TW: DV

JENNIE: Hey, Sumi

SUMI: Hey, how have you been? It's been a while...

JENNIE: I know, I am so sorry! I guess we drifted, huh?

SUMI: I'm sorry too. I should've tried to keep in contact a bit more.

JENNIE: It's okay. We should catch up!

SUMI: That sounds great! When are you free?

JENNIE: Hmm, I'm free tonight?

SUMI: Sounds good! I'll see you tonight 😊

Jennie smiles, relief flooding her body as she looks down at the text. She responds with a time and place, which Sumi responds to positively.

Jennie puts her phone down, sighing deeply. She can't help but feel responsible for Sumi's situation. If she had just tried harder to see Sumi then they wouldn't have drifted apart. How could she do this to her own best friend?

"Dr Kim?" Jennie looks up at the sound of someone opening her office door.

"Hey, what's up?" Jennie smiles, looking at the young receptionist. She is a little shorter than Jennie with short black hair and an adorable boxy smile. Jennie considers her cute, like a little sister.

"Your next patient is here," The receptionist smiles.

"Thank you, Lee," Jennie smiles, "Is that all?"

"Well..." Lee smiles brightly, "Want to hang out after work? Mark and the others are going out for dinner tonight," Lee explains.

"Ahh, how did I manage to have such an amazing boss," Jennie smirks, wondering how she got so lucky. Mark is the owner of this private general practice. As soon as Jennie signed up to study and work under him as a resident, they clicked. He even helps her with her medical school exams, which have become easier and easier these days with the hands-on experience.

"So, you in?" Lee wiggles her eyebrows.

"Not tonight," Jennie smiles sadly, "I need to catch up with an old friend,"

"All good," Lee nods, "I'll see you later,"

"Thank you, bye," Jennie smiles as Lee closes the door, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

. . . . .

"Dinner at your place?" Sumi frowns, walking down to her car.

"Yeah, is that okay?" Jennie asks through the phone, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, that's all good. I'll text Jungkook to let him know,"

"Let him know...?" Sumi can hear Jennie sigh.

"He just gets concerned, that's all," Sumi smiles, "I'll see you soon?"

"Okay," Jennie sighs, "Drive safe!"

"I will," Sumi giggles before hanging up. She has started feeling a lot better about her relationship after their conversation last week when Sumi got back from staying with her mother.

. . . . . 

FLASHBACK

"Sumi?" Jungkook jumps up from the couch, his face full of concern, "I have been calling you! Where have you been?"

Sumi sighs, closing the front door behind her and putting her bag down.

"I was staying with my mother," Sumi responds.

"Oh..." Jungkook frowns, "I called her..."

"You did?" Sumi frowns.

"Yeah, she said you weren't there..." Jungkook folds his arms, staring at Sumi blankly. Sumi sighs deeply and pulls out her phone, passing it to him.

"Look, those are the texts between me and her," Jungkook looks down at the phone and begins scrolling. After a moment he passes it back.

"Okay... I don't know why your mum would lie to me though..." Jungkook pushes his hands into his pockets, frowning a little. Sumi shrugs and walks past him, causing him to sigh.

"Sumi..." Jungkook turns and follows her before wrapping his arms around her waist, "I've missed you,"

Sumi's heart aches, knowing she is the reason he is so sad right now.

"We need to talk," Sumi says firmly.

Jungkook leads her to the couch, sitting down so Sumi is leaning against his chest, facing away from him.

"Talk," He murmurs.

Sumi explains everything that has been on her mind, right down to the little details. She explains how she is not comfortable with Jungkook hanging out with a co-worker that doesn't know he's in a relationship. How she needs to have friends, including male friends, and how she is uncomfortable with Jungkook going through her phone.

"We need to work on our trust issues and come to an agreement," Sumi finishes, "I can't keep going like this, I miss my friends... and I miss how we were. I just want us to have a healthy, happy relationship, you know?"

Jungkook stays silent for a moment, stroking her skin. Just before Sumi starts talking again to avoid the silence, Jungkook speaks up.

"I'll talk to my co-worker tomorrow," Jungkook mumbles, sounding defeated, "Happy?"

Sumi turns in his lap to look at him. He is frowning slightly, but he looks depressed.

"I would appreciate that, thank you," Sumi smiles, forgetting everything else that she wanted to talk about. His face lights up as he pulls her in closer.

"I'm glad," He kisses her head, "I love you," he murmurs huskily, making her feel weak at the knees.

"I love you too," Sumi smiles, feeling a little lighter.

We'll deal with everything else another time, she thinks to herself, savouring the moment.

. . . . .

