"So, in the past weeks I was working my fingers to the bone, back there in that mortifying study camp without mobile and internet, and in the meantime, you found a fake boyfriend, that fake boyfriend is your ex-bias and your current boss, and that boss is Jeon ducking Jungkook. To top it off, you even introduced that guy to your aunt and her family and he helped you to get a new fancy house, you even got a promotion from being his manager to his chef, woah! Congrats my lady, I'm so proud of you. And here comes the crux of the biscuit, you fricking signed a contract with that Satan in a bunny onesie! Do Amazon ship Oscar awards to South Korea? You really deserve a couple of them for your non-existing brain!" seems like rapper Jin momentarily possessed your friend Darla, the dosage of satire dripping in her words is more than enough to drown you in the puddle of sarcasm.
"Darla, listen! I didn't plan or execute anything; I'm just playing the role in fate's screenplay." You try to defend yourself, knowing the absolute fact that you're going to pathetically fail in that.
"Shut up! Don't you have any better excuses y/n? what have you got yourself into? Do you even realize the seriousness of the situation you're caught in? and what's with this crazy date game, how many douchebags have you met till now?" she continues to rack up the questions in a tone that notifies that she is as mad as a hornet.
"Darla, calm down for heaven's sake! See, I totally understand all the things you ranted about, but try to understand, I was in a very crucial situation which drove me to nod my head for all the directions and destinations my fate exhibited in front of me. And this date thingy, I just want to torment Jungkook till my heart's content. Though I started all these as an oblivious ostrich, trust me I have few ideas readily devised to handle the situations, so chill down and relax. I can handle it." You try your level best, using sentences inlaid with all kinds of words that used to convince her every single time you guys get into an argument, since high school.
With a windy mock sigh she continues, "Do whatever you want, after all, you're the one who is going to suffer the consequence, so why do I even worry myself and why do I always behave like a mom material? It's distressing and your stubborn ass makes it even more irksome. Now that I think, how did your mom actually accepted all these crazy ideas, does she even know about all your mumbo jumbo plans?"
"Hmm...barring this adult version play dates, she knows the rest of the history." You reply innately, your eyes follow Joe, who is gliding over the kitchen floor with a plaid apron and a sizzling pan in his hand.
"What? Seriously! And you're still her daughter, she didn't disown you yet? Girl, what the heck is happening with your family members, why do they all suddenly behave so liberal? Have they taken leave of their senses?"
"Well, initially it was actually a red flag to a raging bull kind of move when I informed mom about my fake boyfriend plan, but when I informed that Jungkook is the one who is playing the role of my fake boyfriend, bizarrely she took it well than I expected, to begin with, I didn't even expect her to accept my decision at all, but she even convinced my dad and paved an easy path for me. Can you believe it?" it sounds unconvincing and far-fetched for even yourself.
"Wait, give me few seconds, my mind is buffering with all the mind-boggling information, is she shipping you with Jungkook or what? Actually, she should've put you up for adoption by this time if she was in her right mind, but how???" you could imagine her surprised Pikachu face on the other end of the call.
"I know right!" as you continue to reply, Joe gestures that he is done with cooking and proceed to take off his apron.
"Alright y/n, my break time will be over in few minutes, just update me about all your crazy fake dates until now and your further plans, because it sounds like the most menacing part of your contract."
"Well two days back I met one of his close friends and that guy wanted to meet me for a specific reason and that is, he is an overzealous stan of Hinduism and dharma and his ultimate bias is Hanuman, hence the date session evolved into a how to become a monk session and we ended up singing Hanuman Chalisa in perfect harmony. The day before yesterday, I met one of Jungkook's Canadian classmates who was a bibliophile and the date ended up with us mourning over all our favourite fictional characters who met with tragic deaths. And yesterday I met his friend's brother, after few minutes of conversation he proceeded to order live octopus sashimi called San-nakji, I said bye-bye Ji and left the spot at a lightning speed. Today, Jungkook said he has a very important schedule planned for me and asked me to be prepared for it, though it's exhausting as heck, the irritation that suffuses his features every time I turn down the guys makes it worth the struggle." You narrate the whole thing in a low voice, since this information is off-limits for Joe's ears, it should be the same for Darla too, but it's an impossible task for you to keep something a secret from your best friend.
