A bag of Jungkook's clothes and other necessities was swung over his shoulder. His arm was hooked around the strap and legs moved in the direction of the truck with a small limp in each step. Jungkook stopped next to the truck and peered around the edge of it, ignoring the small glances coming from the group members, he took the bag off of his shoulder and swung it inside the trunk.

Jungkook's mind was stuck on Taehyung. He wasn't even able to think about the upcoming war or the consequences of their plan failing, which made him feel a bit guilty and overall worried. He realised that maybe doing this right before the fight was a bad idea, but on the other hand, if either of them died, Jungkook knew he wouldn't regret the sex.

Jungkook tore his eyes away from the truck in front of him and eyed the courtyard around him. His eyes briefly dragged over Glenn and Maggie, only to pause at Taehyung who was speaking to Carol with a charming smile. Jungkook pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth and turned away with a soft sigh. He felt a bit awkward even looking in Taehyung direction- his mind immediately flooding with the imagines of the night before.

"Fuck." Jungkook cursed, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the side of the truck. His eyes glared down at the pavement in front of him, only to flicker up at the sound of Daryl's scoff of disapproval. Jungkook's nose scrunched up and brow rose underneath his fringe, he eyed Daryl carefully before parting his lips to speak, "What?"

Daryl didn't look away from the arrow twirling between his fingers, nor did the stoic expression change as he grumbled back, "Nothin'."

A scowl touched Jungkook's lips and he rotated his body around to face Daryl fully. His shoulder pressed against the side of the truck and a stinging sensation touched his lower back at the movement, "Do you have something to say?" Jungkook huffed defensively, straightening out and digging his nails into his biceps. He waited patiently for Daryl's answer- thinking it had something to do with the fact that Tae and him were both men.

An annoyed huff slipped through Daryl's nostrils and his eyes finally lifted away from his crossbow to look at Jungkook, "Have you talked to him?" Daryl asked gruffly, raising his arrow and pointing the tip in Taehyung's direction.

"Uhm..." Jungkook's eyes dropped down to the ground and he awkwardly shuffled on his feet. He winced slightly with a small shake of head, giving Daryl a wordless answer.

"Talk to him."

Jungkook's head swung up and he sent Daryl a look of disbelief, yet the older Male completely missed it, or pretended like he didn't see, and just focused back on his arrows. Jungkook scoffed and rolled his eyes, "I can't just...it's not how it works. I don't even know what I want, I don't even know what he wants. What if he wants a relationship, but I don't want a relationship? What if it was nothing more than a one night stand for him, but I actually want something more?" Jungkook rambled, settling his hands on his hips and shifting his weight from foot to foot, "This is so complicated." Jungkook murmured under his breath, allowing his eyes to briefly flash over to Taehyung, who offered Carol a one last smile before turning and walking off.

"Should've talked about it before fucking."

Jungkook's head snapped towards Daryl and his mouth fell open at his brutal honesty. Jungkook wanted to spit back something, but the words on his tongue died out and he took a small step away. He felt a bit of embarrassment touch him at the fact that Daryl, and probably everyone else, knew that Taehyung and him had sex. He wanted the matter to stay private between the two until they figured out what to do further on, but he guesses it won't be like that.

"You need to talk to him." Jungkook peered up at Daryl from behind his lashes and strands of brown hair. He chewed on the edge of his mouth and watched as Daryl pushed away from the truck and swung his crossbow over his shoulder. The older Male turned to look at him- pinning him down with a cold gaze and a stern frown, "You're gonna spend a long time together after this is over, and I ain't watching y'all avoid each other every day. Y'all decided to fuck, now you both fix this mess between you." Daryl murmured through a scowl, brushing past Jungkook without sparing him a glance.

Jungkook's mouth was still hanging open as he stared after Daryl. He briefly wondered if Daryl was angry or just in a bad mood- not remembering him acting this coldly since he joined the group. He knew Daryl was right too, and that most of the responsibility of talking things through with Taehyung and clearing up their relationship, fell on Jungkook's shoulders since he was the one who initiated the sex.

Jungkook whirled around with a deep groan and fell against the car. He pressed his forehead against the cold metal and laid his hands on top of the roof of the truck. A small sigh filled his ears, followed by the sound of Hershel's voice,

"Don't mind Daryl, he's just grieving his brother."

