I cover my face with my hand and calm down, fighting against my emotions to not let them win and engulf me.

"I know you regret your choices and wanna fix your mistake, Jungkook, but you need to have a talk with her and let her decide what makes her happy," he puts some senses into me, being mature and acting like I should, but I tear up and clench my first. "I can't stand to see them together. He's just doing it on purpose to make me go mad because he knows it makes me lose my fucking mind when I see him touch her and flirt with her. I was always the only guy in her life, I was her best friend, her first crush, her first love, we were so physically close with one another...She can't have that with another guy, she must still have me on her mind..."

"I understand where you're coming from, but your words make you sound toxic. Don't have those thoughts on your mind, please. You hurt her...and I know you didn't mean to, but you can't be mad at her for trying to move on then making friends with other people and growing fond of another person. And I'm not saying she's in love with him or anything, I don't know, but if she did fall in love, don't be mad at her or him because I know he's not doing anything to provoke you. Alright?" he attempts to help but only worsens a part of me that I cannot get rid of.

That thought which keeps telling me that she is mine, that I am the only one allowed to touch her, kiss her, or take her virginity. He did not even go through half of what I went through with her, so how dare he talk to me like that?

"Instead of being mad, understand what causes that feeling, control it, and talk to her. That could solve a big problem because you could be assuming a lot of stuff right now that isn't true," he speaks in the most poised voice and manages to put my mind at rest, and I gaze in front of me. "I know that what I think is true. The way she acts with him, she's affected by what he does or says. I know her."

"Well, let's be honest, I think many girls would. That doesn't mean she's in love with him," he gives me hope. "I often catch her looking at you as much as you stare at her, so you need to be alone and speak to one another."

"Yeah..." I agree. I want this day to happen. I miss her, I miss feeling her close to me, seeing her smile because of me and no one else.

•••

3:50 pm.

All the boys waiting in line to order some ice cream, I stick my hands in the pockets of my pants and peek at her, who is the only one here with me.

"I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to make you cry," I do not let this only opportunity slip away from me, knowing I have to apologize for going too far. She turns her head, and our eyes meet. "It's okay. I didn't cry."

"I saw you..." I do not glance away anymore, but she does. Her eyes remain on the boys as if she did not want to look at me anymore. Since what happened earlier, she has not put her eyes on me again, and I know what that means when she acts that way.

"You know I don't do that to hurt you or try to take your happiness away, right?" I hope for her to understand what my behavior means. Her lips curve up, faintly, and she nods. "I know," her eyes land on mine. "I just wish you wouldn't fight anymore. I just want you to be friends again."

I gaze deeply into both of her eyes, none of us breaking this connection. My heart beating harder, I move closer and wrap one arm around her, stand in front of her, and hold her against me.

The feeling of her body pressed against mine warming my inside up, she hugs me back, and I bring my face near the side of hers, tighten my hold around her, and close my eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asks in a low and soft voice, and I feel all my pain alleviate. "I miss you..." I rub my hand over her back, craving her touch, kisses, and attention. "I missed you too."

I turn my head towards hers and brush my lips past her cheek to face her, hoping for her to remember, to feel the same way, and need that too. "Did you both get together?" I fix my eyes on her lips.

She shakes her head. "No, we're friends. He just lied earlier because Kaden keeps annoying us about it."

I stare into her eyes, and with no doubt about her words, trust her, but she moves her hands back and only leaves them on my waist. "What's wrong?"

I do not say anything but pull her in again and put the side of my face against hers. "I just miss you a lot..." I speak in her ear and feel her hard heartbeat against my torso.

"Y/n," Kaden interrupts the moment we had without anyone around, so I move away from her but sigh. "Angelo wanna know if you're sure you don't want some ice cream," he licks his. "No, I don't."

"She said 'no'," this shameless dumbass screams, too lazy to go back to him. I cannot do anything but keep quiet now that he is here. I know for sure Angelo sent him here on purpose.

10 minutes later...

All of us heading to an aquarium Felix and Leon were excited about seeing, I stay behind y/n and Angelo with Kaden, witnessing all his actions.

He has been touching her so much more since he caught us alone, keeping his hand around her neck and being controlling.

"Want the rest of my ice cream? My stomach's hurting," Kaden hands me his cone after letting everything melt inside. I take it and eat what is left, and we all stop in front of the building we should enter. "We need a ticket," Felix checks the signs for us all, and I feel Kaden wrap his arms around my right one. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No," I swallow the last piece of ice cream and check where Angelo's hand is going, her head reaching his shoulder and not higher, making him tower her with his height. He pulls her closer to him, slowly slides his hand down her back, and leans in to speak to her.

