Chapter 1
*10 years earlier: May 2009*
“Go Yoongi Go! Kick his butt!”
“Here rooting for him again huh?”
“Ugh. Hi Jungkook.”
“Wow Shanola. Is that any way to acknowledge an old friend?”
“What do you want?”
“I don’t want anything. I’m here for the same purpose as you... to cheer on a friend.”
“What friend? I know you’re not talking about Yoon.”
“Nah. That friendship ended last year when he stole you away from me.”
Shanola glared at him from the corner of her eye. “WE... you and I... were never together. And Yoon didn’t steal me away from you. We were all friends until you started acting jealous all of a sudden.”
“Sure. It was my fault.”
“Kookie, I am not going to have this conversation with you right now. I am trying to watch Yoon box. If you would like to continue this later, we can.”
“No, that’s okay. You just enjoy the fight. I’ll catch you later.” He then kissed her cheek causing her to snatch her face away in disgust. He let out a light chuckle then walked away.
“Gah, I hate him.” Shanola said through gritted teeth.
The crowd continued to cheer as Yoongi totally pulverized his opponent. Before they knew it, the guy was on the floor as the referee proceeded to count.
“1... 2... 3... 4...”
“Stay down!!” One onlooker screamed.
“5... 6... 7... 8...”
“Yes! Yes! This fight is over!!” Shanola yelled.
“...9...10!!!”
The crowd went wild with excitement. The referee lifted Yoongi’s arm calling him out as the winner of the match. Shanola ran down the bleachers and into the ring aggressively throwing her arms around him embracing him as tight as she could.
Jungkook stood in the bleachers snarling and chuckling under his breath before turning away to leave the gymnasium.
“I’m so proud of you Yoon!”
“Thank you Shan but you’re squeezing too hard. It hurts.”
“Oops! I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. Let’s get out of here.”
“Don’t you want to wash up first?”
“Nah, I’ll wash up at home. You know I hate the showers at this school. They’re filthy.”
“Okay.”
Yoongi threw an arm around Shanola’s neck as they left the ring. Fans were still approaching and jumping all over him. He was the school hero now and everyone was proud of him.
Later that night...
“Get some sleep Yoongi. It’s getting late.”
“I’ll sleep when you sleep.”
“Well, I’ve gotta go home.”
“You’re not staying here tonight?”
“What?! No! Have I ever stayed over? My parents would kill me!”
“You know my parents don’t mind Shan. And we wouldn’t be bothered.”
“Haha. Yeah right. You mean your older brother won’t mind. And I darn sure am not going to spend the night with a boy who gets excited by the thought of a girl in his presence. If you catch my drift.”
“Oh, you mean my switch is turned on by the mere sight of you?”
Shanola burst out laughing. “Wow. Yeah. Something like that.”
“Well I’ll have you know that I am in no way interested in that sort of behavior. I am a gentleman.”
“Uh-huh.” She said sarcastically with her arms folded.
“And... AND! I would let you sleep in my room while I slept on the couch.”
“Yoon, I can’t stay. I told you my parents would kill me. I wanna live to see our graduation ya know!”
“Fine.” He groaned.
“Why are you acting like this anyway? We’re best friends. It’s not like we’re dating. Despite what Kookie and the majority of the school thinks.”
“Kookie still being a pain huh? I saw him up in the bleachers talking to you.”
“Yeah, same old, same old.”
Yoongi shook his head.
“I don’t know what we’re gonna do with that boy.”
“I don’t either but hopefully someday he’ll get over his jealousy.”
“Yeah well. Until then, I’ve gotta go home. It’s after midnight and my curfew ends in an hour. Takes about that long to get home.”
“Just think, next year we’ll be living together and we won’t have to worry about a curfew.”
“Yoon, are you still going on about that? That’s not an official decision sir.”
“Oh, but it will be.”
“Haha. I’ve gotta go. Bye!”
“Good night my Shan. Get home safely.”
“Good night my Yoon. And I’ll try.” She winked before heading out the door to the driveway to get in her car and head home.
Yoongi peeked out of the blinds to make sure she got in her car safely. Once she drove off he closed the blinds and cut out the living room lamp. His brother was due to be home from work any minute so it was Yoongi’s job to make sure the house was clean and to have something for his brother to eat once he arrived. If those things weren’t done, there were always consequences.
