Accidentally Assisting

Chapter 48 - Tattoos and Old Confessions

Utterly shocked, I stare at him. "A what now?"

"You heard me." Ah, yes, typical Jungkook. He hates repeating himself.

"What would I do with a boyfriend?"

What would I do with anyone who's not you, Jungkook?

The young idol raises an amused eyebrow at me. "Do you really need me to explain to you what to do with a boyfriend?"

Poor Jungwoo clears his throat to get our attention. "Um, I don't want to interrupt you or anything, but Rose, I'm going to go in with the needle now."

"Please be careful," Jungkook tells him sternly before I can even open up my mouth. "Rose-ah has a very low pain tolerance."

I pout at him. "I can speak for myself, you know."

"Need me to hold your hand as moral support?", Jungkook teases with an evil grin, completely disregarding my words.

"Thanks, but no thanks." I send him a fake smile.

"Uh, I'm going to start now," Jungwoo says awkwardly, unsure how to handle our weird dynamic.

As soon as the needle touches my skin, I let out a pained hiss. Shit. This hurts more than I expected. "Holy hell."

Jungkook arrogantly smiles at me. "Still don't need to hold your hand?"

"No, you little-" At that moment, the needle burns into my skin even more. Why does it hurt so damn bad? "Actually, yes, yes, hold my hand."

It seems like Jungkook has waited for this moment as he immediately comes to stand close to me and enlaces his fingers with mine. Without thinking, I squeeze his hand really hard as if I could transfer all my pain onto him.

"Ouch, Rose!" Jungkook whines. "Chill."

"Sorry. Distract me so I don't notice the pain anymore."

"Uh, okay. With anything?"

"Anything."

"I'm surprised you don't have a boyfriend."

"What? Why?", I press out.

"Don't tell me no one's wanted to date you since you moved to New York."

"Doesn't mean I wanted to date them," I retort. I'm in so much pain that I feel like I'm in a fever dream, and it's probably because of that that blurt: "How would I ever date anyone after you?"

Jungkook slowly blinks at me, like he needs time to process what I just said. Cringing - why can't I ever stop my stupid mouth – I have the impression that time has stopped, that even Jungwoo has stopped tattooing me.

However, he hasn't actually stopped as I'm quickly reminded of by a burning sensation in my skin. "Fucking hell. Jungkook, keep distracting me, please."

Maybe if act like the last sentence never left my mouth, Jungkook will forget about it. The man in question seems to have come to his senses again as he calmly stares me in the eyes and firmly holds my hand, sharing my immense pain with him. "That's good."

"What is good?", I ask wincing.

"That you haven't dated anyone after me."

"Being a bit possessive here, aren't we, Jungkook?"

"Don't act like that's news to you, you've always been aware that I'm like that. Besides, I didn't mean your body. You could have fucked half of Manhattan and I wouldn't have cared less. Your body, your problem. However, it is my problem if you ever find someone who'd care about you as much as I did. I would perceive that as... my personal competition." His voice has turned deeper as he speaks, and I bite my lip as I try my very hardest to not be turned on – and fail, of course.