Fifteen minutes later we were on our way to the National Library of Korea. Jungkook was driving a black range rover, which he got from I have no clue where this quickly. +food and worry +pin as key
"This is crazy", I mumbled while staring out of the window, watching the city at night pass by. The side of my head was partly leaning against the cold glass and the pane slightly misted every time I breathed out.
The midnight black sky formed a stark contrast to the bright neon lights of the high-rise buildings and the countless little shops lining the big frequented street, beautiful and riveting at the same time.
I still couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that Jungkook somehow managed to get us into the National Library of Korea at this late hour whereas it was already closed for the public. But I was glad and more than thankful. He probably saved my life, in many ways.
"So... what have you gotten yourself into that we have to do this late-night trip?", he asked, apparently deciding not to respond to my quiet comment. He was resting his left arm on the armrest of the car door and steering only with his right hand, not affecting his concetration or his focus on the traffic.
"Well, actually its not 100% my fault", I avoided directly answering his question and tore my eyes off the city lights to throw another searching look at him, "it's yours too."
"How the heck am I involved in your college stuff?", he asked confused but didn't bother to glance back at me, "I can't be the reason for everything that goes wrong in your life."
"That's not what I said", I said rolling my eyes and exhaled sharply, "but you are the reason why my life has been a pure chaos for the last week." After our last fight I wanted to be careful with more accusations but this just slipped out. It was too true to stay unspoken.
"Wow, okay", he said looking over his shoulder when he turned right into an even bigger street, "we can turn back around if you want."
"No, no, no. That's not exactly how I meant it", I quickly said to stop him from doing something stupid and decided to explain the situation to him, "what I actually wanted to say is that with all that has happened lately I totally forgot about this one essay. I was supposed to borrow a book from the library to write it but since I was too busy with a certain someone I also forgot about that."
"And why exactly do you need the book now, like at this hour? Why were you so hysterical?", he asked in a slightly sneery tone, ignoring my feisty insinuation.
"Because I have to write the essay tonight. I would have needed to hand it in today but my professor was so kind to give me a few more hours to finish it", I replied annoyed but holding back with more cynical remarks, "I need to write at least 5000 words and it has to be good. Otherwise, I'm going to fail the year. That's why."
"Oh", he said meekly while rubbing his chin with his left hand before adding, "well, good thing you have me right?"
"We'll see. I'll thank you later", I said looking back out of the window. I was not ready to admit how much of a great help he had been, yet. For the rest of the ride we stayed silent and I used the time to plan how I'm going to structure my essay despite my higher climbing blood rate.
Even tough I now was able to get the right book with Jungkook's help, I still needed to write a bomb essay or else I could start looking for some crappy-paid job to scrape a living. I was pretty much stressed out and my mind was already going haywire because of everything that was on the line for me.
After a twenty-minute car ride we arrived at the library and Jungkook parked the car on the car park next to the library building. Before we got out of the car, we both put on our masks to disguise ourselves. He also put on his bucket hat, just to be safe. I didn't bring mine because I was too hurried to remember it. I was only hoping I brought everything I needed to finish the assignment.
I didn't need the hat anyway since it was already 11.30pm and the sun had already set. There were barely any people around, only a few who were either walking their dogs or rushing home. No one really paid attention to us because we were just two dark figures sneaking into the library at night. Nothing unusual around here, I guessed.
I let Jungkook take the lead and followed him silently around the building, away from the main entrance. I didn't know where we were heading to since it was so dark but when he came to a halt in front of a metal door at the back of the big building I just figured it was some kind of rear entrance for staff only which we could use to get inside unnoticed.
He pulled the door open and signalled me with a hand gesture that I should go in first while he was holding the door open. I felt like an undercover agent -no, rather like a criminal, who was breaking into the library at night. I didn't dare to utter a word in case someone might hear us and catch us. I didn't want to risk anything.
Due to Jungkook's presence I was able to see colours. At the moment though, I couldn't quite enjoy it because it was so dark that I couldn't even see my own feet not to mention where I was going.
