Dark (Jungkook - BTS)

Chapter 13

I sat atop the dryer, tapping my fingers against the vibrating metal. It was almost done drying the newly cleaned laundry, and I was simply waiting. An empty basket sat on the floor, so that I would have a place to load the cleaned clothes.

Beep.

I sighed and hopped off the machine. After popping open the lid, I gathered armful after armful of warm clothes into the basket. I proceeded to carry the basket into the bedroom. As I passed the living room, Jungkook looked up from his black tablet and gave me a slight nod.

"Can you cook dinner right after?" he asked.

"Yeah, what do you want?" I paused in front of him for an answer. He had to think about it before giving me a playful smile.

"Pizza would be great!" he replied. I rolled my eyes.

"You might be a sexy demon made for lust," I commented, walking to the bedroom, "but that doesn't mean that you can't gain weight. I swear, you'll get a heart attack from all those greasy ass pizzas you eat."

"Actually," called Jungkook, "I don't have a heart."

I snorted before going back to fold the laundry.

Things had settled down. I was always going to be homesick, but if I was going to live in hell with a demon that was in love with me, might as well make the best of it, right? A part of me was perpetually guilty about my Stockholm syndrome, but there was nothing that I could do. I now lived as a mistress to a demon, but sometimes I pretended that I was a housewife so I wouldn't lose my mind.

I sighed and picked up a random jacket. My fingers brushed against the leather, and I felt cotton as well. I looked down to see that it was a semi-leather jacket. I coughed, taken aback. Never thought I'd see that again. It was the jacket I wore the day I was taken. I hadn't laid eyes on it since.

A torrent of memories almost swept me off my feet.

I remembered the day Jungkook took me. The pain that I had endured from the attack prior to the kidnapping, the disbelief that I had experienced. I remembered the snide smirk on his face as he told me about the process of taking humans. I remembered the glint in his eyes when he said that it was because I'd kissed him. I remembered evil Jungkook.

What didn't I remember?

I didn't remember the taste of my mother's cooking. I didn't remember what the apartment looked like. I didn't remember my grandmother's voice. I didn't remember the things I wanted to.

I didn't remember my old life.

I dropped onto my knees, clutching the jacket in my hands. For the first time in a while, I realized how much I wanted to go home. It wasn't the tiny nudging that I always felt; it was full-blown. It was screaming inside my head and ruthless heartache. What had happened to my family? Were they okay? Was I assumed dead?

My lower lip quivered, and my eyes flooded with tears. How long had I been here? Well over a month, that was for sure.

"Why me?" I whimpered, staring at the jacket, my mood flipping completely upside down. "Why did I have to be taken?"

"Scarlet, are you okay?" Jungkook appeared at the doorway, and I glanced up.

"Uh..." I backhanded the tears from my face and stood up quickly. "Yeah, I'll be cooking dinner soon. Sorry."

He eyed me warily.

"Were you listening when I said that I was the most empathetic of all the Bangtan Boys?" Jungkook sat down and pulled me down next to him. I pulled my knees to my chest and stared at the floor. "Tell me."

I picked up the jacket from the floor and tossed it over to him. Jungkook stared at it before looking to me.

"Scarlet, I... Look, I'm sorry," he said, sighing. "Maybe we can visit them one day? I can send someone to look after them and update you?"

"I can't go back," I muttered, trying to not cry again. "How will I explain where I've been? I'm not that good of a liar."

"But I am," answered Jungkook carelessly. I gave him a pointed look, which still worked even as I went through emotional turmoil. He quickly backtracked. "W-Well, I don't lie all the time... But, I'm sure we can figure something out, okay?"

I exhaled a puff of air. "I miss them," I whispered. Jungkook tightened his arms around me.

"I know you do, and I'm sorry that I had to bring you here." He looked at me pitifully. His eyes remained locked on me for a while, and I looked up. His dark eyes showed some sort of battle of emotions. What were they? He seemed conflicted.

"Scarlet?" he asked at last, his voice sounding weaker than before. "How much do you want to go home?"

"What do you mean?"

Jungkook bit his lip. "Look, there's a river here, the River Lethe, and it can wash away your memories," he explained quietly. "If you were to accidentally fall in, I could claim that you were now defective and could send you back, and you wouldn't have to lie because you won't remember anything."

I coughed in surprise. He would do that for me? There was a chance?

I gaped at him. "I thought that you said y-you loved me," I stammered. "Why are you offering to do this? Won't you be alone?"

"I'm suggesting this because I love you," he insisted. "I can always get another human and try to fall in love again, can't I?"

"But... I would forget you," I said, knitting my brows together. "Don't forget that I said that I loved you, too. I'm not going to voluntarily forget and leave behind someone I love."

"You're not going to do it?" he asked. I shook my head. "Not even to be with your family?"

I raised my head and looked in Jungkook's eyes. They were black, as usual, the darkest shade. But even in the pitch dark, I could recognize the pain, hurt, and regret swirling around in the black. Jungkook had emotions, just like me. I couldn't just destroy them.

I sighed. "Even if I went back, things wouldn't be normal," I murmured sadly. "I would love to see them again, but... that would feel wrong."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And who do you think you are, saying that you can replace me?" I turned towards Jungkook, slapping his earlier statement in his face. He made a choking noise.

"I didn't," he said quickly. "I said that I could try."

"And that means that you think that someone else can replace me, huh?"

"I didn't mean... Like... I..."

"Yeah, just leave," I snapped playfully, waving him off as well as my earlier emotions. They had to stay away now. "You're keeping me from folding the laundry."

"Fine." Jungkook stood up and offered me his hand, and I took it. As he left, he called, "I love you!"

"I love you too," I replied coolly, folding the jacket carefully and putting it away in the bottom drawer, which I would never open again.

-

A/N:
I hate doing author's notes, but thanks for 1k+ reads! I have no idea how you put up with this really awkward story (loOk, I started drafting a LOOOOONG time ago, before I even became an ARMY ok I just really wanted to write a demon fanfic & Jungkook was there) Anyways, I do apologize for this weird, wtf plotline. ALSO, I hope you've been listening to the songs in the multimedia as you read the chapters :^) You should, if you haven't.
-Ari