chapter four / sa
Boys Meet Evil
(004)

The wonderful scent of ground coffee warmly greets me as soon as I step into the cafe, Cafe 13, the bell on the door signalling my entrance. As usual, the shop is bustling. It would be easy to get lost in the sea of people trying to find a place to sit, but luckily, I know exactly where to go to get a table. A string of sorry's and excuse me's come out of my mouth, sounding like a broken record as I try my hardest to get through this crowd. The amount of people that meet here is ridiculous. Of course, there's plenty of other restaurants and shops to visit, but this seems to be the most popular. I sigh as I weave through the crowd, wondering why Namjoon insisted on meeting here again.

I finally make it over to the table the boys are sitting at in the far left corner of the shop, the warmth of the sun flowing in through the large window next to it. Namjoon stops in the middle of his sentence once he glances up at meets my eyes. A wide smile erupts on his face, those beautiful dimples forming in his cheeks as he does so. His eyes crinkle up as he waves me over, and as I continue to walk over to the group of boys, I feel my heart fluttering at how much he beamed as soon as he saw me. I take the empty chair next too Namjoon and greet everyone, but then I notice everyone is here except Jungkook.

"Where's Jungkook?" I raise my eyebrow.

"That's what we were hoping to find out from you," Taehyung sighs. I look over to Namjoon to see the bright and warm look on his face has been replaced with one of worry and concern, his eyebrows knitted together.

"What's going on?" I question. I try not to get too worked up, but the tense feeling in the air is making my mind jump to terrible conclusions as to what could have happened to the boy.

Jimin is the first to speak up. "We go to the same school, but he wasn't there today." Jimin frowns.

"We had planned to meet up here two hours ago," Taehyung adds, "but he hasn't shown up." I try to ease the boys' minds by reminding them that Jungkook has been late before, and that I'm sure he's okay, but I'm not very convincing as I can't hide the fear in my voice. I fold my hands under the table to try and hide my trembling hands. I can't help but fear the worst. I knew something was wrong with the way he was acting, I could feel it in my gut. I knew he was in trouble, but because I didn't try hard enough to find out what was going on, because I brushed it off, something terrible might've happened to him. I don't think I could live with myself knowing that I could've done more to help him.

"He hasn't answered any of our messages. This isn't like him." Jin shakes his head and bites down on his bottom lip.

"Do you have any idea what might have happened?" I ask them.

Yoongi sighs, the first noise he's made since I got here. The boy has been even more quiet than usual today. "Jungkook doesn't like to talk about his personal life, but we've been worried about him lately. I'm sure you've noticed too," Yoongi looks out of the window he's sitting next to, "Jungkook seems to have something troubling him." We all nod our heads, silence taking over our group. Of course we've all noticed. Even for someone who has only just met him, I can see that he seems to be under a lot of stress. No matter how hard you want to hide something, there's only so much you can keep locked away before it all comes spilling out. I get the feeling that whatever is holding all of his emotions and stress back is about to burst like a dam, I've already seen it leaking out. My stomach twists from the anxiety I feel.

All of the boys are talking about how Jungkook has been acting lately, and trying to figure out why he's been missing today. My mind is racing too much to focus on the conversation. Occasionally, my brain sort of spaces out, I stare into space, all of the sounds of people talking mixing together. I try to separate one voice from the rest, but it's almost like my brain has gone into overdrive and can no longer single out anything. The noises start to make my mind feel like it's spiraling, and I can feel my heart ache with the sudden strange feeling of anxiety that has taken over me.

"Are you alright, Wren?" I quickly turn my head, feeling startled by the sudden arm on my shoulder. Once I realize that it's Namjoon, I start to relax and open my mouth to answer him, but before I can say a word, Yoongi stands abruptly from his chair.

"Jungkook," he sighs in relief. Every head at our table turns to look for him. As soon as my eyes land on the boy with purple hair, I too jump out of my chair. I run to him and tackle him in a hug, unable to control how relieved and happy I feel to see him.

"Noona, I know I'm really awesome, but I didn't think you'd miss me so much since I saw you last night." He laughs while returning my embrace. I bury my face into his chest, glad that I can quiet the anxious voices telling me that I'd never see the boy again.

I reluctantly release my tight grip on him as the rest of the boys gather around us. Jin lands a hard punch to Jungkook's arm, to which Jungkook responds with a glare.

