“I said, Ami’s just clinging onto Jungkook for attention. Do you need another repeat?” he asks in a deadly quiet voice.

    “You’re absolutely disgusting,” Lina says coldly. “How dare you say that about her. You’re the last person Ami needs approval from, so stop ing around in someone else’s business.”

    Yoongi lets out a low chuckle, and nears Lina, so that he is towering over her.

    “Someone else’s business? Jungkook’s my best friend. I’m just trying to protect him from evil, conniving people who want to use him for their own purposes.”

    Lina does not falter from Yoongi’s attempts to intimidate her. Instead, she steps towards Yoongi, closing the gap between them.

    “Doesn’t that describe you?” she whispers in a voice filled with hatred.

    Yoongi’s lips curl up into a malicious smirk. He lowers his face so that it is only a few inches from hers.

    “Oh, no,” he sneers. “Are you still sad about that?”

    “No,” Lina responds sweetly, smiling. “It’s just that if we’re talking about despicable two-faced monsters, we certainly have to mention you.”

    They are coolly apprehending each other with piercing glares. It feels like a frosty wind has just passed through the area; their looks are deadly. Yoongi becomes subconsciously aware of a crowd that has formed around Lina and him, gaping at their altercation with wide eyes. They are keeping a good 5 foot distance from the pair.

    Their fight is not defined by what is said, but by what is implied. Both of them read between the lines. Both of them know what the other means.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Yoongi tells Lina in a low voice. “You’re a complete loser. You don’t have friends, you contribute nothing to this school, and nobody likes you.”

You’re a weak, pathetic girl who was hidden from the truth until I revealed it to you.

“It’s better than being a narcissistic douchebag who thinks he’s all that because his daddy’s rich,” Lina calmly retorts.

It’s better than being a manipulative, blood-thirsty gangster who ruined a 13 year old girl’s life.

Yoongi gives her a malicious smirk and moves even closer towards her. They are separated by only the tiniest of spaces.

    “You’re talking about my rich father?” He leans down towards Lina, and whispers in her ear in a voice so, so very soft. Yoongi feels shudders run through Lina’s body and he savors that for a moment, savors the effect that he continues to have on her, savors the fact that he is a sadistic bastard and revels in it. God, he wants to grab Lina right now, press her up against the wall, let her know that she’s his and his only.

    “Whose mommy is the chairwoman of Fulton & Park?” he asks.

She jerks backwards, her eyes wide.

    Yoongi knows her weak spots. He knows how to play Lina like a piano.

    “And whose mommy,” he continues in a smooth, venomous voice, “is the-,”

    Suddenly, someone slides in between Yoongi and Lina. Yoongi jerks backwards, incredibly irritated.

    “Stop it,” Ami Hwang says, stepping in front of Lina. “If you have a problem with me, Yoongi, you can say it to my face. Don’t drag others into it.”

    Lina looks at her in shock. “Ami,” she breathes.

    Yoongi’s lip curls. “Well, well. It’s Ami Hwang in the flesh. I can’t believe you’ve managed to separate yourself from your laptop long enough to talk to someone!”

    Titters rise from the crowd. Hoseok grabs Yoongi’s arm. “Dude, cut it out,” Hoseok mutters. Yoongi pushes him away.

    “You think you can get away with using Jungkook?” he growls. “Please. You should be eternally grateful that he was willing to put up with you for so long. He always talked about how annoying you were.”

Ami’s eyes dart to Jungkook, who is staring at her impassively. Yoongi can clearly see the hurt on Ami’s face, no matter how much she tries to mask it.

    “That’s not true-,” Namjoon protests, but to Yoongi’s surprise, Jungkook cuts him off.

    “He’s not lying,” Jungkook says coldly. “Dealing with you was such a burden.”

    Yoongi’s eyebrows pop up. Lina gapes at Jungkook in astonishment.

    “No one forced you to do anything,” Ami says angrily.

    “I know. But I wanted to be nice.” Yoongi realizes that Jungkook is using that voice. The one he usually reserves for missions, and for gang business. “I didn’t know how much of a you really were.”

    Yoongi whirls around to face Jungkook, taken aback despite himself. His eyes are wide as he immediately realizes the implications of what he has said. There is a sharp intake of breath from Lina. Different levels of indignation and disbelief are present on the rest of BTS’ faces.

