Little Flower

25

"I am," he says, causing her to audibly gasp as tears lined her eyes. "The boys and I are part of a gang and I should have told you a long time ago, but I was scared that you would leave. And I know that's selfish, but—fuck, Rosie. What was I supposed to do?"

"Jungkook," she whimpers, shaking her head.

"The girl you saw yesterday is Choi Skyler, my crazy ex," Jungkook continues quickly. "I didn't want her to see us in case she might try something."

"I get it, okay? I'm a fucking monster who has killed bad people, and I don't deserve you, but please," he continues, his voice growing desperate. "I-I didn't want this life, Rosie. If I could, I would have met you as an innocent school boy, but I..."

Jungkook's voice trailed off as Rosie began crying, and god, he was afraid. He cursed himself because honestly, what did he expect? Of course the perfect girl for him was terrified of him now.

"Only b-bad people?" she whispers.

"Rapists and predators, Rosie," he says firmly, waiting for her to run out of the library and leave him.

But things aren't always as they seem, especially when Rosie crawled towards him and hugged him, startling the boy. He didn't even realize he was crying until he felt her rub his shaking back, causing him to bury his face away into her neck.

"You're not a monster," her trembling lips pressed against his ear. "I know... I know you're not."

For some reason, that just made Jungkook cry harder. He was expecting her to run away, tell him to never come closer to her again, maybe hit him. But this... this understanding was not what he was expecting.

"Are you the good guy or the bad guy, Jungkook?" she whispers, pulling away to face him.

Jungkook stayed quiet, really contemplating his answer. He had done some pretty fucked up things in his life, but the people he killed were those who deserved it, and other than stealing some shit with his brothers, he didn't do anything that wrong.

Okay, killing people is wrong. But taking out rapists and abusers? Jungkook and his gang thought that was perfectly fine.

"A good guy?" he whispers out the question, wiping his red nose.

"I think so too," she whispers back, and their foreheads pressed together as her hands carded through the hair on the nape of his neck.

They stayed like that for a while, letting most of the shock wear off before they felt like they could breathe again. They decided they needed to keep talking about this though, because there was way too much to unpack, so Jungkook told her he would take her to the diner.

When they arrived, they sat opposite in the booth, calmer now and drinking their milkshakes shyly as they waited for someone to start the conversation.

"My dad had been running the gang for a long time," Jungkook starts. "My mother didn't like it when my father talked about it with me around, but him and I used to sneak down to the basement so he could tell me stories."

Jungkook smiles slightly at the memory before continuing. "I thought it was so cool, y'know? My dad is—was taking out these bad guys. He was my hero. When my mother died, he took me under his wing and taught me everything. I was only ten, but I was brought up in an environment where every day you trained and if you didn't have the best skills, you would never make it."

"The boys came in when I was around twelve, and we all became close because we were around the same age. And then two years later, my dad and his men went out for a mission, and he ordered us to stay home," Jungkook eyes pricked with tears and he cleared his throat again, looking away. "And then my dad died, along with most of his men. My uncle went into business and I was the only heir left, leaving me in charge of the gang when I was only fourteen."

"Some of them didn't like that they had to follow orders from such a young kid, so they left. The others pledged their service, and now they are all across the globe, part of one of the best and most leading mobs out there."

Rosie sat there in silence, letting the information sink in. Jungkook was trained to become the person he is today, and yet, he was the sweetest boy ever to Rosie.

She knew it was crazy, but she wasn't going to leave him because of this. Even if it was dangerous and stupid. Jungkook didn't have a choice in this lifestyle, but she did.

And as she looked at his desperate eyes, she already knew her answer.

"So you don't... you don't have porn stars or—" Rosie whines in embarrassment when Jungkook gives her a weird look, covering her face with her hands.

"No, none of that," Jungkook answers firmly, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Well... I think you're brave," she admits quietly, putting her hands back down on the table. "For taking all that on at such a young age."

"I still feel like the bad guy, though," he admits, letting out a heavy sigh. "Especially late at night, when no one is around."

"Well Princess Buttercup ended up with the bad pirate in the book we were reading, remember?" Rosie says shyly. "Why can't I have him too?"

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for clarification, the book Rosie is referring to is "The Princess Bride," which is the book they read together in the library towards the beginning of this book. In the book, Princess Buttercup and the "bad" pirate end up together, and their love for one another is so, so strong.

i hope everyone is doing okay, i love you <3