"Yah! What was that for?" Jungkook grunts.

"You had us worried sick," Hoseok fumes, gathering the attention of a few people around us, "you didn't answer any of our messages, Jimin didn't see you at school, and we were supposed to meet over two hours ago!" Hoseok looks like he wants to continue yelling at him, but as tears start to form and his voice starts to crack, Hoseok only looks away instead. Yoongi walks over to Hoseok and comfortingly rubs his back.

"Hyung, please don't cry," Jungkook pleads, his bottom lip starting to quiver, "I'm okay, and I'm sorry for worrying you."

Jin wraps his arm around Jungkook. "We've all noticed you haven't been youself lately, you know you can come to us about anything, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Jungkook looks down at his shoes, and shifts under the weight of Jin's arm, "Thanks Hyung." After that, we walk back over to our table to make sure no one snatches it. Everyone seems to have relaxed a bit more now that Jungkook is here, but there's still tension that no one seems to be willing to address. Even though the problem has obviously not been fully dealt with, no one brings it up, I guess because no one knows what to do about it. I try to relax too, but I can't shake the feeling that I need to do more.

"Now, since that's settled, there's something else I want to talk about with you," Namjoon tells Jungkook in a serious voice. I breathe in a sigh of relief, thankful that at least Namjoon has the guts to bring the topic up. Jungkook is visibly nervous at whatever Namjoon has to say. Namjoon activates his holopad and searches through it for a moment before turning it around so that Jungkook could see it.

"What's this about?" When I see what is on his holopad, I only glower at what I see. I thought Namjoon was going to help, but he's just going to brush it off like the rest and joke around. On his holopad is the picture I sent last night of Jungkook in my white dress. The table erupts with laughter as an embarrassed Jungkook covers his face up with his hands.

"Me and Wren were playing truth or dare last night, and one of the dares was to switch clothes," Jungkook explains, his voice muffled over since he's still hiding behind his hands.

"Sounds like things got interesting last night." Jimin smirks and lifts his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. The smile Namjoon had on his face as he teased Jungkook instantly disappears into a frown.

"You're even wearing his hoodie. You guys got pretty close, huh?" Namjoon remarks at me. It sounds as if his comment was meant to be lighthearted, but it came out more annoyed than anything. I look down at my attire, completely forgetting that I was wearing the hoodie I stole from Jungkook last night.

"Are you jealous?" Jin chuckles.

"I-I'm not jealous," Namjoon stutters over his words. Everyone begins to tease him, but I only smile at him, my heart feeling warm because of his reaction. I wasn't looking to make Namjoon jealous, but I can't deny that I don't like the fact that he is.

"It's not like that," Jungkook calmly explains, "I only see Wren as my Noona."

I beam, a feeling of fondness for the younger boy taking over me. I've always wondered what it was like to have siblings. People would always tell me that I should be thankful I'm an only child, and that having siblings is a pain, but if it's anything like this, I can't help but grieve for all the time in my life that I didn't have one.

We all decide to order food before doing any challenges. I have the feeling this will become our regular routine. As everyone else orders their food, I lean over to whisper closer to Jungkook who is sitting next to me.

"Are you really okay?" I question. I've noticed that every once in a while, Jungkook will stare at something for a while with a vacant look while the boys are laughing and joking around.

"I'm fine," Jungkook tries to give me a reassuring smile, but the way it doesn't quite reach his eyes only fills me with more concern, "don't worry, Noona." I tighten my lips, a grave expression etched on my face. I let out a sigh as our food is placed in front of us. I'm sure Jungkook can feel my eyes on him, but he works hard in pretending he doesn't see me.

"Wren, did you hear me?" Hoseok's voice snaps me out of my focus on Jungkook.

"I'm sorry," I blush, "what did you say?"

"I asked if you look different in the real world," Hoseok explains, "we all have seen each other in the real world so we know what each other looks like, but we've never met you in real life. We're curious." Everyone looks at me expectantly. I suddenly grow bashful under their stares.

"I basically look the same in the real world. The only thing I changed is my hair color," I reply, grabbing my silver ponytail to point it out to them. In the real world, my hair is jet-black. It's never been dyed because I was afraid it would only draw more attention to me. I get enough stares being in a wheelchair.

"I have a hard time believing that," Namjoon scoffs before taking a bite of his apple.

I narrow my eyes and fold my arms in front of my chest. "And why's that?" I start to get defensive.

