Jungkook was looking at his phone as the elevator arrived at the eighteenth floor before he bumped into someone while waking out of it. When he looked up, he saw Chaeyoung with Lisa beside her. Chaeyoung's eyes widened as she saw him. When Lisa apologized and stepped back, Chaeyoung froze as her hand became weak, and her phone fell to the hard ground.
"Chaeyoung?", Lisa nudged her arm.
"Um, Chaeyoung?", Jungkook called her name too.
"Oh, sorry.", she finally spoke as she stood aside to give way to him.
He smiled before crouching down to pick up her phone.
"You dropped your phone.", he said as he handed it back to her.
"Oh..thank you."
"How are you today?", he asked casually.
Chaeyoung nodded awkwardly, "I'm fine."
"No, she's not.", Lisa interrupted. "She's still quite warm. You can feel it too, right?", she grabbed Jungkook's hand and put it on Chaeyoung's forehead.
Jungkook and Chaeyoung were both taken aback by Lisa's action, but they did not complain about it. Jungkook nodded as he felt the warmth of Chaeyoung's skin on his hand. He quickly removed his hand when he saw Chaeyoung seemed to be uncomfortable with it.
"Do you still have medication? Are you going to the clinic?", he asked.
Lisa shook her head before Chaeyoung could react.
"This girl beside me is stubborn, Jungkook. Actually I'm going home and she insisted on walking me to the lobby. I told her that she should stay home and rest."
Chaeyoung smiled, "I'm fine. I just want to walk you to the lobby. It will not take long."
Lisa shook her head, "See? Stubborn. Can you help me, Jungkook?"
He looked at her curiously, not sure what kind of help Lisa needed from him.
"Can you please drag her back?", Lisa's eyes fluttered, hoping that he would do as she said.
"No, I want to go out. I haven't been out for almost a week. I'm bored.", Chaeyoung pouted, hoping that Jungkook would let her go.
He smiled at her reaction.
"What if I come along?", he suggested, making the two ladies look at him attentively. "In case anything happens, I'm around.", he added.
Lisa slowly nodded while Chaeyoung was shaking her head.
"Alright, come on. The lift is here.", Lisa quickly grabbed their hands and pulled them into the elevator with her.
After both of them watched Lisa leaving, they walked back into the elevator to go home. In the elevator, they were quiet, and it was awkward for both of them until they reached their floor. Each of them were having thoughts on what to say to each other, yet they were unsure how to express it until they reached in front of their homes.
"I'm sorry about-"
"I was wondering-"
They ended up speaking at the same time.
"You-"
They almost laughed at themselves before Jungkook pointed at Chaeyoung and mouthed 'you first' to her.
"Um..I...was wondering...about what happened...the other night..."
Jungkook frowned, "The other night?"
"At the party. I was drunk, and you brought me home. I'm wondering why you brought me to your...home.", she pointed to his door.
"Oh, that. Actually when we got here, I carried you by myself and I didn't realize that you didn't bring your purse with you so I brought you to my home. I didn't know your pass code, and your key card was in your purse, so I didn't have any choice.", he told her.
"But how can my purse be there at the bedside in the morning?", Chaeyoung asked.
"I took it from my car that morning. I'm sorry I didn't take it that night. It was quite a tiring night.", he replied.
Chaeyoung nodded, "I see...oh, one more question. The room...I was in, that's your bedroom, is it?"
Jungkook slowly nodded.
"Why didn't you leave me in the guest room?", she continued asking.
"Because I thought it'd be easier for you in case you wake up and need to use the bathroom.", he answered.
Chaeyoung nodded once again. She realized that he had thought further to take care of her. She was mistaken to think that he probably had taken advantage of her that night.
"Is everything clear now for you?", he asked carefully.
"Ye- yeah. It's your turn. What were you going to say earlier?", she replied, trying to put the negative thought about him away.
Jungkook nodded before clearing his throat, "I...want to apologise again for what Bam did that morning. I know it's embarrassing-"
Chaeyoung put up her hands to stop him, "Can we...not talk about it again? Please..."
He was hesitant to nod to it, "I know I've texted you many times about it, but I don't feel right..."
"Jungkook, it's okay. I forgot it already. Just don't...remind me of it again, please...", she begged him, hoping that he would believe she had forgotten that incident.
"But I feel guilty..I feel like I'm the reason you got sick this long..."
