When Jimin grabbed Jae's hand, she was surprised to say the least, but his smile made her forget. It was dazzling, and above all, contagious. She couldn't help but blush, and she didn't realize that Jimin saw it. They had been walking for a while, and she realized they were getting closer to a road once she heard the sound of cars zooming by.
She looked ahead and saw Yoongi walking as if he was by himself, his black hair bouncing with every step he took. She couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his head. She wished she could read minds like they could. She wanted to know why he was so adamant on being this way with her. Jimin seemed to notice that she was thinking hard about it when he stopped tugging her along and let go of her hand. "So, that was nice of Jin to carry you earlier." he said, smirking.
Jae blinked. "Uh, yeah...it was. He's really nice." she said, smiling. Jimin laughed, flaunting his radiant smile and Jae looked at him, still smiling. "What's so funny?" he covered his mouth to stifle the laughter as she saw Yoongi slightly looking over his shoulder, to see what was happening behind him. "You're just so unbelievably cute, it's incredible." he said, looking right in her eyes.
Jae looked down at the ground and tried to play it off, but it felt like her face was on fire. That made him laugh, and he continued to tease her. "Hey Yoongi, if you're hungry there's a bright red tomato right here!" he yelled. "No thanks." he said dryly, but Jimin just kept on laughing and Jae lightly hit Jimin's arm. "You're mean." she said softly. However, if she was being honest with herself, she enjoyed the teasing. It felt like they had known each other for years instead of days.
A few more playful banters between her and Jimin, and they found themselves in front of a road, with occasional cars passing at high speeds. They slid down the little hill that led down to the street, careful not to slide right into it. Jae was taking everything in, the long road, the small diner that was across the street, the people inside, laughing and smiling with their loved ones, it was all something she had never seen before.
This was another reason she wanted to come. She wanted to explore every part of the world while she could. She must have been staring at everything for some time, because Yoongi's voice cut through her thoughts, "Hey, what are you all googly eyed about?" Jae wasn't expecting him to even talk to her, so the answer to the question didn't come right away. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. "I just-um-I've never really traveled anywhere before so I'm just taking everything in." she said, looking down.
There was a moment of silence between the three of them, and Yoongi spoke again, "One of us should stay here, in case things get...you know. I don't expect this little diner will cause any problems but, you never know." he said crossing his arms.
Jae peared at the entrance to the diner to look for an anti hybrid sign. While she wasn't able to go to many places, she remembered back in her town there were a few places that didn't allow hybrids to come inside at all. She didn't see one on the door, but that didn't lessen her suspicion. Yoongi sighed, "Jimin, just stay here, I'll go with her. I'm the only one who knows what everyone wants."
Jimin nodded, and gave Jae a thumbs up and mouthed "good luck" she could barely send him a nod before Yoongi grabbed her arm and dragged her across the street. His hands were warm, and while they gripped her tight, it didn't hurt. Once they had gotten across, Yoongi received a few stares from people coming out of the diner, but he didn't pay any attention. He opened the door for Jae, and gruffly said, "After you."
She entered, and Yoongi followed right after. While it wasn't insanely busy inside, she could tell they got good business, the servers bustling and chatting with people with genuine smiles and her mouth watered when she caught a glimpse of the chefs in the kitchen and the cisp sound of sizzling. Her trance was broken by Yoongi's nudge. "Hurry up, people are staring." he said. She could tell he was getting uncomfortable, and she didn't blame him. The lady behind the counter was looking at him like he was a dead cockroach. She had a lot of wrinkles and she had so much makeup on she could join the circus. Time to put on your mask Jae.
"Hi! I'd like to order some food to go please." she said, smiling at the lady. Not looking at her at first, she continued to type something on their computer. "Is that with you?" she pointed her pen in Yoongi's direction. His ears were twitching from all the noise and his hands were in his pockets, and he was trying to avoid eye contact with everyone. "Yes, he is my hybrid. Is there a problem?" Jae asked, trying to keep her fake smile. "We don't allow them in this establishment without a leash. Even then, we don't prefer people bringing their pets in here." she said. She flicked her wrist and gestured it towards the door.
