A ROSE’S SEVEN THORNS

CHAPTER 24

“Nothing But Trouble”

Earlier

And then there was one—well really two. The other one was currently knocked out in his room, sick as ever. And even if he was awake and not ill, he would’ve ignored her. Or worse, he’d antagonize her, but anyway there was only one. So really—

“It’s just me, myself, and I.”

•••

It had only been around fifteen minutes after the boys left and Jangmi was at a loss. Usually the boys were always there with her, so she was never bored. When she first came here, she thought their place was so cool and wondered how anyone could get bored here. Now she could clearly see that it was the people who made the house, not the objects in it.

Jangmi sighed and glanced at her phone for the hundredth time. She still had another fifteen minutes before she had to wake up Yoongi and that was not something she looked forward to.

She’d seen the wrath of Suga once before when J-Hope purposely woke him up. Not to mention, the survival stories Jimin and Taehyung told her later on. But anyways, Jangmi always thought she had a colorful vocabulary and then she heard what came out of Suga’s mouth after being woken up.

Talk about a sailor’s mouth.

Jangmi hadn’t been afraid of Suga since the first night she met him, but she had to admit she felt the tiniest prick of fear when she caught his angry, darker-than-ever gaze. All she knew was that it wasn't something she had on her bucket list. And now she had no choice.

“Damn boys and their cute, wide puppy eyes,” She muttered as she wandered to where the soup was sitting on the stove. It was on a low heat, so it was still warm and ready to eat. She pulled the lid off and sniffed loudly. She swore her stomach growled.

She looked around almost as if the boys would burst out of nowhere. Then she grabbed a spoon from the drawer and murmured in a singsong tone, “Sharing is caring~” Taking a spoonful of soup, she hummed loudly at the taste. Jin sure knew how to cook.

Jangmi took another bite before she glanced at the time that was displayed on the stove. Surely, some time had passed? Her face blanked when she saw it had only been a minute or two since she last checked. This was taking too long and the boys didn’t give her a time they’d be back.

Just what was she supposed to do after she gave Suga his food and medicine? She was already struggling for thirty minutes to pass by. She cleaned off her spoon and huffed as she placed her chin on her hand. Then she started to think.

The guys said Suga was not like his usual self and that he was practically dead asleep. It was hard for her to see him any worse than how he normally was.

She hummed curiously, “Just how sick is he? Oppa said it’s been going on since Sunday…that means it’s gonna be four days tomorrow.” Standing straight, she wondered out loud, “How did he even get sick? It’s not like he goes out—”

It was like something smacked her in the face as realization took over. She was right – Suga didn’t go out much, but when he did it either involved the gang or herself. And well she was technically a gang thing, referring to them watching over her, so could it be?

The last time she saw Suga outside was after Jiho dropped her off and he was there. That night had been stormy with rain coming and going. He had been waiting for her and since her mother hadn’t mentioned Suga coming in, that meant he was caught in the storm. Not to mention, he walked to the bus stop after.

Jangmi thought she was done feeling guilty for a while, but as she pieced everything together, it came barging back in. She was the reason Suga was now sick. The weather that night must have hit him harder and a day or so later, he was ill.

The part that really tore her up though was that she figured all of the boys knew this and yet they said nothing. It wasn’t very hard to put together, but they didn’t let it be known. These boys were truly something else.

Looking back at the time, she noticed she had around ten minutes until she had to wake up Yoongi. Since she had nothing else to do and guilt was eating her up, she decided to gather everything and head over to his room.

At first, she didn’t want to watch over him. But now, after realizing that she indirectly caused his sickness, she wanted to give her all and make sure she took care of him. Besides, this could also repay him for telling Namjoon not to come that night. She could kill two birds with one stone.

So she served a large bowl of soup and a glass of water, and placed it on a tray that had been next to the medicine. She poured two onto the tray and picked it up. Then she made her way to Suga’s room. Now she still got lost, but if memory served her correctly then his room was the last one, away from all the others.

Jangmi took a deep breath before softly knocking on the door. After some seconds, there was no answer so she tried one more time. Still nothing, so she figured it was safe to head in. She walked in and the air was familiar, just as the room.

His room was the same as the night she slept in there. The only difference was that there was a lump on the bed and it wasn’t Jangmi. She left the door cracked as she fully entered the room then she placed the tray on his desk.

Pulling out her phone, she checked the time and saw that she had around eight minutes left. After checking the time, she turned her gaze to the lump on the bed. The covers were all over the place but the person in the bed. The pillows were also tossed around, so he only laid on the mattress.

She moved her eyes over to the actual person and stopped short. The male on the bed looked nothing like the guy who liked to annoy her.