As he finish washing up the last bit of dishes in the sink, the front door opened. He checked to see if it was his brother and it was. As per usual, he didn’t look happy. Yoongi knew that either he was going to go to bed without any interaction or... well, someone was going to get hurt.
“Yoongi!”
“What Jun? I’m in the kitchen.”
“Oh. What are you doing?”
“I just finished the last bit of dishes that needed washing.”
“Do you have my dinner ready?”
“No, I haven’t had ti-”
Before he could finish his sentence, a slap stung his left cheek.
Yoongi glared at his brother with so much anger and contempt as he clenched his fist prepared to knock him out in one fell swoop.
“Ooooo... he’s angry now folks. Aw, what are you gonna do little bro? You wanna hit me? Come on, hit me. Go ahead.”
Tears began to well in Yoongi’s eyes trying his best to hold back from hitting his brother.
“What are you a coward?! COME ON, HIT ME!! You’re a tough guy! Do it!” He began shoving Yoongi until he pinned him against the wall. “You’ll never be anything but a bum. You are me and I’m dad. You’re a born loser just like the both of us. Dad died penniless and so will you.”
He scoffed at the sight of how pathetic he thought Yoongi looked at that moment. “Pfft. A boxer? Yeah right. Get out of my sight.”
Yoongi continued to glare at him.
“What? You gonna leap? Then leap frog! Ribbit, ribbit!” He laughed out loud pushing Yoongi upside the head. “Get out of here. Go to bed! You make me sick. Go!”
He walked out of the kitchen and to his bedroom slamming the door then locking it.
“Slam that door again and I’ll slam your head against a wall! Ya hear me!!??”
Yoongi didn’t respond but instead angrily punched his pillow imagining it as his brother.
*******************************
*buzz buzz*
The vibrating noise drew his attention to the bedside bureau where his phone lay. He picked it up to see that Shanola texted letting him know she’d made it home safely. The text was from 45 minutes ago. He thought he’d better reply so she won’t think anything is wrong.
Yoongi: “Hi my Shan. Thanks for letting me know you made it home.”
Shanola: “Yoon! It’s about time you replied. I thought something was wrong or perhaps you had actually fallen asleep for once.”
Yoongi: “Haha. Nope, all is well here. I just got in bed. Listen, I’ll text you tmw okay? I’m beat. Maybe I will do that thing...uh...what do you call it? Oh yeah, sleep.”
Shanola: “LOL. Okay. Well, good night. TTYL.”
He didn’t bother replying and placed his phone face down beside him on his bed. He laid back and as soon as his head touched the pillow, he was out like a light.
A few hours later he was awakened at 4 AM on the dot to relieve himself in the bathroom. When he returned to his room he plopped down on his bed, tussling his hair and checked his phone to see if he had any messages. There was one from an unknown number. He almost deleted it without opening it but his curiosity got the best of him and he checked it anyway.
Message: “Hey, it’s Jungkook. I wanted to see if you’d like to meet me for lunch tomorrow afternoon. Text me back to let me know.”
Yoongi checked the time of the message and it was sent 2 hours earlier. He replied, “Okay, where?” thinking that maybe Jungkook will read it later but surprisingly he was still awake because he answered quite quickly.
Jungkook: “We can meet at Carl’s Jr. at 1:30. I’ve been craving their burgers lately. Is that okay with you?”
Yoongi: “Carl’s Jr.? That’s over an hour away. How am I supposed to get there? I don’t have money for a bus.”
Jungkook: “Ask Shanola to bring you. She’s still got a car right?”
Yoongi: “Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”
Jungkook: “See you then.”
Yoongi closed Jungkook’s message and immediately sent Shanola a text asking if she could give him a ride. It took about an hour before she responded but she didn’t sound pleased from how he read the message.
Shanola: “Yoon, are you kidding me? That’s an hour away. Are you giving me gas money?”
Yoongi: “Of course! I wouldn’t ask if I couldn’t.”
Shanola: “Yeah right. Okay. I can take you. What time do you need to be there so I know when to come get you?”
Yoongi: “He wants to meet by 1:30.”
Shanola: “Okay. And whom are you meeting with may I ask?”
Yoongi: “Jungkook.”
Shanola: “What?! Why? Hell no. I’m not driving you to see him.”
Yoongi: “Why not? I’m sure he just wants to hash things out Shan.”
