AVOIDANCE CAME AS second nature to Jungkook. He'd lasted almost a week without discussing the morning he had woken up in Neva's bed. Of course, all of their friends had eventually heard about it, thanks to Jimin and Cassie being unable to keep a secret.

"You'll never get away with murder, either of you," he had grumbled a little grumpily to Jimin on their way to classes that morning, as Taehyung grinned at how childish he was.

Jimin simply licked his finger and held it into the air.

"Ohhh, we have a frosty breeze coming in from the East coast," he flexed his degree, pretending to be a weather forecaster. "Some reports suggest that Jungkook, being a cold little bitch, is at the eye of the storm. Be careful out there. Back to Taehyung in the studio."

Putting his finger to his ear, imitating an in-ear system, Taehyung played up to the anchor role perfectly. He was definitely suave enough for it, and middle-aged women would love him.

"Thanks Jimin. I can confirm reports that Jungkook is, in fact, a little bitch. More on this story to follow."

"I hate you both."

"Love you too!" Jimin called, as they split off to head to separate buildings. "Don't forget the party tonight!"

"I'm not coming if you keep being insufferable," Jungkook grumbled, heading into the psychology department.

He could hear an echo of his friends, smiling slightly to himself. "Yes, you are!"

Distracted by their stupidity, he almost didn't notice the girl waving to him in the lobby of his building. 

Shit.

Another person he'd been avoiding. 

"It's been a minute," Jen smiled, slightly awkwardly, aware of how distant he had been.

"Yeah, sorry," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with a flat palm, whilst his other hand was stuffed into his jeans pocket. "Been a bit all over the place lately. You know how it is, school getting a little more intense and all that."

"No, yeah, I get it," she nodded. Jen knew that they weren't a serious thing, but she still enjoyed his company and had missed having him around. She'd only formed friendships with a few people since starting college, so his absence had been noticed. "If you're free now, my roommate has gone home for the weekend," she chanced.

On the spot, face-to-face, he felt awkward saying no. It would mean admitting that he didn't want to fuck her, and that just felt plain rude.

The walk through campus was brisk, with small talk and awkward jokes. His arms were crossed, not entirely at ease with the situation.

Typically just getting straight down to the deed, Jen was pleasantly surprised when he suggested watching a movie instead.

It wasn't like they'd never done it before; they'd started watching lots of movies.

They had just never finished one.

Still, there was a first time for everything. Why not now?

"What do you think the guy in the yellow suit is doing?" Jungkook nodded towards the laptop screen, highlighting one of the background characters.

"Huh?"

"Where do you reckon he's going?"

"Does it matter?" Jen laughed, a little confused. He was normally good at using his words to get her in the mood. She wasn't sure what to make of his new approach.

"No," Jungkook shrugged. "I reckon he's on his way to finalise a deal with a confetti manufacturer." 

"You're so weird," Jen flirted, to which Jungkook just smiled with his lips sealed shut. 

She hadn't meant it negatively, not really, but he couldn't help but compare her to Neva.

Not once did Neva ever make him feel alien, or as if his thoughts were too weird to share. If anything, she'd share even weirder thoughts just to one-up him. 

An hour into the film, sensing that Jen was edging closer and hoping to close the gap between them entirely, Jungkook made his excuses and left. It was a white lie, something about Jimin being locked out of the room, and he promised that they'd meet up again soon, but that was a lie too.

He just wanted to be alone for a little bit.

That being said, he glanced down every side alley and into every window he walked past, subconsciously searching for her. He hadn't meant to, but he just couldn't help himself.

All he wanted was to know what Neva thought the man in the yellow suit would have been doing.

He didn't find her of course, not until he was walking up the corridor to their dorms.

Jungkook smiled quickly, before letting it fall, noticing that she wasn't alone. Quite the opposite.

Back against her door, she was looking up at a guy that he didn't recognise. They weren't touching, and there was still a considerable gap between them, but she had a finger twirling her loose hair, and he was looking at his feet and then back up to her eyes.

Prick.

Shorter in stature than Jungkook, he looked wiser, slighter older. He didn't have the same boyish charm, but he shared a penchant for black clothes. With dark hair and thick-rimmed glasses, Jungkook thought that Neva looked good beside him.

