Jungkook sits on the bench for a few minutes as Wooyoung goes about his business in the isolation ward. Thoughts tumble through his mind without rhyme or reason as he tries to make sense of what Wooyoung has told him.

Kennedy talks about him. But why? He's nothing more than a babysitter to her and she's a psychopath. What reason would she have for talking about him?

Before he walked away, Wooyoung mentioned that both of Kennedy's parents had committed suicide, first when she was 10 with the death of her mother. That, alone, was enough to drive anyone crazy. But to make it worse, her father had obsessed over his grief to the point of doting excessively on his daughter. When his own demons got too big for him to handle, though, he'd killed himself too, leaving his teenage daughter alone and confused. She'd descended into a self-destructive spiral that had left more than just baggage in her wake.

Hearing Wooyoung talk about the inmates reminds Jungkook that they're still people, but after the disaster with Yoongi's parents and Hoseok getting hurt, it is something that he constantly needs to remind himself of. If only there was some hint of humanity left in Kennedy. Jungkook knows that she went through enough shit to make anyone crazy, but it's not like people didn't go through horrible shit every day and yet they didn't turn into homicidal lunatics. He should know.

Jungkook sighs and bangs his head against the wall behind him. He hates himself for the dream he had of her and the feelings that are still warring with each other in his mind. It doesn't even make sense for him to be having feelings like that about her in the first place. She's done nothing to make herself seem like a logical person to develop even a mild crush on, and yet he can't stop thinking about her. Or about how realistic the dream he'd had of her was.

A tapping above him drags his attention away from his internal dialogue and he cranes his neck to see above him. Kennedy is standing at the door waving sheepishly.

Jungkook sighs and turns back around. "What do you want, Kennedy?"

"So I guess you're still mad at me?"

"What do you think?" His voice is low and harsh and Kennedy winces at the sound of it.

She mumbles something he can't hear and turns away, leaning back against the door. "I don't know why you're so mad. I just wanted Yoongi to get back at his bitch-ass parents for what they did to him. I thought you would enjoy that as much as me."

Jungkook's anger flashes inside him, red and fiery. It's sudden and jarring, but he can't stop it any more than he could a runaway freight train. He jumps up and slams his hand against the scanner, sliding in the room so fast that Kennedy nearly tumbles out on her back. She jerks her eyes up at him just in time for him to grab her by the arm, stopping her fall and hauling her back in the room. The door slams behind him, echoing through the cell.

"You almost got people killed, Kennedy," he bellows. His jaw is a hard line of jagged bone and taut muscle. The look in his eyes could melt stone and Kennedy shivers at the feeling of it being directed at her. She's never seen him so full of rage before. A pit burns in her stomach, but she has no idea what emotion could be causing it.

"Can't you get that through your fucking head?" Jungkook yells, stabbing his finger against her head as she backs up into the wall behind her.

"But... it's Yoongi's parents. Don't they deserve it? They're horrible people."

"You don't get to make that determination! Why can't you understand that? People die when it's their time to die. Sometimes it's their time and sometimes it's just shitty timing, or human incompetence, or fucking cancer. But it's not your choice! It's never our choice."

Kennedy stills and her eyes widen at Jungkook's outburst. There are tears brimming in his eyes and she can see how hard he's fighting with himself to keep his emotions in check. But he's failing. His armor is cracking in front of her and for the first time, she can see the real man underneath the shield he's been so used to holding up. With trembling fingers, she reaches out and puts her palms against his chest, pushing slightly though he doesn't move.

"You lost someone, too, didn't you?"

Jungkook loses the battle with his tears and one makes its escape down his cheek. He angrily swats it away. "I lost everyone. My dad was a pilot in the military. A mechanic missed a routine problem and his plane went down. Two years later, cancer took my mom." He closes his eyes, pushing out more tears, and braces his arm beside Kennedy's head as he tries to compose himself.

"People die, but we don't get to decide when." His voice is softer this time. Broken.

"I'm sorry," Kennedy whispers.

"No, you're not," he grits out through his teeth.

He opens his eyes, intending to glare down at the girl who is causing this hurricane of emotions to swell in his being, but stops short when his eyes drink her in. Her hazel eyes, slightly widened from his outburst and his closeness are shining with an emotion Jungkook can't quite place. Being this close to her face, he can't help but to take in every inch of her, from the faint freckles across her cheeks to the way her brown hair hangs loosely around her fragile shoulders.

Kennedy stares back at her guard, her breath nearly stopping in her chest as she sees his wandering eyes quickly losing the rage they once held. Replacing it is a look that Kennedy can only describe as lost.

Taking a chance, Kennedy runs her hands up Jungkook's chest to his neck. He leans into her touch, his eyes closing once again as her skin connects with his. He brings his forehead to hers, not physically able to resist letting more of their skin touch to ignite a flame inside of himself that he didn't know he had. Her breath catches in her throat when his other hand reaches out to brace against her hip. His fingers dig into her skin, points of heat electrifying her body.

For a moment, she wonders if he's going to kiss her and the thought does cross Jungkook's mind. His eyes flutter open, the intensity of his stare meeting Kennedy's. Jungkook's lips part slightly, his warm breath fanning against her own lips which are nearly tingling with her desire to connect herself to this man.

But before he closes the distance, he groans and shoves away from her, rubbing his forehead and wiping his cheeks as he turns away.

"Why is this such a big deal to you, Jungkook?" Kennedy chokes out.

"I just don't understand you," he answers, running his hands through his hair. "There are moments when I think you could be better than this. But then you go and fuck it all up." He turns to look at her, genuine pain reflecting in his eyes. "I almost believed in you this time, Kennedy."

Without another word, he unlocks the door and slides out, slamming it behind him. Kennedy jerks at the sound, but otherwise doesn't move as his words reverberate in her bones.

Surrounded by the empty silence of the room, Kennedy slides down the wall to the floor and pulls her knees up to her chest. Self loathing and pity threaten to drown her and she drops her head into her arms. Thoughts swirl through her mind as she tries to understand what she's feeling. There's no denying the connection between her and Jungkook. There's something there and it's so wholly different than what she has with Taehyung.

Where one is all brute strength and angry determination, the other is quiet power and comfort. Jungkook is everything she would've wanted in a man before her life went to shit. No, scratch that. He's everything her dad would've wanted for her. She still would've gone for the bad boy like Taehyung. Which was probably why her life went to shit in the first place.

She can't stop thinking about the way Jungkook's chest felt under her fingers, or the changeable nature of his expression. About the way he can so easily switch between hard and sexy and soft and vulnerable. He's water where Taehyung is stone.

When Jungkook first arrived in the unit, she thought he was hot, but nothing beyond that. Now she can't deny that there is something more to her feelings for him and, worst of all, she feels guilty for what she did to make him so upset.

It's an emotion she's not used to feeling.