Jungkook had made it his personal mission to do everything for Soo Jung. He was always on hand to help her write notes, to help her carry her food, to carry her bag… basically anything that required the use of hands, he was there to help. Then there was the issue with her twisted ankle, he had offered, on more than one occasion, to carry her if walking was too hard. She had protested, her face flaming red each time, and it wasn’t just because of the other boy’s teasing. The thought of being that close to Jungkook made her feel jittery and nervous. She had no idea why she felt like that, but the feeling scared her a little.

She caught him constantly glancing at her from the corner of his eye to make sure she was okay. If she so much as winced, his worry skyrocketed. He hated seeing her in any kind of pain, and she hated to see him so worried. She found the attention a little strange at first, no one had ever cared for her like this. Yoongi was a good person, but he often struggled at showing it. His military upbringing raising him with the belief that feelings and emotions were for girls (An outdated idea that made her go off on more rants than Yoongi could count). It didn’t mean that he didn’t care, he just didn’t always know how to show it. Jungkook didn’t have any such reservations. He had no problems showing just how concerned he was for her.

Namjoon had caught up with them one day in the cafeteria, he had been happy to see her up and about. Soo Jung and Jungkook both thanked him for helping out the day of the accident. He had waved off their apology, saying that he didn’t do anything to be thanked for. He ended up joining them for lunch that day and he fit in with the group straight away. From that day on, he became a familiar and friendly face to them.

A week after the accident, Jungkook and Soo Jung were in her dorm as he helped her change the bandage around her hand. It was a slow process as he carefully unwrapped the old bandage, making sure that he didn’t hurt her. The care that he poured into the simple actions made her smile. She had been patched up many times after training sessions and missions at the Institute. But they had always been very clinical and very matter of fact. The doctor on site would always just do what was necessary to stop the injury from getting worse and then sent them on their way. There was no kind questioning like, “Does it hurt?” or “Are you ok?” Questions which Jungkook asked her on a regular basis.

She healed up quickly, the one advantage of being experimented on. Her body healed rapidly so it took less time than normal for her to be completely healed. Jungkook joked that it was because he had taken such good care of her.

Two weekends after the accident, she had decided to go and spend the weekend with Yoongi. She had barely seen him since the accident and she knew that he would be worried about her. They had opted for takeout, neither of them skilled in the kitchen. They chatted as they ate until Yoongi brought up the topic of her and Jungkook. “So, you’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Jungkook lately.” he commented, trying to sound nonchalant about it. She sighed and put down her chopsticks. “We’re just friends.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

He grinned at her as he mimicked her pose. “Did I say anything?” he said, his smirk growing. A faint blush tinted her skin. “Shut up. We both know what you're assuming, and I’m telling you that we’re just friends, nothing more.” She said as she picked up her chopsticks, her rice suddenly becoming the most interesting thing in the world. He laughed as he looked at her. “You know that there’s nothing wrong with wanting a relationship with him. From what I’ve seen he’s a good lad. Good family history too.” He added. Soo Jung threw her chopsticks back onto the table. “I really wish you wouldn’t run background checks on my friends.” She muttered.

Yoongi shrugged, “Old habits.” He said as he began eating. An awkward silence descended over them, Soo Jung now playing with her rice absentmindedly. “I mean we are just friends… but sometimes I get nervous around him, you know? Like at the stupidest times. Sometimes just having him near me makes me feel nervous. But not bad nervous. It’s a good kind of nervous? Ugh, I don’t know.” She said, feeling confused.

Yoongi looked up at her, a slight feeling of pity inside of him for her. She was twenty years old and couldn’t recognise her own feelings. But then he remembered how stupid love makes a person and decided not to say anything. He was worried that if he said anything he could scare her away from her feelings from Jungkook. She was still trying to work out a million things with being a normal twenty year old, adding in a complicated thing like love might just be too much.

“There’s chocolate ice cream in the freezer.” He said, knowing that it was her favourite. The corners of her lips twitched upwards at his words. “You’re the best.” She said as she picked up their dishes and took them to the kitchen. He heard a ping from his computer and he frowned. He made his way over to the computer and clicked on the notification on the screen. It was an email from a private, secure server. Even though he had officially left the military, he still often consulted with his old superiors, but they never used this particular server to contact him.

This server was different.

He glanced through to the kitchen and saw Soo Jung cleaning up the dishes. He clicked on the email, a feeling of dread filling him with each word. It was from the Institution. He swore quietly under his breath. As far as he knew, the Institution had been shut down, the people in charge either arrested or in hiding. He had no idea that anyone had even been considering restarting it. Disgust filled him at their request for a report on Soo Jung so that they could assess whether or not she would be a viable choice for their new programme.

His hands curled into fists. He had no intention of letting her go anywhere near those people again. He had watched her turn from a terrified pre-teen into a beautiful young woman who was still in the process of healing. She had been a mess when he had first taken her out of the Institute. She barely slept or ate, terrified that someone would break down the door and take her back to the Institute. He didn’t know exactly what she had gone through there, and the little that he did know was enough to turn his stomach. They took in children and experimented on them with drugs and a manner of torture methods to turn them into assassins. Some of the children were sold to them by mothers who didn’t want their children, others were adopted from orphanages.

Soo Jung’s mother had sold her to feed her drug habit. The money the Institute gave her would have been enough to feed her drug habit for years.

It had taken months before Soo Jung had begun to trust him. He never wanted to break that fragile trust that had been so hard to obtain. He thought of her like she was his own daughter. He had no intention of letting her go back to the life that she had been raised to live. He knew that if she were to go back to that life, it would be the end of her. She would completely shut down and there would be no way to get her back.

He jumped when she appeared with two bowls in her hand. “Ice cream.” She said as she put his bowl in his spot.  He quickly shut down the computer, not wanting to risk her seeing the email. “You better have split it evenly this time.” he joked as he went back to the table, hoping that she couldn’t sense that anything was wrong.

“Sir we have received intelligence that the email was read without any response.”

A thick set man sat on a plush chair, a cigarette between his fingers. He chuckled loudly at his subordinate’s words. “I anticipated this. Our surveillance up until this point suggested that he would not be interested in cooperating.” He took a long drag of his cigarette, letting the smoke circle around him. “Start phase two.” He ordered. His subordinate nodded before leaving the large office. The man chuckled. “It’s been a long time, Soo Jung. I’ll be seeing you soon.”