disclaimer: /trigger warning/, this episodes touches sensitive topics (sexual harassment) that may cause discomfort. Please refrain from reading this chapter if needed. please proceed only if you feel safe to do so.
—-
I'm on the bed, still fighting to fall asleep once again as I rolled around. We've yet to move in together, but with all my stuff still back at my place, I've been sleeping at Jungkook's for a little over a week now. A shirtless Jungkook enters from the bathroom and sits on the mattress. A stinging pain strikes at my bottom as it rang loudly over the room.
I turn around, hand on my butt, wailing as I did, "Jungkook!"
His hands aren't small either. And you know what they say about men with big hands...lord forgive me. I genuinely don't know why my mind made that connection. I roll in pain, my head resting on his lap with my face grimaced.
"You've been tossing around for half an hour. I need to talk to you about something."
"Well, it might've been better not to start off on the wrong foot. Bold of you to assume I'll cooperate." I sit up and jab my knuckle into his side. He stayed unfazed, while I retracted my hand in pain. This man really had the nerve to flex his muscles like that.
"I'm having a really important dinner tonight...with the CEO and the president of a big company. It's a form of courtesy to introduce your other half..."
"You need me to come with you?"
"Well, you don't have to-"
"But it'll affect your image if I don't, right?"
I know I can't say no to this out of revenge, this was business matters. And like his mother told me, the company's matters is mine. I'm no wife if I hang about my own life without making contribution to his. And same goes for him.
"I'll go. Don't worry about it." I lean over to kiss his temple, but he moves as if to say something else.
"No, don't agree too quickly. We're going to a club, with our own private booth. There will be alcohol, and it won't be anything comfortable for you. I don't want to pressure you into this. Nor do I want you to walk into something you aren't prepared for."
I wait for him to finish before successfully kissing him the second time, "I got it, I'll go with you."
"Okay. I'll try to make it so they won't have to talk to you too much. The CEO will bring his wife, you can chat with her if you'd like."
I shake my head nervously with a laugh, "That's okay, I don't do well with strangers. What will I have to wear?"
"Whatever you find comfortable."
I give him a look, "I'm not dumb, Jungkook. It's fine, I can handle not wearing a loose dress for a day. I know everything I do tonight can impact you, I'm aware. I can take it."
He sighs in defeat with a nod, "Something black, or a dark colour. Try to steer away from anything revealing, for your own sake, alright? I won't stop you from wearing what you like any other time, but I need you to be safe tonight, alright?"
His voice softens with the last sentence, there was no space in me to repent. Jungkook's arm goes around my shoulders, pulling me to his chest as he sent the both of us back down to the mattress. So much for slapping my ass to get me out of bed.
He rolls, so that I lay on top. His fingers fiddle with my bra strap as he mumbled against my shoulder, "Thank you."
My arm drapes over his shoulder as I laid lazily with my head rested under his jaw.
"I know marrying me won't be easy. I never want you to feel pressured into doing anything, but I'm sorry that a lot of things aren't within my control. The best I can do is try to keep you from getting hurt."
I nodded absent mindedly, already finding myself drifting away into sleep. I was so comfortable in his arms, spoiled as I was pressed against his beautifully sculpted chest. You cannot simply put me in this position and still expect me to pay attention.
"Aera," His finger slips out of the bra strap, making it slap against my skin. I snap my eyes open with a groan.
"I need to tell you something, pay attention, I'll let you sleep in a bit, please?"
Reluctantly, I push myself up with my palms on either sides of his head. Looking down on him with his hands moving to hold my hips, I smile with a passive aggressive, "Yes?"
"If anything unjust happens to you because of the company, you have to tell me. If you feel that someone is trying to harm you, you have to let me know. Can you promise me that?"
Why is my horrible attitude never on par with his response? His eyes were delicate and sincere, I couldn't look at his face without my heart melting someway.
"I promise." And with that, his arms engulf me back to his chest.
"I'll take your word for it."
/
Walking into the dimly lit booth, I noticed that we were the last to arrive. There sat the CEO with his wife on the cushioned leather sofa, with the female president beside the two.
The three of us, including Jun—who is most famous for being best at intruding Jungkook and I at the worst of times—hurry to the seats, apologies exiting our mouths one after another.
