29.
When I wake up I almost forget what had happened last night. Almost— that is, until I set sight on my incredibly beautiful and shirtless boyfriend laying next to me.
I can't help the smile that spreads on my face at the sight of him. He's asleep yet the edges of his lips are pinched upward and he is breathing softly.
We fell asleep not long after he was done with his shower. I know he had wanted to stay up and have some nice pillow talk, but his tiredness was apparent when he fell asleep in the middle of a sentence.
I lay my hand flat against his chest and close my eyes. I can feel the steady beat of his heart, and the slow movements of his chest rising and falling. I sigh softly against his skin.
I jump at the sound of a blaring alarm. Jungkook's eyes crack open and he groans to himself before his arm falls into the nightstand. He clicks the lock button on his phone and releases a heavy sigh.
I look at my phone and see that it's 6AM.
"Jae-ya," he says groggily. His eyes are closed again.
"Mhm?"
He doesn't respond to me. I shift my head upward to look at him and he has fallen asleep again. I laugh through my nose and lean my lips down against his chest to leave small kisses.
His nose scrunches.
"I'm tired," he rolls to his side. I frown.
"Your alarm went off for a reason," I sit up and place my two hands on his side.
"I was supposed to be awake an hour ago," he chuckles at me.
"Jungkook."
"Yes, noona?"
He peers over his shoulder at me with barely opened eyes but the most mischievous smirk. The sight is unreal to see and I want so badly to photograph him but refrain from doing so.
"Don't call me noona," I lean my chin against his side.
"You like it," he yawns.
"No—"
"Noona, noona, noona. My Jae-ya noona." He is singing loudly and laughing at himself.
I hit his arm playfully.
"I only allow it sometimes," I give in sheepishly.
Jungkook smiles widely at what I've said. It seems this tormenting "누나" business is my own personal reminder of our cultural differences. He is trying to respect me but calling me in honorifics is just weird for me. I view him as an equal— if not more. But, He knows me too well and it's scary. Sometimes when he calls me 누나 it makes my heart jump. It's so cute.
His tired aura quickly turns into a playful, fully energized aegyo session. I use both of my hands to push him onto his back to make him look at me. I squish his cheeks in between my thumbs and pointer fingers.
His phone alarm starts to go off again and he is quick to sit up in annoyance to turn the device off.
"Shut up!" He yells at the phone.
"Someone is very grumpy," I fall back into the bed. These pillows are so fluffy that I might steal one to bring home with me.
"I'm not."
He leans one hand against the bed and his frame is hovering over me, looking down. I can't help but picture this same exact angle from when he lost his virginity to me just a few hours ago. I still can't believe it. Jeon Jungkook lost his virginity to me.
"I don't want to leave this bed," he leans down and pecks my lips.
I have to admit, it's clear how the dynamic of our relationship has already changed. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to be able to analyze the change in his overall body language with me now. He is exposing his chest with no fear and his free hand is resting on my knee. My confidence level with him has boosted given how much attention he is giving me.
I don't want to say I've totally whipped my boyfriend— but I totally have.
"You have promotions to do," I say softly to him.
"I know," he sighs, "You will support me from America?"
"Of course," I smile.
I prop myself up and kiss his cheek. Jungkook's cuteness overloads when he starts to attack my neck with an array of kisses. His hand is sliding from my knee and up my thigh; I can feel his fingertips at the end of my pajama shorts.
I start to squirm in a fit of laughter, my head falling backwards to allow his lips to attack more of my skin. I push at his chest to get him away from me and start to crawl out of the bed. My foot gets trapped in the blanket and I fall to the ground but it's graceful— I think?
I'm leaning both my hands on the ground and somehow manage an arrangement of a summersault into a crouched position.
Jungkook is staring at me as if he's impressed but I am out of breath and place my hand on my chest.
"So hurried to leave," he jokes.
"You're an hour late," I pout and reach for my slippers.
"Yoongi-hyung is probably still sleeping," he assures me, "They all are. No one has texted in the group."
I don't want to be known as that reason Jungkook was always late during their trip to America. I know him being tardy isn't a big deal— well, maybe for him— but if I have control over it, I'd rather him be where he needs to be: on time.
"Will you visit me?" he surprises me by asking.
