"Oh, come in," he says with a smile on his face. I walk in and shut the door behind me, and I move to his desk to sit down. "Were you waiting?" he tidies up some papers on his desk. "Just a little bit, don't worry."

"Selene always forgets to close the door," he rubs his neck as if he were nervous about the fact I may have heard them. "But anyway. I got something to talk about with you. I guess you must have noticed that Thomas isn't here today, right?"

"Yeah, I was actually wondering why," I nod, glancing at his hands as he toys with a pencil, his right one covered in a bandage. "Well, yesterday, during the argument in the cafeteria, I actually recorded him before leaving, that's a little why I provoked him, and this morning, I let the boss hear everything, and he fired him."

"Really? That fast?" I smile, feeling relief and satisfaction. "Yeah, so he won't ever be here, but there's one bad news. I'm gonna have to talk with Jungkook because Thomas got mad and told the boss that I or Jungkook is dating you, and that it's the reason why I'm trying to get you hired. I tried to convince the boss it wasn't true, and he seemed to trust me, but I think he'll keep an eye on us. So, you and Jungkook should be careful. I wouldn't want him to get fired, or you to not get fired because of something like that."

"Alright...I will," I comply, hoping the boss will not believe Thomas. "But, you know, about what Thomas said yesterday. Is it true that girls here get the job 'that way'?" I scratch my neck, realizing that my question made him uncomfortable. "I...He said that because of some stuff that happened, but I'm taking care of you, and I'll make sure this type of thing won't happen again. Just let the boss know you're in a relationship if he ever...tries anything."

"This type of thing?" I question him about it, feeling concerned. "It's...Let's say, he likes to flirt with the women on his team, especially the ones who aren't in relationships, and I know he already planned on hiring you just because you're a pretty girl, so if he ever makes any inappropriate advances towards you, tell him you're taken and come to me. Okay?"

"Okay..." I do not know how to feel. I thought Thomas was the only problem here, but apparently he was not. "Don't be scared though. He's nothing like Thomas. If you make it clear to him that you're not interested, he'll back off."

"Alright, I trust you," I say. "Thank you for doing all this. I feel really lucky to be here," I add, showing him how grateful I am. "No need to thank me," he responds warmly, a genuine smile spreading across his face. "Is everything going better with Jungkook by the way?"

"Yeah...I just," I waver, unsure if I should ask him the question I have on my mind. "Tell me. What's wrong?"

"Do you perhaps know the name of Jungkook's ex?" I let it out, fearing the possible consequences of my question but knowing I need to get answers. "Jungkook's ex?" he raises his eyebrows in surprise, clearly caught off guard by my sudden question. "Uhm. I'm not even sure he ever told me her name, so I can't really answer. I don't want to say anything dumb. Why though?"

"Something just happened last night. He called me Chloe and told me it's her ex's name," I talk about it with him since I have no one else to say it to and who could understand. "Now that you say it, it does sound familiar, but why the hell did he call you that?"

"I don't know, but yeah...It just hurt, and I can't stop thinking about it," I tell him, hoping that he could give me some kind of explanation or advice since Jungkook is his best friend. "Well. I can understand that it'd hurt. I wouldn't like my girl to call me by her ex's name, but...I don't know, honestly. Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue, it can happen. Don't worry too much about it, and if it bothers you a lot, talk about it with him."

"I did, but he told me it just happened because he wasn't feeling good, and he was angry, and that's all. I mean, there's not much to say, I guess, but still, it's been on my mind ever since," I speak without thinking much but realize I am being a little too personal. "I mean, nevermind. I'm sorry for talking about this."

"No, it's alright. I'm here to listen to you. You're not just a colleague, so we can both have personal conversations if you need to. Don't worry about it," he reassures me. "I think you should talk about it with him again. He'll understand. He probably still feels bad about it, so don't keep it to yourself. Let him know it hurt you."

"I guess that's the right thing to do. I will," I nod and smile at him. "Thank you for the advice."

