I stood back admiring the large canvas with my picture of the Statue of Liberty printed in large. The gloomy March skies and one ray of sunlight shining on the statue made me smile as I took a picture on my phone. A knock on my office door sounded as Rita walked in gasping at the large canvas. I gave her a smile before picking up my professional camera and heading out the office.
"New project?" She asked, as she followed me into the elevator. I pushed the button, the lift heading down towards the bottom levels of the building.
"Bvlgari advertisement, maximum 1 hour of shooting" I said, throwing the camera over my head and quickly pulling my hair back with a hair clip.
The elevator reached the floor, stopping as the doors slid open, I made my way through the people who were stepping onto the lift. I reached the doors to the shooting room before turning around looking at Rita, who stood smiling at me.
"What?" I said before I reached for the handle.
"I'm just proud of you" she smiled, before swivelling around and walking towards the main reception.
I shook my head giggling at disbelief as to how corny Rita had become since dating Jin for at least a month a half now. Status with Jungkook? Progressing. I pushed open the door as a couple of the assistants looked in my direction, nudging the largely built man next to them. My manager. Probably one of the hardest people to please in the workplace. I held my breath as he approached me.
"Astra, good you're here" he said "the model is just having some final touches to her accessories, just wait over there and we will start in 5"
I slowly shuffled towards the X on the floor, stood waiting as I admired the model who was laying in position. Her blonde hair tucked behind her ears allowing her sharp jawline to be on full display. She lay gracefully back onto the black silk background and lay her hands above her head, ready to be captured on camera.
"As it's one of the most important shoots" the girl next to me began "they've called in some photographer who works for a higher company, specialised in perfume ads" she muttered, staring at the shoot in front of her.
"Who? We don't normally have higher ranked people...I thought it would just be me working on the project"
"Someone named Kim Taehyung" she said, as the doors flung open and Taehyung strolled into the room, passing his brown jacket to the assistant behind him.
"Taehyung?" I said as he gave me a nod, before going into deep discussion with my manager who stood admiring him.
Not easily pleased? I think now it just depended on who the person was. And their aura. He tilted his head back in laughter as Taehyung gave me a smile and walked towards me stood still on the X. Camera in hand. Deer in headlights may I add.
"Expertise in perfume?" I questioned as he winked,
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me" he whispered before instructing the model to get into position "click away Astra" he said, standing closely behind me as I prepared to show him just exactly what photography meant to me.
The shoot ended around 3pm, as Taehyung handed me the Bluetooth stick after choosing at least 20 possible pictures that could be advertised on the billboards across New York City. Editing time. Roughly 2 hours maximum I had before my shift ended.
2 and a half hours later, I leaned back tilting my head to one side as I stared at the finished edit. I crossed my fingers before emailing both Taehyung and my manager the file and praying that a miracle would occur and I wouldn't have to work on until 8pm. The model was a beauty, hardly any photoshopping had to be done. Apart from a few editing to colours and tones. I bit my finger nails as I waited for a response. Before impatiently sending Taehyung a quick message 'happy?'. He replied straight away with a very. I sighed before shutting down the laptop, grabbing my phone and bag and heading out the building.
"Busy afternoon?" Rita called just before I made it out the door
I nodded, shoving my phone into my bag "how come you're still working?"
"Paperwork" she lifted the sheets of paper in her hand before placing them down on the table beside her "someone's waiting outside for you"
"I'll call you later" I gave her a smile before slowly making my way out the building. I pushed open the glass doors of the front of the building before my eyes fell upon Jungkook holding a bag in his hand and giving me a small smile.
"Hungry?" He asked as I nodded, skipping down the steps and taking a look in the carrier bag.
"Fried chicken?" I raised my eyebrow as he scrunched his nose "only the best!" He exclaimed as we made our way down the streets.
The streets started to light up as the sky got dusky. The smell of street food hitting my nose as we walked our way down the steps waiting for a Subway. A good 6 minutes later we were back up to ground level, and making our way towards Jungkook's apartment. He let himself into the building before grabbing my hand and pulling me upstairs. He pushed open the apartment door as I took a peek around. The smell of his cologne hovering in the air no matter what room you went into. He emptied the friend chicken bags onto his eating table before grabbing a couple plates.
"Don't worry about plates" I said, shrugging my coat onto the couch "out of the bucket is better"
"Hey, is this the same friend chicken place we used to go to back in University?" I asked as I sat down at the table rolling up my sleeves and taking a drumstick out the bucket.
"No, they closed down...this was the next best one according to Google" I laughed as he bit into the chicken.