He’d always been pale, but right now he looked even more flushed. There was a thin layer of sweat that covered his face and he breathed loudly through his mouth. His nose was red and by the tons of tissues on his nightstand and mattress, she knew it was because it had been running.

She frowned as the guilt returned harder than before. Then she moved quietly near him and put her hand out towards his forehead. Placing the back of her hand softly on his forehead, careful to not rouse him, she felt the intense heat.

Taken back by just how warm he was, she moved back swiftly. He was burning up and Jangmi realized how sick he really was. She bit her lip as she stared at her unofficial frenemy. It wasn’t normal for him to feel that temperature.

She pulled out her phone and saw that she had five minutes. That meant she had five minutes to scrounge up all the materials she needed. Shoving her phone in her pocket, she quietly ran out of the room and headed for the kitchen. She grabbed a small pot and threw water in it before placing it on the oven on a low heat.

Then she grabbed a small bowl and ran to the main bathroom and knelt down to look under the sink. She grabbed a small towel and filled the bowl up with nice cool water. She carried it back to the room and placed it on the desk as well.

He was still knocked out and she had three minutes now. She then took off to where she had left her bag and opened it up. She pulled out her tissues that had lotion infused in it to make it easier on the nose. Going over the checklist in her head once more, she nodded and jogged back to Suga’s room.

When she got there, she placed her hands on her knees and breathed deeply. Then she murmured, “Oh my god, I am so not in shape. What is this training with Jungkook even doing?” She straightened and checked the time.

She had one minute and it felt like the longest minute of her life.

Finally, the clock changed and thirty minutes were up. She rushed towards him and went to touch him when she recalled a story Taehyung told her. One time J-Hope poked him over and over and almost lost his finger. She really didn’t know if Taehyung was exaggerating or not, but she was not taking chances.

Jangmi looked around and saw a back scratcher on his desk. It was like a lightbulb lit up beside her head as she picked it up and moved back to Yoongi. Then she took a deep breath before poking him. “Uh, Sucrose, wake up.”

Nothing.

Her lips pursed and she poked him a tad bit harder. “Hey, get up, you’ve got to eat and take your medicine. It’s the only way you’ll get better.”

Honestly, it was like talking to a brick wall.

“Su-crose,” She enunciated the nickname as she poked him twice. “Come on, wakey wakey!”

When he still laid there, fast asleep, Jangmi’s eyebrows furrowed and her lips fell into a frown. Just how was she supposed to repay him and take care of him if he didn’t wake up? She promised the boys she’d take care of their member and gosh darn it – she was going to do it!

She moved the back scratcher under his nose and lightly moved it back and forth. Her plan worked and he began to stir. She could see his nose slightly twitching and then his mouth started as well. His head moved back in the slightest and she moved the back scratcher away.

Right in the nick of time, too, because he sneezed loudly then.

Jangmi watched as Suga’s eyes peeled open slowly. He was disoriented briefly before his dark eyes zeroed in on her and she didn’t know why she was surprised that they narrowed. Maybe because since he was sick, she figured he wouldn’t have enough energy to bash her.

She was totally wrong, but it wasn’t like she could fight back. She’d have to bite her tongue because yes, he was his usual self to her but that didn’t make him any less sick. The guy was pretty bad and she couldn’t make it worse. She had to watch over him, not make it worse.

So before he could make any remarks that would drive her insane, she pulled out one of her soft tissues and shoved it towards him.

He stared at her blankly and said nothing.

Still, Jangmi continued to hold the tissue out to him. He wasn’t going to take it and he wasn’t going to even say anything to her, but just then his previously stuffed nose began to run. He was absolutely positive that he could have snot running down his face and still be filled with swag, but that’s just it. He was Min Suga, who was filled with swag and he just did not let mucus run down his face.

Yoongi pulled the tissue from her hand and sat up slowly, never even looking in her direction. His head pounded as he moved and he couldn’t help but close his eyes tightly. He blew his nose quickly before he opened his eyes and looked over at his garbage that was already filled to the rim with used tissues.

With an inaudible sigh, he tossed it with the other used tissues that sat on his bed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jangmi standing there with a disgusted look on her face. He then turned to look at her directly and the look of disgust vanished quickly as a fake, dorky smile appeared.

“Hmm, you look dumber than usual,” He told her dryly, his voice completely scratchy from being ill. “Did Jungkook knock you around a little too much today?”

She had no idea how he was able to sound so…like himself, but she certainly didn’t miss it. She should’ve treasured when he was sleeping. Why was she so eager to wake him up again?

The boys’ pouting faces, even Namjoon’s ugly one, appeared in her mind and her eye twitched slightly. Oh yeah…they so owe me.

