Stronger || NCT mafia au

Chapter 78 | "thank you"

"Yeah, but thanks Kun. I won't take it to heart." Jaemin trailed off with a small smile.

"Try to go and find her, okay? I'm sure she'd welcome your company. She's the type of girl you need to fight for sometimes." Kun winked at him, standing up snd walking over to the other members.

Jaemin searched the room, looking for a familiar flick of red amongst the crowd but he couldn't find her.

"Hey" Jaemin turned his head to see Jeno sitting at the next table over. The two of them weren't exactly back to normal, mostly just avoiding each other these days after Jihyun and Jeno reconciled.

"What?"

"She uh, she's on the balcony. I just saw her go a few minutes ago if you wanted to go see her."

Jaemin stood up, brushing past Jeno to go find her, but on his way he stopped and turned back to face the other boy.

"Thanks Jeno."

"Yeah...just, take care of her ok?"

Jaemin met Jeno's small smile with a nod before rushing off to go snd find his girlfriend.

- - -

"Taking a break?"

Jihyun spins around from her spot on the balcony to see Jaemin walking up to her. She turns back, leaning on the ledge and staring out over the garden at the star-littered sky.

"Yeah just wanted to get some fresh air. What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you."

He comes to stand next to her, also leaning on the railing as they stare at the sky, a comfortable silence around them as they just enjoy one another's presence.

"Remember our first dance?" She says, a small smile creeping onto her face at the memory. "So much has happened since then."

"Yeah of course I remember it. That was the moment it all started."

"What do you mean?" She asks, turning to meet his eyes now.

"That was the moment I realized just how strong my feelings were for you"

"Really?" She breathed out, his gaze so filled with love that it almost made her feel dizzy.

"Yeah. I knew I liked you for a while. I think I honestly developed like a celebrity crush on you that first day of training" he pauses to laugh a bit.

"as we got closer I realized that I definitely liked you. But that night. Seeing you and then finally being able to dance and just talk with you...I felt like my entire world had stopped for those 10 minutes."

They were facing each other now as they gazed into each other's eyes, the intensity between them palpable.

"That night I knew that there was no one else in the world that I could ever give myself to if it wasn't you."

They stared at each other in silence, the gap between them slowly closing. She saw Jaemin's eyes flicker down to her lips as his hand reached up to cup her cheek.

"You're one of a kind, Jang Jihyun."

Their lips connected and they both felt a passion that neither of them had ever experienced before. Their pure love for each other communicated in ways that words could not.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair as their mouths moved together in the long awaited kiss. His other hand moved to her waist, pulling her close to him so her body was pressed flush against him.

She hadn't even noticed that he had backed her into the wall until she felt the cool brick on her exposed back, causing her to melt further into Jaemin's warmth.

Their hearts were beating out of control, a tint of red to both of their faces when they pulled away, resting their foreheads against one another.

"Should we go back to the dance?" She asked once she caught her breath.

"Hmmm...In a minute"

She smiled as he pulled her in for another kiss

———
Wow okay so this book is over omg :( I cannot believe this is the last chapter (minus the epilogue). This book has been insanely fun to write, and I really hope you all enjoyed it.

The epilogue will be released in one week and then I'll be releasing my second book after that! I have a lot more to say about this story but I'll leave that for the epilogue.

Overall, I think the chapter title sums up how I feel pretty well: THANK YOU!
Thank you for all your kind comments, votes, and just for taking a chance and reading this story in general!

I'll be back next week for the real conclusion to this book, talk to y'all then!

-Author Hyun <3