∽𝒟∽
"Lucas..." Jieun stared at him, feeling a combination of panic and despair. "W-what are you doing here? I thought you were going to sleep at your friend's house tonight."
On her side, she could hear Jungkook taking a breath. As always, he looked indifferent, almost like he was caring less about Lucas's presence, but knowing he'd have to deal with eventually.
The strength in Jieun's legs returned instantly soon as Lucas paced towards them. Flames coming out of his eyes.
"Get out of my house!"
She stood up, planting both hands on his chest to keep him away. "Lucas, please... just calm down..."
"Have you lost your mind bringing him here?!" he snapped. "Are you trying to test my patience?! Is that what you're doing?!"
"No!" she replied with a strange kind of desperation. "I'm not- listen... Jungkook came here because-"
"And why are you still here?!" he looked over the guy sitting on the couch, calmly rubbing his temple. "I said, get out!"
"He's not going anywhere," Jieun stated, surprising them both.
Lucas's mouth parted in shock. "Wha..."
"Jungkook's not going anywhere," she repeated, lowering her voice, "until you tell me what he did."
"I already told you! He's a fucking traitor!"
The confidence in his voice clearly showed that Lucas was a hundred percent sure of what he was saying.
"Well, be more specific if you want me to believe you."
"I'm not telling you shit!" he retorted, then pointed at Jungkook. "Get this guy out of our house because if you don't, I will!"
"Then, there's no deal."
Gritting his teeth, Lucas glared at her. "I'm warning you-"
"If you don't trust me, why should I?"
About to retort again, Lucas was cut off by Jungkook, who was now on his feet. "Jieun," he said quietly. "Can you leave us alone for a minute?"
Jieun turned, her eyebrows raised as if asking he was sure about that. He nodded and glanced at Lucas.
"Let's talk."
In return, the boy only gave him a hard stare. "We don't have anything to talk about."
"Yes, we do," he stated. "If that's the way you'll react every time you see me with your sister, then I guess we have to sort things out."
Jieun's cheeks turned a pink shade. Was Jungkook really willing to do that just because of her?
"Alright," she said, removing her hands from her brother's chest. His tension drained a bit, and she felt safe to step away. "I'll be in the kitchen."
"Thanks," Jungkook half-smiled.
After a few ticking clocks, Lucas finally reacted. "What do you want?"
Jungkook approached slowly and silently until he stopped directly before the boy. "Who's selling to you, Lucas?" he asked nonchalantly.
Lucas couldn't move. There were precious seconds where both only looked at each other. Jungkook noticed his breathing intensifying again by the moment.
"I didn't want to say anything in front of your sister, that's why I asked her to leave," he continued. "Who is it? BamBam?"
"He's not allowed to, thanks to someone I know," Lucas answered, coolly. "And I stopped. A long time ago..."
Jungkook smiled, finding amusing. "I've been working with users since I was your age. I can recognize one from meters away."
"I stopped!"
"You're on right now..." he said under his breath. "I'm sure you became someone else's, client. Otherwise, your reaction after seeing me the other day would be very different from the one you had... So, who is it?"
"What I do or what I don't doesn't concern you anymore. Now get the fuck out of my house!"
Jungkook sighed, his shoulders sagging. "Lucas... Go upstairs, take a shower, and get some sleep."
The boy let out a laugh. "I'm sorry... are you seriously trying to boss me around?"
"I don't have to remind you that your parents never found you drugged because of me. There's no one to cover you up now, Lucas. Do what I said before they come back and see you like this."
Lucas's chin stuck out defiantly.
"Just look at you, mate..." Jungkook said with a frown. "I left so you could have a normal life again. I even threatened my boss for you. Was my sacrifice in vain?"
"You abandoned me!" he said, gritting his teeth in fury. "You had no right to do that when I was paying for it!"
"I did it for your sake."
"For my sake, all right," he argued. "Stop with this bullshit!
Jieun showed up again from the kitchen after finishing the dishes. She wanted to make sure things were going fine, and if Lucas hadn't killed Jungkook out there.
"Is everything okay?"
Jungkook smiled, stepping back. Lucas, however, didn't turn, but answered, "Your boyfriend's leaving now."
Pursing his lips, the dealer nodded. "Yeah. I'm leaving now, Jieun..."
She took a step forward, only to be stopped by her brother. "You stay here."
Jieun never protested and watched them disappear between the dimmed light of the hallway. Now alone again, Lucas dragged Jungkook by the arm once he opened the front door.
"The next time I see you at my house, I'll call the cops."
Jungkook snorted. "Go ahead and do that. But don't mind me telling your sister about the stuff you hide inside your mattress. She's dying to find out how we became friends, something I should've told her a long time ago."
Lucas frowned in indignation. "Are blackmailing me?"
"If you're blackmailing me, yeah," he shrugged.
"Well, then... If you tell her about me... I'll have to tell her about you too, right? It's only fair."
Jungkook's muscles contracted. Even though he tried to maintain his natural posture, Lucas knew he was tense.