Jungkook immediately pushed away from the car and peered inside of it to stare at Hershel's back since the older Male was facing the other direction, "Merle?" Jungkook asked in a quiet mumble, feeling his worry and sympathy for Daryl rise as he straightened out and looked after his idol, only to see him no where in sigh.

Hershel nodded with a hum and placed his crutch between his legs, "Merle changed his mind about Michonne and Taehyung, and let them go. Daryl didn't say what happened, but he did say that he was shot and turned into a walker. Our guesses are that it was the governor."

"Oh." Jungkook uttered lowly, not knowing what else to say. Despite not knowing Merle, and not liking him that much, Jungkook knew that Daryl loved him, and that was enough for him to feel a hint of sadness and grief inside of him. He wondered maybe if Merle had come back with Taehyung and Michonne, then maybe he would get some redemption and could live with his brother at the prison.

Hershel's voice brought Jungkook back to reality and made him stare into Hershel's eyes with a frown. The older man had turned around in his seat and offered him a small smile, "But he is right, Jungkook. Talk to Taehyung before things get complicated."

"I know." Jungkook quickly pushed out, feeling a small blush travel up his neck from everyone talking to him about their problem, "I will." Jungkook sighed with a shake of his head, trying to get rid of the small bit of irritation rising in the pit of his stomach from them not minding their own business.

Jungkook ignored the look Hershel gave him and walked away from the truck with a small eye-roll.

⋘ ──── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ──── ⋙

"Someone's at the gate!"

Coffee coloured eyes snapped up and zeroed in on Carol before shooting over to the fence. Jungkook immediately pushed his riot west off of his lap and leaped up to his feet. He knew the governor gave the group a bit more time before he arrived to take the prison, but Jungkook wouldn't be surprised if he came two hours sooner in order to catch them off-guard and kill them just for his own amusement.

The group took cover behind anywhere they could find and warily peeked around their hiding spots. Seconds turned into minutes but no attack followed after Carol's announcement. With confusion painted across his face, Jungkook warily slipped over to the fence with the rest of the group following in suit.

But no matter what he thought he'd see, Jungkook never expected to see Katelyn standing in the middle of the gravel road with a bag slung over her shoulder and her clothes painted with walker blood. The group watched with squinted eyes and raised guns as Katelyn slowly held up her hands before cautiously taking her bag off of her shoulder and dropping it down to the ground.

"Who's that? Is she with the governor? Is this some kind of trick?" Carol murmured, gripping her gun tightly and glaring at Katelyn through the fence.

Just as Jungkook was about to part his lips and allow his words to flow out of his mouth, he felt a presence next to him before a baritone voice filled the silence between the group.

"I know her. She's with the governor and she kidnapped Jungkook."

The groups attention briefly fell on Taehyung, who stood with a stoic face and a hostile glare on his face. His eyes didn't leave the girl on the other side of the fence as his feet stayed glued on the pavement and shoulder brushed against Jungkook's. The group turned away and raised their weapons- a new sense of wariness and alarm brought to them by Taehyung.

Jungkook, on the other hand, never turned away from Taehyung and stared up at him from the corner of his eye. His fingers curled into loose fists and a huff fell from his lips, followed by a small stutter, "I...know her too."

"Of course, you do, she kidnapped you." Maggie grumbled, allowing her lip to curl into a sneer and eyes to flicker over to Rick, "Do we kill her?"

Jungkook's eyes grew large and he shot forward, placing his hand on top of Maggie's gun and slowly pushing it down, "N..no, we used to be..." Jungkook muttered with a wince, turning around to face the group. His eyes briefly connected with the confused ones of Taehyung, only to slide away a second later, "...classmates." Jungkook finished quickly, carefully eyeing the rest of the group's reaction. The members looked unimpressed and not a hint of less wary of the girl, which elicited a small scoff and an eye-roll from Jungkook himself, "I think we should see what she wants first before killing her. I mean, you took in Michonne and Taehyung when they were standing outside your gates."

"That was different."

It was Michonne who decided to speak up- raising a brow at the younger boy in front of her before shaking her head and giving Taehyung a judgemental glance as if to say 'really? Him?'. Jungkook stared back at her with a hint of disbelief and offence, allowing himself to briefly glance over to Taehyung, who sent Michonne a small glare. Jungkook took a step towards Michonne and parted his lips to snark back, only for a loud call to echo through the air and fall on their ears,

"I don't mean any harm, I just want to speak....to Jungkook."