Sumi starts her car and begins driving to Jennie's house after texting Jungkook.

SUMI: I am heading to Jennie's house for dinner. I'll see you later x

Sumi puts her phone away, smiling. Yes, they didn't deal with the other things immediately, but the conversation has started. They spoke about Hoseok and set some rules and will deal with the phone situation later.

He's trying, right?

Right?

Sumi shakes her head, concentrating on the road as she pulls up to Jennie's home. Jennie is standing out the front, beaming brightly with tears of happiness in her eyes.

Everything will be fine, Sumi smiles at Jennie, pushing Jungkook from her mind. She slides out of the car and embraces her best friend.

"Jennie!" Sumi squeals, trying to hold back her own tears, "I've missed you so much,"

"I've missed you too!" Jennie smiles, pulling away from the hug, looking at Sumi happily, "Let's head inside, we have a lot to catch up on!"

Jennie leads Sumi up to her apartment. She moved around the corner from her parent's house recently, wanting to have her own space. Namjoon was going to move in, but they wanted to wait a little before making a huge commitment like that. Jennie continues to explain her new living situation as they head up in the elevator.

She leads Sumi to her apartment and welcomes her in. Sumi looks around, beaming. It is a cute one-bedroom apartment. Very cosy. Not too small, not too big. Sumi can see Jennie's personality on every surface of the space.

"You haven't changed much huh?" Sumi beams, turning back to her best friend.

"Nope! Just matured," Jennie laughs, "Speaking of never changing, I ordered some food," Jennie gestures to the takeaway on the dining table.

"Mmmm," Sumi smirks, "My favourite,"

"Good, let's dig in!" Jennie claps, leading Sumi to the table.

Jennie and Sumi spend the next hour catching up on everything that has happened. Jennie explains her job at the private doctor's practice to help her with her studies, how she and Namjoon made long-distance work, how her parents have been, and how nice it is to have her own space finally.

Sumi talks about the new drama she helped produce, how her parents have been, and her next book in her current series To the Moon and Back.

Soon, the conversation turns to Jungkook.

"So, how is it going with Jungkook?" Jennie asks, giving Sumi a weird look.

"It's going good," Sumi smiles, swallowing her concerns easily, "We have our ups and downs but what relationship doesn't?" Sumi chuckles.

"You know," Jennie leans forward, "People don't normally feel the need to point that out if everything is okay, you know that right?"

Sumi blanks, staring at Jennie in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Sumi rubs the back of her neck awkwardly, "What's wrong with not having a perfect relationship?"

"I didn't say that and you know I didn't," Jennie smirks, "It might have been ages since I've seen you, but I can still read you,"

Sumi frowns, looking away from her piercing look. She forgot that Jennie could read her like an open book.

"Now," Jennie holds Sumi's hand gently, "What's wrong?"

As soon as Jennie touches Sumi, the floodgates open. Sumi begins balling her eyes out, telling Jennie about everything that has been happening and how she spoke to him the other night.

"But..." Sumi sniffles, "You know, it's a start, right? We'll work through it..."

"Hmmm," Jennie mumbles, looking unfazed by this information, "Did he talk to his co-worker?"

"Yes, of course. He spoke to her Friday," Sumi smiles, "So he's trying,"

"How do you know he spoke to her?" Jennie raises her eyebrow, "Did he call her in front of you? Show you messages?"

Sumi frowns, folding her arms defensively.

"No, but I don't need all that. I trust him," Sumi says firmly.

"And have you been allowed to talk to Hoseok yet?"

"Well..." Sumi bites her lip, "He said I can hang out with him..."

"But?" Jennie narrows her eyes.

"But he has to be there... and I'm not allowed to call him when he isn't around..." Sumi mumbles, fiddling with her necklace nervously.

"Okay, let me get this straight," Jennie snaps, "You wanted to talk to him about invading your privacy, being able to see your friends, and the weird thing with his co-worker, correct?"

"Yes..." Sumi replies.

"And instead he told you he 'spoke to his co-worker'" Jennie uses finger quotations, "He put in more rules around seeing your friends, and still hasn't stopped going through your phone, am I correct?"

"It's a slow process... we'll get there," Sumi responds confidently, trying to ignore the bitterness building up inside her. If she addresses these feelings, she will fight with Jungkook again.

"Bullshit," Jennie responds, "Sumi, don't you get it? He is a control freak jerk! Not only did he start controlling you like an asshole, but he didn't stop when you told him you didn't like it!"

"It's just hard for him," Sumi responds, "His mental health isn't great. I need to support him,"

"NO!" Jennie slams her hand on the table, making Sumi jump, "Don't you dare make excuses,"

Sumi bites her lip, the bitterness overwhelming her.

