Ghosted - Tumblr Posts

Ikaw na nga ung nag iisang choice hindi ka pa pinipili.

i knew you can't be trusted but i put my heart on the line anyway. All your words were mere lies,. I guess you can't be loyal as well just like every bitch. You aint worth it ,for someone who has a loyal heart. Let that sink in bitch.

Ghosted

I know i have done a good job . 

When chatting to a superior online , sending nudes and following orders . 

When the Chat stops suddenly i know my work is done and my Superior has CUM 

he outplayed me in my own game

Pairing: Reader / Jungkook, Reader / Taehyung (past relationship, friends to lovers to friends)

Genre: College!au, fluff, angst, supernatural drama, smut, friends to lovers, emotional trauma, hurt/comfort

Length: 9, 203k words

Warnings: language, episodes of anxiety, panic attacks, sexual themes in later chapters.

Summary: Living in a world full of things only you have the ability to see, growing up with Jungkook has been your island amidst the chaos. But when your best friend makes an impossible request, your friendship is fractured, and your sudden decision to cut ties and move abroad changes everything. Three years later, Jungkook is thriving at university as he begins his junior year. He’s a star athlete, member of a popular fraternity, and every girl’s ideal boyfriend. He tells himself that he’s long forgotten you and the friendship he never had a chance to mend – that is, until you show up on campus as a transfer student with new friends in tow. It’s been three years, and everything has changed, but the biggest change is you. Your new found determination to use your abilities to help the ghosts you used to live in fear of, no matter how dangerous it might be, makes Jungkook fear he’ll lose you before he has a chance to fix what he broke. College AU.

Disclaimer: Just for funsies, I don’t believe in real-life shipping. But I like to write, and I like fandom, so here we are. Please do not duplicate this work or repost anywhere else without permission.

Tag List: @ggukkieland @jikooksgirl19 @waves-and-woods @kookiesbreaky @koochiekoo @monvieesdaebak @kb-bangtanenthusiast @mwitsmejk @justvibingsblog @gerigonzalezme

I hope I remembered all the people who asked to be tagged (and got the tags right.) If you’d like to be tagged for updates, let me know.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 3

“You ready to go?”

You turned to see Taehyung leaning in your doorway. He was wearing flared jeans and a green paisley silk button-down shirt. The open butterfly collar revealed a vintage Chanel gold medallion, and he’d added light green sunglasses to complete his retro look.

Taehyung had picked out your outfit – a short, cream-colored wrap dress with an abstract floral design and long flared sleeves. Knee high rust red boots and pin straight hair completed the look, and for once you felt like a match to his fashionable appearance.

You held up a finger as you opened your jewelry box, looking for the vintage garnet drop earrings you’d found to complement the outfit. You slid them in, moving your hair back to admire how they dangled and caught the light.

“Okay, I’m ready,” you said, turning to find him behind you.

“Almost,” he said, pulling a small box out of his pocket.

“Tae,” you said reprovingly as he opened the box and took out a ring. The antique gold setting was beautiful – an oval opal surrounded by a halo of garnets – and it looked perfect when he slid it onto your right ring finger.

“Now you’re ready,” he said, looking pleased as he stood back to check your appearance.

You raised a brow. “When did you even have time to shop for this?” Taehyung’s little surprise gifts were something to which you’d become accustomed over the last few years, and your attempts to discourage him were usually ignored.

He shrugged and as always, his sheepish grin disarmed you. You reached up and adjusted his collar.

“You look like you’re ready for a Vogue shoot,” you said, smiling back. “The poor girls at this party won’t know what hit them.”

“That’s why I have you to protect me,” he replied.

It was Friday, the final weekend before classes started, and the welcoming activities had ramped up in the last week. You and Taehyung had attended some of them and declined others, but you’d committed to the biggest events of the weekend – tonight’s Musical Eras mixer and tomorrow’s Movie Night on the Quad.

The mixer was being held at the Kappa fraternity house, something that had almost made you reconsider attending because you were certain to run into Jungkook again as you had for the last week. While your anger had cooled, you still felt that knot of anxiety in your stomach whenever you saw him, wondering if he’d still be angry or if he’d just pretend you didn’t exist.

So far, his attitude fell somewhere in the middle – when he saw you and Taehyung together at the supermarket, he tried to hide his reaction, but the little muscle ticking away in his jaw was a dead giveaway. A couple of days later, you saw him in the park while you were walking Yeontan and for once, he didn’t look big mad at the sight of you. You were alone and had considered trying to talk to him, but he was with friends. Not wanting to invite public rejection, you waved at the group and hurried away, noticing the little wrinkle between his brows as he watched you go.

Jin, Jimin and Jimin’s girlfriend, Ayeong, had all been by the house a couple of times. Sera had also visited with her mother, accepting Taehyung’s offer of a house tour since Sera’s mother was interested in how the historical home had been renovated. Jungkook was noticeably absent, though Jin seemed certain that he’d eventually come around.

You weren’t so certain of that. In all the years you’d been friends with Jungkook, you’d never seen him so deeply upset with another person. If someone upset him, he might avoid that person for a while, but he always got over it, and you’d never seen him blow up at anyone the way he had with you.

You always thought you knew him better than anyone, and he you, but now you had to acknowledge the reality of this situation – three years had passed, and the truth was, you didn’t know this Jungkook. Worse, he didn’t know you either and you had no one to blame for that but yourself.

________________

Stepping into the Kappa house was like stepping back in time. The large house had several rooms downstairs, each of which reflected a different decade of music, and everyone had taken their costumes just as seriously. You laughed when Jimin and Ayeong met you out front dressed as Sonny and Cher.

“Very nice,” you said, gesturing to Ayeong’s dress.

“Thanks, I love yours too.”

Thought it was still early, the party was already a crush of people circulating between the rooms. Younger guys, probably freshmen, circulated with drinks on trays which they offered to guests.

“Pledges?” Taehyung asked Jimin as he took a beer.

Jimin nodded. “They have to put in an hour according to a schedule and then they’re free to party. That’s as close to hazing as we get here.”

When Jimin offered you a glass of wine, you shook your head. “I don’t really drink much when I’m…” you paused, unsure how to finish the sentence without being weird. “When I’m out.”

You could see that Jimin understood what you meant. “Got it. We have a dry bar too if you want to call it that.”

Ayeong linked arms with you. “I’ll show her. I’m not really in the mood to drink either.”

The dry bar turned out to be pretty impressive, with lots of juice, sparkling water, club soda, and even different types of fruit. You settled for club soda with a splash of raspberry juice and slices of lemon while Ayeong created a tropical drink.

“I know Jungkook is being… well, difficult. But I just want you to know that Jimin is so happy you’re back,” Ayeong said. “He said you were all friends since kindergarten.”

“Jimin was always one of the sweetest people at our school,” you replied. “It was really easy to be his friend.”

“Not much has changed then,” Ayeong laughed. “What about Jungkook? Jimin says he wasn’t always such a fuckboy.”

You choked on a sip of your drink. “Jungkook is a fuckboy?”

“Well, a nice one? I think he only hooks up with girls who want the same kind of no-strings fun, so there’s never any drama related to it. He’s not the type to get serious though, which is why I’ve told Erin she needs to move on from her crush.”

Fuckboy Jungkook wasn’t something you could really imagine, nor did you want to. You chose not to think too closely about why it bothered you so much.

But once you spotted him across the room talking to a group of girls, you couldn’t shake that image from your mind. He looked good. Really, really good. He was dressed in tight red pants, a black silk button down, and he’d completed his Michael Jackson Thriller homage with a red leather jacket trimmed in black. When he laughed at something one of the girls said and then pressed his lips together, his dimples appeared.

“I’m surprised Jungkook is wearing a costume – he almost never does,” Ayeong commented.

“He kind of stopped wearing them by the time we were in high school,” you said. “But this kind of party, plus a Thriller homage, is pretty on brand for him.”

“Oh, that’s who he’s supposed to be! I’m really bad at guessing all of these costumes.”

You and Taehyung stuck with Jimin and Ayeong, who introduced you to people you hadn’t met yet. Everyone was welcoming, but two hours in you were starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the crowds and the noise. There was also the fact that ever since Jungkook became aware of your presence, you’d felt his eyes on you. You’d hoped his neutral response to you at the park was progress, but you could feel his judgmental stare like a brand.

Every time you glanced over at him, his impassive expression was contradicted by some blazing emotion in his eyes. You reminded yourself that you’d known this would probably be a struggle – that Jungkook would likely be angry with you for leaving. Emmie had even said that no one mentioned your name to him anymore.

You’d just underestimated how much it would hurt.

___________________

Jungkook almost skipped Movie Night on the Quad because he was in a foul mood after the Musical Eras mixer. Seeing you there with Taehyung in your matching costumes had made him inexplicably angry, something Jin called him out on.

“Shouldn’t we be glad that she has good people in her life?” Jin asked him when he stomped around the kitchen the next day, slamming cabinets as he fixed a late breakfast.

“He’s right,” Jimin said. “Plus you know that she and Taehyung aren’t together, right?”

That made him pause. “They look like they’re together.” Fucking matching costumes and all, he thought viciously.

“They dated, but Ayeong said y/n told her it’s been a while since they were together like that. At least six months or so.”

“Who the hell follows their ex-girlfriend to another country? And buys a house?”

“If you took the time to get to know Taehyung, you’d understand that he feels like y/n saved his life. He’s committed to helping her with the ghost hunting because of that, but he also genuinely cares about her. So do Namjoon and Chloe,” Jin said. “They’re all good people.”

“Whatever,” Jungkook muttered, shoving cereal into his mouth.

“Forget it, Jin. He won’t admit the real problem, and we all know his anger default setting when it comes to y/n is because of that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jungkook demanded.

“You’re jealous. You’ve always been jealous of anyone that got close to y/n,” Jimin replied calmly. He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair.

Jungkook grit his teeth. “I’m not jealous.”

“Really? So every time a guy expressed interest in dating her back in high school, and you very pointedly warned them all off, that was you just being what? A good friend?” Jimin rolled his eyes.

“Who? Like Lucas? You’re damn right I warned him off. He didn’t deserve her.”

“What about me?” Jimin asked, a challenge in his tone. “I told you that I liked her our sophomore year, and you shot down that idea so fast I was afraid if I pursued it, it would actually ruin our friendship.”

Jungkook stared at him, shifting uncomfortably. “Because you weren’t serious about it.”

“Says who? I was dead serious, Jungkook, and you know it. For that matter, I think even Lucas was serious about liking her. He never said a word about her that wasn’t totally respectful.”

“Yeah, because he knew I would beat his ass,” Jungkook replied irritably.

“You’re right – everybody knew that. Why do you think people steered clear of her? Why do you think Grace hated her so much? I told you that Grace wasn’t as nice as you thought she was, but you still held tight to y/n with one hand while you chased after her. And I figured it was just a matter of time until you realized how you really felt about y/n, so I let it go. But damn, Jungkook, you need to stop getting mad and let her explain why she left.”

No one spoke for a moment. Then Jungkook asked, “Has she told you why?”

“I asked her,” Jin said. “But I think she’s waiting to talk to you first.”

Jungkook tried not to think about what Jimin said, but now that he was here on the quad, and you were just a few feet away, it was all he could think about. Jealousy.

He couldn’t deny he hated seeing how close you were to Taehyung. The way the other man touched you, or kept a protective arm around you, pissed him off. The way you smiled at him made him even angrier. Still, beneath the anger was something else – a yearning for the way things had been. No one had ever understood him the way you did, and he missed that connection with you.