"Ah, damn it!", I groaned in pain when I stubbed my toe on something very hard. I couldn't tell what it was but I could say that it hurt pretty damn much.
"Can we turn on the lights or something?", I hissed with gritted teeth while I was hopping on one feet to rub my painfully stinging toe through my shoe, the goal of making no noise long forgotten.
"No, we can't. I don't know where the light switch is", he replied in a low voice and pulled out his phone to turn on its flashlight.
"Great, now we're really looking like we're two thieves", I said standing on both feet again, the pain slowly going away, "do you even know where we are going?"
"No, I don't. How am I supposed to know? I've never been here", he said indignantly after shortly searching my face and shone the light down the dark corridor, "and what would a thief even want here by the way?"
"I don't know, books maybe", I replied curtly and shrugged before we continued our way down the barely lit hallway, "books can be quite valuable, you know."
"Of course I do", he countered with a huff and followed me since we both had no clue where to go.
"I didn't mean to offend you, I just guessed you don't have much time to read any books. I mean you're here, at night, just to accompany me to the library", I remarked in a slightly snarky tone. We reached a door at the end of the corridor and stopped there.
"Well, someone has to babysit you. You obviously get nothing done by yourself", he scoffed making me sigh in defeat. I didn't have the power to talk back so I let it slide. De-escalating this conversation saved much more energy.
"Ladies first", I replied instead and glared at him while making a sweeping hand gesture towards the door. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes annoyed before he pushed the door open.
We found ourselves in a backroom, dimly lighted by only a green escape route sign and Jungkook's phone flashlight. The room looked like a common room for the staff who worked at the library, not like our final destination. So we made our way to another door, the only other one in the room and the one to where I so desperately needed to be.
"Okay...", I breathed and looked around the huge, openly-constructed building with its many ceiling-high bookshelves stacked with magazines, journals and weighty tomes. Faint, bluish light came through the big windows, not enough to walk around carelessly though.
It was much more difficult to get one's bearings in the huge building complex when the lights were off. But after we got lost two times I eventually managed to find the right aisle. Then I ran along the bookshelf twice again before I spotted the book I was looking for.
It was a little embarrassing that I didn't find it right away because Jungkook kept following me like a duckling for the whole time. One might expect that I knew my way around this place after being to the library more than once. However, I simply blamed the darkness and considered myself lucky that he didn't tease me about it.
"There it is", I exhaled relieved and tiptoed in attempt to grab it. But it was on one of the upper shelves, of course it was. Too high up for me to reach it. I groaned in frustration and turned to Jungkook.
"Could you please give me a hand?", I asked reluctantly, bruising my ego tremendously. Even a simple task like this, I wasn't able to do on my own.
I didn't see much of his face because of the low light and his mask and bucket hat. But I knew for sure that he was smirking right now, relishing this moment to the fullest. I could tell just by the way he pierced me with his eyes which were flashing roguishly.
"Well, of course", he replied with distinct politeness before asking me mockingly while fetching the book from the shelf, "seriously, what would you do without me?"
"I would get a chair or something", I snapped, ready to grab the book from him.
But he stretched out his arm so the book was out of my reach again making me snort in frustration. He laughed at my desperate attempts to snatch it away from him before he showed some mercy and handed it over to me. I decided not to thank him, knowing my words of gratitude might not come out as grateful.
"So what's my task?", he asked while we headed to the cozy spot where I usually write my essays. I loved it since it was hidden enough from too many curious eyes but not too much to watch people for entertainment while spacing out during writing sessions.
"You're the driver", I deadpanned and took off my mask when we reached the desks. I slumped down on the office chair and turned on the small reading lamp placed on the table. I was glad it worked because it would have been quite difficult without it.
Hopefully no one would notice the small light burning in the library. Jungkook might have gotten us inside but it didn't necessarily mean that we were allowed to be here at night. It wasn't guaranteed that someone would vouch for us if we were to get caught.
"Great. How boring", he commented with disappointment resonating in his voice as he took the chair next to me.
He sat down and turned towards me to observe me or make me nervous or something. Well, it did work. After taking off his mask and hat, he shortly tousled his hair before he bent his elbow and rested his head on his hand while laying his arm on the desk. He watched me take out my laptop, open and start it in silence before he spoke up again.
