“Because you mean more to me than anyone else ever has in my entire life.” She admitted in a terrified whisper.

She was already convinced that he hated her, she thought that nothing could hurt with her confessing. She held his gaze as she spoke, her eyes shining with love, fear and resignation. Love – the foreign emotion that had now consumed her heart. Fear – of Jungkook's reaction to her words. Resignation – to the fact that there was no way someone as pure and kind as Jungkook would ever love her.

“It might sound pathetic, but you became a source of light and comfort in my life. You're the first person I want to call when I’m happy or when I’m sad. You’re on my mind more than I’ll ever admit and I couldn’t bear the thought of you getting hurt because of me.” she admitted, her voice raw with emotion as she spilled out all of her hidden feelings for the black-haired boy.

“Soo Jung… why didn’t you ever tell me?” he asked, his face only inches away from hers, his voice barely a whisper. She ducked her head, “I didn’t know how. I've never had friends let alone these types of feelings for anyone before. To be honest, they terrified me. I don’t know how to get close to people but with you…” she raised her head to meet his gaze once again. “It happened so naturally. I was too afraid that if I told you that I would end up losing you and I just couldn’t risk that.” His hands slid down to rest on her shoulders. “Soo Jung… I thought that after what happened that my feelings for you would change. But they didn’t. Even though I found out some shocking things about you… my feelings didn’t change.” He admitted softly.

“Your feelings?” she asked hesitantly, barely daring to breathe, let alone hope. She couldn’t let that small kernel of hope blossom into anything more. He nodded, his hands linking with hers. “Soo Jung, I like you.” She gasped slightly at his confession. “Y-You like me?” she stuttered out, not believing what she was hearing. “Yes, I like you, so please don’t leave me.” he begged. She shook her head in disbelief, “How can you say that? After everything you found out about me? Jungkook, I’m a horrible person.” she said, fighting back the tears that were once again threatening to spill down her cheeks.

He gently wiped away the tears that were forming in the corner of her eyes. “Because I know you. And I know that you're a good person. I’m sorry I reacted so badly the other day. I was in shock. I know it’s going to take a while for us to open up fully to each other, and there's a lot of things that we need to talk about and sort through, but we can’t do that if you leave.” He said, a pleading tone to his voice.

“Don’t leave.” He begged. “I should have listened to you. I shouldn’t have said the things I did. I didn’t even give you a chance to explain. I was so scared and confused and I blurted things out without knowing the full story.” He said, his grip tightening on her hands, hoping that she wouldn’t pull away from him. “Jungkook… how you reacted… it was completely normal. I can’t imagine what you must have been thinking. The question is though… are you sure you can forgive me? For the things that I've done?” she asked. He nodded without hesitation, his gaze never wavering. “Yes. I mean, to be completely honest, I’m still in shock and I'm still trying to work everything out, but there's one thing I know for certain; I know we can’t change your past, but I know that I want to be a part of your future.”

She felt tears burn behind her eyes again, but this time, they were of happiness. “Jungkook.” She threw her arms around his neck, startling the taller boy. “I like you too.” She said, her voice muffled into his chest. A low chuckle made its way out of his mouth as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “I like you, Soo Jung.” He repeated as he held her tightly against his body.

The moment was perfect… until he felt her wince against him, “Soo Jung?” he asked as he pulled away from her, “What’s wrong?” he asked, noticing the pained look on her face. “It’s nothing. I just got a little injury the other day.” She said, her hand subconsciously covering her side. Jungkook frowned when he saw the bandages wrapped around her abdomen from between her t-shirt and her sweatpants. “What kind of injury?” he asked worriedly. “It’s nothing. Really.” She said, shooting him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Jungkook frowned at her. “Soo Jung… if we’re going to make this work then we need to be honest with each other.” He said. She sighed, knowing what his reaction was going to be. “I may have gotten shot.” She mumbled.

Jungkook's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline, his face draining of colour. “Sh-Shot? You got shot?” he said, his voice higher than normal. He suddenly remembered when she had been wrestling with Namjoon for the gun he had heard two gunshots.

“Jungkook, RUN!” she screamed over her shoulder as she grabbed Namjoon's hand that held the gun, trying to disarm him. Jungkook struggled to his feet, but he was too scared to move. His legs felt like they were made of lead as he watched Soo Jung battle Namjoon for the gun. He flinched, his eyes screwing shut as the gun sounded twice.

“Soo Jung.” He said, his eyes darting down to her stomach which was not fully covered by her t-shirt. “That night when we were at the car, why didn’t you say anything?! Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?! That’s why you look so pale! Oh my god… that night. When you said I'd never see you again…” his voice trailed away, not letting him finish his own sentence as the realisation of the meaning behind her words sank in. She looked up at him guiltily. “I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. Yoongi found me passed out in an alleyway and he patched me up.” she said with a shrug of her shoulders, not wanting him to worry any more.

She was surprised to see tears in his eyes, “I can’t believe I didn’t realize… I’m such an idiot.” He said as he pulled her into an embrace, being as gentle as he could so that he wouldn’t aggravate her wound. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe that I didn’t realize that you were hurt. I can’t believe I didn’t realize what you meant when you said I'd never see you again… I’m an idiot.” He carefully wrapped his arm around her waist, taking extra care to not to hurt her. “Come on. I’ll take you home. You should be resting.”