It was his fault you left. That little voice in the back of his head kept reminding him that you weren’t the only one to blame for this vast distance between you now. He kind of understood why you’d left, but he didn’t know why it had taken you so long to return.

He kept stealing glances at you rather than watching the movie playing on the large screen set up on the quad. You’d been to the concession stand, and he wasn’t surprised to see you eating gummy bears since that had always been your favorite movie snack.

You looked pretty. Your hair was a little longer now than it had been in high school and fell in gentle waves around your shoulders. You wore another floaty little summer dress, the kind you had always liked, small feet encased in comfortable flat sandals. You and Taehyung had joined Jimin, Ayeong, Erin and Jin on a large blanket towards the front of the crowd.

Stubbornly, Jungkook had opted to sit with some of his friends from the baseball team. He was still close enough to watch you – to hear your voice – to just observe you while his mind sorted through his confusing thoughts and emotions. You had glanced over at him a few times, as if feeling his eyes on you, a silent question in your own. And somehow, he knew that you understood that he needed some time.

At the intermission between films, you went with Ayeong and Erin to the bathroom. Jungkook got tacos from a nearby food truck and when he returned, he noticed that you were the only one missing from the group. A few minutes later, Taehyung was frowning at his phone after making a call that had gone unanswered.

“I’m going to go check on her,” he heard the other man say as he stood up.

Jungkook hesitated for a few seconds before following him. Taehyung had his phone to his ear again, though again there seemed to be no answer.

“What’s wrong?” Jungkook asked as he caught up to him.

Taehyung turned and scowled at him. Then he sighed. “Ayeong said she stayed back because she got a call from her mom that she needed to answer. Maybe it’s nothing, but she’s been gone for almost twenty minutes, so I just want to make sure nothing happened.”

Jungkook nodded and then they were silent as they walked around the buildings that were still open. The campus was well lit, so it was easy to see the faces of people walking to the dorms or back to the quad. When they didn’t see you anywhere, Taehyung made another call.

“Chloe, I need you to ping y/n’s location and send it to my phone.” He listened for a minute. “Maybe nothing but I can’t find her and I don’t know – I’m getting a weird feeling. Okay, thanks.”

Taehyung’s unease was contagious, and Jungkook shifted from one foot to the other as they waited. Then Taehyung’s phone vibrated, and he studied his screen for a moment before gesturing for Jungkook to follow him. After walking for a few minutes, Jungkook realized they were heading towards a park where students often had lunch or relaxed between classes.

And there you were, a ghostly figure swaying in the moonlight as you hummed a strange tune.

“Fuck.” Taehyung started running.

Jungkook was right behind him. When he reached you, he tried to take your arm to turn you towards them, but Taehyung stopped him.

“Don’t,” he said, a note of warning in his tone. “She’s in a sort of fugue state, and it’s safer if she comes out of it herself.”

Rather than argue, Jungkook walked around to face you, but froze when he saw that your eyes were unfocused, and almost… glowing? It was clear that you didn’t see him, though he was standing right in front of you.

Jungkook’s heart was pounding now. “How do we make her do that?”

“There’s something else here,” Taehyung explained. “It probably tried to communicate with her. Sometimes, if she lets her guard down, or if the spirit is especially powerful, she gets sort of… pulled to the other side. It’s usually because they’re trying to show her something.”

Swallowing hard, Jungkook nodded. “Okay. How do we make her come out of it?”

“We can’t make her, and if we try, it can cause severe shock. She’ll already be in a state of shock when she comes to on her own, so we have to be careful. I’m going to go get the car. You wait here with her and just keep talking to her, okay?”

“Can I touch her hands?”

“Carefully,” Taehyung said. “Don’t pull her or shake her, and don’t try to make her move.”

“Okay.” After Taehyung left, Jungkook pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Jin, I need you to come to the park right now. The one behind the science building.”

You were still humming and swaying when Jungkook reached out to touch your hand. There was no response, so he carefully took both your hands in his.

“Jesus, your hands are freezing,” he said quietly. “You never dress right for being out at night. You know that you get cold even when it’s not that cold, right?”

He squeezed your hands in an attempt to warm them up. There was no response from you, your eyes still fixed on something he couldn’t see.

“You need to come back now,” he finally said. “I know something else is here, telling you that you need to listen to them and their problems, but you don’t need to stay there, okay? I’m here now, and I know I’ve been mad at you, but I’m not mad anymore. I’m just worried. So, I need you to listen to me now and come back, y/n.”

You shifted slightly, and your eyelids drooped. He thought he felt the faintest twitch of your fingers.

“That’s good. Come back to me.”

“Jungkook?” Your voice was barely above a whisper.

“I’m here,” he answered. He squeezed your hands again, and a wave of relief swept through him when you suddenly stumbled against him.

“Cold,” you whispered against his shoulder.

Jungkook pulled you in tight against his body and wrapped his arms around you. “I know. You’re okay now.”

You leaned heavily against him, shivering violently now. He kept talking to you as he saw both Jin and Taehyung pulling up to the park.

Taehyung reached for one of your hands, which hung loosely at your sides. “She came out of it?”

Jungkook nodded. “I think she heard me talking to her.”

“What happened?” Jin asked, looking concerned. “Is she okay?”

“She will be,” Taehyung answered. “But she’ll need fluids, at the very least, and we’ll have to keep an eye on her tonight. Her blood pressure and blood sugar always drop after one of these incidents.”

Jungkook remembered how you’d been the night of the library fire. That had been the most terrifying night of his life - getting the call from Jimin and then watching over your unconscious form. You’d been so cold and still, and he’d felt guilty for not being there to protect you.

But he was here now. He helped Taehyung move you into the back of the SUV, sliding in after you. He heard Jin say he’d follow behind and then the door closed as he pulled you close again. You were still shivering, but the way you occasionally murmured his name reassured him that you were more aware of your surroundings than you seemed to be.

When they arrived at Taehyung’s house, Namjoon and Chloe met them outside. Ignoring them, Jungkook slid out of the car and carefully lifted you out. He carried you inside and followed the others up the stairs to your bedroom, where Namjoon had already set up an IV pole. He laid you carefully on the bed.

“Jungkook,” you murmured again, though your eyes remained closed.

“I’m here,” he reassured you.

“Jungkook,” you said again. “Cold.”

“She wants your hoodie,” Taehyung said as Namjoon got the IV bag ready. He moved to the dresser opposite the bed, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out a black hoodie which Jungkook recognized as one he’d let you wear pretty often in high school.

Taehyung handed it to him wordlessly, and Jungkook helped you sit up so he could slide your arms into the hoodie. You relaxed almost immediately, breathing evening out, and Jungkook let you settle against him rather than back against the pillows.

You winced when Namjoon slid the needle into one of the veins in your left hand, and Jungkook tightened his arms around you. “It’s okay.” He swallowed hard, feeling unbalanced as he watched the other man secure the IV while Chloe checked your temperature and blood pressure. Then Namjoon pricked your finger to check your blood sugar.

“How is she?” Jungkook finally asked.

“Her blood sugar and blood pressure are both low, which is to be expected,” Namjoon answered. “But she’s a lot calmer than she usually is, probably because you’re here.”

Jungkook hesitated but then asked, “Does she always do this?” When Chloe raised a questioning brow, he added, “Say my name, or ask for me, I mean.”

“Always.” Taehyung leveled him with a look. “She never forgot you, if that’s what you’ve been thinking all this time. I knew your name before she ever even told me about you because when something like this happens? She wants you with her.”

Jin had been hovering near the doorway as they got you settled. Now he sat on the end of the bed and asked, “What the hell happened, exactly?”

Taehyung pulled one of the armchairs closer to the bed as he explained it to Jin. “She’s gotten so much better about blocking their energy that it doesn’t happen very often anymore – not like it did a couple of years ago.”

Jungkook dropped his chin to rest against the top of your head. He didn’t like to think about it – about you being cold and scared and traumatized, asking for him when he wasn’t there. What had he been doing when you were going through that? The guilt he felt was a hot, choking weight in his throat.

He didn’t let you go when Namjoon changed the IV bag and checked your vitals again.

“I don’t think she’ll need to go to the hospital,” Namjoon said. “Her blood sugar is up, and so is her blood pressure. I know she never wants to eat or drink when she wakes up, but we’ll have to push her…”

“I’ll do it,” Jungkook said. “She’ll do it for me.”

“Are you okay?” Jin asked him with a frown. “You’re really tense.”

Jungkook made a conscious effort to relax his shoulders and took a breath. “I’m fine.” He wasn’t fine – not even a little bit. But there would be time to think about that later.

Namjoon and Chloe left the room, and Jin followed after asking where the bathroom was, leaving Jungkook and Taehyung alone in the room.

“She and I aren’t together anymore.” Taehyung was the first to break the silence. “We had a really long talk about us – about everything, really. She said that she felt like we loved each other but weren’t in lovewith each other. And maybe she was right about that. I understand what she means, anyway. But the thing is…”

Jungkook waited for him to continue.

“I do love her,” Taehyung finally said. “She came back here to answer all of her what ifs, and you’re a big one. But if you don’t love her enough to take the bad with the good, I’m asking you to make that clear to her and let her move on.”

Jungkook didn’t say anything, and after a moment, Taehyung stood up and left the room. He tried not to feel resentful towards the other man, but it was hard. He resented the fact that he’d been the one you’d turned to for the past three years. He knew it was foolish, and petty, and he wasn’t exactly angry about it anymore. He wasn’t angry with you. He just hated that those three years away from each other existed at all.

He thought Jimin was right. He was jealous, and he needed to figure out what that meant.

You woke up about an hour later, and then Jungkook was busy coaxing you to sip juice and nibble the dry crackers Chloe brought. You wrinkled your nose at him, but you didn’t argue, and you didn’t question why he was there. Namjoon finally determined that you were stable, and he removed the IV. Jungkook stayed until you fell asleep again, still wearing his hoodie.

________________

The first week of classes passed quickly. You were settling into campus life more easily than expected, aided by Sera, who shared a literature class with you. Jungkook was also in the class as he’d put it off the previous year.

When study groups were formed after the second class, you ended up in the same group with Jungkook and Sera. You kept sneaking glances at Jungkook in the library that afternoon, wondering where you stood now. He didn’t seem angry anymore, but he was distant. He kept his baseball cap on, pulled low enough to hide his eyes and his expression. You resisted the urge to push him to talk to you, sensing that he was working through things in his own way. For now, it was enough to know that he wasn’t mad anymore.

You shifted in the library chair, eyes on your laptop, trying to ignore the menstrual cramps that had begun that morning. They sometimes made you feel sick, and you made a note on your calendar to call the women’s clinic that Sera used. You’d almost skipped today’s study group, but you were discussing ideas for the group project due mid-semester, and you hadn’t wanted to miss an opportunity to see Jungkook.

You shifted again and sighed, rubbing the line between your brows. You looked up when Jungkook left the table. He was gone for ten minutes and when he returned, he dropped a small pharmacy bag on your books and set a cup of hot tea in front of you.

A peek into the bag showed a hot pack and some painkillers, and something warm blossomed in your chest. This was the type of thing he’d done for you before, for years. It made you remember that first time. You were twelve and horribly embarrassed by your body’s changes. When you’d left school sick one afternoon and then refused to see Jungkook, he’d climbed up the tree outside your window and nearly fell trying to get into your room.

