𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐈 : 𝙵𝚒𝚡 𝚄𝚜 [ 𝔹𝕋𝕊 𝔽𝔸ℕ𝔽𝕀ℂ𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ ]

chapter 91

CHAPTER 91

Jeon Jungkook

"It's been posted an hour ago, would you like to read some of the responses?" Manager Ye Jin asked him with a poignant tone.

Jungkook leaned forwards on his table from his reclining chair and let out a breathy sigh. "Did any of the ARMY respond to it yet? I only care about what they say not everybody else's,"

Manager Ye Jin looked down briefly before meeting his gaze with a firmer response . "Not yet. Most of them have been quiet since the first issue got out,"

Figures. Their fans have always been active and viral, any articles that involved BTS and any of its members, ARMY would either be defending the members or praising the article if it was factual and well-written. Since the Wedding photos got leaked, most of their fans have neither been defending them nor talking about it on SNS.

"It's more worrying when they're silent, isn't it?" Jungkook muttered.

Soon enough, he felt a strong contraction in his chest again. His heartbeat was so loud and strong that he could feel it beating all over his body, suddenly he felt lightheaded and his breath hitched frequently and before he could even begin to hyperventilate, warm hands crawled over his shoulders down to his chest.

"Breathe with me," She whispered, her small hands clasped his shoulder blades in a massaging manner and he breathed according to her own breathing. "It's okay, you can breathe,"

Just like magic, his breathing slowed back to normal and Manager Ye Jin decided to excuse himself to give Jungkook and Areum some privacy—which they were deprived of since they got back from their honeymoon.

They were supposed to be making good memories at least three months after their wedding, that was all they needed before they announced it to the fans. What happened was, they spent a good two months out of the country and came back being hunted by the press and sasaengs in their own soil. The first months of their Married Life was nothing but a roller coaster ride already.

"They'll come around," Areum convinced him as she leaned slightly on his desk and faced him.

"I know."

She kept quiet for a while, probably contemplating what she'd say next to make him feel a little better. Jungkook wished she hadn't said what she'd said next.

"Maybe you shouldn't have addressed the one where I scolded the Interns,"

Jungkook glanced up at her with a deep contorted expression, completely opposed to what she was implying. "I had to defend you. Stop denying my protection, Areum. You always act like you're so independent,"

They may have been living together for a long time but he knew it would take both of them enough time getting used to the fact that each other's battles were theirs to share even more now that they're married. Areum and Jungkook lived their work lives separately and they refused to let each other's actions affect their profession, but now that they are officially Husband and Wife, everything was connected. Through thick and thin, they must lean on each other.

Areum avoided his gaze for the first time and let out a quiet sigh, but not the kind where she seemed impatient nor disappointed. It was more like a sigh of empathy.

"It doesn't matter what other people think of me." She muttered as she kept her eyes down. "What matters to you the most is what your fans think about me—about us. You wanted so bad to make them like me, to let them know that there's good in me, that I'm not how the media portrayed me. . . You care so much about what they think and it drives you crazy that you're not getting anything from them right now."

Her blunt and pained realization earned a deep frown from his usual soft features. She finally looked up and met his intense gaze and what her eyes held were nothing but a painful plea to his walls.

"Look, I love how you love your fans. It's just sometimes, I want you to defend me because you meant it, not because you feel the need to validate me to please them." She gazed down again, possibly regretting what she had said.

Jungkook clenched his jaw but decided to admit that a small part of him addressed one of the issues involving her profession was to let everyone know she was good enough for him, in fact in another perspective, she was way out of his league.

What she did next was unexpected.

"It's okay though. I get you," she'd told him as she moved in between his legs and embraced his sitting figure.

He instinctively moved his seat closer and buried his head against her chest and wrapped his arms tight around her waist. Even her scent was heavenly that his guilt over putting someone else first before his wife suddenly vanished. Having her small frame in his arms felt like repenting to his sins, and God had given him safety. His wife was his safety.

"I'm sorry baby," he said and eased up as she stroked his hair gently. "I'm so sorry."

"I know you are," she whispered. "I know you are."