"I'm not okay with you leaving. That bastard is out there somewhere," Jungkook said with a frown.

"He's not going to hurt me," I said in a reassuring tone to him, even though I didn't even believe my words.

"You don't know how these people think."

I gave him a teasing smile and raised a brow. "And you do?"

He licked his lips, his gaze shifting from mine momentarily. "Unfortunately, yes. Which is why I'm strongly against you leaving. Just stay here," he said. "With me," he added a little calmer. "Please."

"I wish I could," I said, touching his face, he leaned into my touch, eyes shutting for a second. And really I wished I could stay with him. Honestly, I'd feel saner. "But I can't."

"Why? Your mother? Let me handle it," he urged almost convincingly. But I knew my mother, and whatever Jungkook believed he could say to her that would make her let me stay with him, it would not work.

"You don't know my mother. She's almost as stubborn as you are," I teased, heading for the door.

"She will understand when I talk to her," he continued.

"I don't want to bring my family into this. My mum is going through her own stuff," I said, the image of the dark circles around her puffy red eyes imprinted in my head.

It was past eight in the evening and I'd spent the remainder of the day with Jungkook after he had told me about Mr. Cho. Sometimes, I felt like I was being too available by spending so much time with him and he could easily get tired of me.

But then I looked at him and my stomach does this weird dance at how he was looking at me and I tell myself there was no way he could ever be tired of me. At least, I hoped.

When I reached the door, I slipped into my shoes and pulled the handle open. Someone was standing outside there in a black mask and black outfit, holding a bottle in his hand. I didn't have enough time to process the danger that it spelled before he was spraying whatever the content of the bottle was in my face.

The liquid stung my eyes and I let out a deep scream, stumbling backwards into the apartment. Jungkook was at my side in an instant. "Jin!" He called, taking my face in his hands.

But I pulled away, cradling my face in pain. My eyes were on fire and my entire face stung. I gestured frantically towards the door, not sure it was even the right direction.

But I hoped he would understand what I was trying to say and chase after whoever that was. I felt him zip past me as I groaned in pain.

My throat felt tight, as I let out a series of strained cough. What the hell had he sprayed on me?! It took me a moment to get to the kitchen because the stinging in my eyes and face almost felt unbearable.

I pulled out the hose from the sink and sprayed myself with water. My face, my body, the floor, I didn't care in that moment. I just wanted the pain to stop. I couldn't open my eyes, it hurt to much, but I knew I had to get water in it to rinse of whatever pungent thing had gotten into it.

I crumbled to the floor, the hose still pouring out water in my face. My nostrils were burning as well, I felt snot roll down uncontrollably. I wasn't sure what was happening but I hoped that water was going to sooth it.

Some time later, I wasn't sure how long, but the front door closed shut. I sat up, alert. I couldn't open my eyes but my head turned here and there as if I could see through my closed lids. "Jungkook?" I called, my voice hoarse.

"Yes, baby," he called, settling on the floor next to me. He took my face in his hand and I could feel his gaze on me for the longest minute before he pulled me against his body. "He's gone," he said, and I could hear the regret in his voice.

I nodded that it was fine because I didn't want him blaming himself for anything. He hadn't known, hadn't seen the man when I opened the door. He'd been stubbornly sulking at the side that I was leaving when I opened the door, so it wasn't his fault that he got away.

I should have gotten him. My senses should have kicked in and I should have tackled him before he'd had the chance to blind me.

"Was it—" I cleared my throat. "Was it him?"

His heart was beating fast against me. Was it fear? Regret? Anger? "I think so. It has to. He came to my house," he said, his voice taking an unfamiliar tone. "He actually came to my house."

"I think we should involve the police."

Jungkook didn't respond to my suggestion, instead he pulled away slightly. "You can't open your eyes, can you?"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure what was in that bottle. Not acid, I hope."

"If it was, your face would have melted off by now," he said. I turned to scowl at him. "Sorry. It's not acid. It was pepper spray."

Jungkook helped me to my feet, and walked me to the guest bathroom downstairs, holding my hand and guiding me the entire way.

I stripped out of my clothes and stepped into the shower, the warm water touching my already wet skin. He stood next to me the entire time in the shower as I just let water run over me. I tried to pry my eyes open occasionally but I gave up after a while because the pain was unbearable.

"I need to go home," I said, after I'd changed into dry clothes. Jungkook pushed a damp hair stuck to my forehead with a finger. "My mum will—"

"You're not going anywhere," he stated.

My eyes still stung like hell but at least, I was able to open them up to an extent to see the frown that had settled on his features. He was by the door, fingering his hair in what appeared to be frustration.

"I'm not leaving my mum and godmother in that house by themselves. What if he shows up there? What if he tries to hurt them? Who's going to protect them?"

"Who's going to protect you? He almost had you," Jungkook said. "In actuality, he did have you."

Jungkook had no idea how ashamed I was of that fact. I was very mad at myself. Mr. Cho had been so close to doing whatever he wanted with me. It could have been worse. And I hadn't been able to defend myself.

"Better me than them," I gritted out, shifting off the bed. I grabbed my wet clothes from the floor, almost stumbling over my own legs. Jungkook reached to hold me but I pushed him away, refusing his help.

He stayed quiet but I could feel his burning stare on my back. I ignored it. I just wanted to leave. To be honest, until I was home, certain that my mum and godmother were okay, I wouldn't be able to shake off the feeling of unease in my stomach.

Jungkook walked ahead of me the entire time— out of his apartment, into the elevator, out of the elevator and into the underground parking. He opened the passenger side for me and shut it after I'd climbed in before going around to the driver's side.