I wish I could punch the shit out of him.

She raises her chin up to look at him, and he gives her that look, that one most girls fall for. He smiles at her and stares at her lips as she is talking, acting like he does not care about anything but her and what she is saying, and when she sets her attention back on his face, he bites his lips and nods.

He brings his hand back up to her shoulder and steps right behind her to be against the back of her body, and he gives her a massage while waiting.

Without explaining why, Kaden gets right before me. "Focus on me."

"Why would I?" I shove my hands in my pockets, and he crosses his arms. "Do I cause you pain?"

"Yeah, in the ass," I smile, and he smirks but punches my stomach. "I'm a sub, so I don't believe—" he cannot speak anymore as I slammed my hand on his mouth. "You know what I meant, little shit."

He licks the palm of my hand, so I wrench it away, and Felix grasps our attention to make us enter the aquarium.

— Two weeks later —

Saturday, June 3rd, 2023.

12:20 pm.

< hey, Felix invited us to eat dinner at a restaurant with Kaden and Jungkook. Are you down for it too? ]

I read Angelo's text while having lunch on a bench in the schoolyard and answer him.

[ hey, he didn't text me about it tho. Are you sure he didn't just invite you? >

< he said he wasn't sure about letting you know bcs Jungkook will be there but I told him I want you to be there so I'll ask. Don't worry, he loves spending time with you too so you're always invited ]

[ Fine then, I trust you. I'll join if I can. I hope it's not too early bcs I have to stay here until 4:30 today >

< no, we should meet there at 6:30 but I'll come pick you up so no worries about that ]

[ alright, I'll text you once my last class is over >

< I'll be there like 10 minutes in advance so no need to. I don't want you to wait for 20min or more all alone ]

[ okay, thank you^-^ >

< Will you want to spend some time at my house before going there tho?

[ sure. I wouldn't miss such an opportunity to annoy you:3 >

< of course you wouldn't. Anyway, before even thinking about doing so, focus on your lessons and work well ]

[ I will >

I put my phone down after getting some good news from him, and I finish eating my food before heading towards my next class.

•••

4:35 pm.

The last day of the week finally over, I walk out of the schoolyard and check the car parked in the street to know where Angelo is, but in short seconds, I notice that he is actually standing in front of it. We both catch sight of one another, and I make my way up to him.

The thing about him is that since he is six feet three, it is easy to spot him in a crowd. Very easy.

"Hey," he smiles at me as soon as we face each other, and I reply with the same word but hug him. "Hey. I hope you didn't have to wait for too long here."

"No, don't worry," he unlocks the door of his car and opens the passenger one for me, so I get in and drop my bag on the back seats, and he joins me.

"When did you get here?" I put my seat belt on, and he turns the ignition on. "I don't know. Around two hours ago," he rotates his steering wheel with one hand, but my mouth opens. "Two hours ago? Why would you stay here for that long?"

"My day ended pretty early today, so I passed by my house first then since I had nothing else to do, I came here, but I'm not gonna lie," he carefully pays attention to the road. "I may or may not have slept a little," he chuckles but gets me to do so. "Like a baby."

"What do you mean? I worked really hard today, I was exhausted," he drops his other hand on the gear stick, and I cannot hold back from smiling. "What did you do today?"

"Well, a new intern just joined us, and since I'm the one the boss picked to manage him, I have to do it until the end of his internship," he explains why today was a bit more tiring than usual. "Aw. I understand then."

"Thank you," he smiles and stays focused on the road, so I do not say anything more but look at my phone to check if I have received a text, but nothing.

"What about your day?" he breaks the silence that only remained for a short moment. "It was fine. I had a test in Chemistry, so I hope I didn't fail it again."

"Why didn't you call me? We could have studied together," he makes me regret not doing so, but I find a good reason for it to not have happened. "I can't really focus when I'm with you."

"Uh, and may I know why? Do I seem like a troublemaker?" he laughs through his nose, and my lips curve up. "No, but I just want to talk or play more than study when you're around."

"And what if I tell you that if you don't focus, you'll get another kiss on the neck? Wouldn't that work?" he brings this back up to never allow me to erase it from my memory, and I chuckle, nervously without looking at him. "I'm not sure," I nearly mumble.