You’d confessed the problem, cheeks hot, and then he’d been a little embarrassed too. But after that, he went home and spent the evening reading about menstrual cycles and how to help with cramps, and he’d shared his research with you. You didn’t tell him that you already knew most of it because as embarrassing as it was, it was somehow easier to talk to him than your mom, and it was nice to know that he cared enough to do it.

He still cares, you thought. You glanced over at him, and your eyes met his dark ones for a brief moment before he focused on his tablet again.

Some of the weight you’d carried since your return lightened because for the first time, you were sure that you and he would get past this. It might take time, and you suspected there were some hard conversations in your future. But you were still in his heart as much as he was in yours.

When you left the library, Jungkook fell into step beside you. You were quiet as you walked to the car, waiting for him to speak first.

“Jin and Jimin are throwing a birthday party for me,” he finally said. “It’s tomorrow night – just some people at the house, nothing too big. I thought you might want to come.”

Tamping down the surge of elation that rushed through you, you took a breath and nodded. “Sure, it sounds fun.”

“Our moms are coming on Saturday,” he added. “I guess your mom called you about that.”

“Yes. She’s bringing the twins, and I think we’re all supposed to go to lunch.” You pressed your lips together and then said, “Taehyung’s mom will be here this weekend, too. She wanted to see how the house turned out, and she wants to meet my family, so they’ll both come to lunch.”

You relaxed when he just nodded at that without saying anything. He and Taehyung seemed to have reached an accord of sorts since the night you’d fallen prey to a stronger-than-usual spirit. They might never be besties, but they were civil and no longer glared at each other. You’d count that as a win.

________________

When you walked into Jungkook’s house the next day, you sensed the presence immediately – a dark, low-level spirit, but one that was weakened. You followed Jin inside and paused at a door to the left of the hallway off the living room.

“What room is this?” You gestured to the door, raising a curious brow.

“It goes down to the basement,” Jin replied. “We were thinking of putting another bedroom down there, or maybe a game room, but it needs some work first.”

“It does,” you agreed. “Starting with getting rid of the ghost inhabiting it.”

He looked startled. “There’s a ghost down there? How do you know?”

“I can feel it,” you said. You touched the door knob but then hesitated. “I can deal with it, but I should probably call Namjoon and Chloe, just to be safe.”

Jimin arrived home just after Namjoon and Chloe began setting up their equipment, and he watched, skeptical, as you got the things ready which you would take down to the basement.

“Uh, I don’t know, y/n. Maybe we should wait for Jungkook.”

You looked over at Jimin. “I don’t think he’d let me do this. He’s still stuck in the past, where I was scared of everything and he made it his job to get between me and… well, everything, really. I need to show him that our relationship doesn’t hinge on him protecting me anymore. The only way we can move forward is if he sees that our friendship can be healthy and balanced.”

“He’s going to be really pissed off when he gets here and sees this though.” Jimin grimaced and shook his head. “Fine, I get it, but you need to be ready to deal with him when he blows up.”

“I can handle Jungkook.” And you could now – you were sure of it.

When the equipment was set up, you put on the headset which also held a small camera and a microphone. Additionally, you wore two patches on your chest and the modified smartwatch which Chloe could use to monitor your vital signs. You made sure your two protective amulets were in your pocket and hefted a bag which contained small electrical discs and salt before making your way to the basement door.

You flipped on the lights at the top of the stairs but weren’t surprised when the lights flickered like a bad horror movie.

Getting ready for me, aren’t you? You walked down a few steps and then turned to pour some of the salt out in a thick, straight line along the steps. Just above that line, you set down one of the electrical discs, which would emit low-level pulses of energy.

“What’s that for?” Jin asked as he and Jimin watched you.

“The reason the ghost escaped down here is because of the talismans Jungkook hung upstairs. They were strong enough to make the ghost keep its distance, but not strong enough to banish the ghost altogether. Once the ghost realizes I’m a threat, it could escape upstairs, and this will prevent that.”

When you glanced up and saw the look on Jin’s face, you hurried to reassure him. “Look, I promise I actually know what I’m doing here. This ghost isn’t even particularly strong. I’ve banished more than a hundred ghosts like this one, at least, in the last couple of years.”

You gave them one more reassuring nod before you continued down the stairs. The space was open but since there were no windows, and the lights were still flickering due to the interference from the ghost’s own electrical energy, it was a dark space. You could see a small kitchenette on one side of the room, and an open door on the other side led to a bathroom. Boxes stacked against one wall were full of sports equipment, books, and miscellaneous things you assumed the three roommates hadn’t gotten around to unpacking yet.

You dropped a couple of electrical discs around the perimeters of the room as you waited for the ghost to show itself. You could feel its energy building, so it wouldn’t be long now. Gripping the bag of salt, you poured it out into a large half circle, leaving one part open to allow the ghost to come inside with you, at which point you’d be able to cut it off.

Then you waited. After several minutes of silence, you heard Jin call from the open door. “Is everything okay down there? Maybe I should come down too.”

You sighed. “Jin, you’re scaring it away. Close the door and go watch from the monitor with Joon and Chloe, okay?”

Jimin cleared his throat nervously. “But…”

“Go – both of you.”

There was a moment of silence before you heard the door close. As soon as it did, the lights flickered out completely, the room now lit only by the light on your headset.

“There you are,” you murmured as you saw the shadows shifting near the bathroom. “Come out and talk to me.”

The shadow shifted again and then suddenly, it was right outside the salt circle – a female spirit with eyes as dark as pitch and a pinched mouth, long hair hanging in inky ropes down her back. She wore an old-fashioned dress – you dated it to the late nineteenth century – but no shoes.

You kept your tone conversational as you spoke to her. “Did you live here?” You knew the house wasn’t old enough, but it was likely built in the same place where other homes had once been. Ghosts often stayed in the same area, even when old buildings were torn down and new ones built.

She opened her mouth and screamed at you, her cold breath carrying the stench of fish. You fought back your gag reflex. “Lovely. What’s your name?” You didn’t offer your own name – a rookie mistake you’d made before you realized that the more a spirit knew about you, the more they could latch onto you.

She screamed again and darted toward you, getting right in your face. You turned, edging around the circle so that you could use your foot to shift the salt and close it. Suddenly, she reached for you and you gasped as she gripped your throat and lifted you.

Don’t panic. You reached into your pocket and just as your fingers found the Taoist jade amulet, you heard a crashing sound from the door, followed by someone racing down the stairs.

You barely had time to brace yourself before Jungkook slammed into you and fell to the floor, turning his body so he took the brunt of the impact. Before you could catch your breath, he rolled on top of you. When he grunted, you looked over his shoulder to see that the ghost had thrown herself into him, and he’d actually felt it. When she raised one hand, long nails curled into claws, you pushed Jungkook off of you and sat up.

You held up the amulet and said the words Mr. Lu had taught you, feeling your power curl up and flow through the amulet, which helped you direct it towards the ghost. She screamed as the tendrils of light wrapped around her form, and she pulled away from you. You followed, still chanting, and when she changed direction to come for you again, you were ready. You kicked out, hitting her squarely in the middle, never stopping the chant or your concentration on holding her with your power.

The glittering bands of light drew tighter, and suddenly she blew apart, her energy scattering into nothingness. Your ears rang in the silence that followed, and you drew in several deep breaths as you braced your hands on your knees. Finally, you looked over your shoulder to see Jungkook standing behind you, staring.

“Are you okay?” You asked, reaching for his arm to turn him slightly. You ran a hand down his back. “She hit you pretty hard.”

“What the fuck,” he breathed out, staring at you. “What the fuck just happened?”

“I banished her,” you said simply.

“Where? To the other world?”

“No. She’s completely gone. She had descended into complete darkness. There was no communicating with her. If I had banished her to the other world, it’s likely she would have found her way back here at some point, and if she grew strong enough? She could hurt someone.”

“So you can kill ghosts? Or I don’t know – I know they’re already dead, but they just… cease to exist?”

You held up the amulet. “This amulet absorbs their dark energy, basically. It helps me direct my power, and then when they disintegrate, the amulet absorbs the darkness. After enough time passes, I perform a cleansing ritual to help rid the amulet of that darkness. It works better when I keep everything in balance.”

Jungkook stared at it and then back at you. Then he covered his face with his hands and took a deep breath, muttering something to himself that you couldn’t quite hear.

You bit your lip, wondering if he was about to blow, as Jimin had predicted. Instead, he walked past you and up the stairs. You followed, where you found Jin examining the door now hanging crookedly, two of its hinges broken.

Jin shook his head at Jungkook. “This door opens in, not out. You didn’t have to break it.”

“He broke the door?” You looked at Jungkook in surprise, who scowled back at you.

“It’s not the sturdiest door in the world, but I’m surprised he was able to break it like this.” Jin looked over at you. “Are you okay?”

You gave him a thumbs up. “No more ghostie either. I’ll help you set up new talismans to keep any new ones away. This town is lousy with them. They’re kind of everywhere.”

You went to check in with Namjoon and Chloe, who were reviewing the recording. “Pretty straightforward,” you told them. You heard Jungkook snort behind you.

“That was wild,” Jimin said, looking at you in amazement. “Like, I couldn’t see it, but I saw this light burst out of you, and I saw a shadow maybe? Crazy.”

“I told you – I’ve learned a lot over the last three years.” You looked at Jungkook again, trying to read his mood, but it was difficult. He was obviously listening as you talked about the ghost with Namjoon and Chloe, but he didn’t ask any questions. He did, however, lean forward to watch the video as you pointed out where the ghost was, what was happening, and your individual experience with what happened.

“Why did she have fish breath?” Jimin asked.

“Well, I say fish breath, but it was more of a rotten scent that was vaguely fishy? Dark entities often have a weird smell, at least to me. Sometimes Taehyung can smell it too. The darker they are, the more foul the odor they’re exuding.”

“Did you smell anything?” Jin asked Jungkook, who shook his head.

“I felt it though,” Jungkook said quietly. “When the ghost hit me, I felt it, and I felt the cold.”

“She was drawing on big energy reserves at that point,” you said, “so a lot of times, when ghosts do that, regular people will be able to see, hear or even feel them.”

Namjoon and Chloe accepted Jin’s invitation to stay for dinner and Jungkook went outside with Jimin to get the grill going. Soon, the smell of roasting meat drifted in from outside as you sat at the kitchen table with Chloe, who was helping you get the talismans ready.

You bit your lip as you concentrated on drawing the last one and then murmured the words that helped you seal the talisman with your power. Jungkook paused behind you at one point, watching you do it, before he took another plate of meat out of the fridge and headed outside with it.

“He was pretty upset when he came in and realized what was happening earlier,” Chloe said as she helped you hang the talismans at strategic locations around the house. You hid them as best you could but made a mental note to pick up some pictures they could hang to hide the most visible ones.

“I know,” you replied. “I figured he would be, but he needed to see it to believe it. If we’d waited for him, he would have been arguing with me or interfering with what I was doing downstairs.”

“I’ve never seen anyone move that fast,” Chloe said. “Dude vaulted the chair and broke the door down about 5 seconds after he figured out what he was looking at on the screen.”

“He’s… impulsive.” And protective, you thought.

Soon, the house was filled with people – some from the fraternity, others from Jungkook’s team, and a few Jin knew from the drama department.

“This is like, Jungkook’s first birthday party,” Sera said when she arrived. “He always said he wasn’t into birthday parties.”

You felt another little stab of guilt at her words; you hated to think you had ruined that for him. Of course, you hadn’t been one to celebrate birthdays in the past three years either, though Taehyung usually got you a gift and a cake despite your protests.

