BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 144: butterfly

Jungkook smiled as he glanced at the table - a whole table of his favourite food. Jieun had clearly made an attempt at making the food look pretty, but had failed miserably. All that mattered was the taste, though.

"I'm digging in!" Jungkook announced as he picked up his chopsticks. "It looks really good, Jieun-ah."

"It does?" Jieun laughed. "I tried making you a bento box but I simply couldn't deal with all the octopus-looking sausages and seaweed cutouts for the eyes... so I just threw everything into a box. Now you have a healthy - and hopefully tasty - bibimbap."

Jungkook took a big bite and a huge smile spread across his face. "Daebak."

"Is it good?" Jieun's eyes lit up as she picked a piece of rice from Jungkook's lips and threw it into the bin. "Eat slower, you might choke."

"It's really funny," Jungkook commented between bites. "In the past... I had problems sleeping. I had eating problems too - I simply refused to eat food that had just a slight bit of oil or sodium in it. But these days... all these problems seem to have disappeared. Eating food like this that is way healthier than normal food but still not bland and tasteless... it makes me happy yet I don't have to fear gaining weight before my comeback. My sleeping problems too... it's so weird that even now with all this stress that I have from concerts, I can sleep peacefully at night."

"Don't you think it has got to do with the stress you received from your sajang-nim?" Jieun proposed. "It seems like ever since you left BG Entertainment, your mood and mental state has been so much better, too. You can now sleep so soundly every night, without me being around. It's way too much to be a coincidence, don't you think?"

Jungkook nodded in agreement. "I do feel like my whole experience with BG Entertainment had such a negative effect on my emotional well-being... Now, even when I prepare for my comebacks or this upcoming solo concert... I don't feel stressed by it at all - not a single bit. I feel like I'm completely enjoying myself and doing what I want to do. Even though I'm working similar hours back then and now... back then it was forced, but now... it's because I truly wanna do it. There's such a subtle yet huge difference."

"If only you had managed to quit BG Entertainment earlier..." Jieun sighed as she patted Jungkook's head fondly. "Then maybe, you wouldn't have had to go through so much pain... my poor Jungkook-ah..."

"Don't say that-" Jungkook smiled. "Things actually worked out for the better - you know, things really wouldn't have been the same if I quit BG Entertainment earlier. I wouldn't have met Yoongi-hyung... I wouldn't have met everyone else in BTS Entertainment.... and I wouldn't have met you. And... did you forget? My sleep problem was the one that brought you closer to me."

"Oh?" Jieun's eyes lit up. "You're right! But if stress was the reason, why was it that you could sleep every time I was by your side...? It's so weird if you think about it, don't you think?"

"Really, you think it's weird?" Jungkook let out a hearty laugh as he set down his spoon. "I don't think it's weird at all. I actually know why I could sleep every time you were near me."

"You do?" Jieun's eyes widened. "Why is that so?"

"Because I always felt a sense of peace and comfort around you, Lee Jieun-" Jungkook said with a little smile as he reached out and interlocked his fingers with Jieun's. "From the beginning, you always spoke your mind. You weren't afraid of telling me how you felt about me, you weren't afraid of being yourself. That's how you managed to break the walls around me and help me to find myself once more. That's why, I think, I always could sleep when you were by my side. Even now, when I can sleep just fine, that's how important your existence is to me, Jieun-ah. You're my medicine, the one who helped me to break out of my cocoon and emerge as a butterfly. So thank you, Lee Jieun."