Chaeyoung shook her head repeatedly, "No, it's not your fault. Trust me."
Jungkook looked at her carefully, "If you say so, then..okay."
"Okay, we're good now.", she replied, making sure that they would not bring up the incident again. "Um, I think I should go. I need to rest, I'm still feverish.", she tried to change the topic with him.
He looked at her and agreed, "Me too. I have to feed Bam."
Chaeyoung nodded as she opened her door, "Right, you do that. I'll see you later."
"See you and Chaeyoung?"
"Yeah."
"Get well soon."
She smiled at him, "Thanks."
After she disappeared into her apartment, Jungkook entered his apartment while talking to himself.
"She looks so flushed. I should make her some herbal soup."
♡♡♡
Chaeyoung took her time to embrace the aroma that filled her nose before smiling widely at the progress of her health. She had been losing her sense of smell since she got the fever, and tonight, she finally could smell an earthy and comforting scent of the herbal chicken soup.
"This is going to be delicious.", she clapped her hands as she picked up the spoon to eat.
With a cheeky smile, she slowly tasted a spoonful of the soup while humming happily.
"Mhm, so good! Everything Jungkook cooked is good.", her shoulders shook excitedly as she ate the food Jungkook gave her for dinner.
He said it was good for treating fever, she believed him, of course.
"Whoa, what did he put in this? I feel suddenly energized.", she said as she was washing the dishes after finishing her dinner.
After that, she went back to the living room to watch the television, but nothing caught her attention on the screen. She sighed as she put down the controller, giving up on turning the channels, but nothing was interesting to watch.
"Still early to sleep...", she looked at the wall clock briefly.
Hank, who was sleeping on his own bed at the corner of the living room, woke up and looked around before finding her on the sofa.
"Hankie..", she called him, and he came to her while wagging his tail. "Hey, baby. Come here.", she carried him and put him on her lap. "You just woke up. What do you want to do, hm?", she asked Hank while rubbing his fur gently before he got up on all fours and jumped off from her.
"Where are you going?", she looked at Hank running into her bedroom before coming back with a ball on his mouth. "Oh, you want to play, is it?", she looked at him, putting the ball beside her. "Okay, let's play.", she smiled as she took the ball and threw it to the hallway for Hank to catch.
Fifteen minutes after playing with Hank, Chaeyoung took some pictures with him before posting them on her broadcast channel. It had been three weeks since she last posted a video there, and she saw a lot of comments asking where she was gone, and they missed her random videos. Therefore, with the three pictures with Hank, she hoped that they were enough to update her followers that she was fine.
"Going back to sleep, baby?", she asked as she looked at Hank walking to his fluffy bed. "Hmm...I should sleep too.", she glanced at the wall clock that was showing half past ten in the night. "Good night, my baby."
♡♡♡
Jungkook was getting ready to sleep when a specific notification sound from his phone resonated around his bedroom. He stretched his hand to take the phone on the bedside table before quickly tapping on the notification. A smile spread across his face as he saw Chaeyoung's latest post on her AquariusRose social media account.
"My baby wanted to play, but mommy was sick, so we played at home.", he read the caption below the post with a small chuckle.
After looking at each picture one by one, he typed a response to the post like how other followers had done.
♡♡♡
Chaeyoung read each comment that came after she posted the pictures with Hank.
virgo_den: Annyeong. Are you feeling better now?
starfish21: Hankkk! He is such a cutieee!
jeongjaehyun14: Hiii, you're back. I miss you!
real_loey: You got a new baby now, huh?
The comment about Hank made Chaeyoung concerned.
real_loey: Have you forgotten your baby from six years ago?
The question caused her phone to fall from her hand.
"Who is this person?", she bit her nail as she stated at her phone screen. "It can't be..."
Her mind was thinking about the person behind the account who just commented like that when her phone rang.
"Ah!", Chaeyoung flinched, surprised with the ringtone sound before she picked up the phone. "Lisa?", she looked at the name before answering. "Hello, Lisa."
"Hey, Chaeyoung. How are you? I just saw your pictures. Are you feeling better now?", Lisa asked.
Chaeyoung sighed in relief, "Yeah, I'm feeling better."
"Sure? If your fever isn't going down yet, I could come after work tomorrow."
Chaeyoung smiled, "Lisa, I'm okay. Seriously. I'm fine."
