-The first time this happens, you’re so freaking confused.
-It’s like 2 am and you are woken up by the fire alarm in yours and your roommates apartment.
-Shooting awake, you’re met with the darkness of your room and so, dazed, you reach for your phone quickly to check what time it is. Briskly adjusting to the bright screen, it reads 2:34 am.
-You throw your legs around the side of your bed and run out through the dimly lit hall to the kitchen doorway. The air is filled thick with smoke and you instantly notice Taehyung’s figure wildly thrashing a cloth around, assumingly to wave away the clouds of fog.
-Eyebrows furrowed, your eyes skim across the kitchen to identify any source of fire, which thankfully, there’s none of.
-Taehyung finally spots you through the blur of smoke. You’re standing in the crook of the kitchen and the hall and so he stops his movements, just to worriedly call out your name.
- ‘y/n. Help me here.’ He whines, insinuating that you’re not doing anything to help him, which he’s correct about, because this isn’t your mess to clean up.
- With a groan you go over to the kitchen window and push it wide open so that soon, the smoke is no longer clouding the kitchen space.
- 'What the fuck?’ Is all you manage to say to the situation you just walked into. Not to mention it’s early and you both could’ve been killed.
- ’Well, I was trying to fry some chocolate and then I realised the oil in the pan started burni-’ Taehyung’s habit of talking fast when he’s guilty took its role but you’re quick to cut him off.
- ’It’s half two Taehyung.’ You mumble, dropping your head slowly into your hands as sleep is seeping in back to you. ‘Wait, you tried frying chocolate in a pan?’ You continue when his reason finally processed through your sleepy brain.
- 'I don’t know, I thought it’d be cool. I’m sorry, I couldn’t sleep and I was hopin-’ You interrupt Taehyung’s rapid chatter one last time.
- ’Taehyung, It’s fine, just be more careful.’ You let him off this time, knowing your roommate’s a bit clumsy and helpless sometimes. You throw a tired but serious look in his direction and turn to trot on the cold floor tiles back to your bed.
- The second time this happens you’re heading back to your shared flat from work at the coffee shop down the road. You thought you could finally take a shower and pass out on your bed, well oh boy I got news for you. Before twisting the keys at you door, a strong uneasy feeling hits you.
- As you open the front door, waves of smoke spill through the door frame. The room is filled with wisps and clouds that have you barely seeing what’s ahead of you, the high pitched screams of the alarm ringing through your consciousness.
- ’Again?’ You yell through the alarm hopefully so Taehyung hears your despair.
- Dropping your bags at the doorway, you jog into the kitchen, knowing what you’ll find, except this time, the kitchen stove is STILL on fire and Taehyung is once again thrashing a cloth in every which way.
- You hurriedly grab a pot lid from one of your cupboards and squeeze in beside Taehyung and the counter to press it down onto the fire, effectively quenching it.
- ’You absolute clown.’ You scold, vaguely breathless from worry.
- All he can give you is a guilt filled look before you both proceed to ventilate your house and clean up any mess Taehyung managed to make.
-’How about I buy you chicken nuggets and you forgive me?’ He proposes with puppy eyes when he sees you pouting at him from the other side of the kitchen. Of course you can never pass free chicken nuggets.
- He agrees to never fucking try and cook again because you both know that he will actually burn the house down next time. You think that Taehyung is more than okay letting you take charge of cooking.
- For a long while, you start to trust him, seeing that he hasn’t even attempted to stand near the stove.
- That is until one evening, Taehyung had just come back from a college class and you could hear him rattling around in the living room area.
- In the midst of having a random show on your tv in the background of your endless social media scrolling, you decide that it was late enough for you to abandon your efforts to try to stay awake, and so you change into pajamas.
- A while longer of scrolling goes by, when your peace is interrupted by the oh-so familiar sound of the fire alarm blaring in your ears. Throwing your phone aside and completely forgetting that all you’re in is your pajama shorts and one of Taehyung’s huge college t shirts that he gave you too long ago to remember, you rush out to the kitchen to catch him in his mischief.
