Areum's POV
I felt as if I had been hit by a truck when I woke up.
Stirring a little, I heard voices erupting from somewhere near where I was, and the voices sounded really angry. It was as if someone's head was going to get blown off by the shouts exchanged between the voices.
"Guys! Areum is awake!" I heard a male voice shout, and the quarrelling immediately stopped, and was followed by a series of footsteps heading my way.
"Areum-ah, how are you feeling?" I rubbed my eyes before opening them, and saw seven faces glancing down at me.
"Sick." I replied with a short answer, and gulped down the water someone had passed me.
"Can you sit up? Do you need more rest?" I squinted my eyes open at Seokjin who was carrying a tray of water in a metal bowl, and shook my head at him.
"Thank you for taking care of me." I smiled weakly as I sat up straighter, my vision getting clearer each second. "What happened?"
"You got kidnapped, Areum." It was Jungkook who spoke. I glanced up at him, and saw that he was looking down back at me with a poker face.
"I'm sorry for leaving your side." Jimin apologized with his head hung low, and I quickly shook my head at him.
"It's not your fault that you got dragged away." I patted his head, and he returned me a small smile.
"Areum." Jungkook called again, making me look at him. I felt so small with his intimidating stare glancing down at me. "You're lucky that Taehyung hyung and Hoseok hyung were there in time to save you. Something bad could have happened if they weren't there. What did I tell you to not go anywhere alone?"
I didn't know why, but I was slowly getting upset at his overprotective attitude. "Then am I supposed to lock the door even when my sunbae asks me to unlock it just so he could retrieve his bag? It wasn't my fault that the kidnappers knew when to act!"
"But look what happened just because of your kindness towards your sunbae?! Why don't you understand that you've to be protected at all times, Areum!" Jungkook fired back with a loud voice, and that was the first time for me to see him upset and mad.
Tears welled in my eyes, and after sniffing to prevent my snort to come out, I ran out of the living room and exited the house, hiding myself at the backyard, on the small porch, in this icy weather.
I cried, feeling guilty and irritated. Tears couldn't stop streaming down my face, and I sobbed silently when I thought about Jungkook raising his voice at me. I knew that I was partly at fault, but he didn't have to do that!
It scared me.
As I hid my face under my crossed arms placed on my knees, I heard the door creak opened, followed by footsteps before stopping next to me.
"Yah." A voice that I rarely heard spoke, making me peek at him with tears-filled eyes.
It was Yoongi.
"Go away." I childishly said, but it just made him smile a little.
"I know you're upset, and I don't know why they chose me to come and comfort you, but-" he paused momentarily while hugging me from the side, his warmth heating my cold body up, "- just know that Jungkook is acting like that because he truly cares about you."
"I know he does." I sniffed, and he gave me a weird look.
"Then why are you crying?"
"I got scared when he raised his voice at me. And I was partly at fault for what had happened." I explained.
"Oh girl, you gotta get used to all the shouting and yelling in this house." Yoongi chuckled, and his infectious laugh made me grin a little. "Jimin got screwed so badly by all of us for leaving you alone."
That made me look at him. "You guys didn't beat him up or something right?"
"No, of course. He just got scolded really really bad. Mostly from Seokjin hyung and Namjoonnie. And Jungkook of course."
I laughed at the thought of Seokjin acting like a mum and Namjoon like a dad. "I feel so much better now, thank you, oppa."
"No problem. Ready to go inside? I bet you're freezing."
I nodded and Yoongi pulled me up before giving me a pat on the head on our way back towards the living room. My eyes avoided Jungkook's even though I could feel his heated glare towards me.
"Come here, Areum. We made you chamomile tea, it has calming effect." Hoseok gestured at me and I obliged by sitting down next to him and took a sip of the warm tea.
"Thank you for saving me back there." I said to both Hoseok and Taehyung, to which they gave me thumbs up while doing weird face, making me laugh. "Ah! What happened to Minho sunbae?"
"We left him at the corridor." Taehyung answered, and I nearly spit out my tea for that blunt answer.
"Alone?" I questioned.
"Yeah. But his fangirls went to help him, don't worry." Hoseok nodded his head while saying 'don't worry' in English, causing me to laugh again.
"I'm going to bed." Jungkook suddenly said, and left without waiting for any replies. I watched him climb the stairs before disappearing from my sight.
"Such a stubborn kid." Namjoon shook his head.
"Let him be, he's stressed enough already." Yoongi commented.
"Areum-ah, don't let this happen again, okay? It scares the wolves out of us, especially Kookie's." Seokjin said, and I sheepishly nodded my head.
"Me too." Jimin added with a small voice, and I stood up and went to him before giving him a sisterly hug.
"It's okay. Sorry for making you guys worry." I said while releasing Jimin who had physically relaxed.
"Areum-ah, I think you should talk to Kookie." Taehyung suddenly said, and I felt my butterflies in my stomach hearing his name.
"I don't want to." I stubbornly said, but raised the white flag when six faces stared at me with intimidating looks. "Fine."
Reluctantly, I climbed the stairs that was dimly lit by the small orange lights hung on the wall as quietly as possible. I raised my head slightly when I was reaching the attic, and saw a figure with his back facing me glancing up at the huge half-moon outside the circular window, it's moonlight the only source of light in the dark room.
"Jungkook?" I called out silently, and saw him stir a little at my voice.
Jungkook tilted his head a little towards me, and I stared in awe at the perfect sculptured features on his face lit by the dim moonlight. His eyes were bright yellow in colour, and his lips were pinkish red, slightly ajar. He had a well-built body hidden underneath the white tee he was wearing, and I pursed my lips at that.
"Why are you here?" He asked with a deep tone when I stood behind him.
"Your hyungs wanted me to talk to you." I fidgeted my feet as I spoke, not knowing how to break the tension between us.
Instead of answering me, he continued to stare at the moon in silence. And to say that I was getting more awkward each second would be an understatement.
"Look, I'm sorry for not understanding your feelings. And I'm sorry for disobeying your orders, Jungkook. However, you have to understand that I have to live my own life too, and you can't expect me to change my whole life path with just a snap of the finger. I need time to get used to all of these." I blurted out, and sighed when he kept quiet. "I'm leaving."
"Stay." He said when I turned to leave, causing me to halt my footsteps. "Stay with me, please."
Exhaling again, I walked towards his bed and plopped down next to him on the bed. Then, to my surprise, he interlaced our fingers together, and I stared at him with widened eyes.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you just now." Jungkook said with his eyes closed, and I glanced down at our intertwined hands when he squeezed it a little tightly.
"It's okay, I understand."
"No, you don't understand." Jungkook retorted and turned his head towards me, his bright yellow eyes changing it's colour back to normal. "I'm mad at myself for not being able to protect you well, Areum. As the duty of an Alpha, I have to take care of my pack and you. After today's incident, I realized how bad I am at this. I have failed to protect you and the pack's safety."
I watched tears glisten in his beautiful eyes, dampening his long eyelashes, before sliding down his cheeks. He then choked a sob before breaking down into a crying mess.
Knowing what I had to do, I pulled him closer to me and embraced him, and soothed him with my hand patting his back, his tears wetting my shirt.
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