Chapter 10

It is questionable why Jungkook is in such a great mood right now. You are perplexed as you watch Jungkook cheerfully eat his food in front of you. Well, it might be because you’re both on good terms now, or it could be that he is hungry to death, making him particularly excited to have lunch. You can bet it’s the latter.

Jungkook was so focused on his food that he did not see the smudge of sauce on his left cheek. You let out a quiet chuckle as you understood that when he eats carelessly, he acts like a toddler. When he heard you laughing to yourself, he looked at you.

“Stop giggling and eat.” He flicked your forehead after scolding you. You stick your tongue out at him before eating your mashed potato.

While eating, you remembered not answering Taehyung's call a while ago. You felt a tinge of remorse about it. If it was truly important, he should have phoned again, so you reasoned that you could just call him again later to find out what it was about.

"Yah! Are you even listening to me?" 

You blinked twice and inclined your head to the side as you shifted your eyes to Jungkook. You were so engrossed in your thoughts that you did not hear what he was saying.

"O-of course. You have sauce on your cheek which distracted me." You reasoned because knowing his moody self, he will get annoyed in a blink of an eye if you admit you were not listening. 

He wiped his cheek with the table napkin and flashed you a cheeky look before sipping his banana milk. 

Your gaze was drawn inexorably to his lips. The cut on his lips is still visible, and you recall asking him about it earlier, but he did not respond, so you debated whether to approach him about it again.

Jungkook noticed how you fidget a little at your spot. He raised a brow at you and asks, "What's the matter? You can't finish your food?"

You shook your head no and took the courage to ask him now. 

"Are the rumors true?" When you asked him that question, his brow furrowed.

"Isn't it called a rumor because it's untrue?" 

"Well, yes. But, isn't a rumor started with something factual?" You retorted, and he gave a little nod.

"So what rumor are you curious about?"

"Did you really get yourself into a fight with our seniors?" You made him touch his lip by pointing at it. You glared at him as he traced his cut with his forefinger and simply shrugged as an answer. 

"Are you really out of your mind? You could have ended up in the hospital!" You know you are overreacting, but hearing from your schoolmates that he was outmanned is really concerning.

"Are you underestimating me?" With a sneer, he asked you. "I'm not weak, Sunmi."

You shook your head at his arrogance. Knowing him, he will not tell you everything that happened in detail, but you are eager to know it all, so you kept on interrogating him. "I heard a group backed you up though." 

"What?!" He annoyingly slammed his hand on the table which caught the attention of some students. Your eyes widen at his sudden reaction. "I'm the one who saved their *s!" 

"Relax! I'm just confirming if what I heard is true." You facepalmed. "So you're saying they're the ones who are in trouble and you helped them?"

"ing yes." He answered half pissed off.

"Watch your words." You warned him then asks in a sarcastic tone. "Why the hell will you get yourself on other people's fight? Are you playing hero roles now?"

He was about to answer you when a guy approached your table out of the blue. He seemed familiar but you can't remember who he was.

"Got a sec, man?" The guy asked Jungkook but he ignored him.

You rolled your eyes at Jungkook's rudeness and answered the guy on his behalf. "He's free. I'll leave you two for-" 

"I already said no." Jungkook cut you midsentence. You throw a curious look at him because you surely did not hear him say no to this guy.

The guy released a low chuckle. "Don't you want to think about it first?"

"Think about what?" You blurted out your own thoughts which made the guy look in your direction. He unexpectedly smiled at you which shock you so you awkwardly turn your head to the side and look somewhere else.

Jungkook stood up and faced him with his intimidating look. You can't describe the tension building up between them. His hands slipped inside his pockets and clicked his tongue before saying, "I'm not interested in your little gang or whatsoever so stop pestering me." 

A playful smirk slowly forming on the guy's lips and to your surprise, you caught his gaze shifted towards you yet again. "You're Sunmi, right?"

You don't know why but you started to get nervous. Seeing how they interact surely screams trouble.

"Keep her out of this, RM." Jungkook furiously said with his dark expression.

RM held his hands up like he's surrendering. "Chill, man. I'm just asking."  

He slowly put down his hands and turned around. You thought he will finally leave but he paused and suddenly speaks. "They're planning to retaliate and dragging someone close to you isn't impossible."

You caught Jungkook turn his head to look at you and tighten his fist. You kept quiet, trying your best to understand the situation.

"You know you need us, JK."

He left you dumbfounded with his last words. You were going to ask Jungkook who the hell is that RM guy and why did he call Jungkook, JK? Is that a codename or what? And what does he meant by dragging someone close to Jungkook? Is he pertaining to you? Disturbing thoughts filled your mind. You are freaking confused and you need answers.

Classes ended with your mind still overthinking about the incident in the cafeteria earlier. Jungkook was also silent and staring into space in all your classes in the afternoon. Something is definitely up and you are aware that you're going to be involved. Your curiosity is slowly killing you inside but, you controlled yourself. You don't want to act impulsively and make things even worse.

You glance at Jungkook's seat and sighed. He already left when the bell rang. He was obviously in a hurry because he did not even budge or halted when you asked him where is he going.

The idea of him going to meet up with RM popped up in your head. It's possible. He might be also curious about the meaning behind his remarks before leaving them.

"Ugh! I don't know anymore!" You yelled out of frustration. Good thing everyone already left.