It sucked.

She was smiling, lightly giggling at something that he had said, paying no mind to Jungkook as he walked past.

So this guy is more interesting than me? Huh. Cool. That's fine.

Her eyes caught his awkwardly as he brushed past them, heading into his own room.

Jungkook's key was in his front pocket, like it always was. 

Pausing by his door, he unzipped his bag and started rummaging around.

Neva had fished his keys out of his pockets enough times to know exactly where it would be. She controlled the glare she wanted to cast his way, instead smiling sweetly at the man in front of her.

Jungkook just continued searching obnoxiously, knowing full well that he wouldn't find his key in there.

"I mean it, you little genius. I'm glad to be of assistance," the stranger shrugged, not noticing the tension between the neighbours. Taking the pen that had been in Neva's hand, he bit the lid off and kept it between his teeth. Turning her arm over, he began to jot down a series of numbers. "Just in case you need any help."

"Oh," Neva felt her face flush, ignoring Jungkook's gaze burning into her. He was crouching now, bag on the floor, still 'looking'. "Thanks, Yoongi."

"No worries," he shrugged, smirk still present as he began to edge away. "Just for, yanno... our project." 

His aftershave lingered as he walked away, and Neva couldn't help but bite her lip tenderly.

"Who was that?"

Neva was snapped from her Yoongi-induced trance back to Jungkook.

"That was Yoongi," She shrugged. "He's a masters student assisting with one of my modules."

"Which one?" Jungkook asked, barely waiting for Neva to finish her sentence.

"Trial by Media," she said. "We're looking at infamous cases and discussing the impact of media attention."

"Why would you need his help? Google exists," Jungkook huffed, nose turned up.

If Neva didn't know any better, she'd have said he was jealous.

"Oh shit, you're right," Neva rolled her eyes at him, before lifting her phone to her lips. "Hey Google, why is Jungkook such a little bitch?"

"I can search the web for that. Press search below," her phone echoed into the corridor.

There was a tiny smirk on Jungkook's face, amused by how pedantic she could be.

"Whatever. He looked like he was dressed for a funeral," he muttered, still intent on being petulant.

Neva sighed in despair, looking up and down at the boy who was still pretending to look for his key. He, too, was also wearing black from head to toe. Raising a brow, she smirked as he rose to tower above her.

It took him a second to realise what she grinning about, but once he did, he felt his cheeks flame. "Shut up, Eva."

"Grow up," she rolled her eyes fondly, the scent of a perfume far sweeter than his aftershave contaminating the air around him. It didn't take a genius to work out where he had just been. Her stomach felt queasy. "Wow. I got a number, and you got laid. Lucky us. What an afternoon we're both having."

Turning rather sharply, she was behind her door before he had a chance to explain that he had basically been a practising monk since sleeping in her bed. 

Okay, so it had only been a week, but still. The idea of a casual fuck wasn't really all that appealing to him.

Oh God, maybe I'm ill, he panicked. He'd never been one to not fancy careless sex.

On the opposite side of the door, Neva was trying to control her breathing. He fucks about, I know that, she tried to reason. This is nothing new. 

Flight or fight triggered, she found herself pacing uncomfortably until there was a knock at the door.

"I'm sleeping!" she shouted back. Unlike Jungkook, lying wasn't something she was very good at.

"Eva," Jungkook called slowly, elongating his vowels.

"Fuck off!"

"That's not very friendly."

"I don't really feel like being friends right now."

"C'mon. Don't be like that."

Silence. Jungkook breathed heavily, eyes closed, head tipping back. 

"I'll be in my room when you decide to stop being a baby," he called through the door, waiting for a second or two, just in case she decided to respond. 

She didn't.

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"You should have seen the way he looked at her," Jungkook repeated for what felt like the thousandth time to the boys. They were supposed to be finishing off their assignments before getting shitfaced ahead of the party tonight. It was a big one, off-campus, and everyone was invited.

"Yeah, yeah, looked at her like she was a piece of meat, got it the first time," Jimin replied sarcastically. Jungkook had been ranting for a straight 45 minutes now, and it was getting a little tedious. "Are you sure you aren't just reading a bit too heavily into it?"