"Oh, you changed your mind. You actually maybe liked it, but you don't wanna admit it. I see," he does not miss to point out, and the embarrassment and shyness inside of me lead me to punch his arm. "That's absolutely not true. Okay?"

"Okay," he does not mean it at all, believing what he knows to be true and not what I am telling him. "I hate you so much," I laugh, the heat rising under my skin to spread up to my face at a higher degree. "No, you don't, sweetheart."

The smile upon my face widens at the sound of this sweet nickname, but I feign indifference to not give him any more satisfaction than he already got after this topic.

•••

6:20 pm.

"I think we can wait here because they're still on the way," Angelo checks his phone and the texts he received from Felix, so I listen to him. "Okay."

He types something on his screen pretty swiftly, then locks his phone to drop it down on his lap, but he stretches his arm out to reach the glove box in front of me and opens it.

The sleeves of his shirt rolled up, I get an eyeful of his veiny forearm inked with gorgeous tattoos but raise my attention up to the inside of the glove box to check what he is doing. As soon as he grabs a pack of candies out, one short second is enough for me to discern a shiny item. "Is that a knife?"

He sticks one of the hard candies in his mouth after unwrapping it, and he peeks down at what I drew attention to. "Yes," he does not leave it where it is but takes it out and puts the candies back in. "It's a tactical one, so it folds, but you can get the blade out like that," he presses on the handle and lets it appear at the speed of light, and I gape in front of it. "That's a really cool one."

"You like knives?" he folds it to make it safer, and I nod. "I do. There's something...pretty about them."

He smiles as if he knew and felt the same way. "And what do you think about this one?" he holds it up, so I gently move my hand to it, and he allows me take it. "It's a beautiful one. I love when it's all black like that."

"It's yours now. You can keep it. As a girl, you might need it more than I will, but look," he wraps his hand around mine and touches a silver stud. "This is the button to get the blade out, but it's pretty powerful, so make sure to always have a strong hold on it," he presses onto it and shows me that the force is better than I expected. "Wow," I tighten my grip on the handle, and he lets go. "Take it as an early birthday gift."

"I can't take this," I close it. "It looks very expensive, and it's yours," I put it back where it was. "So, you're rudely refusing to take my gift?" his candy taps against his teeth. "No. I kindly and respectfully let you keep it," I smile and see him do the same. "It still breaks my heart."

"Stop trying to get me with some emotional blackmail," I do not fall for his lame tactics, and he fixes his blue eyes on mine for a few seconds, which feel pretty long. Without saying anything, he sucks the candy ball, making us silently stare at each other.

"What?" I cannot keep quiet, feeling too nervous. "Nothing," he turns his head and rests his elbow on the door to hold his face. He lays his eyes on the road but pays a lot of attention to the car that parked before us. "They're here," he pulls the keys out to turn the ignition off, and we both go out.

He comes closer to me, and Felix, then Kaden leaves the SUV before us, but out of nowhere, Jungkook joins us as well. We all greet each other and make our way inside the BBQ restaurant. Felix picks the table for us, the place crowded with people, we follow Felix and sit down at a table surrounded with booths, making this more private between us.

As all of us seem to sit at a certain spot, I let them pick the one they want, but Angelo looks up at me and pats the cushion next to him, so I get on it to be by his side. Now, Jungkook is on my right, Felix, in front of me, Kaden, on my left, and Angelo, on my left as well but stuck to me.

"Do I order like usual?" Felix grabs the menu and ask them only since I do not know what he usually orders, and they all agree. "Alright, what drink do you want, y/n?" he does not forget me like I thought he did, so I tell him to get a lemon Fanta.

Knowing what everyone wants, he waits for a waiter to come up to us, and he cites only one big plate of meat with the different drinks we asked for, making the person write everything down then leave.

"Let's be patient now," he takes his phone out to spend some time on it and talk with Kaden, so I lean over to rest my arms over the table and wait too.

The relaxed state I was in abruptly gets disturbed by a tickling sensation on my lower back, causing me to throw my hand on it and check if this is a bug. Not noticing anything odd, I just rub my fingers over it and listen to the conversation the boys are having.

"I actually ordered a new PC one week ago, but I'm still waiting to receive it," Felix says, and Jungkook closes the distance between us to be in the same position. "Did you build it yourself?" he enters this chill talk, and he nods. "Yeah. I reread the texts you sent me when I asked you about the best pieces to get, and I ordered them all."

