I wake up to a sharp pain in my sides and open my left eye—the right stays shut like its glued together. My head throbs in a constant dull pace and I squint my eye in pain.

I turn my head slightly towards my right and force my left eye to focus on the alarm clock.
1.00 p.m. Boldly shown on the screen and I shut my eye tiredly. I sit up and slower lower my feet down to the floor before standing up. I hold onto the side of my nightstand to steady myself and slowly make my way to the bathroom. My legs wobble slightly as more weight was being put on it and I stumble a few times, thankfully, the walls are there for me to hold on and catch myself before I could fall.

"Just a little bit more." I tell myself and being the muddle head I am, I had completely forgotten about the step I had to cross before entering the bathroom.

Boom! I fall to the floor and land on my stomach. I let out a groan from the impact and I could hear heavy footsteps rushing from outside, and my room door barges open.

"Taehyung!" Jeongguk rushes to my aid and hoists me up from my underarms.

"Are you alright?" He asks out of concern. But, before I could even answer, I feel myself fall forward and I brace myself for the imapct and screw my eyes shut tightly in fear. I could feel warm arms wrap around my waist and I open my right eye. I was facing the marble floor that was only centimeters away from my face and I panic. I guess Jeongguk heard my heartbeat accelerates because he starts to calm me down by rubbing my back soothingly. He slowly moves his left arm—which is under my waist—upwards and soon enough, I am standing up again, with the help of his arms holding onto me to steady me, of course.

"Thank you." I breathe out heavily and he just smiles warily. He holds onto my shoulders and guided me into the bathroom and leaves to give me privacy, and I am thankful for that.

I look at my own reflection in the mirror and my heart sinks. I examine my face in the mirror and take in the bruises that paints my cheeks and bottom lip; a plaster covers the fresh cut on the bridge of my nose. I lift up my shirt, exposing my abdomen.

There is a bruise on the lower part of my abdomen and my fingers grazes against it slightly, causing me to hiss in pain. I lower my shirt down and call out to Jeongguk.

"Can I come in?" Jeongguk asks from the other side of the door and I reply soft, "Yes." The door opens and Jeongguk pokes his head in through the small hole between the door and the wall.

"You need help?" And I nod in reply. With slightly tinted pink cheeks, Jeongguk pushes the door open and steps into the bathroom.

"Where to?" He asks as he slings my arm over his shoulder and coil his right arm over my waist, making me feel tingly, but I ignore it. "The dining table."

When we reach the dining table, I immediately fall on one of the chairs and let out a tired sigh. My eyes follows Jeongguk as he takes a seat across from me.

"So who carried me back?" I intertwine my fingers together and place them on the table while staring at Jeongguk intently.

"I did," Jeongguk replies, taking me by surprise. "You did?" I ask and my mouth goes agape. I never thought Jeongguk would be the one carrying me home, after all, I expected him to say Namjoon or Jimin.

"Thanks . . ." I mumble out, feeling the strain in my voice because of how dry and raw my throat is.

"Wait here, I'll be back," Jeongguk assures and disappears into the kitchen, leaving me to wonder how long has he been in here since I fainted, because he seems to know my house very well.

"Here." He places a cup of warm water in front of me. I take the cup into my hands and lift it up to drink, letting out a relieved sigh when I feel the warm water run down my throat as it soothes the dryness.

"So why did you thank me?" Jeongguk says, "I beat you until you were out cold and you're still thanking me?"

I let out a laugh.

"I'm thanking you for carrying me back to home. Oh and for this cup of warm water too."

"You're not going to hold it against me? You know what happened back in the arena." Flashbacks of me being defeated runs through my mind, and I shudder slightly, though Jeongguk seems to have miss it. I hope he did.

"Nope, it's fine," I reply confidently, "I'm sure you didn't mean to hurt me in purpose back in the arena." I don't add, maybe it was, but at least now I know your flaw in combat.

"Thanks, I got carried away, that's why."

"No, it's fine, keep up the good work," I assure and Jeongguk looks at me weirdly. I stifle a groan when I realise what I just said. Perfect. He probably thinks I'm a sucker that enjoys the feeling of pain.

I'm surprised when he only lets out a soft chuckle and says, "Just to let you know, you won't be going for training today?"

"Wait, what? Why?" I jerk myself out of my daze to stand up and stare down at him with a frown on my face.

"You're still recovering from yesterday and Jiyeong said that you'll be given a short break for recovery before going back for training," Jeongguk explains. I try to retort back, "But I am well. See." I try to prove him wrong and start to walk, but unfortunately, my knees buckles and gives out. Thankfully, Jeongguk is there to catch me.

"You're staying at home and that's final. Yoongi is coming over later to keep you company," He says and I slouch sadly.

"I'll be leaving for training now. Bye." Jeongguk grabs his bag on the couch, slinging it over his shoulder. He walks to the door with heavy steps and turns around to look at me. His face shows hesitance.

"Bye." He sends me a small smile and walks out of the door, leaving me alone in my house. I inhale deeply as I make my way back to my room.

And for once I thought, maybe Jeon Jeongguk isn't as bad as I think he is.

√a.n.

Since the previous chapter was just a bunch of boring fighting stuff, here's another boring chapter to make up for it :)