TIME AFTER TIME ; jjk

19

Chapter 19

JEON JUNGKOOK'S POV

"I'm not forcing you, but I'd love it if you agreed," Jiwon said as she was trying to help me wear the white coat I could perfectly do by myself. I managed to fix it right before anyone could walk in and see us, uncomfortable by the contact. Jiwon took no notice of it. Or pretended to.

"I'll check if we can push through with that—"

"I'll tell your boss, that's even better."

"No," I said, adding an authoritative edge to it. "Please, don't. I'll work my shift and we can go out if I finish early."

"Fine. I was just suggesting." Jiwon let out a sigh and her expression turned aloof. "I've noticed something, but I don't want to pry."

"What is it?"

"You've been hanging out with Park Soohyun lately."

"And with Taehyung," I added.

"I thought you didn't like her."

"But we can be friends and be nice around each other. And I like her, just not in the way you're thinking. Is there a problem? Would you like to join us sometime?"

"Uh, no, I'll be fine. Taehyung feels weird."

I grabbed my pen from my desk and slipped it into the pocket of my coat, making a confused look for Jiwon. "What?"

"He makes me uncomfortable. It could just be me, but I think he has come to dislike me. Is it about what he saw before? But I didn't mean to take my anger out on you, right? You know that. And your friend, he's really making me feel even more bad about it. I regret what I did but he's judging me badly—"

"Calm down, Ji. He hadn't even said anything bad about you."

"Well, maybe, he did behind your back."

"Taehyung's really honest. He tells me everything he notices. There's nothing to worry about," I said to reassure her. Taehyung was one of the vocal people I knew. And if there was something that bothered him and involved me, I would be the one to know what was wrong first before anyone else.

"You don't know what happens when you're not around."

"Did he do something to you?"

"No, but—"

"You're overthinking. I know him so well. He's not petty. Taehyung does not like to interfere with things he's not concerned with, unless it's really needed."

"Does he know the truth about us?" Worry was laced in her voice. "Don't ever tell him, okay?"

"This is kept between us... But, Ji, when will you formally introduce me to your father and uncle? This thing with your brothers is stressful for me. They constantly ask me how I am taking care of you though we're not official, and I have to always lie, you know? That yeah, we're good. That I usually take you out on dates. I brought you home. It's a huge pressure. And I'm telling you honestly, they're making me feel scared. Always checking on us. Supposed we were actually together, shouldn't they stay out of it and not remind me of what I should do? You shouldn't have accidentally talked about me so they would have not assumed anything—"

"But you did not do your part. You could have said yes when they asked if you were my boyfriend."

"It wasn't how our deal should go, remember? Only your father and uncle were the ones I would face and concern myself with."

"It didn't go the way we planned, okay! It was my fault. I was stupid. But we can't always stick to what was agreed on. Would it hurt to change things a little? My brothers thought I was a liar by telling them we're going steady while you said otherwise. And mind you, you also made yourself look like an asshole to them and it seemed like you were leading me on."