flashback

Jungkook flew into the room, his chest heaving. Even though he was doing as much as he could to hide it, I could see a shadow of unfeigned fury dancing on his expression.

He leans his back on the bare cold wall, his shoulders tense and his white-knuckled fingers clutching his phone.

"Is anything the matter?" I ask softly, my mind alarmed.

His eyes, minutes ago filled with love and affection, don't meet mine. Instead, Jungkook shifts his gaze the other direction, a deep frown on his forehead, his nostrils widened from the anger that was so obviously burning up inside of him.

"Yes." He replies simply and I press my lips into a thin line, standing up slowly.

"Jungkook." I give him a meaningful look, but still, he doesn't even glance at me, so I take a few steps towards him. "You can tell me."

"I don't want to talk about it." He snarled, finally raising his eyes towards me and I see his irises illuminated by red circles of rage. This catches me taken aback, I freeze in my spot.

"Jungkook, whatever's bothering you, you know-" I try approaching him again in a loving tone, carefully making my way towards him like he's an injured dangerous animal.

"I said I don't want to talk about it, Y/N!" He yells out exasperatedly and I flinch. His form devoid from any tenderness and affection that I've always seen from him.

I sense my eyes filling with tears and let out a quiet sniffle. Jungkook's eyes widen and he has a look on his face like a person who's just now realizing what he has done. He gulps loudly and I know that the guilt has stepped in.

The following seconds an expression of hesitation dances on Jungkook's face. Finally, he clears his throat, quickly taking his coat off the hanger, making his way towards the door.

"I'm so sorry. I just- I can't do this right now." He utters in a hoarse voice and next thing I know he's out of my apartment.

Leaving me all alone.

***

Taehyung put on some music as we were waiting on yet another traffic light.

"Oh my God." I gasp and clap my hands as I turn around so that my whole body could face his. "Is this... The Neighbourhood my ears are hearing?"

"You're exactly right," the boy smiled, his fingers playing with the radio buttons to adjust the sound. "I like some of their songs. This one's my favorite."

I jump in my seat as I hear "Flawless", one of the songs I loved the most.

"Are you for real?" I widen my eyes at Taehyung excitedly. "I could listen to this song every day until the day I die."

"I'm glad the music in my car matches your taste." He grins at me, shifting his eyes from the road for a while to meet mine as his long slender fingers steered the wheel. "Looks like we have a lot in common."

"And I just can't wait for love to destroy us~" I sing to the song quietly, not wanting to deafen Taehyung with my singing. A rather indistinguishable smile plays on his soft lips as he enjoys the song as well.

"None of my friends have the same music taste as me so I seldomly get to enjoy my favorite songs in company." I frown.

"Not even Jungkook?" Taehyung raises his eyebrows. "But I thought you two were a match made in heaven."

I lower my gaze, biting my lower lip. Taehyung notices me sulking immediately and his whole body freezes nervously.

"Um, I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry I brought this up, I didn't want to-" He starts apologizing softly and I can sense he's genuinely sorry.

"It's no big deal. We can talk about it, it's not like Jungkook's-" I gulp at the word "dead" because deep inside I feared that's exactly what he was, so I leave my sentence unfinished.

Taehyung sighs, and glances at me with the corner of his eye. He stays silent for a few seconds, as he pulled up in front of my apartment building. I was so deep in thought that I realized we had already reached our destination when the car stopped.

Taehyung unbuckles his safety belt and turns his body towards mine, our eyes locking in a powerful gaze. I just now noticed how mesmerizing his deep hazel eyes were, once I looked at them I couldn't look away.

He cleared his throat as if he was about to tell me something very important.

He suddenly put his right hand on my thigh softly and I felt as if electric wires were running from my spine to my toes. The gesture was casual, I knew Taehyung didn't mean anything by it, but I still felt strange.

"Y/N," he starts off, and I notice how gently he pronounces my name, with such tenderness as if he was talking to a very close one. "I know it's not my place to tell you this, but I'm sure deep down inside you know it too, you just don't want to think about it." He took a deep breath in before continuing.

"Jungkook was- I mean, is a very secretive person. It's very hard to notice someone's flaws when you're in love with them, but I'm fairly certain you're observant enough to know this. Hell, I've known him my whole life and even I can't say with certainty that I know him entirely."

Taehyung looked somewhere behind me as if he was remembering something, his hand not moving from next to mine.

"I don't mean to say anything bad about him, at all. He is and always has been an amazing friend. The best one you could have," the boy bit his lower lip anxiously. "But, like any other person, he has issues. I'm sure you know this, but Jungkook's relationship with his parents was quite damaged."

