Alice picked a short sleeved peach peplum top, navy blue skinny jeans and a pair of loafers. Then Chaeyoung stood in front of the mirror, getting a last look at her outfit. Feeling satisfied, she dashed out of the house.
When Chaeyoung went out to meet Jungkook, her jaw dropped at the sight of him. Jungkook was wearing a blue button down shirt, khaki shorts and leather brown boat shoes. He looked refreshing from his usual corporate outfit. He was leaning on the car, the same one he brought last time, his hands were in his pocket and his right leg was crossing over the other.
“You are seven minutes late. But a pretty lady like you ought to be forgiven.” Jungkook said.
“Thanks! And you look . . .” Chaeyoung took another good look at him. “Fine.” Then she giggled.
“Really? You ogled me for a good whole minute and all you can say is that I look fine?” He said teasingly.
“I. Did. Not.” She denied.
He grinned at her in response.
“Don’t get so ahead of yourself honey.”
The word ‘honey’ rang into Jungkook’s ears. Chaeyoung said it spontaneously but he heard it as intimately as the way Carissa used to call him that. Then he spaced out while Chaeyoung was trying to bring him back to his senses.
“Hey! Jungkook! Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry. Let us go!”
They stayed quiet inside the car, both waiting for the other to break the silence. He was trying to focus on his driving while she was idly browsing through the internet.
“Chaeyoung? Are you okay?” He asked.
“Yes, I’m okay. Are you?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“So . . . where are you taking me?”
“Have you heard of the street fair downtown? We can go there and check it out. Then we’ll see from there. Shall we?”
“Sounds good.”
... ... ... ... ...
A pencil artist welcomed Chaeyoung and Jungkook on their way in the street fair. She was awed with the artist’s skills so she tugged him to have a sketch of them together. He refused since it will take too much of their time. However, his resistance was no match for her persistent urging. So he obliged in the end.
But her insistence of having a sketch done backfired on her when the artist asked them to sit closer together and look sweet like a real couple that he thought they were. While Chaeyoung was hesitant and feeling awkward, Jungkook grabbed that chance to get closer to her. So he scooted closer, wrapped his arm behind her and rested his arm on the bench.
And since the sketch will be shoulder-level, the artist gently pushed their faces closer, leaving only an inch of space between them. They stayed in that position for about an hour until the sketch was completed.
Even after the sketch was done, they stayed in that position for a few more seconds since they felt stiff all over their body. Chaeyoung managed to move away first, leaving Jungkook alone on the bench.
She grinned from ear to ear looking at the sketch of her and Jungkook together. She tried to dismiss the fact that they indeed look like a real couple, even when she cannot deny the genuine smiles on their faces portrayed by the sketch. While he smiled seeing how the drawing was beautifully done.
After that, they looked around the food stands to have their lunch. They ate in a food truck, serving burger, as they planned earlier. True to his self-proclamation, Jungkook finished three burgers in all. On the other hand, Chaeyoung was contented with her piece of one-pound burger.
“Their burger was great!” He exclaimed.
“I agree,” She said.
“Now do you want to go somewhere else? Or should we stay here?”
“Dessert?”
“Of course!”
They went to buy smoothies before going to the other end of the fair. As they were roaming around, they saw a booth offering fish foot massage.
This time, Jungkook was the one who was keen to try it while Chaeyoung was hesitant. So even without her permission, he booked each of them for a 15-minute session. As a result, she was pressured to cave in.
“You’re sneaky.” She commented.
“This will be fun.” He promised.
“Oh my! Wait!”
Then she burst out laughing.
“You’re ticklish?” He asked, amused at her reaction.
“I did not know!” She answered as she continued to giggle.
He was pleased with her reaction that he can’t help himself from laughing alongside her.
After their foot massage, they went shopping around the fair. They also indulged themselves in a mini food trip as they hopped from one food stand to another.