"How much did it cost?" he fiddles with one of his rings, and Felix puts his device down. "Two thousand and eight hundred, I saved some money for it, but it hurts to see everything just fly away from my bank account."

Jungkook chuckles. "I know. It always feels like that. I felt the same way when I paid mine, but it's worth it, don't worry," he reassures him, lovingly, but his ring rolls towards me after he did not catch it in time, so I grab it before it could end on my lap, and he retrieves it. "Sorry," he clutches it in his hand, and I try to release the tension there is between us again. "It's okay. I'll steal it next time though."

He smiles but lays it down on the table. "It's too big for you."

"Your fingers are skinny, so I'm pretty sure it's not," I do not believe him but feel some strong tingles in my back because of Angelo, who touched it. Understanding that he is actually the one who tickled me earlier, I dart my eyes towards him but see a smile on his face. "What?" he acts innocent.

I kick his foot and cover with my hand the small exposed part of my skin in my lower back, preventing him from doing this again.

Feeling a bit remorseful for not texting Jungkook, I try to initiate another conversation with him. "So, how are you doing these days?"

"Good, and you?" he slides his ring back on his middle finger, and I remove my hand from my back. "Good too. How's work going though?"

"Fine, nothing really changed," he does not reveal anything new, staring into my eyes so deeply "What about school? Are you doing good?"

"Yeah, just failing chemistry, so I hope I'll do good for the exams," I tell him how this is going. "You will. Don't worry."

"I hope so," I move my head up and down, but Angelo messes with me again and runs his fingers up my spine, getting my back to arch, so I hurry to grab his hand. "I swear, Angelo," I tighten my hold and push it against his lap. "We're gonna fight if you keep going."

"Fight?" he takes this as a joke and giggles, and he wraps his bigger hand around both of my wrists but keeps them stuck together, easily releasing himself. "We can play if you want, but I bet you can't even free yourself from my grip."

I pull my arms to try but do not succeed, so I look up in his blue eyes and feel embarrassed. "Let's do this when we're alone, and I can guarantee you I'll be able to win," I speak in a low voice, feeling uncomfortable in public. "Do you surrender?" he smiles, not letting go until I answered. "No, I'm just postponing this fight to make it fair."

"Fine," he loosens his grip, but once I look down at my wrists, I gasp. "Look what you did to me," I show him the marks he left on my sensitive skin, and he expresses some astonishment. "I barely touched you," he brushes his fingers over the redness. "I'm sorry."

"Such a red flag," Felix smirks at him, but Angelo momentarily shoots back. "Shut the fuck up. She bruises so easily."

"Yeah, like that bruise you caused on my butt," I still cannot get over it and move on from that, but Kaden makes a big deal about it. "Excuse me? On your what? And how?"

"I lifted her up with one arm the other day, but she moved like an idiot, and I dropped her on the sofa a little too hard," he explains to not let him imagine anything wrong. "And we're just playing," he strokes his thumb over the marks as if he genuinely felt bad. "Yeah, sure, and you're gonna go back to your house with her and have an innocent little fight? Uh?" Kaden lets out.

"I won't even answer you," he gazes down at my wrists but touches my thigh as well while caressing my red skin. "Yeah, stop acting like that. We know how and where that fight's gonna end," he makes things awkward like he loves to do every single time we are all together.

Angelo barely reacts at first and heavily breathes in, sliding his other hand in his pocket and ignoring him. "You can look as cute as you want with those freckles, but we know what's on your mind."

"Felix, punch this moron for me," he asks him to do, and Felix does not even hesitate to do it, making Kaden groan.

They are all funny but crazy.

'JUNGKOOK'S P.O.V'

Angelo never taking his hands or eyes off of her, she leans back and crosses her arms, a waiter already comes back to our table four drinks. He serves Felix and Kaden first with their glass of Sprite, then gives me my mojito, and moves over to the right to hand the coke to y/n but almost drops it, getting the cold drink to spill on her.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," he puts the glass down and turns nervous, almost scared, but she smiles and hurries to wipe her thighs with the tissues Angelo and I are giving her. "It's okay."

"I sincerely apologize, I'm coming back with more tissues right away, Ma'am," he runs away and freaks out, despite y/n remaining calm. She stands up as the coke seems to have rolled down the seat, and Angelo cleans it for her while she is taking care of her skin, and the bottom of her dress.

