A/N: If all goes according to what I have in mind, this fanfic should end at 80 chapters~

Jung Kook had sat down, back against the wall as your hands grasped onto his shirt.

His legs were bent on either side of you as you folded your legs, burying your head into his chest.

As the thunder continue to strike, your body continued to grow tenser. Occasionally, you’d flinch and your hands would grasp the shirt even more tightly.

When that happened, he would pat your back and your hair.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” he would say to soothe you as best as he could, reassuring you every time you showed signs of being afraid.

You were thankful to him – he was always there for you.

However, some things you just couldn’t overcome.

Even when he was here, it didn’t completely stop you from being afraid – you were just able to find comfort by his presence.

“Thank you,” you managed to mutter, unable to bring your eyes up to meet his.

He tilted his head, “For what?”

Taking care of you was always something on his priority list, so he didn’t feel like it was something to be thanked. He had thought of it as something he had to do – no matter what.

“For always being here,” your voice was soft, “For always helping me when I need it. For always staying by my side – no matter what your mood is. We could hate each other, fight, or be on horrible terms – and you’d still be here.”

It was true. From the start, you and Jung Kook weren’t exactly friends.

However, he still found a way to be by your side – he showed up at your house and helped you through a thunderstorm and treated your wound.

When you had been dense and ignored his feelings, he still stood up for you against the Bangtan Fan Club and President Kim.

Now, you continued to try and run away from him and lie about your feelings, because you didn’t want to be hurt again in the future, he still did everything he could to find you, so you wouldn’t be afraid of thunderstorms by yourself.

“Don’t be silly,” he smiled as he cupped your cheeks and tilted your head up, forcing you to make eye contact with him, “I told you that I won’t be going anywhere anymore, right?”

You lowered your head by pulling his hands away, “Please don’t say anything like that anymore…”

Your voice became a bit quieter as you pulled away from Jung Kook, leaving him confused toward your actions.

“Yujin,” he began, “What’s wrong?”

He didn’t understand why every time he wanted to say something meaningful or touching, you would pull away or run away – You would always try to distance yourself from him.

You, on the other hand, felt like he was playing dumb – playing innocent – after all, it was him that declared that there was no mutual feelings of affection between the two of you.

Saying things that would make your heart waver was just too cruel.

“Don’t…” you tried to come up with the right words, “…Don’t play with my heart.”

“I would never play with your heart,” Jung Kook replied immediately with a firm look, “What makes you think I am?”

You could tell that he was serious, but at the same time, you felt like he was kidding. If he was really serious, he wouldn’t say one thing and do another.

What was that supposed to make you think?

You really didn’t know if you wanted to draw him in and kiss him for causing you to fall in love for the first time in your life or if you wanted to draw him in and kill him for causing you to suffer so much pain for the first time in your life.

To kiss or to kill?

What a question.

You shook your head, “It’s nothing.”

“No, tell me,” his eyes locked with yours as he grew serious, “I think I deserve to know.”

After a moment of hesitation, you replied, “Every time you say something like that, it goes against what you told me before. Do you remember?”

Jung Kook looked at you with a partially confused look as you shook your head.

“Every time you say something sweet and emotionally touching like you will always be there for me, it makes you think that you care for me,” your eyes slowly met his, “…But you clearly said that you no longer loved me.”

At that moment, you could feel a large burden being lifted from your shoulders.

You suddenly felt a lot better.

Finally, you had gotten the courage to speak your mind.