"Okay, if you say like that. If you need anything, let me know, okay?", Lisa said.
"Okay.", Chaeyoung replied before they ended the call.
With a deep breath, Chaeyoung tried to remain calm before checking her phone for the last time before sleep.
virgo_den: I hope you get well soon and post videos with Hankie more. Good night, Hankie's mommy.
She smiled to see the comment wishing good night to her.
"Good night, whoever you are.", she said to the account with username virgo_den that got a badge as her avid follower on the broadcast channel.
♡♡♡
Chaeyoung was feeling better on Thursday morning as she woke up with her usual routine of stretching her arms high above her head before letting out a contented sigh after a good sleep she had.
"Wow, what a good sleep I had...", she smiled as she got out of her bed and went to the window to flip the curtain open.
She took a deep breath and released with a long satisfied sigh before touching her forehead, "Hm...better than yesterday."
♡♡♡
That evening, Chaeyoung drove her car to the grocery store with Hank accompanying her along. She had made a list a week ago, but now the list was longer, and it took more time for her to buy everything she needed. Most of the things she bought were for Hank's food that she had promised him to make.
Only a few items were her own and once she checked all the things in the list, she decided to have a meal at the food truck nearby since it was dinner time and she was quite hungry after all the shopping she did with Hank. While she was eating pho, her favourite Vietnam dish, someone from another table across from hers, was seen feeding Hank under the table.
"Hankie?", she called as she felt the dog leash on Hank was getting further from her hand.
When she glanced up, she noticed an old woman clad in a cosy, large sweater was petting her pet. When their eyes met, the older woman, though her face was obscured by a black mask, it appeared as though she smiled in response to Chaeyoung.
"Is it okay if I feed him?", the old woman asked.
Chaeyoung smiled with a nod, "Yeah, sure."
When she was done eating, she thanked the old woman before taking Hank back to her car. However, as they were walking back to the parking spot, Hank suddenly walked faster as if he wanted to have a little walk before they went home. Chaeyoung was shocked with the sudden change of pace but she tried to follow Hank around until he stopped near a tall and massive tree by the park.
"Hankie?", she called her puppy.
Hank ignored her as he slowly moved forward, getting closer to the tree as if he was attracted to something hidden by it.
"Hank?", she called again, softly whispering while looking around.
The surrounding was very quiet and darker as they had gone quite far from the bustling area filled with food trucks and crowds of people.
"Hank-", Chaeyoung's mouth went silent when her ears caught a rustling noise from the tree.
She tried to stepped closer while signalling Hank to stay silent. She did not want to cause a scene and just wanted to take Hank away quietly, but as she got closer, the noise she heard became a bit familiar and disturbing at the same time. She realized what kind of sound it was and carefully picked Hank up before he barked to the tree.
"Ah!", a woman shouted in shock.
Chaeyoung quickly bowed down and said sorry before running away with Hank in her arms. Never did she think she would witness a couple making out in the public like that. Even if they were hidden by the tree bark, they could not hide the lewd sounds they made behind it.
As Chaeyoung struggled to leave the place while trying to calm Hank in her arms, she accidentally hit someone on the way before she apologized and quickened her pace to get to her car. Once she got inside with Hank, she sighed in relief as she started her car engine before looking at Hank that was on the passenger seat.
"Hankie baby, don't do that again.", she told him with a serious tone.
Hank looked at her with his shiny puppy eyes before he sat down with his ears drooping sadly.
"Aww...baby, I'm sorry..", Chaeyoung said, realizing that she might have hurt Hank's feelings. "Maybe I shouldn't go out today.", she added as she checked the time. "Let's go home, hm?"
♡♡♡
When they arrived at the apartment complex, the quietness at the parking space was almost dreading Chaeyoung, especially when Hank was already sleeping on the passenger seat. She felt a bit off with the silence around her as she was putting her groceries in the storage trolley. It was as if there were some negative vibes that night that she could not interpret herself.
She tried to put everything quickly, and when she was done with it, she picked Hank up carefully, not wanting to wake him up from his sleep. Although she was feeling a bit off with the silence around her, she tried to remain calm as she pushed the trolley full of groceries with one hand while carrying Hank on the other. As she got to the elevator, she prayed silently that the elevator would arrive as soon as possible.
She was not feeling safe out there.