- When you get there, he’s cursing quietly under his breath, trying to cover the fire with a pot lid like he saw you doing. To no avail of course.
- 'Are you serious.’ You mumble this time round, coming up beside Taehyung and grabbing the lid off of him and dropping it onto the flames. He smiles apologetically at you
- You suddenly feel a little cool in your pajamas as a draft seeps in, despite the fact that there was a fire here a second ago
- You’re not left fussing about it too long, as the anger at Taehyung for making you run out to him like this pushes you to pull him down close to your face by his shirt collar.
- ’It’s late, I am in fucking pajamas and if you think I’m forgiving you for dragging me out of my room because you set the kitchen on fire for the third time, you’re fucking wrong.’ You say through gritted teeth, fury burning through your flesh at Taehyung setting the stove on fire despite you telling him not to touch it.
- Completely unfazed by your scary anger, a light flashes through his eyes.
- ’Stay here.’ He says quietly before straightening back to his full height and rushing in the direction of his room.
- ’Wait-’ you start, not wanting to be left to clear up the smoke for the third time, but he’s already out of reach and speeding to his room.
-What you’re not expecting though, is he comes back with something clasped in his hand. He brings it up and you are shown a petite, awkwardly wrapped box. The wrapping paper is patterned with little hearts and you instantly know two things; Judging by the way the thing is ungracefully packaged, Taehyung wrapped it himself. And Second, It’s a birthday present for you. It’s tomorrow though, and you don’t know why he decides to give it to you now.
-’Don’t be angry. It’s almost your birthday.’ He shines a boxy smile from a little above you so you have to look up.
-’What is this?’ You ask still looking up. ‘Find out.’ He replies simply.
-After fidgeting with the paper and opening the box, you find a silver chain bracelet with a teardrop pendant that resembles topaz.
-’You know, people say topaz represents water. I kinda wanna say sorry for setting the kitchen on fire so many times and I didn’t expect for thi-’ His rambling is cut short by your arms snaking themselves around his torso and your head pressed to his chest in a hug. His hands land around you too and you’re left hugging for a little while.
-’Everything okay?’ You hear Taehyung ask with a little confusion in his voice. You nod into his frame.
-’Thank you.’ You just say. ‘It’s really pretty.’
-You can feel his hand starting to rub circles on your back, and you can’t help but sob a little. As clumsy and awkward Taehyung can be, and no matter how many times he’ll set fire to the kitchen, he will always be the most loving guy you know.
Pairing: Jungkook x Reader, Bit of Jimin x Reader in this chapter
Genres: Angst/Fluff, Gang au themes
Warnings: Very light smut (and I mean VERY), Drinking Alcohol
Word Count: 3.2k
Looking at yourself in the bathroom mirror, hair and makeup done for the first time in a while, you begin doubting yourself for the countless time. What are you even supposed to wear to something like this? You step out into your bedroom and find your phone to check the time: 20:00. Great. Still plenty of time left for you to contemplate why you’re doing this. Perhaps after Jimin told you about the party you just wanted to get the night over with so you agreed. Or maybe you wanted Jungkook to think that a party is no big deal to you. Well, it is, so you sigh in defeat and throw your phone back on the bed.
Jungkook told you he would show you around when you get there but you can’t help and feel like you’re honestly just a burden. He’s probably been to hundreds of his friend’s parties and you’re not about to ruin one for him. So you promised yourself you’d try and get along by yourself.
Going back into the bathroom, you finish getting ready and come back out having planned an outfit. The uncertainty with everything you were doing is still very heavily clouding your mind but you’re letting yourself trust Jungkook and his friends. After all, new experiences are good, right? You’re aware that you’ll probably drink, as Jungkook kindly offered to stay sober and drive you there and back.
The doorbell sounds out and you make your way down the stairs to the door. Jungkook comes in after you invite him in briefly. You tighten the laces on your black converse and turn back to him. Jungkook couldn't help but notice that you actually looked really good, especially since you don't usually dress up like this. A brief flash of jealousy buzzed through his mind at the thought of another guy thinking about you like that at the party, but he forces himself out of that thought.
