Haru has zero idea how it came to this but apparently, the three boys are getting along surprisingly well as oppose to the initial thought of her being very concern at the lack of boundaries within her space. After all, Taehyung, or, Mister Kim to them, was their tutorial lecturer for a whole semester and somehow, they might be having a hard time to adjust to this more informal setting.
Jiwoo still calls him 'Mister Kim' as she rejects the notion of breaking the respectful boundary between them, and Taehyung gladly yet humbly accepts that. But that is not the case for Yeonjun and Soobin. Taehyung did point out the fact that they can drop the 'Mister Kim' and call him by his name to their liking as he is no longer their lecturer nor they are any need for them to be calling him in that manner.
The boys said no immediately
Yeonjun claimed he is still their lecturer. He respects that and he wishes to still call him Mister Kim and speaks formally to him. Soobin said the same thing too. But Taehyung feels a little shy at the formalities when they are basically sitting there, in his girlfriend's house, having a small little party. Thus, Taehyung hopes they will not be too formal to him and treats him like a friend instead of someone so respectable because after all, he is dating their friend and at least, he would like to establish a comfortable reputation among them.
And that, they accepted.
"Tae", Haru quietly pulls his sleeve. "Is your brother at home?"
"Yes, why?"
"Call him here", Haru whispers lowly, cautious not to let anyone hear her. "Call Officer Kim too, if he is free"
Taehyung looks at her confusedly, tilting his head slightly at her request. "What?"
"Areum is here, Jiwoo is here", she gestures with her eyes. "Don't be a snail and call them over. This is a golden opportunity"
Despite his doubts, he still fishes his phone out of his pocket but then he halted his movement. "Wait... I know calling my brother is because of your sister. But, Namjoon? Why him?"
"Are you blind?". Haru swears she is losing it this time because how can it not be obvious that she wants him to call his friend because of Jiwoo. "Jiwoo has a crush on your friend"
Taehyung was quiet for a few seconds, and Haru allows him some time to process the words. And when they did, Haru nods slowly as she watches the look on his face slowly relaxing as he finally finds the light of this whole request.
"Ohhhhhhh", he pressed his lips knowingly, trying his best to hide the grin on his face. "Let me make some calls then"
-
Thirty minutes into the English movie Soobin chose, Areum gladly reminds them she ordered another two boxes of pizza since the two younger boys gobbled the entire box to themselves earlier. Most of the food on the table is either finished or halfway there, thus Areum offered to buy more when she asked if any of them are still hungry. Soobin and Yeonjun were the first one to put their hands up shamelessly, grinning ear to ear when Areum gave them her phone to choose whichever pizza they want.
Jiwoo has found comfort at the edge of the carpet, leaning on the couch in between Soobin's legs, all cuddled up with a small blanket around her. Haru on the other hand is sitting prim and proper beside Taehyung, fighting the overwhelming urge to be comfortable and dives into his side. Taehyung seems to realize her eyes darting to him every now and then, realizing her focus was never on the bright screen but him.
Thus, he decided to play around and rest one arm one the couch behind her head, purposely inching closer just to tease her. After all, there is nothing she can do when her friends are around. Not much except her eyes so cautious and aware of her friends on the same couch and on the carpet in front of her.
Taehyung knows she is all bothered by their closeness, finding himself enjoying the little sighs coming from her whenever he brushes the tips of his fingers on her shoulder. Or the occasionally shifting on the couch so that their thighs touches before he moves away, creating some space between them.
It is funny to think how both of them are trying so hard not to just glue themselves together while everyone know they are dating and have done a great deal than just these simple physical gestures.
"Come closer"
Haru almost choked on her iced tea when Taehyung suddenly whispered into her ear, blooming goosebumps on her skin as his warm breath tingles the skin around her neck. Gripping the paper cup almost too tightly as she lets out one slow long breathe, her eyes darts to everyone checking if they are looking at her.
All of them are still very much focused on the movie and the dimness of the living room seems to be a great help too.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to get my girlfriend's attention of course", he whispers lowly, enough only for her to hear. "Can we at least hold hands?"
Surprised at his cute question, the corner of her lips curves upwards into a small smile as she puts the cup back on the coffee table. Turning to her left where her sister is comfortably sitting and leaning on her side of the arm rest, Haru made sure nobody is watching before she swiftly takes his hand into her and took the chance to move closer to him as discreetly as possible.
"You smell good"
"You smell even better", he kisses the side of her hair quickly, twining their fingers as he pulls their hands to rest on his lap. "I can't believe I have to behave—I haven't gotten my kiss yet"
She nudges his arms subtly, shooting a warning look before turning her attention back on the big screen. Suddenly Jiwoo gets up, giving her a quick glance and a little smirk before announcing to everyone she needs to go to the toilet. Not a minute after that, the house bell rings for the third time that night and Areum quickly shot to her feet to get the door.
"Should be the pizza!", she skipped her way to the door, not even minding checking the screen first.
Areum quickly unlocks the door, opening it impatiently expecting to see the pizza delivery boy but instead she is greeted with a surprised man standing so handsomely in front of her, his big eyes matching her shocked ones.
Dr Kim
Suddenly everything just stopped and Areum feels as if she is no longer breathing as she stands there at the door motionless and tongue-tied at the sight of him. But it doesn't mean she doesn't realize just how ravishing he looks like in that light grey turtleneck stretched around his broad shoulders, quite loose but perfectly accentuating his surprisingly lean and built body. The last time they met, he wore a simple dress shirt from work and a pair of working pants. Very simple.