"You're too pretty," he shrugs. I gape at him, completely shocked by his response. That wasn't what I was expecting at all. I lower my head, trying to hide the blush I feel spreading on my cheeks. I'm probably as red as the apple Namjoon's eating.

"Careful," Jin laughs, "you'll be embarrassed if she's telling us the truth."

"I am telling the truth, and I'll prove it to you," I say confidently. The boys all perk up, knowing exactly what I mean by that.

"Under one condition," I begin. "You all have to show me what you look like in the real world too." The boys all smirk.

"No one will have a problem with that," Yoongi responds, "all of them look as ugly in the real world as they do here."

"I'm handsome. Speak for yourself," Jin glares.

"What he means," Taehyung clarifies, "is that besides our hair colors, we look the same in the real world."

Yoongi snorts. "Actually, Jimin added a few inches to his height."

"Stop lying, you jerk!" Jimin barks at the boy, only causing Yoongi to snicker even more.

"I don't know why you're making fun of Jimin for his height, considering your only one inch taller than him," Jungkook smirks.

Yoongi cuts a glare at him, not looking too amused by his comment. "Shut up, coconut head. I don't feel like killing someone until I've finished my meal," Yoongi threatens. Jungkook pouts cutely, which seems to make Yoongi soften as he looks down and smiles slightly.

"Thank goodness," Hoseok breathes out at seeing Yoongi's mood change, "I was worried you'd do the spoon thing."

"Spoon thing?" I question.

"Yeah, Yoongi Hyung is really scary when he's angry and grabs his spoon." Hoseok shivers.

I laugh at the thought of it. "What do you mean? You can't threateningly grab a spoon.... It's a spoon," I argue.

"You only say that because you've never seen Yoongi Hyung do it. Go on, Yoongi, do the spoon thing."

"No," Yoongi refuses, annoyance plainly written on his face.

"Why not?" Hoseok whines.

"I don't do the spoon thing unless someone deserves the spoon thing," Yoongi replies, "she hasn't done anything to deserve it. Have you?" Yoongi raises his eyebrow at me.

I quickly shake my head, not wanting to do anything to deserve it. "N-no. I haven't," I stammer.

"Good." He smiles, going back to eating his blueberry muffin peacefully, like he didn't just scare the crap out of almost everyone at this table with his deathly glares.

I look over to Hoseok and whisper so that Yoongi won't hear me, "Okay, I believe you," to which Hoseok gives me an 'I told you so' look.

"Well I don't have a problem showing Wren my real appearance," Taehyung states, getting back to the previous topic. All of the boys chime in, agreeing with Taehyung. All of them except for Jungkook. We all look at him, waiting for him to agree on the deal. Jungkook only sighs.

"I think it's stupid," he objects, "why can't we just trust that we're all telling the truth?"

"What's the fun in that?" Jimin scrunches his nose.

"Whatever. You guys can do it, but I'm not interested," Jungkook says in an annoyed tone. Everyone at the table whines and complains at his refusal, including me, since the whole deal revolves on everyone agreeing to it, but the boy won't budge. I let out a huff, finally giving up on trying to convince him to join us.

We all clean off our plates, down our drinks, leave a payment, and then walk out of the overly crowded shop. While paying for my lunch, I noticed that the amount in my bank account has increased impressively. My eyes nearly pop out of my head at how many zeros I see. I almost forgot about the deal I had made with Jungkook last night during our game of truth or dare. I feel well compensated for jumping off of that cliff. Good job, Kookie.

"I was thinking we could go check out the Elysium holocaust," Taehyung suggests.

"What's that?" I inquire.

"It's a group challenge set in Elysium city, but after an apocalypse," Taehyung explains excitedly, almost like a kid talking about getting his first puppy. "All of the buildings and skycrapers are partly destroyed and abandoned, cars on the street are rusty, ya know, you're typical post apocalyptic scene."

As we walk down the main street of Elysium, Taehyung continues to blabber about the game, telling us how popular, fun, and scary it is. He also explains that in the game, the reason for the holocaust was a nuclear war, and how that caused a widespread condition that made people zombie-like. Basically, when you go into the game, the purpose is to fight the 'zombies' and survive. Hoseok glowers, not liking the sound of this game at all. He didn't do very well with the jump scares in the man hunt game, and the one Taehyung described sounds like one huge jump scare. With a little convincing, and a few puppy dog eyes, Hoseok finally gives in. Since the game takes place right in the heart of Elysium city, we're very close to the holocaust gaming area. It's basically a building where players equip themselves with whatever weapons, gear, and clothing they want for the game. It's also the place you go to be spawned into the game. We decide to walk to the location instead of teleporting since we're so close to it.