"Y/n, I'm begging you, for my sake, please be careful with your every move, don't goof around, you're not a teenage kid anymore. Stop blaming your fate for everything and take the responsibility of your life in your hands. I've always trusted your decisions, even now. So don't let me down" the genuine concern in her voice drives you to rethink the decisions you made in past few days, simultaneously your heart swells with happiness as you think about the kind of friend you got for yourself.
The blaring alarm goes off in the background indicating the end of her break time, "Alright y/n, keep things I said in mind and act accordingly, also convey my thanks to that handsome gay friend of yours, for taking good care of your chaotic ass. I gotta go now, will text you later when I get my phone back from the institute, bye! Take care, I hate you!" her voice abruptly cuts off with a piercing beep, reminding you the fact that she loves you more than anything in this world.
Little beads of tears engulf your eyes as a major slab of your heart longs for those good old days, where she was a call away from you.
"Wanna eat the ramen before it becomes a bunch of sticky worms?" Joe taps your shoulder from the back and walks you towards his dining table.
Softly slumping over the dining chair, your eyes rove around the place. This is the first time you got invited to his place and he even cooked a delicious lunch for both of you. Considering the myths about those typical guy's rooms, he seemed like an unusual one with his squeaky-clean apartment. It is quite simple with minimal aesthetics, matching his personality. Apart from a huge portrait of a fish, which is a vibrant fuse of black, white and orange, the whole wall is vacant and bland.
"What is that on the wall?" as he continues to fill your glasses with cold water, your curiosity steps ahead before your brain's contemplation.
He pauses his action and turns around his back, "ah that" he turns around with a warm smile induced by your question, "it's a clownfish, my favourite species on earth." His smile grows wider, escalating your curiosity even more, but this time he continues, making it much easier for your curious self.
"Do you know that these fishes don't have any assigned gender in nature?" his question hauls your attention from the portrait to his face.
"What?" you ask while thrusting an empty fork into your mouth in a curious state.
"Yeah, clownfishes are all born male, later some of the most dominant ones will turn into females and takes care of the role of breeding." The fork in your mouth tumbles down the table as your jaw slightly hangs low.
"There are few more animals, which has similar gender fluidity and together they're referred as hermaphrodite animals. But when I was a kid, we had one of these in our house and I've always been fascinated about these clownfishes and when I heard about their gender-fluid nature, I started to consider them as my spirit animal, I guess you know why" throwing an adorable wink at you and he pulls his chair to sit.
He proceeds to serve the piping-hot shrimp ramen, pathetically failing in curbing the temptation you slurp a luscious strand of the alluring ramen.
"This...ish...shoo...good!!!" you continue to complement his culinary skills while stoving a huge portion of the ramen into your mouth.
"This is my mom's special recipe. She taught me this when I was a kid, saying that, she might not be there to make it for me in future, and I should learn it so that I can make it myself whenever I want." Mixing the broth with his chopsticks, he says with a forlorn smile.
You halt the process of stuffing the food into your mouth and look at him with bulged chins, stuffed with unchewed ramen strands. Tugging his present self out of those past memories he looks up at your face, thinking that he ruined the mood, but instead he bursts into laughter.
"Yaaa, you look like a chipmunk! Wait let me take a snap of your precious face" his hands search for his phone.
"Shut up and sit down before I break your bones!" you continue to chew your food, internally thanking yourself for making him laugh.
"And I was thinking about asking this to you since then, if my memory serves me right, that day when you couldn't make it to my house as per our plan, you told me that you're going to pick up your mom from the airport right? Who is she?"
He wipes the corner of his lips with a napkin and continues, "As I told you, she is my mom but not biological mom. She is the wife of my father."
"Oh, so she is your stepmom, which means she is your dad's second wife, right?" your head hoists up from the ramen.
"No. She is my father's first and only wife" he says in a grave tone and pauses for a minute to scan your reaction.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm an illegitimate child." His crest-fallen smile creeps back over his lips and your heartaches in pain as you think about all the concealed bruises this man has in his life. Your hand drops the utensils and extends to grab his palm.