"I'm sure she'd love to hear that the person who introduced me the "stuff" I hide was actually her new little lover here."
Jungkook watched him with steely eyes.
"The worst thing that can happen is my parents sending me to rehab like you always wanted to, but you, my friend... yeah, I don't think you'll have a lot of options after being sentenced to death once inside the prison. Isn't that one of your rules? Not to mess with family members of your clients?"
"You don't have proof that I ever sold you anything, Lucas. Your parents can't send me to jail without evidence."
He smirked. "I won't need it. You'll be surprised by how many people it's not a fan of yours..."
After the door was slammed in front of him, Jungkook stared blanked at it for a good minute before finally going to his car to drive away...
... thinking if he should take or not take Lucas's threats seriously.
🄳🄸🅁🅃🅈 😈
😈 🄼🄸🄽🄳🅂
∘ ♡ ༉ ∘
They were arguing again.
Jieun and Jungkook stood unmoving, with their arms crossed as they both watched their two friends fighting over a Ferris wheel in the middle of the park.
"Don't be such a baby! You've done it before!" Seulgi exclaimed.
"So? It doesn't mean I liked it."
"Come ooon, Jimin. Please, I can't go in there alone. It will be so boring."
"Then don't go," he shrugged. "Let's do something else."
"But I want to go!"
"Then go."
"Not alone!"
"Then don't go."
Jungkook rolled his eyes, hearing Jieun's giggles beside him. He had enough of this argument. The only solution was to grab their arms and push them towards the entrance of the Ferris wheel. There, he told one of his co-workers to close the door. Jimin was frowning in confusion but couldn't do anything now that Seulgi happily pulled him inside, mouthing a 'thank you'.
Jieun was beyond shocked. "You're crazy!" she laughed. "Jimin's gonna kill you for that."
"He can do it later," Jungkook said as he closed the distance between them, placing his hands on her hips.
Her smile immediately faded when she felt it. "Jungkook..."
"Yes?" he smirked, rubbing her sides.
"We're in a public place."
"We are."
She frowned at him. "You don't mind?"
"Do you?"
Jungkook chuckled when she bowed her head after his question. He was forced to held her chin to make her look up.
"Jieun, If you feel uncomfortable, tell me and I'll back away."
"No, I don't feel uncomfortable, but... I think that-" the mere feeling of his scent made the tips of Jieun's ears turn red. She shook her head afterward. "Never mind."
His arms circled around her waist, and he could feel her tensing up. He tilted his head down, pressing his lips underside of her jaw. "You think what?"
Her eyes closed, sighing anxiously. "That this is not how friends are supposed to act around each other."
He feigned ignorance. "And how are we acting?"
"Like a couple..."
Jungkook moved just enough to meet her eyes. Jieun saw him smiling softly. "Aren't we one?"
Her brow twitched, looking extremely confused. She tried to find the right words, the right questions, but nothing seemed to be coming out. To Jungkook, it looked quite amusing to see her like that.
"What'd you mean?" Jieun smiled nervously. "We're not a couple, we're not even..." she stopped herself, her scowl deepened. "What'd you mean?!"
He had to laugh this time, which made her slap his upper arms in irritation. "Jungkook!"
"I'm kidding," he answered, slowly stepping back.
Jieun cast a look sideways for a moment to process what he said, then back at him. She felt annoyed for some reason. "Kidding?"
"Yeah, I know we're not a couple," he shrugged, dipping his hands on his pockets. "Which doesn't mean I'm not allowed to touch you whenever I want if you're letting me do it... even if it's in a public place."
She frowned, crossing her arms defensively. "I just said it because... because it's not any other public place, but our work. A place where a lot of people know us. So, if they see us together, they would probably ask themselves, 'hey, are they dating?' and you don't want that, right? I obviously don't want that either so-"
Jieun lost her voice between Jungkook's lips once he pressed against hers. The gentleness of his kiss made her forget about everything she was saying, and her eyes fluttered closed. She was beyond caring if they were still in the middle of the park or if there were people pausing their walk just to stare at them in shock.
He parted, his thumb brushing her cheek. "Whatever you want us to be, we'll be it. Just name it."
Jieun shivered, not knowing if she should take it seriously or just as a joke again.
"Stop kissing me like this..."
"No," he shook his head, smirking. "You like it when I do."
She couldn't respond back, so they stared.
Just name it. Somehow that thought made her happy. It wasn't like she waited for him to ask her out when both already knew what they were doing since the beginning. Jungkook felt attracted to her, he admitted himself, and he knew it went both ways. But he never said she was exclusive to him. That she'd be the only one.
Jieun never allowed herself to take the things he said, the encounters they had, the kisses they shared as serious. She thought that the moment she started feeling something other than attraction, it would be over.
"And?" he pressed. "What's gonna be?"
Soon as her mouth parted to speak, she swallowed, her heart raced, not sure if she was ready to-
"Jungkook, you gotta come now."
Both quickly distanced themselves from each other after a co-worker showed up out of nowhere. It was the guy whom Jungkook once introduced to her as his friend and went by the name of Hoseok. He looked agitated and nervous.