'You ready?' You ask a dazed Jungkook, bringing him back to reality.
'Oh. Yeah.' He responds finally.
Getting into the car and driving was silent for the most part until Jungkook noticed your leg bouncing. He decided to point it out.
'You're nervous.'
'Can you tell?' You say sarcastically. You know your anxiety radiates out for kilometres. He doesn't laugh though.
'It's Taehyung's house, everything's gonna be fine.' He reassures with a smile as he turns quickly your way.
'Easy for you to say.' You pout.
'You've never been to a party have you?' He probably didn't mean to upset you, but that hit you in a weird way.
'Nope.' You exhale, defeated.
'You know I'm sober for tonight, so I'm expecting you go crazy.' He giggles at you.
'As if.' You giggle back.
'No but seriously, if you want to drink, you know I'm there to make sure you don't do anything stupid. Okay?' You nod your head which he sees from the corner of his eye.
Soon enough you pull up into a parking spot and Jungkook turns off the ignition. Before he gets out of the car he turns to you one last time.
'Remember that we can leave any time, alright?' You nod your head again and as he's turning around, you speak up.
'Thank you Jungkook.' You say honestly.
You walk by Jungkook's side up to Taehyung's flat, and you're kind of surprised that he would even be allowed a party when there are people probably living around here. Outside Taehyung's door, the music is loud enough to make the floor under your shoes vibrate.
Jungkook pushes open the door and the music suddenly rushes out of the cramped flat. Your eyesight is met with a sea of people bathed in a dim purple light. Everyone is dancing around, red cups in hand. Jungkook takes a step inside but you hesitate. He offers you a hand which you take, and you're swiftly pulled inside, door closing behind you.
'No problem y/n.' He answered, finally opening the door and getting out.
The air is quite cold and it's already dark out. You can hear a faint bass line wafting through the wind. You assume the party is already in its full force because you arrived a little later.
You are very quickly made aware of how many people are actually here, and the flat itself isn't that big. You are still being pulled by the hand by Jungkook but you finally stop at the kitchen, which is significantly less crowded than the rest of the house. Jungkook spots someone and you are moving once again. Taehyung's big boxy smile comes into sight and you immediately feel more relaxed.
'Look who's here.' Taehyung shouts over the music. He puts an arm lazily around you and continues talking after you greet him.
'Beer? Whiskey? Vodka?' He suggests to both of you. You falter for a second.
'Vodka, I guess' You say as more of a question than reply. A good way to ease into the fun you think. Jungkook kindly refuses.
'Sober I see?' Taehyung smiles. You can tell he's had a little to drink but he's still quite in control.
'Someone has to be.' Jungkook replies matter-of-factly. Taehyung's arm drops from around you to grab the frosted glass bottle of vodka from the counter. He mixes it in with some coke in a red solo cup and hands it over to you.
'Thanks.' You say, taking it from him.
You look around the flat. You notice there's a game of beer pong down near the kitchen. There's a good amount of people just making out all over the place. There's some jock looking guys sitting by the couch. You glance down at the cup in your hands and raise it up to your lips. Taking a sip, you are pleasantly surprised at the burn and taste of the drink.
-
Before you know it, you've done way too many cups and the world around you seems just a little fuzzy. You lost track of Jungkook after your first cup a while ago, and now you find yourself in the midst of people, dancing with some vaguely familiar strangers. Alcohol really does wonders.
You feel a gentle hand around your waist as someone approaches around you from the back. You're surprised to see Jimin's face come into view. It's more than likely the alcohol, but his ruffled hair and piercing eyes are something out of this world.
'You actually came.' He acknowledges as he dips his head down so you hear him above the music. You smell quite a bit of alcohol on his breath, but you know you drank quite a bit too.
'I did.' You smile. 'Didn't know you were here either.' You point out. His hand is still at your waist, and you are just sober enough to know that's it's probably not moving anytime soon.
