Daddy Issues | Jeon Jungkook

t h r e e

Trigger Warning: drug abuse and family issues

Jimin, Jungkook and I converse as we make our way casually down the streets of Jeju.

Well, Jimin and I converse... Jungkook is just kinda— there.

I wasn't complaining, I love having Jungkook around.

Jimin was showing us around the area and we were starting our day off with Jimin's favorite breakfast place.

And I had to admit, Jungkook holding my hand and clinging onto my arm while whispering "breakie" repeatedly in English was definitely the highlight of my trip (and it literally just started.)

Not to mention that for a summer day, it was rather cold out and my boyfriend looked so small and adorable in his huge coat (he doesn't like the cold, poor baby..!)

But time stops the second I see a familiar face window shop on the other side of the street.

"—I really ended up finding this place on accident! I know you're going to love it Yerin—" Jimin's words dull out in the background, my vision goes the slightest bit blurry. "Yerin?" Jimin calls again, questioningly. I raise a trembling hand up grasp onto Jungkook's coat my boyfriend freezes in his place. "Yerin?" Jungkook echos. I nod into the figures direction and the second Jungkook looks over, he completely tenses, watching Ayako look at various clothes from a distance.

"K-Kook, you don't think... she followed us all the way out here?" I mutter, Jungkook bites his lip anxiously and Jimin finally catches on, looking into the same direction.

"No way...!" Jimin interrupts my trail of thoughts with his soft whispers, he speaks to himself, "Wow! It's been forever since I've last seen—"

"What?" Jungkook sputters out.

"Huh? Oh— nothing! Just talking to myself," the boy lightheartedly smiles, "If you're ready, then let's go?"

Jungkook looks at me in confirmation, I purse my lips and softly nod, my boyfriend responds for the both of us, "...Yeah, sure."

We enter the restaurant but an awkward silence falls between us, even as we sit down, look at the menu and order. None of us talk to each other.

My only form of comfort is Jungkook, who sits next to me and comfortingly rubs my knee from under the table.

Hesitantly, I speak up first, "Jimin."

"Hm?" The boy looks up from his phone, shutting it off and setting it lightly onto the table.

"Earlier, outside, did you... know that girl?"

"Which girl?" Jimin draws a blank, tilting his head to the side in slight confusion.

Jungkook speaks up for me, "The one that was window shopping."

"Oh..." Jimin rubs the back of his neck awkwardly with his palm and lets out an unstable breath, "Yeah... I do."

Tension grows at our table, I can't shake off the bad feeling.

"How?" I blurt out, Jimin furrows his eyebrows, "I mean— how do you know her?"

Jimin pushes his lips together into a thin line, "I don't want to invade her privacy, I shouldn't say."

A silence falls between us but Jungkook is quick to break it.

"To be honest," Jungkook starts hesitantly, "that girl... has brought us a lot of misfortune and we're uncomfortable with her being here..."

I continue for my boyfriend, "We're asking because we're worried that she followed us from Busan to Jeju."

Jimin's eyebrows shoot up in shock and his jaw slightly drops, "No!" He yells, catching the attention of other customers, he lower his voice, "No, she didn't. Whatever history you have with her isn't the reason why she's here."

Jungkook and I send Jimin questioning looks and he continues, "I don't know what kind of shit you have with her but it has nothing to do with why she's here."

"Maybe so but it's just hard to believe—" I begin, Jimin cuts me off.

"Listen Yerin, I'll say it again, I don't know what kind of shit you have with her." Jimin tenses his jaw and his hands, that he had interlocked on the table were growing white from the pressure he was putting on them by pressing them together. "The world doesn't fucking revolve around you, everyone has their own stories and experiences. Just because she's here doesn't mean that she's here for you."

Whatever the topic was hits a nerve with Jimin, this was a sensitive topic for him.

Jungkook sends the guy a warning look but Jimin is unfazed, I pat Jungkook's leg and send him a comforting smile, "Jimin's right, Jungkook, we should be sensitive about the issue."

I turn my attention back to my childhood friend, "Honestly, Jimin, it would mean a lot if you could tell us at least a little bit about why she's here. We're worried and we can't rule out the idea that she's here for another reason when what she's has done has made us believe that she's insane."

Jimin sighs, "She's not insane, I'll tell you that much. Whatever experiences you've had with her are.. explainable, I'm sure of it."

"It's hard to believe—"

"What exactly did she do?" Jimin cuts off.

We take a moment to explain all the misfortunes, A to Z, leaving out the part about Jungkook and I dating for our own privacy.

Jimin nods and with a hesitant sigh, he speaks up, "She comes from a horrible family.

Well it's hard to explain but to sum it up...

she's from a crack house."

My eyes shoot wide open in immense shock at what Jimin had just revealed. Jungkook is nothing but surprised as well.

"She moved to Jeju really soon after you left, Yerin, and well...

...she was my closest friend up until she moved to Japan a few years later."

"This is all really personal but, I think her actions will make soon as I explain a little more."

"She was pressured into taking lots of drugs by her siblings from a young age... I didn't really believe it until I saw it on the news when we were 11.

Her basement had exploded and her parents died in it, traces of the drug were found everywhere. Of course, I didn't really know what this meant, I was 11."

"But, I realized later that she moved to Japan because she and her two siblings weren't only taken into foster care, they had all probably been tested for the drug and tested positive."

"I can only take a guess but she might have been moved to Japan for rehab, if not, she was probably fostered there. I haven't talked to her since then, it's been a while."

Jimin sighs, "There's more sides to this story, but... that's all you really need to know."

"Is there any chance that she might be using again?" I try to connect the dots, it was possible that she was acting this way in Busan because of it.

"Probably, she's had the addiction practically all her life, I can't see her ever quitting." Jimin grows uncomfortable.

"Crack like.. changes your face right?" I ask hesitantly.

Jimin nods, "That's personal but... she's done some illegal things to look normal since forever.."

Jungkook sighs into the cushion of the booth we were seated at together, "Well that explains a whole fucking lot."

a/n
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