When we get to the building, there's already a huge crowd inside. Namjoon grabs onto my hand to make sure I don't get lost in the crowd as we maneuver through it. I feel grateful that I don't form sweat in this game because I know from how nervous I am to be holding hands with him that in the real world, my hand wouldn't be a very pleasant one to touch.

We make our way up to the third floor, the second floor being far too crowded too. The third floor is still busy, but not nearly as bad as the others. I'm assuming each floor is the exact same, but I can actually see what's here now that it's not so crowded. Several panels cover most of the walls. One wall of panels is especially made for people to select clothing, the post apocalyptic warrior type. The other wall is for selecting gear like rope, bandages, and ammo. The last wall is, of course, specifically for selecting which weapons you'd like to take into the game.

Taehyung pushes past us, too excited to wait patiently for us to inspect the room. I laugh and shake my head at him before joining his side to begin selecting my own attire. I scroll through the selections, thankful that they kept it to a minimum, because even though there isn't a lot of options, I'm already taking too long trying to make up my mind on what I want. I finally decide on an all black outfit that looks particularly awesome. I tap the panel to apply the attire. As I see the clothes form on my body, I know that I made the right decision. I look into a mirror to see how I look, and smile in approval, loving the black, tight pants, the laced up leather boots, and the leather, cloth combination jacket. The front of the jacket has excess material that flows down to my knees, and a large hood that makes it look like a cape with sleeves. When I lift the hood up, it comes down close to my eyes, giving me a dark and fierce look. The last part of my outfit to appear is the black face mask that covers my mouth, chin, and part of my nose.

"Woah! Guys, look at how cool Wren looks," Hoseok shouts. The boys all turn to me and I pose. The boys' jaws drop, I strike another pose which earns me some hoops and hollers. I start to do a cat walk, and put on my best model face, everyone jokingly clapping and pretending to take pictures. We all laugh, and of course it was just a joke, but I really do feel confident in these clothes. It screams "I'll fight you", and that makes me feel empowered.

I move on to the next wall, choosing to keep my gear down to a minimum. In this game we won't be able to store supplies in our holopads, we have to carry it, so we all agree to each get one thing from this section, and we'll share our supplies as needed. I get a backpack to carry the ammo that I chose, whatever extra weapons I have, and the bandages. I choose an AR-15 assault rifle, a dagger, and a pistol as my weapons. 

Once everyone else finishes gearing up, we all make our way to the spawning area. We step onto the platform, the floor glowing white as we step onto it. A screen appears in front of each of us asking if we're ready to play the game. We each touch the 'ready' button. Hoseok sighs before pressing his and grumbles something inaudible.

When we materialize into the game, I spin around in wonder and amazement. The streets of Elysium that we had just been walking on have completely transformed. The beautiful and clean city has rotted away. The tall buildings have crumbled, only a handful are still completely in tact, but that doesn't include the windows that have been shattered. Rust has taken over anything that previously shined, and walls of ivy are taking over anything that stands. The once bustling streets are now completely empty. An eery breeze passes through, and a chill runs down my spine, the strange quietness and emptiness feeling unsettling.

I tighten my grip around my assault rifle, preparing myself for any attacks that may come. All of the boys, either dressed in black, ripped denim, or camouflage, do the same, readying their weapons. Taehyung suggests that we find some kind of shelter so that we aren't out in the open, which Hoseok eagerly agrees to. Jungkook leads the way to a small building that's mostly still standing. We chose a one floor building over something bigger, that way it would be easier to make sure the area was clear of any enemies.

Jungkook opens the door to the place, a bell rings as the door swings open, and we all freeze. We give each other a weary look, but no one else seems to have noticed the noise. We enter the building and spread out to cover the interior, making sure no one else is in here. Once we all confirm that the area is safe, we group back together.