'I invited you here.' He chuckles lowly at your forgetfulness. His face is quite close to yours, and his voice is beyond mesmerising.
'Oh yeah.' You chuckle too. He invited you and Jungkook here at the diner. You can't help it, but now, Jungkook is on your mind.
'Do you know where Jungkook is by any chance?' Your question. To that Jimin surprisingly rolls his eyes. You're both still swaying along to the beat of the music.
'You shouldn't be worrying about him. He's been to so many of these parties.'
'You're right.'
You got accustomed to the loud music the longer you were there, and along with the whiskey, you found that some things didn't bother you as much as they would if you were sober. One of those things being personal space. As the conversation went on, you found that Jimin has been drifting increasingly closer to you, but with the addicting scent of his cologne, you didn't mind whatsoever.
'You look really good by the way.' He compliments, but the buzz in your bloodstream can't exactly make out if it's just a friendly gesture or something more.
'Thanks.' You keep eye contact. 'You look good too.' Your eyes skim down his body. Simply a button down and jeans but boy was it attractive. Similarly to Jungkook, you noticed, his waist beautifully contrasts his broader shoulders. They both have athletic bodies that are only made clear to you with your intoxicated brain.
You put two and two together and finally realise that Jimin is very obviously into you. You look up at his eyes to maybe find a signal, but you're not even able to process that thought, as the distance between you is cut to null and his lips are on yours in an instant.
You don't know whether it's shock or hesitation that stops you from immediately reciprocating, but it doesn't cloud your mind for long. You place your arms loosely around his neck and let the kiss change into something heated. You know you have to pull away eventually, even if you find it quite hard. You have no feelings towards Jimin, even your drunken mind knew that. You rest with your foreheads together, breathing deeply.
'Jimin.' You start. 'I don't like you that way.' You feel ten times more sober than when you started talking to him. Jimin's face falls.
'It's Jungkook isn't it?’
'What?' You're confused as to why he's bringing him up now of all times.
'You like each other. Clearly.'
'No Jimin.' You deny yourself as much as you deny his accusation. He let's go of your waist.
'I'm gonna go grab another drink. You want me to pour you some?'
'I'm fine.' You say with a faint smile. He turns and heads for the kitchen. You think you've had enough for the night, It's early morning now anyway, you would be more than happy to go home after what just happened with Jimin.
You set out to find Jungkook which didn't prove to be a challenge as you spot the white t-shirt that he's wearing. He's sitting on the sofa beside the jocks you saw earlier.
You hazily make your way over until you find support on the backrest of the sofa as you sit on the armrest beside Jungkook. Looking down at his face, he is visibly annoyed at something or another. You can just about see him grinding his teeth with anger.
'What's up.' You simply question, knowing Jungkook probably knows that he's quite obviously angry.
'We should go.' He says quietly and with a deep tone. His change of behaviour takes you slightly aback. Wanting to leave the party being the reason you came to Jungkook, you comply.
Walking out of the apartment after Jungkook, you're surprised he didn't stop along the way to say bye to friends. You just stay silent and trot after Jungkook to the car.
You found this situation very familiar. The last time Jungkook was silent was when you were caught at the warehouse, when he was seemingly mad about nothing. You decide to let him have his stubborn way this time.
Swaying a little, you finally get to the car and plop yourself in the passenger side without help from Jungkook. The alcohol is still searing in your brain and he very well knows it, but his headstrong nature won't give up until you talk first, and so you do.
You giggle out loud through your clouded judgement as he fits the key into the ignition. He doesn't respond to you and just focuses on reversing out of the parking space.
'Jungkook.' You draw out when you realised he won't speak. You hear him mutter a hushed 'What' under his breath.
'Talk to me.' You elongate the vowels once again in a drunken attempt to lighten the atmosphere.
'There's nothing to talk about.' He responds brazenly.
'Is it my fault?' You simply ask, head falling against the headrest.