"Can I at least flip the pages or something?", he asked with a serious face and nudged his head towards the opened book.
"What? No", I replied tetchily.
"Can I read the paragraphs to you?", he kept bugging me.
"No, you can go to sleep until I'm done", I told him on the verge of lashing out at him because of his childish behaviour in this very inopportune moment, "please stop talking now. I need to concentrate."
"You know for someone who goes to college you are pretty dumb", he blurted forthrightly after another while of silence, in which only the sound of my fingers dancing over the keyboard was audible. I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath to keep my cool.
"Wow, um thanks. Now would you please shut up because if you won't stop talking and keep me from writing this essay, I will no longer be going there anyway?!", I told him off and resumed to writing my essay.
After that he actually stayed quiet. One hour passed by and I had a pretty good run but it was getting later and later and the sleepiness slowly creeping up on me gave me a hard time. I ran my hands through my hair and exhaled loudly.
The heap of black clothes next to me shuffled and Jungkook lifted his head to look up at me. I thought he had fallen asleep but he was still very well awake.
"How are you doing?", he asked, peeking at my laptop.
"Good", I replied, knowing I didn't sound very convincing.
"You should already know that I can tell when you lie", he said softly before straightening up and stretching his tired body, "can I help you now?"
"I wouldn't know how", I said petulantly. I was running out of time and my nerves have already reached the breaking point.
"I think you need some energy. And I am starving. I'll go and see if I can find any food and drinks somewhere around here. Will you be alright?", he suggested, already jumping on his feet. I gave him a nod and off he went.
During the next half hour in which he was gone I merely managed to write one lousy paragraph. Only when I heard the rustle of a plastic bag filled with delicious food, I realised how burnt out and hungry I was.
"Tteokbokki to the rescue", Jungkook's cutely excited voice sounded next to me as soon as he plopped down on the chair next to me, placing two white plastic bags on the table in front of him, "how's it going?"
"Not so good", I truthfully admitted while watching him unpack the food, "I feel like I've lost the abilty to form proper sentences."
"You know, whenever I can't put my finger on dance moves I always get wrong or I simply can't hit the right note I talk to one of the members about it and it helps me realise where the problem lies", he explained to me, setting down a bottle of water as well as a box of steaming hot and forbidden tasty-smelling tteokbokki beside my laptop, "so you could try and explain to me whatever you are writing there and maybe it helps."
"You know you don't have to be here. Or do all this", I told him quietly, my gaze shortly wandering over our cosied up working space (which I knew the strict security lady, who was usually here, would not find funny).
"Of course I do", he replied, his words barely a murmur, before he cleared his throat and spoke louder again, "now tell me where you're stuck. And eat up."
"Fine", I gave in and loosened up. I dug into the delicious food and opened up to Jungkook about the parts I had problems with.
And it did help. It was actually a lot of fun. As soon as I tried to put my theses into words so he could understand what it was about I knew what and how I had to write it. It was fun because I was already so tired that I kept mxing up my words and repeatedly made the stupidest typos, making us burst into sleep-deprived giggles every single time it happened.
After my writer's block had dissolved he let me finish my essay in peace, knowing that I didn't need his help, but quietness to not get distracted again. He disposed of our empty food boxes and water bottles and simply minded his own business while checking up on me from time to time.
At some point I briefly took my eyes off the screen to check if he was still awake after I heard quiet snores coming from his side. But this time, he actually had fallen asleep. I smiled at how peaceful he looked with his eyes tightly shut and his lips slightly parted as usual while being soundly asleep.
What the heck? I heavily shook my head after realising how creepy I must look and how I caught myself staring at him. Again. Was this some kind of weird, undiscovered fetish of mine or why couldn't I help myself every time I found myself in this kind of situation?
I yawned and gathered my last strength to finish the rest of my essay. It was hard to keep my eyes open while focusing so hard on the screen and trying to stay awake at the same time. The black letters on the white screen slowly started melting away before my eyes as the sleepiness took control of me.
