the rules of love and war.

07

I sighed and began recalling everything, from the tender moment we finally shared to what caused him to flip out on me. "The thing is... I don't entirely blame Jungkook."

"You don't?" Chaeyoung cocked an eyebrow at me. "It seems to me that if he hadn't acknowledged you, none of this would have happened."

I shook my head. "That's not what matters. It's the simple matter of the fact that I finally got to see what Jungkook has been telling me; he doesn't start the fights. He hadn't even noticed Taehyung and me, and Taehyung was already moving over to fight him. Even if Jungkook had stepped over the line, Taehyung still should've taken my word and not flipped a shit."

"True. But you need to talk to Jeon again, just to make sure that shit doesn't happen." I groaned in protest, but Hoseok would hear none of it. "No, if we want to end this, we need to make sure he doesn't push Taehyung like that ever again. Do you need us to come with you? He won't touch you, right?"

Sadly, I actually felt safer with Jungkook than I have been lately with Taehyung. Instead of saying it outright, I just nodded. "It'll be fine; he doesn't do shit like that. That first fight I ever stepped into he had the chance to do harm, but he didn't. I'll see you guys later, alright?"

They merely nodded and stepped apart to let me through. I began thinking about the places I knew Jungkook could possibly be; outside, at his car, at his locker, or even in class. I scoffed to myself for even thinking that last thought. Luckily, I didn't have to search too intensely, for I found him standing halfway in between the door, propping it open as he talked with the Physics AP teacher.

I cocked my eyebrow at this. This was surely a spectacle for everyone around him. I hadn't even realized Jungkook was taking any AP classes. I descended the Alumni Stairs towards Jungkook and Mr. Chan and waited patiently at the bottom. Jungkook's eyes met mine and a smirk crawled on his face. I saw him excuse himself from the conversation and slowly make his way over to me. "Twice in one day." He grinned. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"What the hell was that about?" I snapped, jabbing my index finger into his chest. He grunted in response, but the smirk never left his face. "You knew you'd get him pissed off because that's all you wanna do in life. We made a deal, Jeon and I expect you to keep up your end of it."

"I have bigger things in life to worry about, and roughing up Taehyung on a daily basis is not on my schedule." Jungkook stepped away from the open door so that it could slam shut behind him. "I saw how pissed off he was just seeing me walk by; I figured I might as well make that anger warranted."

"Yeah, but you got him pissed as shit at me." I snapped.

"Huh." Jungkook leaned back against the wall, bending one of his knees so that his foot was propped up beneath him. "Well that wasn't my intention. Not too angry, I hope."

"If you mean almost punching me in the face as not being too angry, then yeah, he wasn't too angry about what you pulled." I spat out before I could stop myself. After those words spilled out from my lips, I immediately clammed up. Who was I to be divulging my relationship problems with the enemy?

"Wait, he did what?" Jungkook pushed himself off the wall with his foot, standing only a few inches away. He brought his hand up to my face, his fingers delicately cupping my chin. I immediately froze at the suddenly contact, but he didn't seem to be fazed by my stiffness. He tilted my face in both directions so that he could inspect my face, saying nothing the entire time.

"Jungkook?" I finally mustered the strength to question. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure that shitface didn't hurt you." He replied so simply, as if it was common knowledge what he was doing. His response floored me just as much as the gesture; since when did this guy care about me? Last time I checked, he was a rude asshole to me and my friends.

"I'm fine, Jungkook. I really am." I said, as he let his hand fall away from my face. "You're being so... nice."

Jungkook let out a laugh at that, a true genuine laugh, as he ran a hand through his hair. "Difficult to believe, right? I'm not a bad guy, despite what Taehyung's saying about me all the time. Besides, what I do is never supposed to involve you. I don't hate you." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Moreover, I would never lay a hand on you and force your friends to pull me off of you."

I winced at that. "I really didn't mean to tell you that. If Taehyung finds out that you know this, it'll be shit for both of us."

"Hey, I'm keeping enough of your secrets already. One more isn't gonna kill me." From somewhere down the hall, someone began calling out Jungkook's name. I winced at that, forgetting that we were still in school, the breeding ground of all gossip. It wasn't like Jungkook and I were in a less popular corner of the building; in fact this was one of the most open areas, with the Alumni Staircase leading up to the balcony of the auditorium.

"They're not gonna gossip about us; you can stop being such a paranoid bitch." Jungkook rolled his eyes, his usual attitude towards me returning in a split second. "You know better than me that they're all too terrified to say shit about me. After all, they might get beat up by Taehyung or me. This is the only thing we have in common." The same voice began calling him again as Jungkook snapped back an impatient response that involved shoving the person's head up his ass if he didn't shut up. "Listen, today just showed me something. Even if I don't instigate anything with Taehyung, he's still gonna try to start something."

"I know." I cut him off. "The only reason he didn't jump you was because I held him back. I got bitched out because I was saving your ass."

"Why, Lalisa, I didn't realize you cared about me that much." He flashed me a huge grin, forcing me to roll my eyes and throw a punch into his chest.

"It wasn't for you." I stated blandly over his laughter. "I just didn't want you to hurt him."

"Again, Lisa, you truly know how to flatter me. I'll see you around." With that, he quickly bound up the stairs towards his friends waiting probably just around the corner.

I stayed put, not moving from where I was. For the past two years, I knew nothing about Jeon Jungkook except for the rumors that floated around the school and the things that Taehyung told me about him. At the most recent fight, that was the first time I had seen the fight. Usually, I came around at the tail end of the altercation and saw nothing except for Jungkook walking away from my bruised boyfriend.

To say in the least, I always assumed the worst of Public Enemy Number 1. But just talking with him these last few days, proved something new; he wasn't necessarily the bad guy in this situation. For two years, I had Jungkook penned as the problem. Now, it was evident to me, and even to Hoseok and Chaeyoung, that Taehyung was the one instigating everything.

Ultimately, even if Jungkook was to stop fighting Taehyung, it wasn't going to kill the underlying anger between the two guys. Suddenly, this plan was looking worse and worse by the minute. Nonetheless, it was better than doing nothing and letting Taehyung take a beating.

This pain better be all worth it in the end.