"I haven't been to South Korea in a long time."
It's scary how long it's been. I vaguely remember being there when I was very young to grieve the passing of my grandmother. I feel as though my parents gave up on going to South Korea when the last of my father's relatives passed or left and after David was born. My mother doesn't get along with most of her family there.
"But you'll consider it?" Jungkook leans on his stomach to be closer to me.
I'm still sitting on the floor.
"Yes," I smile, "I have a lot of free time now."
When I say that to him it reminds me that I'm done with school for the time being. I know I said my social media income wasn't going to be my primary source of income, but given how high this said income has become... I might have to rethink my life choices.
"Will you have free time?" I inquire.
"I will be in Saipan the end of June." He tells me, "We do less than you're thinking we do, especially during promotions. When those end I will be very busy."
"Promotions will go well," I assure him.
I stand from the floor and put my feet into the slippers. Jungkook is watching me with a frown from the bed.
"I will email you another schedule," he says and stands with me.
Looking at him has suddenly made me emotional. I have been trying not to become too invested in him during the entirety of my trip, but's it's difficult now that we will be parting ways. I don't waste a moment to embrace him with my arms wrapped around his torso.
He leans his lips against the top of my head. I don't want to let go of him.
I sigh into his chest and inhale his heavenly, freshly showered scent to remember for as long as I need to. It helps that my face is pressed against his skin.
"I should go pack," I say regrettably.
"What time is your flight?"
"2," I tell him.
He is quiet for a moment.
"Will you have WiFi on the plane?"
I practically snort at him, "Yeah right. I don't pay extra for that stuff. Why?"
"I was just wondering. I will want to text you," he says.
I pull back from our embrace and another sigh falls from my mouth. I don't want to leave him, but it's an inevitable feeling. I have to think positively about this; The faster I leave him, the quicker we will be reunited.
I don't know when that will be, but I am hopeful that it will be soon. I will try my hardest to make my relationship work with him. I have to.
"I'll miss you," I say softly.
I take his hands into mine and blink away the probably hormonal tears. I'm sad, but I am also happy. Jungkook has a lot to look forward to when he gets home.
He kisses my cheek and I have chills again.
"Travel safely, please."
✱ ✱ ✱ ✱
1:30PM
Luckily for David and I, the tickets Luna gave us last week are still valid and can be used. In the back of my mind I had thought maybe she would cancel them on us— but she didn't. It's hard to think of her because of how bizarre all of it is. It's only been about four days without her.
I have just finished talking to my mom on the phone about my flight details. I'm tiredly waiting at the gate with my eyes closed and headphones in when my phone goes off. I shift in my seat and look around when I hear it. I have a death grip on my bag and my phone is in my back pocket.
David is awake next to me. He has his Beats on and he is bopping his head as if he wrote the song and is feeling it. I roll my eyes at him with a yawn and pull my phone from my pocket.
I haven't checked social media since last night at the venue. I don't want to say I'm curious, because if I admit that to my mind I will definitely end up looking. I hope by now maybe some people have calmed down, but it's improbable.
I smile because there's a text from Jungkook. He's using his iPhone.
J: hi~~~
You: enjoying your paid wifi?
J: lol
yes
I try to sleep
but I slept so well ^.^
watched 2 movies
I stop myself from sending Nicki Minaj lyrics. They go along the lines of my downstairs area being enough to knock him out... He would probably pretend he didn't know me if I sent that.
You: 😇😇😇
How long is your flight?
I glance at the time on the top of my screen. He has been in the sky for about 4 hours. We will both be landing within the same hour of each other, but the time zones will be so different. I try not to hold onto that thought for too long.
J: loooong
let's play game
You: ???
J:
I giggle at my screen because he is using the iMessage Game Center. I have a feeling he has a lot of random ideas like this that he is keeping to himself until he can unveil them. I guess you could say I am experiencing the benefits of a man who hasn't had a girlfriend but has the most adorable boyfriend tendencies.
You: I have a better idea
J: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
that is biggest roast ever
I can win
You: you think?
J: yanno?
You: omg
That doesn't make any sense
J: lol I know
yanno?
I purse my lips because he is getting good.
You: I will play if...
J: ??
