Hooked | JJK | Twenty

  Pair: UndergroundFighter!Jungkook x f!reader 

Summary: Walking away from your brother was never what you intended, you just wanted to run from the ghosts of your past. But now you’re back home and ready to pick things up from where you left off. If only things could be that easy, right? 

There’s a new guy living in your house, your brother’s best friend, someone you can’t help but grow close to. And the more you find out about him, the more you learn about yourself. An underground fight club, a newspaper competition, an overprotective brother and secrets you can’t seem to escape from. Did you make the right decision by coming back? Or did you just put yourself and those you love in danger? 

Genre: Series, fluff, smut, angst. All the aus: non-idol, underground fighter, brother’s best friend, roommates, rap-scene, chaebol. 

Chapter warning: Theories, theories…………………..

WC: 7.8k

JULY 18TH | 10:21

You refused to hide things from Jeongguk anymore. As much as you were sure he might still find some of your ideas and decisions unreasonable or irresponsible, you needed to have the one person who would know everything about you. If not to make sure you were safe, then to have you back in situations like this one. 

You didn’t need to think too hard to figure out who had sent you that cryptic message, as the pet name the person used was disgustingly familiar. But Jeongguk still checked his own contact list and found out that the unknown number matched the one contact saved as Wonho’s. 

What did surprise you, however, and what had bugged you the whole weekend, was the meaning behind his words. You had already shared with Jeongguk that you thought Wonho might have known your sister at some point, as he obviously recognized her in you that day at the Circle. But this… Mentioning the birthmark was a whole new level of fucked up. 

Because it was true. 

You did have a matching birthmark with your sister and your brother. But while Namjoon’s was on his chest, yours and Hyejin’s were a little lower on your body. Yours and Hyejin’s was almost on the exact same spot on the back of your hip, low enough that it was hidden by your underwear at all times; even with the skimpy outfits you had to wear at the Circle, it was never showing. 

So for Wonho, or anyone, to know that your sister had that birthmark… It meant they knew her intimately and that notion made you sick to your stomach. 

It made Jeongguk angry for a whole different reason, but you both ignored those for the time being as you had more pressing matters at hand. Because you knew for a fact you had never seen Wonho before that night at the Warehouse and you knew all of your sister’s friends. 

Except there was a whole new side of her that you didn’t know anything about. And the idea that Wonho of all people could have been a part of that was as scary as it was sickening. 

You couldn’t just delete the text and ignore it, not when you already had so many suspicions involving that man, not when you already hated him for what he tried to do to Jeongguk by bringing a knife to the fighting ring, and not when you’ve been getting so many warning signs that Wonho was not a good guy. 

It was about damn time you started to get some answers and, this time, you knew where to start. 

“Baby, you look a little crazy right now.” Jeongguk followed you into his bedroom and watched you take the pink shoe box that you kept in your suitcase and bring it to the bed.

“You’ve seen nothing yet, my love.” you told him with trembling hands and a nervous skip to your heart. 

“You’re in investigation mode.” he noticed, carefully stepping into the room and leaning against the wall to give you space if you needed it. 

“I didn’t know my sister’s secret friends, but I know who her boyfriend was.” you started to tell him, gathering your courage to eventually open the box in front of you. “We learned his name from the police when they investigated her death, to make sure there was no foul play.” 

“You think he’ll know something that we don’t?” 

“If my sister knew Wonho, it’s likely that her boyfriend did, too.” your hand was resting on the box, but you just couldn't find it in yourself to open it. “It’s a long shot, but it’s the one we have.” 

Sensing your hesitation, Jeongguk walked closer and sat on the bed, in front of you. He didn’t push you, but he placed his hand on top of yours and said:

“Let’s do it together.” 

That’s all it took for you to nod and lift the lid on the shoe box, being hit with the memories of everything that it held. You turned it sideways so that Jeongguk could see the contents, too. He was curious as he peeked inside, but didn’t reach for anything. And as much as you wanted to show him everything, you had a mission. 

Thankfully for your aching heart, the object you were looking for was standing up in a corner of the box, so you were able to pull it up with no real damage to your already emotional state. 

