jungkook focus
back at the dorm, jungkook yawns and sits on taehyung's desk chair, all his energy drained from the test he just had. with taehyung's and seokjin's flashcards, he was sure he'd get at least get a C grade on the exam.
but he doesn't want to worry about the grades he'll get - right now he just wants to meet up with taehyung, eat ramen and forget about the test.
he slips his shoes on and looks around for his phone, wondering where he had last chucked it.
his eyes trail over to his bed where his phone lies alone, lighting up every time he receives a new message.
and he knows for sure who it's from. this person had been calling and messaging jungkook for the last few days, urging jungkook to answer her messages. but jungkook simply ignores them.
he stares at the device for a few seconds, contemplating on messaging back.
he sighs, looking away and heaves himself off taehyung's spinning chair and walks over to his bed, picking up his phone. he slides a thumb across the notifications popping up and slowly reads them, his expression blank.
mom: jungkook i understand that you're upset with the divorce but that was a year ago. im happy now and with youngho im even happier - can't you see that? come home and celebrate us. be a part of our wedding. you don't have to talk to youngho, you don't have to make a speech or dance with your cousins. just be there for me.
mom: please jungkook, you don't even need to stay for the cake or the after party. just seeing you sit in the front of the church, on the first pew will make me so happy.
jungkook rereads the message with dull eyes. with another loud sigh, jungkook sits on his bed and rests his head against the headboard.
cha youngho; jungkook's mom's boyfriend, now fiancé and soon to be husband.
jungkook didn't detest the man, he just simply never bothered with him. he didn't bother smiling or talking to him and just stayed away from the guy whenever he came round to his mom's place in the holidays.
but now youngho and his mom were getting married - he'd see this guy every time he came home. he'd have to bother with him, he'd have to smile and socialise with his new stepfather for sure after the marriage - his mom would definitely make him. and with his daughter as well.
mom: you can bring a plus one to keep you company if you want.
mom: just so long as it's not a mouthy girl who smokes and will flirt with your uncles
mom: like the last girl you brought with you on ji yeon's birthday.
jungkook thinks about the last couple of messages, chewing on his lower lip as an idea came to his head.
but there's no way he'd want to come right? why would he, a random stranger, want to come to my mom's wedding?
jungkook shakes his head and switches off his phone and slides it into his front jeans pocket, grabbing a jacket and his keys, jungkook was ready to go.
but a knock on his door surprises him. he walks over and opens the door to be met with a screaming ji yeon hugging his knees. jungkook blinks at ji yeon's face, startled beyond words as to why is little sister was in the boys dorm.
"hi!" she cheerfully grins, looking up at jungkook. "me and and eun wanted to surprise you - are you surprised? are you? are you?" she babbles.
jungkook raises his head to see a girl not too older than him, who glowers at him under heavily eyelined eyes. her hair is pulled back into a neat ponytail and she dons the uniform of the seoul school of performing arts; a neatly pressed blazer emblazoned with the school's logo.
"what the fuck?" jungkook hisses, noticing mr bong, his dorm supervisor, oogling eun min and hovering behind her.
"jungkook, some um guests are here to see you. ive let them in this time but you should know that no females are allowed in the boys dorm." mr bong lectures with a raised bushy eyebrow, still side eyeing eun min.
"she's my fucking stepsister." jungkook says with a grunt, "and you should've left her outside." he says, scowling at an unimpressed eun min.
"thank you, um was it mr bong? thank you for letting us in! could we have a moment or two to just talk?" eun min turns around to face the supervisor, smiling fake-beatifically as she pushes past jungkook to enter his dorm and closed the door on mr bong.
jungkook narrows his eyes as eun min seats herself on the edge of taehyung's bed, looking around with mild curiosity.
"what the hell do you think you're doing? get out, im busy." jungkook says, struggling to turn and face eun min when ji yeon kept his knees locked together with her chubby arms.
"busy doing what? playing with your dick isn't being busy." she said pointedly, "and much as id like to leave, i promised dad that i wouldn't leave without convincing you to come to the wedding." eun min sighs, flattening her hands against her lap.
"mm, well you might wanna make yourself comfy cause i am definitely not going." jungkook sniffs, folding his arms over his chest.
"jungkook." eun min states. although her face and body was composed, you couldn't miss the flicker of anger growing in her eyes.
"eun min." jungkook spits with equal distaste.
"you have to come to the wedding."
"no."
eun min suddenly slumps her shoulder and looks up at jungkook with a mock sad expression, "don't you wanna see your mom happy and pretty in a white dress?" she says in a pitiful mumble. "don't you wanna see her on her big day?"