Jungkook sits in between me and the CEO. The elder leans forward to fill he and Jungkook's empty glasses.
"Let's get to know each other first, shall we?" He sets down the liquor bottle with a smile.
"This is my fiancé, and my personal assistant." Jun is mostly here so that we can have a sober driver. For all I know, both Jungkook and I are expected to drink alongside the others.
"Pleased to meet you," The man reaches a hand out in my direction and pauses, until I recite my own name to him with a smile.
"Aera," He repeated with a widely stretched grin.
Jungkook steps in then to add, "A favour we would like to ask of you is to help us keep our relationship private, as we'd like to speak to the public on our own terms."
The man seemed to have no issue with the favour when he nodded lightly with a warm smile.
A round of self introductions passed around until everything settled down. Eventually the night painted its own picture. Jungkook, the other CEO and their president continued to talk along, about things that I figured had nothing to do with their business. And the other three of us sat quietly on our own with our drinks.
This meet up was simply for pleasing each other, yet it was just as important as their future meetings, if they were to happen. How Jungkook acts tonight will decide whether or not they would like to work with him, and it's the same for them. It was strange, because both sides knew it was all an act. Neither truly cared if they had a fiancée, or if they had their best golf game last Saturday. It was only a matter if they cared to kiss each other's ass enough.
They would take turns filling each other's cup, testing their courtesy and loyalty. What really shocked me was when the CEO took out a pack of cigarettes and handed one to Jungkook, which he took. I watched as he held it with his lips and allowed the CEO to light it up for him.
It was a new light that I've never seen him in.
Jungkook inhaled and removed the cigarette from his lips, letting it dangle in between his fingers as he let out the puff of smoke. He didn't seem like an amateur, this definitely isn't his first time. His wrist moved to rest on his leg that was propped up sideways atop the other.
Is it weird that I found it...attractive? Hot? He was in his suit, dressed in black from head to toe with his hair swept up. The cigarette added a relaxed touch to him, yet cocky, also. But I didn't mind it. Another puff of smoke sending off into the air drew my gaze to his lips that formed a shape. How I wished to be the smoke passing through.
I quietly took another sip of my champagne, thinking about how being his fiancée didn't change the fact that there were still so many sides to him that I've never seen. That other people may have seen before me. It makes me jealous, or maybe even insecure at times.
I wish I could say I knew him like the back of my hand. But the truth is that I was absent in the most important three years of his life. I never witnessed his growth, but only saw what become of it. Jun, who is sitting right next to me, might know more about my own fiancé than I do. But knowing someone isn't completely what makes a love true, is it? It's the commitment and willingness to learn about them day after day, even if sometimes it requires a battle, or a heavy wave washing over your relationship.
Looking to my glass, I realized I'd downed it without a second thought. My knees rubbed against each other as I felt the need to empty my bladder.
Tapping Jungkook's shoulder apologetically, he turned his head to me with a raise of eyebrows. He leans in with his hand siding to my knee as I opened my mouth to speak, "I need to go to the bathroom."
Jungkook nods, and he stands up before I grab his arm to set him down, "You guys keep talking, I'll go myself."
My fiancé looked at me wearily, before turning his head to the CEO's wife, and asking, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?"
To my luck, apparently, the petite lady nodded shyly. It was then when Jungkook seemed to relax and allowed the both of us to go. We stood and headed towards the restroom, and from behind me I heard the CEO excuse himself as well, with steps growing nearer.
The restrooms were located in the back of the private booth, separate from the other customers. There was only one for each gender, so out of respect, I'd offered the lady to go before me. She smiled politely after she finished her trip, and headed back to the seats.
Soon done myself, I walked down with the assumption that the CEO had finished his business and was already talking to Jungkook. But a familiar sound of footsteps rung from behind me.
I spun around to face him, and as expected, I was confronted with the face of Jungkook's potential partner. I didn't think too much then, though I should've.
"Hey." I nodded. "Your wife already left, actually."
He shook his head with his steps drawing closer to me, even when I stayed still in my spot, "I'm here for someone else."
I gulped, body frozen with my ears burning hot. "I will be heading back then."
Jungkook wouldn't want me here alone with him, and I don't either. Taking off with my hands in fists, I was surprisingly pulled back with a grip on my wrist.
My breathing became irregular then. I pleaded, as I looked into those eyes that never seemed scarier, "My fiancé would like me to return as soon as possible, please let me go."
