Under your angelic body

Gruff

Layla's POV

My legs are immobile; I can't move. All I can do is stare at Hoseok's ass as he saunters away.

Shaking my head, I try to comprehend what just happened. Nothing about what just occurred makes any sense. I can't help but smile, thinking of all the hours I've dedicated towards Hoseok's education and all of the late nights helping him study. It isn't that I minded, but it wasn't as easy as I let him think it was. It cost me my own personal study time and left me with a minor case of sleep deprivation.

But that kiss on my cheek... it was the kiss of an angel. It makes everything worth it.

The sound of a rapidly approaching figure brings me back to reality. A solid shove sends me sprawling; I tumble backwards and land hard on the parking lot pavement, skinning up my arms and hands while protecting myself.

"I'd like to say we're even, but that's just the beginning,"Jennie says through gritted teeth. Her fists are clenched, ready for action; she hovers over me like a prize fighter. Hoseok told me she has anger issues, but I never thought it was this bad. It feels like I'm in high school all over again. Is she mentally ill?

"What's your problem," I wheeze out, slowly getting back up on my feet, trying to brush the gravel out of my arms and hands without causing additional pain.

"Stay away from Hoseok, got it?"

She kicks my chest with her heels before I can stand, knocking me down again. "If I see you try to kiss him again, or touch him, or look at him cross-eyed, I'll kill you. Tests are over, so stay the fuck away from him."

I grunt; my breasts really hurt, and I'm worried my elbow might be injured after it slammed into the ground.

"You think just because you gave him a few study lessons, he actually wants you?" she laughs. "You're pathetic."

"It doesn't matter what I want. I have no chance with him, I understand that. But I've seen the way you treat him. Don't act like you care about him," I groan in pain, but with sheer defiance.

"You take him for granted. He deserves someone much better than you, Jennie. All you're doing is stepping on a beautiful, precious flower that you refuse to nurture and allow to bloom. He's like a radiant, beautiful angel that for some reason came down from heaven to be here, but you don't fucking see that."

As Jennie starts to snicker at my speech, I leap forward and dive low, going for Jennie's legs. It catches her off guard just enough for me to knock her over and on the ground. She swings wildly as she goes down, catching nothing but air.

I try to get out of the way, moving back as quickly as I can, but Jennie trips me and pounces on top of me, punching me in the face twice. I shoot my leg up as hard as I can, catching Jennie in the crotch; she falls over like a dead weight, holding her crotch and rolling on the ground uncontrollably.

"Holy shit," Carmen exclaims, running to my side. I wince in severe pain but I'm already trying to crawl away. I blink several times, unable to see from the sweat and blood in my eyes. Carmen helps me stumble to my feet; I hold on tight, keeping my weight on my friend, trying to overcome the ringing in my ears.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Carmen says, propping up me with one arm while holding her camera in her free hand, still unknowingly recording.

Hoseok's POV

"I'm not sure who's more insane; you for wanting to go to the mall one day before Jennie's birthday, or me for agreeing to go with you. I can't believe this,Hobi," Jimin sighs.

"Well, it's not like I haven't been here recently. On the contrary, this is probably my sixth or seventh trip since your birthday. The problem is I never know what to get anyone, so I'm always coming down to the deadline," I explain. "And I hate shopping gifts. Who invented gifts? I wanna talk to him. "

Jimin rolls his eyes, "All that means is you should have prepared a little better and bought your gifts when you were here before, yet you walked away empty handed, you stupid fuck. Jennie's gonna kill you."

"Hey, isn't that Carmen?" Jimin says, nodding his head towards Carmen a few racks down. "Let's go say hi," Jimin smirks.

I walk over towards a shelf of silver necklaces, rings, and other jewelry near Carmen. Two of her classmates have already wandered off to look at the designer jeans while Carmen remains behind, apparently deciding between two silver necklaces, one with a crescent moon and the other with a heart.

"Hey Carmen, getting some last minute shopping done like us, I see," I approach her, keeping in mind to be nice to Layla's friends.

Carmen looks up from the jewelry, greeting me with a smile.

Her smile vanishes as quickly as it surfaces. "Hoseok, Jimin," she says in a much less bubbly voice, changing her emotions like an on/off switch.

"Is everything ok?" I'm genuinely concerned, because I'm afraid that it has something to do with Layla.

A frown surfaces on Carmen's face; it looks like, up until now, she tried her hardest to hide her dissatisfaction about something. She opens her mouth to say something, but changes her mind and immediately clamps back up.

"What's going on? Is this about Layla? Please tell me she's ok," I ask instinctively.

"Who cares," Jimin mumbles, but I ignore him.

She bites down on her lip, still looking at the jewelry. By this time, I can tell she's deliberately avoiding my gaze.

"I don't know," she finally spits out bitterly, "Why don't you ask your girlfriend?"

Carmen is visibly upset. Her harsh words reflect a combination of sadness and anger; her eyes are damp, but she's severely agitated and trying hard not to lash out any more than she already has.

"Jennie?" I frown. "What are you talking about?"

A look of confusion comes over Carmen as she realizes I truly don't understand what she means by that. Looking up at me, she sniffs and asks me, "You mean she didn't tell you?" "Tell me what?"

"Hoseok, she beat up Layla. She has a black eye, bruised ribs, and her arms are all scraped up. She even hurt her elbow. I'm sick of having your girlfriend up our asses everytime Layla talks to you."

"What?"

Carmen sighs, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been rude. I should have known Jennie didn't tell you. I guess I'm just a little protective of my best friend. She's a good girl and she doesn't deserve this."

"Wait, I know Jennie doesn't think too much of Layla and they had a pretty heated argument a few weeks ago, but she wouldn't just beat up Layla. She talks a big game, but she never really fights like that," I argue. I know Jennie has anger issues, but she would never go this far.

Carmen shakes her head in disbelief, "Everyone knows she has it in for Layla, all the way down to our fucking lecturers. At first she didn't tell me it was that bad, but after grilling her about what happened it was pretty easy to figure out that your girlfriend is fucked up in the head and she's jealous, because she thinks something is going on between you and Layla."

Jimin takes a step forward. "Jennie is gruff, but there is no way she would've done that. Threatening Layla was one thing, but actually assaulting her? That's not my friend Jennie and you really need to shut the fuck up about her."

I also find it hard to believe and I have a feeling that Carmen is making this up, because she wants to drive me away and have Layla for herself.

Still, that doesn't change the fact that someone went out to hurt Layla, and pretty severely from the sounds of it. I try not to be condescending to Carmen, especially since it's her best friend. "Carmen, I'm sorry but I have a hard time believing that. Jennie... she's talks a lot, but she wouldn't hurt a fly. Not with the medication and therapy she's taking. I know her. I've been dating her for almost two years now."

I don't want to but have to defend Jennie although I'm still so worried about Layla. "Please tell me how Layla is. Please tell me she's not in the hospital at least."

"You're unbelievable," Carmen shakes her head. "Don't you dare come near us ever again. Layla doesn't want to talk to you anymore, so stay the fuck away from us."