I still see you every sunset.
Never in a million years did Jaebum expect that his fate could be more painful. He had prayed day and night to see the girl who had stolen his heart, only in his dreams or their memories at sunset.
Life getting better was temporary, and fate was a sly fox who struck him right in his heart.
He was next to Youngjae, scrolling through his phone to pick the movie to watch.
"Jennie, Hi. Oh, I'm coming."
The name shouldn't have affected him, but it did. He shook his head, focused on the long list he should pick from.
Youngjae chose a movie called Frozen, thinking it would suit an adult movie night for an unknown reason, but no one could reject an otter.
"Everyone says hello to Jennie Kim, Jisoo's new roommate."
"Hello. I'm Jennie Kim." It was short, but significant enough to have Jaebum's heart drop. Blood running cold the moment he looked up.
In the middle of the crowd, two pairs of eyes met. As if time stopped to make sure they hear their hearts shutter into pieces, his trembling hands dropped the phone without breaking eye contact.
"Are you okay, Hyung?" Youngjae's whisper pulled him back to reality, and he nodded. He bent down to grab his phone, and a message popped up from his best friend.
'Nauseous?'–Jinyoung.
He feigned assurance to his suspicious friend, watching him intently. It might have been a good excuse to leave or run to gain control of his mixed emotions, but his body and mind were frozen.
"Jaebum, catch your beer."
His eyes betrayed him once again; instead of looking at Yugyeom, they diverted to her magnetic ones for a few stolen seconds.
"Pass me this, Gyeom. Jaebum doesn't drink." Jinyoung backed him up, throwing another worried glance at him.
"We are working."
"You are working, I'm not."
"Aren't we in this project together?"
"So, let's get drunk together or Can't you handle alcohol, Jisoo-ya?"
Jaebum faintly heard the silly fight that somehow got replaced with the voices of the movie mixed with hushed conversations. Concentrating on the animation was a challenge as his mind raced with memories of Jennie and an overwhelming array of thoughts. Questions flooded his consciousness, making it difficult to focus.
Out of all places. Why is she here?
Did she leave her grandmother behind?
Is she okay?
She looks pale.
Did my parents recruit her to follow me?
Why? Why? Why?
Overwhelmed by painful emotions, the urge to run, scream, or paint aggressively, Jaebum was drowning in dangerous feelings from the past. To save himself, he left the room without a word.
He found himself in the kitchen with a glass of water in his hand and his medicine held by the other.
"Get your shit together, Lim Jaebum." He hissed at himself, slipping a pill into his mouth before gulping the water.
"I'm glad that you stopped drinking." He didn't need to turn to recognize the voice behind him; it was neither far nor close, but five meters away was enough to make him impulsive, gulping the water with another pill even though he shouldn't.
"Are you okay, JayB?"
His hands clutched tightly on the counter as he gazed at her. Seeing her delicate face contorted with worry, yet still radiating hope at just the sight of him, brought a pain to his heart. However, he didn't console her or express how much he longed for her - instead; he kept quiet. He was willing to suppress all his emotions if that would make her return to their hometown.
"Better than before. Did they send you to babysit me?"
Her eyes twitched like shattered glass or a heart. "I---Hear me---"
"Tell my parents that I'm fine and need no babysitter to watch over me." His tone was aggressive enough to seal her mouth shut.
It was hard to keep his hatred masked when he noticed the tears running down her cheeks as he left her behind and made his way to his room.
'That's for her, for better.'
He muttered quietly to himself, feeling the effects of his mood-stabilizing medication slowly take hold. His tattooed arms reached out for the hallway walls to support him as he slowly made his way to bed, vision slightly blurry and everything shaking.
'Keep it together, please. Almost there.'
Vanilla, vanilla ice-creams, vanilla coffee, vanilla-scented candles, vanilla-scented perfumes, Jinyoung's Tom Ford perfume.
Jisoo was melted into the comfort of a warm embrace on her right side, her hands intertwined with a muscular arm which her cheek rested against a broad shoulder. She drowned in the familiar scent of someone she knew too well— Park Jinyoung.