“What is that?” Jeongguk watched you close the box again, holding the little notebook with the print of butterflies on the cover. 

“My sister’s phone book.” you told him as you ran your fingers through the creased corner with nostalgia nagging at you. “I never knew why I kept this, but maybe this is why.” 

“Did you not have smart phones back then?” 

You had to do quick math in your head, thinking back to your teenage years and when you and your sister were gifted your first phones. 

“We did,” you realized. “But Hyejin liked things like this. She liked to write things down, to use different colored pens and to use stickers. And I’m glad that she did, because we couldn’t get her phone back after the accident. We’re not even sure she had it with her when it happened.” 

“That’s odd,” Jeongguk thought out loud. “For a sixteen year old to go anywhere without her phone.” 

Those words put like that raised alarm bells inside your brain. It’s been so long, at least a decade had passed at this point, so you weren’t sure why you didn’t get Hyejin’s phone back. You definitely didn’t remember finding the device in her room, otherwise it would have ended inside this very box. 

You put that concern to the back of your mind as you flipped the first page open, knowing you would find it blank. It made you smile to know that it was something you still did to this day; skipping the first page in any notebook, just in case you wanted to use it as a pretty cover or introduction. Even if you never did. 

You weren’t sure if you picked up this habit from Hyejin or if she got it from you. 

On the second page, you saw the handwriting that was familiar, and so different from yours. While your own looked like chicken scratch most of the time, hers was neat and round. The small emoji stickers she drew next to each name on the page, just before the phone numbers, made you swallow a lump. 

Family:

Appa 💼

Eomma 💄

Joon-oppa 🐨

Yn 👭

“You’re doing good, dove.” Jeongguk encouraged you, making you let go of a shuddering breath. 

“Yeah, okay. His name should be here somewhere–” you started to scan the pages a little quicker, finding names of people you knew, friends you shared and then– “Oh, here! Ji-ho!” 

“Here, use my phone.” the boy offered, handing you his unblocked device, already opened on the keypad so you could type it out. When you looked at him in question, he added: “I would feel better if this guy didn’t have your contact.” 

“That’s true, thank you, baby.” 

You looked at the numbers on the page and typed them out on Guk’s phone, making the call. Before you even got a single ring in, you got the automatic message: 

“The number you’re trying to call has been disconnected.”

You sighed as you shook your head when Jeongguk frowned. 

You knew this was a possibility, you had changed phone numbers since back then as well, but you were still holding onto that sliver of hope that this might work. 

“We can try to look him up on Instagram?” Jeongguk offered and you nodded. 

You handed him the phone back and took your own to open the social media app, typing in Woo Ji-ho’s name to search profiles. You had to scroll a little and to look close to the profile pictures, but then you saw it. 

This was him, you were sure of it. You would never forget his face, even if the first and only time you ever saw it in person was at your sister’s funeral. 

Clicking on the profile to open the picture feed brought you a wave of emotions. It was your own prejudice that made you expect something different. Maybe a guy that looked mean, or perhaps someone who had done jail time for drug dealing or DWI. But this guy… Hyejin’s ex-boyfriend was a family man now. 

Literally. Most of the pictures were of his beautiful wife and two kids; a boy and a little girl. The feeling bubbling in your chest was a bitter one. This wasn’t fair. How come this guy got to live his life when your sister didn’t? Why could you? 

If she hadn’t– Would they have stayed together? Could this have been your niece and nephew instead? 

“Do you want to message him?” Jeongguk gently asked you with a hand caressing your arm, sensing you were getting too emotional again. “I can–”

“It’s okay, I can do it.” you offered him a thankful smile and hoped this guy checked his direct messages. 

You typed out and hit send: ‘Hello. This is Kim Yn. I’m not sure if you’ll remember any of this, but Kim Hyejin was my sister. I’m sorry about contacting you after this long, but I really have some questions I think you’d be able to answer. Please give me a call as soon as possible on the number 011 109-0797 . Thank you.’. 

It was hard to carry on with your day without constantly checking your phone for a reply, but you and Jeongguk cooked lunch together and made a video call with Taehyung to see how Bam was doing. 

And then a little while after, Jeongguk’s phone started to ring on the center table. 