You: I want a selfie
J: then I want one too
You: u have plenty of me
J: u have plenty of me!!
You: no
you never post any
J: -....-
You: that's a new one
J: lol
roast
I will tweet one right now
You: no
send it to me
J: greedy~~~
You: for you 😘😘
J: 누나
(Noona)
You: send it u coward
J: that's Twitter
I know
I just saw
people tweet me
send them nudes
or I am coward
You: LMFAO
J: I was shock ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
You: they are kidding
they just want your love
J: so I post selfie to twitter?
You: fine...
J: I can't
You: why?
J: u will find out
later
You: you're always full of surprises aren't u
you're that bored?
J: lol
stop roasting
I am truly impressed at the rate he is responding to me. It's as though the last month and few weeks have encouraged his brain to soak in everything I have ever said.
You: I roast because I care about you 😘😘
J: I know
I care too
You: I know you do 😉😉
J: emoji...
암시하다
(alludes to/suggests/infers)
....
more
You: the wink?
J: yes
You: I was suggesting something yes
J: right. Suggests
You: cutie
J: I'm trying ㅠㅠ
You: I understand you (:
when I finish learning hangul we can text like that
J: no
This is my only English ever
You: ok
fine
J: remember me with
My eyes widen and I save the selfie quickly.
You: you're so dramatic!! Lol
so pretty
Prettier than me omg
J: that is possible? No
You are the most beautiful girl in the world.
I'm taken back by the sudden perfectly worded sentence that he has just sent to me. I'm delayed in responding and I can see him typing.
J: yes. I practice how type that
You: jkie 😭😭 it's soft hours
J: what?
You: nothing haha
Thank you.
That made me smile😌😌
J: 🍪
You: 🍪☺️
I am so consumed in our conversation that when the announcement for us to board plays I almost miss it. David taps my shoulder and I look at him and everyone else around us is still sitting. Oh. I forgot we are sitting first class with the bundle Luna received.
You: I'm boarding now 😋
talk to you in 5 hours
J: safe travel^.^
"I shouldn't have slept for so long," David says, "Now I'll be awake the whole flight."
I nod my head in agreement but don't say anything. I have to admit that I am still slightly tired. I only slept for 5 hours, and the butterflies in my stomach from being with Jungkook made it feel like I had slept for only two.
The flight is holding a lot of people. There are so many persons just standing around the entrance that it is hard to even spot David just ahead of me. I am relieved when I hand my pass to the worker and start walking down the long hallway. I can't wait to sleep.
When I reach our seats my jaw drops in utter shock.
Luna is sitting there. Her eyes widen when she sees me and she stands.
"Jae," she says worriedly.
I am frozen and don't know what to do. David has sat down across the isle with his headphones on and is oblivious to what's going on. I have suddenly lost all thoughts. This is the last thing that I had expected to happen.
The people behind me start to get fussy and I have no choice but step into the seats with her. We are sitting next to each other, but I don't know if I will be able to.
My shock and confusion soon turns into anger as I look at her.
"Couldn't book a new flight?" I grit.
Luna is visibly nervous and anxious. I am put off by her body language. I was expecting her to be more angry... or upset with me. Instead I am looking at someone who is about to cry as if something terrible has happened.
"I am so sorry," she is speaking loudly.
I motion for her to be more quiet as we sit down. Suddenly I am intrigued by whatever bullshit she is about to spit at me. Unlike her, I am willing to listen. It is mostly because I'm nosey— But that's from my mother.
"Explain," I say.
Something feels off about her. If she had looked mad or not happy to see me, I would've probably reacted differently and started to fight with her; however, I am staring at my best friend who is clearly in some type of distress. The heart in me is telling me to listen to her— so I will.
"I got the email from their company," she is speaking quickly, "I was mad at you at first because I couldn't understand how you could let an email stop us—"
"Wh—"
"But after receiving one myself and having to spend hours trying to fucking translate it, I got scared okay? They said I couldn't speak about any of their employees to anyone."
I want to laugh at her. An email made her strand David and I for four days?
She must read the expression on my face because she is quick to start rambling again.
"I signed it because otherwise it said something about a restraining order from their employees— I don't really know. Google wasn't helping."
"You're full of shit," I roll my eyes.
