Opposites Repel - Liskook

Chapter 48 ~ Consoling

3rd Person's POV ~ 

"I-It's all my fault." She says. 

"No, of course it's not." Lisa says softly, ushering the two remaining girls to comfort the nearly crying one on the couch. "You guys just fought, that shouldn't mean that it's someone's fault....It's just overdue. Didn't you say you wanted this over with sooner than later ?"

"I didn't think it was this serious." She stammers, peeking out ashamedly between her fingers. A couple seconds later, she buries her face in her hands again, profusely refusing the words of comforts that the three girls offered. Lisa turns her head slightly to look at Jungkook who seems torn between his angry friend on the terrace and his severely upset one in front of him. 

One of his feet were planted on the fuzzy mat that marked the inside of the dorm and the other is stamped down on the cement outside their well-kept door. "Go." Lisa mouths to him. He nods, closing the door and making his way up to the terrace. 

He doesn't bother being discrete, stamping up as the air hits against his face and brushes his hair back. His feet pass the boundary between the clean stairs and the long-abandoned, much darker cement of the terrace, closing the distance between him and the taller boy he shared the space with. 

"Maybe you should go easy on her." He says softly.

"Why ?" Jin snaps. "I have every bit of a right to be upset as she does." 

"Yeah, you do." He says confidently, standing next to Jin and looking out at the afternoon skyline. "But her past isn't something you can ignore." 

"I understand she's had family issues, okay ?" He sighs. "I grew up with a picture perfect lifestyle, of course I complain about nothing. The problem is that she's grown up with the idea that she has to close off all her feelings while I grew up telling my mom every little thing." He rants. 

"She finally blew at me, and I know that most of that stuff is true and valid.... But I've asked her countless times before, 'Are you upset ?', 'Do you want a hug ?', 'Can I help you ?', but no. Every single time her answers have been all but 'No, I'm fine.'" He mocks. "And I can't even blame her for it because she's just being selfless. But what about me ? I get that she's entitled to keep secrets, but if she's upset with me, than why keep me in the dark ? Why not just tell me what to do to make her not mad at me ?"  

"You said it yourself." Jungkook says. "She grew up with this mentality, it's not her fault. She just wants your attention is all. And by the way this fight went, she seems to think you're going to leave her. And you know what that can do." He says in a hushed undertone. "Just last year she got legal independence from those abusive parents of hers. She's still figuring out how to be a normal person."

"Sometimes I want to beat her shit parents up." He says confidently, running a hand through his hair. 

"They're already in prison for child endangerment."

"Yeah, that doesn't stop me from being protective of her..."

It stays quiet for a while, both of them looking out at the cloudless skyline. Then, Jin speaks. "You're on my side, right ?"

"I'm neutral." 

"Yeah, but come on, we're like brothers. You're not going to give me the benefit of the doubt ?" He asks. Jungkook already knew he screwed up.

"I don't know what happened between you two." He says carefully as if Jin were a ticking bomb. "How do you expect me to take sides ?"

Again, it goes dead silent, Jin staring out at the unchanging sky and Jungkook looking at him. "You okay ?"

"I'll be fine. I just need sometime alone." 

Jungkook nods, about to leave when Jin insists he can stay up here if he liked, shuffling down the stairs. He'd heard the words of comfort the girls offered Jisoo as he passed by their door, hesitating a little before shaking his head and advancing all the way to the pit of the stairwell. 

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Everybody except Jin remain huddled several yards away from the gym, talking in hushed whispers though there wasn't a need to. 

"It's been a week." Jungkook says. 

"I know, I know," Jisoo starts frantically. "But I don't think I'll chicken out this time." 

"He's not them." Jungkook says. 

"Of course he's not, he's gentle, and I've got scars all over because of their idiocy." She scowls. "Let's go ?"

"Actually," Jennie starts. "We thought it would be better to let you go alone." 

"What ? Why ?" She panics. 

"Stay calm," She pats her back reassuringly. "But neither of you would want a big audience. I doubt you wouldn't want some privacy." 

Jisoo latches on to Jungkook's arm, dragging him along and ignoring the shouts of protest behind her from the group of helpless friends. "I've never faced something without one of these two idiots with me, and I'm not going to start now." She says defiantly, no longer dragging Jungkook along but simply walking with him. 

The push open the door, immediately hit with the warmth and hurriedly closing the door to the the snowy landscape outside. Jin stood there, talking mindlessly with Jackson, a towel slung behind his neck. His top was sleeveless and hug upon his broad, sweaty shoulders. The brim of his hair was moist as well as some of the unruly strands that dare block his vision. He brushes them aside with a careless flick, spotting two familiar figures on the bleachers. They both looked at him sheepishly, the girl pursing her lips and offering a rather nervous smile. 

He stares at the pair, thinking a secret decision over in his head before he just pats Jackson on the shoulder and gets back to exercising. 

"Jungkook ?"

"Yeah ?"

"I think I chickened out again."