"Put it outside, or I have the right to refuse service." she said, without batting her fake eyelashes. "Oh, my apologies, but I don't see a sign anywhere?" Jae said, failing to hide her annoyance. The lady pointed above her and sure enough, there was a sign with a hybrid figure with an X over it. Jae silently cursed at herself, not seeing it earlier.
"If you'll excuse me for a moment." she said, and the lady didn't even acknowledge it. She walked swiftly back to Yoongi and went to loop her arm with his. She could feel him flinch away and she said, "Please just play along." only loud enough so he could hear. He looked unamused, but let her hold his arm.
Once they had gotten back outside, they walked a little bit away, and Jae said, "It was a no hybrid establishment, I had a feeling. Sorry, I should have said something earlier." Yoongi rolled his eyes. "Pricks. Whatever. Here's what the guys want." Jae thought her head was going to explode when she had to remember everything, and he said it so fast Jae swears he would have no problem being a rapper.
While Yoongi was still talking she remembered that Jimin outside too she looked across the street and sure enough, there he was, crouched on the side of the road, waiting. He gave Jae a little wave. His hands looked so small and-
"Got it? Repeat it back." he ordered. By some miracle, she did, and for once ever since they've met, he looked satisfied with her. She felt proud, and she felt over the moon when he said, "Good job." Two little words made her beam. She wanted him to be proud. She was finally getting through to him.
She practically skipped inside the restaurant, and the lady finally acknowledged her existence. Once she had ordered enough food to feed an army, she gave the lady the card. She raised her eyebrows at it. "Can I see some ID? It's protocol if a customer uses a card like this." Jae froze, "Um...I...I don't have my ID with me." It was true, she didn't have it, she didn't bother to grab anything from her home before. Although, it's not like she had time to, considering she had gotten shot.
The lady sighed, deeply annoyed at this point. "You don't look like a psychopath so I'll let it slide just this once. I'm not always this nice. Be thankful." Jeez, how are you when you're not nice? Jae made sure to thank her, and she said it would be about thirty minutes and gave her a buzzer. Jae walked back outside and Yoongi was sitting on the curb next to the diner. He looked confused as to why her hands weren't full of food. Jae held up the little buzzer.
"Gotta wait thirty minutes. That's actually not bad considering all the food we just got." She sat down next to him and they were in silence for what seemed like an eternity. To Jae's surprise, Yoongi spoke up, "Look. Just so we don't have any misunderstandings from now on, I don't...hate you. I just...it would be better if you weren't with us, okay? Especially considering who you are. I'm just telling you like it is. It puts us in a risky situation." The words hurt, but he didn't blame him for saying so. She knew the rest of the boys came first, no matter what, and she respected that.
"I don't know how bad your home life was and I'm sorry for that, but, I know Namjoon probably has a plan right now to get us somewhere safe. It'll all work out in the end." There was comfort in his words and Jae's heart felt like it was being squeezed.
"Thanks...I'm sorry... That's why I wanted to come with you and Jimin. While I know you don't want me here, I want to help any way I can. I don't want to get in the way, or slow you all down, or put any of you in danger. Please believe me when I say that's the last thing I want." she said, turning to him. He looked back at her. His stare was intimidating, but just like she noticed before, there was something else there. There was a softness in his chocolate eyes. She hadn't noticed she had been staring until the buzzer went off violently, and they both jumped.
Yoongi looked away and put his tongue in his cheek. Jae jumped up maybe a little too fast, and she realized how long it had been since she'd eaten. She stumbled a little, and she had hoped Yoongi didn't see. She admittedly wasn't very strong, so carrying the endless bags of food outside proved to be a challenge. Yoongi fortunately saw this, and jogged over to help. Distributing the weight evenly, it became easier, especially when they had to dash back across the busy street.
All was going well, until she felt one of the bags slipping from her fingers. She tried to adjust it while she was walking up the small hill, which proved to be a mistake. Gravity was not her friend in that moment and when she tried to adjust the weight of the bags, caused her to stumble backwards and fall down the small incline. She hit the ground hard with a thud, and she felt dizzy as she had hit her head on the hard pavement of the road.