You reached for it first, seeing as it was an unknown number, and picked up the call. 

“Hello?” you answered, hearing nothing but breathing on the other side of the line. “Is this Ji-ho?”

“Damn, you even sound like her.” was the first thing you heard, looking at Jeongguk to nod. “Sorry, yes, this is him. I got your message on instagram.”

“Yes, thank you so much for calling me.” you were pacing the small living room, unsure of what to say next. Nothing like being honest, you guessed. “This is going to sound really weird so many years after my sister’s accident, but I would really like to ask you a few things.” 

“I’m not sure how much help I can be for you, I already told the police everything that I knew.” was the reply and it was one you should have expected, really. 

“Please, I promise I won’t take much of your time at all.” you insisted, aware that Guk’s eyes were following your pacing. “Would it be okay if we met up for one cup of coffee? I wouldn’t want to do this over the phone.” 

The silence was deafening and you could feel the man hesitated. You were about to give up on hope when he spoke up: “Okay, but I really don’t have much time. I need to pick up my kids at three, do you think we could meet at two?” 

“Of course, that would be great, yeah.” you would meet with him at the cemetery at midnight if needed. 

“There’s a coffee shop near the school, can I text you the address on this number?” 

JULY 18TH | 13:55

“Guk, what are you doing?” you couldn’t help but laugh as your boyfriend pulled out a bucket hat and sunglasses from the back pocket of his pants. 

“I’m– this is my disguise!” he argued as if it was obvious. 

“Why exactly would you need a disguise, my love?” you were still laughing as you both walked to an empty table in a corner of the coffee shop where you were supposed to meet with Ji-ho. 

“So I can be under cover.” the man frowned, looking at the items in his hand as his other held a caramel latte. “Is this silly?” 

“It’s not silly.” you shook your head, placing your iced americano on the table. “Just… I think you’ll catch more attention by wearing those than if you don’t.”

Jeongguk stopped to look around, noticing how the few patrons that could come to a coffee shop at this hour on a monday didn’t really care for either of you. His shoulders sagged a little, which made you wish you hadn’t said anything, just for the sake of making him happy. But then he shrugged and stuffed the objects back in his pocket. 

“You’ve been calling me there a lot, lately.” he completely changed the subject, making you stretch your brain to guess what he was talking about. “My love.” 

“Oh.” you felt your neck flush. “I guess I have.” 

“I like that.” he grinned like a bunny, resting a hand on your lower back as he held you close. “Do it more.” 

“I can do that, my love.” you smiled, lifting your head so you could peck his lips. “You should go sit down, yeah?”

Jeongguk nodded, kissing the top of your head before dropping his arm from your back. “I’ll be close by.” 

You nodded and watched Jeongguk keep his promise as he sat just two tables down from yours, with his way-too-sweet latte. 

Jeongguk didn’t need to come with you today. On the list of things you shouldn’t be doing but did them anyway, sitting at a coffee shop with someone from your sister's past wasn’t very high on the poll. But you were thankful that he was. 

Not because you thought you were in any danger at all, but because you needed the support. You needed to know that someone you loved and who loved you back was there for you, no matter how this conversation went. 

You were sitting by yourself as you waited for the man to arrive and not two minutes past the stipulated time, Ji-ho was walking into the coffee shop. He was dressed in casual, but dressy clothes. Obviously doing well in life, but you already guessed that much by looking through his profile. 

You watched patiently as the man walked to the counter to place and receive his order before he looked around. Only then you offered him a small wave that let him spot you and walk closer. 

You could see the recognition in his face as his steps became slower and his eyes twitched as he studied your face as if seeing a ghost from his past. 

“Ji-ho, right?” you started, getting onto your feet to bow politely.  

“Yes, sorry for staring.” Ji-ho let out a small, awkward laugh and bowed in response. “I never knew you looked so much like each other.” 

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” you swallowed your own discomfort and pointed to the chair across from yours before taking a seat. “Please join me.”

“I almost didn’t believe my eyes when I saw your message.” the man sat down and placed his small to-go coffee cup in front of him.  