'No.' He confirms which puts you at ease, yet something is still definitely wrong. You turn your whole body so that you are sitting in the direction of Jungkook, head now lazed to the side but still against the headrest.
'Tell me who bitched about you.' You smile trying to bring out his humour one last time, but Jungkook isn't having it. You decide a more serious approach.
'You know you can talk to me whatever it is.' You assure in an almost incoherent slur. You see the faintest glint of contemplation in his eyes. You applaud yourself inside your head.
'Can we talk at your house?' He genuinely asks.
'Of course.' And with that, you're back facing the road, happy that you came to a compromise.
You feel your consciousness very slowly beginning to drift off as the journey to your house feels three times as long as it normally is. You're gently brought back by a touch on your shoulder which you realise is Jungkook's. You've finally arrived.
'Wait here a second.' Jungkook says before getting out and circling the car to your side. He opens the door for you and you try to clamber out but he helps you by throwing your arm around his shoulders.
'How much did you even drink?' He asks himself more than you in a mutter.
'Too much?' You respond anyway. He fishes the house keys out of your bag and finally steps in with you still slung around his shoulders. He sits you down at your kitchen table and sighs, retreating back to a safe stance of leaning on the counter, facing you. You look at him questioningly.
'Why'd you kiss him?' He says firmly, but internally cringes at himself. He knows it's none of his business.
You look at him bewildered. For a second you didn't even know what he was talking about. You know now though. Jimin. Has is what has been bothering him? It wasn't even a huge deal to you and for some reason, he takes it personally?
'Jungkook, what are you even on about?' You coax him to tell you why it bothers him, although he looks even more pissed than before.
'Jimin.' He simply says, thinking you don't remember. 'Why would you do that?'
Your thoughts flash back to the party. "It's Jungkook isn't it?" You remember him asking. "You like each other. Clearly." Maybe Jimin was a lot more correct than you thought.
'Jungkook, you have no say in what I do when it comes to things like that.' His eye contact is hot with shame but also anger. After a second of silence and your racing mind, you're pretty sure why he's angry.
'You're jealous.' You say quietly. You barely finish your sentence before he quirks his head to the side and he slams his palms against the counter lightly, but enough to make a noise.
Feeling a little soberer from the accusations, you stand up from your chair with absolutely no wobble in your posture. He looks a little confused at your abrupt action.
'I'm not jealous.' He says through gritted teeth, which only further proves your point.
'I don't like Jimin. It was just... in the moment, okay?' You start an improvised ramble. 'I don't know why I did it either-' Your words get cut off by Jungkook rapidly pushing himself off the counter and closing the distance between you. He smashes his lips against yours, holding the sides of your face with his strong but soft hands. In shock, you place your palms against his chest, pushing slightly. You separate, but inches away from your eyes are his and you're both silently watching each other for the next move.
His eyes are like the color of mahogany wood. Comforting, but tough. They hold a lot of meaning and unspoken moments, you think. Perhaps there's a lot more to Jungkooks anger than these stupid little instances. You realise that continuing this with Jungkook might just prove that you aren't in love with him. But boy you were wrong.
You lean forward, this time the shock strikes Jungkook and you can feel him very slightly huff into the kiss.Your hands make their way to his neck and his arms are hugging around your waist, pushing you closer into his own. It just feels right, and Jungkook seems to feel the same, because with a tap of his palm on your thigh, you find your legs wrapped around him. You feel movement and without breaking the kiss, you figure that he's walking up the stairs in the direction of your bedroom.
You feel your weight being placed down onto the bed, Jungkook still just as close, lips still together. As if you're both still too hesitant to truly commit to what's about to happen, you feel Jungkooks hands hesitating against the bed where he's supporting himself. You lightly sigh when you realise that there's still fear of what's gonna happen in between you and this sparks motivation in him.
His hand lifts from the bed down your side and pushes your top up just a fraction. The skin of his hands touches the skin of your hip, and something in the form of electricity runs through you. Except this electricity is powerful and it feels like electrocution, like you're suddenly under water and can't breath.
