Jikook- One Shot

(a). ACTOR'S APPLE

The sunset had turned the sky to a slow-burning orange. It was warm, but not suffocating. The kind of heat that sat gently on the skin, lingering after a long day rather than pressing down on it.

The shoot had dragged on from morning into evening, hours swallowed by retakes, wardrobe changes, lights, and directions shouted across the villa grounds. By the time it finally wrapped, Jungkook felt it in his bones. Exhausted, he headed toward his black van, shoulders slightly hunched, his manager trailing a few steps behind him while scrolling through his phone. His pace was automatic, muscle memory guiding himbuntil it wasn't.

Jungkook's steps faltered, by the pool, half-shadowed by a tall palm and bathed in the last gold of the day, someone was lying on a sun chair. A young man.

One leg was crossed lazily over the other, posture loose, and unbothered. He wore white shorts revealing his thighs, that caught the fading light and a floral shirt, he was pale and soft-looking, shirt carelessly unbuttoned at the top. A glimpse of skin showed, smooth, luminous his chest rising and falling slowly, as if he had nowhere else to be, like nothing else demanding his attention.

A book rested open over his face, hiding his features completely, pages lifting slightly with the breeze.

Jungkook stopped without realizing it. There was something unreal about the sight. The pool reflected the sky, orange bleeding into blue, and against it the man seemed almost too bright, skin glowing as though he were lit from within, shining more vividly than the setting sun itself.

Jungkook's gaze lingered longer than it should have.
"What is it?" his manager asked, finally noticing the pause.

Jungkook blinked as if waking from a daze. He shook his head subtlety dismissive, and continued walking. He slid into the black van, the door closing with a muted thud, sealing him away from the evening air and the quiet image by the pool.

The drive to the hotel stretched on, roads blurring past the tinted windows, city lights slowly replacing the colors of sunset. Jungkook leaned his head back against the seat, fatigue pulling him under almost immediately. Long enough for him to dream.

And in that dream, the book finally slipped from the man's face.

♪ ♪

Night had fully settled over the villa, the sky deep and velvety, the city below scattered with lights like fallen stars. The air was cooler, younger and somehowalive with distant sounds of traffic, laughter downstairs, music drifting faintly from somewhere beyond the walls.

Jungkook stood at the rooftop railing, forearms resting against the cool metal, shoulders finally loosening after another long day. He exhaled slowly, watching the city breathe beneath him.

Instinctively, his gaze dropped. The pool below shimmered under soft lighting, water rippling gently. And there again was the same figure he had seen two days ago.

The man was in the pool, movements unhurried, almost lazy, dark water sliding over body, unmistakeably naked?

Jungkook's curiosity sharpened, his tiredness thinning as he leaned forward just a fraction, trying to make out a face that remained frustratingly obscured by shadow and distance.

Cast? Staff? A guest?

His eyes narrowed slightly with intent. Then the water broke again. Another man surfaced beneath beside that person; broader, darker, clearly older. Too close, they were too close. Jungkook's stomach tightened for reasons he didn't immediately name.

He watched as the slimmer younger one discreetly reached for something near the pool's edge. A small plastic bag. Then shook a single pill into his palm, lifted it to his mouth.