"Jennie," Sumi takes a deep breath, "If I push too hard, we'll fight and..."

"And...?" Jennie gasps, "He hasn't hit you has he?"

"What? No!" Sumi snaps, "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

Jennie sighs, leaning forward again.

"Do you want to know my honest opinion?" Sumi nods, "Because in abusive relationships that's the next step,"

Sumi stares at Jennie, her thoughts spiralling as she begins to feel on the verge of breaking down again.

Am I... in an abusive relationship?

No... no, Jungkook isn't like that!

Sumi shakes her head.

"He isn't like that," Sumi gives Jennie a strained smile, "We'll get through this... I know we will,"

Jennie smiles sadly, looking at her broken friend as her heart shatters. How did she get this way?

"Okay," Jennie sighs, deciding to leave the conversation at that for now. If she pushes Sumi too much she will push her away and then she won't be able to help her.

"Okay," Sumi nods, looking like she is trying to convince herself more than anyone.

"Want to watch a movie?" Jennie suggests, smirking suggestively, "We could start watching your drama?"

Sumi beams, jumping up from her seat in excitement.

"Yes, please! I haven't watched it yet!"

. . . . . 

"You've been gone a while," Sumi looks up to find Jungkook sitting at the dining table, spinning his phone in his hand, "Where have you been?"

"I was with Jennie, I told you that," Sumi smiles as she closes and locks the front door, slipping off her shoes.

If I reassure him, it'll get better. He just needs reassurance.

"He's a control freak jerk!" Jennie's words replay in Sumi's head, but she ignores them. She doesn't know Jungkook like Sumi does. He just needs reassurance.

"I saw that," Jungkook mumbles, "Just Jennie?"

"Yeah," Sumi affirms quickly, "She lives alone these days," She chuckles, moving towards Jungkook. He stands up, facing her with a deep frown on his expression. He looks concerned and angry.

"I should have come with you," He murmurs gruffly.

No way... Sumi thinks to herself. That wouldn't have gone well, not with what Jennie said.

"What's wrong?" He asks, "Did she say something?"

Sumi shakes her head. Suddenly, Jungkook grabs Sumi's jaw, holding her face in place.

"Tell me the truth," He says firmly. Sumi pulls from his grip, Jennie's words screaming louder and louder in her head.

"She just..." Sumi gulps, "She was just worried that's all. She understood once I explained everything,"

"Understood?" Jungkook moves closer, grabbing Sumi's arms gently, yet holding her in place, "What did she say?" Sumi stares at him wide-eyed, feeling a little scared. Why does he look so angry?

"She... she said you're a control freak," Sumi mumbles quietly, "But it's okay, I explained, and she understood!" Sumi laughs awkwardly. Jungkook's expression changes to one she doesn't recognise. One that scares her. After a moment, he sighs, chuckling darkly.

"And you wonder why I don't like you hanging out with them? They just want you to leave me for Yoongi," He mumbles darkly, making Sumi nervous.

"That's not true..." Sumi mumbles as Jungkook sighs deeply.

"Whatever," He looks up at her, smiling sweetly, "She understood, right?"

"Yeah..." Sumi frowns at his change in behaviour. Jungkook pulls her in for a hug, breathing her in.

"Let's go to bed, okay?" Jungkook mumbles into her shoulder.

"Okay," Sumi says brightly, letting Jungkook lead her to the room.

They crawl into bed after getting changed into their sleepwear, holding each other as they slowly drift off to sleep. 

Jungkook, however, stays awake, waiting until Sumi's breathing is slow and even before rolling over to the edge of their bed, grabbing his phone. He knows what he needs to do.

KOOK: Hey, Jennie 😁

JEN: Hey, Jungkook, what's up?

KOOK: Awww, no kookie? 😞 That's okay, it's been a while...

JEN: What do you want, Jungkook?

KOOK: I was just checking in on an old friend...

JEN: I'm not stupid Jungkook. She told you everything, didn't she?

Jungkook frowns to himself, his anger boiling in his chest. How can she admit to trying to ruin their relationship so easily? He can't have this. This can't be allowed.

KOOK: Maybe, so you know why I am messaging you then?

JEN: I hope I am wrong, but I have a feeling.

KOOK: Good. Stay away from Sumi or you'll regret it.

JEN: Is that a threat Jungkook?

Jungkook chuckles darkly, a ringing in his ears as he responds.

KOOK: Not yet. 

(A/N) Oh no, Jungkook! This is not how you have a healthy relationship! 

See ya Monday 🫰🫰🫰