She felt disoriented, and she hadn't even realized that a car was coming, and it was coming fast. She heard yelling but there was no time to react. Something pulled her back at such a speed it made her nauseous. She blinked a few times to focus her vision and she saw Jimin looking at her with concern and fear, while Yoongi looked furious. "Are you fucking trying to get yourself killed?" Yoongi growled. He didn't yell, but his voice was low and scary. She felt Jimin feel the back of her head, "No blood, she should be fine. She did hit the ground pretty hard. Should we-"
He stood up, wiping off some sweat off his forehead. "If she's fine, we need to get going. Can you stand?" he asked her roughly. Jae felt sick, and her head was pounding but she nodded, not wanting to upset him further. Any progress she felt like she had made with him was probably gone, which was the cause of her nausea.
She felt Jimin's arms help her up to her feet, his ears were to the side and he looked worried, looking back and forth between her and Yoongi. Yoongi picked up the bags that Jae had dropped, thankfully nothing had spilled. He ended up carrying everything with ease, and stormed off before Jae could say thank you. Jimin stayed behind, making sure Jae could walk.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly. Jae nodded, embarrassed more than anything. She can't believe she fell like that. "I'd never seen Yoongi react that fast. You were lucky he was there, I wouldn't have been quick enough." he said, looking down. He squeezed her hand, "He seemed mad, but he was worried. Honest."
Jae gave him a smile with her eyes. "I'll be sure to thank him later. I'm okay. Really." The rest of the way, they walked in silence, but Jimin didn't let go of her hand once.
Yoongi's POV
I've only experienced true panic once in my life. But this time...this time was different. The amount of panic I experienced when I saw Jae's head hit the pavement, was indescribable. The car seemed to be flying towards her and I couldn't think. Everything was a blur, my instincts winning over my panic telling me to run to her. The car wasn't going to stop, so I just pulled her towards me. Seemingly, just in time, and the car never slowed down once. I fucking hate people. I felt Jimin kneel down, and when I knew she was okay, I felt nothing but anger.
Anger because she almost got hurt, on my watch. Anger that she fell, and I wasn't there to catch her. Anger that her life was almost snuffed out in an instant, because I wasn't careful. Just like last time. Why is she even here? Why do I care? Why should I care what happens to her?
I was starting to get a migraine and I wanted to rip my ears off my head. My thoughts were overwhelming me again, and I started breathing heavily and out of rhythm. Now that I was alone, my body was catching up to the events of what transpired.
I could feel myself starting to shake. I stopped walking and tried to calm myself down. I closed my eyes and thought about the breathing tricks Hobi taught me in case this ever happened. I wasn't having an attack, but it would happen if I didn't relax. Relax. Breathe. In...and out. Relax. You're fine. She's fine. They're fine. Breathe.
Once I steadied my breathing again, Jimin and Jae were in sight again behind me. Jimin was holding her hand, and for some reason when I saw it I felt like I had eaten something bad. He looked so happy, like a kid with candy. What the hell is wrong with you? You just met her, why do you feel this way you idiot?
He took one look at Jae, and I felt my heart beating really fast. Her hair looked so soft, it was lightly bouncing against her shoulders with each step she took, her skin looked incredibly soft, and the light from the sunrise was lightly kissing it, making her look like she was glowing. Her eyes reflected off of it, making them shine brighter than they were when I looked into them in front of the diner. She was beautiful, it was just that simple.
She probably thought that I hated her. That's why I said what I said at the diner. I wanted to tell her I wasn't trying to be a dick, but I cared about my family. My brothers. My pack. I unconsciously rubbed the mark on my hand. If anything happened to even one of them, I would die. I guess that's why I pushed her away as hard as I did.
It wasn't fair, and I knew it. Overwhelming feelings hit me suddenly. I felt the strong urge to grab her from Jimin and take her in my arms. I wanted to hold her, protect her, give her everything. I wanted her, in every possible way. I had felt this before, just not as intense, and the realization hit me like a truck. I knew why I felt this way.
Oh....fuck.
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Another chapter to celebrate history being made.💓