♠︎ fifteen

forgive the double chapter from your perspective! i just thought you'd like a front row seat for this chapter lol

also this is a longer one! but cute kekeke

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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♠︎ YOU

"Damn," Jungkook exclaimed, holding his arms out as you both reached the top of the mountain. "That's a good view."

You let out a deep exhale, leg muscles screaming from your final incline up the mountain to join Jimin, Jin and Taehyung. Grinning widely, you felt the thrill of achievement flow through you at having made it up there, basking in the sunshine as you emerged from the trees.

"Jungkookie!" came Jimin's voice from the other side of the peak. "Come take a picture!"

He smiled, shooting off to find Jimin and you grinned, watching him go. For a grown man, he could really act like an excited child sometimes. 

It was only as he left that you realised the company he was leaving you in, and your smile dropped immediately.

"Uh, hey," came Taehyung's awkward greeting. You swivelled to face him, heart jolting a little. 

"Hi," you replied. You were still a little out of breath, and didn't really feel like having any form of conversation with him.

"It's beautiful, huh?" he said, indicating out to the scenery around you.

And it was. From up here you could see the entirety of the island, from the resort house and swimming pools at one end to the dense, lush forest that carpeted the other, framed all around by azure seas. The sky was blue and uninterrupted by clouds, and there was even a nice breeze that cooled you as you stood, catching your breath. It was truly idyllic.

But all of that was dampened by the tension that hung between you and him right now. 

"Look," Taehyung began, wringing his hands a little. He too was breathing a little heavier, some of his grey-blonde hair sticking to his forehead.

He looked incredibly handsome, and it made you want to cry.

"I know you don't want to talk about it," he continued. "But I really think we should-"

"Tae, I'm not in the mood, okay?" you snapped. You knew you shouldn't - after all, it had been two years now and it was high time for some kind of reconciliation - but you couldn't help it. You didn't want to do this now, in a place where you couldn't escape from him easily afterwards. You wanted to be able to control that conversation.

"Right, I get that," he nodded. "It's just, we're gonna be stuck here for at least another five weeks, right? Is your article gonna take that long?"

You shrugged, blushing. Truth be told, you often forgot the fib that you'd told about being there to write an article. "I guess."

"So maybe we should try and work this out," he continued, softly, though you sensed the urgency behind it. And as right as he likely was, you didn't want to give in just yet.

"You don't get to decide that," you told him sharply. "You don't get to decide when I have to be okay about this."

Taehyung gazed at you, his amber eyes round and full of sadness.

"I'm sorry," he said, for the millionth time in two years. "I'm sorry, love-"

"Don't you fucking..." the tears were beginning to well in your eyes as you backed away, barely feeling the wincing pain in your butt now compared to how badly your heart was aching. "Just... leave me alone, Tae."

With that you took off across the rocky mountain-top, determined to put as much space between you and him as possible. Jungkook and Jimin came into view, Jin holding the camera as they posed, and you knew if you could just reach them, Taehyung wouldn't dare to bring it up in front of the other guys.

"Wait," Taehyung was right on your tail, his voice raising in volume. "Wait, please-"

Just as you saw Jungkook's brow furrow from far away at your raised voices, the distress in your tone, you tripped. You hadn't been looking where you were walking and your foot had caught on an uneven part of rocky ground, making you stumble violently. 

"Ouch... fuck, shit!" you threw a hand out to steady yourself on a rock, wincing as a lancing pain shot through the ankle you had gone over on. Though you tried to stand on it, this only made the pain worse, and instead you sat, rubbing over the soreness as you grit your teeth against the pain.

"Shit," Taehyung whispered as he reached you, extending a hand to help you up. "Are you okay?"

But Jungkook had appeared behind him, having moved to you at lightning speed, and swatted his hand away.

"What the fuck, dude?" Jungkook accused Taehyung, making your stomach jolt.

"Stay out of it, Jungkook-ah," Taehyung said, his voice calm but loaded. He was still gazing at you with a pleading look, and you did everything you could to avert your eye. 

"Kookie, leave it, it's not his fault," you mumbled, rubbing your ankle.

"That's not what it looked like," Jungkook shot back, his eyes narrowing at Taehyung. "Shouting at her like that-"

"Yah! You two knock it off, now," came Jin's firm warning as he and Jimin joined you. "What the hell is wrong with you both? You never fight."

Neither Jungkook or Taehyung replied to this. They were glaring at each other, both obviously still mad, but not enough to disobey their hyung's instruction.

