________________

Jimin chugs down his soda, wiping his lips and tossing the empty can into the trash can. He notices me looking around, my eyes searching.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Uh— Min." I finally reply, and he raises an eyebrow.