boomerang

Chapter 18

Jungkook leaned his hip against his car as he went back to the story Chaeyoung posted on her Instagram, a short clip of her posing in front of a long mirror with a tiny caption saying 'starved myself to feast today'. The ring clearly shown on her finger as she zoomed in and out of herself in the clip sent a small smile across his lips.

"Why are you smiling?"

Jungkook almost dropped his phone, his smile instantly removed from his face. Chaeyoung seemed to suppress her smile at the way he was surprised and Jungkook cleared his throat, standing straight and slipped his phone in his pocket.

"Nothing," he said and opened the door for her. "What took you so long?"

"Am I late?" she muttered the question while flicking her wrist to check the time. "I'm like five minutes early."

Jungkook ignored that and took long strides to get into his car after she settled in.

Chaeyoung turned to him. "This is going to be dinner, right?"

"Yeah," he briefly looked at her before slipping out of the parking spot. "Why?"

"Nothing," she said but a few seconds later, she hesitantly asked, "Who cooked?"

Jungkook furrowed his brows in confusion. "My mom. Why?"

Her response somehow made him chuckle as she lightly squealed in delight and her hands made excited little claps on her lap.

"You really like my mom's food that much, huh?"

"'Like' is such an understatement. I love everything that she cooked," she admitted with a smile.

"Is that why you 'starved' yourself so you could 'feast'?"

Chaeyoung let out a soft playful gasp. "How are you stalking me but never followed?" She took out her phone and tried to search for his profile but couldn't. Jungkook didn't even use his real name, there was no way anyone could find it unless they could find it under Jimin's or Taehyung's thousands of followers list, but since his two friends' accounts were private and Chaeyoung wasn't following them, she wouldn't be able to find it.

She was chuckling on her own and Jungkook furrowed his brows, briefly glancing toward her. "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing," she chuckled and Jungkook decided he'd find out about it sooner or later.

When they finally arrived at his parents' place, Jungkook casted a wary glance over the extra car in the driveway that he didn't recognize. His steps halted upon hearing a voice he hadn't heard of in a long while. Jungkook's brows furrowed in confusion, wondering the reason for the owner of that voice's presence here in this dinner that was supposed to be between his parents, him and his fiancée.

"Jungkook!" The voice boomed as soon as Jungkook saw his cousin who was having a chat with his parents.

The last time Jungkook had seen Sungjae was around five years ago, just right after Sungjae had gotten married before he left the country and migrated. The last look on Sungjae's face before he left held so much anger directed toward their grandfather that Jungkook was convinced that would be the last time he would ever see his cousin.

But here he was, in Jungkook's parents house with his wife on his side, his hand reaching toward Jungkook for a handshake. He briefly wondered if he had just simply come to visit or there was something else hidden in his sleeve. Jungkook forced himself to display a smile for his cousin as he returned the handshake.

"Sungjae," he nodded and pulled his hand back, "it's been a while."

"It really has been a while," Sungjae chuckled and turned his attention to Jungkook's left and his smile widened. "This must be the lucky girl. Chaeyoung, is it?"