Seoul City

Ch. 25 - Loving Two People

Chaeyoung plopped down on her bed in the Parks' lake-house, stretching her sore limbs after a long and uncomfortable car ride. She welcomed the familiar earthy scent of the lake-house as she closed her eyes and tried to relax.

The family lake-house was one of her favourite places in the world, which was quite a feat considering the amount of travelling she did. Their family used to visit it every summer when she was a child, staying for months at a time and dragging Taehyung along with them every single time. It was a place filled with precious memories that invoked bittersweet nostalgia in Chaeyoung every time she came back. As the years progressed, they grew older, and life became busier, the Parks visited the house less and less, so Chaeyoung appreciated any opportunity to return.

A dreadful feeling started to crawl in the pit of her stomach as the sound of yelling from the main floor of the house travelled all the way up to her room. It hadn't even been 5 minutes since their arrival and the Griffins and Phoenixes were already at each other's throats. Surprise, surprise. With a distressed groan, she buried her face in her pillow and tried to ignore the sounds, hoping she was just hallucinating. However, when the sound of glass shattering assaulted her ears, she got up in panic and dashed downstairs.

When she reached the main floor, she wasn't surprised to see two bodies tangled in a brawl on the floor, the coffee table toppled over nearby and the flower vases scattered into a hundred broken pieces. Fists were flying as 12 others stood by, some watching in amusement and cheering, others looking ready to jump in at any moment to join the 'fun'. Chaeyoung was certain she was the only sane person present.

When she got closer and caught sight of Jimin's figure as a participant in the fight, she groaned in frustration.

"What the hell is going on here?" she demanded, pulling Jimin's sweaty body off the other man whom she recognized as a Phoenix member.

"This asshole grabbed Jennie's ass," Jimin growled and lunged towards him again, but Chaeyoung jumped in front of him and blocked his path.

"For the last fucking time," the other man hissed as he wiped the blood oozing from his battered lip, "it. Was. A. Fucking. Accident."

"How the fuck do you grab someone's ass on accident?" Jimin demanded, his eyes filled with rage.

The other man rolled his eyes, "my hands barely touched it. I didn't even realize it was an ass at first with how flat it was."

That earned him amused chuckles and shocked gasps from the other Phoenix members but also a sharp slap in the face from Jennie. Even Chaeyoung's jaw dropped at the deep-red imprint Jennie's hand had left on his cheek and the echoing sound that practically filled the room.

After a couple seconds of silence, the man chuckled lowly, "okay, I admit, I deserved that one."

Chaeyoung narrowed her eyes at him, "apologize. Now."

The man turned to her with a bewildered expression, "are you fucking serious? I didn't do anything. I didn't mean to touch her."

"Mark," Jungkook interjected sternly, "just apologize. It doesn't matter how it happened, you shouldn't be talking to women like that."

The man shifted his bewildered expression towards Jungkook and locked eyes with him for a second before sighing in defeat.

"I'm sorry for accidentally touching you," he mumbled, turning towards Jennie.

"You think a fucking apology is going to solve-" she began, her eyes narrowed into fierce slits, only to be interrupted by Chaeyoung.

"Jennie," she said, throwing her a stern look that communicated 'accept the fucking apology because we need each other to protect our families and save the whole damn country'.