Yoongi’s voice had a rasping quality to it like he had just gotten it back. It was clear that he hardly talked since he'd gotten sick. His throat must have been hurting him badly as well as his head.

She faked a laugh and said, “Oh Sucrose, you’re so funny.” His eyebrows rose at that. “Anyways, you’ve got to eat.”

He looked away from her. “Don’t want it.”

Jangmi rolled her eyes. “I didn’t make it.”

...

“Well, are you going to starve me?” He still didn’t face her, but she caught him looking at her from the corner of his eye. Her eye twitched, but she took a deep breath and tried to keep herself at bay. “Why are you here?”

She walked towards his desk and grabbed the bowl of soup. As she did this, she answered him, “The others had some meeting that came up to go to. You didn’t know?”

No. No, he did not know, but he figured whatever it was it had to be important if they supposedly left her to watch over him. He didn’t know what was going on, but he’d just use his sickness as an excuse. After all, it was true.

“Oh, I must have forgot that they told me while I was sleeping for the last four hours,” He responded sardonically, his tone making her feel dumb.

Jangmi bit her lip roughly before she spoke through gritted teeth. “Yes, well anyway, they asked me to watch over you.” The corners of her lips twitched up. “Because I wouldn’t do this out of my freewill. Obviously.” While technically she wasn’t supposed to antagonize a sick person, she could still throw hidden jabs at him.

But Yoongi didn’t even hesitate. “Yeah and there’s a reason I was unconscious when they asked you. I mean why would I agree to let someone, who can’t even take care of herself, take care of me?” He blinked lazily at her as he drawled, “Obviously.”

She wanted to scream and rip her hair out. How, how, did he still rile her up when he was sick? Wasn’t he supposed to be in so much pain that he couldn’t even speak? The boys had lied to her! Sick or not, Min Yoongi was still the same old, rotten Sucrose.

Her eye twitched dangerously as she willed herself to remain impassive. She had a job to do after all. All she could hope for now was that their meeting would get wrapped up soon. She clenched her teeth when Suga made a tick-tock noise.

Very soon, or she feared she’d kill him.

•••

{Seasons Bar}

The bar was quaint. It was small and the lights were dimmed. There were tables scattered around and a pool table in the far corner. Small speakers hidden played all kinds of music, completing the relaxed atmosphere. The long bar had several people sitting there, chatting with one another or ordering a drink.

It wasn’t as packed as most nights, but there was still quite a group. Usually, this was a hangout for some gangs. Tonight, there was only one here.

And that gang stood around the pool table, laughing and teasing one another. On the other side of the pool table was a large chair. In it, sat a man with blonde hair, so blonde that it looked silver. He watched s with an amused expression and chuckled at their behavior.

“Just face it,” Kyung piped up, a large smirk on his lips. “You lost, hyung.”

Jaehyo made a face and the others laughed at him. Then Kyung looked over his shoulder at the man, his leader, sitting. He jerked his chin, “You want some of this, Jiho?”

Jiho smirked and just as he was about to respond, he saw some people enter the bar in his peripheral. His smirk did not fade and only widened as his eyebrows rose elegantly. He stared the newcomers down as he spoke to Kyung. “The question is, do you want some of that?”

Kyung’s eyebrows shot together. Then he followed his leader’s gaze and understanding filled him. He straightened and tightened his grip on the cue stick. “Well, well, well.”

The other five remaining members looked and their eyebrows rose. They weren’t worried in the least. In fact, they were excited. They hadn’t had a good fight for a while. Although they were excited, they all stood there casually. They did not get tense, but their eyes sharpened. They were on guard even if they didn’t look like it.

“Aren’t you all far away from home,” Jiho spoke up, breaking the standoff they all had found themselves in.

The bar seemed to go silent as they watched the two gangs stare at each other. No one spoke or made much noise. This wouldn’t be the first bar fight to happen, but they still had to be cautious. Block B were unpredictable. BTS could be just as dangerous, but they had more class and they wouldn’t hurt anyone they didn’t have problems with.

Namjoon remained hard-faced.

Jiho stood and counted as he pointed to each BTS member. He clicked his tongue, “Ah, but you’re one member short. Where’s good, old Suga at?” When none of the six replied, he chuckled softly, almost dangerously. “Please, not all at once.”

Still, the members of BTS didn’t break their composure. They kept their faces expressionless as they stood there and watched Block B. They were also on guard. They hadn’t come here for a fight, but they did come as backup for their leader and if a fight broke out…well they were ready.

Namjoon only stared at his old childhood friend. It had certainly been quite a while since they had seen each other. Watching his old friend, he couldn’t help but picture their mutual friend. Jiho reminded him of Jangmi and their good times when they were younger.