You walked Namjoon and Chloe outside after they ate, and when you returned, Jin was bringing out a cake. “Happy 21st,” he said as he set it down on the table.

Jungkook hesitated to blow out the candles and when he looked up at you, you knew it was because you had always done it together. You raised your brows, a silent question in your eyes. At his tentative nod, you joined him at the table.

“There we go,” Jin said approvingly as he put his arms around both of you. “Make your wishes and blow.”

You didn’t have to think about your wish because it was the same one you’d thought of for the past three years. When you met Jungkook’s eyes and he quirked his brow, you smiled and then you blew out the candles together.

Alcohol flowed freely after that, and though Jungkook still wasn’t exactly talking to you, you felt his eyes tracking you around the room, as if he always knew where you were and who you were talking to. You were nursing a mixed drink when Jimin suddenly announced it was truth or dare time. A collective groan was his response from half the crowd, though a lot of people were into the idea.

“Is this high school?” Sera complained as she took a seat in the circle.

You joined her, noting Jungkook’s position directly across from you. And when Jimin went first, making sure the spinning bottle pointed directly to you, you weren’t surprised by what he did next.

“I default to the birthday boy,” Jimin said, sitting back smugly.

You waited for Jungkook to speak and after a few moments, he asked, “Truth or dare?”

You let out the breath you didn’t realize you were holding and said, “Truth.”

He nodded. “Why did you really leave?”

Surprised that he had come right out with that question, here, in front of everyone, you hesitated. You’d known he would eventually ask – you just weren’t expecting it to be so public. The tension between you was noticeable, to everyone, and silence fell over the group as they realized something serious was happening.

Your heart was racing, and your palms felt damp. Still, you knew that you needed to be honest if you were going to close the distance between you. You met his eyes. “I left because I was angry.”

The hurt look flashed across his expression so quickly, you would have missed it if you didn’t know him so well. The tension broke when he stood up and walked out the front door to stand on the porch.

Jimin nodded towards the door. “Go talk to him. Work it out.”

You closed the door behind you as you stepped out onto the porch, not wanting an audience. Jungkook was sitting on the steps. You could hear the murmur of voices from people who were in the backyard. You waited to see if Jungkook would speak first, but he just sat quietly, looking at the sun setting over the horizon to the left. When a fine drizzle started falling, you leaned forward, hugging your knees.

“I was angry and jealous,” you finally said. “I’m not proud of it, and it’s not the only reason, but it is the reason I went to the lake that night. And it’s the reason I called my uncle and made plans to leave.”

“I knew I made you angry,” he finally said. “I’m sorry I yelled at you that day, and I hated myself for throwing Grace in your face like that. Like anything was your fault.”

“It wasn’t just that I was angry with you,” you explained. “I was angry with myself too, for being so weak. I didn’t like hearing what you had to say, or the way you said it, but some of it was the truth. I was holding you back.”

“You weren’t…”

“Yes, I was. We both know I was, Jungkook. You should have had the choice to pick this school without worrying about me.”

“And so you took the choice away from me,” he shot back, turning to look at you. “You said I should have had the choice, but you took that from me when you left.”

You stared at him. “I didn’t want you to have to worry about me.”

“Do you really think my senior year was carefree because you left? How could you think that, y/n? I worried about you every fucking day because I was scared for you. I worried about something happening to you, and I wouldn’t be there to help you.” He pushed his hands through his hair, a move that signaled his frustration. “Do you really think that I had no choice before you left? I was looking at other colleges – ones where I thought you’d be safer. This isn’t the only university where I could get a scholarship, or where I could study film and production.”

“But there was Grace, too. And even if it wasn’t her, I knew there would be other girlfriends, or whatever. You’d get married one day, and I needed to learn to be independent.”

He snorted, his tongue pushing against his cheek. “Oh, okay. So you blew up our lives to leave me open for my future wife? Bullshit, y/n.”

Now you were angry. “It’s not bullshit! I was… in the way. I felt like that at home, all the time, and I couldn’t bear to start feeling that way with you, too. So yes, I was jealous, I guess, and sad, and mad, and scared, and a whole lot of other things I didn’t even figure out until later. I was a mess, and I didn’t want to drag you down with me. So, I left.”

“Without giving me a choice,” he said. “Don’t you realize why I was factoring you into my choices? Because I never asked Grace what her college plans were. Not even once. But you? You were always in my plan. I never would have left without you, and if I could have stopped you from leaving, I would have. It wasn’t about pitying you, either, or whatever other bullshit you came up with. I was sad that day in your room. And yeah, maybe I was frustrated in some ways. I was mostly mad at Grace for arguing with me about you, and I never blamed you for her being jealous. That day, all those frustrations just spilled out, and then I was embarrassed about it. It wasn’t just you – I wanted to be alone for a while, before baseball camp. Then, when I was there, I regretted not talking to you before I left.”

“I’m sorry,” you said quietly. “I guess I didn’t look at it that way – like I was taking the choice from you. I thought, in the long run, it might be easier for you if I left, I guess.”

“Then why come back?”

“Because I missed you,” you admitted. You felt the burn of tears in your eyes and took a breath. “Every day.”

You scooted closer to him, half expecting him to move away from you. But he didn’t – he just looked at you, his brown eyes glossy with tears he was also holding back. When you put your arms around him and laid your head on his shoulder, he suddenly shifted and wrapped his arms around you.

You took a shuddering breath, and then another, fighting back the tears. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he finally whispered. He turned his head, pressing his face against your neck. “God, I missed you so much.”

You stayed like this for a while, until the rain began falling in earnest, carrying the scent of grass and flowers with it. It was comforting and reminded you of summer showers in Nana’s garden, when you and Jungkook had sat on the porch, or when you had taken your shoes off and jumped in the puddles.

“Good day for puddle jumping,” you both said, and then laughed.

Jungkook hugged you closer for a moment, sniffing your hair. “You still smell the same,” he said, sounding happy about that.

“I haven’t changed my shampoo or body wash,” you admitted, pulling back to smile at him. He’d been the one to pick out those scents for you in high school. Though you didn’t say it, you could see that he understood why you’d never changed them. Scent was important to him – it always had been – and he often associated memory with scents. You’d wanted him to remember you as he always had.

Jungkook stood up and then took your hand to pull you up as well. “Come on, I want to get drunk now. I’m officially 21, and it’s allowed.”

You laughed. “Like that ever stopped you before. I still remember hauling your drunk ass home from Jimin’s that night you had beer for the first time.”

Jungkook did get drunk, but he was a happy drunk. The others had abandoned truth or dare after you went outside, but Jungkook joined in playing video games, and he sang when someone put in a karaoke DVD. Jimin pulled him into a Little Mix dance with Ayeong at one point, and you fell over laughing at their sexy girl dance moves, which Jungkook imitated shamelessly.

By midnight, most people had left, though a few hung around as Jin put in a horror movie that you and Jungkook had chosen to watch. Jimin looked at you incredulously as you both laughed at the ghosts onscreen, but you shrugged at him as you said, “This kind of thing just isn’t that scary.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jungkook this happy,” Ayeong said quietly. She sat with Jimin, Sera, Erin and Jin on the large sofa, while you and Jungkook were on Jungkook’s leather beanbag.

Jimin noted how Jungkook was sprawled across your lap like a puppy as he laughed at something onscreen, and your fingers carded through his hair in a soothing gesture.

“The happiest I’ve ever seen Jungkook, or the saddest, or the angriest? It was always because of y/n,” Jimin told her. “He’s been different since she left, and now, he’s got a piece of his heart back. Trust me, you’ll see a totally different side to him now that she’s here.”

You were falling asleep by the time the move was over. You opened your eyes drowsily and checked the time. “I should go.”

“No,” Jungkook said. He also looked tired as he pulled you up. “You can sleep here. It’s late anyway.”

“I mean, I guess I could take the couch,” you said. Sera and Erin were gathering their things, though it looked like Ayeong was planning to stay with Jimin.

“No, in my room,” Jungkook said stubbornly.

Sera wiggled her brows at you, obviously fighting back a laugh, and you blushed. “Jungkook, we haven’t shared a bed since we were like, twelve. The couch is fine.”

But drunk Jungkook would not be swayed, and you found yourself pulled out of the room. When you passed Jin in the hallway, he closed his eyes and said, “I pretend I do not see it.”

“Oh my god,” you muttered, your face on fire now as Jungkook pulled you into his room. “Jungkook, they’re getting the wrong idea….”

“I don’t care,” he said. “I just got you back, and I don’t want you to leave yet.”

In the bathroom, he let you use his face wash, and he pulled an extra toothbrush out of a drawer. He picked up a brush and started brushing your hair as you brushed your teeth, and you made a concerted effort not to meet his eyes in the large mirror. You had some unscented face moisturizer in your bag, which you used now, and Jungkook sniffed it before using some as well.

He left the bathroom for a minute and returned with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. “These are Ayeong’s – she leaves extra stuff in Jimin’s room and said you could borrow them.”

You changed quickly and when you exited the bathroom, he had changed as well. From a mini fridge in the corner, he pulled out two bottles of water and quickly downed one before passing you the other. Then he guided you to the bed and tucked you in before climbing in behind you.

When Jungkook wrapped one arm around you and buried his face in your hair, you jumped. Would you even be able to sleep like this? You weren’t sure.

“Shhh,” he murmured sleepily. “You think too much. Go to sleep.”

You shifted a bit, getting more comfortable. When you rested your hand on his at your stomach, he linked your fingers together. He was warm, and safe. He feels like home, you thought as you finally relaxed into sleep.

Hi guys! If you're still reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll post again next week since I made this update longer. I finished the whole story so I'll just kinda tweak it here and there, post 2 more parts and it'll be done. Thanks for reading :)

Pairing: Reader / Jungkook, Reader / Taehyung (past relationship, friends to lovers to friends)

Genre: College!au, fluff, angst, supernatural drama, smut, friends to lovers, emotional trauma, hurt/comfort

Length: 9, 203k words

Warnings: language, episodes of anxiety, panic attacks, sexual themes in later chapters.

Summary: Living in a world full of things only you have the ability to see, growing up with Jungkook has been your island amidst the chaos. But when your best friend makes an impossible request, your friendship is fractured, and your sudden decision to cut ties and move abroad changes everything. Three years later, Jungkook is thriving at university as he begins his junior year. He’s a star athlete, member of a popular fraternity, and every girl’s ideal boyfriend. He tells himself that he’s long forgotten you and the friendship he never had a chance to mend – that is, until you show up on campus as a transfer student with new friends in tow. It’s been three years, and everything has changed, but the biggest change is you. Your new found determination to use your abilities to help the ghosts you used to live in fear of, no matter how dangerous it might be, makes Jungkook fear he’ll lose you before he has a chance to fix what he broke. College AU.

Disclaimer: Just for funsies, I don’t believe in real-life shipping. But I like to write, and I like fandom, so here we are. Please do not duplicate this work or repost anywhere else without permission.

Tag List: @ggukkieland @jikooksgirl19 @waves-and-woods @kookiesbreaky @koochiekoo @monvieesdaebak @kb-bangtanenthusiast @mwitsmejk @justvibingsblog @gerigonzalezme

I hope I remembered all the people who asked to be tagged (and got the tags right.) If you’d like to be tagged for updates, let me know.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 3

“You ready to go?”

You turned to see Taehyung leaning in your doorway. He was wearing flared jeans and a green paisley silk button-down shirt. The open butterfly collar revealed a vintage Chanel gold medallion, and he’d added light green sunglasses to complete his retro look.

