a/n: I really hope this chapter is good enough; I was so insecure about it because I kept getting writers block and my idea kept changing which was soo annoying because this chapter is such a turning point for the story >~<.
anyway, on a better note, this story is really going to start progressing and the rest of bangtan will be mentioned very soon.
enjoy xxx!
[ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 ]
"My name is Kim Hayeon and yours is Jeon Jungkook."
At first Jungkook didn't reply, he just blinked up at me as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. If he had been mildly tense before, he was now rigid as if the simple whisper of his name had frozen him in place. However, I did notice the slight tremor in his clenched fist- a habit I'd become quite accustomed to.
"You don't have to reply but I wanted- no needed to tell you that I want to help you. Jeno even contacted your friends!"
I'm not going to lie, I was clutching at loose strings here; I didn't really think Jungkook was going to cave and talk to me despite my desperation for him to do so. I was clinging onto the slightest slither of hope that he would reciprocate the conversation,
"I read your notes; one of your friends was called Kim Seokjin, right? He was the first one you met?"
I hoped that if anything was going to get Jungkook to talk, uprooting memories of his friends was the way to go. At first my words seemed to have the opposite effect of what I wanted, the silence in the room becoming overwhelming almost choking me.
Then, he laughed.
It wasn't much louder than a pin dropping but that slight sound of laughter, plunged me from my insecurities. I didn't even care if he was laughing as a way to taunt me, at least he showed some sort of emotion. I wondered, for a while, if MediHeal Laboratories had somehow managed to strip him from any human emotion.
"Why are you laughing?" I asked, taking a slight step towards him and away from the door. Jeno's words of caution echoed in my mind but I knew that I couldn't stay cowering in the corner like a timid mouse, this situation had to be handled firmly even if it meant leaping out of my comfort zone. As I approached, however, and he continued to let out hiccups of small giggles, I wondered if I should have brought something to protect me. I quickly shook the thought away though- he wouldn't hurt me.
Then, as if it wasn't a big deal and I hadn't spent a month trying to get him to utter a single word, he spoke.
"You're funny," he coughed, through a laugh, tears streaming from his eyes.
I startled, my mind whirring. That was not what I was expecting. Did he think I was some kind of joke, after everything I'd done for him? Did he secretly laugh about how he'd managed to manipulate me, a presumably innocent girl, to act nicely towards him? My train of thought was endless but, much to my surprise, he continued.
"You're really strange, you know?" He pulled himself forward, so that his chin rested in his hands and he was looking upwards towards me. I pulled a confused look and he rolled his eyes but took a hesitant breath as if he was contemplating about whether he should speak at all.
"Everyone here has an ulterior motive. That's how they get what they want- weasel their way into peoples minds until they believe that the work, the torture that they're inflicting is for the greater good." He shot me a critical look as he looked me up and down. "I thought that you were just another of their zombies...willing to follow their every request, but you're not, are you?"
I couldn't even reply, the words clogged in my mouth as my stomach churned. Instead I let out a feeble nod.
"Let me give you some advice, hm?"
He stood up for the first time and I realised how tall he actually was, even managing towering over my 5'7 frame. As he looked down at me from underneath his long, dark bangs that hung limply over his eyes, he clicked his tongue as if he was scolding a child.
"Everyone here is replaceable. You might think you've got some power over Dr Choi but you don't, you're here for a reason. They're watching your every move. So do me a favour, go back to level 4 and be a nice, little complacent worker and never mention my hyungs again."
He made a motion as if he was going to push me to the door, but he quickly stopped himself and wrung his hands as if he was scared to touch me. Unlike how I'd seen him previously, he no longer looked feeble and wounded. He had stood his ground, his eyes steely and determined.
Little did he know that I wasn't going to give up that easily.
"Do you think I don't know that! Do you think that I come into work every day, completely safe and happy?" I took a breath, breathing heavily as my face flushed in anger. "Everyday I come into work and break a million rules, for you! And you have the audacity to tell me to piss off. No way mister, I'm not just leaving. I will never leave."
No one spoke for a good minute, the only sounds in the room were my heavy breaths of anger. I couldn't believe I had lost my composure like that but, at the same time, I was glad that he finally realised that I wasn't some naive, little girl.
Finally I let out a sigh. "Why? Why won't you let me help you?"
All he answered with was, "sometimes you have to suffer in order for other people to be happy."