In the end I was so tired that I didn't remember how I wrote the last paragraph and saved the file. I must have managed to do it somehow before the sleep overwhelmed me and I fell asleep on the keyboard of my laptop next to Jungkook.
--------------------------***--------------------------
I was rudely woken up again by the noise of people chattering in the distance. Several people. That didn't seem right.
The surface my head was resting on was also too hard. It didn't feel like my usual ever so soft pillow back in my bed in my room in Jungkook's apartment. This didn't seem right either.
It didn't feel so soft because I wasn't in my bed.
I opened my eyes widely and sat up straight, finding myself in the exact same spot where I fell asleep a few hours ago. In the library.
In a public library. Which opens in the morning for the public, for normal people. People who go there during the opening hours.
It took a short instant until the late night events came back to my memory and when I finished reconstructing everything that had happend, my head was spinning. My blood pressure immediately peaked as a wave of panic erupted in my stomach and had my entire system in a chokehold within a split second. The muffled voices came closer and I knew I had less than thirty seconds before they would turn around the corner and spot us.
Us in the sense of Jungkook and me. If only one breathing and socially networked human being would get wind of him and me, it would probably become one of the biggest scandals of this century. I couldn't even imagine how badly an incident of this dimension would affect us.
I turned to the side and looked at Jungkook who was still sound asleep next to me, his head resting on the hard surface of the table just like mine a minute ago. We needed to get out of here, now.
And most importantly I needed to hand in my essay or otherwise our whole stunt last night was in vain. It was 10.05am. Good gracious. I only had one hour left to get to the university and hand in my essay.
"Jungkook", I whisper-shouted and shook his body fiercely to wake him, "damn it! Come on, wake up!"
Lucky for me, this time he woke up right away and not only after countless attempts of reviving him from the sleeping dead. His head shot up and he looked around confused as if he had just come back down to earth from a journey to the moon. His face had the wrinkles of his pullover imprinted on his right cheek where he had laid on his arm.
"What's going on?", he asked sleepily and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"There are people coming. We have to leave", I told him while getting up and quickly gathering my stuff, "put on your hat and mask before someone sees you. Now."
Realisation slowly showed on his face as he put on his bucket hat. Right in the moment he reached for his mask, a group of students appeared at the end of the corridor. He quickly put on his masks but they had already noticed us and looked at us puzzled, probably wondering how on earth we got in before them.
I couldn't exactly tell whether they had seen him and recognised him or not but I knew for sure that I had to get out of here at once.
"I really need to go now", I said hurriedly, adjusting the strap of my bag on my shoulder, "you should take the back door. I'll see you around." I had already taken three steps forward into the direction of the main entrance, or rather exit, when he called after me once again.
"Wait, Yuna!", he said loudly to stop me from running off, but certainly not too loud so the other students wouldn't hear him, "I can drive you."
"Thanks, I can handle myself", I replied not even bothering to turn back around and walked past the group of students with my head down.
--------------------------***--------------------------
Looking back I couldn't exactly tell why I didnt accept his offer to drive me to campus. It would have definitely been easier. But I was probably too stubborn to gratefully receive the help I needed. Instead, I took the long way by underground.
Good thing was, I arrived on time, handed the essay in and just like that, my education was saved. Or at least I was hoping that my work would be good enough to save my studies.
Unfortunately, I knew class was going to be hell for me today since I got less than five hours of sleep. And the sleep I did get, didn't really do me any good. It was going to be a long day.
At least that was what I thought until I got a call five minutes before class started.
"Hello?", I picked up the phone while cautiously keeping an eye on the door to see when the professor would come in. I couldn't lapse one more time.
"Yuna, where you at?", Jungkook's voice sounded at the other end of the line. Was that annoyance I heard in his undertone?
"In class, of course. Where else, genius?", I answered his completely pointless question without being able to censor my language while being confronted with so much stupidity. Why did the slightest sign of annonyance on his side always triple the irritation on my side?
"Okay, we'll pick you up in ten. Wait outside the building", he informed me as if he didn't just suggest that I skipped class. Again. For whatever reason.
