❛❛Will you stop time
if this moment passes?❜❜
- Butterfly
๑☆ﾟ.*･｡๑
"Me neither."
The last words that he'd spoken the night before came back to Jihye as she woke up in Jungkook's firm embrace, with his breath hitting the back of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine.
She summarised the last day and the realization that any neighbour could have seen them in their balcony and misinterpreted what was happening finally sunk in.
Her cheeks reddened. She moved a little bit, and suddenly felt Jungkook's grip on her waist tighten and his breathing pattern become uneven. "You're awake?"
"Wide awake," Jungkook replied breathlessly and Jihye wondered what could be the reason behind that. "You're not exactly helping with that squirming around." Jihye flushed redder.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to," she mumbled and tried to free herself from his embrace but he wouldn't let her.
"Stay," he whispered. "A little longer."
A smile was visible on Jihye's face as she felt the need in his voice. The need to hold her close. "Classes again. Sometimes I hate them, don't you?" He asked her.
"You bet," Jihye smiled. "Why did you choose dancing, though?"
That question got Jungkook silent for a while. When Jihye was about to assume he didn't hear it and repeat it again, he replied, "There was this time when I knew nothing, had nothing but cared about only one thing."
"Dancing?"
"Yeah, all I wanted to do was dance." Jihye tilted her head to look at his face and found out that he was lost in thoughts. "And pretty soon, I'll be a senior."
"Don't remind me. You're gonna be promoted to final year but I have two more years left of college," she complained as her lips naturally formed a pout. Jungkook chuckled.
"Cute," he smiled, poking her cheek with his free hand. "Just endure these two years. I can see a successful career before you."
๑☆ﾟ.*･｡๑
"I'm not attending office today. I want to stay home and have dinner with you," Jungkook said quietly as he focused on the road up front.
"Great," Jihye smiled. "Do you wanna do something special?"
"No," he replied. "Let's just cook some Ramen and laze around."
"Sounds like a good plan, except we don't have Ramen at home."
Jungkook hummed. "That's only natural considering how much Ramen you've been eating lately."
"Hey!" Jihye hit him lightly on the biceps. "I only eat Ramen because it's so easy to cook and I don't have time to cook something else since I have to study and practice so much more now."
"I'm just kidding," Jungkook defended himself. "I know that because I do the same."
"I guess we're both just college students who leave work to the last minute and study like crazy once we realize we haven't got much time left till exams," Jihye confessed.
"Right," Jungkook admitted, chuckling. "Way to sum it up."
"So how about you drop me off in front of the grocery store? I'll walk the rest. Now that I think of it, we need some other stuff, too."
"I can wait for you," Jungkook proposed.
"It's fine. It always takes me long to shop when it comes to groceries," Jihye denied. "Besides, it's a very small distance from the store to our apartment."
"Okay," Jungkook gave in. "Whatever you say."
๑☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ๑
As Jihye entered the grocery store and started walking through the shelves, her eyes met the cup of Ramen she'd been searching for only to realize that they were in the top most shelf.
"Stupid top shelf," Jihye mumbled as she stood on tiptoes to get the Ramen. Although she could touch it, she couldn't get it down.
However, when she finally got hold of the can, it dropped out of her hand. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the sound that would pierce through the air when it touched the floor, but surprisingly nothing happened.
She looked to her side to find a hand outstretched towards her with the can in it. She took it and just when she about to thank the individual politely, her smile faded and so did the other person's.
"Did your leader order you to follow me around now?" Jihye couldn't hide the despite in her voice.
"I didn't even know it was you," one of the three girls who had trapped Jihye in the college bathroom two weeks ago replied with her head hung low.
"Thanks for catching the can." Jihye wasn't in the mood for arguing, let alone with someone who bullied her. She turned around to walk away from the girl as quickly as possible but a voice stopped her.
"Wait!" The girl called her from behind and jogged to her side. "Please hear me out."
Jihye observed her for a second. She could tell the girl felt ashamed for her behavior. "Be quick."
"I didn't bully you on purpose. I never wanted to," she said, causing Jihye to look at her in the eye. "I was forced into doing this because Jaehee – the leader – blackmailed me."
Jihye shot her an inquisitive look. "She got to know about my relationship with an older guy and she threatened me to tell my mother about it," she elaborated.
"Please forgive me." She hung her head low.
"Okay, I forgive you," Jihye smiled and her head shot up to make sure she wasn't joking. "The next time someone tries to threaten you, stand up to them."
"Thank you, you're a wonderful person," the girl looked at Jihye in awe. "It's Jihye, right?"
"Yes. What's your name?"
"Minseo."
"So, Minseo, friends?" Jihye held up her hand towards her and she shook it with a smile.
"Friends."
"As a friend, I'll give you an advice, Minseo," Jihye said. "Tell your mother about your relationship soon so that no one can use it against you."
"I already have. My boyfriend will meet her next weekend," Minseo gave her a shy smile.
"That's great news," Jihye grinned. "I'm sure she'll love him."
"I hope so, because he's six years older than me and my mother won't accept the age gap easily," Minseo seemed worried. "I want to prove to my mother that when it comes to love, age is just a number."
"Don't worry," Jihye encouraged her. "Let's exchange numbers and you can text me to inform how it goes."
They exchanged numbers and Jihye said goodbye first. "See you in class!" She waved and started to walk towards their apartment, thinking how you meet good people when you least expect to.
However, Jihye wasn't the only one who had an unexpected encounter. After dropping Jihye off, Jungkook drove to their apartment only to find a very familiar face waiting for his arrival near the elevator.
Jungkook walked up to him and the older man looked him in the eye. His jaw clenched. "Long time no see, Jungkook-ah." Jungkook realized he was having a hard time smiling. "Let's take it to your apartment, shall we?"
They took the elevator in a very uncomfortable silence and when both of them got inside, Jungkook asked, "What can I get you? Coffee? Tea?"
The other male scoffed. "Am I a guest at your house now? After all that you did?"
"And what exactly do you mean to say I did?"
"Don't play dumb, Jungkook." His eyes had a dark glint that never used to be there before. "You know damn well what you did."
"Actually, I did exactly what I should have done given the circumstances. I protected my family's honour and most importantly, her honour."
"Drop the gentleman act, will you?" Jungkook's answer earned another scoff.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but that's who I am. A gentleman, unlike what you seem," he paused and then finished his sentence.
"Hyung."
๑☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ๑
Sorry this chapter's a bit shorter than the others
(；^ω^）
Things are about to get intense and if you've stuck with me till now, you don't want to miss out on this (◠‿・)