"L-let me go! W-What's wrong with you?!" Jisoo screamed as she tried frantically to peel Jungkook's hands off her collar.
He ended up releasing her, causing her to stagger and drop on the ground, her knees shaking out of fear.
"Leave me alone." He said coldly.
"B-but the teacher told me to—"
Jisoo's breath hitched when her back hit the cold ground, her face turning pale as she grabbed the hand that was tightly gripping her throat. Her panicked eyes were staring straight at Jungkook's hostile ones as she struggled desperately for air, her feet trashing on the ground.
"S-stop—what are you—" She strained to pull his hands off her scratching his skin in the process.
She tried to remember any spell she could cast on him but it was no use, she's never cast one directly on a person before and 'Somnus' only work on Demons.
"You should know I hate being bothered," Jungkook uttered gritting his teeth. "You should have left when I told you to."
"P-please—" She was starting to feel lightheaded and teary-eyed.
Jisoo's heart hurt, no, maybe it was her lungs, it was begging for air.
"Jungkook…" She croaked, grabbing him weakly by the wrist "Let me go…"
She was beginning to think it was over for her when Jungkook's grip suddenly loosened causing her to gasp profusely for air, the pain in her chest making her cough.
She sat straight feeling Jungkook's weight on top of her vanish, her puzzled eyes saw the shocked expression on his face, the hand he used to choke her was held by the other on the wrist, shaking. Her forehead creased in confusion when the look on his face changed into concern.
"Y-your neck—" She suddenly moved back heart drumming with fear when he tried to touch the bruise on her skin.
"I-I…" He stuttered, his face turning pale as if what he had done just hit him "I didn't—I'm sorry."
She turned silent, her teary eyes wary of his every move. She wanted to leave but she felt too weak to stand as if she had used up all her energy from struggling earlier.
"You have to understand!" Jungkook spoke frantically trying to explain "I didn't know what I was doing, I just—I'm really sorry!"
His eyes flashed desperately, begging her to believe him like a suspect who's been wrongly accused of a crime. She would have believed him…if she wasn't the girl he just tried to kill. The murderous glint in his eyes while his hands were on her neck was not easy to forget.
She stood up, her shaking knees were barely able to support her. "The teacher… from our class wants to see you. She's at the clinic right now with the guy you fought with." She spoke wiping off her tears.
Jungkook suddenly stood up making her flinch, his eyes flashed with guilt "I'm sorry" he uttered his head bowed down "I really am…"
Jisoo silently trudged the way towards the main building from the gazebo, passing the other buildings around her as she stared blankly into space, her head slowly starting to fill with thoughts.
'You have to understand! I didn't know what I was doing, I just—I'm really sorry!'
Her forehead creased as Jungkook's words suddenly popped out of her head.
"He didn't know what he was doing?" She uttered in confusion "How is that even possib—"
Jisoo froze in her place realizing something. 'A demon!' she gasped at the realization.
'Jungkook must be one of the hosts!' Her forehead creased worriedly 'What if the others who were acting far from their character were hosting demons too?'
She groaned grabbing her hair in frustration, she can't be sure until she sees for herself and she won't be able to prove it with her bracelet on.
"I'm sorry, Saeron." She whispered closing her eyes in guilt "I have to break my promise just for today."
"Jisoo!" A familiar voice called her name before she could take her bracelet off, she ended up holding her wrist as she turned around to face the person.
"J-jimin…what are you doing here?" She asked surprised.
"That's my question." He chuckled before showing her a brown envelope "A teacher asked me to bring this to her table at the faculty room, how about you?"
"Oh, I…" Jisoo stopped herself from stuttering as she remembered what just happened earlier "My teacher asked to meet Jungkook at the clinic. I was told he was at the gazebo so I went there to tell him."
"Jungkook…" Jimin nodded slowly trying to recall where he had heard the name, his eyes lit up when he remembered, "Oh, he's the 1st ranker in your batch, right?"
"Y-yeah, well…" Jisoo's eyes glanced at the main building, her thoughts bringing her back to her plan. She needed to confirm her theory now so she can tell Saeron "I have to go, I'm in a hurr--"
Jimin suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders. Her puzzled eyes landed on his face and she paled realizing where he was looking at.
