insanity.

Chapter 7

I sat on the swings waiting for Hoseok. I was wearing a thin T-shirt and sweatpants. A few minutes earlier, I had met up with Jungkook and explained my current situation to him.

"Why the hell would you agree to meet that ass hat?" He had growled, his eyes basically flashing red. "After all the pain he's caused you, why?"

"You sound like my brothers," I breathed out, feeling the wind hit my back and shivering a bit. "Anyway, I only asked you to come in case he tries anything. Just so I have a witness."

At that moment, Jungkook began shrugging off his leather jacket and throwing it over my shoulders. I slid my arms into the sleeves and felt instantly warmer. "Well, wearing that thin ass shirt, you're practically asking him to fuck you."

"Hey!" I scoffed, zipping up the jacket and instantly getting a whiff of Jungkook's masculine scent. It smelt nice, and I had to resist taking another whiff with him standing in front of me. "Just go sit on one of the benches or something. We usually meet on the swings, and all the benches have a good view of the swings."

"Hey," Jungkook's suddenly concerned voice drew my eyes to meet his as he stepped forward. "Are you really sure you want to do this?"

I nodded, reaching out and brushing a piece of hair out of his eyes with a sad smile. "I don't think I can ever let him go unless I do this. Besides, I feel safer with you here. Stop worrying about me."

"That's not what I meant," his arm caught my waist, pulling me against him as he leaned down toward my face. "What I meant was are you really sure about me being here? You...don't know what I'm capable of."

I examined his face for a moment, watching as he looked everywhere but into my eyes. I grabbed his chin and forced his eyes to meet mine. "If I thought you were capable of doing me any harm, I wouldn't be standing here with you. Have a little more faith in me, Jungkook. Have faith in yourself, too."

I leaned up and barely managed to kiss the end of his chin before pushing him away and wandering towards the swing sets without looking back.

Which leads me to right now. Thinking about what I had done only made the blush on my cheeks warmer, and I groaned. Why did I kiss him? What the hell was I thinking?

I wrapped my arms around myself, breathing in the scent of Jungkook's jacket and feeling myself smile without thinking.

"You...actually came."

Hearing his voice erased any thought of Jungkook from my mind as I swallowed hard and forced myself to look up at him.

Hoseok looked...horrible.

His eyes were bloodshot, and there were bags under his eyes as he came to sit on the swing beside mine. "I miss you."

"Don't," I growled, glaring over at him as he sighed heavily. "I'm here for one reason, and one reason only. To hear whatever explanation you have to give me."

"Haeyoung," he forced out, and my heart panged as I realized he was crying. "I haven't slept since that day. I couldn't even begin to imagine how you must've felt seeing that. But, it wasn't what it looked like."

I waited for him to explain as he looked over at me. "Mina is...arranged to marry me. Her family wants the best for her, and if I don't keep her happy I could lose everything. They give me a monthly sum of money, and I've been putting that money towards our apartment. I have to pretend to love her so that once I have enough, I can leave her and finally be...happy. Haeyoung, it's always been you."

I didn't know how to respond as he got off the swing and moved to kneel in front of me, grabbing my hands. "I know your brothers hate me, and your friends want me dead. But none of that matters because I love you. I never knew what it meant to really love someone until I met you. I know I've hurt you beyond belief, and if I can't win you back then that's something I'll have to live with for the rest of my life. But I'll never stop loving you, Kim Haeyoung."

"Hoseok, I--"

Before I was able to respond, I felt someone slide up behind me and recognized the dark presence immediately. "Is there an issue here, Haeyoung?"

I looked back to meet Jungkook's eyes, seeing as he glared hatred at Hoseok as he stood up and released my hands. Thank God he came when he did because I almost let Hoseok back into my broken heart.

"Who the hell are you?" Hoseok demanded as I stood up and walked to stand beside Jungkook. Hoseok watched as Jungkook looked over at me and wrapped one of his arms around my waist and pulled me closer.

"Isn't it obvious, asshole? I'm the guy who's gonna fix up Haeyoung's heart that you broke into a billion pieces," Jungkook answered, turning to look back at Hoseok. I could feel him staring at me, but I kept my eyes away from his. "I'm not about to let you destroy her again. You had your chance, multiple times. You blew it. She deserves someone to treat her like the queen she is."

I pursed my lips, remembering how Taehyung had said almost the same exact thing earlier today.

"Haeyoung, look at me," Hoseok pleaded, and I could feel Jungkook looking down at me as I mustered up all my strength to look over at him. "Baby, can't you see I'm a mess without you? What can he give you that I can't?"

"Everything," I felt myself say, which came as a shock to all of us. "He wouldn't cheat on me, lie to me, break my heart a million times, manipulate me. I do still love you, sadly, but I will never give you my heart again."

I watched as Hoseok's world seemed to crash behind his eyes as his knees buckled and he fell to the ground. I resisted the strong urge to run to him, silently thanking Jungkook for keeping his arm around me.

Hoseok glared up at Jungkook, and I could feel a silent war brewing between the two of them as I stood there in silence. "You'll regret the day you took her from me. I will have Haeyoung, at whatever cost necessary."

I knew Hoseok was dangerous. He had connections to a lot of dangerous people, people who I knew could harm Jungkook. I suddenly began to regret dragging him into this.

"You'll have to kill me before I let that happen," Jungkook said, and I looked up at him in alarm as I heard Hoseok chuckle dangerously.

"If that's what it takes, then so be it."