"Pick me up? What the heck, Jungkook? What's so hard to understand about the word class? I can't leave right now. I'll fail this class if I'm being absent once more", I told him off, struggling to keep my voice down so no one would hear me talking on the phone to him.
I've been so close to ruin my future only a few hours ago because of him -okay, partly because of him- and I wasn't in the mood to do that again any time soon.
"My company talked to your professors. It's okay, you can go", he explained to me, audibly slowly starting to get more pissed off as well. While he was still talking the professor entered the room and placed his briefcase on the desk.
"And what if I don't want to?", I instantly reacted defyingly to his harsh tone, switching to whisper-shouting at him trhough the phone.
"Then I'll send two scary looking BigHit guys in to come and get you to make a scene in front of all your fellow students", he threatend, now clearly pissed off.
"Fine, I'll be waiting outside for you", I gave in and hung up.
I still didn't know the reason why I had to leave so suddenly and why he couldn't have told me sooner, but his threat scared me enough to pack my stuff and quickly make my way through the lecture hall while trying to avoid the gossip-hungry glances. Whatever the reason was, I did not want all my life's drama to be publicly exposed.
I glanced at my professor to check if it really was alright if I left. He gave me a nod when he caught my gaze and I sighed relieved as I could leave the room without attracting any more unnecessary attention.
I felt pretty stupid waiting by the road outside the university meanwhile everyone was inside after the lecture had started and actually learning something. If my life continued like that, I would definitely fail this semester. Because I missed all the lectures and just couldn't catch up anymore. I prayed that this would never happen. I wasn't obsessed with finishing my studies timely, but I also didn't want to mess up my life and career planning.
However, fate seemed to have different plans with me, plans in the shape of a black-haired, handsome man.
Exactly ten minutes after said man had called, a range rover pulled up at the side of the street and the passenger door was opened by a man completely dressed in dark shades. They really do try to attract all the attention with each and everyone of the bodyguards looking like mafiosos.
With a hand gesture he signalled me to come over. As soon as I reached the car he opened the back door for me to hop in. I couldn't suppress a happy smile when everything around me was dyed in colour. This had very quickly become one of my favourite things in the world.
But my smile immediately disappeared when I found myself seated on the backseat right next to a grumpy-looking Jungkook dressed in all black. The usual. He appeared to be in good health though so my slight worry for him vanished in an instant.
"Fasten your seatbelt", was the only greeting I would get today. I decided not to talk back and just keep my mouth shut as the car came into motion and I buckled up.
"Where are we going?", I asked not greeting him either, which might seem a little childish, I know, but I just couldn't help it.
"Gapyeong, Cheongpyeong Lake", he replied tersely and coldly, obviously determind to give me the cold shoulder because of the horrible thing I must have done. Now it would be nice to know what exactly that might have been.
"What?", I asked outraged as reality hit me, "that's like an hour from here. If I had known we'd be going on a whole ass trip I would've brought something to study or work on." I buried my face in my hands in despair. Another day lost, precious time that I desperately needed for the preparation of my upcoming exams.
"How long will we be gone? What's your business there?", I asked dropping my hands and looked at him distraughtly.
I tried to see in his face if he was enjoying what he was doing to me or if he just didn't care about my future. But nothing, I couldn't tell anything from the stone cold, craggy features. He didn't even bother to look at me while I begged him to give me answers. A part of me kind of hoped, he would reassure me, like he did yesterday night. That was probably only a glitch though.
"The whole day, we'll be shooting Run BTS! there", he deadpanned and turned towards me. He scanned my face before his pitch black eyes met mine. He purposely made eye contact and the colours flared up around me a little more, as if on cue.
(I suggest that you either watch Run BTS! ep. 83-85 now or after this chapter. It will jog your memory a little and they're very funny :))
I was briefly distracted by the creamy colour of the leather seats and the lush green of the trees outside the window. Their sappy colour was more accentuated by the moisture in the air due to the rainy weather on this bleak day.
Wait. Was he trying to manipulate me? Trying to distract me from the fact that I was upset and that I might have seen slight worry on his face right before he caught my gaze?