Taehyung had picked out your outfit – a short, cream-colored wrap dress with an abstract floral design and long flared sleeves. Knee high rust red boots and pin straight hair completed the look, and for once you felt like a match to his fashionable appearance.

You held up a finger as you opened your jewelry box, looking for the vintage garnet drop earrings you’d found to complement the outfit. You slid them in, moving your hair back to admire how they dangled and caught the light.

“Okay, I’m ready,” you said, turning to find him behind you.

“Almost,” he said, pulling a small box out of his pocket.

“Tae,” you said reprovingly as he opened the box and took out a ring. The antique gold setting was beautiful – an oval opal surrounded by a halo of garnets – and it looked perfect when he slid it onto your right ring finger.

“Now you’re ready,” he said, looking pleased as he stood back to check your appearance.

You raised a brow. “When did you even have time to shop for this?” Taehyung’s little surprise gifts were something to which you’d become accustomed over the last few years, and your attempts to discourage him were usually ignored.

He shrugged and as always, his sheepish grin disarmed you. You reached up and adjusted his collar.

“You look like you’re ready for a Vogue shoot,” you said, smiling back. “The poor girls at this party won’t know what hit them.”

“That’s why I have you to protect me,” he replied.

It was Friday, the final weekend before classes started, and the welcoming activities had ramped up in the last week. You and Taehyung had attended some of them and declined others, but you’d committed to the biggest events of the weekend – tonight’s Musical Eras mixer and tomorrow’s Movie Night on the Quad.

The mixer was being held at the Kappa fraternity house, something that had almost made you reconsider attending because you were certain to run into Jungkook again as you had for the last week. While your anger had cooled, you still felt that knot of anxiety in your stomach whenever you saw him, wondering if he’d still be angry or if he’d just pretend you didn’t exist.

So far, his attitude fell somewhere in the middle – when he saw you and Taehyung together at the supermarket, he tried to hide his reaction, but the little muscle ticking away in his jaw was a dead giveaway. A couple of days later, you saw him in the park while you were walking Yeontan and for once, he didn’t look big mad at the sight of you. You were alone and had considered trying to talk to him, but he was with friends. Not wanting to invite public rejection, you waved at the group and hurried away, noticing the little wrinkle between his brows as he watched you go.

Jin, Jimin and Jimin’s girlfriend, Ayeong, had all been by the house a couple of times. Sera had also visited with her mother, accepting Taehyung’s offer of a house tour since Sera’s mother was interested in how the historical home had been renovated. Jungkook was noticeably absent, though Jin seemed certain that he’d eventually come around.

You weren’t so certain of that. In all the years you’d been friends with Jungkook, you’d never seen him so deeply upset with another person. If someone upset him, he might avoid that person for a while, but he always got over it, and you’d never seen him blow up at anyone the way he had with you.

You always thought you knew him better than anyone, and he you, but now you had to acknowledge the reality of this situation – three years had passed, and the truth was, you didn’t know this Jungkook. Worse, he didn’t know you either and you had no one to blame for that but yourself.

________________

Stepping into the Kappa house was like stepping back in time. The large house had several rooms downstairs, each of which reflected a different decade of music, and everyone had taken their costumes just as seriously. You laughed when Jimin and Ayeong met you out front dressed as Sonny and Cher.

“Very nice,” you said, gesturing to Ayeong’s dress.

“Thanks, I love yours too.”

Thought it was still early, the party was already a crush of people circulating between the rooms. Younger guys, probably freshmen, circulated with drinks on trays which they offered to guests.

“Pledges?” Taehyung asked Jimin as he took a beer.

Jimin nodded. “They have to put in an hour according to a schedule and then they’re free to party. That’s as close to hazing as we get here.”

When Jimin offered you a glass of wine, you shook your head. “I don’t really drink much when I’m…” you paused, unsure how to finish the sentence without being weird. “When I’m out.”

You could see that Jimin understood what you meant. “Got it. We have a dry bar too if you want to call it that.”

Ayeong linked arms with you. “I’ll show her. I’m not really in the mood to drink either.”

The dry bar turned out to be pretty impressive, with lots of juice, sparkling water, club soda, and even different types of fruit. You settled for club soda with a splash of raspberry juice and slices of lemon while Ayeong created a tropical drink.

“I know Jungkook is being… well, difficult. But I just want you to know that Jimin is so happy you’re back,” Ayeong said. “He said you were all friends since kindergarten.”

“Jimin was always one of the sweetest people at our school,” you replied. “It was really easy to be his friend.”

“Not much has changed then,” Ayeong laughed. “What about Jungkook? Jimin says he wasn’t always such a fuckboy.”

You choked on a sip of your drink. “Jungkook is a fuckboy?”

“Well, a nice one? I think he only hooks up with girls who want the same kind of no-strings fun, so there’s never any drama related to it. He’s not the type to get serious though, which is why I’ve told Erin she needs to move on from her crush.”

Fuckboy Jungkook wasn’t something you could really imagine, nor did you want to. You chose not to think too closely about why it bothered you so much.

But once you spotted him across the room talking to a group of girls, you couldn’t shake that image from your mind. He looked good. Really, really good. He was dressed in tight red pants, a black silk button down, and he’d completed his Michael Jackson Thriller homage with a red leather jacket trimmed in black. When he laughed at something one of the girls said and then pressed his lips together, his dimples appeared.

“I’m surprised Jungkook is wearing a costume – he almost never does,” Ayeong commented.

“He kind of stopped wearing them by the time we were in high school,” you said. “But this kind of party, plus a Thriller homage, is pretty on brand for him.”

“Oh, that’s who he’s supposed to be! I’m really bad at guessing all of these costumes.”

You and Taehyung stuck with Jimin and Ayeong, who introduced you to people you hadn’t met yet. Everyone was welcoming, but two hours in you were starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the crowds and the noise. There was also the fact that ever since Jungkook became aware of your presence, you’d felt his eyes on you. You’d hoped his neutral response to you at the park was progress, but you could feel his judgmental stare like a brand.

Every time you glanced over at him, his impassive expression was contradicted by some blazing emotion in his eyes. You reminded yourself that you’d known this would probably be a struggle – that Jungkook would likely be angry with you for leaving. Emmie had even said that no one mentioned your name to him anymore.

You’d just underestimated how much it would hurt.

___________________

Jungkook almost skipped Movie Night on the Quad because he was in a foul mood after the Musical Eras mixer. Seeing you there with Taehyung in your matching costumes had made him inexplicably angry, something Jin called him out on.

“Shouldn’t we be glad that she has good people in her life?” Jin asked him when he stomped around the kitchen the next day, slamming cabinets as he fixed a late breakfast.

“He’s right,” Jimin said. “Plus you know that she and Taehyung aren’t together, right?”

That made him pause. “They look like they’re together.” Fucking matching costumes and all, he thought viciously.

“They dated, but Ayeong said y/n told her it’s been a while since they were together like that. At least six months or so.”

“Who the hell follows their ex-girlfriend to another country? And buys a house?”

“If you took the time to get to know Taehyung, you’d understand that he feels like y/n saved his life. He’s committed to helping her with the ghost hunting because of that, but he also genuinely cares about her. So do Namjoon and Chloe,” Jin said. “They’re all good people.”

“Whatever,” Jungkook muttered, shoving cereal into his mouth.

“Forget it, Jin. He won’t admit the real problem, and we all know his anger default setting when it comes to y/n is because of that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jungkook demanded.

“You’re jealous. You’ve always been jealous of anyone that got close to y/n,” Jimin replied calmly. He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair.

Jungkook grit his teeth. “I’m not jealous.”

“Really? So every time a guy expressed interest in dating her back in high school, and you very pointedly warned them all off, that was you just being what? A good friend?” Jimin rolled his eyes.

“Who? Like Lucas? You’re damn right I warned him off. He didn’t deserve her.”

“What about me?” Jimin asked, a challenge in his tone. “I told you that I liked her our sophomore year, and you shot down that idea so fast I was afraid if I pursued it, it would actually ruin our friendship.”

Jungkook stared at him, shifting uncomfortably. “Because you weren’t serious about it.”

“Says who? I was dead serious, Jungkook, and you know it. For that matter, I think even Lucas was serious about liking her. He never said a word about her that wasn’t totally respectful.”

“Yeah, because he knew I would beat his ass,” Jungkook replied irritably.

“You’re right – everybody knew that. Why do you think people steered clear of her? Why do you think Grace hated her so much? I told you that Grace wasn’t as nice as you thought she was, but you still held tight to y/n with one hand while you chased after her. And I figured it was just a matter of time until you realized how you really felt about y/n, so I let it go. But damn, Jungkook, you need to stop getting mad and let her explain why she left.”

No one spoke for a moment. Then Jungkook asked, “Has she told you why?”

“I asked her,” Jin said. “But I think she’s waiting to talk to you first.”

Jungkook tried not to think about what Jimin said, but now that he was here on the quad, and you were just a few feet away, it was all he could think about. Jealousy.

He couldn’t deny he hated seeing how close you were to Taehyung. The way the other man touched you, or kept a protective arm around you, pissed him off. The way you smiled at him made him even angrier. Still, beneath the anger was something else – a yearning for the way things had been. No one had ever understood him the way you did, and he missed that connection with you.

It was his fault you left. That little voice in the back of his head kept reminding him that you weren’t the only one to blame for this vast distance between you now. He kind of understood why you’d left, but he didn’t know why it had taken you so long to return.

He kept stealing glances at you rather than watching the movie playing on the large screen set up on the quad. You’d been to the concession stand, and he wasn’t surprised to see you eating gummy bears since that had always been your favorite movie snack.

You looked pretty. Your hair was a little longer now than it had been in high school and fell in gentle waves around your shoulders. You wore another floaty little summer dress, the kind you had always liked, small feet encased in comfortable flat sandals. You and Taehyung had joined Jimin, Ayeong, Erin and Jin on a large blanket towards the front of the crowd.

Stubbornly, Jungkook had opted to sit with some of his friends from the baseball team. He was still close enough to watch you – to hear your voice – to just observe you while his mind sorted through his confusing thoughts and emotions. You had glanced over at him a few times, as if feeling his eyes on you, a silent question in your own. And somehow, he knew that you understood that he needed some time.

At the intermission between films, you went with Ayeong and Erin to the bathroom. Jungkook got tacos from a nearby food truck and when he returned, he noticed that you were the only one missing from the group. A few minutes later, Taehyung was frowning at his phone after making a call that had gone unanswered.

“I’m going to go check on her,” he heard the other man say as he stood up.

Jungkook hesitated for a few seconds before following him. Taehyung had his phone to his ear again, though again there seemed to be no answer.

“What’s wrong?” Jungkook asked as he caught up to him.

Taehyung turned and scowled at him. Then he sighed. “Ayeong said she stayed back because she got a call from her mom that she needed to answer. Maybe it’s nothing, but she’s been gone for almost twenty minutes, so I just want to make sure nothing happened.”

Jungkook nodded and then they were silent as they walked around the buildings that were still open. The campus was well lit, so it was easy to see the faces of people walking to the dorms or back to the quad. When they didn’t see you anywhere, Taehyung made another call.

“Chloe, I need you to ping y/n’s location and send it to my phone.” He listened for a minute. “Maybe nothing but I can’t find her and I don’t know – I’m getting a weird feeling. Okay, thanks.”

Taehyung’s unease was contagious, and Jungkook shifted from one foot to the other as they waited. Then Taehyung’s phone vibrated, and he studied his screen for a moment before gesturing for Jungkook to follow him. After walking for a few minutes, Jungkook realized they were heading towards a park where students often had lunch or relaxed between classes.

