Us & Them| OT7

8. The Gray Area

Dinner was going really well, Janiya was able to remain calm and (mostly) act as if she didn't have the weight of a big, juicy secret threatening to fold her under the pressure. She tried to limit her stalking gazes at Iseol and Jungkook but she's sure Iseol could feel her staring daggers at him from time to time.

"Janiya?"

"Huh? Sorry, what was the question?"

"I asked what you did for work, I just realized none of us ever asked" Jimin repeated

"Oh, I'm a cyber security analyst"

"Nice" Jungkook nodded "Is that what you went to school for?"

"Sorta of, I've always wanted to work with computers and in IT but I started with graphic design" she explained

"And what about you Amber, what is your profession?" Iseol asked before taking a bite of steak.

"I'm a MRI technician now but I was a nurse for 9 years"

"I feel like an idiot just being in the same room as you two plus Namjoon" Hoseok frowned

"Oh hush you're plenty smart" Namjoon patted his shoulder "Just not as smart as us" the table laughed at the deadpanning man's expense

"Get off me" he shrugged the younger man's hand off and went back to eating

Jin had noticed Janiya wasn't eating much, mainly picking over her food so he inquired "Is something wrong with your food Janiya?"

"No, it's delicious" she smiled

"You sure? You haven't eaten much" his right eyebrow raised

"Positive, guess I don't have much of an appetite" she smiled but it didn't curl the corners of her mouth much. He could sense something was wrong

"If you have a microwave in the hotel room I can pack that up for you to eat later" he offered and she accepted.

Dinner continued smoothly, Janiya could feel the cool air of freedom outside of Hoseok's apartment, where she felt like a sweating pig in a locked car on a 100 degree day during the summer in Texas with no air conditioning and unrolled windows- in short, she couldn't wait to leave. She was close but Jin insisted they stay for dessert when he saw them heading for the door.

"I will personally drop you both off, please stay. We're enjoying your company and didn't get the same time as the others. Please" Jin begged holding both women's hand

"Okay, okay, stop making those pitiful eyes" Amber couldn't say no to her bias, he was so cute when he begged. Plus, his world was going to crumble soon when he found out about his wife and best friend so she felt obligated to help make good memories for him "What's for dessert by the way"

"Hyung made a Japanese cheesecake, an apple pie and vanilla ice cream," Jungkook answered with big, bright eyes. Although he was a grown man, right then Amber only saw the adorable baby-faced teenager from 2016 but that's not who he is anymore.

"Babe, you know japanese cheesecake is my favorite" Iseol cutely pouted prompting Jin to kiss her pink lips

"Of course I do," he smiled, completely smitten with the woman he married two years ago, trusting her with his heart only for her to put cracks in it by being unfaithful with someone so close and dear to him.

"Thank you husband" she giggled when he placed kisses all over her face. That made Janiya sick and sad, the guilt was picking at her as if she was the adulterer

"You're welcome wife" he excitedly took off towards the kitchen to get the dessert ready for everyone to eat.

Janiya's hand moved before her brain could figure out what was going on. "Can I talk to you?"