Jungkook came home after classes, deep in thought. That afternoon he walked into ethics lecture and saw you sitting in one corner of the lecture theatre. He remembered you from that night at the party but pretended he didn’t; he wouldn’t even bother with the girls he made out with, what more a girl whom he didn’t even get to make out with. In any case, you didn’t look like his type at all now that he saw you under well-lit conditions.  

He walked through the empty but vast living room towards the kitchen. As he took out a can of beer from the fridge, he heard someone enter the living room and he turned to head up to his room, trying to avoid whoever it was.  

“Jungkook-ah, Jungkook!”, a woman’s voice was calling for him as he tried to feign ignorance and dash up the stairs to his room.  

“Are you just going to ignore your mother like that?”, the woman whined, sounding tipsy.  

Jungkook paused on the third step of the stairs, turned half his face to look at her and hissed “What do you want?”  

“Me? I don’t want anything… hmm… I want you!”, she said in between giggles and humming drunkenly, “I want you… to say hi to Daniel”, she rested her palms on the chest of a well-dressed man who looked like he was barely a decade older than Jungkook. She was slouching all over him and he could barely make eye contact with Jungkook, not like Jungkook himself wanted any of that sight.  

“What for?”, replied Jungkook, “Not like I would be seeing him another time anyway”, Jungkook mumbled before continuing up the stairs, each step stomping with haste and anger.  

“Yah, Jeon Jungkook, is that how you are going to talk to your mother? Come back here!”

Jungkook hated it whenever she pulled that move. Who was she to coerce him to do this or that? His mother? What a joke.  

He threw his backpack down in a fit, downed a mouthful of beer and then his phone buzzed.  

“Where the heck are you? The party’s starting soon, get the drinks I asked for and haul your here now!”  

Hoseok was surprisingly less patient than most people would expect behind that joker façade. Jungkook grabbed a leather jacket and turned to head out. As he walked down the stairs, taking long strides with his only aim to make it out the door, the voices from the dining hall still managed to disturb him. Some may describe it as sounds of love, but to him it was all just lust and disgust.  

He could feel the same feeling take over him again. He hated her, he hated all of them. With clenched fists, he stormed out the front door and he suddenly heard a voice in his head, “are you ok?”. He paused momentarily from the words just like the first time he heard them. But he shook it off. It doesn’t matter even if he was not alright, he just wanted everyone else to be not alright too.  

—  

The same loud booming music was thumping in the background but a different girl was sitting on his lap and Jungkook doesn’t even remember her name or how long they’ve met. Her perfume smelt like aged roses and he was half-mindedly holding her waist. She, on the other hand, was much more actively participating in the session, into his kisses, tracing her hands from his back to his chest and grinding on his thighs.  

Out of nowhere, a crackling of shattering glass was heard and a girl’s voice said “oh my gosh, are you ok?”. Jungkook abruptly broke away from the girl’s lips and turned to look behind him. Pieces of broken glass were on the floor and some girl was looking down on a visibly drunk guy who must have stumbled and knocked over the glasses.  

The girl in Jungkook’s arms wrapped her hands behind his neck and turned his head towards her again engulfing his lips with her own. Then she whispered into his ears enquiring if he wanted to take this somewhere more private. He was not a single bit interested.  

“Leave”, he said platonically.  

“What?”

“Get lost. Now.”  

The girl could not help but gape at his nonchalance and ridiculousness.  

“No wonder everyone calls you trash”, she hissed as she got up awkwardly adjusting her short skirt, not forgetting to give him one last glare before leaving.  

An unfazed Jungkook stood up to glance around the room, the scene all too familiar for him.  

“Are you here alone tonight, may I buy you a drink?”, a creepy sounding Hoseok appears next to him and Jungkook all but wanted to slap him sober. “What’s up? What happened to that hot girl from just now?”  

“You too, screw off”, Jungkook said as he snatched the bottle of Bacardi out of Hoseok’s hands.  

“I would rather be screwing someone, but whatever pleases your Majesty. If you aren’t interested anymore, I’ll go try my luck now. Meanwhile, your Majesty can continue to wallow here by himself if he is not intending to find another catch for the night.”  

Jungkook takes a gulp from the bottle, sadly, even after so long he has not taken much liking for the taste of Bacardi. He placed the bottle on the counter top and walked out to the poolside, taking in the fresh air that was stained with some scent of alcohol.  

This was getting boring, he thought to himself. And then, another scantily clad girl came over with a drink to hit him up.  

This was too easy, he thought to himself. The new catch of the night was starting with the small talk. “Save the formalities”, he said and he pushed her onto the lounger and crashed his lips into hers. She didn’t even pretend to resist a little.  

In his mind Jungkook had decided, the next time he saw you, he was going to do something about it. He had to admit, you made him feel vulnerable in that one moment, and he was determined to get back at you for that.  

—

“I’m not feeling ok”, an expressionless Jungkook stood in front of you, breaking off your chit chat with Namjoon in the lecture theatre.  

“Huh? What?”, you replied in confusion looking up at him.  

“You asked if I was feeling alright that night, now I am answering you. I’m not ok. What are you going to do about it?”