"Can we maybe stop the staring contest and think about how we're going to get her down the mountain?" Jimin rolled his eyes at the two other boys. "She's gonna struggle on an injured foot."

"I'll be fine, it's probably just a sprain," you huffed, standing up to make your point. "I just need to take it slo-oh, ouch-"

Putting weight on the ankle was like sending a thousand knives through it at once. All four of the boys eyed you worriedly. You waved them off. 

"It's nothing. Come on," you limped past them, grimacing in your effort to hide the pain. "Off we go-"

"Yeah, not happening," Jungkook said, tutting at your stubbornness. "I'll carry you. You guys go ahead down and call for help when you get phone reception, get someone to bring a golf buggy part-way up or something."

Jin nodded, clearly happy with this plan, he and Jimin beginning to set off back down the slope. As they left, Jin closed a hand around Taehyung's arm and tugged him along with him, though this didn't stop Taehyung staring pointedly at you and Jungkook before he finally gave in and followed.

You turned to Jungkook, still mildly annoyed at his interruption of your show of bravery.

"I hope you don't think you're actually carrying me down, junior," you pointed in the direction of travel, as if to emphasise how ridiculous it was. "It's way too far."

Jungkook looked down at his muscular arms, flexing them under his black vest. "I think I'll be fine."

You tutted at his arrogance, trying to ignore the way the sight of his biceps made you tingle ever so slightly. Fucking hell, the kid was cocky today.

And yet, as you gazed around at the expanse of silent forest around you, you knew you were running out of any other options but this one.

"Okay, fine," you muttered. "But only because I literally have no other choice. And you have to promise to put me down if I get too heavy."

Jungkook rolled his eyes. "Yes, I promise, whatever. Just get on, woman."

"And don't call me woman," you grumbled as he leaned down slightly, taking hold of his shoulders and letting your legs wrap around his waist so you were safely clinging to his back, his hands closing around your calves.

"Yes, your majesty," he straightened up, shifting your legs a little higher as he set off. As he moved, you winced a little at the way your ankle bounced, but it wasn't nearly as bad as putting weight on it. 

Just for a little bit, you told yourself. I'll just let him carry me for a little bit, and then I'll walk the rest.

But Jungkook didn't seem to struggle in the slightest. He walked steadily down the mountain, taking a slightly longer route than involved some more even footing for him as he travelled. The sturdiness of his body, his back pressed against your chest firmly, would have given you a slight thrill, if your ankle weren't throbbing in agony.

You walked in silence at first, Jungkook humming gently to himself, the vibrations of it warming your chest a little. You were lost in your thoughts, irritated by how often they kept drifting back to Taehyung.

"You wanna talk about it?" Jungkook said quietly after a while. It was though he could read your mind. You knew he'd sensed something was up back there.

You squeezed your arms at his shoulders a little tighter. "No," you replied. "Not really."

Jungkook was silent at this. Somehow, this was worse than him pressing you for details, and all of a sudden you couldn't bear to keep it bottled up any more.

"He hurt me," you said, feeling the emotion begin to close your throat over a little as you said it. "He... I don't think he meant to do it but he did. A couple years ago. And it's been really hard to just go back to how we were."

Although he didn't stop, Jungkook's pace did slow a little as you said this. "Oh," he said. It didn't sound judgemental, or upset. He didn't press for any more details. He was clearly just willing to listen.

"The thing is, I think I probably should just forgive him," you continued. Earlier, you hadn't wanted to talk about this at all. But now, with Jungkook listening so intently, it was like a tap you couldn't turn off. "It's been long enough. And he's said he's sorry so many times. But I just... can't. I don't know why not."

Jungkook attempted a shrug, as best as he could with a female clinging to his back. "I mean, if he hurt you, that makes sense, but it sounds like he knows he fucked up, right? If he wants to be your friend again, maybe you could hear him out, and then see how you feel about it. Besides, Taehyung is a good friend. If he made a mistake he won't make it again."

"Yeah, I know that," you conceded, sighing. "It's just hard to remember it sometimes when I think about it all."

"Time heals all wounds," Jungkook said. "You'll get there, eventually."

"I hope so," you fiddled with the sleeve of Jungkook's vest, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable talking about yourself. "Okay, enough about me. It's your turn to spill."

Jungkook chuckled. "Spill about what?"

"Well, you could tell me why you called me up and asked me to enter into a sex deal with you, for one," you reeled off.

Even from behind him, you could sense the shyness that had come over him all of a sudden. "Ah," he stiffened a little. "Um... no particular reason?"