"What happened?"
The boy glanced at Jieun, hesitant, and she immediately got the message.
"I'll go back to my area... Bye, guys," she waved, not waiting for Jungkook's response.
┊𝒟┊
"Are you sure it was her?" Jungkook asked, following his friend at a quick pace.
"I'm telling you, dude!" Hoseok panted. "I was a bit distracted while this bunch of teenagers were playing at my booth when I saw Lisa here with two customers with her."
"But have you seen them before?"
"Well, duh!" he snapped. "And so have you. They come by every week to buy it from us. Lisa wasn't dealing, she was with them."
Jungkook ran his fingers over his hair, breathing heavily and looking around the park.
There was no way Lisa would be hanging out with users when she, herself, always tried to stay away from them once the sale was over.
"Maybe you saw it wrong, Hoseok..." Jungkook said, not wanting to believe it. "Maybe it wasn't her. I told her she couldn't come back here."
"You said she couldn't work here," he pointed out. "And I know what I saw."
"Where is she now, then?"
"I have no idea... I wasn't allowed to get out. She disappeared."
He sighed. "Stay here and tell the others about it. I'll look for her."
Hoseok nodded, going back inside his booth.
Jungkook began searching for Lisa around the park a little worried now that it was almost time to clock out. He hoped it was a mistake. That Hoseok was wrong and that his ex-girlfriend was anywhere else but there.
He called her cellphone, once, twice, but every time went straight to voicemail, which was the strangest thing since Lisa never failed to answer him. It never mattered if they had a fight, or no matter how upset she was, she'd always answer him.
On the way to the bathrooms of the park, he tried to call a third time, and as soon he dialed, her ring tone sounded from inside.
Jungkook paused, lowering his phone down. He touched the doorknob, slowly pulling it back. He entered the small bathroom, his eyebrows raising.
The music kept playing until he found her stall. Then it stopped, and everything went silent except for the snorts, noises, and loud sighs.
He knew it was her in there. He could see the black boots that she'd wear.
"Lisa."
All the sounds that he could hear it now were from the outside once his voice echoed around the room, calling her name — It was an unmistakable voice to her. He didn't have to identify himself.
"Lisa, open up," he knocked.
No answer.
Sighing, he tried again. "Why are you here? Hoseok saw you with some customers."
"I'm not dealing," Jungkook heard her small voice say.
"Then what are you doing?"
She didn't answer.
Riled up, tired, and impatient, Jungkook banged violently on the door with his fist. "Open the door, Lisa! Now!"
After receiving no answer, just a very quiet sniff, he stepped back, kicking the lock of the stall with all his will.
The door opened, which made Lisa shudder. He entered, grabbing her by the arm, but once he had a great look at her surroundings, everything stopped. His eyes widened.
"Lisa..." Jungkook pointed at the powder on top of the toilet, dumbfounded. "Are you..." his voice died, and he looked at her.
Jungkook shook his head, brows furrowed, releasing her from his grip. Instead of flipping out, he threw his back on the wall taking a deep breath. He couldn't understand what was happening or why this girl in front of him was intoxicating herself with cocaine.
Lisa couldn't look back. The shame she felt was too strong for that.
The silence was unbearable.
"Let's go home," Jungkook murmured, taking her bag from the ground then cleaning the toilet with a paper.
He left the stall as she watched him silently, not daring to ask.
"Hurry up!" he shouted, and she winced, quickly doing what he said.
┊𝒟┊
"Where the hell is your boyfriend?!" Jimin questioned Jieun after he caught her in front of the Cotton Candy shop. "I can't find him anywhere!"
"W-what boyfriend? I don't have any boyfriend."
"Jungkook," he simplified. "Where is he? He practically forced me on that stupid Ferris wheel, and not satisfied, your friend right here made me go in twice!"
"You're such a drama queen..." Seulgi muttered, looking at her nails.
Jieun pursed her lips, wanting to laugh badly. "I... I don't know where he is, Jimin."
"Well, we gotta find this jerk so I can kill him."
"Don't worry, the park will close soon. You can wait at the parking lot and... kill him there, I guess."
"Or you can do it now," Seulgi said. "Look."
Both Jimin and Jieun turned towards where Seulgi was pointing at. They saw Jungkook, but he wasn't alone.
"Who's that?" he asked.
Jieun frowned, trying to remember where she saw that girl before. It took only a few seconds for her to realize that it was the same person she caught Jungkook arguing with at the parking lot.
"He said it was his co-worker... but I haven't seen her since that day."
"What?"
Jieun shook her head. "Nothing."
"They seem to be leaving," Seulgi stated. "Should we go after them?"
She was about to answer when she heard a buzz coming from her pocket.
💬
Jungkook:
Something came up
Can't take you home today
I'm sorry
I'll call you tmw
"Jieun?" called Seulgi, noticing her silence. "You okay?"
"Yeah..." she answered, showing them her back. "Jungkook's busy, let's leave him be."