Moonflower

Chapter 43: Starved

Jungkook lay in his bed - their bed? - for a while before he fell asleep. He stared at the back of her head. Shocked that she had not been upset with his rough handling of her today. He'd registered a look of pure terror on her face when he had first opened his eyes. Yet, as soon as he'd apologized, she'd relaxed.

How odd.

He couldn't figure this girl out. She was pretty fearless. Which he had to admire. She was his match in that respect. She didn't seem to be afraid of him in spite of his rough treatment of her. Most women would have been trembling in his presence had he behaved towards them as he had towards her.

But then he remembered how she had swung her stick at his legs when she'd gotten angry with him. He grinned. The girl was a tiger. Ready to pounce.

He wished she were facing him. He wanted to see her face. Right now, his eyes were playing with her long, midnight locks. They weren't so ordinary after all. Not in the sunlight that was streaming down from the window. He felt tempted to slide his hand down her hair, but he rolled away from her instead. He wasn't about to touch her again. Not yet.

—

Jina couldn't relax. She was instantly aware of him. Of his heat. And his breath. And his desire. Though she couldn't have named that desire.

What he was wishing for right now was a mystery. Probably, he longed to be free of her. She wanted to run back to her own room where she knew she'd be safe. The room she had shared with Minha until today. She sighed. She could never return to that room. She was stuck with Jungkook now. As he was stuck with her.

She had won the beautiful boy. But not in the way she would have wished.

—

They both fell asleep again. Jungkook awoke around five in the afternoon. Jina had rolled towards him. So now he was free to peruse her face. As his eyes slid over her rather ordinary features, he had to admit that perhaps she wasn't quite as plain as he had thought at first sight.

Relaxed in sleep, she appeared even younger than usual. He could picture her as a tiny girl. Sitting on her appa's knee. Had he smiled down at her?

Jungkook frowned. Was she as starved for affection as he was? Why did he think that her appa had not beamed down at her with joy in his eyes? Jungkook knew a little about the lack of such affection himself. His heart shifted as he recalled something that she'd said during their first encounter.

Just a girl meant to be used and then tossed to the side. I am plenty familiar with such men; I can assure you!

Had she been misused by a man? By more than one man? She had been so quick to think of a means of escape last night when Chanyeol had threatened her. She was truly clever.

A smile curved Jungkook's lips. He felt a bit of pride in her intelligence. She was going to be his wife. He might as well enjoy her cunning. And take a little satisfaction in it.

But he didn't like to think about her being threatened repeatedly. Nor did he like to consider someone using her and tossing her to the side indifferently. Especially as he gazed down at her in his bed. She looked like an untouched girl right now. Innocent. And sweet.

Reminding him that she had been someone's daughter. Had she been a beloved child? Or just a nuisance? An embarrassment as he had been? Though...he had once been beloved of one of his parents. So long ago...

As Jungkook gazed down at the sleeping Jina, it was almost hard for him to imagine her flaming temper right now. She seemed so peaceful. But suddenly, she cried out in her sleep.