"Lee Sera!"

Then I pause, my face flushed in anger as the furious voice of a woman echoes inside the cold room. A shaky sigh escapes Jungkook's lips as the girl stops, eyes narrowed.

"Did you take my purse again?!" The voice screeches, and she rolls her eyes as she finally steps away. "Lee Sera, come here right now if you don't want to be locked in your room for another year!"

"Don't look so happy." She hisses to Jungkook's wide eyes as she whips around and walks out the room briskly. The moment the door closes behind her, I burst through the curtains.

"Jungkook-ah!" I shout quietly, tugging off Jimin's jacket from my shoulders and wrapping it around his shivering figure. "You okay?"

"W-W-What are you doing here?!" He exclaims, his voice terrified as he looks between us and the closed door. "Go away! Before—"

"This isn't tungsten." Jimin hisses knowingly as he tugs at the metal wrapping his wrists. He shoots the green-eyed boy a sad, silent look.

"You could've broken free."

"I—" Jungkook pauses, looking down at his feet for a long second before looking back up with the urgent expression back on his face.

"You need to go."

"Not without you." I stress as I glance at the closed door, my eyes flickering back to the curtains. "I can't believe this is happening right now."

"No— No, please, I—" His features crumble into bitterness as he gives Jimin a pleading gaze. "You can't take me to a place she won't find me."

"You think we didn't just see what happened?" I start furiously, tugging my scarf off and wrapping it around his neck as well. "Gosh, Jungkook. You're cold."

It breaks my heart to see the tears glistening in his eyes.

"Jungkook." Jimin suddenly says, unclasping his fingers from the thick metal. His voice is quiet. "You don't have to be afraid."

"I want to leave." He replies softly, blowing out a breath as he leans back into the wall. "I'm not afraid. It's not about that."

"I just can't leave her."

"What?" I say disbelievingly, so surprised that my voice borders a hiss. "What do you mean? Are you—"

"She sometimes talks to me when she isn't angry." He continues, swallowing with his bound hands clasped tight together. "She hates her family, hates everything. She says if I leave her, she'll kill herself."

"If she dies, it's going to be my fault."

I'm shocked, unable to say anything as Jungkook pins his gaze onto the floor. I can't believe this— he was too kind for his own good. Didn't he understand what she was doing to him?

"I know it's stupid." He mumbles, before the urgency comes back. "She's going to come back soon. Please leave."

Before I can argue, Jimin wraps his fingers around my sleeve and half-drags and half-pushes me back out the curtained doorway.

"Jimin....?"

"Come on." When I look back, I see relief clear on Jungkook's face before the curtain slides back to its original spot. It's not long until I feel the cold air outside the mansion, and until it finally shakes me from my stunned figure.

"What are you doing? We have to go back—"

"It won't matter." Jimin says, his slanted eyes shadowed with sadness. "Nothing's going to change unless Jungkook's mind changes first."

"Then it has to be changed!" I exclaim as he pulls me further away. "Jimin, he's just going to get hurt more!"

"It's not going to matter." Jimin repeats, his breath getting faster. "He has to realize it himself. That she's just making meaningless threats. That she isn't worth his safety."

"But—"

"Minah, you won't understand!" He suddenly shouts, and I can see his chest falling harshly as he looks at me.

I swallow unconsciously, and his eyes break as he reaches for me.

"Minah, I—"

But I get to him first, my arms wrapping around his chest. My eyes shut tight when I realize what his words mean.

"You.... You were like Jungkook?" I ask, hugging him as tight as my arms would let me. His hand feels secure against my back, and I feel his heart racing even though we're not moving.

"I—"

Even though he falls silent, the look on his face tells me everything when he fixes his eyes to the ground.

"Just trust me."

"He needs to find himself."

__________________________

"Are you okay?" I ask, and his eyes flicker up to me swiftly, telling me not to worry. But I know— he's been thinking about Jungkook.

"I want to help him." I confess as I sit on the bed next to him, my feet swinging heavily. "Seriously, what if he doesn't come to the lesson tomorrow? If he comes with like bruises and whatever—"

Then I realize Jimin's eyes are fixated on my face, colored a deep warm brown. The shade burn with an emotion I can't pinpoint, because I don't have time.

Because as soon as we meet eyes, he pulls me to his chest and presses his lips against mine.

He tastes better than chocolate.

But before I have time to break free from my shock, he pulls away. Hands still gripping my shoulders tightly and looking surprised as I must look, he swallows.

"I— I'm so sorry."

"You should be." I huff, hiding a playful smile when his eyes widen even further. "Did you just kiss me without my consent?"

"N-No," He stutters, and I almost laugh then and there as he shakes his head to the air. "I mean, yes, but I couldn't help my—"

The sharp, stunned breath he sucks in when I kiss him is adorable, before I realize I have no idea what I was doing. And that's even before I realize he has no idea what he's doing, either.

He just stands still as stone.

We're both stone, for that matter.

"I'll just stick to this." He mumbles, before breaking away and tucking his head into the crook of my neck and shoulder. A laugh bursts from my lips when he clings onto me like a baby panda.

"The flower."

"Wait, what?"

"The flower is gone." He points out, and I look back in confusion in the direction he's pointing to see an empty windowsill.

"Taehyung must've taken it." I say, knowing there was no one else that would've. There was no way Haeun would've, either. "Hold on, I'll get it back."

"No, it's okay!" He exclaims, holding me tighter when I let go of his body. "I didn't mean it like that— I was just wondering."

"I had to get my jacket back anyways." I say comfortingly, taking his hand and willing him off the bed. "I left it there last time— I always forgot to go get it. You can come with me, if you want."

"When were you in his house?"

I glance back, startled at the sudden shift in his voice. At my surprised look, he instantly turns his head towards the ground.

"I mean—"

A smile bursts through my lips.

"Is my Jimin jealous?" I tease, and the bright scarlet that shades his pale cheeks is everything as he faces away from me. "Kim Taehyung's just my ATM, don't worry."

Leading him outside and across the short distance between mine and Tae's apartment, I continue brightly as I push open his always-unlocked door.

"Besides, I personally think he likes Haeun better than me now." I say pointedly, but I lose all words when I look over to see the two said people on the large couch, their faces turned towards us in a stunned expression.

Their lips are both crimson.

"Uh." That's the only sound I get out of my mouth before I notice Jimin's curious eyes intently set upon them. Then he turns to me, blinking slowly.

He touches his own lips, looks at me with that innocent expression that's going to be my death.

"Why are their lips redder than ours?"