"You know a simple thank you for yesterday would have been enough", he remarked snappishly, another attempt to sidetrack me but I didn't fall for it. I was going to thank him when the time was right, I wouldn't let him use his favour to me against me.
"Why do I have to come along when it has nothing to do with me?", I asked in a whiny tone. I absolutely did not get enough sleep for an entire field trip.
"The producers and Serena thought it would be better if you accompanied us. Today's program will include a lot of tough sport and it might be too exhausting for me without you", he told me reluctantly, his voice becoming quieter at the end of his last sentence. It was obvious he still wasn't comfortable with saying out loud that he needed help -my help.
"Couldn't you have told me sooner?", I kept whining as I averted my gaze to not run into danger of being visually manipulated by him again.
"It is listed on the schedule", he stated dryly, also deciding not to spare a glance at me.
My lips formed a silent 'o' as I blushed. Only now I realised what was meant with show/shooting on the schedule that was given to me. But still, how was I supposed to know? I was new in this whole business of stars and starlets -actually, I didn't even want to be part of this business in the first place. I never had a choice.
(Listen to 'Ride' by Yoke Lore while reading this scene, if you want)
"Don't worry, Yuna. It is a very beautiful site, you'll like it there", a deep voice sounded from the driver's seat. I was so taken aback by the sudden news of the trip that I hadn't even noticed that my good old friend Frank was our driver.
"And if you don't like it there I will drive you home in no time", he said winking at me through the rear mirror. His clear, brown eyes reflecting good nature in a fatherly way.
"Thank you, Frank. I appreciate it", I said sending him a smile. I was very well aware that he couldn't do that but I was grateful for his attempt to cheering me up. At least one person in this car that cared for me.
I knew there was no way to talk myself out of this one so I defeatedly leaned back in my seat. I wanted to direct my attention to the beautiful variety of colours outside the window, but I noticed Jungkook's stare on me.
"What?", I asked and frowned, trying my best not to come across too impolitely before adding, "Frank and I are friends."
"I didn't say anything", he said shrugging and turned away from me to look out the window.
With that our conversation ended and we stayed silent. I used the length of the car ride to come up with the great plan of organizing myself a laptop so I could access online documents that had been uploaded by my professor and would be relevant for the exams. I could go through them while being on call on set.
I actually quite enjoyed the ride because it was the first time I could see the nature in its full magnificence. And it was absolutely stunning. I had never seen so many beautiful colours at the same time in my life, it was so breathtaking. However, my colour receptors and my brain were so overstrained that at one point my eyes simply shut.
"I had someone install a pin-lock on our apartment door", I heard Jungkook's voice talk to me somewhere in the distance as my consciousness drifted off to sleep.
"Wow, really? That's... great...", I mumbled before I fell asleep for good, still wondering if he had really said that and if so, if I had voiced my answer or only replied in my head.
But I stayed asleep until we arrived in Gapyeong. I napped for a good twenty minutes which was long enough to recharge my energy for another few hours.
"Yuna", Jungkook softly called out my name and shook me by my arm, "we're here. Wake up."
At the sound of his voice my eyes immediately opened. I never heard him say my name with this much tenderness. When I looked at him a little astonished after being so sound asleep. I noticed that also the look on his face was somewhat gentle. He must be in a better mood.
After gettin out of the car behind Jungkook I stretched my body lazily and let my gaze wander around the location. We had arrived at the large carpark of a water leisure amusement park by the lake. I was impressed by the mere sight of its seize as well as the forested mountains and the huge highway bridge in the background.
"Come on, hurry up, Yuna. We're late because of you", Jungkook rushed me. I clicked my tongue in disapproval, like this was all my fault. I followed him nevertheless.
Two staff members got out of the car that had parked next to ours and joined us on our way over to the entrance of a huge concrete building with big black letters on the front wall reading '캠프통포레스트'. Capital letters in all colours of the rainbow were attached right to the rail of the stairs leading up to the front door saying 'WELCOME'.
I had never been to a waterpark before and I immediately noticed how my inner child got excited as we walked inside the main building. I couldn't blame her though, I remembered too many dull days in my childhood.