And there you were, a ghostly figure swaying in the moonlight as you hummed a strange tune.

“Fuck.” Taehyung started running.

Jungkook was right behind him. When he reached you, he tried to take your arm to turn you towards them, but Taehyung stopped him.

“Don’t,” he said, a note of warning in his tone. “She’s in a sort of fugue state, and it’s safer if she comes out of it herself.”

Rather than argue, Jungkook walked around to face you, but froze when he saw that your eyes were unfocused, and almost… glowing? It was clear that you didn’t see him, though he was standing right in front of you.

Jungkook’s heart was pounding now. “How do we make her do that?”

“There’s something else here,” Taehyung explained. “It probably tried to communicate with her. Sometimes, if she lets her guard down, or if the spirit is especially powerful, she gets sort of… pulled to the other side. It’s usually because they’re trying to show her something.”

Swallowing hard, Jungkook nodded. “Okay. How do we make her come out of it?”

“We can’t make her, and if we try, it can cause severe shock. She’ll already be in a state of shock when she comes to on her own, so we have to be careful. I’m going to go get the car. You wait here with her and just keep talking to her, okay?”

“Can I touch her hands?”

“Carefully,” Taehyung said. “Don’t pull her or shake her, and don’t try to make her move.”

“Okay.” After Taehyung left, Jungkook pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Jin, I need you to come to the park right now. The one behind the science building.”

You were still humming and swaying when Jungkook reached out to touch your hand. There was no response, so he carefully took both your hands in his.

“Jesus, your hands are freezing,” he said quietly. “You never dress right for being out at night. You know that you get cold even when it’s not that cold, right?”

He squeezed your hands in an attempt to warm them up. There was no response from you, your eyes still fixed on something he couldn’t see.

“You need to come back now,” he finally said. “I know something else is here, telling you that you need to listen to them and their problems, but you don’t need to stay there, okay? I’m here now, and I know I’ve been mad at you, but I’m not mad anymore. I’m just worried. So, I need you to listen to me now and come back, y/n.”

You shifted slightly, and your eyelids drooped. He thought he felt the faintest twitch of your fingers.

“That’s good. Come back to me.”

“Jungkook?” Your voice was barely above a whisper.

“I’m here,” he answered. He squeezed your hands again, and a wave of relief swept through him when you suddenly stumbled against him.

“Cold,” you whispered against his shoulder.

Jungkook pulled you in tight against his body and wrapped his arms around you. “I know. You’re okay now.”

You leaned heavily against him, shivering violently now. He kept talking to you as he saw both Jin and Taehyung pulling up to the park.

Taehyung reached for one of your hands, which hung loosely at your sides. “She came out of it?”

Jungkook nodded. “I think she heard me talking to her.”

“What happened?” Jin asked, looking concerned. “Is she okay?”

“She will be,” Taehyung answered. “But she’ll need fluids, at the very least, and we’ll have to keep an eye on her tonight. Her blood pressure and blood sugar always drop after one of these incidents.”

Jungkook remembered how you’d been the night of the library fire. That had been the most terrifying night of his life - getting the call from Jimin and then watching over your unconscious form. You’d been so cold and still, and he’d felt guilty for not being there to protect you.

But he was here now. He helped Taehyung move you into the back of the SUV, sliding in after you. He heard Jin say he’d follow behind and then the door closed as he pulled you close again. You were still shivering, but the way you occasionally murmured his name reassured him that you were more aware of your surroundings than you seemed to be.

When they arrived at Taehyung’s house, Namjoon and Chloe met them outside. Ignoring them, Jungkook slid out of the car and carefully lifted you out. He carried you inside and followed the others up the stairs to your bedroom, where Namjoon had already set up an IV pole. He laid you carefully on the bed.

“Jungkook,” you murmured again, though your eyes remained closed.

“I’m here,” he reassured you.

“Jungkook,” you said again. “Cold.”

“She wants your hoodie,” Taehyung said as Namjoon got the IV bag ready. He moved to the dresser opposite the bed, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out a black hoodie which Jungkook recognized as one he’d let you wear pretty often in high school.

Taehyung handed it to him wordlessly, and Jungkook helped you sit up so he could slide your arms into the hoodie. You relaxed almost immediately, breathing evening out, and Jungkook let you settle against him rather than back against the pillows.

You winced when Namjoon slid the needle into one of the veins in your left hand, and Jungkook tightened his arms around you. “It’s okay.” He swallowed hard, feeling unbalanced as he watched the other man secure the IV while Chloe checked your temperature and blood pressure. Then Namjoon pricked your finger to check your blood sugar.

“How is she?” Jungkook finally asked.

“Her blood sugar and blood pressure are both low, which is to be expected,” Namjoon answered. “But she’s a lot calmer than she usually is, probably because you’re here.”

Jungkook hesitated but then asked, “Does she always do this?” When Chloe raised a questioning brow, he added, “Say my name, or ask for me, I mean.”

“Always.” Taehyung leveled him with a look. “She never forgot you, if that’s what you’ve been thinking all this time. I knew your name before she ever even told me about you because when something like this happens? She wants you with her.”

Jin had been hovering near the doorway as they got you settled. Now he sat on the end of the bed and asked, “What the hell happened, exactly?”

Taehyung pulled one of the armchairs closer to the bed as he explained it to Jin. “She’s gotten so much better about blocking their energy that it doesn’t happen very often anymore – not like it did a couple of years ago.”

Jungkook dropped his chin to rest against the top of your head. He didn’t like to think about it – about you being cold and scared and traumatized, asking for him when he wasn’t there. What had he been doing when you were going through that? The guilt he felt was a hot, choking weight in his throat.

He didn’t let you go when Namjoon changed the IV bag and checked your vitals again.

“I don’t think she’ll need to go to the hospital,” Namjoon said. “Her blood sugar is up, and so is her blood pressure. I know she never wants to eat or drink when she wakes up, but we’ll have to push her…”

“I’ll do it,” Jungkook said. “She’ll do it for me.”

“Are you okay?” Jin asked him with a frown. “You’re really tense.”

Jungkook made a conscious effort to relax his shoulders and took a breath. “I’m fine.” He wasn’t fine – not even a little bit. But there would be time to think about that later.

Namjoon and Chloe left the room, and Jin followed after asking where the bathroom was, leaving Jungkook and Taehyung alone in the room.

“She and I aren’t together anymore.” Taehyung was the first to break the silence. “We had a really long talk about us – about everything, really. She said that she felt like we loved each other but weren’t in lovewith each other. And maybe she was right about that. I understand what she means, anyway. But the thing is…”

Jungkook waited for him to continue.

“I do love her,” Taehyung finally said. “She came back here to answer all of her what ifs, and you’re a big one. But if you don’t love her enough to take the bad with the good, I’m asking you to make that clear to her and let her move on.”

Jungkook didn’t say anything, and after a moment, Taehyung stood up and left the room. He tried not to feel resentful towards the other man, but it was hard. He resented the fact that he’d been the one you’d turned to for the past three years. He knew it was foolish, and petty, and he wasn’t exactly angry about it anymore. He wasn’t angry with you. He just hated that those three years away from each other existed at all.

He thought Jimin was right. He was jealous, and he needed to figure out what that meant.

You woke up about an hour later, and then Jungkook was busy coaxing you to sip juice and nibble the dry crackers Chloe brought. You wrinkled your nose at him, but you didn’t argue, and you didn’t question why he was there. Namjoon finally determined that you were stable, and he removed the IV. Jungkook stayed until you fell asleep again, still wearing his hoodie.

________________

The first week of classes passed quickly. You were settling into campus life more easily than expected, aided by Sera, who shared a literature class with you. Jungkook was also in the class as he’d put it off the previous year.

When study groups were formed after the second class, you ended up in the same group with Jungkook and Sera. You kept sneaking glances at Jungkook in the library that afternoon, wondering where you stood now. He didn’t seem angry anymore, but he was distant. He kept his baseball cap on, pulled low enough to hide his eyes and his expression. You resisted the urge to push him to talk to you, sensing that he was working through things in his own way. For now, it was enough to know that he wasn’t mad anymore.

You shifted in the library chair, eyes on your laptop, trying to ignore the menstrual cramps that had begun that morning. They sometimes made you feel sick, and you made a note on your calendar to call the women’s clinic that Sera used. You’d almost skipped today’s study group, but you were discussing ideas for the group project due mid-semester, and you hadn’t wanted to miss an opportunity to see Jungkook.

You shifted again and sighed, rubbing the line between your brows. You looked up when Jungkook left the table. He was gone for ten minutes and when he returned, he dropped a small pharmacy bag on your books and set a cup of hot tea in front of you.

A peek into the bag showed a hot pack and some painkillers, and something warm blossomed in your chest. This was the type of thing he’d done for you before, for years. It made you remember that first time. You were twelve and horribly embarrassed by your body’s changes. When you’d left school sick one afternoon and then refused to see Jungkook, he’d climbed up the tree outside your window and nearly fell trying to get into your room.

You’d confessed the problem, cheeks hot, and then he’d been a little embarrassed too. But after that, he went home and spent the evening reading about menstrual cycles and how to help with cramps, and he’d shared his research with you. You didn’t tell him that you already knew most of it because as embarrassing as it was, it was somehow easier to talk to him than your mom, and it was nice to know that he cared enough to do it.

He still cares, you thought. You glanced over at him, and your eyes met his dark ones for a brief moment before he focused on his tablet again.

Some of the weight you’d carried since your return lightened because for the first time, you were sure that you and he would get past this. It might take time, and you suspected there were some hard conversations in your future. But you were still in his heart as much as he was in yours.

When you left the library, Jungkook fell into step beside you. You were quiet as you walked to the car, waiting for him to speak first.

“Jin and Jimin are throwing a birthday party for me,” he finally said. “It’s tomorrow night – just some people at the house, nothing too big. I thought you might want to come.”

Tamping down the surge of elation that rushed through you, you took a breath and nodded. “Sure, it sounds fun.”

“Our moms are coming on Saturday,” he added. “I guess your mom called you about that.”

“Yes. She’s bringing the twins, and I think we’re all supposed to go to lunch.” You pressed your lips together and then said, “Taehyung’s mom will be here this weekend, too. She wanted to see how the house turned out, and she wants to meet my family, so they’ll both come to lunch.”

You relaxed when he just nodded at that without saying anything. He and Taehyung seemed to have reached an accord of sorts since the night you’d fallen prey to a stronger-than-usual spirit. They might never be besties, but they were civil and no longer glared at each other. You’d count that as a win.

________________

When you walked into Jungkook’s house the next day, you sensed the presence immediately – a dark, low-level spirit, but one that was weakened. You followed Jin inside and paused at a door to the left of the hallway off the living room.

“What room is this?” You gestured to the door, raising a curious brow.

“It goes down to the basement,” Jin replied. “We were thinking of putting another bedroom down there, or maybe a game room, but it needs some work first.”

“It does,” you agreed. “Starting with getting rid of the ghost inhabiting it.”

He looked startled. “There’s a ghost down there? How do you know?”

“I can feel it,” you said. You touched the door knob but then hesitated. “I can deal with it, but I should probably call Namjoon and Chloe, just to be safe.”

Jimin arrived home just after Namjoon and Chloe began setting up their equipment, and he watched, skeptical, as you got the things ready which you would take down to the basement.

“Uh, I don’t know, y/n. Maybe we should wait for Jungkook.”

