4 Months later.
Without Chaeyoung, the dull hours faded into tiring days, days turned into weeks until, eventually, 4 months had gone by. Time itself melted into a pointless, abstract concept that he tried his best to ignore. It was as if the colour in his life had been stripped away and had been replaced with a cloud of grey and white.
Jungkook could not, for the life of him, stop thinking about her. Whether he was listening to a song on the radio or riding his motorcycle – she invaded his thoughts at every turn. Was she eating well? Was she getting enough sleep? Was she safe? Did she think about him half as often as he thought of her? When he drove by the hospital, his eyes naturally wandered – searching for her familiar scrubs and messy work hair, only to be disappointed when they didn't find them. She was everywhere and no where all at once.
There were moments where he wanted nothing more than to call her or even knock on her front door, to run to her and reveal exactly how he felt about her – but then, he remembered how completely heartbroken she'd looked in the hospital and stopped himself. Seeing her in so much pain ripped his heart apart, but it also showed him the deepness of her love for Taehyung. So, he understood why she needed time and chose to respect her wishes.
Normally, he would've gone through dozens of women by now in a futile attempt to forget her, but she'd changed him. Ever since she snuck into his heart, he hadn't so much as looked at another woman. No one could compare to her and no one could replace her.
Instead, he spent the past couple months burying himself in work – attending back-to-back meetings, planning business projects for hours nonstop and writing more papers than he'd ever written in his life. The company reaped the benefits of his hard work, with productivity reports reaching an all-time high and their stock value nearly doubling. He was known as one of the youngest and most successful businessman in the country and could buy himself anything except for the one thing he truly wanted.
Distracting himself with work was exactly what he was doing on that particular evening. As he sat on the white, leather sofa in his bedroom with a fresh stack of paperwork to sort through, he could hear the faint tapping of raindrops against his window ledge. When the low sound of thunder rumbled above him, he tore his eyes away from his papers to spare a glance outside. It was on nights like these that he missed Chaeyoung most, as he recalled that morning on the camping trip-
He immediately snapped himself out of these thoughts and returned his focus to work, fearing that if he began thinking about her again, he wouldn't be able to stop. It wasn't long though before he was interrupted again, this time by a knock on the door.
He remembered placing a large 'do not disturb' sign on his door to prevent his housekeepers from interrupting, so he initially tried to ignore the knocks, hoping whoever it was would soon get the message. Instead, he was annoyed to hear the taps only grow louder and more forceful. Heaving a frustrated sigh, he finally got up.
"Can't you see the sign?" he snapped as he swung the door, before he even saw the person on the other side.
But, as soon as his eyes landed on Chaeyoung, he froze in place, his eyes growing wide in shock.
She was drenched from head to toe in rainwater – the short, red dress she was wearing clinging to her body and her dark hair framing her face in long, wavy tendrils. In her hands, she was holding the black sweater he'd given her on the camping trip along with the leather jacket he'd given her at the hospital. As he gazed into her warm, chocolate eyes, he could tell she'd been crying.
"I'm sorry, I know this is sudden," she said softly, "but, I was just at Jimin and Jennie's rehearsal dinner where I had to listen to and give speeches about something I've only recently begun to understand: love. The entire time, images of you were flashing in my head and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake them away. I realized that you'd invaded my thoughts and wondered how long I was thinking of you, but then I discovered that since the moment I met you, you'd always been there – in my mind and in my heart. And then, as I was driving home, "nothing like us" started playing on the radio and your voice was the only one I could hear. Suddenly, my eyes were flooded with so much tears that I couldn't see the road properly and had to pull over. When I did, I remember that your leather jacket and sweater were still in my car and I instinctively reached for them, expecting to smell your familiar scent. But, I couldn't. The scent was gone and for some reason that completely broke my heart. It made me realize that you could disappear from my life just like the scent disappeared from your clothes and that thought was just devastating. I started driving again, letting my body take control as my mind blanked, and before I knew it, I was standing on your front steps."
Jungkook could only stand there in front of her, feeling like he was in a dream, while she poured her heart out. It had only been 4 months, but it felt like forever since he'd heard her soft voice, or looked into her pure eyes and he couldn't believe how much he missed everything about her.
"I don't believe that the world is cruel enough to give us one soulmate, but somehow, it was cruel enough to allow me to find both of mine at the same time. I let Taehyung go because I knew it was the best thing for him, but I don't think it's the best thing for you. I think we need each other, and I know that I may be too late and that you may have moved on already, but my heart would never forgive me if I never told you how desperately and relentlessly I'm in love with you."