Your mind floods with the image of the dark alley that you were dragged into. The hands around your arms that were so forceful they left bruises. Their laughter at your helplessness. All that one dreadful and yet hopeful night that Jungkook showed up. You're left crying on the bed, hands coming up to shield your face from the tears. Jungkook still hovering above you, stops dead, afraid he hurt you.
'Hey. Tell me what's wrong.' He pleas in a hushed tone. His arms wrap around your shoulders and hug you tightly into him. You're hands leave your face and wrap around his body too, leaving you crying into his chest.
He hushes you, attempting to stop your crying and it does. When your crying fades into mere sobs, he pulls you away from him. He holds your face in his hands and says again:
'Talk to me.' So after a short while, you start explaining.
'What's wrong?' He asks, voice laced with distress. He pulls himself up so he's sitting. With shaking hands and fingers, you sit up too, anxiety flowing through your body.
'Do you remember the day you took me home after you saw me in that alleyway?' You venture in between sobs. He hums a yes.
'Well it was the worst moment of my life. And sometimes I still think about it. It scares me. A lot.' Tears start rolling out of your eyes again, but you're calmer now.
'It doesn't have to be that way.' Jungkook reassures, rubbing circles into your back. 'You know I won't let things like that happen to you again.' He whispers, easing you.
You both relish in the presence of the other, until you feel you're tear stained eyes closing as you finally drift into sleep.
'Why does the world have to be that way.' You state more than you ask. Jungkook pulls you into him again.
Warnings: Swearing, sexual harassment (catcalling), mention of cigarettes
Word count: 2.1k
* [a/n] Long time coming 😔*
You wake up, a sharp pain shooting through your spine as your eyelids flutter open, letting the darkness around you fill your pupils again. Your eyes widen as you realize the problems you left the evening prior. The uncomfortable position that you fell asleep in still contorts your back as you wake up. You proceed to briskly stretch your legs, as the feeling of pins and needles finally sets into your calves. You're a little surprised it's still dark outside, but you don't bother checking the time.
The thought of opening the door of your bedroom to face what may be on the other side makes you shiver, but you hastily swing your legs to the floor anyway. Step by step, you route closer to the door, rubbing the tiredness out of your eyes with your fists and taking in a deep breath, you lightly put your hand on the doorknob.
Twisting it and creaking the door open, your eyes immediately dart to a figure sitting against the wall, head hanging low, hands in his lap, legs stretched out in front of him. You quickly realize it's Jungkook. Sleeping in the corridor ahead of you. You let out a sigh of relief knowing that you don't have to confront him yet, so you carefully tiptoe around him and trot down the stairs, into the kitchen.
You rest your hands on the cool counter, letting your body lean on your arms. Letting out another sigh of relief, you close your eyes, knowing you'll have to talk to Jungkook eventually. But lucky you, you hear the faintest of footsteps, indicating the source of your distress coming down the stairs. Slowly turning around, your eyesight is caught on Jungkook's, his body propping itself up on the door frame. In the brief silence you share, you notice his cuts and bruises are now slightly faded, and the still image of Jungkook's freshly wounded face and how much it hurt you in turn, flashed through your mind.
'Hey.' you accidentally squeak, nerves getting the best of you.
'Hey.' He copies, the word now becoming so usual to you both, he doesn't think twice of saying it back.
'You know. It wasn't my place to pressure you to talk, and I realize that now. I don't know what I was doing.' You avert your gaze, not necessarily expecting sympathy coming your way. To your surprise, you hear a low chuckle from the doorway before he speaks in an equally low tone, assuming it's because he has just woken up.
'You're not in the wrong here y/n. I literally came in expecting some kind of royal treatment, when it was you who called me, and I couldn't even be there for you.' He says, rubbing his eyes in contemplation. And once again you are baffled at how someone so fucking selfless and reverent can even exist.
'I want you to tell me why you called me.' He continues, pushing himself off the doorway and making his way to the table. He pulls out a chair and lazily seats himself on it.