"Bullshit, I know there must be someone you need to impress," you said confidently. "Man? Woman? Other?"

Jungkook sniffed, seeming to realise you were too set on this to let it go. "Woman," he mumbled after a minute. "Her name is Yoora. She's a model."

"Nice," you nodded. "Hot?"

"Smoking hot," Jungkook said, almost in a groan. It took everything in you not to be the tiniest bit jealous when he said that - especially because you had no right to be. "But she's only into dominant guys, apparently."

You laughed a little, squeezing his waist with your legs. "She told you that?"

"Yeah, she said she wouldn't go out with me because apparently I'm too shy," he said bitterly.

"So hang on - you already asked her out, and she turned you down?" you pressed, sensing all of a sudden that you didn't like this Yoora character very much. Who turned someone down for being too shy?

"Well, yes," Jungkook clarified, "but she said it's just because I'm not confident enough. So that's why I'm... you know, doing this. To try and become more confident for her."

"But you are confident," you rolled your eyes. "Anyone who's talked to you for more than five minutes knows that, Kookie."

"I know! But she doesn't believe it," he sighed. "It's how I come across. Some people just see my face and don't see the rest, I guess."

"That's not your fault. Clearly she just doesn't know you very well," you said, a little snappier than you intended, and it didn't slip your notice when his grip on your leg tightened a little. 

"Is something wrong?" he turned his head slightly, and you caught sight of the silver lip ring, caught anxiously between his teeth. It felt terrible to have caused that.

"No," you tried, calmer this time. "I just don't think you should have to change yourself for someone. What's the point in dating someone who will only ever be happy with part of you? You deserve better than that."

Jungkook didn't reply to this. You couldn't see his expression any more, and for a moment you were afraid that you had upset him. 

"I'm sorry," you mumbled to the back of his head. "That was harsh. If you wanna go out with her..."

"No, it's not that," Jungkook shook his head, brushing your collarbone a little with the back of his raven hair. "I was just thinking about how that's the nicest thing you've said to me all week."

You laughed at this. "Don't get used to it, junior."

After this, you lulled back into a comfortable silence. Jungkook still didn't seem to be tiring, and honestly, your ankle was hurting so badly you were almost glad that he wasn't complaining. Instead, you simply settled into the rhythm of his steps, gazing at the forest around you when, all of a sudden, you spotted-

"Oh my fucking god!"

Jungkook stopped immediately, almost stumbling himself, his arms tensing around your knees protectively. "What?! What's wrong?"

"Look!" you tapped his shoulder excitedly, pointing up at the flash of colour you had seen just a moment ago. "Did you see it? Did you see it Kookie?"

"I have no fucking clue what you're talking about," he huffed, still clearly put out by your shout of excitement.

"Put me down," you demanded, tapping his shoulder again, and though he grumbled a little, he did as you asked. At first the pain in your ankle seared through your leg, but Jungkook saw your grimace of pain and threw an arm around your waist, helping you limp over to the tree in question.

"Look, you pointed again, closer now to the two crimson eyes that were peering down at you from the leaves of a tree, a few feet up. "It's a red-eyed tree frog!"

Jungkook stared at you in a mixture of exasperation and annoyance. "Are you seriously telling me you frightened the shit out of me for a frog?"

For a moment, you were crestfallen and a little embarrassed. "I like frogs, dude."

Jungkook's nose scrunched a little as he came to stand by your side. "Really? They kinda creep me out."

You shrugged. "Some people don't get it. I think they're cute. And these ones-" you pointed back up to where the red-eyed frog was blinking down at you curiously. "These are super rare here, you normally only find them in the southern Americas. I wonder what it's doing here?"

As you gazed up into the tree, fascinated by the sight of the creature you'd only ever seen once or twice in real life before, you could see Jungkook looking up at it sceptically. "Why is it staring at us like that?"

"Not sure," you mused. "Could just be cause we're foreign invaders in their home. Or..." 

You spotted the leaf it was sitting on. "Oh - see the way the leaf is folded up? They do that to protect their eggs from predators. It must think we're here to steal it's babies."

Jungkook gazed at you in fascination. "How the fuck do you know so much about frogs? You're a music journalist."

You side-eyed him hard, crossing your arms indignantly. "Right, so people can't have hobbies outside of their job now, bunny boy? You see me raising any eyebrows when you eat fried chicken at four in the morning on Weverse?"

Jungkook grinned. "The way you say that makes me think you probably do raise an eyebrow," he pointed out. "But also, does that mean you watch my Weverse lives?"

