Hi, welcome back to the ramblings of my insane mind, enjoy! haha. This chapter has a bit of tension ;) I'm sorry idk what influenced me to take this turn lmao but enjoy the slight angst. :-*

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Jimin arrives at the girls' dorm to find Yenna and Rena, but Ari is not present.

"Where's Ari?" Jimin asks.

"Gosh, it's like we don't even matter to him anymore!" Yenna exclaims as she and Rena both roll their eyes.

"Relax, baby mochi. She went to get some nuclear noodles from the store. She wants us to do the challenge with her." Rena informed him.

"W H A T. Ok I mean I love her and all but I at eating spicy food," Jimin blurts.

Yenna and Rena glance at each other, bewildered.

"Chim, did you- did you just say you love her?" Yenna asks.

Jimin turns red, "No, I mean. Well... I"

Yenna and Rena both start jumping and yelling, "Chim loves Ari" to .

"Yah, stop that!"

"Have you told her yet?" Rena asks.

"Of course not. We've only been dating for like a month and I don't know if I'm ready to say it yet," he says as he sits down on the couch.

"Well, you've known each other for like three years," Yenna reasoned.

"Yeah, but still," he said.

"Whenever you're ready Chim," Rena said with a smile.

"Anyway, you literally just missed her, she just left like two minutes ago," Yenna told him and Jimin pouted.

Jimin's phone buzzes. He opens a message on the group chat that was renamed 'Ari is a poop' by Jungkook last night at 3 AM as he fought to stay awake so Ari wouldn't change it back because she'd be asleep. Well, it worked since the name's still there.

It was a photo of him from right now when he pouted, sent from Rena with the caption '@Ari come back soon, lover boy's missing you ;)'

Jimin gave Rena a glare and both she and Yenna disappeared to the floor in fits of laughter after seeing his expression. 

[Ari: Hey baby, sorry I'm getting some gas before I head to the grocery store. I didn't know you were coming!]

[Jungkook: Ari, can you come to get me? I went for a run this morning and now I have lost my desire to walk for the next two hours :))]

[Ari: Aren't you like a muscle?]

[Jungkook: don't test me, peasant]

[Ari: Fine. Walk then, :))]

[Jungkook: Ok ok, I'm sorry, you're the best]

[Ari: Ugh I'm on my way]

[Jimin: Hurry back :(]

[Ari: ok baby ;)]

[Yenna: ok hold it right there]

[Rena: HEY, STOB IT!]

[Ari: *eye roll emoji*]

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Ari was waiting outside for Jungkook for about 5 minutes before he came and sat in the car.

"Good God, what were you doing? You said you'd be right out and I've been waiting for five whole minutes"

"It was five minutes, not five hours, lmao calm down, this doesn't just happen by itself you know," Jungkook gestured to himself. He looked good today. He had grown his hair out so that it went below his eyes from the sides and he was wearing a grey hoodie, simple yet he looked effortlessly good. Oh my gosh, Ari stop. A message from the author: Long-haired Jungkook was a blessing, especially 190811 Jungkook, that was, something else. Wow. Ok. I'll stop.

Ari raised her eyebrows and looked at him insinuating that she knew there was more to it. 

"Fine. I had a bathroom emergency," Jungkook looked away.

"Ok, Mr. Jungkook is a poop, literally," said Ari as she shifted gears to drive.

Jungkook smirked, "You haven't seen the new group name yet, have you," thinking he had one-upped her.

To this, Ari only smirked back and said, "Oh. I think you mean you haven't seen the new group name."

Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows and checked his phone only to find out that the group name has been changed to 'Jungpoop *poop emoji*'

"Dammit!" Jungkook said in frustration, which made Ari laugh.

"When?" he asked.

"While I was waiting in the car," Ari shrugged as she parked the car in front of the grocery store.

Jungkook smiled, this playful rivalry between them was always refreshing, especially given how lonely and unwanted he had been feeling lately.

"What're we getting any way?" Jungkook asked as they got out of the car.

"2X spicy nuclear noodles," Ari smirked.

"Are we gonna do it together as a challenge?" asked Jungkook, excited.

"Yeah, but without a time limit, just to see who can handle the heat the most. I think it'll be fun. Oh, probably we should get a lot of chocolate milk and popsicles for you know, the aftermath," Ari stated.

"Good idea," he said.

Ari was about to grab a basket, but Jungkook beat her to it, "It's fine I got it," he smiled.

"Thanks."

Ari walked around the aisles with Jungkook holding the basket behind her. 

"Should we get some candy too?" Ari asked.

