Jungkook slides a bottle of water over towards me as I stare down at the salad in front of me. I play around with the cherry tomatoes, pushing them around the bowl with my fork.

"Hey Jungkook?"

He looks up, "Hm?"

I hesitate before setting down the fork. "I'm sorry for acting all weird today. It's just..." The look on my face gives away the answer, and he knows exactly what I'm thinking.

He immediately frowns. "I know, Haru. I can understand why it would be upsetting to see me and Taera like that, but," he pauses, taking my hand, "I promise you, it wasn't what it looked like."

I remember Namjoon's words in my head. Haru trust me. I know more than you when it comes to Jungkook and how he feels about someone. I've known him for over 7 years.

I gulp. "So, what exactly happened?"

He takes a deep breath. "A little after you left to go down to the lobby, I heard a knock on the door. I had assumed it was you and was wondering how you got back so fast, and thinking that maybe you forgot something. But when I opened the door, it was Taera. I was about to tell her to leave when she just..."

He doesn't have to say anything else. From the way his eyebrows are knit together, the way his eyes are filled with despondency, and the way his words yearned for understanding, I have a strong, strong feeling that he's telling the truth.

"Now, I'm not gonna try to force you to believe me, because if I were you, I wouldn't believe me either," his shoulders slump, "I would hate me. And if you hate me, that's okay." He pauses, gulping. "A lot of people hate me."

Guilt slowly takes over my body as I stare at him. He feels defeated and upset, I can tell just by looking at him.

Not on my watch.

I softly smile. "I believe you."

He looks up, eyes lighting up.

"I know how Taera is. She's always out to get every guy possible. So," I gently squeeze his hand assuringly, "I believe you."

He gently smiles, eyes slowly losing the hollow look they were in just moments before.

"And also, it may seem like a lot of people hate you, but Jungkook, there's a lot more people that love you. There's a lot more people that look at you and see their entire world in front of them." Like me, I want to add.

But I stop myself.

ehhh i don't really like this chapter tbh