You looked over at Jimin. “I don’t think he’d let me do this. He’s still stuck in the past, where I was scared of everything and he made it his job to get between me and… well, everything, really. I need to show him that our relationship doesn’t hinge on him protecting me anymore. The only way we can move forward is if he sees that our friendship can be healthy and balanced.”

“He’s going to be really pissed off when he gets here and sees this though.” Jimin grimaced and shook his head. “Fine, I get it, but you need to be ready to deal with him when he blows up.”

“I can handle Jungkook.” And you could now – you were sure of it.

When the equipment was set up, you put on the headset which also held a small camera and a microphone. Additionally, you wore two patches on your chest and the modified smartwatch which Chloe could use to monitor your vital signs. You made sure your two protective amulets were in your pocket and hefted a bag which contained small electrical discs and salt before making your way to the basement door.

You flipped on the lights at the top of the stairs but weren’t surprised when the lights flickered like a bad horror movie.

Getting ready for me, aren’t you? You walked down a few steps and then turned to pour some of the salt out in a thick, straight line along the steps. Just above that line, you set down one of the electrical discs, which would emit low-level pulses of energy.

“What’s that for?” Jin asked as he and Jimin watched you.

“The reason the ghost escaped down here is because of the talismans Jungkook hung upstairs. They were strong enough to make the ghost keep its distance, but not strong enough to banish the ghost altogether. Once the ghost realizes I’m a threat, it could escape upstairs, and this will prevent that.”

When you glanced up and saw the look on Jin’s face, you hurried to reassure him. “Look, I promise I actually know what I’m doing here. This ghost isn’t even particularly strong. I’ve banished more than a hundred ghosts like this one, at least, in the last couple of years.”

You gave them one more reassuring nod before you continued down the stairs. The space was open but since there were no windows, and the lights were still flickering due to the interference from the ghost’s own electrical energy, it was a dark space. You could see a small kitchenette on one side of the room, and an open door on the other side led to a bathroom. Boxes stacked against one wall were full of sports equipment, books, and miscellaneous things you assumed the three roommates hadn’t gotten around to unpacking yet.

You dropped a couple of electrical discs around the perimeters of the room as you waited for the ghost to show itself. You could feel its energy building, so it wouldn’t be long now. Gripping the bag of salt, you poured it out into a large half circle, leaving one part open to allow the ghost to come inside with you, at which point you’d be able to cut it off.

Then you waited. After several minutes of silence, you heard Jin call from the open door. “Is everything okay down there? Maybe I should come down too.”

You sighed. “Jin, you’re scaring it away. Close the door and go watch from the monitor with Joon and Chloe, okay?”

Jimin cleared his throat nervously. “But…”

“Go – both of you.”

There was a moment of silence before you heard the door close. As soon as it did, the lights flickered out completely, the room now lit only by the light on your headset.

“There you are,” you murmured as you saw the shadows shifting near the bathroom. “Come out and talk to me.”

The shadow shifted again and then suddenly, it was right outside the salt circle – a female spirit with eyes as dark as pitch and a pinched mouth, long hair hanging in inky ropes down her back. She wore an old-fashioned dress – you dated it to the late nineteenth century – but no shoes.

You kept your tone conversational as you spoke to her. “Did you live here?” You knew the house wasn’t old enough, but it was likely built in the same place where other homes had once been. Ghosts often stayed in the same area, even when old buildings were torn down and new ones built.

She opened her mouth and screamed at you, her cold breath carrying the stench of fish. You fought back your gag reflex. “Lovely. What’s your name?” You didn’t offer your own name – a rookie mistake you’d made before you realized that the more a spirit knew about you, the more they could latch onto you.

She screamed again and darted toward you, getting right in your face. You turned, edging around the circle so that you could use your foot to shift the salt and close it. Suddenly, she reached for you and you gasped as she gripped your throat and lifted you.

Don’t panic. You reached into your pocket and just as your fingers found the Taoist jade amulet, you heard a crashing sound from the door, followed by someone racing down the stairs.

You barely had time to brace yourself before Jungkook slammed into you and fell to the floor, turning his body so he took the brunt of the impact. Before you could catch your breath, he rolled on top of you. When he grunted, you looked over his shoulder to see that the ghost had thrown herself into him, and he’d actually felt it. When she raised one hand, long nails curled into claws, you pushed Jungkook off of you and sat up.

You held up the amulet and said the words Mr. Lu had taught you, feeling your power curl up and flow through the amulet, which helped you direct it towards the ghost. She screamed as the tendrils of light wrapped around her form, and she pulled away from you. You followed, still chanting, and when she changed direction to come for you again, you were ready. You kicked out, hitting her squarely in the middle, never stopping the chant or your concentration on holding her with your power.

The glittering bands of light drew tighter, and suddenly she blew apart, her energy scattering into nothingness. Your ears rang in the silence that followed, and you drew in several deep breaths as you braced your hands on your knees. Finally, you looked over your shoulder to see Jungkook standing behind you, staring.

“Are you okay?” You asked, reaching for his arm to turn him slightly. You ran a hand down his back. “She hit you pretty hard.”

“What the fuck,” he breathed out, staring at you. “What the fuck just happened?”

“I banished her,” you said simply.

“Where? To the other world?”

“No. She’s completely gone. She had descended into complete darkness. There was no communicating with her. If I had banished her to the other world, it’s likely she would have found her way back here at some point, and if she grew strong enough? She could hurt someone.”

“So you can kill ghosts? Or I don’t know – I know they’re already dead, but they just… cease to exist?”

You held up the amulet. “This amulet absorbs their dark energy, basically. It helps me direct my power, and then when they disintegrate, the amulet absorbs the darkness. After enough time passes, I perform a cleansing ritual to help rid the amulet of that darkness. It works better when I keep everything in balance.”

Jungkook stared at it and then back at you. Then he covered his face with his hands and took a deep breath, muttering something to himself that you couldn’t quite hear.

You bit your lip, wondering if he was about to blow, as Jimin had predicted. Instead, he walked past you and up the stairs. You followed, where you found Jin examining the door now hanging crookedly, two of its hinges broken.

Jin shook his head at Jungkook. “This door opens in, not out. You didn’t have to break it.”

“He broke the door?” You looked at Jungkook in surprise, who scowled back at you.

“It’s not the sturdiest door in the world, but I’m surprised he was able to break it like this.” Jin looked over at you. “Are you okay?”

You gave him a thumbs up. “No more ghostie either. I’ll help you set up new talismans to keep any new ones away. This town is lousy with them. They’re kind of everywhere.”

You went to check in with Namjoon and Chloe, who were reviewing the recording. “Pretty straightforward,” you told them. You heard Jungkook snort behind you.

“That was wild,” Jimin said, looking at you in amazement. “Like, I couldn’t see it, but I saw this light burst out of you, and I saw a shadow maybe? Crazy.”

“I told you – I’ve learned a lot over the last three years.” You looked at Jungkook again, trying to read his mood, but it was difficult. He was obviously listening as you talked about the ghost with Namjoon and Chloe, but he didn’t ask any questions. He did, however, lean forward to watch the video as you pointed out where the ghost was, what was happening, and your individual experience with what happened.

“Why did she have fish breath?” Jimin asked.

“Well, I say fish breath, but it was more of a rotten scent that was vaguely fishy? Dark entities often have a weird smell, at least to me. Sometimes Taehyung can smell it too. The darker they are, the more foul the odor they’re exuding.”

“Did you smell anything?” Jin asked Jungkook, who shook his head.

“I felt it though,” Jungkook said quietly. “When the ghost hit me, I felt it, and I felt the cold.”

“She was drawing on big energy reserves at that point,” you said, “so a lot of times, when ghosts do that, regular people will be able to see, hear or even feel them.”

Namjoon and Chloe accepted Jin’s invitation to stay for dinner and Jungkook went outside with Jimin to get the grill going. Soon, the smell of roasting meat drifted in from outside as you sat at the kitchen table with Chloe, who was helping you get the talismans ready.

You bit your lip as you concentrated on drawing the last one and then murmured the words that helped you seal the talisman with your power. Jungkook paused behind you at one point, watching you do it, before he took another plate of meat out of the fridge and headed outside with it.

“He was pretty upset when he came in and realized what was happening earlier,” Chloe said as she helped you hang the talismans at strategic locations around the house. You hid them as best you could but made a mental note to pick up some pictures they could hang to hide the most visible ones.

“I know,” you replied. “I figured he would be, but he needed to see it to believe it. If we’d waited for him, he would have been arguing with me or interfering with what I was doing downstairs.”

“I’ve never seen anyone move that fast,” Chloe said. “Dude vaulted the chair and broke the door down about 5 seconds after he figured out what he was looking at on the screen.”

“He’s… impulsive.” And protective, you thought.

Soon, the house was filled with people – some from the fraternity, others from Jungkook’s team, and a few Jin knew from the drama department.

“This is like, Jungkook’s first birthday party,” Sera said when she arrived. “He always said he wasn’t into birthday parties.”

You felt another little stab of guilt at her words; you hated to think you had ruined that for him. Of course, you hadn’t been one to celebrate birthdays in the past three years either, though Taehyung usually got you a gift and a cake despite your protests.

You walked Namjoon and Chloe outside after they ate, and when you returned, Jin was bringing out a cake. “Happy 21st,” he said as he set it down on the table.

Jungkook hesitated to blow out the candles and when he looked up at you, you knew it was because you had always done it together. You raised your brows, a silent question in your eyes. At his tentative nod, you joined him at the table.

“There we go,” Jin said approvingly as he put his arms around both of you. “Make your wishes and blow.”

You didn’t have to think about your wish because it was the same one you’d thought of for the past three years. When you met Jungkook’s eyes and he quirked his brow, you smiled and then you blew out the candles together.

Alcohol flowed freely after that, and though Jungkook still wasn’t exactly talking to you, you felt his eyes tracking you around the room, as if he always knew where you were and who you were talking to. You were nursing a mixed drink when Jimin suddenly announced it was truth or dare time. A collective groan was his response from half the crowd, though a lot of people were into the idea.

“Is this high school?” Sera complained as she took a seat in the circle.

You joined her, noting Jungkook’s position directly across from you. And when Jimin went first, making sure the spinning bottle pointed directly to you, you weren’t surprised by what he did next.

“I default to the birthday boy,” Jimin said, sitting back smugly.

You waited for Jungkook to speak and after a few moments, he asked, “Truth or dare?”

You let out the breath you didn’t realize you were holding and said, “Truth.”

He nodded. “Why did you really leave?”

Surprised that he had come right out with that question, here, in front of everyone, you hesitated. You’d known he would eventually ask – you just weren’t expecting it to be so public. The tension between you was noticeable, to everyone, and silence fell over the group as they realized something serious was happening.

Your heart was racing, and your palms felt damp. Still, you knew that you needed to be honest if you were going to close the distance between you. You met his eyes. “I left because I was angry.”

The hurt look flashed across his expression so quickly, you would have missed it if you didn’t know him so well. The tension broke when he stood up and walked out the front door to stand on the porch.

Jimin nodded towards the door. “Go talk to him. Work it out.”

You closed the door behind you as you stepped out onto the porch, not wanting an audience. Jungkook was sitting on the steps. You could hear the murmur of voices from people who were in the backyard. You waited to see if Jungkook would speak first, but he just sat quietly, looking at the sun setting over the horizon to the left. When a fine drizzle started falling, you leaned forward, hugging your knees.

“I was angry and jealous,” you finally said. “I’m not proud of it, and it’s not the only reason, but it is the reason I went to the lake that night. And it’s the reason I called my uncle and made plans to leave.”

