"I am a girl, you stupid fat pig," she hissed, removing her helmet.

"What in the goddamn hell are you doing here?" My, oh my, she finally ended up right below me.

"You are the one who isn't supposed to be here," I said, not complaining, by the way.

"Get off me now," she demanded.

"Oh no, not so soon," I replied.

"I'll get off when you let me take the flag. Deal?" I wondered why she was after my flag anyway. Her eyebrows wrinkled in suspicion, and she parted her beautiful, rosy lips to say something but kept quiet.

"That's mine," she grunted.

"Not when I'm here."

"Let's race instead of arguing," she smirked.

"I'll let go if you admit that you are a shameless coward," she inched closer to my face, her breath warm against my lips.

"Deal," I said, moving away from her. I stood up without offering her a hand, because I’m a bad gentleman. But I had to break my rule as she was slipping in the slime.

"Are you sure you want to race?" I asked, letting go of her waist.

"Shut up," she snapped, slapping my hand away. As I was getting into position, she asked, "Ready?" Just as I nodded, she kicked me in the stomach and ran out of the slimy room. The audacity of her.

"That's freaking cheating, damn it!" I screamed, running after her.

She was heading upstairs to get the flag, and I was just a few meters away from grabbing her hair and slamming her to the floor. She beat me to it and grabbed the flag.

"Loser," she beamed, shoving the flag in my face. Her victory smile, disheveled long hair, and little dance...

"I am actually the winner," I said, grabbing her neck, causing her to gasp. She eyed me intensely as I wondered if I was being too idiotic. No, man, it's never too late to admit that I like this woman I’m grasping.

I bent forward, my lips finally touching hers. She stiffened, going numb, but I continued to kiss her passionately. At last, she held my shoulder and pushed me away. As I stumbled downstairs, I realized I should have thought it through before kissing her.

Nina's POV - A Week Later

A week—just seven days—wasn’t enough time to move on from what happened at the paintball game. It ruined everything, from my date with Kyle to being labeled as the girl who kisses and dates multiple boys at the same time. It burns me to see those comments and hear them every single day. Kyle didn’t even want to be friends with me after he thought I ditched him at paintball. And to top it all off, Jungkook told people that we kissed. We didn’t kiss; he forced me! He’s too stubborn to admit it. Despite all this, I found myself at his house.

Elijah bought a 10,000-piece puzzle and wanted to complete it in a day, so Mona, Emily, Jungkook, Taehyung, and I were roped into helping him. My unhappy life is crumbling, and I wonder if there will be anything left for me to survive.

"You’re doing it all wrong," Jungkook whispers in my ear, sending chills down my body.

"You could’ve told me earlier," I mutter, picking out the wrong pieces I attached absentmindedly. "And move away from me," I glare at him, knowing his unknown intentions could one day end my life.

A few minutes later, we decided to take a break from the most boring yet silent puzzle session. I was stepping out of the washroom in Jungkook’s room when he stopped in my path.

"You’ve been avoiding me, why?" His tall, muscular figure stood right in front of me. Our toes were touching, his eyes intensely staring into mine for an answer, his face holding an expression of confusion and sadness. I opened my mouth to tell him something but closed it immediately when I didn’t know what to say.

"If you don’t answer, I’m going to tell everyone that we are dating."

"Don’t you dare."

"Watch me."

"I’m mad at you for kissing me, making Kyle mad, and telling everyone at school that we intentionally kissed. You’re such a liar."

"I don’t see my fault here," he said, scratching his neck while thinking about what I just told him.

"See, this is what you do. Lying dog, I hate you so much." I tried to walk away, but he mimicked my steps and stood in my way again.

"Okay... I’ll apologize. It was my mistake to spread the false rumor and to kiss you, I guess. But about your dare, I’m not sorry at all." He smiled at the last part, looking prouder than he should be.

I threw the towel hanging on the washroom door knob at his face. "Why won't you just apologize and let me get this over with? Why is it so hard for you to mind your own business? You don’t have to always poke your nose where it doesn’t belong—"
He abruptly raised his hand, causing me to flinch. He took a step forward and bent down, trapping me between him and the washroom door.

"Your date with Kyle is my business. The kiss we had was also my business. I told everyone that you’re off-limits. If you think I go around poking my nose where it doesn't belong, baby, you’re so wrong. If your small brain can't process what I just said, let me tell you clearly: you are mine."

I—I couldn't find the right words.

The way he stands in front of me, not caring about the outside world, and willing to stop anything that comes in his way just to have his thoughts clear. "Let me remind you of something you seem to be forgetting all of a sudden, Jungkook: we hate each other, remember?" I said, reminding him.

"Well, that's in the past. There's no such thing as hate now..." Bipolar asshole.