"No problem. I'll always be here for you both," he responds with a reassuring smile, and stands up. "We should go and take a break now, I don't want to keep you here for too long again," he says, leading the way out of the room. "Also, before you go," he turns around, holding the door closed. "Just in case you might misunderstand it. Jungkook told me about the chocolate thing and the fact he doesn't like it, so I'll stop giving you some when you come here. I don't want him to imagine some bad stuff again."

"It's alright. I understand," I do not complain about it, no matter how much I loved those treats. I appreciate the fact he respects Jungkook 's feelings. "Okay, you can go. I'll join you in a little while," he opens the door.

"Thank you again, I really mean it," I look up at him with gratitude in my eyes. "Don't. It's normal," he replies with a warm smile. "And if you still want some chocolates, steal from the counter when no one's looking."

"Yeah," I chuckle and walk away. "You'll eat, right?" I ask before leaving. "Yes, don't worry about me. Take care of yourself," he responds kindly, and I nod. As I left to head to the cafeteria, he closes the door.

After talking about what happened with Jungkook, I cannot help but wonder if this morning's sex was meaningful, or if it was a way of making me forget about how wrong what he did last night was. I have a sinking feeling in my gut that it was the latter, but I would rather ignore it.

I do not think he would ever do that.

"Y/n," Jungkook calls my name as I took my food out of the fridge. "Can we eat outside together?" he grabs his food as well as I nod, and I follow him outside, trying to push away the doubt that was creeping into my mind.

He brings me to a bench, and we both sit down on it. I put my food next to me, not feeling in the mood to eat yet. We sit in silence for a few moments, the tension between us palpable. I finally muster up the courage to break the silence. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he denies it and starts eating. "You were with Luca, right?" he looks at me, and I nod.

"Alright. What was it about? I heard you two talking earlier, and it seemed important," he does not seem to express any anger, so I tell him what happened. "He told me Thomas got fired this morning, and that you and I should be careful because the boss is a little suspicious now."

"Suspicious about what? And why did that guy get fired?" he frowns and looks concerned, but something inside me makes me feel sick. I am scared to tell him everything now. "Thomas knew about us, and he told the boss about it when he got fired because he was mad."

"And how does Luca know about all this?" he makes it difficult to avoid explaining that matter. "He was there when that happened, I guess. But he'd like to talk to you as well today."

"I don't want to, though," he still shows some bitterness towards Luca, even though he does not deserve it. I understand his jealousy, but sometimes it is just too much. "It's important, Jungkook. Don't start treating him like that. He's your best friend."

He does not answer me but shoves some more food in his mouth. No word leaves him, so I give up and bring up something else. "Anyway, I'd like to talk about something else."

"What?" he finally says something and gazes at me. "It's about last night..." I go slow and check his reaction first before continuing. "I'm sorry for talking about this again, but...I really need to understand why you called me by her name."

"Baby, I didn't mean to. I have no idea why I called you that," he says. "I don't even have her on my mind, so I don't know why that happened. I do or say some weird stuff when I'm drunk...but I swear I still feel like shit about it."

"Okay..." I cannot find anything else to say. I am not sure how to respond to that. "I'm sorry, baby. I don't want you to feel hurt by that," he takes my hand in his, and looks at me with regretful eyes, coming closer to me. He presses his lips against mine and stares into my eyes. "That won't ever happen again. I promise."

"Promise me to never get drunk again, please," I beg, maintaining eye contact. He briefly glances at my lips before intertwining our fingers. "I promise I won't."

I am pretty sure he will not keep this promise, but I cannot help hoping that he does.

"I trust you," I say, despite my doubts, and I rest my head on his shoulder. "Aren't you eating?" he brushes his thumb over my skin. "No, I'm not hungry."

"Why? Are you feeling sick again?" he remembers what I told him. "Yeah."