Shanola: “No Yoon. Jungkook is bad news anymore. I’m telling you. Since we’ve stopped being friends he’s acting stranger than usual and I just don’t trust him anymore. He hangs out with the wrong crowd anymore Yoon. I’m begging you, don’t meet with him.”
Yoongi: “Shan, it’ll be alright. I just want to see what he wants.”
Shanola: “You are way too trusting.”
Yoongi: “It’ll be fine. Just stay nearby in case anything does go down so I can make a quick getaway.”
Shanola: “Sheesh. You’re making us sound like Bonnie and Clyde.”
Yoongi: “You mean, we aren’t?”
Shanola: “Yoongi, I’ll fight for you but I damn sure not dying for you. I’m not THAT ride or die chick.”
Yoongi: “That’s too bad. Because I would die for you.”
Shanola: “Yoongi be serious.”
Yoongi: “Oh you really don’t understand how serious I am do you?”
Shanola: “Whatever. I’ll be over in a few hours. Get back to sleep. Bye.”
Shanola doesn’t reply. Yoongi smiles then slowly lies back on his bed eventually drifting back to sleep.
*BANG! BANG! BANG!*
“Yoongi! Wake up! Time to help me with the lawn!” Jun shouted from outside of Yoongi’s bedroom door.
“I can’t... I’ve things to do Jun!” He groaned.
“Yoongi, you better get your ass out of that bed or so help me I’ll-”
“ALRIGHT!!” Yoongi angrily tossed the covers and sat up on the side of his bed rubbing his face.
He emerged from his room all disheveled, shuffling his feet to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He looked at the time on the wall clock in the hallway and his eyes stretched. “12:15?! Shoot!!”
He ran back to his room and changed into a pair of ripped jeans, a dingy t-shirt and a NYY ball cap. He peeked out the window noticing that Shanola was waiting in the driveway. He checked his phone and saw that she’d sent him a message at noon letting him know that she was there. He quickly ran out of his room bumping into his brother in the hallway.
“Whoa! Watch where you’re going! Are you ready to get started?” Jun asked.
“Uh... listen Jun, I’ve got other business to take care of first but I promise I’ll help when I get back.”
He starts to run off when Jun grabs him by the back of his shirt. “No! You have business here to handle first! That lawn isn’t going to mow itself and I refuse to do it alone.”
Yoongi clenched his fist. “I promise I will help when I get back Jun, let me go!”
“No! Whatever you’re doing can wait! This is more important!”
Yoongi felt himself growing angry then all of a sudden he took his clenched fist and punched his brother in face knocking him to the floor. He stood with his eyes stretched not believing what he’d just done. “I’m sorry... I’m sorry. But I have to go!”
Meanwhile, Shanola was honking the horn from growing impatient. Finally, he’d come out of the house and hurried over to her car quickly getting in.
“Bout time! What took you so long?” She asked.
“I lost track of time that’s all. Let’s go please.” He said nearly out of breath.
“Yes sir.”
The drive was pretty silent. Shanola was still upset that Yoongi chose to meet with Jungkook despite her warning.
“It should be up here on the left.” He said looking up from the GPS screen.
“Yeah, I see it.”
She turned into the parking lot and dropped Yoongi at the door. She could see Jungkook sitting by the window looking at his phone.
“There he is.” She said.
“Where?”
“Sitting by the window right here.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, at least I know he’s here. He’s probably gonna be pissed that we’re late but oh well.”
“Yeah well, good luck and I’ll just park the car and listen to some music or something. Text me if anything goes down.”
“Will do.”
Yoongi hopped out of the car and jogged up to the door. Shanola waited for a few seconds to see how they’d interact. When Jungkook noticed Yoongi he stood up from the booth and shook his hand then gestured for him to have a seat. Shanola took a deep breath and drove away to find a close parking spot.
“Thanks for coming.”
“No problem Kookie. I was surprised to receive your text. I didn’t have your number in my phone anymore so I had no idea who it was from.”
“Ah. Yeah well, I figured that why I had to make sure you knew it was me in the message.”
“Mm-hmm. So, what’s up? Why did you want to meet?”
“No particular reason. I just missed hanging out and you were on my mind so...”
Yoongi glanced at him suspiciously. “Alright. So, did you already order?”
“Yeah. I ordered for the both of us. I remember what your favorite is. I mean, unless your taste has changed?”
“Nah, I still like the sandwich combo.”
“Okay. Good.”
