summer love, summer loss. ➣ j. jungkook

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EVER since the interaction at the store, jungkook couldn't shake away thoughts of the nameless girl. a week had passed since the run-in and the twenty-two year old found himself zoning out-- his mind filled with her face.

hair so black against skin so white isn't expected in these parts. the shock and the contrast only serve to make her all the more ghostly, all the more haunting. when she turns to look her eyes are golden like the darkest of brown eyes in the strongest of sunlight. and so she is prized and reviled in equal portion, sought and rejected, admired and distrusted.

i need to see her again.

he was drawn from autopilot when the alarms sounded, an odor of smoke in the air.

waves of heat flush through jungkook's body, tracing his spine and engulfing his neck. he's suffocating, a thick, acrid smoke wrapping its tendrils around his throat. the ebony haired male pushed his shirt against his mouth-- eyes starting to tear up because of the thick smoke.

he fiddled with the handle on the door before swinging it open, wasting no time in exiting the smoke filled apartment.

as he ambled across the street in a daze jungkook observed the smoke billow black, licking the window frames. anxious neighbors watch and witness the apartment being engulfed by the thick clouds.

the sirens become noticeable, wailing around the bypass.

a sudden panic rising in his chest, each breath shorter than the one before as he frantically scanned the crowd.

breath, just breath..

her palm caressed his cheek, the lines on her hand catching his attention. they swirled on her hand like an unfinished drawing. her long bony fingers were stroking his cheek, but all he could see were her red knuckles. wine-red blotches from the cold.

the chaos around them seemed to fade into background noise, his heartbeat pounding furiously within his ears.

"are you okay?" she asks with a smirk and a flash of excitement in her eyes.

"y-yeah, i'm okay." jungkook looks down at his shoes in embarrassment, hoping she doesn't realize he was absentmindedly starring.

"why?"

he stops to think.

why? what does she mean 'why'? why am i okay? should i be okay? is there something i shouldn't be okay about? is something wrong? is something wrong with me?

"why'd the fire start?"

"oh. i was making something to eat and got distracted.."

she chuckled a bit, her hand falling to her side as she turned to the building. though her digits were on the colder side, she caused jungkook's cheek to grow warm at the loss of contact.

there was something about the way she smiled; the way butterflies seemed to escape from the pit of her stomach and the way the sun had somehow toppled down from the sky and made a home right there in her heart. she had the kind of smile that made you feel happy to be alive and just that little bit more human.

"so, does mister daydream have a name?"

he tugged at his reddening ear, clearing his throat before speaking. "uh, jungkook."

she nodded, shoving both hands in the oversize bomber jacket. at this point authorities had began leaving

"well, jungkook.. do take care-- and try not to burn down the place, i actually liked living there."

and then he gives her a smile that just seems so genuinely sweet with just the right touch of shyness that unexpected warmth rushes through her.

"i'll try.."

"--nari."

the female bids goodbye, jungkook's eyes focused on her until she disappeared into the crowd.

"nice meeting you, nari."