“Sorry if I was a little cryptic, I didn’t mean to scare you or anything.” you assured him, a little more at ease in his presence than you originally imagined. “I just have some questions that I hope you’ll be able to answer.” 

“I’ll try, but you do understand it’s been years and my memory is not what it used to be.” he already sounded apologetic and you caught the tiny nervous spin of the ring around his finger. “But I did love your sister, so I hope I can help.”

“I’m just trying to understand what she was like. From your point of view.” you put it simply, laughing to yourself as you realized: “Feels weird asking a stranger to tell me about my own sister.” 

“I know she wasn’t the most honest with you, so I get it.” there it was again, the apology behind his eyes. So at least he knew your sister didn’t share everything with her family like you thought. “Hyejin was… God, I lack words to describe her. She was unstoppable. Fearless. She was hungry for life and just couldn’t say no to an adventure, so I think that’s what got her in trouble in the first place.”

“Those are good words.” despite everything, it was nice to hear those things about someone you loved so dearly. Someone you missed every day. “How long were you together for?” 

“Not that long, we were together for around eight months before we broke up.” 

You frowned. That information didn’t line up to what you were made to believe had happened. 

“Wait, you were broken up?” you asked. “When the accident happened?”

“Oh, yeah, she–” Ji-ho started, but cut himself when he thought better of it. 

“What? Please tell me.” you sat a little closer to the edge of your sit, reaching for your americano to pretend you weren’t as eager as you looked.  

“Listen, she’s your sister and I wouldn’t feel good talking bad about her.” he reasoned and as much as you appreciated his respect towards her, you still needed to know. “Especially not when she’s not here to defend herself.”

You ignored it with another question you hoped he’d answer: “Did she break up with you?” 

“I broke up with her, but not because I didn’t love her anymore.” he shook his head, eyes not able to stay away from you for too long. “She broke my heart, Yn. And not to sound like a helpless teenager, but it messed me up for a long time.”

“That’s weird, we were under the impression you were still together when the accident happened.” 

Proving that he remembered more than he thought, Ji-ho admitted: “Oh no, it wasn’t me with her at that party.” 

“Who was it, then?”

All this time you blamed Ji-ho for taking your underage sister to that fateful party she should not be at in the first place. You blamed her secret boyfriend for letting her walk off on her own before getting hit by a car when she was crossing the street. You blamed this nice man for the fact that your best friend died alone. 

Only to find out it hadn’t been him at all. 

Only for him to say: “The guy she cheated on me with.” 

“Do you know his name?” you asked with a tight chest, terrified that you already knew the answer to that question.  

“I wouldn’t be able to remember that even if she told me his name.” Ji-ho shook his head. 

“Do you think you’d recognize his face?” 

You were quickly reaching for your phone to pull up instagram again. It took you a few tries to type Lisa’s name in hopes of locating the other profile you were looking for. You didn’t follow Wonho, nor did you ever look him up, but Lisa followed everyone from the Circle so you knew you’d find him on her following list. 

“Is this the guy?” you turned the screen to Ji-ho so he could see Wonho’s profile.  

“Fuck, that’s him.” Ji-ho paled. You were ready to panic. “He didn’t look exactly like that, but I guess we all grew up a lot.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” 

“And you know he was with her the night she died?” you were one bad news away from getting up from your chair, noticing Jeongguk was just as ready from the corner of your eye. 

“I wasn’t there, so I can’t be as sure as you want me to be.” Ji-ho could tell this is what you came here for. “But it was this guy that started taking her to those types of parties and not me. I was no saint, I’ll give you that. But even I knew better than to mess with that scene. So yeah. If I was to take a guess, I’d say she went there with him.” 

Fuck. 

Your sister and Wonho. 

The world felt too small as you let it all sink in, claustrophobic as your chest felt tight and your lungs felt small. Not only had Wonho and your sister been intimate with each other, enough for him to know of her birthmark, he might have been one of the last people to see her alive. 

And you didn’t believe for a single second that that was as deep as his connection went. 

“Appa! Appa!” a tiny voice pulled you out of your head, looking out to see the tiny girl running to get to the man sitting in front of you. 

