Keep | k.sj.

5.

Seokjin wouldn't allow much distance between us, so I didn't bother to move again. Our tension placed me in the mind of a chessboard. Every piece with a purpose. Every move more strategic than the next. There was no doubting the piece I portrayed-a pawn, the first on the front line to be destroyed. The man of the hour placed his hands in pockets as he stared, eyes more telling than any word he could ever say.

"So, your dad?" He asked. I nodded my answer. "How is he? I didn't speak to him tonight," he continued.

I scoffed, rolling my eyes at his icebreaker and shaking my head from the way he's tiptoeing around what he wanted to say. "Jin," I sighed. "You didn't ask me to stay to talk about my father." My eyes wandered to his, but only for a hint of a second. If I stared too long, tears will flow.

"I'm sorry, Hazel. I'm sorry for what I did and how I acted. When I saw you with someone else, it..." Seokjin sighed and my chest grew tight with intensity. "It made me sad. So I acted out." He admitted.

"Acted out?" I sneered. "Have you any idea how I felt with you flaunting your ex in my face? It was humiliating, Jin! You did this out of spite after we spent a better half of the year kissing and flirting." I argued.

"Hazel, I didn't enjoy seeing you with him. I told you it made me sad." Seokjin explained.

I scoffed. "Why would it have made you sad? He's not my boyfriend, Seokjin. We are only friends and besides, you know how I feel about dating in this industry. Anyway, you ghosted me! You cried on my shoulder for months, worried about your career if your group broke up and then nothing from you. Other than a nod when you visited the network, I heard or seen nothing of you." My anger got the best of me and said most of what I've been suppressing.

Fact is, Seokjin and I had a huge argument the last time we saw each other and this is the first face to face we've had since it. We've avoided each other to avoid what we're doing now, and I'm not sure how much longer I can hold in my tears.

"Hazel," Seokjin inched closer, but I backed away.

"No. You think it's okay how you treated me?"

His frustration sighed from his lips. "It's not, and I said I'm sorry."

He said his apologies about three times now and I believed them sincere, but reliving the memories of why he apologized in the first place reopened the wound.

The reality of this is Seokjin is the one, the only one I ever cared enough to be myself around. There were sides of me not even my family had seen and I shared those secrets with him. He taught me so much as well. Seokjin enhanced my confidence and taught me how to enhance my Korean cuisine. How it was okay for me to be myself and realize how much my mother would be proud of me if she were here. My mother. A subject I dare not discuss with anyone, but I did with him.

I inched closer toward my coat and Seokjin met me. "Hazel, please, don't leave me-not until I show you how sorry I am." He murmured. The beats in my heart stuttered, and he grew closer to me. His eyes, soft and inviting, glistened as I watched the maturity in his throat float parallel along his neck.

Seokjin rested his palm against my cheek. The tender touch of his hand on my skin paralyzed me. "I don't want to fight with you anymore," he whispered. "Please forgive me." Seokjin pleaded before closing his eyes and leaning towards me. My eyes closed as well before his lips brushed mine. It wasn't quite a kiss, but an invitation as he inched away, eyes peering at me waiting for consent but lips still desperately close.

It's not as if Seokjin and I have never kissed before. After the first one, there were a few occasions we got caught up in the moment watching a movie or when a piano lesson got a little too sensual. Then the incident happened, leading to our fallout and ended our kissing affair. It never went any further. He never pressed for it and neither did I, but tonight will be different.

My body erupted in chills as my gaze drifted to his lips. Despite of what happened with us, I can't deny the attraction I have for him and neither the care. Seokjin burrowed a space in my heart and with every fight and every disagreement, the affection furrowed deeper. My hand rested on the back of his head, fingers laced in his hair. I wanted him to see me before I made my next move. His eyes waited. His lips trembled. I couldn't hold out any longer.

I returned his kiss.

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This story takes place during the LY era, specifically end of 2018. If you've read my Taehyung's idol series, his story takes place after Jin's.

I really appreciate you enjoying this book! 🥺❤️

↣ ♡𝒸𝓊𝓅𝒾𝒹♡ ↢