She stirred from her sleep, slowly opening her eyes and thinking it was a silly dream. But this was proven wrong the moment she saw him; his neck just inches away from her own. It didn't help that he chose that exact moment to turn and face her. His lips were round and full, his eyes sparkled like that of a deer's, thick eyebrows weren't meeting in a frown like usual. It was almost impossible to not get lost in his intense gaze or control the rapid beating of her heart.
"Morning, sleeping beauty." His voice was deeper than usual.
It was impossible to run from the situation, so Jisoo had no option but to act normal; she broke her hold on his arm and leaned back against the wall as his brown jacket fell off her shoulders.
"Don't. It's still chilly." He whispered, gently stopping her from giving back his jacket.
She let out an awkward cough, looking everywhere but at him. "How did I end up in this situation?" Jisoo asked, even though she knew, or could figure out, how it happened hours before she woke up cuddled to Jinyoung, not the opposite.
At a certain point in the movie Frozen, they started arguing again over Olaf and how rude Jinyoung was for calling him a "dumb iceman". Not long after, her head felt heavy and her eyes pleaded to be shut, which happened multiple times.
She had flashed scenes in her memory of Jinyoung working on her laptop to finish the undone presentation; him placing his jacket on her, another time he was talking to his old friend in a hushed tone, and the last one his long fingers tucking her loose strands behind her ear.
Choosing to skip the movie night in favor of tackling her workload alone in the comfort of her bed may have been a better decision than allowing herself to get too close with a colleague who would soon become her rival once again. She was overthinking things since he didn't even try to tease or bother her.
"Coffee?" he asked, ruffling his messy long-haired bowl cut. She found herself nodding, scanning the room where everyone was still asleep, cuddled under the shared blankets, except for BamBam, who was wearing a light rose shirt tucked into formal pants of the same color. He leaned into the pillow, a content smile on his face as he gazed lovingly at his closest friend, Lisa.
"When did Bam arrive?" She nudged Jinyoung lightly, making him look in the same direction.
"An hour earlier, Lisa had been waiting for him since midnight. You should have seen how worried she was when he told her his plane got delayed because of the weather like It's his first time traveling."
"Does he travel a lot? Where was he?"
"Yes, for business and grand events. He seems like a dork, but he is a Thai prince."
"What?"
"He is from the Bhukwal family, One of the biggest business holders in Asia. He is opening his first café and restraint in Seoul soon." Jinyoung told her, both watching their friend from afar.
"Is all our dorm-mates idiots for love? They are better than Mark and Rose though," He questioned, suppressing his laugh.
She laughed lightly. "You noticed too. Who looks at his best friend like that? These two are the dumbest."
"I swear he has been staring at her since he got here." He stood up, stretching his aching muscles before blocking her view with his figure with his stretched arm in front of her face.
She looked up at him, her fingers finding their way to hold his wrist as his lips curved into a smile, pulling her up. "If you fell for me after our truce is over, don't be that dumb."
Jisoo didn't know where she got the courage from, but her hand traveled to his shoulder, tip-toed to whisper in his ear.
"Be careful not to fall for me first, Jinyoung-ie."
Silly how his round ear turned pink, how he avoided her gaze after staring for too long, how he freaked out a little after hearing Mark's deep voice behind him.
"Jinyoung Park, hands off Jisoo."
The boy unexpectedly complied, taking two steps away from her with his hands in front of his chest in surrender. "I'm a fair player, It isn't what it looks like." Jinyoung defended himself.
"He is annoyingly right. He was---"
"I don't want to hear a word from you. We will talk later." Mark's glare was burning the partners alive, and Jisoo could admit she was afraid of his parental scolding, but luck was on their side. Rose snuggled up to Mark, her head nestling against his chest and her arm draped around his waist. The tender display of affection rendered both of them speechless, as if they had turned into a soft, cuddly plush toy.
Jisoo reminded herself to thank Rosie after exchanging a teasing look with her friend. This left the boy hopelessly in love, while they both went to get their breakfast and coffee.
Maybe she was thinking too much; maybe the time they were spending together was fun; maybe the mischievous playboy wasn't that bad as a companion.
Hello🌷 How are you feeling today? Any plans for the weekend?
Please be careful when you take any medicine to take the right amount prescribed by your doctor and check the side effects too.🧡