"Joe, you know what, you deserve a beautiful life and I do know that your future is going to be as beautiful as your heart. But if I was an angel and I had powers, I would definitely bless you with another brand-new life, with a beautiful childhood, where all your wishes will come true." Your fingers firmly tighten around his palm to ensure him.
His smile grows wider and his dark orbs deeply gaze into yours,
"y/n, you're an angel. And if your words come to pass, since I couldn't do it in this life, the first thing I would wish for in that life, is to love you, not as a friend, but as a man"
His thumb softly wipes the food from the corner of your lips.
-
The lilac smell of this salon suffuses your brain and continues to retain you in a trance like state, while the blond hairdresser continues to restyle your hair into a loose bun and soft curls. The cluster of high-end products, which are messily scattered over the maple wood desk ahead of you, notifies the class of this salon's regular customers. But, the gigantic parlour, which can be easily mixed up with a royal chamber with its aesthetic theme, is now wholly empty. Jungkook must've booked it completely to avoid the public before he asked you to come here.
The red silk velvet gown with Devore detailing perfectly hugs around your curves and tumbles down like a river of crimson blood. The plunge line in the front subtly revealed your assets, though you don't consider them as one and the deep v back, makes you cautious and conscious about your every movement. The hairdresser finishes her work and swiftly steps out of the room, allowing the room of huge mirrors, to all yourself.
You warily get off the swivel chair and move towards one of the fairly large mirrors. The dress sits upon your skin as soft petals of red rose, making you look like a blossomed flower in the summer sun. The velvety texture and silky cloth of the dress arouse your feminine senses and the revealing cuts smear a hue of shyness over your features. The way this shade of red and the steamy combo of smoky eyes with bold red lips, complementing your dusky skin, enhance your pseudo pride about your beauty, which might exist till you peel off this dress and wipe off the makeup. This is your first-ever time wearing such a revealing outfit, but you make sure to bottle up those petty bubbles of shyness and make a mental note to emit that bold aura that belongs to this dress, throughout the night.
You still don't know where you're going or whom you're meeting tonight, but the effort Jungkook is stowing into this emphasized that it's going to be a very important event. But considering the amount of effort he is putting into this arrangement; it seems like he can't wait for that one fine day when he'll marry you off to some stupid guy and get rid of you from his manager position. Honestly, the mere thought of the level of his hatred towards you stings like a killer bee.
Promptly a pair of shoes clicking against the marble floor echoes throughout the foyer.
Jungkook enters the chamber in a black suit crisp as a new banknote. The raven black suit seems to bury his bunny self and exhibits a dashing hunk, whose once cute features are now smothered with masculinity. His gelled hair brutally exposes his forehead, driving the oxygen to clog up in your lungs.
He stays near the entrance, taking his eyes for a quick walk over your body, from top to toe. There is an undefinable strain in his eyes as he continues to stare at your gown. After few minutes of absolute awkwardness, he proceeds to walk inside the room and halts behind your back and stares at himself in the mirror.
"Ready to go?" he asks without shifting his eyes from his reflection and it hurts your pride a bit.
"Yeah, but where are we going? All these pre-arrangements scares the day-light out of me. First, tell me where are we going, and who are we going to meet?" you ask gingerly.
His hand dives into the inner pocket of his blazer and tugs a masquerade eye mask. He glides closer to you and ties the mask around your eyes.
"What is this? Don't tell me_"
"Is it too tight?" he intercepts your question with his question.
"Nah, it's too loose, it won't stay in place if I start to move." You answer back completely disregarding your racked up queries for a minute.
He tries to untie the stiff knot with his fingers but the satiny cloth makes it hard for him. In reflex, he inclines towards your neck and proceeds to unbind the knots with his teeth. The aquatic scent of his aftershave drives your sense to bathe in a subtle but sensual fragrance. His nose stroking against your skin causes muscle weakness in every part of your body. After few minutes which felt like a decade, he unties the knot and his gaze offhandedly falls on your reflection in the mirror in front of him.
The uneasiness seizes back his features and forcibly invades his eyes. The way he is standing behind you firmly clasping his palms, he seems like someone who is enduring intense pain.
"Jungkook are you alrigh_"
"Who the heck allowed you to wear RED?!"
_
A/n: I made this chapter longer than usual ones, hope it's not exhausting to read. Happy reading!