Silence fell over the group and the tension rose between them, everyone's eyes immediately landed on a wide eyed Jungkook but the boy was already turning around to face Katelyn. A frown touched his face as he watched the girl shift and patiently wait for an answer, it didn't seem like she was worried about them killing her, it was like she didn't give a shit if she lived or died.

"Imma go talk to her."

Protests and orders immediately followed after Jungkook's statement. But what stood out to Jungkook the most wasn't Maggie's threat to tie him inside the prison, or Rick's order to stay here while he deals with Katelyn, nor was it Daryl's scoff of disbelief and the small crack in his emotionless mask, rather, it was Taehyung's eye-roll and low grumble of 'That's the dumbest shit I've heard'.

But Jungkook ignored all of their protesting and curled his fingers around the fence before pulling it open. He sucked in a deep breath and took a shaky step forward, and without looking away from Katelyn, Jungkook began to descend down the gravel driveway and approach Katelyn.

With each step towards her, Katelyn's face became clearer and her body straightened out. Their eyes connected and a nervous smile tugged at the edge of Katelyn's lips, only for Jungkook's eyes to squint and his feet to stick to the ground a few steps away from her.

"What did you want to talk about?" Jungkook immediately asked, not liking the idea of being out in the open, despite the group hovering near the gate and eyeing the surrounding area with their guns raised.

Katelyn breathed in a deep sigh and sucked in her cheeks, "I know you probably don't care, but....I'm leaving. No more governor, no more...bullshit. I wanna go around and spend a while on my own, maybe find a way to redeem myself and become a better person." Katelyn trailed off- her voice unsure and laced with bits of insecurity. Her gaze dropped down on the ground, which made Jungkook's gaze soften and body slowly relax, "I don't think staying with the governor or anyone else here would be good for me. I want to start fresh." Katelyn finished, slowly raising her hand and tucking a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear.

Jungkook's mind was blank and tongue felt heavy in his mouth. He didn't know how to respond or react to Katelyn's sudden appearance or revelation, nor did he know if he should believe it. Jungkook hoped that it was indeed true and that maybe Katelyn would find her redemption on her own, while he tried to redeem himself with the help of the rest of the group.

"That's...nice." Jungkook eventually trailed off, placing his hands behind his back and intertwining this fingers. He drank in the sight of Katelyn in a fleeting glance- realising that despite her coming with a feeling of bitterness, Katelyn still brought him a sense of familiarity. Jungkook was glad that he got to see her again, which reminded him of the time before the apocalypse.

"I hope you're...gonna be happy." Jungkook uttered hesitatingly and a bit awkwardly- not used to saying things like that to people he didn't like too much.

The grimace on his face gave off the emotion he felt, which earned himself a small laugh from Katelyn, "I hope you're happy too, and I hope you find yourself, Jeon. Maybe not today, not tomorrow, but I'm sure that one day you'll grow and mature into the person you're really supposed to be." Katelyn offered him an affectionate smile, along with gentle eyes. And in that moment, Jungkook realised despite all the horrible things she's done, she for some reason cared about him. And that was enough for Jungkook to believe that Katelyn was capable of changing into a better person with the help of healthy people surrounding her.

"You too." A timid smile flashed across Jungkook's face for a brief second before being replaced by thin lips and blank eyes.

Katelyn nodded back at him and pointed down at the bag in front of her, "Can I pick that up or am I gonna get shot?"

This time Jungkook allowed his lips to stretch out into a small smirk as he peered at the group over his shoulder, only to see them watching the two over the barrels of their guns, "I think it's better if I go back and you do that after I'm behind that gate." Jungkook carressed the side of his cheek with his tongue as he answered Katelyn with a hint of amusement in his words.

The girl hummed in understanding and dragged her eyes down Jungkook's body as if she was memorising him. Her eyes stopped at the purple colours decorating his throat, but her lips stayed sealed shut and eyes easily left the marks left by Taehyung, "Goodbye, Jeongguk, I'm happy I saw you again. See you after a month or two, maybe a few years." Katelyn offered him a wink, which Jungkook returned with an eye-roll and a scoff,

"Hopefully not."

The low grumble didn't go unnoticed by Katelyn, which earned the boy a small chuckle, that followed him as he turned around and walked back to the prison.