"Do you need help?"
"Ahhh!", she jumped a little when she heard a voice behind her.
Hank was startled and woke up to look around with his sleepy eyes. A laughter got his attention and he jumped out of Chaeyoung's arms.
"Oh, hey, Hankie."
Chaeyoung blinked before looking at the person who caught Hank's attention.
"I'm sorry. Did I scare you, Chaeyoung?", he said as he carried Hank in his arms.
"Jungkook.."
"Hey...are you okay?", he asked her.
She nodded, "I'm okay. I'm just a little shocked. Today...a lot of shocking things happened."
"Really?", he asked, his tone was serious despite Chaeyoung trying to show him a reassuring smile.
Chaeyoung nodded before smiling again, "Really but I'm okay now. I just...need to get home, have a shower and sleep. That's all."
"In other words, you need rest.", he replied before the elevator arrived.
After they both got inside, Jungkook took a concerned look at Chaeyoung.
"You shopped a lot.", he commented.
"Yeah..", she returned a rather awkward smile before looking down to the trolley in front of her.
"Have your fever gone down?", he asked.
"Yeah..."
"Have you had dinner?"
"Yeah, I had pho earlier."
"Must be delicious."
"Yeah but can't beat your herbal soup."
"Really?", he turned to look at her face clearly.
She was a bit stunned with his reaction, "Ye- yeah. It was refreshing and actually did help with my fever."
Jungkook smiled proudly, "Glad to know that."
She smiled back, "Thank you. For making it."
"My pleasure. If you'd like, I'll be your personal chef, Chaeyoung.", he said.
"No..I have to cook for myself. I can't always disturb you, Jungkook.", she replied.
"Why not? I don't mind cooking for you.", he said with a genuine smile on his face.
"Well, I do mind. You have your own cafe to run."
Jungkook nodded.
"You have to cook for yourself and Bam at home."
He nodded again.
"You must have your own free time which doesn't require cooking, right?"
He nodded.
"Then, if you do all that and cook for me, I'd feel guilty for disrupting your precious time, Jungkook."
He shook his head, "I don't mind cooking all day. I can cook at work, cook at home and cook for you and Hank. There's nothing I love more than do what I know...especially for someone I love."
"What's that?", Chaeyoung asked as he lowered his voice at the end of his words.
He quickly shook his head, "Uh, nothing."
Just in time, the elevator opened.
"We've arrived.", he pointed to the opened door and stepped out of the elevator.
Chaeyoung frowned as she followed beside him with the trolley. If before Jungkook showed up, she was having all the negative thoughts around her surroundings, but now that Jungkook was beside her, she became curious about his appearance. Was it just her feelings that she felt the day was off, or did it have anything to do with him?
"Okay, we're here, Hank."
She smiled as he looked at her, "You can put him down. It's alright."
Jungkook did as told while Chaeyoung opened her door.
"Um, Chaeyoung?"
"Yes."
"I...have something to ask you.", he said while Hank walked inside her apartment.
"What is it?"
"The...cafe turns one this Sunday. The staff and I all agreed to celebrate that night so...I was thinking of asking you..if you're free...do you want to join us?"
Chaeyoung took her time thinking.
"Um, it's just a small celebration, actually. We're doing it at Jieun noona's rooftop. Yeji, Hyunjin and others were actually the ones asking me to ask you to join us. If you can't come, it's okay. Just tell me-"
"I'm free.", she stopped him with those two words.
"You're free? So you're going?", he asked while trying to keep it cool despite his heart had soared in happiness.
"Before that, I want to know...is this celebration only among your staff? No other friends-"
"No, just you.", he quickly answered.
Chaeyoung smiled, "Okay, then."
Jungkook nodded, "Okay, then. Um..I almost forgot, you really should come that night. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because I'll be cooking everything for everyone.", he smiled proudly.
Chaeyoung laughed softly at him, "I get it, Mr Chef."
Jungkook smiled widely, loving her response.
"By the way, any theme or..."
"No theme. We're keeping it cosy and simple.", he answered right away.
Chaeyoung nodded, "Okay. So...I'll see you Sunday?"
"Yeah, absolutely."
"Okay, good night, Jungkook.", she said to him before stepping into her apartment.
"Good night, Chaeyoung.", he replied before waving at her as she closed the door.
♡♡♡
Longest chapter so far. 😪