'It doesn't matter anymore.' You mumble, brushing your hands through your hair as you sit in the chair before him.
'Hey.' He furrows his eyebrows. 'It does matter. You sounded scared to death.'
You let out a breath, looking down at your hands, contemplating whether to explain or not.
'Um.' You falter, not knowing where to start. ' I was just... not feeling well, and... ' for some reason you're finding it very hard to explain. You decide to just tell a vague truth ' I thought of you, so I called.' Jungkook pauses for a second, thinking. He was glad you thought he could cheer you up, but wanted you to talk to him. A stillness settles between you, but before you can explode with the silence, you come up with an idea.
'You wanna go somewhere?' You ask as if it's normal to be leaving the house at this hour, presuming it's very early in the morning. He furrows his eyebrows again, not expecting such an abrupt turn. You're quick to continue.
‘How about I take you somewhere for a change?’ you boldly state, faking confidence. Nonetheless, you cross your arms as you lean back into the chair, smiling ever so slightly.
'Depends where to.' he hesitates, quoting your prior words to him before he can give in.
'How about a surprise?’ you continue the joke of apparently swapping the role in yours and Jungkook’s friendship. He exhales deeply, knowing you'll win.
‘Sure.’ he blankly says, standing up from his chair and waiting for you to lead the way. Quickly realising you're still in pyjamas, you tell Jungkook to wait for a second and you usher upstairs and quickly put on some clothes you had lying around. When you came back downstairs, you noticed Jungkook was already in the hallway, leaning up against the front door. He hears your footsteps and looks up.
‘You ready?’ he asks with a smile.
‘Jesus, this isn't prom night’ you laugh at this obvious parallel of the situation to a high school dance. Much to your surprise, the confident Jungkook you know, blushes, but he turns around nonetheless and leaves the house with you following. You can't help but wonder what Jungkook was like in high school.
You're planning on taking Jungkook to a 24 diner that is very familiar to you. You haven't gone there since you were a kid, and this just might be the right night to go again.
After a while, you spot the bright, red and blue sign over the diner, instantly making you feel like home. The place doesn't look like it has aged, almost like it's preserved in time.
‘You ever been here?’ you ask when you're approaching the illuminating glass door of the diner.
‘Nope.’ he answers, which is strange, knowing how much of the city area he's familiar with.
You push the door open, immediately feeling a puff of warm air on your cool cheeks. You look around quickly, noticing the dinner is empty except for a group of rowdy, young boys that immediately catch your attention. They look a good few years younger than you.
‘Oh god.’ you mutter under your breath, knowing what’ll probably entail once they notice anyone coming in. Jungkook looks down at your expression from behind you, swiftly noticing your worry.
‘What's up’ he asks, his breath hitting your face. You just gently tilt your heads towards that boys, and Jungkook quickly understands, although he doesn't clearly see who they are.
You come up to the counter and you're greeted with a bright lady that takes your orders. Her smiles fades quite quickly though, and you only realise why, after you see where she's looking at. You look at Jungkooks face and you remember the cuts and bruises littering his face. To try avert the attention back, you ask for any first thing that comes into your head; fries, and in your nervous mindset, you don't even hear what Jungkook orders.
You both take a seat as far away from the table of boys as you can, which isn’t very far considering the small size of the diner. And of course, you hear the first shout of the night, directed straight at your table.
‘Hey Babe’ you hear one of them loudly shout from across the restaurant. As you're sitting with your back to them, you immediately cringe in your seat, trying to hide as much of yourself as you can. Jungkook is sitting across from you and can see what they’re doing. He looks completely annoyed. And yet, they don't give up, because right after, you hear wolf whistling, and you're only getting more bothered and agitated.
You hear them stop though, and they start talking among themselves for a while. You and Jungkook both let out a sigh of relief and look at eachother.
‘Does this happen often?’ he asks you quietly, obviously clueless as to what catcalling is and how often it happens.You nod with a disappointed face. You hear him mutter in annoyance. You see him watch the boys intently, with visible anger in his dilated pupils.