Her neck.
"Where did you get that?" He asked, his face turning grim as his hand brushed the bruise on her skin.
"I-It's nothing! I just got into an accident." She uttered taking his hand off her neck "Anyway I'll see you later--"
Jimin grabbed her shoulders with both hands pulling her back to face him. His face was deadly serious, far from the smiling boy she was talking to a while ago.
"That is not something you get on an accident, who did it to you?" he demanded.
"No one…" She answered nervously trying to avoid his gaze.
"It's Jungkook, isn't it?" He said forehead creased. "Is he bullying you?!"
"W-what are you talking about?" she laughed, waving her hands in disagreement.
It was obvious she was trying too hard to lighten the mood "Of course not. Don't just throw someone's name out of nowhere."
Jimin's eyebrow rose "You do know you're overreacting, right?" he said crossing his arms before flashing a smirk. "You're making it obvious my guess was spot on."
"W-what--"
"You shouldn't let people treat you that way, how can you just act like nothing happened when you almost got choked to death!" She flinched at his reprimanding tone "Those bruises won't be gone for a while."
"W-wait! Where are you going?!" Jisoo's eyes widened when he walked past her causing her to follow.
"To the faculty, I'm going to return the envelope."
"Oh." She sighed in relief.
"After that, I'm going to the clinic and tell your teacher what Jungkook did to you."
"N-no! Jimin, you can't do that! I--"
"What? Did he threaten you not to tell anyone?" He scoffed "I can't believe someone like him would try hurting someone, and here I thought he was nice."
"No, Jimin, you don't understand, you can't tell anyone."
"Jisoo!" She froze when he suddenly faced her.
"We're friends, right?" He asked.
"Y-yeah…" she nodded.
"Then let me do my job." He smiled faintly before heading off. She followed.
"B-but--"
"He's lucky I'm not going directly to the Discipline Office." He said in annoyance "Why are you trying to protect a guy like that anyway? He just hurt you!"
"He didn't mean it!" She snapped surprising him, her face softened as she grabbed his hand "Please, I promise, he's not going to hurt me again."
Jimin's expression turned into a scowl, he looked like he had a hundred reprimanding words to say to her but he decided to stop.
He sighed "Fine."
Her face lit up "R-really?"
"But you'll have to promise to tell me when he tries to hurt you again."
Jisoo nodded "I-I promise."
It was odd, she felt weird. She was both happy and doubtful, maybe it's because she's never had a friend try to protect her from anything.
She wasn't close enough with her so-called friends at her old schools because she had to move all the time. A faint smile curved up her lips. Jimin is too kind.
"We are still going to the clinic."
"What? Why?" She panicked. What if Jungkook was still there?
"You need to get those bruises looked at by the nurse."
______________
Jungkook felt dizzy as he wiped off the sweat on his forehead, trying to focus on the sound of his Ethics teacher's, Miss Eun's reprimanding voice.
The two of them were inside the school clinic and he was currently getting the same lecture Jisook and Jihwan probably had when they were still there. The two boys opted to be excused from class and went home.
He bit his lower lip as his blurry vision landed on his bandaged hand which the school nurse took care of earlier.
"I understood you were trying to help a classmate from getting bullied, but for goodness sake, you should have avoided trying to get into a brawl! What if you caused Jihwan more than just a minor injury? A broken leg? Or a rib?!" Miss Eun ranted.
Jungkook sat still on the side of the bed trying his best to show a solemn look on his face despite his recurring headache, it'll be another problem on his list if he accidentally frowns at the pain and the teacher misunderstands. He grabbed his temples when she turned her back on him, inhaling a lot of air.
"You are lucky you only got a warning from the Dean!" Miss Eun stated placing a hand on her hip. "Next time you see someone getting bullied you have to tell a teacher, do you understand?!"
"Yes, Maam." He nodded.
"Good." Miss Eun uttered, her tone finally calm "Take some rest, I'll tell your teacher for the next class to excuse you."
He nodded, a sigh of relief leaving his lips as soon as his teacher left. He let his body drop on the soft sheets closing his eyes as he prayed for the pain to stop.
Just as he thought his headache was getting worse he heard the sound of the clinic door creak followed by two pairs of footsteps.