After we passed the reception we entered an enormous hall which was brimming with tables and folding chairs. It was illuminated by simple light bulbs hanging off the open ceiling and the opposing wall constructed with only windows up to the ceiling offered a great view at the large swimming pool outside and the lake in the background.
Outside there were white parasols and sun loungers arranged around the pool. Above the pool there was a metal construction, the same as the ones being used for the spotlights at concerts. Naturally, all the cameras were already set up and there was a busy hustle and bustle around the whole place.
"Yuna!", I heard someone call my name through the noise of everyone preparing the filming set. I looked around and spotted Taehyung between all the cameras and employees beside the pool waving at me. I gave him an honest smile and waved back at him.
Jungkook completely ignored me and followed one of the staff members into another direction. As soon as he was out of reach my vision went black and white again, as if someone had pulled the plug to the colour television and with it the power source for my good mood. I sighed and decided to go to the only person I knew so I wouldn't be stupidly standing around and be in someone's way.
"I didn't know you'd be coming too", he said with a happy expression on his face as I reached him.
"Neither did I", I said admiring his outfit before quickly adding to avoid coming across as rude, "but its really beautiful here. I've never been at Cheongpyeong Lake before."
He was dressed in swimming trunks with some sort of leggings underneath and a t-shirt which could be seen because his flower print shirt wasn't fully buttoned up. He was wearing slippers and on top of all, that he had put on a beach straw hat. All in all, the outfit looked quite funny but he certainly was the only one on this planet who would be able to pull it off. A part of me was sad that Jungkook was gone and I couldn't see his outfit in its full glory.
"Really?", he asked surprised and eyed me interestedly. "Yes, I don't often go on trips -actually never", I told him laughing it off so he wouldn't feel uncomfortable, "where are the others?"
"They're still changing", he answered my question and let his gaze wander over the site, "I think today will be a lot of fun." I looked at the dark lake in the distance and then at the big pool with all the inflated animals floating around on the prsitine water surface.
"Yes, I think so too", I agreed nodding and gave him another smile.
"What will you do in the meantime?", he asked seeming to be truly interested. "Oh, I'm going to try and find a laptop so I can study some papers my professor has uploaded for my exam", I told him about my plan. I had to snicker quietly at how boring it sounded compared to what he was about to do.
I fell silent though the second my vision became coloured. And two seconds later the air was filled with the loud voices and laughter of the rest of the group who were joking around while arriving at the set.
They were more or less dressed the same as Taehyung. I couldn't get enough of the colours of their clothes, except for Jungkook's, they were all black as usual. At least he had a smile on his face now that he was with his older brothers. Taehyung joined them as they got ready to start filming and I went on the mission to find someone who would be so kind to provide a laptop for me, if the luck was on my side.
And it was. A friendly manager eventually gave me one and I found a place nearby the set where I could sit and study in peace. At least that was what I thought.
The boys were playing some sort of ball game in the swimming pool and as soon as I approached my desired place I was close enough to Jungkook to see colours, which wasn't my intention, to be honest. He immediately noticed though and turned his head to me. He pierced me with dark eyes making me almost trip over my own feet before he looked away again.
His face was blank when he turned his attention back to the game. But it wasn't a blank-upset face. I already knew him long enough to be able to tell that he looked content when he averted his gaze. I couldn't tell why but he did.
Knowing that he wasn't mad at me should put me at ease and make it easier to concentrate but I kept distracting myself by paying attention to the game and not the opened document on the screen of the laptop. The arctic blue colour of the pool was just too mesmerizing and the game too funny to focus on anything else.
However, what captivated me the most, was how happy Jungkook looked while playing with his hyungs. I didn't mean to stare but when he laughed so sincerely I just couldn't look away. That was why it took me a moment to realise that my phone was ringing. It was Yejin.
"Hi, Yuna. Where are you right now?", her cheery voice chirping through the phone, as usual.
"Um- I'm at the library... studying", I made something up, silently scolding myself for sounding so unconvincing. I just hoped that she wouldn't hear the boy's cheers and calls who were playing a few meters away from me in the pool. Luckily, in that moment they stopped.
