❦ chapter ²⁴ ❦

minseok was slowly stirring the hot bowl of rice and vegetables while a big, juicy piece of steak grilled on the other side of the stove.
he whipped his head to the side after hearing the sound of a door unlocking.

"hey." jungkook came in and started taking off his shoes.

"good evening." minseok replied and continued repetitively stirring in circular motions.

he sometimes felt like rapunzel from that disney movie. he was locked up in a house and it was forbidden for him to go out. but at the same time he was very much grateful to jungkook – instead of killing him, he took him to his own house and let him stay. it wasn't bad at all, jungkook took care of him and made sure he had everything he was in need of.

minseok somehow enjoyed it, in a way.
at the same time, he felt confusion tingle in him from time to time. what were they? friends?
but friends don't do all the outrageously vulgar things they do...
friends with benefits?
maybe.

minseok dared to steal a glance from jungkook while the older was fixing his hair in the mirror.

"whatcha looking at, kid?" jungkook asked with a chuckle.

"nothing..." minseok replied and quickly turned his head back, turning off the stove.

minseok tasted some of the cooked rice to make sure it was fully done.
the next thing he felt were jungkook's big and warm arms that hugged around his waist while their bodies slightly pressed together.

jungkook didnt know what he was doing either. he felt different with taehyung and minseok, the difference was quite drastic, and as a switch, jungkook had a very hard time figuring himself out.
on the other hand of this all, he had two choices: if things dont end up good with taehyung he can get with minseok and vice versa.
but in real life it wasn't as easy as it sounded. what relationship can he establish with taehyung? first of all, they are rivals, second of all, why on earth was jungkook so sure taehyung had feelings for him?
what if taehyung was only playing with jungkook and his feelings?
jungkook's personal vendetta against his own self seemed to be eternal.

"it was so sweet of you to prepare a dinner." jungkook leaned into minseok, resting his head on his fragile shoulder and whispered: "thank you."

"I figured you'd be hungry when you get home."

both secretly enjoyed acting like a couple without making it official; it was in a way a guilty little pleasure of theirs.

minseok put down the spoon and placed his small hands on top of jungkook's.

"omg, jungkook, w-what is this?" minseok suddenly pushed himself away from jungkook and turned around to face him, holding the elder's hands in his own. "were you abused?"

jungkook looked down at his wrists and saw red lined scars on them. he blushed after realizing they appeared after the encounter he had with taehyung earlier. jungkook pulled his hands away and stepped aside.

"I work as a murderer in a gang, I'm a criminal. what do you expect?" jungkook's voice came out a little more bitter than he'd expected it to.

"right... sorry." minseok remarked quietly and started placing dishes on the table.

without a warning jungkook pulled minseok into his arms and locked their lips in a kiss. it was ever so gentle and luscious, slow, easy kind of kissing, perfect for lazy summer nights.
minseok tenderly pulled away and looked at jungkook.
"what are we?" he asked quietly looking at the ground.

"what are we? ... what do you want us to be?" jungkook was little taken aback by the sudden question he never expected would leave minseok's lips.

"me? well, it's a little stupid..." minseok muttered softly.

"it's alright, tell me. you want us to be a thing? a couple?" jungkook questioned as he looked at minseok with stern eyes.

minseok nodded silently and jungkook bit his lip nervously.

"the thing is, minseok..." jungkook took a deep breath and continued. "you're a great guy – sweet, gentle, caring... hot... but I can't promise you I'll be loyal..."

"I see." it was painfully obvious minseok was sad but he didn't want to show it to jungkook. "then can we at least keep up this friends with benefits thing?"

"are you being a needy teenager or are you actually in love with me?" jungkook asked.

"a little bit of both maybe?" minseok answered and smiled a little.

"I'm really sorry, I'm... awkward and shit."

"no, it's alright, I'm also awkward." he laughed.

jungkook told minseok to try and not develop strong feelings for him, meanwhile he, himself, was struggling with the same exact problem.

they had a nice dinner together and later, decided to watch a movie. while jungkook was making popcorn, minseok went upstairs to set everything up.

"why are you staring at me like that?" jungkook asked his goldfish while he waited for the popcorn to be done.
"it's not my fault! I am innocent in this situation. and most of all, feelings are complicated and hard to manage. you know nothing about that so stop acting like you know what you're talking about."

the fish blinked with one eye and opened its mouth letting some bubbles float up to the top.

"see? there you are again with your endless complaints! I swear I have no idea what is going on!" jungkook crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows. " taehyung is probably the best person that has ever fucked me but he is a dick! and most of all, he is from my rival gang! so like you know, we are supposed to make each other scream in pain, yet here we are, making each other scream in pleasure instead.
and now there's minseok with his feelings... okay, okay I know it was kind of my fault cuz I seduced the kid and stuff, but... minseok isnt bad at all, you know what I'm saying? he is better than taehyung in a way, but... then taehyung is also better than minseok in another way.
am I polyamorous? what if I just need to go and get drunk so that i could get some relief from all this stress?"

jungkook sprinkled some food for the fish and watched, as it started swimming from corner to corner, trying to get every piece.

"you arent helping, you know that?" jungkook scoffed.

"were you just talking to the fish?!" jungkook turned his head and saw a confused minseok near the staircase.

"ahahah... well, you see–"

❦