And even more surprisingly, he does. Feeling like I'd escaped death, I quickly return to my path out the back of the booth. A stinging pain on my behind stiffened me, as I watched him walk past my frozen figure with a smirk. I was still, even as he was out of my sight. I cannot wrap my head around what just happened.
And as I stared into the distance, all I could think about is the hand that I'd seen holding the glass of champagne my fiancé filled, and the face that I was met with when I exited the bathroom. The thought that he would go back to speaking with my man disgusted me. He would go on to converse with Jungkook, who was unaware of what he'd done, and pretend things were the same. Jungkook looks like a fool in his eyes, he doesn't take him seriously. We're all a joke to him. And me, a toy.
I will tell Jungkook after the dinner, to let him know how I was harassed, and how the man before him was untrustworthy. I'd be damned if the asshole goes any nearer to either of us. I swallow the tears begging to leave my eyes and stride back into the booth.
—Jungkook's
He told me he hadn't seen Aera when he exited. I believed him, but it seemed stranger when time dragged on. She wasn't coming back, there were no signs of her. Maybe this was too boring for her. Or was it the cigarettes? I've never smoked in front of her before. Maybe I should've ran it by her before coming here. Maybe she needed to have some privacy.
My assumptions were put to a halt when I spot my fiancée walking over, and there was something about her that had my heart twisting over a reason I didn't know.
Aera sits down next to me silently, eyes not meeting mine for even a second. The company president's words went in my ear and right out the other as my attention stayed on her. She was uncomfortable. I didn't know why. Trying to show her my concern, I placed a hand on her thigh, and she immediately jerked back. She was used to it, it's not the first time I'd touched her lap. It was weird. Too weird.
That's when it clicked.
The absent look in her eyes. The odd walk as she went to sit down. The CEO's averted gaze. The way she pulled herself away from my touch.
I didn't need to ask her.
I stood up, feeling all the anger rising up in me. There was nothing going through my mind but the thought of Aera being disrespected and harmed, when my fist connected with the bastard's face.
He falls back to his wife, eyes opened wide and shocked. I don't know what he's acting for.
"Don't go near my company, or my fiancée again. Ever."
I'd thought to take her hand and storm out the room, but my mind thought back to the way she retracted from me earlier. So I simply walked out the booth, and allowed Jun to guide Aera out after me.
"What the hell was that!" I heard my oblivious assistant yap from behind.
I turn around, so angry I felt like tearing someone apart, "That bastard fucking touched Aera is what happened!"
He looked so shocked, I wanted to drill a hole in his brain. My gaze drifted to Aera, who was trailing behind with her face in a grimaced expression. That was when my eyes softened. My heart ached to see her like that, it simply ached too much for me to feel any more anger.
I quickly walked up to her without a second thought, not knowing what I was to do now that I couldn't touch her anymore. But she did it on her own when she crashed against my chest, arms clasping around my waist. I felt her fingers clutch onto my blazer just slightly.
"I'm so sorry, Aera." I'd expected her to cry, but she simply stayed quiet, holding me without any sound.
It really surprised me that she would still want to touch me at all. I don't know what happened back there, but I wouldn't mind or have trouble understanding if she was reluctant to go near me for a while. I don't know why she can feel safe being so close to me, but nevertheless I won't question it.
I looked to Jun, who was standing not far from us, waiting patiently with a sympathetic and worried expression on his face. I know he didn't get paid to have to witness this. But he seemed to really care, as he looked at Aera with his eyebrows furrowed.
"Do you want to go home?" I drew my attention back to Aera, whose grip on me loosened. She nodded.
The trip to the car was silent. Even as we sat in the back seat and allowed Jun to drive us home, no words were exchanged. I could only gaze at her secretly with a heavy weight on my heart.
Aera brushed past me like a ghost when we headed up the porch of our now shared home. I didn't bother questioning her behaviour, I could only imagine the things that were polluting her mind right this moment.
It was getting late when I decided to brush my teeth and head to bed. I've been sitting on my spot of the bed for a while now. Aera has been taking a shower for a countless of minutes. I can even say it's been twenty minutes, or more.
The water head was turned off finally after some time and the bathroom was silent for a while. The noise of the hair dryer soon took over the room.