But now, he looks way too different. A good kind of different. She had never realized Dr Kim has such good pair of legs but now that he is decked in a pair of fitting black jeans, it certainly makes her want to scream into the very void. Despite knowing she is openly gawking at him while she should be saying something to break the stilling ice around them, the smell of his perfume spirals her focus and all she can think of is how good his smell is.
He smells like the blue ocean and coconut combined. So fresh yet so rich it makes her feel like she is slowly being enveloped in sweet embrace of the beach.
"Areum-ssi?"
His voice finally pulls her back from her dizzying thoughts, making her gasp a little as she composes herself, tuning her focus back to him.
"D-Dr Kim? W-Why are you--?"
"Seokjin-ah!!!!!"
Another deep manly voice came from the side, both their heads turning to the direction of the lift. A very tall muscular man walks towards them, dimpled smile beaming so brightly as he meets their eyes.
"Joon?", Seokjin looks surprised. "Tae called you here too?"
"He did", Namjoon chuckles lowly as he turns to look at Areum. "I am sorry for interrupting. But—"
But before Namjoon could even continue, Areum felt a pull beside her and Jiwoo appears at the door.
"What is wrong with you? Where is the pizz—oh?"
SHIT
Jiwoo almost tripped on herself when she sees Namjoon smiling as if he did not just give her a mini heart attack by appearing at Haru's door unannounced. In fact, she had to blink a few times just to make sure she is not hallucinating out of nowhere just because she had some drink earlier.
"Hi", Namjoon gives a little wave. "Did I surprise you again?"
"Ah—what—No, I mean. I am surprised to see you and Dr Kim here. I didn't know Haru invited you two"
"I didn't. Taehyung did", Haru appeared behind the girls, smiling knowingly at the two men at her door. "Come in, we have been waiting!"
Namjoon walked in first, careful not to bump into Jiwoo who is still standing there like a statue. Haru had to pull her to the side, shaking her head as she looks at her own best friend having a little war in her head as she zooms into nothing.
When everyone has settled in, Taehyung gladly introduced the two men before they move to the living room once again. It did not take them long to warm up to each other despite their first meeting. Soobin and Yeonjun got very invested with Namjoon's job that they couldn't stop asking him questions on which Namjoon gladly indulged them. To sum it up, everyone getting along better than Haru expected, easing her worries completely.
"You invited Officer Kim, what the heck?"
Jiwoo creeps up to Haru's side at the kitchen, making her look up from the sink. But then she pretended to be clueless while pointing at Taehyung on which Jiwoo did not buy that.
"Oh god"
"What? Not that I am leaving you alone with him", Haru happily coos as she stands beside her best friend, leaning onto the dining table with their backs facing the living room. "Sort your thoughts, god damn it"
"What else do I need to sort? I like Officer Kim and that's just that"
"Seeeee, finally admitting"
Jiwoo lets out a deep sigh, fingers tapping her warm blushing cheeks as she remembers the way she gawked at Officer Kim so shamelessly. How did that even happen?
First, none of these people currently seated in the living room were invited to Haru's house. She does not mind her friends, Mister Kim and his brother. But, Officer Kim? She felt like exploding when she saw him at the door earlier, the pit of her stomach was so twisted she swore she almost vomited.
She was nervous, too nervous out of nowhere.
"Did you even talk to him?"
Jiwoo looks up, staring at the piles of washed plates drying at the side of the sink as she sighs again and again. "I did, a little, then I ran here"
"You are so nervous around him"
"I don't even know why", pouting inwardly, Jiwoo glances over her shoulder trying to catch a glimpse of Officer Kim but he is nowhere to be seen. It could be that he is sitting beside one of the guys thus she couldn't see him but then she quickly looked away before anyone catches her. "I think I might like him a little more than I should"
"What's wrong with that?"
"It's too early to decide, you know. I don't know what the hell is going on with my life. My parents just got divorced and I am finally building my life all over again. I still have this paranoia feeling about depending on any man and I consider myself as weak too"
Tilting her head to the side, Haru scoffs lightly at her friend. "What do you mean weak?"
"Look, Officer Kim seems to be that guy who looks for strong qualities in a girl. I do not have that. I do not think I have that. I am just this emotionally unstable girl who has issues when it comes to trusting man enough with her heart. Not that I am not learning to be better, I am but it is going to take some time"
"What if he likes you too? Are you going to run from him?"
That made Jiwoo think to herself, wondering about the possibilities of her feeling being reciprocated. She does not think too lowly of herself. She consider herself good-looking, and she needs to give herself some credits for all the good genes she inherited from her beautiful mother. Clearly, she has nothing to worry about her appearance. Her looks are one of the traits she is proud of and she knows everyone would agree with her.
But then, she still thinks she is no match for someone as great as Officer Kim. He looks like someone that has everything in his life perfectly planned. He is such a great person, polite and kind, soft spoken, respectful of everyone, patient as what her mother has been telling her and also, he seems like the person people bring home to meet their parents. Such a perfect man he is.
"Nah, I don't think so. I do like him, but I won't do anything about it. Let this pass"
"But what if he likes you too"
"Trust me, I will jump out of the windows"
~~~~
NOTE
Hello everyone! here is another update~ I hope this is good and enjoyable! Thank you for reading ! Love you~