"The nurse isn't here." A girl voiced, the familiar sound weirdly calming his throbbing head.
"Don't worry she'll be here soon, she isn't allowed to leave the clinic for too long." Her companion uttered.
"Maybe we should just leave--"
"We talked about this, we're not leaving until you get that bruise on your neck looked at."
The conversation made Jungkook sat up from his bed like a bucket of freezing water was thrown at him, his line of sight landing on the girl whom upon recognition had him dumbfounded.
Their faces paled the same time their eyes met and the memory of his hands on her neck started to eat the guilt inside of him.
"Are you okay?" Jimin's eyebrows met noticing Jisoo's silence.
He turned towards the thing she was staring at and found a familiar face sitting on one of the clinic beds. His expression darkened as he recognized who it was.
"You…" He glared swiftly closing the space between them and grabbing the guy by the collar of his shirt. Jungkook stared at him in shock as their eyes met.
"Jimin!" He heard Jisoo's panicked voice behind him.
"What made you think it's okay to hurt a girl and get away with it?!" Jimin spoke furiously.
"I… I didn't mean to hurt her, I swear!" Jungkook replied boldly staring back at him. It was the only way he could think of to let him know he was being truthful.
To be honest, Jungkook didn't know why he had hurt her in the first place, he's been acting differently than he normally would and was always close to feeling rage.
He first thought he was feeling that way because of the recurring headaches he got since last night but now he doesn't know anymore. He kept blacking out the moment he entered the school and his body would move on its own. Before he knew it, he had already fought with Jihwan and hurt her.
"No fighting in the clinic." The cold voice caught everyone's attention, their eyes landing on the nurse at the door.
She was staring at them, arms crossed with a look that told them they'd regret crossing the line when she's there.
"Don't ever hurt her again," Jimin warned before letting Jungkook go.
"What are the two of you here for?" The nurse asked her tone finally calm.
"I… I need my neck checked up," Jisoo uttered, breaking the tense atmosphere.
"Where did you get these bruises?" The nurse worriedly asked as she examined her neck "Are you getting bullied? Tell me who is it?"
"I…" Jisoo saw the pale expression on Jungkook's face as if he was nervously waiting for his name to come up "It was a couple of drunk thugs outside the school. Jimin luckily saved me before they could do anything else."
She saw Jungkook sigh in relief while Jimin scoffed looking away in annoyance.
"That's so kind of you, Jimin." The nurse smiled in praise before looking back at her.
"Poor girl, how could they do this to you?!" she said.
The bell rang signaling the end of school and Jisoo got out of her last class feeling tired, it's as if the energy in her body had been depleted and there's nothing more she wanted to do than just go home and rest.
She stared at the ground her head filled with thoughts as she stepped out of the gate. She didn't get to test her theory earlier so she could only try tomorrow.
'Why did I read that spell, what was I thinking being so stupid!?'
"If my father finds out, I'm dead!" she groaned.
"Excuse me, Miss." She turned her head surprised to see a man in a black suit talk to her.
"Yes?" she uttered.
"Do you know someone named Jeon Jungkook?" he asked.
'Why is he looking for him?'
"Depends on whose asking." She uttered looking at the guy suspiciously.
The guy smiled taking a business card from his pocket and giving it to her.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself." He said bowing "I'm the Jeon Family's butler and I'm here to pick Mr. Jeon up from school."
"Oh…" Jisoo tilted her head to look behind him and saw a black car in front of the gate. There were two other guys in black suits asking the other students who just got out of school.
"I haven't seen him since our 1st period class in the afternoon."
"I see…" the guy uttered, "Well then, thank you for your time."
"Can't you just call him?" she asked before he could leave.
He smiled worriedly "I'm afraid he hasn't been answering our calls."
Jisoo turned around the corner expecting to see a bus stop only to find an empty playground in front of her. She sighed at herself 'what's wrong with me?'
How funny, there was just too much going on in her head that she actually took the opposite direction to the bus stop.
"Saeron, are you there?" She called waiting for the angel to suddenly appear but nothing happened.
'Where is she?' she thought worriedly, she needed to tell her about her theory.
"Maybe I'm still too near the school." She said to herself as she crossed the road towards the playground.