No lie. Jungkook's reactions to good food was probably one of my favourite traits of his. The way his mouth fell open and his eyes got rounder and bigger, as he takes each bite.
He shook his head "this is good...but nothing beats the fried chicken from back then"
I nodded in agreement before drying my greasy fingers with the napkins that were at the bottom of the bag.
"Let me ask you this" Jungkook said, swallowing the food and drying his hands also "do you have many exes?"
I paused as he looked at me in all seriousness "no, just Alex" I winced as he leaned his head against the palm of his hand "and you?"
"A few" I raised my eyebrow "three"
"I have a question" I began, leaning my elbows against the table and leaning forwards "do you still dance?"
"Dance?" He queried as I chewed the side of my mouth "I gave that up"
"Aish why?" I hit his arm as he smiled "you were so good at it"
"My parents said it wasn't a stable career, so I started studying extra years to work as a pilot in Seoul" he shrugged "the years we had a university together were all good and well but I never graduated in the end"
"That's because you disappeared before you had the chance to"
"Not by choice Astra" he sighed "it was what was best for me, besides you and made friends with Alex and everyone else"
"Difference was Jungkook, no one could compare to the friendship we had"
"Friendship?" He asked "Astra I adored you as more than a friend"
"You never told me that" I whispered as he looked at me.
"God Astra it's so hard to even explain to you what you meant to me, mean to me even"
"What do I mean to you?" I said, my heart racing, looking for an answer I wanted to know, yet didn't at the same time.
"I can't explain it" he shook his head, throwing the chicken bone into the bucket and leaning back into his chair.
"What if I went first" I suggested as he continued to stay quiet "I-"
"I'm in love with you." He blurted out as I froze, the banter that we had there on Valentine's Day no longer being an excuse. I swallowed before picking up the bag of empty buckets and heading towards the bin. My head spinning as I processed the words, afraid to turn around to face Jungkook. His gaze making me weak at the knees.
"In love with me as a person or just in general?" I managed to blurt out as he sighed, I could generally feel his anger and confusion radiating "I need specifics"
"Astra what are you so afraid of?"
"Falling" I said as he walked towards me, as I leaned back against the kitchen tops "for you"
"Why?" He tilted his head to one side as I looked at him, staring now at his lips, where a small intricate mole sat under them. His beauty spot.
"Because I've never actually fallen properly for someone" I whispered as he froze "and yes okay I almost married Alex but I didn't get these weird feelings around him"
I sighed before rolling my eyes, achieving a small smile from him "feelings of being also madly and deeply in love. I'm in love with you."
The words were out there. Finally.
-
Jungkook POV:
"I can't believe you're driving" I sighed, looking over at Astra as she one handedly drove my car around the sharp corners that weaved there way outside of Manhattan.
"Shut up, I always told you I could drive, driving since I was 17 thank you very much" she sassily replied, her focus still on the road,
"So why did you drag me out the house?" I asked, as I turned towards her, her giving me a back a quick side glance before changing gear.
"You'll see"
I teasingly stroked the top of her legs, as I saw her shiver ever so slightly before slapping her hand down on mine "stop, I'm warning you" she said, pushing my hand back on top of my thigh.
"Not able to concentrate?" I teased as she sighed,
"I will crash this car, who would be laughing then?"
"Would be worth our while" I replied, as she scoffed,
"You're disgusting" she said, before she looked over at me as we both burst into laughter "okay, see not that long, we are here"
She pulled the car up on the side, before she opened the car door and stepped outside. I watched her skip around and peer through the big black metal gates that stood at a massive height. I opened the car door and stepped out into the cold evening air, shoving my hands into my pocket before looking over as Astra.
"Don't you miss it?" She questioned as she stared through the gaps at the huge University building "it hasn't changed"
I walked behind her and wrapped my arms around her small petite frame, as she looked up at me. Her green emerald eyes shining in the dark night. The same, sweet candy smell shampoo filling the air around me as the deja vu of 18 year old us, as students hit me.
"Thank you for slamming your head into my chest on that September afternoon" I whispered as she giggled, wriggling from my grasp and turning around to look at me.
"And thank you for being the same Jungkook you always have been and offering me a coffee, even though it was a pretty crappy cup of coffee"
"Call it even?" I asked as she scrunched her nose, that smile of hers making its way onto her face,
"Shake on it" she raised her hand as I laughed, her eyebrow raising in all seriousness as she needed that confirmation.
I grabbed hold of her hand and shook it back, before pulling her towards me and placing a small kiss on her nose. Love really was a complex thing.