Jungkook scoffed at the idea. "I know what I saw."

"All I'm saying is that maybe he's genuinely just interested in helping her out?" Jimin mused.

Spinning on his desk chair, he aimed towards the bin by the door. With precision, he landed a screwed-up revision card directly into it. Bullseye.

They were meant to be studying, not bitching about their exes.

"Helping her out... or asking her out," Tae snickered from his position on Jimin's bed. Tossing a small ball into the air above himself, he wasn't paying much attention, and didn't notice Jimin aiming a freshly screwed up card at his face. "Ouch, fucker!"

"Yeah, you'd know all about that."

Jungkook knew that it shouldn't bother him.

Hell, he didn't even know why it did. He and Neva had made their peace. He had been indulging in a private life, so why shouldn't she be allowed to as well? God, he felt like he was going insane.

"Sorry," he sighed, slumping down onto his own bed, defeated. "It's just new. I've never had to know Neva as someone else's and it's shit. It's shit knowing that someone else gets to be loved by her."

Jimin rolled his eyes. He'd spent enough time with Cassie to know a dramatic bitch when he saw one.

"Love is infinite," he reasoned, knowing that Neva definitely wasn't in love, but entertaining the idea nonetheless. "Her falling in love with someone else won't detract any of the love she's ever felt for you. You guys are better off as friends and you know it."

"Regardless," Tae spoke with his mouth half-full with potato chips, which definitely weren't his. "She doesn't love him. She didn't even have his number."

Jungkook contemplated this.

It was true that Neva's conversation with Yoongi seemed like that of acquaintances, not friends, and certainly not lovers. Running a hand through his dishevelled hair, he let out a hearty sigh.

He knew that he couldn't do this every time he saw her get close to someone else. It wasn't fair. He'd done it with Tae, and now he was doing it again with Yoongi.

"You need a distraction. You're only bothered 'cause you've got nothing else to occupy your mind," Tae continued, one hand inside the chip bag, the other animatedly illustrating his words. "Were you thinking about her while you were sleeping with Jen?"

"No," Jungkook lied.

"Stop being a little bitch and text her then. You won't be worrying about Neva dating someone else if you're already doing it first."

Tae was more to the point than Jimin, his thought process stemming from his fuck boy nature. On the one hand, it was the brutal truth that Jungkook needed to hear, but on the other, he just wanted a hug.

"Think about it this way," Jimin interjected, noticing the sad look of contemplation on Jungkook's face. "You want Neva to be happy, right?"

Jungkook nodded his head slowly, lips shut tightly together as he pouted. Happiness looked so good on her. He loved her giggle.

"Then you gotta let her do what she needs to do, even if it hurts you a little bit. You'll bounce back from this."

"Fuck me, Jimin, you've been spending way too much time around Cass. You're starting to go soft," Tae teased, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Soft?!"

Jimin returned a wicked grin to Tae and proceeded to rugby tackle him, play fighting like children while Jungkook pondered his thoughts.

Despite the racket coming from his friends' rumble, there was a deafening silence in his head. He hated the idea of Neva with someone else. He hated the idea of someone new in the bed on the other side of his dorm room wall. He hated that it would most likely mean the end of their newfound friendship - after all, who likes their partner being friends with their ex?

He flipped his phone in between his fingers, contemplating sending Jen a text.

He didn't really want to - but he didn't want to hurt Neva even more than he already had.

Ignoring the chaos beside him, he unlocked his phone and opened up Snapchat. The front camera captured his pout, but it wasn't too noticeable.

Swiping through his contacts, he sighed at the emojis next to Neva's name; a testament to the fact he couldn't go more than a day without sending her irrelevant life updates or goofy pictures.

His thumbs tapped against the screen, as memories of Neva's blatant lie about sleeping tickled him slightly.

Giving his snap the once over, making sure that he looked alright, he sighed.

And then he pressed send.

Precisely twelve seconds later, he heard Neva's phone vibrate through the wall. He watched his screen carefully, looking for the change in his delivered symbol - and then it was read.

On the other side of the wall, Neva pouted.

↬↬↬↬↬

a/n: he he he party scene up next