"You confuse me too. I don't know why but you do."

He was staring back into my eyes. We were both leaning closer to each other. I closed my eyes gracefully and waited for him to do it, to kiss me. The moment was perfect, or so I thought it was until he spoke, "Or maybe I'm confusing your lack of intelligence with something else entirely. Yeah, that must be it."

My eyes shot open after he said that and my face turned bright red. What the hell am I doing? Why did I want this rude ass  to kiss me? Jungkook cleared his throat and loosely held me against his side, putting some kind of space between us then I realized why he didn't follow through, because Yoongi frozen before us. I glanced back at Jungkook, who was awkwardly keeping his silence then he cleared his throat again.

"You didn't have to stop because of me, you know." Yoongi said casually then he showed us a smile, "By all means, carry on. Don't mind me cause I'm just passing by innocently."

"No! That's not it. This is not what it looks like." I blurted out at Yoongi, behaving like a child caught red handed with one hand inside the cookie jar.

"I know exactly what it is." He gave me a sly smile before he glanced at Jungkook, "Don't worry. I don't blabber around, right Jungkook?"

Jungkook hung his head down as Yoongi walked away while whistling to a happy tune. I broke away from Jungkook when Yoongi left, carrying my own weight on one foot.

"Go home. I can get home by myself." I said both in annoyance and embarrassment because I'm such an idiot. I want to pull all my hair out. So stupid.

"This is not the time to be stubborn. You can't even walk properly." He pulled me back to him, causing me to lose my footing and fall into his arms. "Whether you like it or not, I need to see you to your home because you're my responsibility as long as you're in the team."

I stared at his face but he wasn't looking at me. My stare was bothering him. I could tell because he was acting weird. His hand on my side felt so comforting. I have this feeling inside me, a warm kind of feeling. I don't want it to mean something but, at the same time, I kinda do.

I usually take the bus on my way home but the bus I'm supposed to take left already. The next bus is going to arrive after 30 minutes so we both waited together in the bus stop. He helped me sit down on the bench while he insisted on standing. It was so quiet between us. I wish he'd just leave.

"By the way, that thing earlier, I wasn't going to kiss you if that's what you were thinking." Jungkook started, he said this with his back facing me. "I would never even think of kissing you."

"I know that." I retorted quickly. In my head, I was already cursing him but I need to stay calm and handle the situation with the bit of dignity I have left. I'm not losing to him. "I wouldn't kiss you too if you were the last guy on the planet."

Soon the bus came. I stood myself up from the bench. Jungkook held my arm and helped me up the bus but I shrugged him off gently, "You can go home now. I can go home by myself from here."

"I'm seeing you home." He ignored me, taking the first step on the bus but I stopped him again.

"Look, Jungkook." I spoke up, making him look up at my face. Him staring at me was making my face heat up but I have to say this or else he'll think I like him, "I'm going home on my own. I just sprained my ankle. I'm not disabled."

Jungkook stepped down without a word and I went ahead to take a seat by the window. He waited for the bus to leave, watching me by the window. I was able to breathe only when the bus left and I was out of his sight. To be honest, my ankle doesn't really hurt that bad as long as I don't strain it. I told him that yet he still insisted on taking me home. What is wrong with him?

I checked my bandaged ankle and tried to rotate it slowly, wincing at the slight pain. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes as I sighed, "How am I going to explain this to Dad?"

I opened my eyes when an idea came to mind, "What if I just hide it from him?"

The bandages around my ankle came off easily, revealing a huge bruise around the injured area. I pulled my socks higher and thankfully, I was able to hide it. Now the only problem is walking.

The bus stopped and I got off at the stop near our place. I practiced on walking normally on the way home but it was too painful. I have no choice but to endure it if I want to continue playing baseball. I tried not to limp when I walked. I wanted to cry when I got in the elevator, tears brimming in my eyes from the pain but I swallowed it down, biting my lip and wiping my eyes dry.

"I can do this. This is nothing." I told myself but who am I fooling? It hurts like hell. I came inside our building and was greeted by my Dad right away.

"Oh hey, kiddo. Good timing, can you help me with this?" He said, in his both of his hands were grocery bags. He then gave me the lightest one out of all of them, "How's your day?"

"Same same." I forced a smile at him as we walked into the elevator, ignoring the pain from my ankle.

"You sure? Nothing happened at school?" He gave me a quick glance and I started to feel nervous. Does he know?

"Uh, yeah. Nothing new happened at school. Everyday is just the same." I tried to laugh but it came off really suspicious. "Boy, I'm starved. What's for dinner?"

"Hm, I don't know. What do you want?" Dad asked, looking inside the grocery bags, "How about cream pasta?"

I nodded my head, "Sounds great."

"Are you okay, kiddo?" Dad examined my face and I nervously gulped down. "You're sweating so much."

"I'm fine." I replied with a weak smile and then used my other hand to fan at my face,  "It's just so hot in here."

"Venus, are you sure?" He was serious this time. He could probably tell by the awful look on my face. "Are you feeling sick anywhere?"

"Dad, I'm really okay. I'm just hungry, that's all." I reassured him once again, hoping that it would work. "Just cook me some of your pasta and I'll be energized right away."

"You're flattering my cooking skills too much." Dad smiled as he patted my shoulder. I grimaced when he wasn't looking and shifted my weight on my other.

I wish I could tell him how painful it was but I can't because if I do, I'll never be able to play again. Just hold it in a little bit longer.

🌸

Jungkook watched as Vee sat herself by the window, her face in an untamable scowl, making him smile by himself. He thought about what almost happened earlier, when she closed her eyes and he almost kissed the girl. He couldn't help but be pulled towards her like a kind of gravitational pull. Jungkook couldn't get her face out of his mind because for the first time since he met her, she looked so pretty.

The pumping organ in his chest began to beat faster inside his chest, he put his hand over it and felt it. Jungkook began to wonder if this is because of this girl. In his lifetime, he only had one person who he thought of as pretty and that person is none other than his first love who he last saw five years ago.

Jungkook walked home but stopped when his mind wouldn't let him rest without seeing her safely reach home so he hailed a cab and followed the bus she was on. He watched her get off the bus and followed her closely, walking a few meters behind her.

"What is she doing?" Jungkook tried to guess why she would stop walking every once in awhile then he noticed the missing bandage around her ankle and realized that she was forcing herself to walk normally.

"God, this girl is stupid. You tell her to not strain her ankle and she does the exact opposite." He sighed but felt concerned for her. He was worried that she would make her injury worse than it already is. From afar, he could make out the pained expression on her face. Jungkook wondered why she was doing this. What will she get by doing this to herself?

He continued to follow her even inside the building where she lives. Jungkook ran back to hide behind a plant when she looked back at the man who she called his Dad. He watched the man closely and thought he looked familiar but he can't remember where he saw him. Vee acted as if she wasn't injured at all. She must be in a lot of pain from the way she was walking.

"Is she hiding this from her Dad?" Jungkook speculated when they got into the elevator. "Why would she do that?"

Out of curiosity, Jungkook approached the woman on the check in counter, "Hi, I'm a friend of Venus Yoo. I was just wondering who she was with just now?"

"Oh that was her Dad, Mr. David Yoo." The lady replied with a smile. "May I help you with something else?"

"No. That's all thanks." Jungkook said and then left the building, looking baffled. He stopped when he was at the bus stop again, the sudden news weighing on his mind, "How is her father, David Yoo? It doesn't add up. Damn it."

He sat by the bench and thought about it some more until he came to his own conclusion, "Was she hiding this whole thing from her Dad?"