He seriously is one psychopath. Oh wait, is he doing all this so I wouldn't go out with Kyle? How moronic. "I don't understand what kind of sick game you're planning, but just know that I won't sit and suffer," I said, shoving him aside and walking away.

He gripped my wrist and turned me around. "Why do you always think I'm up to something? I’m not playing around," he explained.

"Let me go now. I don't have time for you," I grumbled, slapping his strong arm.

He refused to let me go, so I grabbed the giant trophy from his nightstand and hit him with it. He swiftly snatched it from my hand and tossed it over his bed. Why was he being so stubborn and unreasonable? I grabbed the next item within reach and hurled it at him. Within minutes, his room was a chaotic mess, and our argument had escalated to a deafening roar.

"Stop it!"

"That's what I told you to do in the beginning."

"You were wrong in the beginning!"

"Self-centered asswipe, will you ever take responsibility for your wrongdoings?" I screamed one last time before throwing a random vase at him.

"Wait, wait...not that-..."

With a loud crash, the vase shattered on the tile floor, sending a cloud of dust around us. A greyish mixture scattered everywhere. Were those ashes?

"What did you do?" Jungkook muttered.

"Shit," Elijah said as he strode into the room with Emily and Taehyung.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Jungkook's scream made me yelp and step back. He knelt down, collecting the mixture with his bare hands. "What the fuck did you do, Nina!" he yelled again as I came near him.

I knelt down, feeling a cold dread settling in.

I knelt in front of him, trying to help collect whatever he had in the vase. "Don't even dare to touch it," he snarled, shoving me aside. The force caused me to accidentally cut my palm on a broken piece of the vase.

"Get the fuck out of my house!"

"Let me help you," I pleaded.

"I said GET OUT!" he yelled, his voice echoing with fury. I ran back to my house, not wanting to make him even angrier. He would just keep yelling if I stayed and tried to help. What had made him so furious? Whose ashes had he been keeping in his bedroom?

Why the hell did I throw something like that at him? I should have checked before making such a mistake. As I was lost in my thoughts about him and what had just happened, I heard yelling. I ran outside and saw my friends running out of his house.

"Elijah, Taehyung, is he okay?" I couldn't stop myself from feeling concerned about him.

"Oh my god, why is your hand bleeding?" Emily asked.

"It's nothing, Emily. Taehyung, tell me, what happened? Why was he yelling?"

An hour passed without any answers. Emily treated the cut on my right palm, and we waited in our house for Jungkook to come out. But he didn't make a single sound.

"For the hundredth time, if you know anything, tell me. I'm worried, and I feel so bad," I pleaded, my frustration mounting. I had been begging for answers, but they wouldn't tell me anything. From the look on Taehyung's face, I could tell he knew something.

"It's his twin brother's ashes," he finally said. "He keeps them with him no matter where he goes."

"What happened to his brother?" I asked softly, feeling a pang of guilt and sadness.

Taehyung stared at me for a moment, contemplating whether he should reveal Jungkook's story, wondering if I could handle it. "They were in a car accident. Their car drowned, and Jungkook's twin brother lost his life saving him. It's been two years, and he still can't let go. He won’t spread his brother’s ashes, believing they are meant to stay together always."

After Taehyung's confession, I felt even worse and deeply ashamed. The small amount of happiness Jungkook had preserved in his bedroom had been ruined by me. We waited in my house, hoping for any sign that he was okay, but there was nothing.

"Maybe I should check on him," I said, bolting outside with the McDonald's bag we had ordered for dinner. My friends tried to stop me, convinced that my presence would only make things worse. Sometimes they sounded so harsh that it made me want to shoot them all with a paintball gun.

Once inside, I knocked on his door. His voice boomed from the other side. "Get out! Never come inside my house!"

"Jungkook, I'm sorry. I didn't know—"

"I don't want to hear it! Get lost!"

"Jungkook, please, listen to me—"

"I told you to get lost!" he shouted, finally opening the door. For the first time since I arrived, I saw him like never before—he looked like he could eat me alive and toss my bones to street dogs. His eyes were swollen, and dried tears streaked his cheeks.

"Jungkook, let me explain. You're making it har—"

"I'm making it hard? Will you ever take responsibility for your wrongdoing instead of blaming me every chance you get? Why are you so selfish?" He grabbed the strap of my dress and dragged me out, shoving me through the door. "I don't want to see your face ever again. And for fuck's sake, stop crying," he slammed the door shut in my face.

It took me a moment to realize I was sobbing. I wasn’t trying to blame him for anything; I just wanted him to listen to me.

"Jungkook, at least have dinner," I begged, knocking on his door.

"Leave it here and let's go in," Emily called. I left the bag outside his door and went back to our apartment. Without saying a word, I went to my bedroom and locked myself in. He isn't ready to listen to me now. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

......................



WC - 2004