"Anyone who has a sniper, I want you at the windows. Scope out the area around us," Jungkook commands, "someone who has a short range weapon should be stationed at the entrance. I have a feeling that the sound the door made didn't fall on deaf ears. We could have company coming at any moment." Everyone follows his order, Jin, Namjoon, Hoseok, and Jimin go to the windows, one person for each wall. Me and Yoongi wait at the door, Yoongi holding a Katana in position to strike, and me aiming my rifle through the broken glass of the door. Behind us, Jungkook and Taehyung look over the mission we received on this challenge and form a plan. Even though my attention is on my battle station, I do pick up on a few things Jungkook and Taehyung are saying.

Apparently there's an ingredient vital to the making of a vaccination for the people who have been poisoned by the nuclear war. The only place to get that item is on the other side of town in the tallest skyscraper in Elysium. The building is kind of like the control tower for the whole game. Most floors are used as gaming areas, shops, or restaurants, but the very top floor is off limits to all players. No one knows what is on the top floor. Many say it's where everyone's information is stored, others say it runs the graphics for the game.

"We've got incoming on the right," Jimin announces, "a group of five is heading straight towards us."

Jungkook nods. "We'll stay here and let them come to us. Once we take 'em out we'll start moving."

Jimin keeps us updated on their where abouts while the rest of us stand on the oposite side of the room, away from the entrance. "They're right outside," Jimin whispers. I take in a deep breath and curl my fingers around my weapon.

Silence envelops us as we anxiously wait for them to break through the door. I gulp when I hear the strangled moans and cries of the people with decaying skin outside.

The group of zombies break into the room where we're hiding. I gasp when I see dead flesh peeling from their faces, blood caking whatever skin is in tact. Some of them don't have all of their limbs or all of their eyes. Their hair is patchy, either from parts of their hair being burned off, or from them tearing it out. They hiss and snarl at us.

Hoseok doesn't waste any time. He starts firing away at them, screaming as he does. We join him as they rush towards us. I fire away at the creatures, trying to aim for fatal areas. The sound of weapons firing off fills the room.

While we fight off the zombies that came through the door, I notice that there's only four of them. Jimin told us there were five.

Before I can warn the others, the sound of glass breaking fills our ears. A pair of bloody arms lurch forward through the window and grab the closest thing it can find. Yoongi.

Yoongi's sword falls to the ground as he struggles in the zombies arms for a moment before he grabs the zombie and slings it over his shoulder. While the zombie attempts to get up, Yoongi dives for his sword. By the time he retrieves his weapon, the zombie is running towards the boy to attack him again. Yoongi lifts his foot and kicks the zombie a few feet away, giving him enough time to jump to his feet. The creature once again tries to attack Yoongi, but his efforts are stopped short when Yoongi swings the blade through the air, quickly slashing open it's chest, and then swinging again to land another slice. Blood pours out of its wound as it screams and falls to the ground, thrashing about. Yoongi finishes it off with a stab to the gut.

We all stare at him, our mouths wide open as we just witnessed, quite possibly, the coolest thing ever. I make a mental note to team up with Yoongi in games like this from now on.

"Sorry, but he's my teammate," Hoseok says.

My eyes widen. It's almost like he read my mind. "How did you know what I was thinking?"

"Everyone's thinking it, Wren," he laughs.

Once we take out the group that came for us, we leave the building and start moving outside. That area won't be safe for long because I'm sure whoever was in close proximity heard the gun shots and Hoseok's loud screams.

We walk through alleyways and smaller streets, hoping to avoid any zombies. We'll only win the prize of 20,000 Eleuro if we can retrieve the special ingredient and bring it back to the base, which is at the same building we went to spawn in the game. We each walk in groups of two. Jungkook and Taehyung lead in the front, Hoseok and Yoongi following behind them, then Namjoon and Jin, and me and Jimin in the back. I'm startled when I feel a hand grab onto the cloth of my jacket. I turn my head to see Jimin looking at me with a sheepish smile.

"I feel nervous," he admits to me quietly. I smile at him and remove his hand from my jacket. He starts to look embarrassed until I replace what he was holding onto with my own hand. He looks down at our hands, surprised, and then looks back at me and grins. I return the boy's smile and squeeze his hand in reassurance.

Jungkook and Taehyung abruptly stop in front of us, causing everyone to bump into each other. I start to question why he stopped, but Taehyung holds up a hand, signalling us to stay quiet. We all look around, scanning the road we walk on, listening for the slightest sound. Somewhere close by, to the right of us, I hear what sounds like someone stepping on glass. We all spit up, hiding behind abandoned cars. I grab Jimin's hand, forcing him to follow me closely.