"Since you're on the pill, it shouldn't be a pregnancy, right?" he asks me with a hint of concern. "It's not," I reassure him, no matter how worried I am about it too. "Alright. We'll go to the doctor if it keeps going."

"Yeah..." I agree and try to ignore the growing fears in the back of my mind.

•••

2:10 pm.

After making the last drink before my second break today, I put it down on the serving spot with the right ticket. I tell Luciano that I need to take a quick break, and once he answers, I head to the changing room.

"No, are you fucking kidding me?!" the door of Luca's office swings open, and I freeze in shock in front of Jungkook, who left it while screaming. Suddenly, his eyes lock with mine, and the intense anger evident in his gaze triggers a sense of concern within me.

"Y/n, why the fuck did you hide what happened with Thomas from me?" he asks, his voice filled with rage as he is blowing up in front of everyone. "Jungkook, go back in my-"

"No, you shut the fuck up, you fucking asshole," he pushes Luca away, and darts his eyes back to me, making me feel fearful. "Why the fuck did you hide that from me but talked about it with him?"

"Can we talk about this outside-"

"No, you answer me right now 'cause I'm done with this shit," he says, his voice growing louder and more aggressive. This is the first time he talks to me like that. "Jungkook. I knew you'd get mad and physically fight with him, and I didn't want you to get hurt again. You still haven't fully recovered from that-"

"Don't you dare use that fucking excuse!" he screams at my face, leaning closer to me. "You fucking lied to me! I'm your boyfriend, you should open up to me and tell me when something's wrong, but no, you'd rather do that with him. You fucking-" he does not end his sentence as Luca threw him against a wall, but the thought of him insulting me, calling me names destroys me, and I feel my heart breaking. "Stop acting like a child and get back in my office, or leave the shop," Luca says firmly.

"Go fuck yourself," he spits back, tears streaming down his face. As he walks swiftly towards me, I reach out to grab his arm in an attempt to halt him. However, he forcefully shrugs off my touch and shoots me a look filled with pure hatred. "Don't touch me. I fucking hate you so much, I shouldn't have trusted you," he mutters before storming off.

Not accepting this could end that way, I take my apron off and run after him. Following him outside, some tears are already streaming down my face as I try to plead with him to listen. "Jungkook, stop. Please! You know what would have happened if I told you before he left!" I try to catch up with him as he is getting to his car without looking at me. "I planned on talking about it with you tonight, I swear!"

"Shut up and leave me alone," he unlocks his car and opens the door to get in, but I catch his hand and shut the door, standing between him and the car. "I'm begging you, please. Jungkook. I promise I'm telling the truth. I never lied to you."

"Get out of my face, y/n. I don't care about what you say anymore," he attempts to wrench his hand away from mine, but I keep a strong grip on it, not ready to let go. "Please. I love you, stop this. I'm sorry, I should have talked about it with you right away, but I was scared you'd get hurt-"

"Get off!" he throws his fist in the car behind me, causing my body to flinch. He realizes what he just did and immediately pulls his fist away. "I...Go away before I do something I might regret. I don't want to see you," he says with tears in his eyes as I stare into them while sobbing. "I know you won't hurt me. You're angry at me, and I understand you, but if I leave you alone, you're gonna harm yourself again, and I don't want that to happen."

"Leave me alone," he grabs my wrists with one hand and pushes me away to open the door. He enters his car and locks the door. As I hear him start the engine, I get in front of the car to stop him from driving away.

"If you want to act that way, I will too," I shout and sit on the car's hood, not caring about anything else. He does not move the car but gets out, seeming even more pissed off. He grabs me by the arm and pulls me off the hood like a rag doll. "You quit playing that fucking game or I swear I'm gonna lose it," he pushes me against another car, becoming rougher. "Go back to that fucking guy and forget about me."