The waitress approaches your table laying down your food, and you see Jungkook’s plate is strangely full of waffles.
‘It's like 4 in the morning you dunce, that's a breakfast food.’ you stupidly smile, finding it endearing.
‘Exactly. It's morning.’ he smiles even more stupidly. Before you can even try to start your food, one of the rude boys from the table approaches you. He puts his hand on the back of the seat your leaning on, trying to almost put his arm around you, yet he stays standing.
‘Is this your girlfriend.’ He asks smugly, as if his only sole purpose is to agitate. He strokes his hand up and down your arm and you wince away from him. You hear the boys at the table laugh loudly. The question is obviously directed at Jungkook, and you have never seen a look as dark as it is right now in his eyes. As inconvenient these boys are, you're nowhere near Jungkook's level of anger. You swear that if the boy says one more word, something’s gonna snap.
‘No’ Jungkook responds, almost a growl. He snickers to himself and turns around to the others, that are intently listening.
‘She’s fuckable.’ he shouts at them and their laughter fills the already thick air. You open your mouth in disbelief at how rude that was. You see a swift motion in the corner of your eye and you realise Jungkook has abruptly stood up and pushed the boy away from your table
‘What’s your fucking problem?’ Jungkook barks, towering over the boy that looks suddenly scared. His expression fades from frightened to cocky soon enough, when he remembers that his friends are watching him.
‘Back off grandpa.’ the boy pushes Jungkook back with one hand, and it’s enough for Jungkook to explode. He grabs the boy by the collar of his shirt without a word, the smirk is wiped clean from the boys face. You call out Jungkook’s name, hopping out of your seat and tugging on his jacket. He doesn’t take notice of you and he gets ready to almost throw the boy down to the ground, when the door to the diner opens beside them.
‘Hey, hey, what’s going on?’ a frantic Jimin says, bursting through the door and towards the fighting boys. Jungkook lets go of the now disheveled boy and takes a step back towards you.
‘Jungkook, what the hell?’ you whisper, tugging on his sleeve, breathless from what might have just happened. Jungkook doesn’t say anything back though, and chooses to acknowledge Jimin instead.
‘Jimin, what are you doing here?’ he questions, but the young boy is quick to interject. ‘You know him?’ he asks Jimin too, pointing at Jungkook. Jimin’s head is already spinning from all the questions.
‘Can we talk outside?’ Jimin says, directed at you and Jungkook. So with a last dirty look thrown the boys way, you follow Jimin outside and into the parking spaces near the side of the building, food long forgotten. You walk in silence, surrounded by a thick, tense atmosphere. You stop at the side of the building beside the wall.
‘Why bother getting yourself in trouble?’ Jimin puts it simply, sighing and taking out what looks like to be a cigarette box, lighting himself one.
‘You don’t even know what went down.’ Jungkook claims, obviously still irritated at what just happened. He runs his hand through his hair in attempts to calm himself down.
‘And tell me, what would have happened if you actually started going at each other?’ Jimin asks seriously after taking a pull of his cigarette. ‘Don't make problems where there isn't any.’ Jimin states as if it's a matter of fact. It surprised you slightly, knowing Jimin is almost alright with these boys doing what they did. You see Jungkook clench his fist in anger, thinking similarly to you. For a split second, you were scared he would do something. He relaxes his fists and drops his shoulders.
‘Just forget it.’ Jungkook sighs and turns to you, wanting to forget what happened. ‘I'll walk you home.’ he says with a faint, drowsy smile, despite earlier.
‘Taehyung's throwing a house party. Wondering if you'll come.’ Jimin says randomly as your about to leave. You both look at each other to see if you're willing, and seeing Jungkook's indifferent face, you respond.
‘Sure, when is it?’ You say, trying to sound as nonchalant as Jungkook looks.
‘Friday, nine.’ He replies simply, finishing his cigarette and throwing it down a street drain. You nod and turn, leaving this tiring night behind you.
tangentwithtanner
blakekathryn
gracieabrams
areudirty
romaincrisis
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