“Don’t run!” the beautiful woman you recognized from Ji-ho’s instagram feed was rushing after their small daughter, carrying the smaller boy in her arms. “Sorry, yeobo, she saw you through the window.” 

“That’s alright, we were wrapping up here.” he smiled lovingly at his wife and the same old bitter feeling from before was making the coffee you drank try to come back up. “Right, Yn-ssi?”

“Yes, of course. Thank you so much for your time.” you nodded, letting him know you got all of the answers you were looking for. Then you smiled and bowed your head to the wife. “It was nice meeting you.”

“So sorry to interrupt.” the woman smiled politely at you, turning around to look for her daughter. “Hyejin, come back here!” 

You were surprised to hear your sister’s name coming from her ex-boyfriend’s new wife. You looked at Ji-ho with a million questions, but you didn’t need any of them answered. 

This man must’ve really loved your sister to name his daughter after her. 

“Goodbye, Yn.” he said as he got up to join his family. “I hope you’ll find the closure you’re looking for.” 

You couldn’t find your voice to reply, forcing a smile and waving at the wife and his kids. You watched as they walked out of the coffee shop before hiding your face in your hands. 

No tears came out, no screams, no groans. 

Just an overwhelming urge to run to your brother, to tell him what you found out, to ask him if he thought the same thing you did. Could Wonho have anything to do with your sister’s death? Could the man you were currently being warned about staying away from, be the reason for the break up of your family? 

But you couldn’t do that when Namjoon wasn’t talking to you. 

But the gentle hand cradling the back of your head reminded you that you weren’t alone. You had Jeongguk. 

“Did you hear what he said?” you asked with a choked up tone, lifting your head to look at your boyfriend. 

“I did.” he nodded somberly. “It was Wonho’s picture that you showed him, wasn’t it?”

You nodded, fear stricken across your face. “What the hell is going on, Guk?” 

JULY 19TH | 00:46

You couldn’t sleep. No matter how much you tried, or how tired you felt, your brain refused to shut off. Everyday you found something new, everyday a new piece of information hit you like a truck, everyday something happened. For every answer you got, another ten questions appeared. 

So even though it felt nice to be laying against Jeongguk’s chest, hearing his breathing and feeling his natural warmth, you just couldn’t close your eyes and let your million thoughts consume you like this. 

Careful not to wake him up, you gently pried Guk’s arm from around your waist and slipped your own pillow in your place. You watched the man pout in his sleep and waited for him to settle again before getting up and walking to the door of the room. 

Before you left, you grabbed the memory filled shoe box and brought it with you to the living room, turning the lights on after the bedroom door was quietly closed. 

You sat down in the middle of the couch and placed the box in front of you on the coffee table, but there was no hesitation this time. You couldn’t be afraid of the memories and the missing anymore. 

The phone book was right on top and you took that out first. 

You found a couple matching headbands that belonged to a toddler version of you and your sister, a photo of your whole family at Disney for your birthday, too many empty candy wrappers, a small lock of hair that your sister had cut off herself and gave it to you with the promise of being best friends forever, faded movie tickets and an envelope. 

That’s what you were after. The white and green envelope containing your sister’s toxicology report. 

You had never looked into this, but you remembered going into the trash of your house to fish it out after your parents were done with it. Unlike the phone book, you knew why you kept this. You kept this because it was the masochist reminder that you didn’t know your sister at all. You knew that whatever was shown inside this paper was who she actually was. 

For the longest time you longed to have the picture perfect image of Hyejin back, to erase everything you found out after her death and live with the delusion that you knew her. 

But this, the weight of this feather light paper was the proof that, no matter how much you craved that alternate reality, it would never come true. 

Only now, it could give you some answers to questions you never had before. 

You opened it carefully, as if afraid that the many years it stayed locked up could have somehow made it too fragile to handle. The black ink letters were popping out on the white, slightly crumpled piece of paper. You skimmed your eyes through the heather containing Hyejin’s information; like her age, weight, height and condition at the time of her death. 

You kept going until you found what you were looking for. The bold, capitalized proof of what was found in her system. 

CONFIRMS:

Virantel Omustant Iotapide Dopantine               67%

“Oh my god.” you gasped with a trembling hand making the paper shake. “VOID.”