“I knew I made you angry,” he finally said. “I’m sorry I yelled at you that day, and I hated myself for throwing Grace in your face like that. Like anything was your fault.”

“It wasn’t just that I was angry with you,” you explained. “I was angry with myself too, for being so weak. I didn’t like hearing what you had to say, or the way you said it, but some of it was the truth. I was holding you back.”

“You weren’t…”

“Yes, I was. We both know I was, Jungkook. You should have had the choice to pick this school without worrying about me.”

“And so you took the choice away from me,” he shot back, turning to look at you. “You said I should have had the choice, but you took that from me when you left.”

You stared at him. “I didn’t want you to have to worry about me.”

“Do you really think my senior year was carefree because you left? How could you think that, y/n? I worried about you every fucking day because I was scared for you. I worried about something happening to you, and I wouldn’t be there to help you.” He pushed his hands through his hair, a move that signaled his frustration. “Do you really think that I had no choice before you left? I was looking at other colleges – ones where I thought you’d be safer. This isn’t the only university where I could get a scholarship, or where I could study film and production.”

“But there was Grace, too. And even if it wasn’t her, I knew there would be other girlfriends, or whatever. You’d get married one day, and I needed to learn to be independent.”

He snorted, his tongue pushing against his cheek. “Oh, okay. So you blew up our lives to leave me open for my future wife? Bullshit, y/n.”

Now you were angry. “It’s not bullshit! I was… in the way. I felt like that at home, all the time, and I couldn’t bear to start feeling that way with you, too. So yes, I was jealous, I guess, and sad, and mad, and scared, and a whole lot of other things I didn’t even figure out until later. I was a mess, and I didn’t want to drag you down with me. So, I left.”

“Without giving me a choice,” he said. “Don’t you realize why I was factoring you into my choices? Because I never asked Grace what her college plans were. Not even once. But you? You were always in my plan. I never would have left without you, and if I could have stopped you from leaving, I would have. It wasn’t about pitying you, either, or whatever other bullshit you came up with. I was sad that day in your room. And yeah, maybe I was frustrated in some ways. I was mostly mad at Grace for arguing with me about you, and I never blamed you for her being jealous. That day, all those frustrations just spilled out, and then I was embarrassed about it. It wasn’t just you – I wanted to be alone for a while, before baseball camp. Then, when I was there, I regretted not talking to you before I left.”

“I’m sorry,” you said quietly. “I guess I didn’t look at it that way – like I was taking the choice from you. I thought, in the long run, it might be easier for you if I left, I guess.”

“Then why come back?”

“Because I missed you,” you admitted. You felt the burn of tears in your eyes and took a breath. “Every day.”

You scooted closer to him, half expecting him to move away from you. But he didn’t – he just looked at you, his brown eyes glossy with tears he was also holding back. When you put your arms around him and laid your head on his shoulder, he suddenly shifted and wrapped his arms around you.

You took a shuddering breath, and then another, fighting back the tears. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he finally whispered. He turned his head, pressing his face against your neck. “God, I missed you so much.”

You stayed like this for a while, until the rain began falling in earnest, carrying the scent of grass and flowers with it. It was comforting and reminded you of summer showers in Nana’s garden, when you and Jungkook had sat on the porch, or when you had taken your shoes off and jumped in the puddles.

“Good day for puddle jumping,” you both said, and then laughed.

Jungkook hugged you closer for a moment, sniffing your hair. “You still smell the same,” he said, sounding happy about that.

“I haven’t changed my shampoo or body wash,” you admitted, pulling back to smile at him. He’d been the one to pick out those scents for you in high school. Though you didn’t say it, you could see that he understood why you’d never changed them. Scent was important to him – it always had been – and he often associated memory with scents. You’d wanted him to remember you as he always had.

Jungkook stood up and then took your hand to pull you up as well. “Come on, I want to get drunk now. I’m officially 21, and it’s allowed.”

You laughed. “Like that ever stopped you before. I still remember hauling your drunk ass home from Jimin’s that night you had beer for the first time.”

Jungkook did get drunk, but he was a happy drunk. The others had abandoned truth or dare after you went outside, but Jungkook joined in playing video games, and he sang when someone put in a karaoke DVD. Jimin pulled him into a Little Mix dance with Ayeong at one point, and you fell over laughing at their sexy girl dance moves, which Jungkook imitated shamelessly.

By midnight, most people had left, though a few hung around as Jin put in a horror movie that you and Jungkook had chosen to watch. Jimin looked at you incredulously as you both laughed at the ghosts onscreen, but you shrugged at him as you said, “This kind of thing just isn’t that scary.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jungkook this happy,” Ayeong said quietly. She sat with Jimin, Sera, Erin and Jin on the large sofa, while you and Jungkook were on Jungkook’s leather beanbag.

Jimin noted how Jungkook was sprawled across your lap like a puppy as he laughed at something onscreen, and your fingers carded through his hair in a soothing gesture.

“The happiest I’ve ever seen Jungkook, or the saddest, or the angriest? It was always because of y/n,” Jimin told her. “He’s been different since she left, and now, he’s got a piece of his heart back. Trust me, you’ll see a totally different side to him now that she’s here.”

You were falling asleep by the time the move was over. You opened your eyes drowsily and checked the time. “I should go.”

“No,” Jungkook said. He also looked tired as he pulled you up. “You can sleep here. It’s late anyway.”

“I mean, I guess I could take the couch,” you said. Sera and Erin were gathering their things, though it looked like Ayeong was planning to stay with Jimin.

“No, in my room,” Jungkook said stubbornly.

Sera wiggled her brows at you, obviously fighting back a laugh, and you blushed. “Jungkook, we haven’t shared a bed since we were like, twelve. The couch is fine.”

But drunk Jungkook would not be swayed, and you found yourself pulled out of the room. When you passed Jin in the hallway, he closed his eyes and said, “I pretend I do not see it.”

“Oh my god,” you muttered, your face on fire now as Jungkook pulled you into his room. “Jungkook, they’re getting the wrong idea….”

“I don’t care,” he said. “I just got you back, and I don’t want you to leave yet.”

In the bathroom, he let you use his face wash, and he pulled an extra toothbrush out of a drawer. He picked up a brush and started brushing your hair as you brushed your teeth, and you made a concerted effort not to meet his eyes in the large mirror. You had some unscented face moisturizer in your bag, which you used now, and Jungkook sniffed it before using some as well.

He left the bathroom for a minute and returned with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. “These are Ayeong’s – she leaves extra stuff in Jimin’s room and said you could borrow them.”

You changed quickly and when you exited the bathroom, he had changed as well. From a mini fridge in the corner, he pulled out two bottles of water and quickly downed one before passing you the other. Then he guided you to the bed and tucked you in before climbing in behind you.

When Jungkook wrapped one arm around you and buried his face in your hair, you jumped. Would you even be able to sleep like this? You weren’t sure.

“Shhh,” he murmured sleepily. “You think too much. Go to sleep.”

You shifted a bit, getting more comfortable. When you rested your hand on his at your stomach, he linked your fingers together. He was warm, and safe. He feels like home, you thought as you finally relaxed into sleep.

Hi guys! If you're still reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll post again next week since I made this update longer. I finished the whole story so I'll just kinda tweak it here and there, post 2 more parts and it'll be done. Thanks for reading :)

Chris Evans - Ana de Armas’s Birthday on the set of Ghosted 

GHOSTED (2023) dir. Dexter Fletcher

In this instance, ghosting someone is a good idea 👻

I don't know who needs this but If they ghosted you or dropped you, that means they don't want you in their lives. But you keep thinking about them. You shouldn't. You can either forget about them and move on, you can even keep them in the back of your mind. or, the bad option for most, you can mope forever and torture yourself. But the important question is, what would they want you to do. If they're the ones who left your life, and want nothing to do with you, why would they want you to have anything to do with them.

Vent

my body hurts and everything hurts, I feel like I'm back to square one. I had a friend group of 4(including me), it grew gradually over the years but it was always us four in the center of it, we were inseperable until we weren't. my first friend (who i created the friend group with) dropped me, then a year later I was slowly drifting apart from another, (reminder these friends are/were pratically my brothers) and then I made a really nice friend, i trusted him with my life, then he js ghosted me, and so I was so everything about that, and then on the last day of school sumn happened between me n my friend group (im also the only female in it, they make sexist and racist jokes wow im remembering how toxic they were jesus) me sobbing, them teasing me, etc, and it was so like, idk, because I was sobbing and he did nothing. I had noone else to trust (Except 1 online friend) at the time and he did nothing. that was the last day of school and none of them ever reached out to contact me and apologize, i bet a few of them would if they had my info but none of them did, I ended on good terms with one because we talked at the end of the day, he was always better than most of them tbf. anyway, the one i trusted, my best friend, basically my brother, just like left me. after all we went through, years and years and years, didn't care. I hate him so much but I hate myself for hating him. I don't know who I am without any of them, and it's hard to say who I'll hang out with in the next school year. I feel like im noone at this point, just everything about me, gone and wasted, I don't know, it's all so js fucked. the 4 of us said we would grow up and live together, the 4 of us, happy, or atleast live across/next to eachother. i hate it all, i feel like this is my fault but i know its not. but it could be. maybe i just like unattract people, this always happens to me. every time, i dont think i'll ever know why because each time i do something different. I could be your comfort friend, the friend who trauma dumps, the person who fucking follows you around like a dog. and i'll still get dropped, kicked out on the street left for rats to eat. (hey that rhymes). its so fucked, idk who i am or what i am or what i'll do. I wanna go back to them, I wanna, I shouldn't but I know if I have the option I will. I'm scared. for me. for me and him. for everything and everyone. I'm tired. and it all just hit me. if you've read this far I appreciate you, thank you. (guys ignore the tags please im not edgy bart simpson wallpaper kid please I beg of u)

thinking abt how he ghosted me on thanksgiving and one of the last messages i sent to him was abt me being thankful/grateful 4 him in my life

storytime bc why not i want all of tumblr to see what this man made me go through

okay so we go back to last year when i met this man through a mutual friend, he requested me on my instagram account and i was like weird but whatever, days pass and he comments on a post i did and he was so nice and has the same interest as me so i was like fuck it im gonna talk to him (at first i thought he was gay af bc he liked harry styles but we’ll see right???)

well, we start talking and he’s so nice, he was a year older but that’s no problem, things start to get weird when a random day out of nowhere he blocks me, this mama attitude i swear it gets worse by the end of this storytime.

well then like in february (he blocked me in december) he talks to me out of nowhere like hi oph i’m sorry i was at a mental hospital and i’m like oh damn dude i hope ur okay bc i’ve been there and i know how u feel right? okay, things go well and he even called me baby and shit and we were flirting non stop right, well one day out of nowhere he blocks me AGAIN, DAMN BOY WHAT IVE DONE TO YOU???? we’ll time passes he unblocks me and goes with it like nothing, weird

at this point i was crying to my friend about that and she was like “block him, he deserves it” but i couldn’t

then he starts with the plot of your messages don’t get sent to my phone, liar, he is a men he is a liar a ghost, elliot, i hope u rot in hell

well i was so damn pathetic that i decided to talk to him again after this damn plot and he hasn’t responded since, it’s been so many months but i don’t care he is the smallest men i’ve ever met.

his name is elliot, don’t try to find him pls I BEG PLS but be careful bc that name only is from the worst men u could find in this planet

Some of y'all have never been ghosted by potential employers and it shows

#me I’m just me I’m just a girl

lmao abt my last post… he ghosted me 😝💗😋🤗