Jungkook physically stopped breathing at those words, the colour slowly returning to his world and warmth filling his chest. Before she could say anything else, he closed the distance between them in one long stride and cupped her face, kissing her like he'd been starving and pouring into it all the emotions he couldn't form into words. The world melted away and his heartrate picked up, like it had been sleeping for the past 4 months and had just awoken. It was just as electrifying and exciting as their first kiss, but it was even deeper because it was laced with the memories they'd created after that and the promise of the memories that were yet to come.
When he pulled away to breathe, she gazed up at him through her dark lashes, "only you can bring out the adventurous and carefree side of me. You make me believe that I'm capable of anything and everything. When I'm with you, the rules dissolve and the world becomes our personal playground. It's like you've lit a wild, blazing fire in me that no amount of rain can extinguish. You make me believe in the crazy, passionate, once-in-a-lifetime love that people always talk about and you make me crave it only with you. You just make me so happy, Jungkook. You may not have been my first kiss, my first date, or my first love, but I want all my lasts to be with."
He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers, trying to forever imprint this moment in his memories. He'd spent so much time preventing himself from feeling real emotions that this sudden surge of pure happiness was completely overwhelming. There were so many things he wanted to say to her and so many things she needed to hear, but he suddenly realized that she was shivering and belatedly remembered that she was soaking wet.
"You're going to get sick," he murmured, taking her cold hand and leading her into his bedroom.
"You're the one who told me "life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain," she air-quoted sarcastically, causing him to chuckle and shake his head. Oh, how he missed her sass.
He gave her two towels and led her inside his spacious walk-in closet, "I have so much to say to you, Chaeyoung, but I can't say them when I'm worried about your health. So, feel free to change into whatever you want and then meet me outside."
She nodded at him with a smile before he left, shutting the door gently behind him and sinking down onto his sofa with a sigh. He still couldn't believe she was there, let alone that she'd just professed her love for him. There were a million thoughts thrashing around wildly in his head as he tried to logically think of the right words to explain to her what she meant to him. It felt like no matter what he said, though, it wouldn't do justice to the depth of his feelings.
A few minutes later, he heard the faint sound of the door opening and glanced up. Immediately, his breath caught at the sight of her and he leaned back in his seat from the impact of his heart pounding relentlessly in his chest.
"Goddamn, Chaeyoung, you're killing me," he threw his head back and closed his eyes, trying to recover from the stunning sight in front of him. She was only wearing one of his crisp, white, dress-shirts that despite it's large size, still somehow managed to flatter her figure. The sleeves were too long for her and almost covered her entire hand while the hem of it cut off only a couple inches below her hips, making her legs look miles long. To top it all off, her damp, wild hair effortlessly completed the look. Jungkook had no doubt that she really was the most beautiful person he'd ever laid his eyes on.
He felt her smooth hands grasp either side of his face seconds later, followed by the soft touch of her lips against his cheek, which caused him to open his eyes. He looked up to meet her gaze as she stood in front of him, her damp hair falling like curtains that framed her face and the tips of it grazing his cheeks. Raising both his hands, he brushed her hair away to cup her face while he stared deeply into her captivating eyes.
"Chaeyoung," he breathed her name like it was the most precious word his lips had ever formed.
"You don't have to say anything, Jungkook," she murmured, "I already know how you feel."
Jungkook raised his brows in surprise, "how?"
"I can see it in the way you look at me," she whispered, "they say the eyes are a window into a person's soul... if that's true then your soul is completely bare and can be seen from miles away. Even from across the room, you look at me like the sun, the moon, and all the stars in between revolve around me. Your eyes have never been softer, or held as much sparkle, and your smile never wider than when you look at me. I've never seen you look at anyone or anything else with half as much affection."
Jungkook smiled. It seemed he wasn't as good at hiding his feelings as he thought he was.
"You're right," he said, his thumb stroking her cheekbone lightly, "the sun, the moon, and everything in between does revolve around you. You entered my life like a meteor, attacking my heart in full-force before I could even realize what hit me. The walls I'd spent my entire life building around me were no match for the blazing storm that was your love. I wasn't planning on falling in love with you, but I feel like everything in my life has worked collectively to unite us – every heartbreak, every bad decision, every tragedy – it's like the whole world schemed to bring us together. You came into my life so unexpectedly and you came at a time where I wasn't even searching for anyone and yet, I found you and immediately knew it was where I belonged. Now, I understand why it felt like my heart was aimlessly searching for something deeper all these years and why it never worked out with anyone else. Because my heart belonged to you long before we even met."
