♠︎ thirty three

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

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♠︎ JUNGKOOK

Jungkook knew he had to tell you how he felt, and soon.

Ever since the night he'd put your drunk ass to bed - the night he'd realised that this was no longer just sex for him any more - it was like this realisation had made the feelings grow stronger. When he thought of you now, a tightening constricted around his heart, remembering the way you'd submitted to him when he tied you with his belt, and how hard you had come, screaming out his name. The way you'd looked with his release painted over you. 

And the way you'd kissed him afterwards, that made the world feel like it had stopped spinning. 

Jungkook could deny it no longer. Yoora was a thing of the past. He was down bad, for one woman and one woman only. 

It didn't mean he didn't want to dominate you in bed. He loved sparring with you there - the way you always resisted with a smile, as though you knew that Jungkook would have the last laugh in the end. He loved the way you hid away part of yourself for him to find, buried beneath layers of bravado and sharp-witted insults. He loved that when he said the right things, the layers unfolded like a flower in bloom beneath him, exposing the desperate and vulnerable part of you that needed him just as badly as he needed you.

Jungkook was in charge in the bedroom. But whether you knew it or not, you ruled his heart in everything else.

It was stunning, really, how quickly he'd fallen. One moment he was thinking about ripping your clothes off, and then you were in his every waking thought, shooting him that mischievous grin he loved so much. 

Deep down, he knew that it was the threat of losing you that had made his feelings so apparent, and his stomach twisted when he remembered that the two of you still hadn't talked about Taehyung's confession. After you'd gone for a second round that night, Jungkook mesmerised by the sight of you riding him, the pair of you had been too exhausted to do anything but fall asleep. 

At least you stayed this time, Jungkook had thought, when he awoke the next morning with your back pressed to his chest, loving the warmth of you. It was the first time you'd stayed, and it only served to give him more hope that you reciprocated his feelings.

Jungkook wore his heart on his sleeve, and his body couldn't hide it. When he thought of waking up with you now - a full day later - he warmed, pink flushing his cheeks; he felt like a teenager with a stupid crush again. He could concentrate on very little, especially when you were in the same room, doing anything even remotely interesting, like smile or laugh or - god forbid - talk to him.

And last night, though you hadn't had sex, you'd curled up in his arms around the firepit, letting him hold you while you chatted to Jimin about up and coming music acts in Korea you had been following for a recent article.

It was so casual, and yet it felt so right. It had made Jungkook's heart want to sing in triumph.

In some ways, he was afraid that confronting the truth would make you run in the other direction. But he knew it was the right thing to do. Not only did he dislike hiding his feelings - it would also be wrong to continue sleeping with you, letting you believe he felt one way about you, when he really felt another. 

Jungkook knew he would have to suck it up and tell you. The difficult part was finding the right opportunity. 

He finally found it two days later, after a workout that failed to wipe the memory of you from his mind. After he'd showered he wandered into the kitchen, figuring he may as well distract himself with food - but found only a disgruntled looking Yoongi, sat next to Jimin at the kitchen counter, while Taehyung made coffee. Between them all was platters of food, that no one had touched.

Jungkook's eyes caught on Yoongi and Jimin. They were so close that, if Jungkook didn't know any better, he'd have thought Jimin was sitting in Yoongi's lap.

He caught Jimin's eye, who winked back at him, his hand thumbing at the hem of Yoongi's t-shirt. 

About time, Jungkook mused with a knowing grin.

"Can someone go and wake up her royal highness and tell her breakfast is ready?" Yoongi grumbled now, breaking Jungkook from his thoughts. "Jin-hyung won't let me eat until she's here."

"Aw, poor baby," Jimin cooed teasingly at Yoongi, but Jungkook was already moving, hopping down from the counter as he spied his chance to talk to you.

"I'll go," Jungkook said. But someone else said it at the exact same time.

Taehyung looked up, frozen, and Jungkook's eyes met his. Suddenly, the warmth in Jungkook's stomach fizzled out. 

How could he have forgotten about this? 

Taehyung had confessed to you, after all. And though Jungkook knew little about that conversation, he didn't think you'd entirely turned him down. There was a history with Taehyung that - despite how close you two had grown in the last three weeks - just wasn't there with Jungkook.

A dread seeped down Jungkook's spine as an awful thought sunk in. 

What if you wanted to go back to Taehyung?

It was unlikely, given the fact that the pair of you had been sleeping together even after your talk with Tae. He doubted you would do that if you wanted to go back to him. But it was still possible. And the look of hope in Taehyung's eyes right now scared Jungkoook above anything else. 

Jungkook could handle you not feeling the same way for him. But he didn't think he'd cope with seeing you go back to Taehyung.

Jimin was smirking, glancing between them as the two of them stayed frozen in place. "Uh oh..."

Yoongi rolled his eyes. "Jungkookie," he said in a bored tone, still eyeing the food. "Go. Be quick or I'm going to start murdering people."

Jungkook didn't waste any time. He ripped his gaze from Tae's, bounding up the stairs, trying to push down the thought of his friend and his feelings for you as he arrived at your room. 

He knocked lightly on your door. "Time to get up, little one," he called out. "Breakfast is ready."

No answer. Jungkook felt at twist in his stomach. Were you ill? Upset? In need of a hug? Whatever it was, he needed to take care of it.

Fuck, he realised. He was so whipped. How had he not seen through his own feelings before?

"I'm coming in," he called out now in warning, before he stepped into your room. 

The curtains were still drawn, and there was a strange sound coming from your bed as he moved closer. Jungkook only saw a pile of crumpled bedsheets at first, until he made out a figure hunched beneath them.