"That's what happens when you can't keep your hands to yourself, Angelo," Kaden cannot hold back from making an inappropriate joke, and Angelo chuckles. "You're disgusting. Don't say that type of shit," he raises his eyes up to y/n's thighs. "The bottom of your dress is a bit wet."

"Where?" she runs a tissue over it, and the waiter comes back with a bunch of thicker ones, sounding and looking like he has done the worst mistake on earth. "Here you are, I apologize again."

"It's alright. Don't worry about it. Thank you for the tissues," she grabs one as Angelo wiped the back of her dress and thighs. The waiter gets all the soaked tissue and walks away to throw everything out, and in short seconds, comes back again. "Is it okay?"

"Yeah, thank you," she reassures him, not reacting like many customers would. "Alright. You can call me if you ever need something, I'll be there," the waiter tells her, and she nods to him, with a gentle and caring smile that would soothe anyone.

Now that it is clean, she sits down but looks for something in her bag next to her. "I'd have lost my mind if I was you, I don't know how you can remain so calm," Kaden sips on his drink, and y/n gets a small fan out. I uncontrollably smile at how cute this is, and she fans her dress. "His job is already stressful enough. You shouldn't get mad at them."

"Still though, what if it stained your clothes?" he shows a different mindset, which I do not agree with since I have worked in this type of field. "Well, I'd have gotten upset, but I don't like getting angry at people like that. It was obvious he's stressed out."

"Yeah," he makes it evident he does not think the same way, and Angelo puts his hand between the fan her dress. "That small thing blows harder than I thought," he pulls it away, and y/n holds it up to his face. "Are you hot?"

"Yeah," he closes his eyes and enjoys it, and he drops his hand on her lap. She smiles but directs her fan back on her dress.

•••

7:40 pm.

'YOUR P.O.V'

The meal slowly coming to an end, I take a sip of my fizzy drink, but Angelo touches my lower back. "I need to go to the restroom."

I put my glass down to not spill anything, and I stand up so that he can pass. He rises from his spot right away and forces his way between my body and the seats, holding me by the hips while heavily brushing past me.

When he is gone, I sit back down but leave the rest of the meat and side dishes to the boys. I cannot swallow anything more.

"Are you still not together?" Kaden addresses me about our relationship. "We're friends. We told you."

He does not answer but nods his head, still enjoying the meal, so I do not talk but send a text to my father to tell him I will stay at Enna's house after this meal, even though this is not true.

"Could I check something and say something about you once he's back?" Kaden speaks again. "Check what?"

"I kinda indirectly let him know you're gonna spend this Sunday with Jungkook," he comes up with the worst idea, and I frown, not getting the purpose of this falsehood. "Why would you?"

"I wanna prove a point and show you I'm right," he checks in the restroom direction to make sure he is not here yet. "Right about what?"

"That he's into you but denying it," he gets Felix's eyes to end on him. "He won't show it in front of you but just talk about it with her when they're alone if he actually gets jealous, so your plan is dogshit."

"You are dogshit, so shut up and watch me prove I'm the smartest," he confidently claims. "Sure. What are you gonna do tomorrow, Jungkook?" Felix questions him, asking about his plans and drifting away from the previous subject. "Nothing. Why?"

"I'm going to the gym in the morning, do you wanna come with me?" he invites him, knowing that Jungkook would not refuse to work out.

Against expectations, he actually shakes his head, surprising me with something he would never have done in the past. "I can't. I'm not really in the mood lately. I mean, I can come and be there to help if you need, but I won't do anything."

"Well, it's up to you. You don't have to come if you wanna stay home. Don't worry," he does not force him but makes sure he knows it. "I'll come, I don't want to stay home alone."

I look at him after hearing this sentence, feeling some pain in my heart.

"I'll entertain you, don't worry. I'm better than a girlfriend," he states and manages to put a smile on his face, but I cannot move on from this. "Are you always alone when you don't hang out with them?" I do not keep quiet, and he makes eye contact with me, not eating anymore either. "Yeah, but it's fine. I get to do whatever I want."

"That's not what you told me some weeks ago," Felix exposes him in front of me as if he wanted me to know, which would not surprise me since he is aware of everything that happened. Jungkook glares at him, making it obvious that he would have liked him to keep it to myself. "I don't remember saying that."

"I do, but it's okay," he mumbles under his breath, and I notice, from the corner of my eye, Angelo coming back, so I stand up. He passes behind me for the second time but cannot hold back from grabbing me, and we both sit down.