Jisoo bent down in the aisle and turned the paint can to see the label, tapping her chin. Her eyebrows furrowed before she turned to look at the next color paint can. After getting her first paycheck from the convenience store and the club, she paid her bills and decided to do some remodeling in her apartment with the leftover money.

“Should I go with green or pink?” Her eyes darted back and forth between the paint cans before she reached for the pink one and heaved it off the shelf. “Pink it is.”

After collecting a few paintbrushes and a paint tray, she brought it to the cashier. Taking out a few crumpled up bills, she handed it over. The cashier handed her the change, which she promptly put into the tip jar before taking her bag and leaving the store.

It was a bright, sunny day outside and she lamented that she’d be inside the entire day painting. She shook the thoughts from her head as she walked leisurely on the way back to her apartment. Painting the house would be fun, she convinced herself. Besides, after the run in with Junsu and Wooyoung, she needed time to think.

Junsu and Wooyoung. 

Jisoo grimaced. It had been a week since the incident at the bar, but their appearance had left her startled and frightened. The anger, sadness, and fear that she had kept bottled up had spilled out and she felt exposed, especially in front of the boys whom she had acquainted herself with. In fact, Namjoon had been keeping a close eye on her at work, almost as if he was waiting for her to break down, while Yoongi straight up pestered her with questions such as: “who were those guys?”, “do you know them?”, “did they hurt you?”

She was touched by their kindness but this was a personal problem that she didn’t want to involve others in. Jisoo crossed her arms gingerly and rubbed the fading bruises on her arms. Most of her bruises had healed although her body was still a little sore.

A couple of children rushed past her on the sidewalk as they ran to the park, causing her to lose her balance. She stumbled a bit until someone grabbed her elbow firmly and helped steady herself.

Jisoo looked up to see Jungkook staring back at her with a blank face. Her nose scrunched up and she broke eye contact with him quickly. Of all the guys she could have bumped into, of course it would be Jungkook. She didn’t think he liked her very much and it made her uncomfortable that he always looked at her as if she were transparent and he could see all the dark little secrets she tried so hard to keep hidden.

“Thanks,” Jisoo mumbled, brushing the dust off of her and pulling her elbow away from his grasp.

Jungkook noted her actions and dropped his hand to his side. “What are you doing here?”

She lifted her shopping bag and smiled widely. “I’m painting my room! The shabby setting brings down my mood so I decided to lighten things up with,” she glanced at the label, “Ballet Slipper Pink.”

Jungkook scoffed at the preposterous paint name before shoving his hands into his pockets and tilting his head towards the benches on the sidewalk. “Come sit. I have something to ask you.”

“Uh…” Jisoo looked as if she were about to run for it.

Jungkook rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to forcefully pull her along. She would surely run if he grabbed her again. “I’m not going to hurt you so hurry up and come here.”

He the balls of his feet and walked towards the bench, plopping himself down. Jisoo hesitated for a bit before she sighed and headed over to sit next to him.

A moment of silence passed between them until Jisoo cleared .

“I know what you’re going to ask,” Jisoo started carefully. “I don’t owe you any explanations.”

“No, I think you do,” Jungkook frowned. “You’re becoming fast friends with the other guys. They've only known you for a few weeks but Namjoon, Yoongi, Hoseok and Jin treat you like a little sister, Jimin acts like he’s known you his entire life, and even Taehyung, the guy who doesn’t like to interfere in anything that’s not his business, was about to step in to defend you from those two guys. I want to know what we,” he said, with an emphasis on the ‘we’, “are getting in to by being acquainted with you.”

Jisoo bit her lip, hugging her shopping bag to her tightly. “I should’ve never come here to begin with. It’s impossible to run from him,” she said tightly, in a small voice.

“Who is he? Who are you running from? Who are you so afraid of?” Jungkook turned towards her, waiting for an answer. Jisoo looked down into her lap.

“I… I'm sorry. I really can’t talk about this,” she stuttered before standing abruptly. Jungkook’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist on instinct and she screamed, pulling away from him.

Jungkook’s eyes widened as did Jisoo’s. His eyes softened slightly and he spoke in a gentler voice. “If you can’t answer that, tell me this: did the guys at the bar hurt you?”

Jisoo shook her head slowly.

“Did that man hurt you?” Jungkook asked, staring at her for any indication of a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’.

When Jisoo didn’t answer, Jungkook took Jisoo’s silence as an affirmation and just nodded his head slowly. “I knew it,” he muttered under his breath. “Did he…” Jungkook trailed off, unsure how to word his next question.

“No,” Jisoo answered quietly. “He didn’t me or anything.”

A flash of relief passed through Jungkook’s eyes before his neutral expression came back on. “Okay. I won’t pester you with any more questions.”

“Can you not tell the others?” Jisoo pleaded, latching onto Jungkook’s arm. “I don’t want them to know. I want…,” she struggled with her words, “I want to be normal.”

Jungkook’s eyes zeroed in on his arm, which Jisoo was still holding tightly. He shook her off and sighed. “I can’t keep a secret like this from them,” Jungkook shook his head. “They won’t treat you any differently. They’re not those kind of peo