I struggled to recall a situation in which Jungkook had shared something on the subject with me. Overall, he didn't talk about his family that often.

"Seeing him with you was the happiest I've ever seen him." Taehyung confessed, placing his warm hand on mine, squeezing it lightly. "And this is maybe the reason he held onto you so tightly. For him, you were his family, Y/N."

My heart fluttered and my eyes started tearing up, reminiscing of all the sweet and happy moments and confessions Jungkook and I had shared. All those happy memories were interrupted by Taehyung's expression suddenly growing darker.

"But Jungkook was confused emotionally, Y/N. Maybe he hasn't let it show with you. And I've seen him go through weird shit before. I thought this was over when he met you, but now... I'm not so sure."

I suddenly have troubles gulping, feeling like there's a lump stuck in my throat, not letting me make a sound.

"The reason I'm telling you all of this is so that you don't end up accusing yourself of something you could have no control over." Taehyung sighs, running his hand through his lustrous hair as his soft palm still rested on mine. "Sometimes people aren't who you think they are."

I nod slowly.

"Thank you for being honest with me." I utter finally. "It means a lot. But I really have to go now, Celine's gonna be pissed at me." I straighten up my expression as my hand brushes Taehyung's lightly, sending electric sensations all the way through my whole arm. He must have felt it too because I saw a startled look on his face.

"Yeah, sure." He mumbles as he passes me the bags I had bought from the mall. "Have fun at the party."

I hop out of the car, walking fastly towards my building, not turning my back until I hear the car engine roar.

I open the front door of our apartment quietly, and then lean my back on it, the cold surface against my back calming down my raging nerves. The thoughts in my head rankled my brain and made me feel dizzy.

"Was that Taehyung's car outside?" Celine's head pops up from the kitchen door, her eyes glistening with curiosity.

"Yes, it was," I confirm trying to sound as nonchalant as I could but my friend could see right through me. "He was kind enough to drive me to the mall and accompany me as I pick out our present for Yuri." I lift the bags in both my hands, reminding Celine of the event we had coming up.

She looked more intrigued by another subject.

"How come Kim Taehyung's driving you around now?" She continues questioning as she steps out in the antechamber with me.

"Because he brought me here last night after I passed out in Jungkook's apartment." I blurt out, never having believed that I would say those words altogether in a sentence. My gut ties in a knot when I mentally predict Celine's reaction.

"You did what?" She looks at me in amazement, her jaw dropping so low it almost rolls down on the floor.

I quickly fill her in on the events of the past few days, clarifying from why Taehyung had come looking for me the other day and how we had entered Jungkook's apartment, to the conversation we had had a couple of minutes ago.

Celine listened carefully without interrupting even once, her arms crossed in front of her chest and not a muscle twitching on her beautiful face.

"Overall, Taehyung's been a really good friend to me recently." I let out of my breath from all the talking.

"You know what," she says warily at last, "I've always suspected him of having a thing for you."

"What? Celine, are you crazy? I just told you he's been nice to me recently. Only that. It's not what you think at all."

"No, hear me out, Y/N," Celine waves her hands expressively, trying to catch my attention as I was ready to get defensive. "I've noticed things. I just never brought it up because I didn't think it mattered. But I'm one hundred percent sure Taehyung was infatuated with you but tried his hardest not to show because Jungkook's his best friend. Maybe that's why he acted so distant and indifferent whenever you were around."

With the corner of my mind, I knew what Celine was saying made sense but I tried to push it back.

"This is absurd." I frowned and my roommate sighed. "Celine, with everything that's going on now I don't need you opposing me."

"I'm just saying this as your best friend and as an observant of the whole situation."

"Well, even if it's true it doesn't matter."

"If you say so."

Celine let out a weak smile, pulling me in for a tight hug. I knew she wasn't saying any of this to hurt me.

"Whatever you need, I'm here for you." She whispers, burying her face in my shoulder.

"I know."

I squeeze her softly, breaking the hug and directing myself towards my room to freshen up. I leave my coat on the bed, sighing deeply at the thought of how my life turned upside down in the course of some weeks.

I push the bathroom door, completely unaware that the turning upside down part wasn't over at all.

I let out a short squeal, instinctively covering up my mouth with my hands, my eyes widening with horror.

There, on the round bathroom mirror, laid a message someone had carefully written in bright vermillion red letters.

I knew was directed only towards me.

"No one's who you think they are."

author's note:

okayyy. i'm sorry if this was too long but I tried to cover a lot in this chapter!

let me know what you think~

also, this book's about to get very confusing, so if there's something you don't get, don't be shy to ask

love youu~