I breathe heavily, in and out as I crouch down behind the car. Jimin peaks his head over the car, looking to see where the zombie is. Jimin quickly turns back around, pressing his body against the car to hide himself.

"I think it might've seen me," Jimin whispers.

I tighten my lips and close my eyes, trying to hype myself up for the impending fight. Without another thought, I stand up and walk out from the safety of the car to take down the zombie. That was the plan anyway, but when I walk out, I don't see anything. I look around, my gun ready to take down anything that appears in front of me. My heart stops when I hear a foot step behind me. Before I can turn around, I'm tackled to the ground. I feel long, serated claws dig into my skin as I'm pushed to the ground. My shoulder lands first on the rough concrete.

As soon as I land to the ground, I roll over onto my back so that I can at least kick and punch at whatever just took me down. My eyes widen when I get a good look at my attacker. It's skin oozes with blood, and it's teeth have turned black. It doesn't have a bottom lip, the whole thing missing, as if it was bitten off. It tries to swipe it's claws at me, but I catch it's hands and do my best to keep them from reaching me. I'm amazed by how strong the zombie is considering it's body is literally rotting away.

The zombie manages to free one of its hands from my grasp, and uses it to wrap around my neck, cutting off my air supply.

"Somebody shoot this thing!" I gasp out.

I can feel my health level going down as something blurs across my vision, knocking the zombie off of me. I suck in a deep breath, coughing and sputtering as I try to catch my breath. I look up to see Namjoon hovering over the zombie. He lodges a dagger into its chest, and then stands up to walk back to me.

"You alright?" He asks, extending a hand to help lift me up. I gratefully except it, as he easily lifts me up from the ground.

"I am now. Thank you." Namjoon flashes me a smile and brushes it off like it was no big deal.

"What're friends for?"

"Killing zombies that threaten your life, apparently," I laugh.

We continue moving on. Jimin tries to walk beside me like he did before, but Namjoon hasn't left my side since the zombie incident. Jimin narrows his eyes and grumbles as he starts to walk beside Jin instead.

We thankfully make the rest of our journey to Elysium tower without any more zombie encounters. Before entering the building we decide to split into two groups of four. Jimin, Namjoon, Jin, and Taehyung stay outside at the entrance, looking out for any intruders. They'll protect us from the outside so we won't get any surprise guests. Me, Jungkook, Yoongi, and Hoseok go inside to look for the special ingredient. Since we don't know where it is, and there's an insane amount of floors to search, Yoongi suggests splitting up to cover more ground.

"That won't be necessary," Jungkook states plainly. We all give him a confused glance. Jungkook doesn't bother explaining to us why as he simply taps on his holopad. "Because I've already found it," Jungkook smirks.

"What? How?" Hoseok questions, just as amazed as we are.

"You should know by now that anything is possible with with me if it involves a video game," Jungkook beams proudly. I once again find myself glad that I'm gaming friends with such a genius.

"Good job, Kookie!" I ruffle his hair and he grins in response.

Jungkook leads us to twelfth floor, the special ingredient apparently being hidden in there. Yoongi and Hoseok stay behind to guard the staircase, making sure nothing comes from upstairs or downstairs, while me and Jungkook go to retrieve the vaccination ingredient. I take out my pistol, gripping it with both hands as we move through the floor.

"It should be in a potion supply room," Jungkook informs me, looking at the information on his holopad. This room is like a pharmacy. People come here to buy different medicines and potions that serve as enhancements. Some things help you jump higher, some help you run faster, some help you regenerate. It costs a lot of money to purchase these potions, so I've never bothered visiting the place.

Jungkook opens a door, and it squeaks as it moves. Jungkook is still reading something on his holopad, so he doesn't see what I do.

"Look out!" I shout, but my warning comes a little too late. A zombie grabs Jungkook and throws him to the ground. The zombie straddles him and lifts his fists to pound at Jungkook's face. Without any hesitation, I aim my pistol at the zombies head and pull the trigger. The zombie falls off of Jungkook and lands on the floor with a thump. Blood quickly starts to pool around it's head.

"That was close. Maybe I should take the lead for a-" I stop in the middle of my sentence when I see Jungkook shaking as he lays on the floor. I quickly rush to his side and lift him up. The boy trembles in my arms as he starts to hyperventilate.