I was almost drifting to sleep when the door finally opened, revealing my dearest lady, the lady that I love so much, drag her feet mindlessly to the other side. She laid down, our backs facing each other. I'm not used to not touching her when we're in bed, or overall when we're together, really. It might have been a sort of result to the three year separation. Touching her reassures me that she's still around, that she's in my reality. It's almost as if she won't slip away if I keep myself connected to her like that.
"Do you...want to talk about it?" I managed to muster up.
I heard her body move against the bedding. Following her gesture, I turn to face her.
"He had a wife," Her face grimaced in disgust. "I can't stop thinking about his dirty hand just touching me, and worse, how many times he has probably done this."
I shake my head, "I don't care about that-well, I do. But that's not what I'm asking. Are you okay?"
She paused to think, then dragged her gaze back to me, "I know I'm a lot luckier than some others, things could've gone a lot worse. And I'm still a bit shaken...I was trying to wash off the feeling of his filthy hands back in the shower, but I kind of figured out it was my brain that needed cleansing. My mind just keeps making me feel it."
I had no idea if I could say this, so hesitantly, I asked, "Where...did he touch you?"
"He slapped my ass. I hated it. I swear I would've done something if I could go back in time. I just stood there and let him walk past me!" She was sitting up now. Eyes wide with anger.
"...Why didn't you tell me?" I asked quietly, trying to make my tone as soft as possible, remembering that I had simply guessed the situation. I was in no way accusing her, but instead I was curious. I wanted to know how she felt.
"This was important to your business, I was going to tell you, after it. That's why I was shocked when you touched me back there. I couldn't stop thinking about how this would sabotage your work, and having to think of a way to tell you was really freaking me out."
This is ridiculous. She got sexually harassed and it's still about me?
"I promised you this morning, so I really was going to tell you. But you somehow figured it out on your own..and you yelled and punched him and everything. Please don't do that again. You can protect me without harming your reputation." Aera lays back down and pulls the blanket up her chest.
"Defending my fiancée shouldn't harm my reputation, and if it does, then reputation doesn't mean anything good. You were harassed, Aera, your first instinct shouldn't be to worry about how it would affect me." I took a deep breath after, realizing that I was letting my temper control my tone.
"Well it was, I can't go back in time to change that. He got punched, I'm fine, and we're ready to sleep. End of conversation." She thrusts herself into my chest, as if to
put the both of us to bed.
I swallowed, with my hand reaching to cup her head, "You promise you're fine? We can go to see a professional if you really need it, you don't have to feel bad about it."
"I'm really fine. Just pissed is all." A kiss on my collarbone sent a shiver down my spine as she responded. Aera nudges herself closer to me, her head on my chest. I stuff my hand in her bunched up hair, stroking through it as I stared at the wall.
"I didn't know you smoked." She suddenly brought up.
"It's not a habit. Only on occasions like this, when they hand it to me." I paused with a thought, "Does it bother you?"
Her head shakes against my skin, "It was hot while it lasted." I couldn't stop myself from the laugh that left my mouth. My arms pulled her closer until there was no gap in between us and our legs overlapped.
"Maybe I'll make it a habit then, since you seem to enjoy seeing it."
Aera looks up at me, the top of her head brushing past my chin, "Jesus, no. Unless you're reliant on it to relieve stress, I pray to god you do not breathe that smoke just so I can be more attracted to you. I'm completely fine with just looking at your abs all day, really."
The woman pulls the blanket back and naughtily peers down with her hands not shy at all to join in. My eyes widen, "You're getting weird, maybe we should call it a day."
Aera smiles sheepishly, breaking character as she hid her face in my chest. Every time her hair tickles my skin it makes my stomach dip. But Aera always seems oblivious to the effect she has on me when she rubs herself against me.
"If you want to keep acting high, go on ahead. I'm heading to bed though." I pull her waist with my arm hooked around her and adjust us so that I can hug her like a pillow.
"Goodnight, sweetheart." I smile in disbelief when I feel this woman run her hands down my torso not-so-sneakily.
Her warm breath tickles under my collarbone, "Goodnight hottie."
—-
A/N:
sexual harassment can be seen in all occasions and environments. as often seen as this scenario is, you can really see it replay anywhere. protect yourselves luvs, and don't be sympathetic. be cautious. be angry. be loud.