All this overthinking is draining you. You are now regretting not following Jungkook when he left. You thought that maybe some of your questions will possibly be answered if ever you followed him. You don't know what to do anymore. You want to brush it all off and forget about it but, you just cannot because something is really off with that confrontation between Jungkook and RM.

Unexpectedly, your phone rings and you immediately answered it.

"Oh, hi. I'm sorry I wasn't able to answer your call earlier." You apologized to Taehyung right away, still feeling a bit guilty.

You heard his faint chuckle on the other line before he answers, "No worries." 

"So why did you called?" You asked him as you swing your bag on your shoulder, ready to leave the classroom.

"Just wanted to check on you." He straightforwardly answered which surprised you. You were definitely touched by his thoughfulness.

"Oh... I'm okay now so don't worry. Thanks again for all your help." 

"Friends help each other, right?" His reply put a smile on your lips. It's really nice to know someone is actually acknowledging you as their friend. You automatically feel special.

Speaking of friends, you suddenly remembered the conflict between him and Jungkook. "By the way, I'm also sorry for what Jungkook did. He's a jerk but, I swear he's not that bad. He just misunderstood the situation and he promised to apologize-"

"Sunmi." He called your name to stop you from talking. His tone was soothing in a way you can't explain.

"It's fine. If I were in his shoes, I might have also done the same thing." He continued which made you appreciate him being so understanding. All you can reply was a genuine thank you.

"V, aren't you done yet?" You heard someone else's voice talking to Taehyung on the other line.

"I'll catch up." Taehyung replied to the other guy. You got the signal that you should already end the call because he might be needed somewhere else.

"Make it fast. You don't want to miss the chance to meet RM's new recruit." 

Your face fell after hearing RM's name from the other guy. You can't believe Taehyung is connected with that suspicious guy.

"Hey Sunmi, I need to go-"

"Where are you?!" You asked him right away. Your curiosity is building up yet again inside you.

Taehyung did not respond immediately so you asked him again and again. "Are you still in school? Can I go to you?"

You wanting to know his whereabouts is a bit odd for Taehyung. He finds it strange especially with your sudden change of tone. "Did you forgot what the nurse advised you this morning?"

You ignored his question and asked him again. "I know but, I'm okay now so where are you now? Are you going to meet someone?" Your being persistent and nosy made Taehyung conclude you know something about their agenda. The last thing he wanted was for you to get involved with his other business.

"Sunmi, It's best for you to go home and rest."

"But I really need to know-"

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He ended the call.

You put down your phone and stared at its screen. You mentally cursed yourself for being so stupid. You are sure Taehyung found you weird for asking too much out of nowhere that's why he did not answer all your questions.

You bite your lower lip as you put every little detail you know together. You begin to mumble your thoughts to yourself. Your eyes widen at your realization.

You abruptly put your phone inside your pocket and turned to leave but someone knocked on your classroom's front door, capturing your attention.

You raised your brows towards the three tall guys standing in the doorway. You guessed they're on the higher grade because you're familiar with your batchmates and lower years. The guy standing in the middle of them smirked at you and asks, "Going home, Missy?" 

You can already sense these guys are no good so you took a step back and turned to walk out towards the back door but to your surprise, there were two other guys guarding it. You tried to act normal, not wanting them to know you're scared and nervous at the same time. However, your knees were already trembling.

"W-what do you need?" You stuttered.

"Come with us." The guy with ear-piercing said and signaled the two to get you. Even though you moved away and resisted, they eventually got you and held your wrist.

"Yah! Let go of me! Who are you?! Help!" You shouted hoping someone nearby can hear you.

The guy who's acting like the leader walked closer to you and held your chin. "You'll know later."

Your phone rings again, the screen lighting up in your pocket was visible which was caught by the guy's sharp eyes.

He fished out your phone and you had a glimpse on who's calling you on this wrong timing.

Rudolph calling...

"Jungkook." You mouthed and they noticed it.

The guy smirked as he answered the call. 

"Sunmi!" Uneasiness was obvious in Jungkook's voice. "Are you home? What are you doing now?"

"Jung-" The guy on your right side covered your mouth while the person holding your phone puts his forefinger on his lips and hushed you.

"Sunmi? Are you there?! Hello?" 

The guy faked a cough before speaking, "Congratulations, Jungkook."

"What the fu-" Jungkook cursed on the line.

"Heard you are officially Bangtan's new member now." His words are full of sarcasm, but it's clear that he's mad. 

Your eyes popped out with that revelation. You knew it. You knew that Jungkook went to see RM and agreed to join their gang which might be Taehyung's group too. And the people who are planning to retaliate and hurt the people close to Bangtan members are the ones they fought last time.

"Right after you injured one of us? How lovely." He continued. 

"Don't you ing dare hurt her!" You can already imagine Jungkook fuming in rage right now. 

The guy laughed mockingly before answering back, "Oh, I won't hurt your dear girlfriend." 

Your facial expression instantly turned sour at the mention of you being Jungkook's girlfriend. 

"We'll release her scratchless in one condition..." He trailed off then brushed the back of his hand on your arm. You're disgusted by his actions. Your eyes getting teary now.

"You'll let us break your arm so we'll get even."

Author's Note:
I'm back after a long hiatus again.

Comment down your thoughts and reaction to this chapter.

Thank you in advance.

Chapter 11 will be posted on April 16, 2023 (Sunday)
 

- btsvbabylove