"Jungkook, what's wrong?" I don't know what happened. I know he's not the type to be this shaken up over a video game, it has to be something else. Something about the attack triggered him. "What do I do? Should I get the others?" I can't stop myself from blabbering. I feel scared and worried, and I have no idea what to do for him. Jungkook shakes his head over and over, pleading with me not to tell anyone else about this.

"Jungkook," I whisper, pushing his hair back as he shakes and cries in my arms, "how do I help you?" I plead.

"Y-you can't," He cries.

I sigh. "You're right. I can't because you won't let me know what's going on. All I know is that you're suffering, and all I can do is watch helplessly." Tears start to fall from my own eyes.

"I can't tell you," he whispers, his voice too weak to speak any louder.

"Why not? If not me, then can't you trust your friends enough to confide in them? We could help you through this!

"It's not that I don't trust you," Jungkook says, "I just can't tell you."

"We're tired of seeing our friend suffer. You don't have to do this alone," I argue. I told myself I wouldn't try to force the information out of him, but I'm so scared that he's going to completely fall apart before my very eyes.

Jungkook weakly pushes himself out of my hold, his jaw clenched. "You wanna know why I didn't wanna show you the way I look in the real world?" He yells, taking me aback. Jungkook opens his holopad and sets his gamer appearance to what his headset sees. His purple hair fades back into his raven black hair, and his features stay the exact same, except in certain areas, his skin color changes. Around his eyes and cheek bones, purple and blue blotches of color cover over his pale complexion. His lip starts to puff out, a cut in his lip showing dried blood.

"Because my dad likes to get piss drunk and beat the crap out of me." He stares at me, anger evident in his eyes, but it's not directed towards me. I can only stare back, tears forming in my eyes.

"Yeah, you're right," he grits his teeth, "You staring at me like I'm a hurt puppy was really helpful. All of my problems are solved." Jungkook spits out at me. I feel my heart sting.

"Jungkook, I-"

"Save it." He gets up and walks out the door.

"Where are you going?" I question, following him out of the room.

"I'm telling the others bye, and then I'm logging out." I try repeatedly to apologize and ask him to come back, but he only ignores me and keeps walking.

A few minutes later, the other boys walk inside the room I've been standing in, frozen by the sudden turn of events and the ache I feel in my chest.

"What was that about? We were in the middle of a game," Taehyung whines, talking about Jungkook ditching us.

I just shake my head. "I don't know," I lie to them, "maybe we should just meet back later. I need to go." Namjoon throws me a suspicious glance, but I don't acknowledge it. I tell the boys goodbye and log out.

I take off my headset and look at it with disdain. I think about the bruises that battered Jungkook's face and the way he shook violently in my arms. I cover my mouth to muffle the sound of my sobs.

I have trouble falling asleep that night. No matter how long I keep my eyes closed, my brain refuses to shut down, so when my arm band flashes blue, I'm already awake to check it.

My heart stops when I see that it's a message from Jungkook. I'm shocked that he decided to talk to me. I thought he would be too mad at me to talk. I open the message and read it.

"Hi Noona, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I know you're just worried about me and want to help, but you don't have to worry anymore. I've decided to help myself for once. I'm gonna take care of everything and make sure my dad can't hurt me anymore. It'll all be over soon."

Somehow that message doesn't ease my mind. I'm relieved to know that Jungkook isn't mad at me, but I can't help but worry what he's planning to do. Will it help, or only make things worse?

__________

A/N -

That chapter hurt me UGH. But now you guys know why jungkook has been acting so strangely. Did any of you guess that his father was abusing him?

The reason Jungkook started panicking when the zombie attacked him is because it triggered him and made him think about how his dad hurt him. If you didn't already realize, the pastfew days have been really rough with his dad and have been causing a lot of stress for Jungkook.

THIS CHAPTER IS OVER 6,500 WORDS HOLY CRAP I HAVEN'T WRITTEN SUCH A LONG CHAPTER IN FOREVER I'M SO IMPRESSED WITH MYSELF.

Who's your bias and your bias wrecker? Mine is Hobi, but Taehyung makes it hard to stay loyal 😩😧 they're just both so sweet, cute, and talented ugh let me breathe. But my real bias is my best friend. She keeps giving me really great dialogue prompts for this story and it's honestly the best part of this book. Ugh what a queen.