No Strings Attached

three

She hesitantly took a step towards him and the sound of her heels against the marble floor alerted him of her presence as he turned back and an expression of relief crossed his face seeing her there.

"Jen.." He whispered her name like a prayer and it took all of Jennie's self-restraint to not throw herself in his arms as tears pricked her eyes.

"Jongin, what are you doing here?" She instead opted for the safer route and asked him the purpose for his visit directly.

He took several steps towards her and closed the distance between them until they were standing less than a foot apart.

"I'm here to see you. To beg for your forgiveness." He answered her, looking her in the eyes and took her left hand in his. "Jennie, I'm really sorry things ended the way they ended between us. Honestly, when you told me you loved me I was really shocked and it took me a while to process it. You were the one girl I couldn't even dream of having more than on a physical level, so to hear you admit it out loud took me by surprise a lot."

Jennie had become immune to sweet words, especially his, by now and raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you sure about that Jongin? Are you positive you're not here to win me back because you heard that I went out with Taeyong?"

He flinched at his words. Jennie knew Jongin like the back of her hand and she knew she had struck a nerve. Jongin was possessive and got jealous really easily.

However, Jongin recovered from her words fairly quickly and took a step closer to her, grabbing her other hand in his too. He knew Jennie was hurt by his actions and she had every right to be but Jongin was determined to make everything okay between them.

"If I deny that then you and I both know that it'll be a lie, it's true that I was overcome with envy when I heard you were going out with Taeyong but it's also true that it made me feel truly scared for the first time because that's when I realized I was losing you, for good this time. And that's when I came to terms with the fact that I'm in love with you." He finally delivered the words that he had been holding in his heart for so long.

Jennie's eyes widened at his statement. She had not seen this coming.

When Jennie found herself speechless and unable to say anything Jongin continued with his monologue, "The truth is that I was scared. I was scared shitless of giving someone else that kind of power over me again. The potential power to ruin me. I barely made it the last time, you know how hard my last breakup was on me. You were there with me, every step of the way, comforting me. And what did I do to you? Used you to fulfill my own needs and then tossed you aside. But somewhere along the way, I fell for you and instead of being the band aid to my wounds, you healed them with your kind words and your comforting touches. But I was too scared to admit it, even to myself because it meant that I was giving you absolute power over me."

The tears that were pooling in Jennie's eyes were now freely streaming down her face as she stared back into Jongin's eyes her heart clenching painfully at his confession.

He brought both her hands up to his lips and placed tender kisses on her knuckles, "When I gave you this bracelet, that's the first time I had realized that I had fallen for you but I couldn't bring myself to tell you that," he admitted, toying with the gold bracelet on her left wrist.

Jennie's tears just intensified with every sentence he spoke. She could understand where he was coming from and she felt selfish for only thinking about herself and her own feelings and not even considering Jongin's feelings and his insecurities.

"But I'm not scared anymore, my love, for I know you aren't my weakness but my strength instead. You helped me out of my misery and moulded me into a better person than before. So, if you'll be able to forgive and have me, I would very much like to be yours and only yours on a physical and emotional level, Kim Jennie." He took her face in his hands and gently wiped away the tears with his thumbs while bending to look at her beautiful glossy eyes better.

"You're an asshole, Kim Jongin-" was all Jennie could say before she stood up on her tiptoes and grabbed the back of his neck to pull him closer and landed her lips on his.

He was startled by her action but quickly recovered and kissed her back, smiling into the kiss. The kiss wasn't a slow one, it was desperate and feverish, filled with longing and love to make up for all the lost time. But most of all it was filled with sincerity as Jongin's hands moved from her face to her waist and pulled her closer to his body, not wanting to let go. They both pulled away, out of breath and he rested his forehead on hers, smiling down at her.

"I'll punch that stupid grin off your face." Jennie said, narrowing her eyes at him but didn't move away.

"I love you." He said, the smile never leaving his face.

"Well I hate you." Jennie retorted.

"Really? Do you kiss everyone you hate like that?" He played along.

"No, you're just an exception."

"Well, I'm honoured to hear that." He replied and then closed the gap between them again, this time hugging her to his chest.

Jennie immediately melted in his arms and her own arms went around his waist as she laid her head against his chest, listening to the erratic beat of his heart which mirrored hers.

"I love you, Jongin." She murmured against his chest but he heard it and planted a kiss on her head.

After what felt like eternity he pulled away, "so do I officially get to call you my girlfriend now?" he asked her eagerly.

Jennie put her hands on her hips before replying to him, "just because I forgave you and love you doesn't mean I agreed to be your girlfriend, you still have to court me and then who knows I might consider you..." Jennie said, playing with him.

She expected him to whine or complain and she would have pretended to be mad for the next 10 minutes before taking him back but his next sentence took her by surprise once more.

"Challenge accepted. Then prepare to be wooed because I'm going to take you out on the best date you can dream of tomorrow." He replied cooly and confidently.

"I mean it'll be quite difficult topping my date with Taeyong today," she played along.

"Don't worry about that. I'll sweep you off your feet literally and figuratively." He replied, confident in his words again.

"Then okay let's see what you have coming.."

"I'll pick you up at 8." He told her and then pointed towards the forgotten cake on the table. "I made that cake by myself by the way."

"I can tell, Jongin."

"You're mean."

"Yeah well, you still love me."

"I know."

"Oh and, Jongin?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll never hurt you, I promise."

"I know, baby."