"Oh, can I come? We could study together", she asked excitedly. It broke my heart having to tell her no and lie to her over and over again.
"Now is not such a good time. I really need to study by myself. I'm sorry, Yejin. Maybe next time", I put her off, my heart aching at my own harsh words.
"Ok. We really need to do something together. Ever since you moved out I haven't seen or heard from you", she complained but not in a offending way. She just seemed to be pretty bummed out about it.
"Yes, I promise. How about Thursday?", I asked her, a scowl flitted across my face. I really hoped I could keep that promise and wouldn't have to stand her up.
"Okay, perfect", she said sounding happy again, "I'll see you Thursday then."
"Alright", I agreed and hung up without sayung goodbye before Jin started talking to me. At least I prayed that I had hung up in time for her not to hear anything he said.
"That doesn't look like studying, Miss", he said jokingly and I laughed while my cheeks blushed.
"My friend just called and I had to make something up, you know", I explained shrugging and he nodded understandingly.
He was clad in black swimming trousers and a wide shirt tinted in a colour shift from an arctic turquoise to a punch pink and a denim blue with palm trees printed on it. All of his clothes were drenched except for his heather purple dyed hair which was slowly growing out. So many pretty colours, I could lose myself in them.
"That your phone?", he asked pointing at my phone in my hand and keeping me from zoning out. I nodded and placed it in his stretched out hand a little perplexed.
"I'm going to bless your camera roll with a bit of my handsomeness", he stated and opened the camera on my phone. He took a few selfies pulling a different funny face in each of them making me giggle wildly before he put down the phone and turned back to face me.
A part of me was freaking out because this incredibly handsome, worldwide famous, young man stood in front of me and gave me some of his precious attention. Although I wasn't the greatest fan of BTS, this part of me was secretly fangirling.
"How are you doing, honestly? Is Jungkook giving you a hard time?", he asked out of the blue. His tone was still cheerful but his eyes were as serious as the question. He really wanted to know how I was keeping up.
"You know, I'm the hyung. I can tell him off if he isn't treating you well", he added making me chuckle while I shook my head.
"No, there's no need for that", I denied and sent him a smile, "I mean, yes, he behaves like a toddler from time to time and that can be very annoying and exhausting-"
"Finally someone who understands how I feel. I literally raised this boy and he still acts like a five-year-old", he complained and rolled his eyes dramatically.
"Exactly", I agreed and laughed at his reaction, "but all jokes aside. We have our differences and it's not easy for both of us. We just need more time to warm up, that's all."
Jin was about to comment on what I said when Taehyung loudly called out my name making both of us turn our heads into the direction of the call.
He held a plastic ball in his hands and stood at the other side of the pool where the boys had gotten out of the water after the game had finished. He aimed at me with a smile and threw the ball before I could tell him that this was a bad idea.
I knew he just wanted to include me in the game after the cameras had stopped filming but when it came to throwing and catching anything I pretty much sucked. I was bad at all kinds of sports that include flying objects, no exception.
My problem was that whenever I see a ball or anything similar coming towards me, I simply don't move. My reaction time is approximately thirty seconds long. It probably is shorter in reality but it always feels like eternity until I move. That was the reason why I avoided plaing any games during PE in high school, I would only end up getting hit in the face by a ball every two seconds.
So when the ball Taehyung threw, was flying precisely into my direction I only stood there unable to move and rethinking all my life decisions.
But right before the ball could collide with my face, someone extended their arm and caught the ball one-handedly making it look ever so easy. The sound of the ball clashing into this person's hand startled me and put an end to my shock induced paralysis.
I automatically turned to the side to see who my saviour was. I gaped at Jungkook who was standing next to me with the ball in his right hand, wet black curls tousled and clothes completely soaked.
And damn, he was pissed off.
After overcoming my lack of motivation, finishing all my exams and recovering from a cold, I'm back with chapter 25. And I'm over the moon to see 15k+ reads on this book. It means so much to me to have this many people actually reading my shit :)
Love you guys, as always <3