"Uh..." he mumbled, his concern growing. "Everything okay in here? Oh shit - are you crying?"

At this, you sat up in bed, a mane of messy hair following you, and Jungkook gazed achingly into your deep, damp eyes, and trembling lips. His heart pounded with worry.

"What's wrong?" he asked anxiously. "Are you alright?"

"N-no," you sniffed, wiping your eyes and clutching your phone in the other hand, which you pointed at now. "It's... t-this..."

Jungkook moved towards you, leaning over the bed, desperate to see what it was that was causing you this much pain as he leaned down to gaze at what was on the screen.

What he saw there was... unexpected, to say the least.

Jungkook leaned back, and glared at you.

"Is that," he said in an incredulous tone, "a frog?"

You nodded, face scrunching in a fresh round of tears.

"H-he was d-dying!" you sobbed, hiccuping your way through the words. "T-they found him in a gutter on the s-street in Gwangju and they don't know how he got there and he was all skinny and shivering but now they've r-rescued him and he's... look... he's been reunited with his f-family and he's so happy and-"

You seemingly could not complete this heart-wrenching tale, descending into sobbing once more.

Jungkook just stared at you in disbelief.

He could honestly say he'd never met a wilder, more unpredictable, certifiably insane woman in his entire life, and yet he could not help the smile that lit up his face as he watched you.

"As adorable as this is, it's worrying that you're so emotional over a frog right now," he pointed out, watching the tears rolling down your cheeks. 

Jungkook was moving closer to put his arms around you - but your expression changed from sorrowful to annoyed in a millisecond.

"Oh, get out, you unfeeling asshole," you threw a pillow at him, which he ducked artfully as he backed away. "And don't duck when I throw shit at you!"

You threw another one, but he ducked again. When you saw this, you cried harder, flouncing back down under the covers and pulling them up over your head this time.

"What the fuck is going on," Jungkook murmured. He felt like he was in some kind of alternate universe.

"She's on her period," came a voice from behind him, and he turned to see Nia leaning against the doorframe, watching the spectacle with amusement. "Wouldn't go any further than that, Juan."

She indicated at where Jungkook was standing, as if there were some invisible line between that and your bed a few feet away.

"That's a nuclear danger zone," Nia said with an eyebrow raised, drawing an invisible box around you from the doorway. "Even I'm not going near her today."

"I am here, you know," you complained through hiccups, muffled by the covers still drawn over your head.

Nia snorted. "Good luck, bunny," she said to him, before she slinked out of the doorway and out of sight.

Jungkook took a step forward carefully. All of sudden, the thought of telling you how he felt was off the cards - not while you were feeling like shit. Right now, the only thing he could bring himself to consider was making you feel better.

"Hey," he said softly to the bundle of covers you had disappeared into again. "You need anything? Water? Painkillers?"

"I need anyone with a dick to exit the vicinity immediately and not come back for the next twenty-four hours," you almost growled from beneath the sheets. "At least."

Strangely, this did not put Jungkook off.

"But," he said softly. "Your room has a television."

"Yes, so I've noticed," you grumbled. Still you did not emerge.

"And I really wanna watch a film," he continued, undeterred. "We could watch the Princess and the Frog."

At this, you paused.

"You said you hate that film," you mumbled eventually.

Jungkook shrugged. "I am open to changing my mind."

From beneath the covers, he heard a sniffle of contemplation. And then you sat up, gazing at him as if trying to suss him out.

"Bunny boy," you said sternly, cheeks and eyes red, hair still tumbling loose around your shoulders. "Period sex is off the cards, you know that right?"

"Not why I'm here," he held his hands up in surrender. It was true - though that wasn't to say he was totally un-attracted to this unpredictable whirlwind of a woman you'd turned into today.

"You touch me anywhere, and I will karate chop you in the balls," you continued, pointing at him accusingly.

Jungkook nodded. "Message received and understood. Now, do you want painkillers or not? There's breakfast downstairs too."

It took a moment - Jungkook knew you were debating letting him take care of you again - but eventually, you relented. His heart pounded when you nodded a little.

"Nia got me some painkillers," you sniffed, pride making you avert your eyes as you crossed your arms huffily. "But... I'm hungry."

He was gone from the room before you could say any more.

Yoongi protested when Jungkook shot down to the table, collecting a heaped plate of food, but Jungkook was dashing back up the stairs before his hyung could complain any more, shouting behind him that they should just eat without the two of you. 

He didn't bother to take in the look on Taehyung's face when he said it. It wasn't important. He had an emotional woman to feed.

When he returned to your room you had sat back against the headboard, still looking upset, but you had at least stopped crying. You shuffled fractionally to the side, and patted the space next to you in bed, as you gazed at Jungkook.

Grinning in triumph, he sat down beside you, making sure to leave a respectful distance between you as he handed you the plate.

"Stay over there," you issued with a jabbing finger, much the same way a toddler might do when having a tantrum. Jungkook just grinned at you. His heart felt ridiculously warm, even as he settled down to watch a film he had absolutely zero interest in. "I'm serious, junior."

Jungkook nodded, reaching for the television remote. "I promise."

But three hours later, when Nia reappeared at the door to check on you with another round of painkillers, she pushed the door open to find the two of you in a tangle of limbs. The TV had stopped playing long ago, the screensaver glaring in the dim room, and your head was pressed into Jungkook's chest, his arms circling you as the pair of you slept deeply, coiled around one another.

Nia grinned.

"I was right," she mumbled to herself in bemusement as she ambled off down the corridor to find Namjoon and the others. "He is the coochie whisperer."

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