Starting Over •JJK• ✔️

Thirty Nine

My brain was in a fog. I'm not entirely sure how I was even talking to people.

The medic had come in to patch me up, cleaning the cut along my jaw. Thankfully, it wasn't deep and should have no problem healing over the next couple of weeks. She put a bandage over it for protection and some ointment on my cheekbone, which had a patch of road rash from hitting the pavement. My shoulder and elbow hurt from my fall but neither were truly injured. They would form some pretty colorful bruises, but nothing was broken.

A couple of officers came in to question all of us about what happened. JK never left my side and held my hand through all of it, which helped keep me calm and my mind clear enough to answer their questions. There's no way I would have been able to get through all of this if he wasn't here. The same can be said for all seven of them.

Now it was just me and the guys in the room, and I let out a heavy sigh. I was exhausted. "You all need to start getting ready." I moved to stand up. "And me. The show starts in an hour and a half."

"Whoa, take a seat." JK put a hand on my shoulder to sit me back down. "Don't worry about us. And you're taking tonight off."

"Yeah, your team has been notified about what happened." Joon sat on the floor in front of me. "You need to rest."

The other guys had come over to join us. Jimin sat next to me and took my hand. "This is yours." He handed my necklace to me. "Jungkookie asked me to go out and find it for you."

I stared down at it, running my finger over the gemstones. The pendant wasn't damaged, but of course, the chain was snapped.

That's when the fog cleared and I started to cry.

Jimin rubbed my back. "We knew something was wrong when you called me and all we heard was muffling. Then we heard you say his name and immediately set out to find you."

I looked at Jin when he spoke. "I rounded up Tae and Yoongi to look for you while the rest went to get security. And Tae called JK to let him know where you were."

I looked around at each of their faces as they all stared back at me. "I don't know what would have happened if it weren't for you guys. I didn't know what else to do. I had to think quickly and just called the first name I saw, hoping you wouldn't get hurt."

JK squeezed my hand. "We wanted to hold his attention long enough for security to get there." He kissed the side of my head. "We're just thankful that you weren't severely hurt when they tased him and you both fell."

"Everything turned out okay." Yoongi flashed his gummy smile. "Even though it took everything in me not to go after him and start pummeling him in the face. I really, really wanted to take his ass out."

I chuckled. "He isn't worth the jail time." I leaned against JK's side and Jimin leaned against me. "Hopefully this means that we won't have to worry about him for awhile."

Hobi reached forward and rubbed my knee. "I have a feeling that he'll be spending some time in jail. The company will definitely make sure of that."

I sighed again, wiping away the random tears that continued to fall. "Thank you. All of you." I rubbed my aching elbow. "Damn, I'm going to be sore tomorrow."

Tae pushed a hand through his hair. "That's okay. You're still here, and that's what counts. There's no way that we would have let anything happen to you. You're our family."

Yes. Family. They're my family too. My only family. And I would have done the same to help them.

There was a knock on the door and someone peeked their head in to tell everyone to start getting ready for the show. They all scurried to their feet to start making their way to the dressing room, but JK didn't move. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

I watched as they filed out, each of them turning to smile and give me a small wave. I turned to JK, still holding my necklace in one hand and his hand in the other. "I don't want you to be late."

His free hand rested on the side of my neck as he leaned in to gently kiss me. "It's only for a couple of minutes." He smoothed a few stray strands of hair back away from my face and smiled at me. "I don't want to leave you yet. I want to make sure you're really okay first."

"I'm okay. Really." I lightly touched my bandage. "How bad is it?"

"It's not bad at all." He brought my hand down, holding it again. "You're still as beautiful as you always were, baby. A few cuts and bruises will never change that."

I met his gaze and everything else washed away. His eyes were soft and gentle, just like they were the day we met and every other day that I've spent with him.

A million memories flooded my mind as I looked at him. When he helped me unpack after I moved into my apartment. Opening my door to see him waiting with the little yellow flower. Our horror movie nights. His surprise coffees. The first time he kissed me. Our first real date and him giving me this necklace. Our trip to the mountains and the first time we said 'I love you.'

He never failed to make me feel anything less than loved, starting from our first ever conversation when he said that we were destined to know each other. But it was in this moment that I realized that I've loved him far longer than I'd ever realized. He'd completed the parts of myself that I'd lost along the way and thought I'd never find again.

JK slightly tilted his head with a grin. "What are you thinking about?"

I knew that I could never properly put into words just how much he means to me. Strong enough words don't even exist. So I simply smiled and shook my head. "Nothing. I just love you."

He kissed me again, as gently as before. His smile met his eyes as they landed on mine. "And I love you." He looked down between us and hooked his pinky finger with mine before looking up at me again. "Always."

==========

Only one chapter left. 💜