The waitress brought their food and drinks over to the table placing their straws down. Jungkook gave her a flirtatious smile and she returned one, even causing her to blush a little. Yoongi opened his straw and shook his head after the waitress walked away. “Still the same old Kookie I see.”
“Huh?” Jungkook said after admiring the waitress as she left their table.
“I said still the same old Kookie. The biggest flirt I know.”
“A flirt? Me? Nah. I just enjoy the finer things in life.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Speaking of which, how’s Shan? Did she drop you off?”
Yoongi glared at him before taking a bite of his sandwich. “She’s fine. She’s in the parking lot waiting for me.”
“Oh? Why didn’t you invite her in?”
“Well, I thought you just wanted to meet with me.”
“That’s true Yoongi, but don’t be rude. Invite her in. I’m sure she’s hungry.”
“Nah, I’m sure she’d rather not-”
“Invite her in.” Jungkook shot a very stern expression in Yoongi’s direction. And for whatever reason, it ran shivers down Yoongi’s spine.
He picked up his phone to text her but Jungkook stopped him. “How about you call her and put her on speaker phone. I’d love to hear her voice.”
Yoongi didn’t know what Jungkook was up to but he didn’t like it. He called Shanola placing her on speaker phone causing the whole restaurant to hear their conversation unfortunately.
*******************************
Shanola: “Hello? Everything okay in there?”
Yoongi: “Yeah uh, Jungkook wanted to invite you to eat with us.”
Shanola: “What for?”
Jungkook: “Because I’m a gentleman and that’s what we do.”
Shanola: “Am I on speaker phone right now?”
Yoongi/Jungkook: “Yes/Yeah.”
Shanola: “Well, I appreciate the offer Kookie but I’m not hungry. You guys enjoy.”
Jungkook: “Are you sure? We were just about to reminisce about old times.”
Shanola: “Yes, I’m sure. Enjoy!”
Jungkook: “Okay then.”
Shanola ended the call without saying another word. Yoongi knew that she was now pretty angry that he allowed that situation to happen.
“Shan’s still shy about being around me it seems.” Jungkook said.
“She’s not shy around you Kookie, she’s just said she’s not hungry.”
“Oh well, more for us then. How’s your sandwich?”
“Not bad.”
“Good. So, as I was telling Shan, I wanted to reminisce about old times. I mean, we’re about to graduate high school soon and what better way to celebrate our accomplishment than by reminiscing. Am I right?”
“Uh sure. I guess.” Yoongi took the last bite of his sandwich and began nibbling on his crinkle fries.
“One memory in particular stands out to me. It was from last year at my 18th birthday party. Remember when you guys came by- you and Shan?”
“How could I forget.”
“Yeah. It was fun right?”
“Yeah.”
“Remember all the alcohol and beer kegs? You got pretty sh*tfaced! You and Shan actually. She was looking pretty sexy that night too.”
Yoongi’s hands began to shake. Jungkook down at them with a smirk on his face.
“She got so drunk she kissed me. I remember thinking that it was wrong but it felt so right, ya know?”
The anger became apparent in Yoongi’s eyes and Jungkook was enjoying every minute of it. He loved getting a rise out of him.
“I pushed her away for a moment but she kept attacking me every 5 minutes. Eventually we wound up in my bedroom.”
At this point Yoongi was seeing red and stopped eating.
“The look on your face when we came out of my room was priceless. Tell me Yoongi, did you really think you had a chance with her that night? What was your plan, to get her drunk so she could sleep with you? Even in her drunken stupor she knew whom she wanted and it damn sure wasn’t you.”
Yoongi slammed his fist on the table. “You shut you f**king mouth. She only slept with you out of pity. She doesn’t like you man. When the hell are you going to get over yourself? If you achieved such an outstanding goal, then why does she want nothing to do with you? You want to make me out to be the loser when in reality it’s you. You’re the loser Kookie. We used to be best friends. We’ve known each other since preschool and you let this get in between us. You let your lust for her get in between us. You’re pathetic. Get some help dude.” He then stood up from the table. “Thanks for the lunch.”
Jungkook eye’s were watering and his lips were tightly pinched. His hands were clenched into fists and before Yoongi made out of the door he rushed up behind him tapping him on the shoulder then punched him in the face once he turned around.
“Get up! Come on! Get up you f**king piece of trash! Fight me! Come on!”
