SAVING MR. PARK | PJM

二十五

mr. park wearily glanced over his shoulder to peek at her struggling figure, eventually sighing in defeat and standing up to help her.

jay shuddered as she felt his body stand closely behind hers. using his own taller frame to his advantage, mr. park reached over her head and into the messy emergency cabinet. however, he did not pull out the first aid kit like she had initially expected. instead, he engulfed her dainty hands in his larger ones and gradually lowered her arms down to her sides.

"i'm fine, jay," he grumbled as she turned around to face him. "you're wasting your lunch by staying here, and you know your friends will start to wonder where you are." he released her hands along with a shaky breath, and jay felt her stomach churn inside her.

"don't be like this," she stared up at him with fear, an expression so powerful that it almost made him crack. jay timidly stroked the back of his right hand, but the blonde professor yanked his hand away from her touch, and jay's heart (like his) erupted with fierce indignation. "hey! listen to me!"

he stubbornly walked away before she could even begin her apology.

mr. park slumped himself down on his seat, slipped his reading glasses back on, and rolled the office chair closer to his computer.

jay almost pulled her hair out from the frustration, eyes tightly shut and knuckles balled-up into fists as she attempted to stabilize her breathing.

this can't be happening, she angrily cried to herself.

"i only love you, jimin," she continued as if he hadn't rudely stalked away from the conversation. "i'm sorry for running off with jungkook, okay? but that doesn't mean i prefer him over you. we just needed to get out of there. it was absolute chaos. first of all, he punched you. i had to intervene before you could hurt him back because, well, we both know how badly you lose your temper when you're angry ... and jealous. i mean, do you remember that guy who cat-called me outside the diner last week? you nearly socked him to death! now, don't get me wrong. i love it when you get super protective of me. it's literally the hottest thing ever. but this time i needed to step in because jungkook is a student, and if you had punched him back out of instinct, your career would've gone down the drain.

"second of all, i needed to confront him about some things in private. i just really wanted to know why he felt the need to defend me when it's clearly not his place to do so. those were my reasons for leaving with him. my intention was never to prove that i prioritize him ... because i really don't."

"what did he say?" mr. park bashfully glanced up from his keyboard, curious to find out what excuses jungkook had used to justify his reckless behavior.

"w-what?" jay stammered with guilt, feeling taken aback by his sudden response (and his irritating focus on the least important part of her rant).

a scarlet tinge rose up on her cheeks at the remembrance of jungkook's confession—and his heartfelt plea for her to reciprocate his love.

"what was his answer? why did he feel so entitled to protect you when he knows you aren't his? you and i both know that that right is solely mine," mr. park's upper lip twitched as he reclined on the back of his chair with antagonistic eyes narrowed into a glare. at this point, his numbness had already dissolved in his veins, and a certain (treacherous) heat had overtaken his emotions.

jay didn't fail to notice the shift in his semblance, a frightening change from an utterly defeated scowl to the most menacing form of rage she had ever seen him express.