Dark (Jungkook - BTS)

Chapter 3

"Wh-Who-" I stuttered, my hands instinctively clasping where the knife had slashed me. I felt something wet and sticky, and my side stung like hell when I touched it. The light was dim, so I couldn't make out the face of my attacker, but I could see that there were two. One wielded the pocketknife and the other had a gun. They towered over me, and I lost my balance out of fear and fell onto my knees. This time, I couldn't swallow my terror. I let loose a firetruck scream, which was cut short to a foot slamming into my rib cage. The one with the gun cocked the gun, and he spoke.

"Money. Valuables. Now."

"I'm... I'm sorry, I don't speak Korean," I said in English, my eyes fearfully darting between the two men. I glanced out at the street, which was a few yards away.

Please don't think that this is some teenage prank, I begged internally. Someone help me.

The guy with the knife squatted down and pointed his blade at my throat.

"Money," he sneered in heavily accented English, gesturing for me to give him money. I gulped. The pain was almost unbearable. It was like a paper cut, but a million times worse, which was pretty bad since paper cuts hurt a lot sometimes. Not to mention my ribs, which throbbed from the kick. I hoped that no ribs were broken.

The man with the knife was about to say something else when a shadow slammed into him. The two hit the ground, the new attacker on top and poised to throw punches. The gunman made a startled noise, and he was stunned for a good three seconds before having the sense to aim his gun at whoever had tackled his accomplice. By then, the first guy was already done for and the attacker had rounded onto the gunman.

Everything was a blur. The streetlight had illuminated the face of the new guy, and I saw chiseled features, a side swept fringe, and black tapers.

"J-Jung... Jungkook," I whispered, in shock. He spared me a quick glance and flashed me an evil wink.

The gun was pointed at his head, and I had no idea how Jungkook was going to get out of the mess that I had dragged him into. Seconds ticked by as they stood still in the same pose, both glaring into the other's eyes. Suddenly, Jungkook's hands shot out with inhuman speed and flipped the gun from the gunman's hands. He pocketed the weapon and punched the guy in the face, and light shined on the gunner's face as he stumbled under a lamp. He was in his twenties, and his face was unmistakably good looking, except that there was now a bloody pit where his right eye used to be. He collapsed immediately. A squeak escaped my mouth, and Jungkook looked at me again.

"How did you-? His eye-" I stammered, unable to process the unbelievable event that had just happened. A squeak escaped my lips, and I gaped in complete and utter terror. I had just had my first near-death experience, and it ended in witnessing others die. The shock kept me sane for now, but I had no idea what would happen to me after it wore off.

"Keys between my fingers." He held up his fist, and his once lost keys were definitely between his fingers, poking up out behind his knuckles, metallic and bloodied. "Good thing I went back for them, huh?"

I nodded, not able to find my voice. He kneeled next to me and scanned over me with his worried dark eyes.

"Are you okay-? Oh, you aren't..." I was still bleeding from where I had been stuck with a knife. He untied the jacket from my waist and lifted up my shirt just a little to see the cut, and I sucked in my stomach out of vanity. Even in pain and dangerous situations I made sure that I didn't look bad. I clearly had my priorities straight. I heard him breathe a sigh of relief. "Okay, it's not that bad. Your jacket took most of it, so it's not too deep."

I nodded again.

"Thanks for coming back for me," I managed to say weakly, breathlessly. "You saved me."

My insides churned in disgust. I had honestly never thought that I'd ever say that in such a tone. When did things become a cliché movie?

"It was nothing." He shrugged back, the scene still playing out accordingly. "You were in danger."

My heart fluttered again. Despite the seemingly-scripted situation, I couldn't help but notice that it was the scene in the movie that I had fantasized about as a child. I was crumpled up against a wall, and Jungkook was leaning over me protectively. This was sending my emotions into overdrive. I felt myself go numb from the anxiety, and my breathing went shallow. I couldn't keep the words from tumbling out of my mouth, and they were sliding off my tongue before I realized what I was saying.

"Jungkook, I like you!" I blurted out, unable to make eye contact. "Um... I mean, I... I-I didn't know how to express my emotions, sorry, it just-"

I was cut off by Jungkook giggling out loud. I looked up again, not understanding what was so funny. As soon as he looked at me, it got worse. He keeled over, his entire torso shaking with laughing fits. We locked eyes, and he did his best to stop. He looked up at the sky, as if to ask a deity for strength to stop him from laughing. Me, I was slightly miffed. That's not how most girls would want the guy they liked to react to their confession.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I shouldn't be laughing while you confess to me, but... 'I didn't know how to express my emotions.'"

"I... I don't understand."

"Scarlet, do you know the difference between gamjeong and gamja?" Jungkook asked, looking at me with amused eyes. It took me a while, but I started giggling too, although it hurt my ribs. I had mispronounced "emotions" and said "potato" instead. My bad.

"I'm sorry," I giggled. My voice then took on a somber tone. "...I'm stupid. This was stupid. You probably don't like stupid girls."

"Pabo," murmured Jungkook, pushing the hair out of my face. "You're smart and logical and your Korean is better than my English. You're not stupid."

"But I'm still a pabo?"

"Yeah, you're a pabo because you think that I don't like you." Jungkook smirked his stupid smirk, and I wanted to either slap him or kiss him for pulling my heartstrings so much. Thankfully, I did the latter.

I grabbed Jungkook's shirt and pulled him down so that our lips met. I had stared at his perfect lips countless times, and they were as soft as I had imagined. My head spun, and he didn't pull away-he kissed me back. We were kissing.

If this is a dream, don't make me wake up, I thought dazedly.

That's where everything went wrong.