Can't Be Without You | Jungkook

Part 2

**

You're slumped on your desk chair, eyes boring into the ceiling, wishing you were home underneath your soft covers instead, watching Disney movies, drinking hot chocolate and...

You're broken out of your reverie when your personal phone rings, Jungkook's face already making your day slightly better through the screen.

"I bear good news. Your favorite ice cream has been restocked," he announces on the other end. "How many of the chocolate crunch and the red bean?" He asks, words a bit muffled from food being stuffed in his mouth.

You check your clock. It's lunch time, and you're glad he's even taking a break. Jungkook part times as a store clerk at a supermarket, hauling deliveries from the trucks, sorting them on the shelves, and assisting customers who can't find what they're looking for, although he often wonders why he sees the same few women on the same aisles every week without getting anything.

You'd roll your eyes at this because "obviously they're checking you out and not the items," and he'd just laugh at the peeved look on your face.

"___?" Jungkook asks on the other end.

"Yeah, uhm, 3 each will do. I'm scheduled to do my grocery soon anyway," you weakly reply.

You know he noticed the dip in your voice, and this is uncommon for a Thursday, of all days. You enjoy Thursday's because it's game day at the youth center where you work. You had just finished playing charades and jenga with the morning batch, and it had been a fun one.

You savor the moments you see the kids enjoy themselves, their smiles and laughter a rare sight, even for them. You'd take this day over any day of them crying, asking when it will end, if they'll ever be happy, or how to stop the nightmares.

You're trained for this, trained to answer and comfort them. But you get them, too. It's not easy to imagine a life when you're not hurting when at that moment, it's all you know to feel. But Thursdays are when they're afforded a reprieve. These moments when they're playing around and laughing are when they get to be what they are - kids.

"Everything okay?" Jungkook asks, worry laced in his voice.

"Yeah, it's just..." you start, taking a deep breath as you try to be more comfortable. "My dad's home and he asked to meet him for dinner tomorrow, said he wants to introduce me to someone."

"Oh," Jungkook responds, shifting in his seat. "Are you going to see him?"

"Yeah, I guess. I haven't seen him in 2 years and I'm sure my mom would want me to."

"What are you more nervous about? Seeing him or..." Seeing his new partner, maybe, he doesn't say.

"Seeing him, always. Everything else follows, I guess." Your breaths steady; somehow just knowing Jungkook is on the other end is enough to calm you down.

"It's just been a while and I'm okay, definitely, I just..." you stutter. You hate to ask this of your best friend because it's the next day, a Friday, and he could always use that time to take a much-needed rest or to do his other part-time job at the club. "Can you go with me?"

There's silence on the other end and you dislike yourself for asking this of him, on top of the many other things he already does for you on a regular basis. You should be okay and able to do this on your own without your best friend having to console you through dinner with your own flesh and blood. But the last time, you were with your older sister. Before that, you had your then-boyfriend, Minho and he was enough of an anchor for you not to fall apart.

"Yeah, I can go with you," Jungkook finally responds.

"Really?" You ask.

He can imagine your wide eyes and lopsided smile, and he immediately forgets whatever the consequence on his end would be. You need him, and he will always come running.