BO-YOUNG
"Oh," I mutter, the words not processing. "Oh!" I finally realize, my eyes widening as I take off back into my room. I hastily open the top drawer of my bedside table before freezing. I look at the normal black pen in front of me. I shake my head, concluding that a normal pen isn't enough. I slowly pull open the lowest drawer, taking out the golden pen. I hold it in my hand for a second, inspecting it as I consider whether or not I should use this pen.
"Bo-young?" I hear Jungkook call out from the living room.
I'm sure of my decision.
I walk back into the living room. Jungkook smiles at me encouragingly as I walk to him slowly, holding out the pen to him. I then reach out my other hand, holding the other pen. The plain black one, and my golden one. Jungkook looks between the two pens, then back up at me. I sit down next to him, keeping the pens out, extended towards him.
"Are you sure about this?" Jungkook asks, pointing at my right hand, in which I hold the golden pen. I smile awkwardly.
"No, that's why I have this," I state, lifting the normal pen. Jungkook smiles slightly, nodding his head. He reaches out and takes the normal pen out of my hand. I hold the golden pen in my hand watching as he turns back towards the paperwork, opening the cap of the ballpoint pen, and lowering it to one of the lines.
I don't know why, but I swiftly pluck the pen out of his hand.
"No," I say shakily, holding the pen away from him. Jungkook looks at me in surprise, before a sad smile breaks out on his face. He turns away, clasping his hands together.
"Ah, I understand. It's too soon," he says with a downtrodden chuckle. He places his hands on his knees. I extend my arm out again, this time leaving only one option.
"I'm sure," I say confidently. Jungkook seems confused for a moment, before quietly laughing, covering his face with his hands.
"I was so..." he says, but doesn't finish. He silently takes the pen from my hands, holding it for a moment as if it were the most precious thing in the world. He looks to me for a moment, and I nod. He signs the first paper.
He flips through a couple of papers, signing them. After a couple of moments, he hands me the pen, and scoots over, giving me easier access to the papers.
"There's only one paper you need to sign," he tells me, sliding over the last paper. "It's not necessary, but-"
I sign the paper without hesitation.
Jungkook piles up the papers again, making sure they are in the right order before setting them aside.
"We'll bring these over to an adoption center tomorrow," he says before turning towards me. "Now, the letter."
I turn towards him, closing my eyes for a moment. "Yes?"
"Thank you for telling me. Your past is your past, and I won't hold anything you did back then against you," he tells me, moving my hands away from my face.
"You're so cheesy," I laugh, lowering my head so my hair covers my face.
"You say that a lot," he says, standing up. He pulls me up with him by my hands. "Let's make food."
"That's a bit out of the blue," I say, looking up at him. He brings me to the kitchen.
"Yes, but I'm hungry. I also think you'd enjoy cooking," he opens the fridge after letting my hands go. "Jin is better at cooking - much better - but I still want to teach you how to make the best dish ever."
"What dish would that be?" I ask him, trying to see what he's planning on making based on his ingredients. He takes out some tomatoes, a pack of bacon, some mushrooms and-
"Pizza," he grins childishly. I stop in my tracks, unable to find the right words.
"Again?" I question.
"Hey, you had pizza, while I had a sandwich for lunch. It wasn't even a good sandwich. It was dry," he complains, a look of disdain on his face as he recalls his lunch.
"Feckin- sure. Teach me how to make pizza," I give in, understanding that this is a day to celebrate. "But I want some too. I ended up having to share most of the pizza you bought with Taehyung and Hoseok."
"Oh no, they were here when the pizza arrived?" Jungkook asks, turning towards me. "You must be starving."
"I offered them a couple of slices. I had one, so I'm quite fine," I reason as Jungkook takes out a cutting board, washing the tomatoes before chopping them up. "I can still eat, though."
"One slice is not enough. We should be increasing your food intake gradually," he explains. He hands me the knife and places a mushroom in front of me. "You first cut the end off. then slice them into thin slices."
I do what he says, careful not to cut my finger as I slice the mushroom.
"Good, just be careful not to cut yourself," he praises before turning away, now confident in my ability not to slice my hand off.
He begins to knead the dough.
"You know what would be fun?" Jungkook asks.
"What?"
"Sorting out your room. I know a guy working at Ikea, he can get us a discount on furniture," he tells me.
"That would be fun, but I don't even know what I want to do with the room yet," I say as I try not to get too distracted from the mushrooms.
"You'll get inspiration when you got there. I had no plan for my room, and it turned out fine."
"I haven't seen your room, so I have no way of knowing if it actually looks nice. Who knows, maybe you have a strange obsession with orange and pink," I snort.
Jungkook scoffs in an overly dramatic manner. "Me liking-" he pauses, "orange and... pink?"
"Don't let your big artist ego get hurt," I joke. Jungkook laughs.
"I can show you my room when the pizza is in the oven."
1042 words