"You think I'm gonna say no?" Jungkook snorted.

They picked out some sour candies and gummies before heading to the noodles section.

"Ok, lets get five, so there's one for each of us," Ari said absent-mindedly as she put the noodles into the basket.

"I'm low-key excited," Jungkook said.

"Me too, I can't wait for Jimin and Yenna to lose their haha," Ari responded.

"Oh my gosh, yess," Jungkook laughed.

"Ok, let's grab the milk and popsicles and get out of here."

They were standing at the counter after they paid, putting their stuff into a reusable bag Ari had brought from the car.

"Hey," said a voice from behind them as Ari opened the trunk so Jungkook could put the bag inside.

It was some random guys, they definitely seemed either drunk or high, way too early in the day, mind you. 

"Why don't you come with me? We could have a good time," one of the guys said to Ari looking at her up and down, ignoring Jungkook.

"Um, no thank you," said Ari uncomfortably, giving the boy a disgusted look, "We were just leaving."

"I could do better than him," the guy gestured to Jungkook.

Jungkook was getting angry, "Hey, back off," he said as the guy moved closer.

"It's fine Kook, I can take care of myself," Ari said.

"Whoa, we don't want any trouble, tell your little boyfriend to calm down," red jacket said while playing with Ari's hair.

Before Ari could respond, all of a sudden red jacket stumbled back as Jungkook threw a punch at his nose, which started to bleed.

"Oh my gosh, Jungkook!" Ari shouted, startled by what he had done.

After red jacket got out of his stupor, he hit Jungkook back, causing him to bleed at the edge of his mouth. 

Two of the clerks in the store noticed what was happening and came outside to help red jacket's friends to break up the fight. 

"," Jungkook yelled at red jacket as his friends took him away.

"You alright, bro?" asked one of the clerks who came to help.

Jungkook wiped off the small blood that had pooled on the left side of his mouth with his sleeve and said, "Yeah, I'm alright, thanks."

After the clerks made sure both Jungkook and Ari were alright they went back inside. 

"Are. You. Crazy!?" Ari exclaimed as they left, dragging Jungkook to sit in the car as she used tissues from the car to reduce the bleeding. 

"There, hold these to your mouth before we get home and get some ice on it," Ari said, flustered.

"Don't worry, b- Ari, I'm fine," he said while smiling his usual bunny smile. Ari looked at him incredulously, he had just punched somebody, been hit back, currently bleeding and yet still smiling. What the , Jeon Jungkook!!!

"What were you thinking!" Ari exclaimed. 

"That guy was basically trying to harass you, I wasn't just going to let that happen!" he said.

"You didn't have to punch the guy," Ari said.

"He was touching you," Jungkook replied, frustrated.

Ari looked at him, "Koo, thanks, but you could've gotten really hurt"

"I'm fine! I'm more worried about you, are you alright?" he asked softly, squeezing her hand.

"Yeah, just a bit shaken and disgusted, but fine," she responded. She looked up at him to find he was looking at her and held his stare for a little too long.

"Let's get you back home and get some ice on that and some ointment," she said, finally breaking their silent staring contest as she drove off heading to her dorm.

Jungkook awkwardly coughed, "Yeah."

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As Ari unlocked the door, Jimin got up, "Finally I've been waiting forever-" but stopped when he saw Jungkook's bleeding lip and Ari's troubled expression.

"What happened?" Rena exclaimed.

Ari ran to the fridge to get some ice and threw her car keys to Rena, "Rena, get the groceries from the trunk, there's ice cream in there that will melt."

"On it," Rena said as she ran out.

"Yenna, get the ointment," Ari said and Yenna ran inside to quickly get it.

Jimin sat Jungkook on the couch as Ari pressed the ice that she had put into a cloth on to his injury. 

Jungkook took it from her and said, "Thanks, I'm fine guys, really! It's not that big a deal!"

"What. Happened?" Jimin asked as Rena came in with the grocery bag and placed the items in the kitchen and freezer.

Ari explained how she and Jungkook were putting the stuff in the trunk when the guy in the red jacket had approached them and explained how Jungkook had punched him.

All of her friends then turned to Ari, demanding if she was alright.

"Guys, I'm fine. Nothing happened. Jungkook saw to that," she said as she looked at him and rolled her eyes and he responded with a bunny smile and a wink. 

After the ice melted, she went to go wash the cloth and her hands from the little bit of Jungkook's blood that stained both. Jimin walked behind her and watched her wash the cloth.

"I should've been there to protect you," Jimin said.

"Jimin, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. Besides, you can't be everywhere," she reassured him.

"Jungkook was there t