The absence of David has clearly made an impact on me.
"Jae," she is begging me, "I called my dad because I didn't know what to do. I didn't want a restraining order. I wouldn't be able to see you then."
"You could tell your dad but not me?" I find myself saying.
It's then that I realize how similar this fight is becoming. I shut my mouth and sit back into the seat with an aggravated sigh. I decide to change my tactics.
"You didn't have to leave the state without a word." I say.
"I knew if I contacted you it would make it worse."
"Your excuses made it worse!" I am almost yelling at her, "There were so many other ways to get around this. You could've just pretended you had no idea."
And that's when it hits me. How could his company know about Luna?
"I panicked!" She is crying now, "I wanted to go home instead of the BBMAs, but I needed to get paid for my Namjoon pictures."
My mind is elsewhere.
"Jae?" Luna's voice softens.
I blink and look at her.
"Are you listening to me?" Tears are streaming down her cheeks.
I remain quiet in thought. The only person who knew about Luna was Jungkook. My face twists in a sense of contemplation. I reach for my phone but I already don't have service.
I have an urge to get a stewardess in order to pay for WiFi; I am impatient to know what went on behind closed doors with Jungkook and his company. When I attempt to get the worker's attention, I decide it isn't the best idea for me to act out of irrational thoughts and focus my attention back to Luna.
I am trying to put this in perspective. I know not everyone is perfect— oh boy do I know that— but Luna's decision making skills are clearly not in sorts.
Her father is a lawyer and probably scared her into virtually dropping off the face of the Earth for a few days.
"Why are you telling me now, then?" I ask.
"I finished panicking," she sniffles, "I saw what was going on with Twitter. I felt so bad that I just wanted to be your best friend again."
I don't say anything.
"I figured once we were away from BTS it would be okay to talk to you." Her eyes are searching my face in despair.
"Luna?" David gawks from beside me.
I roll my eyes.
"You're such a bitch!" He starts defending me from his seat.
The people surrounding us are listening to what's being said with shocked expressions. I eye David to silently tell him to shut up. He must get the hint to remain quiet, but that doesn't stop him from leaning in to hear what Luna is saying. She is crying more after hearing David.
"I stayed in the hotel the first night," she tells me, "I got the email only shortly after I left."
I don't know what to reply with.
"I planned on coming back in the morning... I-I am so sorry. I make the worst decisions. My father scared me and started relaying all this legal stuff to me. Please."
I close my eyes and let my body relax into the seat. What am I supposed to say? Luna got scared about the email just as I did when I got mine. In retrospect, I reacted worse than her. I lied for over a month when I didn't even meet Jungkook yet.
Luna is telling me only 3 days after receiving the email.
My mind is a mess. I don't know whether or not to feel some sense of betrayal from Jungkook. Did he know? He knew how upset I was about it— is he the type of person to lie about something? Do I really know anything about him?
All too suddenly I am feeling uneasy about all of this. Signing documents, lying to people, the secrecy— I guess this is what comes with a relationship with a k-pop idol. I don't want to think there is more that I don't know. Is his company acting like this because I'm American?
"I am so mad at you," I admit.
"I know," she is biting away tears at this point.
"Why did you have to leave and not say anything?" I ask, but it's mostly rhetorical.
I already know it's because she was scared and didn't know what to do. Her naivety resulted in her father's law abiding wisdom.
We sit in silence for a few minutes. Luna has gone through many tissues to relax, but I don't feel any more at ease. There is a constant reminder in the back of my head that maybe I should question Jungkook about this. I will ask him.
"Say something," Luna is clearly impatient for my conclusion.
"I have a lot to say," David chimes in.
"You didn't listen to anything she said," I glare at him, "Stay out of our conversation."
David reluctantly agrees and puts his headphones back on. I am feeling stressed enough dealing with Luna and I know he is just waiting to be more of a smartass towards her. He's in denial that he missed her.
"I need time," I say to Luna, "I am trying to understand how a person could make such drastic and shitty choices."
Luna frowns when I've said that. It's true. She knew I got an email too and I could relate with the problem she was having. I wish she would've felt confident enough to just tell me. But, I can't dwell on what has happened. She could've done a lot of things differently, but she didn't.
