BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 62: the dilemma

Jieun nodded her head mechanically. "Of course, I do."

"Good-" Jungkook smiled as he got to his feet. "Let's both have an early night tonight then. See you later."

"Wait, JK-" Jieun grabbed onto Jungkook's shirt before he could leave. "Hold on, I have something I need to tell you right now."

Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows as he slowly took his seat on the couch once more. "What's it about?"

After seeing how much Jungkook trusted her that she had been home all day, and being all confident that there was absolutely no way she could possibly be a news reporter, all the more sure Jieun was that there was no way she could keep on lying to him anymore. Before he continued to trust her more and more, and before her feelings for him became more and more intense, she had to draw the line here and leave. If all choices she made would end up with him getting hurt, she rather cut everything short and make the choice that would most probably hurt him the least... at least, comparatively.

"Jeon Jungkook, listen up-" Jieun bit her lower lip nervously, as she turned to face him. "I-"

"What?" Jungkook smiled, having absolutely no idea about what was awaiting him. "Why do you look so serious? What are you about to tell me? I'm kinda scared right now."

"I wanted to ask you-" Jieun pursed her lips, mustering all her courage to look Jungkook in the eyes. "Do you have any updates from your doctor about your condition?"

"Hm?" Jungkook frowned as he shook his head. "No, not really. He's still running a lot of tests and scans and seeing if everything is alright with my brain."

"Oh."

Jungkook glanced at Jieun. "Why?"

Jieun pursed her lips as she muttered under her breath. "Well... I can't be staying with you forever, can I...?"

The smile on Jungkook's faded a little. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean-" Jieun cleared her throat. "There will be a day when you're recovered, and I'll move out."

Jungkook stared at Jieun for a few seconds of silence. "So, what you're saying is- you're only staying with me because you're helping me out."

"I mean, yeah-" Jieun bit her lower lip, avoiding Jungkook's gaze. "That's the whole reason I moved here, isn't it? Why else would I be here? If you're well, I should leave-"

"Yeah, I know-" Jungkook let out a sad chuckle. "But the way you're putting it makes it sound like... you can't wait to leave or something."

That wasn't true. That was so far from the truth. How could he possibly think of it that way...?

"Yeah-" Jieun lied through her teeth. "Why? Am I supposed to be sad to leave or something? Who was the one who made Seokjin-oppa take my spot so I couldn't move back any time I wanted."

Jungkook blinked a few times, unable to believe what he had just heard. "I... never knew. I really never knew that you actually resented me so much for that."

Jieun felt a lump form in her throat. How could she possibly resent him...? Sure, she was unhappy that he had tricked her at the beginning... but living with him, it wasn't too had. In fact, it had been some of the most fun days of her life - eating with him, watching 'The Untamed' with him, patting him to sleep and bickering with him more often than occasionally. It was fun, and it was truly how Jieun truly began to fall for him as a person.

"Well, now you know-" Jieun found it extremely hard to lie through her teeth. "So... I'm really begging you, please get better soon."

Tears welled up in Jungkook's eyes. "You want me to recover not because you genuinely want me to recover, but so that you can finally be freed of your duties...?"