One-Way Ticket | Jeon Jungkook

thirteen

MHMMM I have been waiting for this!!

TW: alcohol intoxication and breakdown

I could clearly recognize the mall from the last time I was here with my mom before the BTS concert. Now I was here with Marina, to get an outfit before we would go clubbing tonight. Apparently.
The day had been a bit of a blur so far, I had had birthday breakfast with my parents and Jack over skype, even though it quite literally was bedtime for them. Instead of a usual present, I got money. Which was one big yay and the biggest triumph of the day so far, because apartment rental prices were ridiculously high here in Seoul.

Marina dragged me into a store, chippy like usual, and held up a dress for me. "What about this one?"
I frowned; it was a nice dress, but I just wasn't a fan of the sequins. "I don't like sequins; they are itchy and scratchy." Marina hummed at my pathetic response and pathetic figure. I was pretty sure I looked like the human form of a wet sponge. Shoulder slumped and head hanging low. She placed the hanger back and went further into the store. It was very high to the loft, airy and light, a radio song playing faintly over the speakers. The store was located on the second level of the giant mall, and even though it was my second time here, I made sure to stick close to Marina as to not get lost in the whirlwind of people and staircases.

"Hold this," Marina said and tossed a dress into my arms. I oof'd at the heavy weight. "What is this made of? Metal? Tungsten?"
"You're being dramatic, it's just fabric." Marina groaned over her shoulder as she looked through the hangers on a clothing rack, skimming over them like they were spines of books. She suddenly turned around and put her hands on her hips, locking me with her eyes. "You know what, what is up with you? You're acting weird, you're not even interested in shopping, and you love shopping!" She was right, the clothes did nothing to me, didn't even reach my heart. I looked at her furrowed brows, she looked worried.
"I know we haven't been friends for the longest time, but you can trust me. If it's about Dae-Hyun or not. You can tell me."

Problem was, I couldn't. I wanted to tell her so badly that my heart burned for it. And for the first time ever, I felt really really bad about lying. Because Marina cared, I had been lucky enough to get me a friend like her, and I couldn't even be honest. I felt like I was betraying her by not telling. She was worried and I took that for granted. I looked at my feet in the swimming guilt that was taking over my body like the crash of a wave. "I... I guess I just feel a bit homesick. It's my first birthday away from home."
Marina's eyes softened, and she put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Oh honey. I'm going to make sure it's going to be the best one yet. I promise."
Here she was, doing so much for me, and I was just floating in self-pity. I was selfish, unable to appreciate all the good things because of one little bad one. Marina was trying so hard; it was wrong not to give back. I would try for her. I put on my stern face and nodded my head. "Yeah, you're right. It's going to be good, there's no need to worry!"
"Yes! That's the spirit, now look for dresses, we don't have all day and I want to go that cafe before we leave!"

"Aye Aye sergeant." I said and took off. It turned out that the first store wasn't a hit. The dress Marina had found, was actually way too heavy and we found nothing of my taste. Searching through two other stores, and still finding nothing, we came to the conclusion that a cafe break would be nice after our draining and tedious search. The table that we sat at was located just outside the cafe, on the other side of the windows.
"I gotta go to the restroom," I told Marina just after we sat down, she was still adjusting her jacket. "Will you order for me? Just the strawberry shortcake, please." She nodded and I was off. This was nice actually; I did in fact get my minds of things and had fun with Marina. Not like with Dae-Hyun where my mind kept on shifting back to a certain person. Here it was just us.