After hours of walking around the shops, they found a bench to rest their worn-out selves. Jungkook was carrying all their shopping bags the whole time. So Chaeyoung went to buy water for them. As she was walking back to him, Jungkook suddenly transformed into Taehyung causing Chaeyoung to stop dead in her tracks.
It was like a déjà vu where Taehyung used to carry all her shopping bags for her. She was looking at him with disdain while angry tears started to roll down her eyes.
Why do you always appear like this? Please go away! Chaeyoung thought.
“Chaeyoung!” Jungkook called, pulling Chaeyoung out of her illusion.
She slowly approached Jungkook, still confused about seeing Taehyung in him.
She looked at him warily before asking, “What do you want from me?”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?” He asked.
“Let us go home now.” She suggested.
Perplexed at her sullen mood, he asked, “Are you sure? Don’t you want to see the live band anymore?”
“I-I’m not feeling well.” She fibbed.
“Oh! Okay,” He succumbed.
He glumly rose from his seat then started walking towards their car. She followed him behind. She wanted to take back what she said but she was unable to.
When they reached the car, he opened the passenger door for her and she went inside right after. He put the shopping bags in the backseat before occupying the driver’s seat. But he did not start the car right away. Instead they stayed sitting silently in the car. And the whole time, she uneasily wiggled in her seat.
“What’s wrong Chae? Tell me.”
She started to answer, “Nothing, I’m just . . .”
He interrupted her evident lie, “No. Don’t tell me that. I noticed that something was bothering you the whole time we were together. What is it? Please tell me what it is. I will listen, I promise. Just tell me what’s wrong.” He pleaded.
Jungkook was stunned when Chaeyoung started crying.
He worriedly gave her his handkerchief before saying, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry Chaeyoung. I did not mean to be mad at you. No, I’m not really mad at you. I was just worried. I only wanted you to tell me what the problem is. But if it will make you cry like this, I won’t force you to say it anymore. I’m sorry.”
She was still crying when he slowly pulled her into a hug. And she gratefully accepted the gesture.
As she cried on his shoulders, she thought to herself, “No, this is not Taehyung, this is Jungkook. If this was Taehyung, I never would have cried in front of him. If this was Taehyung, he would have sent me home like I asked. He would have left me after asking me to talk to him soon when I’m feeling better. Taehyung . . . he . . . he never knew how to console me the way he was supposed to.”
Ashamed at her outburst, Chaeyoung coyly pulled back from Jungkook’s hug and wiped her tears dry. She gathered tissue from her bag and started to dry his shirt that got wet from her tears. He held her hand to stop her.
Then they accidentally met each other’s gaze.
She abruptly pulled back as if she was burned from their heated moment.
He cautiously asked. “Are you feeling better now?”
“Yes, thank you!” She answered.
“Would you like to tell me why you were crying just now?”
She stayed silent in response, reluctant to answer him.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. What’s important is that you’re fine now. Though I hope that you will completely heal from whatever it was you were troubled about.”
“Thanks Jungkook.” She said before continuing in a more cheerful voice. “We can go to watch the live band now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Great!”
He hurriedly got off the car and opened the door for her. He happily led her to the stage.
The show had just started when they arrived. The crowd were also starting to fill the place. The band were playing acoustic love songs which affected both Chaeyoung and Jungkook significantly. They were standing side by side as they swayed to the rhythm of the music.
He furtively moved closer to her before he smoothly took her hand in his. Her eyes grew wide in shock as her heartbeat turned rapid. While he firmly held her hand as though he wanted to assure her of his presence beside her.
Chaeyoung was smiling bashfully when Jungkook glanced at her. And he smiled in return.
Their hands stayed intertwined all throughout the show.
After the first band finished their performance, he pulled her away from the crowd.
He said, “I thought you might want to have dinner already.”
“Actually, yes.” She eagerly agreed.
They drove to a Japanese restaurant.
While they were choosing their food, she acknowledged, “This is actually my first time to eat in a Japanese restaurant.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure you will love the food here.” He reached for the chopsticks and broke them apart, then he gave it to her.
