BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 146: unspoken actions, unspoken feelings

Jungkook smiled a little. "You're right."

Jieun smiled as she watched Jungkook for a few moments. "Hey, look at me."

Jungkook looked up at her.

"I love you," Jieun said.

Jungkook's smile widened. "I love you too."

-•-•-

"Bujang-nim-" Hyejin stared at Namjoon across the table, with a confused smile on her face. "What was it that you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Um..." Namjoon cleared his throat loudly, his eyes darting nervously around the room, landing on every spot except for Hyejin. "Well..."

"You were looking for something on your desk earlier." Hyejin's eyes darted around. "Do you need my help with finding it?"

"No, I don't-" Namjoon willed himself to look at Hyejin. "Because I've already found it."

"Found what?"

"The answer to the question I have been thinking about all this while."

Hyejin frowned as she looked directly at Namjoon. "Huh?"

"I really like you, Hyejin-ssi."

The air in the office went still as Hyejin stared at Namjoon for a few seconds as she sat in her seat, completely frozen.

"That's the answer," Namjoon said quietly, trying to stop his legs from shaking underneath the table. "The answer that I have been searching for ever since we became closer."

Hyejin's jaws dropped. "You... like me?"

"You didn't know?" Namjoon heaved a sigh of relief. "I thought I made it super obvious-"

"Actually, you did-" Hyejin sat up in her seat, taking a few deep steady breaths to calm herself down. "Actually... you were pretty obvious."

"Was I really...?"

"Mm-" Hyejin nodded stiffly. "But I wasn't sure though."

"Then you must not be very shocked that I'm telling you this today," Namjoon commented.

"I still am-" Hyejin held up her arm for Namjoon to see how much she was shaking. "Look at me shaking. I'm still shocked because I... I'm overwhelmed."

"I wasn't sure," Namjoon continued. "I wasn't sure if I truly had feelings for you. That's why I had to wait for so long to confirm it before confessing to you... I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise..." Hyejin pursed her lips. "But what were you not sure of?"

"Whether the feelings I had for you were real," Namjoon said honestly, pausing to look up into Hyejin's face to see her expression. "You remember how much you comforted me a lot during that period when I was rejected by Chungha-ssi...?"

"Ah..." Hyejin nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"It was shortly after that when my feelings started-" Namjoon recounted. "And I didn't know whether those were feelings that grew because you were there for me emotionally when I was down and fragile. I didn't want to confuse gratitude for genuine feelings, you see."