"What you're saying is nonsense, and you know it. You're the only one I love and need-"

"No, I'm not. If I was, you'd never have dared hide such a thing from me and gone to another guy to talk about it. And you know what? This made me realize you're actually not any better than my ex," he shows no regret in his eyes. "You don't mean it..." I shake my head and refuse to believe what he is saying. "I fucking do," he states and goes back to his car, and this time, I do not stop him.

I let him go and drop to the ground, feeling like my whole world has fallen apart. I cannot hold back from breaking down anymore, my heart pounding as the worst pain I have ever felt consumes me from the inside.

"Y/n," Luca says my name. "I'm sorry," he lays his hand over the back of my head, his thumb gently rubbing my hair as I lose my breath through my sobs. "Don't stay on the ground," he grabs my hand and pulls me back up. "He didn't mean anything he said, I promise."

I cover my face and cry in his chest as his arms wrapped around me. "I don't want him to break up with me. I won't ever be able to move on...I can't live without him..." I struggle to catch my breath and speak. "It's gonna be okay. Don't think about that. Everything's gonna be alright."

•••

6:50 pm.

Time passing without a single answer from Jungkook, I sit up on my bed, feeling the weight of his absence like a physical ache in my chest. I call him again, but it just rings and goes to voicemail, so I leave another message.

"Jungkook, call me back or answer one of my texts, please...I can't take it anymore. At least tell me you're okay, it's all I'm asking for," I beg into the phone before hanging up.

I have never felt that way before in my life. My heart has never hurt like this. I have been crying so much that my eyes have become painful.

What if he gets drunk? Takes those pills? What if he does something stupid? I cannot stop worrying about him. Last time I left him alone because I thought it was the right thing to do, he ended up in the hospital and almost died.

My thoughts consuming me with fear and guilt, I leave my bed and text Luca while heading outside my bedroom.

[ have you talked to Jungkook since earlier ? >

< No, I'm the last person he'd talk to. You're worried about him, aren't you? ]

[ yes >

I pass by the empty living room, my parents still working at this hour. I put my shoes on and go out, lock the door behind me, and call an Uber. I am just going to check on him and make sure he is okay. If he was not addicted to all that crap, I would not have to do this, he cannot blame me.

40 minutes later...

As I finally stand in front of Jungkook's house, I knock on the front door and wait for an answer.

He does not respond. I knock again, louder this time, hoping he will answer. His car is parked in front of the gate, so I know he must be here. There is no way he would have left without his car. Still, there is no answer.

Before using the key to enter the house, I text him and warn him. I do not want to just barge in.

[ I'm in front of your house. If you're inside, just tell me you're okay and I'll leave or I'm coming in >

Despite what I expected, I finally received an answer from him. This brings immense relief to me.

< im not ther go homme ]

Unsurprisingly, he is drunk.

[ Where are you? Stop drinking Jungkook please you cant keep doing this to yourself >

< oh realy ? Ill get drink and drink til I pass out cause has the onl y way to feeel good in my fuckin glife ]

< jst leabe me the ffuck alone ]

I call him, not giving up. This time, he picks up. "You ain't gonna stop, uh?" he speaks right away, the amount of slurring in his voice indicating how drunk he is. He definitely has not just started. "No, I won't. Every time something goes wrong, you get drunk. How can I not worry about you?"

"I don't care, y/n..." he mumbles. "I just want to forget about everything for a while. I need to stay away from you..."

"Jungkook, I just want to talk to you. If you need some space, I'll give it to you, but I just need to get a text from you every day to make sure you're okay. I just need a sign of life from you every morning and night, even if it's just a letter." I try to be understanding and respectful of his boundaries. "Fine, I'll text you every day if that's what you want, but I won't talk to you."

It is hard to accept it, but I will try my best to respect his wishes. "Thank you. I just want you to remember I love you. I mean it. Being away from you is so difficult, I can't stop crying."

He does not say anything but sighs into the phone. "I'm sorry..." he hangs up.

I feel my heart sink as the call ends abruptly, leaving me feeling more hurt and confused than before. I never expected him to end things like this.