“I’m not going to fight you Kookie. Go back to your seat and leave me alone dude. I let you get that sucker punch but you won’t get anymore, I can promise you that.”
“Oh yeah! The great high school boxing champ ladies and gentlemen! He thinks he’s hot stuff because he’s won a few state championships! Let’s give him a round of applause!”
As Jungkook sarcastically clapped, Yoongi stood to his feet wiping the small bit of blood from his lip.
Shanola flipped through the songs on her iPhone trying to find something upbeat to listen to when she glanced in her rearview mirror seeing what looked like a fight that broke out between Yoongi and Jungkook. She quickly shut off her car, grabbed the keys and ran up to the entrance of the restaurant.
Jungkook noticed her. “Oh! Speak of the devil. Looks who’s coming to save you Yoon!”
“Shan, what are you doing? Go back to the car please.” Yoongi pleaded.
“No Yoon. What the hell is going on? Kookie, what did you do?”
“Nothing. I just told him about what happened between us. Remember? At my birthday party last year?”
Shanola’s eyes stretched.
“What? You didn’t want him to know? He was standing outside the door when we came out! Were you that drunk that you don’t remember him even being there?!” Jungkook laughed out loud.
“You son of a b*tch.”
“Wait. Shan, why didn’t you ever tell me? You gave me the impression that you didn’t remember anything because you never brought it up whenever we talked about the party.”
“Awww, were you embarrassed Shan?”
“I’m warning you Kookie, stay out of this. Yoongi, let’s go talk about this somewhere else.”
“Yeah, runaway...like you always do! You two deserve each other! I don’t even know why I’m jealous of such a loser anyway. You’ll never amount to anything. You’re a bum just like your father was!”
Yoongi then pushed Shan away and began beating the living crap out of Jungkook. He knocked him to the floor and hover over him punching him over and over and over again. He was so angry he couldn’t stop himself.
“Yoongi! Stop it!!” Shanola screamed.
Onlookers tried to intervene but he was too strong. The manager of the restaurant called the police and continued to try to pull Yoongi off of Jungkook.
“Yoongi! Please! Stop!!” Shanola continued to scream.
Finally a few guys were able to pull him up and sat him in a booth to calm down. “Stay here and cool off! You nearly murdered the poor boy!” One of the men said.
One patron who happened to be a doctor knelt down to check Jungkook’s wounds. “Young man! If you can hear me I’m just checking your wounds! Young man? ....” The doctor looks up at the other people standing around in a panic. “Young man?!”
Yoongi and Shanola turned their attention to the crowd standing around Jungkook.
“Everyone step back and give us some room! I have to perform CPR.”
Yoongi and Shanola looked at each other... “What?!” They jumped up from the booth and rushed over pushing their way through the crowd.
“Jungkook?! Kookie! Wake up! This isn’t funny!” Yoongi yelled. His heart was pounding at this point.
“Oh my God Yoon. I think you’ve killed him.” Shanola said.
“Stop, don’t say that. He’s...He’s fine. JUNGKOOK?!!”
The doctor eventually dropped his head and pronounced Jungkook dead. The timing couldn’t have been anymore perfect, the police finally arrived and once inside, the incident was thoroughly explained. Yoongi was arrested for aggravated assault and thrown in the county jail. Shanola stood outside of the cell constantly promising Yoongi that she’d get him out of there. Meanwhile, his brother showed up. The police asked him what he wanted to do since he was Yoongi’s guardian. He was free to post his bail or let him stay in jail. He gave once disappointed glance in Yoongi’s direction then turned to leave.
Yoongi ran up to the bars, “Jun! Jun! Please! Don’t leave me in here! I didn’t mean to kill him! Please! JUN!!!” The tears wet his cheeks and stained his shirt.
“Don’t worry Yoongi. I WILL figure something out. I’ll just have to-”
“Don’t bother Shan.”
“Wh-What?”
“Don’t bother. I deserve to be in here. I’m willing to take on whatever they throw at me. Just... Just go home alright. Don’t spend anymore time here than you need to. Just go....please?”
“But Yoongi, I want-”
“This isn’t about what you want Shanola! Right now I want you to leave! Now please, GO!”
She stepped back from the cell, her eyes filling with water.
“GO! Please...go.” His voice began to crack fighting back tears.
Shanola dropped her head then slowly turned to leave. Yoongi wept as he watched her go. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen but he knew it didn’t look good for him.