He paused to take a deep breath to calm his heart while wiping her tears away as she listened, "you make me believe in the goodness of the world and a hopeful future. You inspire me to be the best version of myself and you've made me understand the meaning of love. And honestly, you scare the hell out of me. The way I'm completely defenseless and vulnerable with you, the power you hold over me, all of it is terrifying. But the thought of losing you terrifies me even more. You own me – heart, mind, soul, and all – I am completely yours. I love you with every fiber of my being and I'm going to continue loving you. Through the hardships, the challenges, and the laughs, I'm all in. I don't want to spend another waking moment without you."
Then, he grabbed one of her hands and kissed it, "so, Park Chaeyoung. Will you stop torturing me and officially become my girlfriend so I can kiss you whenever and wherever I want and call you babe without worrying about who hears it?"
She laughed lightly through her tears and nodded, causing his chest to burst with elation. He wrapped his arms around her waist pulled her close while kissing her so deeply that he forgot whose air he was breathing. She placed her hands on either side of his jaw and kissed him with just as much intensity while placing her knees on either side of his legs and sitting on his lap. His hands found the soft skin of her thighs while he pulled away slightly to breathe. He trailed kisses along her jaw while lightly running his hands up and down her smooth legs, feeling her breathing quicken as he did so.
Gently, she placed a hand on his chest and for a second he thought she was pushing him away. But his eyes widened when she looked up at him with blazing eyes and began unbuttoning her shirt.
"Chaeyoung," he groaned, his breathing heavy as he gripped her wrist to stop her, "I don't want to rush this."
She smiled at him and pushed his hand away, continuing to slowly undo the buttons, her eyes never leaving his the entire time.
"I told you that the next time I loved, I wanted to be able to offer all of me," she murmured just as she reached the last button and shrugged it off to reveal her completely bare body, "well, this is all of me. And I'm all yours."
Jungkook exhaled shakily as his eyes studied every inch of her body, memorizing everything from her pale, smooth skin, to her tiny birthmarks, to the curves of her waist. Everything about her was purely breathtaking. And hearing her say those words, reassuring him that he was lucky enough to have her, absolutely floored him.
"How did I get so lucky?" he murmured against her lips before kissing her again, taking his time with this one to explore her slower and deeper.
Using one hand to wrap her legs around his torso while his other hand stabilized her waist, he lifted her off the sofa, his lips still moving against hers in a slow dance as he walked towards his bed. He gently placed her down like she was a delicate antique he didn't want to break and carefully climbed on top of her, his fingers interlacing with hers and pinning them down as he kissed her warm neck. She sighed quietly and arched her body closer towards him as he continued worshiping her body with soft kisses that drove both of them insane.
Eventually all his clothes came off too, rendering both of them completely defenseless and exposed. For the next few hours they lost themselves in each other, the world dissolving as they expressed their love in the most intimate and raw method possible. Their heart and souls had already joined together, and now their bodies were united too, moving in perfect harmony and merging into one. No matter how close their bodies were pressed against each other, Jungkook still couldn't get enough of her. He loved the way she fit perfectly in his arms, the way her skin flared at his touch, the way her breathing changed when he kissed her, and the way she sighed his name against his shoulder. She was his personal drug and now that she'd infiltrated his system, he was unconditionally addicted. They were utterly intoxicated with one another.
Jungkook wasn't sure how much time had passed when he slowly rolled off her to rest his head on the pillow, both of them fighting to catch their breath.
"Jungkook," she turned her body towards him and laughed, "I think we broke your bed."
He raised a brow and tilted his head to follow her gaze.
"Shit," he laughed carefreely when his eyes landed on the cracked headboard, "the housekeepers are going to have a heart-attack."
Chaeyoung shifted closer, tangling her legs with his underneath the covers, "one of them almost killed me for wanting to come up to your room."
Jungkook turned towards her and draped an arm across her lower back, "that's because you're the first girl to see my room."
Her eyes widened in surprise at that, "you've never brought anyone up here?"
"Nope," he shook his head, "and I've definitely never shared this bed with anyone before."
"Well then," she smiled proudly, "I must be one special girl."
He returned her smile and kissed her forehead, "you are."
They spent the rest of the night talking about anything and everything. Their dreams, their middle names, their parents' names, all the schools they ever attended, their pet peeves, deep existential questions – they talked about it all and bared their souls in a way that transcended their physical nakedness. Their first night together was filled with passion, laughter, and deep conversations and love. For once, Jungkook was looking forward to all the romantic things that came after sex. He was looking forward to pulling her close against his chest and letting the gentle beats of her heart against his skin lull him to sleep. He was looking forward to cuddling. He was looking forward to waking up next to her and seeing her beautiful, bare face. More than anything, he was looking forward to a life with her in it.
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Today's video <3
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A/N: Sorry to all the younger readers 😅
One more chapter left! Thank you everyone for sticking by and being dedicated enough to read 44 chapters so far <3