No one says anything. Jungkook stares at Ami, stricken. Ami looks like she is about to cry.

    Then Marcus Johnson comes up behind Ami, a firm, unyielding look on his face, and places a hand on her shoulder. “If Ami’s a , then I’m a fairy princess.”

Jungkook blanches.

    “You’re absolutely pathetic,” Marcus tells Jungkook, approaching him. Although he is a few inches shorter than him, Marcus doesn’t cower. He looks Jungkook straight in the eye. Yoongi feels an odd rush of admiration towards his classmate. “Stop trying to put Ami down.”

    Lina grabs Ami’s hand. “Let’s go,” she murmurs, and then turns to Yoongi. “I hope you’re happy, Yoongi.”

“Ami,” Jungkook whispers, but she does not turn back around. Marcus, Annabelle, Preet, and Lina create a bubble around her as they walk away. Through the cracks of their human shield, however, Yoongi can see how devastated Ami looks. It reminds him of another heartbroken face from his past- one that he quickly pushes out of his mind.

Dammit, Yoongi thinks, slamming a hand against the wall. He stares after Lina’s receding figure. What the hell is wrong with me?

    Yoongi is lying down in a corner of the school, his backpack underneath his head. His eyes are closed as he basks in the sunlight coming from the window across him. He should be in English right now, but honestly, he couldn’t care less. He is not in the mood to deal with anything. He just wants some time to think.

    It seems like Yoongi’s mind permanently shuttles between two states these days: loneliness and guilt. He is so close to Lina, but so far away at the same time. His mind flashes back to the sensation of his lips near the nape of her neck. A pang of longing hits his body. The innocent, pure love that Yoongi and Lina once held for each other has warped into something darker, dominated by twisted, mature needs and desires.

    Yoongi knows this is ed up. He knows he needs to get over her now. Like, now.

    But he can’t bring himself to do so.

    And then, as if his subconscious has somehow pulled the object of his thoughts towards him, he feels soft fingers slide down his cheek.

    Yoongi feigns sleep as the hand continues its path down his face. It gently pushes a lock of hair behind his ear. It traces his jawline with its palm, moves down further-

    And then grips his neck.

    His eyes dazedly crack open. Lina is hovering over him, her legs on either side of his body, looking down at him with an intense, burning stare.

    “Are you going to kill me, Lina?” he murmurs.

    She does not say anything. She merely looks him straight in the eyes.

    Yoongi sits up, so that their bodies are touching and Lina is practically straddling him. He coldly appraises her as she continues to keep her hand wrapped around his neck. Yoongi sees Lina’s eyes darken; a shiver runs through her body and he smirks, his tongue slowly running over his lips.

    “Caught you,” he says in a low voice.

    Lina looks away. She seems to be frozen in place.

    Yoongi tilts her face so that it is directed towards him. He laces his arms around her neck.

    “What’s wrong, Lina? Cat got your tongue?”

    Finally, Lina releases her grip on Yoongi’s neck, but does not pull away from him. His arms stay around her. Tension lays thick in the air; so heavy it could be cut with a blunt knife. Yoongi does not know what Lina is going to do next- is she going to hit him and shove him away? Is she going to kiss him, vent all the frustrations he knows they have both been feeling?

And then Lina does something completely unexpected: she simply slump down and lays her head on his chest.

Yoongi’s eyes widen. His mouth goes dry. Lina’s actions are intimate- not in the detached manner of one simply expressing their inhibitions, but in a strange, emotionally close way. Without truly realizing what he is doing, his arms move down to pull her closer towards him and then rest on her back. To a normal passerby, it would look like the two of them were cuddling, but they are not, they cannot be, because how could the two of them ever be doing something so personal and affectionate? Yoongi is sure Lina can feel his heart thumping through the fabric of his shirt and he hates himself for it, but at the same time he wants her to know how much she matters to him, even though this could ultimately be his downfall.

They stay like that for a while, relishing the sunlight as they embraced each other. Yoongi comes this close to kissing her.

This close.

But he doesn’t.

Yoongi sees her later that day in History. She acts like nothing ever happened.

Good. As far as anyone else is concerned, nothing did happen. That was a moment of weakness for both of them. An embarrassing mistake.

Nothing happened.

Nothing.

A/N: i get like exponenntially more thirsty at 3 am so