But things had changed. The good times had faded and they were no longer the three best friends. Then Namjoon instantly remembered why he and Jiho had parted ways. His expression hardened as he stared at Jiho and his eyes became dark.

Jiho watched his old friend’s expression change and he tilted his head at him. Then he moved closer and ignored when both his gang and BTS tensed slightly. Namjoon was the exception. He had remained still as Jiho approached him.

When Jiho was about a foot away from him, he spoke, his tone practically mocking, “And to what do I owe this unwelcome surprise to?” He said it so jovially that you could barely hear the hostility. Jiho was always good at masking his feelings.

He leaned in and mock-whispered with a hand around the side of his mouth. “You know, you’re way out of your turf.” His eyes flickered to Jungkook and he couldn’t help but smirk. “And not on open ground.”

Jungkook’s eyes narrowed slightly, instantly recalling earlier when Jangmi had mentioned open ground. But the maknae stayed still.

“I didn’t come here for a fight,” Namjoon finally spoke, his tone relaxed.

Jiho looked back at him and stared. After a few seconds, he broke out in laughter that was anything but cheerful. He intertwined his fingers together and said, “Are you sure about that? Because no one shows up at a rival gang’s usual hangout with their gang to just play pool.”

Namjoon glanced at s before looking back at Jiho with a careless shrug. “Just a precaution.”

Jiho’s eyes went back to Jungkook and he spoke softly, his expression unreadable. “Yeah, you all seem to think that way.”

The leader of BTS wasn’t confused at Jiho’s comments towards his maknae. As soon as they left their headquarters, Jungkook immediately informed his hyungs, bar Yoongi, about Zico’s visit at the pizzeria.

Namjoon took his silence and decided now was a good time to speak. “I came here to talk about Jangmi.”

Jiho’s eyes flickered back to Namjoon’s and they flashed with something dark. But when Namjoon blinked that dark flash was gone as if it hadn’t even been there. “You want to talk about Jangmi?” He repeated before he nodded as he sneered dangerously. “Okay, yeah, let’s talk about Jangmi.”

At his tone, the five members behind Namjoon tensed. This caused the rest of Block B to move closer to their leader. They were just daring BTS to make a move – one move and they’d attack. Honestly, they were so antsy and they were just praying that there would be a fight tonight.

“What do you want to discuss about Jangmi specifically?” Jiho asked him as he tapped his chin with his finger. He was being sardonic, mocking, and all because he had one specific bone to pick with his old friend. He snapped his fingers, “I got it! Was it when you lied to her about me?”

Namjoon expected this and he had gone through many ways he could have brought Jangmi’s situation up, but they all ended the same. Although he didn’t show it, Jiho was absolutely furious. Namjoon knew this, so he figured he’d get it over with. If Jiho wanted to chew him out, let him.

Let him say his piece and then he’d say his.

“We can talk about how ed up that was, mm?” Jiho stepped closer as he tilted his head.

Namjoon did not falter. “ed up or not, you know why I did it.”

“Do I?” Jiho asked and he clicked his tongue. “Or better yet, do you really want to trust what I believe? Because I believe you didn’t tell her about me because you wanted her to yourself.” He pointed at Namjoon, “You wanted it how it used to be before, when it was just you and her.”

That’s right. Back then, it hadn’t always been the three of them. Oh no, back then, it had been Jangmi and Namjoon for years. Then Jiho moved across the street and befriended Namjoon, who later introduced him to Jangmi.

It’s funny, isn’t it? Namjoon brought them together and he was the one to keep them apart. Very funny how life works.

“I did it to protect her,” Namjoon shot back.

“Protect her?” Jiho scoffed and then he smirked, “Well, how did that go for you, Joonie?” He leaned in and said quietly, his eyes filled with mirth. “Not very well considering she came running to me as soon as she found out.”

Namjoon’s patience was being tested. He thought, after avoiding Zico, he’d be able to control his emotions with him better. Namjoon and Jiho often got on each other’s nerves, like friends usually did, but the problem was that they were so similar. This meant neither was satisfied with arguments if it didn’t go their way. Jangmi used to play referee.

Used to.

“Everything I’ve done has been to protect her,” Namjoon’s tone was his leader one. It was commanding, a no-bull tone. “I tried to keep her away from all of this gang bull. Unlike you, who just threw her under the ing bus.”

“I sent the message to protect her—”

Namjoon didn’t let him finish. Jiho had his turn and all he did was piss him off, so now it was his turn. “All you’ve done is put a bigger target on her head.”

Jiho stayed silent as he stared at Namjoon darkly. Then he looked away and turned to the onlookers. “Everybody out. Now.”

No one protested and immediately left the bar as quickly as they could. They hadn’t heard much, only when the two would