Our drive back was excruciatingly quiet. I was embarrassed, angry, irritated and worried. I looked out of the window the entire time. The one time I heard a sound coming from him and turned to look at him, he was gripping the steering wheel tight, and the muscles in his jaw tensed.

I guess he was angry as well. Oh, well.

Centuries later, we arrived outside my house. I unhooked my seatbelt, muttered a "Thanks," and got out, not sparing a single look backwards until I was inside the house.

Aqua, who was by the door, stood to her feet and raced towards me in excitement. "I got on one knee to ruffle her hair and plant a much-needed kiss on her head. I felt like I wasn't giving her as much attention as I used to because I was so caught up in all of my drama.

She leapt up to lick my face, but I was already standing up because my entire face still burned.

"Jin, is that you?" Relief flooded through my body at the sound of my mother's voice.

"Yes," I said, heading towards the living room where she was curled up on the couch with Aunt Soohyun, the air filled with the strong smell of hot chocolate. They were having a fun night. Good to know.

Mum's expression turned to panic the moment her eyes fell on me. She scrambled off the chair and hurried to me, tugging my hand so I was bending to her height. She took my face in her hand and examined it. "What happened to you?"

"What?" I asked, momentarily confused. Then I remembered. Pepper spray. Swollen eyes. Puffy cheeks. Red face. I looked like Habanero. "Allergies," I said, quickly recovering. "Probably."

"What allergies?" she asked, knowing fully well that I had no history whatsoever of allergic reactions.

I shrugged like it was nothing like it could be anything. "I don't know. My face just feels itchy and bloated."

She shook her head. "We need to visit Dr. Shim tomorrow morning. For now, I'll get an antifungal cream. Hold on," she said and hurried out of the living room.

I wasn't worried about visiting the doctor in the morning because I knew that wouldn't happen. The swelling will go down by morning and my face would be back to normal.

I hoped.

Aunt Soohyun was watching me at the side, her eyes fixated on me. "Does this have something to do with why you weren't at school today?" she asked.

I snapped my head towards the stairs, looking to see if my mother had heard. Hopefully, she wasn't in sight. I didn't want her to know I'd skipped school because of how deeply her words hurt and bothered me.

"She doesn't know. She has a lot on her mind already. I won't bother her with this," she said, folding her arms over her chest. She was in a sweater and pyjama pants, both looking way too big for her. So, when her voice stern voice came, it seemed like it came from a different body than the little on one the couch. "So, I want you to talk to me. What is going on with you?"

I was quiet, unsure of how to respond to her. "Aunt Soohyun—"

"And don't give me the stuff that all is well with you because it clearly isn't. You've lost weight, you skip school, receive weird flowers from God knows who and lie that it's a prank, you beat up people and now, you're coming home with a face as big as a ball of watermelon." she threw her hands in the air tiredly. "What is happening with you? Please, talk to me."

I could barely understand why they were happening. Why I was constantly finding myself in such situations. How could I make anyone understand what I barely understood myself?

"You say you're fine but I know you have a lot of hurt in your heart. I see it because I used to be just like you. I used to bottle up everything. I didn't want to bother or scare people off with my problems. And it took its toll on me." She rolled up the left leg of her pyjama bottom. I didn't see it immediately but when I did, I think my heart sank.

Thin white lines ran down the length of her thighs. There were a lot of them, each one a different size from the other. Some were wider, longer, whiter, fainter, and shorter. But they were there. Signs of her own hurt. The release of her bottled-up emotions.

Subconsciously, I pulled my left hand behind me feeling suddenly exposed. She pulled her pants down and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Try and talk it out," she said, more softly. "I know it's hard. I swear, I know but I can't bare thinking that you're going through all of these on your own. Okay?"

A lump formed in my throat, making it impossible for me to swallow without wincing. I didn't get a chance to respond to her before mum walked back in. She held a small tube in her hand and applied the content to my face.

I was a bit relieved she'd walked in because I didn't know what I would possibly have said to Aunt Soohyun. I couldn't concur with her because it would mean agreeing to everything she was saying and further, telling her that I was being stalked and harassed by my former English teacher, and I would rather leave them both out what was happening.

Later in my room, I called Namjoon to update him on what happened and to also let him know he had to be extra careful now. Mr. Cho could be anywhere, plotting his next move—whatever that was.

"I'm at Chef Guy's place. I'll be fine," he reassured me. I was happy to know he wasn't all alone in his father's mansion like always, so I climbed into bed feeling a little lighter on my shoulder.

But even though I'd been assured that my loved ones were safe, it didn't make me feel less worried that anything could happen. What had happened today had been a prime example that he could show up anywhere and carry out the evil he had in mind.

It made me wonder why. Why was he doing all of these? What had I done? He'd been one of my favourite teachers. More importantly, what had Namjoon done to him? They didn't even know each other. Namjoon had taken his class for barely two weeks before dropping out of school teo years ago. So, I couldn't think of anything that connected them both again.

There had to be a mistake somewhere. An ugly misunderstanding that was putting all our lives at risk. It was also putting my relationship with Jungkook on the line and that scared the shit out of me.

I'd been an ass to him. I felt terrible about it. I wish I could take it all back because he'd done nothing wrong. I'd allowed my insecurities get the better of me and I'd taken out my frustration on him. It wasn't his fault that I hadn't been fast enough or that I was in this mess. All he'd done was try and protect me, try and assure me that he would keep me safe.

I sprang from my bed, raking my fingers through my hair trying to think of how to salvage my situation. Then I stopped short. I had to take a proper look and be sure whatever Mr. Cho had sprayed in my face wasn't making me hallucinate.

I stepped closer towards my window, and there it was. Jungkook's car, sitting across from my house on the street. I couldn't believe my eyes. What the hell was he doing?

Quickly, I grabbed my phone and dialed his number, eyes fixated on his car.