“Jungkook, I’m fine…” she said as he slowly began walking with her, holding her like she was made of glass. “You got shot. Now I know you could kick my six ways from Sunday, but I don’t care. I’m taking you home and you're resting and you're not going anywhere. Ok?” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. She felt a smile creep onto her face for the first time in days. “Ok. I won't go anywhere. I promise.”

After Jungkook had taken her back home, and had finally been persuaded to go back to his dorm, she had explained everything that had happened to Yoongi. He was surprised by what she told him, but he was not so secretly pleased. “So the move is off?” he asked. She nodded, a smile still on her lips. Yoongi sighed dramatically. “You could have told me before I packed up half the house.” He joked. She chuckled as she started taking a few things out of their boxes. “Sorry.” He shook his head. “He’s a remarkable kid. It’s not just anyone that could hear that kind of thing and not completely freak out about it.” He commented as she returned their pictures to their places. Soo Jung smiled as she put up a photo of her and Yoongi, “Yeah, he really is amazing.” She said, a smile on her face.

Jungkook turned up the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. And the day after that. Soo Jung had repeatedly tried to convince him that she wasn’t going to leave anytime soon, and that she was healing up quickly. After the first time they spoke after her injury she had managed to keep down some food which had helped her regain some of her strength. A week after Jungkook had started showing up at her home, she had regained almost one hundred percent of her old energy, Jungkook and Yoongi both often having to remind her to take it easy so that she wouldn’t open her stitches or strain herself too much.

Soo Jung and Jungkook had sat down and had many heart to hearts where Soo Jung had told him some of her stories from her past. She didn’t go into too much detail. She hated seeing how upset he got when she told him some of the things she had suffered through at the hands of Malcolm and the Institute. She told him enough for him to understand, and she strangely felt better for it. She had told Yoongi practically everything that she had went through but telling another person seemed to take another weight off of her shoulders, just as it had when she had confessed everything to Yoongi. She knew that not everyone would be as understanding of her upbringing, but for her, knowing that the two people she cared most about understood her, that was more than enough for her.

A couple of weeks after the incident, Yoongi agreed that it was finally time for her to return to her dorm and get back to uni. Jungkook and the others, mainly Jin, had kept meticulous notes for her in her absence, so that she wouldn’t fall too far behind. The other boys had visited her on numerous occasions, she told them that she had been ill, feeling that a gunshot wound would just be too difficult to explain. The boys had told her that Namjoon had stopped coming to class, they suspected that he had possibly transferred universities. Jungkook and Soo Jung had only been able to nod quietly, knowing the truth behind Namjoon's disappearance.

The boys organised a party in their dorm for her return. It was that night when her and Jungkook also revealed their official status as a couple. The announcement had been met with loud cheers from the rest of their friends who were happy to finally see the pair together.

When the party had started to wind down, Jungkook offered to walk her back to her dorm building. They walked hand in hand back to her building. Purposely taking the longest route and walking as slowly as possible to extend their time together. When they eventually made it back to her building he pouted down at her. “We need to find a longer route.” He joked. She laughed at his cute tone. “Well, we could walk around the library and the cafeteria next time?” she said with a laugh. His face lit up, “Perfect!” he said, his cute smile in place. He pulled her into a hug, enjoying the feeling of having her so close. She wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling in closer to his hoodie covered chest. “You smell good.” She mumbled. He chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest. He cupped her cheek with his hand, looking down at her with a nervous smile. “Soo Jung, there's something that I've wanted to do for a long time… can I?” he asked, his lips suddenly only centimetres away from hers.

Her heart was pounding as she nodded, her eyes slipping shut as Jungkook closed the gap between them. This was their first kiss. They had cuddled numerous times, but neither of them had been brave enough to take the next step. She lost herself in the feeling of his soft lips as they moved against hers. His grip around her tight, but not uncomfortable. When they finally separated, they wore matching smiles. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” He admitted as he stole another quick kiss from her. She giggled at his confession as she her lips, enjoying the slight swollen feeling. “So have I.” she confessed. He grinned and pressed another searing kiss to her lips, leaving her breathless before pulling away from her.

“Are we still on for tomorrow?” he asked. “You mean me kicking your at basketball at the arcade? Oh, we’re on.” She replied with a grin. Jungkook chuckled. “Hey, don’t get cocky. I’ve been practising.” He said with a grin. “We’ll see tomorrow.” They both laughed and gave each other one last look. “Goodnight, Jungkook.” She said. “Good night.” He said, giving her hand one last squeeze before letting go and heading back to his dorm. She wrapped her arms around herself as she watched him go.

A part of her still couldn’t believe that they were together. Never in a million years would she have ever imagined having so many amazing friends, let alone a boyfriend that loved her as much as Jungkook did. Ever since she had told Jungkook about her past she felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her and she felt more free. She still had the worry that she would say something strange to the other guys, but she felt a little more at peace, a little more at ease. She smiled more often, and not just when Jungkook and the others were there. She was slowly learning that although she could never erase her past, she didn’t need to live in it. It wasn’t who she was anymore and she had started to accept that it was a part of her life that she couldn’t change.

She knew that everyone had parts of their lives that they wished they could change, and although her experiences may have been more traumatic than others, that didn’t mean that other people weren’t struggling as much as she was, or even more than she was. With her acceptance of her own past, she was paving a way for a brighter and happier present and future for herself, and that was something that no one could ever take away from her.