I also have to remember that she is almost two years younger than me. If I thought all of this craziness with BTS was hard to handle, I can only imagine how Luna is taking it. When I look at her she is still upset.
I decide to be the bigger person. I don't want to lose her over a boy. It doesn't matter how much bigger the scale is.
"I'm dating him," I say softly. It earns a small smile from her.
"Taehyung?"
I furrow my eyebrows at her. She must see my reaction because she is quick to start speaking.
"Oh my God. Sorry. Twitter is influencing me."
Wow— Twitter must be pretty convincing for Luna to be fooled. Jungkook is probably scrolling through everything right now and feeling terrible about himself. It must hurt that the world thinks your best friend is dating your girlfriend instead of you.
"Jungkook," I tell her calmly.
The smile on her face and the relief I have after telling her signifies that forgiving Luna is the right thing to do.
Treating David as my only friend for the last few days has been rough. He did a good job. I could tell he was trying his hardest when he started to send all those pictures of them backstage.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him sooner," I decide to say.
"I understand now. That email is scary."
We share a small laugh.
"I didn't have to lie for so long," I confess, "Especially when I was meeting with him in the hotel. You're right. I ruined your first celebrity encounter."
"Don't worry," she shakes her head, "We even each other out now."
Relief washes over me. This conversation went much better than how I was hypothesizing it would go just yesterday.
"It's illegal for us to be talking about this right now," I say.
Luna laughs through her dried tears and clogged nose. I am smiling to myself because a weight feels as though it has been lifted off my shoulders. Luna was the only piece of this trip that was looming over us like some mystical plague.
"What's being said on Twitter?" I ask.
She widens her eyes to herself and shakes her head with a large sigh. Oh no.
"International Twitter is the least of your worries," she says, "Most already knew of you. A lot of people are vouching that you're a nice person and a lot of your BTS posts are resurfacing around positively."
I blink, "But?"
"Korean users... are in a different dimension. They don't know you, they're protective over Taehyung and they're all convinced you're a fake Korean."
I can't act like I already didn't know this. When that fake AU tweet started to go viral it was all the same comments. This time, these comments are being posted in relation to something real. Well, a form of reality. It would probably be the same if it was with Jungkook. Would it be worse? Who is the fandom more protective over?
"A lot of American fans made cute threads about you," she attempts to brighten my mood.
"That's nice," I reply, "I hope people are translating for others."
"That's what's going on," she tells me, "I've never seen so many K-ARMYs asking for translations in broken English. It's like the fandom has gone reverse."
I groan in the seat and lean my elbow against the arm rest. Just hearing about Twitter is making me uneasy and I could only imagine how I would feel about seeing it. I'm just patiently waiting for all my relatives and anyone I know to start texting me to ask questions.
"I need to learn Hangul more efficiently to read all of them," I mumble to myself.
"How do you text Jungkook?"
"Broken English," I laugh, "No. He's much better than you'd think."
"So..." Luna trails. I know she's dying for more information. "Is he nice?"
I roll my eyes at her. I'm too tired to go on a tangent about everything that is so perfect about him.
"Later," I yawn.
My eyes suddenly feel heavy. All my adrenaline from seeing Luna has died down by now.
When I wake up it's because I feel the plane jolt. I was so tired that I slept the full 5 hours! I glance out the window and see the rainy, grimy look of the outside world. I'm home.
I feel renewed after that beautiful sleep. I have never been able to sleep on a plane like this before and it's unfortunate for me because now it is late at night here.
I check my phone and it is currently 10pm.
"The longest week of my life," David groans.
"Yeah," I can agree with that one. It feels like I just spent a month hanging out with Jungkook.
The three of us grab our bags and head out into the airport. It is clear David still wants nothing to do with Luna as we're walking but I will have to talk to him about it later. Even I still need to recover from what went on. I'm not trying to exclude her from my life, especially since now she is showing some type of effort to get back our friendship.
We are almost to the exit when Luna drops her luggage. I look back to her and she is staring in disbelief at her phone.
"Jae." She can barely talk. Her mouth is open wide and she is shaking.
"What?"
David's sass returns, "Just tell us."
Her hand turns to show me her phone and I can't believe my eyes.
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A/N
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