Dark Matter | JJK

28. A Man of the World

The Korean Demilitarized Zone was a strip of land 160 miles long and 2.5 miles wide, a buffer zone dividing the Korean peninsula roughly in half. Operational personnel in green armed with rifles patrolled the Joint Security Area, the location where all negotiations between the North and South usually took place. A troupe of officers, all sporting the same military haircut and the unsmiling, stony sneer, approached the two South Koreans with metal detectors. After they were checked for arms, Petra and Seokjin were led to a black Toyota prius that took off towards the region beyond the no-man's land.

Throughout the ordeal, nobody spoke a word.

The windows of the car were tinted black, so Petra had no clue of her surroundings. It felt like they were travelling through a cavernous, dark tunnel with no end in sight. To ease her steadily growing anxiety, Petra alternated between wringing her hands within her coat pocket and dragging her nails down her skinny jeans, until she could take it no more.

"Do you think we'll make it?" she asked, turning to the man at her side. Seokjin, dressed in a light blue shirt tucked neatly under black slack pants, looked like the epitome of calm before the storm. When he looked at her, Petra had to hold her tongue from complimenting him about how well his contrasting attire matched the side parting of his hair.

"Hm?" He had surely heard her, but was eyeing the glass panel separating the seemingly innocuous driver from the backseat, unsure about whether it was safe for them to converse without being overheard. "I don't know," he admitted honestly, but his expression was one of confidence. "All we can do is try. But trust me, Petra, I will make sure you get out safely, even if I don't."

She stared at him, a profound sense of gratitude gradually replacing her rocketing nerves. It was Seokjin's job to protect others before himself, being an officer of Seoul Fire and Rescue, but she still thought that it took an exceptional person to willingly put their own lives at stake so someone else, someone slightly more vulnerable, could live.

It didn't disturb her any less, though. "Why would you say that, Seokjin? We'll both have to make it out."

"See?" he smiled. "You answered your own question. But that shouldn't be something for you to stress over right now. We're working for something bigger than ourselves, aren't we? I wouldn't mind dying that way if it means one of us can stay alive and get the job done in the end."

It amazed her, how casually he spoke about the end. Confronting death every day seemed to have made him immune to the idea.

"Besides," Seokjin added with a smirk, "you are one potential sister-in-law I do not want to lose."

The apples of Petra's cheeks burned so ferociously she was sure she was blushing beet red. "W-what?" she fumbled, barely able to meet the man's eyes. "That's – that's a little overboard, don't you think? I mean...we're not – we're not even dating."

"What?!" he shrieked, bracing his palm on the seat between them as Petra glared at him to tone down his excitement. "What? That stupid punk hasn't asked you out yet?"

Her face fell straight into her hands as she tried her best not to combust under flames of embarrassment. As she reluctantly mulled over his words, she realised that yes, it was true – it had been almost six months since she had first met Jungkook and he hadn't made any semblance of a move yet. What? Why was she thinking about her non-existent love life with Jeon Jungkook when she could quite possibly die before nightfall? Nevertheless, now that she thought about it, she couldn't help but regret that she might die without knowing it was like to be in love.

Great optimism, Petra.

"Well, no," she admitted, shrugging like it didn't faze her in the least, "and it's understandable. We're all so busy with the crisis at hand, so it's only right that we steer clear of making some other...commitments."