You blushed at the inadvertent admission you had made. "No," you mumbled, looking down at your feet, your hands on your hips. "Not all of them."

Jungkook didn't reply and you couldn't bear to look up at him, knowing exactly what smug smile he'd have on his face right now. 

"Hey, look," he pointed up after a moment. "There's two frogs now."

Embarrassment forgotten, your head shot up. "What? Where-"

But before you could so much as search for it, Jungkook had caught your face in the warm palm of his hand, and pressed his mouth onto yours.

When you'd thought about being kissed by him, you hadn't known what it would be like except for one thing - it would be hard and fast. With all of the tension that seemed to buzz between you constantly, kissing would inevitably be equally as explosive, a desperate clash of mouths where both of you would be reluctant to cede control to the other.

But this kiss... was not like that at all.

His lips met yours softly, a light press of tenderness, as if he were testing the waters. When he released you from it, he paused for just a moment, cheek still cupped in his palm, as if to give you a chance to pull away. 

You didn't.

He leaned back in. 

It was a little firmer this time, but still slow, still soft, still feeling as though the entire world had stopped spinning on it's axis for just one moment as your mouths met. He tasted like spearmint, cool and fresh against your lips. The wires in your brain reconnected from your initial shock and you kissed him back, meeting his gentle but assured pace, letting a hand go up to his vest and bunch in it to pull him in closer.

When his tongue swept across your bottom lip, it didn't even cross your mind to deny him that permission.

Jungkook's hand moved around to the back of your neck as he opened your mouth beneath his, tongues tangling together, your body pressed into his now as his other hand drew it in at the waist. Even in this movement you could sense his carefulness, how he was mindful of your bad ankle, how he was supporting your entire body weight with one arm around you, while the other threaded into your hair and tugged it gently.

It was pure heaven. You gasped into his mouth and revelled in the low sound of satisfaction you got back, stoking a fire in your belly that shot throughout every single one of your nerve-endings. It felt like your insides had turned to goo, only one thought left in your mind that if kissing was a sport, Jeon Jungkook was an Olympic champion.

He was good at everything - but he was way too fucking good at this. He was dangerously good at it.

After what felt like forever and a millisecond at the same time, he pulled away, and you caught your breath with a hand still bunched in his vest, gazing up at him.

Holy fucking shit, you cursed internally, thankful that those words didn't come out of your mouth, because they'd definitely feed his ego. What the fucking fuck was that?

For a long moment you stayed there in the shade of the tree, Jungkook looming over you, his eyes hooded and damp lips brushing yours. You wanted to reach up and tuck his unruly black hair behind his ear. 

More than anything else, you wanted him to do that again.

Fuck the competition. You'd let him win this round, if only he'd kiss you like that one more time.

But just when it seemed he might lean back in again, his eyes fluttering closed, both of you heard a slow rumble in the distance, the unmistakeable sound of a golf buggy.

"That must be them," you mumbled, clearing your throat a little and taking a small step back, ignoring the disappointment that coursed through you. "We should, um..."

Jungkook nodded, though he was smiling now. "I wanna do that again," he said, eyes alight with something you couldn't read. "I don't want that to be the only time I get to kiss you."

You narrowed your eyes at him, though you couldn't help the smile that perked up one corner of your mouth. Your stomach was twisting at his words. "Is that right?"

"Mm," he nodded. "It's not good sex without kissing."

You're damn right it's not, you thought, feeling your insides still zinging from the aftermath of that absolute whopper of a kiss he'd just planted on you. A tiny voice was ringing an alarm bell in your head, but the sensation of kissing him had been far too good to deny. 

"Okay," you agreed eventually. "Fine. Kissing's allowed."

A huge smile of victory broke over Jungkook's face, his nose scrunching adorably at your words. "Told you it'd blow your socks off."

You rolled your eyes at how fast he swung between cute and cocky. "You know, I was gonna offer to walk the rest, but never mind. Bend over, junior."

"Not words I really wanted to hear from you, but fine," he joked, leaning down again to hoist you up onto his back once more. As you made your way towards the noise of the buggy, it was quiet between you, your mind entirely filled with thoughts of one thing.

That kiss.

It was easily one of the best kisses you'd ever had in your life. It had been impossible to even consider saying no to letting him do that again, especially with how fucking good at it he was, and how insistent he'd been at having another shot at it, that you'd really had no choice but to agree.

When you looked back on this moment, agreeing was the first in a long line of terrible mistakes.

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