Shameless | JJK

xiv. Violent

IN THE RUMBLING limousine on the road, Jimin pinched a tissue against his bleeding nose, his head leaned forward with Horang's hand on his back. She had a small bag of tissues ready for Jimin to take, her eyes constantly on him. The ride was silent, the air filled with tension over the events of barely ten minutes before. Even after Hoseok was briefed over the mishap, they stayed quiet.

Soyeon's throat was itching with pure shock and embarrassment. It became too much that she had to spit it out, clearing her throat abruptly. "I'm really sorry. I should have never brought you guys to that event. These events always bring catastrophe."

Jimin's sudden chuckle rattled in the car. "Are you kidding? Where else am I supposed to get punched in the face by some entitled rich kid?"

His words spurred on a bout of chuckles from those in the car. Jungkook spoke up with amusement. "Where else are we going to be called commoners?"

"It's a shame I missed it," Hoseok remarked.

They chuckled even more, the tension in the air seemingly dissolved with a lighter tone. Soyeon was just glad they could crack a few jokes despite the events that unfolded.

Still, Soyeon was bothered. "I'm really sorry about Junho."

"Stop apologizing for him," Eunjin spoke up from her seat beside Soyeon. "You know he gets bitter after losing. I didn't expect him to take it out on Jimin, though."

Except Soyeon knew, with confidence, the reason why Jimin was the one to take the blow. Junho had been suspicious of him ever since that night where Jimin asked them to dinner. Everytime they would walk past him and Jimin would greet her politely, as he was a naturally kind-hearted person, Junho's suspicion would only grow further. Suspicion that, behind his polite and gentle smiles, was a man aiming to 'take' Soyeon away from him—which was blasphemous for her.

When Soyeon reached out to stop Junho, specifically when Jimin stepped into the scene, she had played a part in sparking the suspicion's transition into pure resentment. Junho simply acted on it.

Jungkook knew this as well. Soyeon had briefly told him Jimin was a target for Junho once, but he would never had expected his best friend to get hurt over it. He regretted not taking the blow for him instead. It wasn't fair that Jimin was the target of Junho's suspicion, when it was really Jungkook he should watch out for.

"Thanks for inviting us, though," Namjoon spoke up. "That was a once in a lifetime opportunity."

A gasp fell from Jimin's lips, his eyebrows raising in glee. Even Horang was startled from the sudden noise. "I can get out of my final on Monday!"

—

Soyeon was thankful to just be back in her dorm by the end of the day. Her nearly one-hour long shower was barely enough to shake off her emotions from earlier in the day, an annoying contrast to usual, when she could take a nice hot shower and flush away those bad memories.

She couldn't get Jungkook's face out of her mind. His pure anger and shock from Junho's unwarranted actions, her boyfriend's anger-induced actions. It was almost as though she were the one to square Jimin on the nose, which she would worry about on occasion as well.

Soyeon was not the only one to share that sentiment, however. From her desk, Horang dropped her pencil and leaned back on her chair, eyes darting to the backs of both Eunjin and Soyeon who were both at their desks as well. They were subject to a bout of last-minute studying, except Soyeon could see that the neighboring Eunjin was obviously scrolling through TikTok with her hand under her desk.