She froze when her eyes met a pair of familiar dark ones, only this time the owner didn't look angry like before. Jungkook looked pained and confused as he sat alone on the playground swing.
"Jungkook." The boy flinched when she called his name.
His gaze landed on her now bandaged neck and the look of guilt flashed in his eyes before he looked away.
"Why are you here?" he asked, so quietly she almost didn't hear it.
Jisoo's body instinctively told her to run away but she stopped herself. Seeing Jungkook at the playground can't be a coincidence, maybe it was a way of fate telling her to test her theory out.
"Your butlers are looking for you at school" she uttered, trying to strike a conversation as she approached, "They said you weren't answering their calls."
"I wanted to be alone." He replied trying his best not to look at her.
"You know," She said her voice a bit louder to catch his attention "I'm not really angry at you."
Her statement made him look at her in surprise as she sat on the swing beside him.
She smiled.
"You're crazy." He said his ears turning red as their eyes met.
"Aren't you afraid I'll hurt you again?"
"No"
"Why?"
"Just because…" she chuckled "you don't look angry anymore."
Jungkook's face paled worriedly as he turned to look in front of him "I don't know what's wrong with me, it's just… maybe it's this headache that's making me so angry until I black out and end up hurting people."
"Your headache?" she asked curiously.
'Namjoon and Yoongi…' she thought of the two, they had headaches when she saw them too. 'Did Taehyung have it? Does it have something to do with hosting demons?'
"Yeah, maybe I shouldn't go to school tomorrow until it's gone…" he smiled bitterly.
"No, you should." She uttered making him look at her in puzzlement.
"What do you mean? I'm sick."
"No, you're not," Jisoo uttered as she stood up and faced him.
She hid her hands behind her, feeling the bracelet on her wrist. She hesitated to take it off until she finally got the courage to. Her heart drummed nervously as she placed it inside her pocket and stared at the boy in front of him.
"Tomorrow, you won't be hurting anyone." She smiled "You'll be the same shy and kind Jungkook everyone knows."
"What?" Jungkook gave her a look that told her she was crazy.
"You almost killed me."
"I didn't mean to." He said standing up anxiously. "I told you—"
"I know!" she replied, "So trust me."
"How—what are you saying right now?" he asked confused.
"What? You don't want to?" she said crossing her arms.
"No, it's just—"
"Fine, I'm leaving."
"W-wait!" Jungkook's eyes grew wide in panic before she could turn around.
"I do!"
Jungkook's ears were an obvious shade of red, his hands gripping tightly on the straps of his bag as his eyes looked away from her in embarrassment.
"I do trust you…" he whispered.
She smiled "Hold my hand then," she said surprising him as she held out her hand in front of him to hold.
"What?!" he said wide-eyed.
"You weren't lying, were you?"
"O-of course not!" He replied holding her hand with both hands.
"Huh, I guess you're not lying." She chuckled.
"I told you." he uttered, "I trust—"
Jungkook's forehead creased as he took a step back letting go of her, the excruciating pain in his head making him groan as he held his temple wishing for it to stop.
'Here it comes' she thought anxiously as he stood still in front of her.
Their eyes met and a sinister smile she didn't know Jungkook could make curved up his lips as his dark eyes turned into a fiery shade of red.
"The Demon of Wrath, it's you isn't it?" she asked trying her best not to sound as scared as she was.
He laughed, a laugh that sent shivers down her spine as he approached her "How flattering." He said as he held her hand.
She stood still as the demon kissed the back of her hand, beating herself to remain calm despite wanting to whisk it away from him and run.
"The young witch who released us from our prison knows who I am." He said.
"Even older witches who've summoned us found it difficult to tell us apart. They always get us mixed up and it just makes me so angry I end up killing them." He smiled.
"I should ask how you knew it was me?"
'Well… for starters, you're always angry.'
"It's not that difficult" she uttered, praying that her guess was right "I can tell you guys apart from the way you handle your hosts, also, your eye colors are different from each other."
He suddenly held her face startling her as he looked straight into her eyes.
"I see…you're different from others, are you?"
"W-what do you mean?" her forehead creased.
"You've got the eyes of the moon, my love…"