"i see your drama lessons are paying off." jungkook cuts in, cocking his head with a knowing smile. eun min was majoring in drama in a prestigious boarding school somewhere on the outskirts of seoul. she was damn good at acting and almost almost convinced jungkook to agree to going to the wedding just then, but thankfully saw through her freakishly realistic act.
eun min ignores him and changes tactics, "ji yeon wants you to go, don't you, ji yeon?" she asks, smiling at the eight year old clinging to jungkook.'s legs.
ji yeon nods frantically, jumping up and down to empathise her agreement. but ends up jumping on to jungkook's big toe, causing jungkook to grit his teeth.
"sorry kook! oh, but you have to be there! mom's really excited and so am i! me and eun-eun are gonna be bridesmaids and we're gonna look like princesses!" she beams, her brown eyes glittering.
jungkook sighs internally before kneeling down to be face to face with his younger sister, cracking a smile despite being pissed off. "is that so?" he asks as he ruffles ji yeon's pigtails playfully, amused at her excitement.
"yes! so you have to come and see me!"
jungkook's smile dims.
"see ji yeon wants you, and so does the rest of us. can't you just ignore the fact that you hate me and my dad and just come?" eun min says, a tad bit softly. and jungkook knows this time that she means it.
he breathes out through his nose, eyes suddenly finding interest in the floorboards.
"i don't hate you or your dad. you guys are nice and all - it's just that it's . . ." jungkook says quietly. "weird."
eun min doesn't say anything for a while.
then jungkook gets a phone chucked at his hand and a string of curses leave eun min's mouth. "are you for real? you're not coming because you feeling fucking weird? you're not replying to your mom's messages just because you feel weird?"
jungkook winces as he's continuously verbally abused by eun min's sharp tongue. he finally cuts in when he thinks that his ear might bleed from his soon-to-be stepsister's yells.
"okay, yes, i feel weird! stop fucking yelling at me!" he says, nursing his hand where eun min's phone had hit. "jesus, eun min. no need to be violent." he grunts. "you cow." he adds spitefully.
"rabbit teeth boy." eun min says under her breath.
"that's the best you can come up with? rabbit teeth boy?"
the two bicker like this for what seems like forever; both arguing as if like real siblings.
eun min finally takes a deep breath and after a short pause says, "i understand. i feel weird too about this whole thing. but we're both old and not emo twelve year olds so. can we talk like adults and get this out of our way?"
"i was already talking like an adult! you were the one who fucking threw your phone at me!" jungkook glares, but hurriedly adds, "but yeah okay" so eun min wouldn't throw her shoes at him next.
"okay, our parents are in love. big deal. they're gonna get married. big deal. they're their own people - they'll choose whether or not they want to marry. just because you won't come doesn't mean that your mom will stop the marriage. she really does love dad, and dad loves her back." eun min says, looking away. "so stop being selfish."
jungkook watches her, now serious. he scratches the back of his his neck in thought.
am i being selfish?
ji yeon, completely ignoring her older brother's and stepsister's now quiet arguing, wanders over to taehyung's desk. she sits herself on the chair and hums the tune to peppa pig, snorting when peppa snorts as well.
the little girl flips through taehyung's books left out on the table, sifting through the pages whilst obnoxiously snorting like peppa, her favourite cartoon character.
"hey kookie, is this yours? it's really pretty!" ji yeon exclaims with awe at a rough sketch of two realistic dogs.
jungkook and eun min turn their heads, remembering about the little girl's presence again.
jungkook distracted about the wedding, mutters after taking a glance at the sketchbook, "no, that's taehyung's." he says, recognising the two dogs as kongju and jinju from the dog cafe.
. . .
taehyung's?
ramen date at five thirty.
jungkook slowly turns around to look at the clock hanging off the wall behind him, eyes widening.
o shiet.
he looks around for his phone, realisation hitting him hard.
two hours late, fuck.
jungkook, how could you forget?
he finds his phone in his front pocket and takes it out, hurriedly switching the device on, only to find an image of a battery and a charging sign. he groans out loud, mentally cursing himself and for arguing with eun for two fucking hours and not realising.
"shit shit shit."
"you're not allowed to swear!" ji yeon gasps, lips parted in shock.
"what's wrong?" eun min says.
"shit," jungkook repeats, bringing his hands over his face as he sits on the edge of his bed. "i've left my date at a ramen shop."
"date? hu-," eun min queries.
she's interrupted by the door opening quietly to reveal a red nosed and red cheeked taehyung. a taehyung who looked very very annoyed.