“My best friend, Yugyeom, was the one who first brought me here. It was during our college days. Yug had a crush on this girl who was working part time here at that time. He invited, no actually he blackmailed me to come here with him. So we had our dinner here while he was gawking at his crush who was serving tables around. Then we waited for her outside until her shift ended.
She was with her coworker when she went out. However, they were walking arm in arm when they went out, clearly showing that they were a couple. And Yugyeom had his first heartbreak that night. Poor guy. But we actually loved the food here, so we came back after a couple of weeks when Yugyeom had already moved on. We frequent this place occasionally from then.”
“So were you trying to warn me of your stalking tendencies?” She teasingly remarked.
He looked alarmed. “No! That’s not what I meant. It’s . . .”
They were interrupted when a waiter approached them to ask for their order.
Jungkook still looked anxious as he gave their order to the waiter. While Chaeyoung was grinning at him the whole time, amused at his nervousness.
“We . . . we were not stalking her alright. Yug wanted to get to know her that’s why we came to her workplace so he could formally introduce himself to her. But that was just the only time we followed her to her workplace.” He defensively explained himself.
“But how did you find out that she was only working part time if you just followed her that one time?”
“You’re good. However missy, that was just our assumption since she was our schoolmate who we regularly see in the cafeteria. Since she was a student like us, we consequently deduced that she was only working part time.”
“Hmmm. Did you do that with me too?” She asked.
He was agitated, afraid that she was able to see through him. He was unable to explain himself, cautious he might say all the wrong words and put himself in unnecessary trouble.
“Earth to Jungkook! Earth to Jungkook! This is Agent Chaeyoung speaking. Are you still there?” She said playfully.
“I, uh . . . I did no such thing. It . . . it was pure coincidence when we met.” He stammered.
“But you looked familiar though. It felt like I’ve met you even before that rainy night.” She contemplated.
“So you are saying that you’ve already seen me before that time and never forgotten about me?” He countered.
“No! That’s not what I meant.” She answered, annoyed at the smug look on his face.
He just laughed at her annoyance.
She scoffed in response.
They remained silent while their order was being served. It seemed that Chaeyoung was still upset with Jungkook. She seemed like she was preparing to say something but unable to voice it out. She looked charming as her lips pucker to speak something wordlessly.
When she looked up to talk to him, he swiftly fed her a small piece of sushi to stop her from talking. He ate one himself and tried to act casually. She fumed at him as she chomped the sushi in her mouth. Then he winked at her and gave her a thumbs up.
He earned a snicker from her. So he tried to appease her anger by being attentive to her as he put food on her plate and poured juice in her glass.
In the end, she calmed down as they began to enjoy their dinner.
On the ride back to her house, Jungkook turned on the radio where sappy love songs were being played. Chaeyoung sang along to some of the songs. Then she gestured her hand as if it was a microphone and led him to sing along with her. He refused at first but was eventually swayed when she started to sing with passion. They were singing in the car all the way to her house.
“Thank you for today Jungkook. I really had so much fun.”
“I’m glad you felt that way. I enjoyed today as much.”
She waved her hands in front of him, “Bye! Drive safely.”
“I will. Bye!” He answered.
Then she went inside her house and securely locked the gate. She leaned against it and smiled happily. To make certain, she went back outside to check on him. She was surprised when he was standing right in front their gate, about to press the doorbell. They were both surprised as they faced each other.
“I uh, I just uh . . . you forgot your shopping bags.” Jungkook said as he raised the bags he was holding.
“Yeah, right!” Chaeyoung said.
“Did you went back for the shopping bags too?”
“Of course!”
When he handed her the bags, their hands lightly touched causing a jolt of spark between their fingers. She roughly grabbed the bags and closed the gate on his face. Then she locked it and ran until she reached her room.
While Jungkook was rooted to the ground as he blankly stared at the closed gate. He was amused at Chaeyoung’s unpredictable reactions.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
So what do you think about this chapter? Please let me know so I may improve what I can.
And thank you for those who are following this story. 💙