Jungkook’s POV
I was exhausted from work. I had a lot of reports pilling up on top of my desk. And I had to finish them all within the day. I even had to drag my weary self from the parking lot up to my apartment.
After resting for a bit, I took a shower and called for food delivery. I did not have the energy to cook dinner for myself. A couple of minutes after, my food came.
I was in the middle of eating my dinner when I suddenly thought of Chaeyoung. I finished eating first before I tried calling Chaeyoung. But all my calls went straight to voicemail.
I was wondering where she could be as I walked to the apartment next to mine. I rang the doorbell to Chaeyoung’s apartment, knocked on the door and called out for her. But like my calls, there was no answer.
“Isn’t she supposed to be home already?” I pondered as I dejectedly walked back to my apartment.
I was sitting on the couch in the living room with my phone on my hand. I was staring at my phone, waiting for Chaeyoung to contact me. I sent her a dozen messages, hoping that she would contact me right after she was able to receive my messages.
And due to exhaustion, I did not notice that I slept on the couch for almost two hours while waiting for Chaeyoung. I tried calling her again but I got the same response from earlier. I started to get worried. So I got up and went to her apartment. I rang her doorbell for about five minutes yet no one was still answering.
I went back to my apartment to wait for Chaeyoung there. I stayed in the living room while checking outside every ten minutes. I did the whole cycle of going out of my apartment, ringing the doorbell on Chaeyoung’s apartment and going back to my apartment for about four times before I proceeded with my next option. I walked out of my apartment and went down on the entrance lobby to wait for Chaeyoung.
It’s been almost half an hour that I’ve waited for Chaeyoung. I was getting worried and annoyed that I still couldn’t contact her. I briskly walked off the building and decided to wait for her right by the gate. I was only a couple of steps away from the gate when a familiar car stopped right in front of it.
I was half expecting it but it still irked me to see Jaehyun getting off the car and running to the other side to open the door. I was relieved to see Chaeyoung getting off the car but I couldn’t help myself from getting angered at the same time. I did not wait for her for three hours only to see her together with another man . . . who happened to be her ex-boyfriend.
Argh!
I grumpily walked back inside and impatiently waited for Chaeyoung in front of the elevator. I was packing back in forth, unable to hide my restlessness. I trained my eyes on my wristwatch, counting the minutes that Chaeyoung and Jaehyun were saying their goodbyes.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Two and a half minutes.
What’s taking them so long?
To keep myself from getting more annoyed by the minute, I leaned on the wall beside the elevator with my arms crossed in front of my chest. I was a bit surprised when Chaeyoung appeared out of nowhere. But I quickly concealed my surprise and put in mind that I was still annoyed at her for reaching home riding Jaehyun’s car.
Unlike me, Chaeyoung looked completely surprised with my presence. She even scolded me about it. But I ignored her and asked her whereabouts instead. I could see that she was getting irritated at the way I was questioning her. But I couldn’t help myself especially after hearing directly from her that Jaehyun sent her home.
“Ugh! Jeon, why are you acting like this? I’m really tired, you know.” She exclaimed in annoyance.
I was taken aback at her outburst. And I responded by glaring at her, carefully observing her form. She looked tired indeed, making me feel guilty at getting angry with her and acting the way I did just now. So I grabbed her bag and put it around me. Then I pushed her inside the elevator.
She tried getting her bag back but I did not budge.
Park, this is the least thing I can do for you so let me.
As we stood in the middle of the elevator, I cautiously gave her a glance because I was concerned at her weary state. But my concern was immediately forgotten when I noticed her staring at my arms.
I snickered.
This woman never failed to amuse me.
I called her out about it, causing her to quickly deny my claim in her flustered and funny face. I wanted to keep on teasing her but knowing that she might not be in the mood for it, I did not do much aside from showing off my teasing grin.
But my actions only urged her to try her best in explaining herself.
“Hey!” She ran after me and turned me around to face her. “Jeon, I swear I didn’t mean to look at your beefy arms. I was only . . .”
Beefy arms, huh? What’s going inside that head of yours, Park Chaeyoung?
I tried hard to keep myself from laughing at her panicky state. Then she closed her eyes and gulped before speaking.
“I mean . . . I was just trying to see why you’re so strong. Then I realized that it’s because you have this brawny physique. So my skinny figure can’t even compare.”
I pity Chaeyoung for digging a hole for herself. But I couldn’t deny that I was left entertained at everything I heard from her. So I responded with a smug smirk.
Suddenly, she got more upset and walked away from me complaining that she was only tired and hungry. I quickly ran after her, knowing full well how she was feeling. It was exactly what I felt when I got home from work a few hours earlier. So I dragged her to my apartment as I decided to cook for her.
Hmm, the things that I do for this woman.
I was getting lost in deciding what I could cook in the least possible time when Chaeyoung suddenly appeared beside me. I jerked my shoulders in surprise, not expecting her presence and seeing her face in a close distance.
“Can I get my bag back now?” She asked.
I was horrified after seeing that her bag was still hanging around me. I did not even realize it until just now. I quickly gave it back to her and tried to get back to cooking. But she interrupted me once again when she offered to hang an apron on me and tie it securely at my back.
“Is it not too tight?” She asked from behind me with her face hanging only a few inches from mine.
I nervously nodded in response, unable to say anything back because my throat felt dry all of a sudden. And I only released my breath when she moved away.
I took a deep breath and tried to focus in cooking. Unintentionally, Chaeyoung was distracting me. Even when I couldn’t see her because my back was facing her, I realized that her mere presence was distraction enough for me.
It was a good thing that I completed her meal well and made her feel satisfied and full with the food that I prepared for her. I mentally gave myself a pat on the shoulder, feeling proud that I put that carefree smile on Chaeyoung’s face.
… … … … …
It had been a while since Chaeyoung was in Korea yet our relationship did not seem to be getting anywhere near where I hoped it would be. Especially after knowing that she had a relationship with my dear friend, Jaehyun, things only got more complicated.
For the past week, I had been trying to spend more time with her. I volunteered to send her to work almost every day despite the distance that I had to travel and the great possibility of getting late from my own work. But I had to endure that because if I was honest, I was bothered that Chaeyoung and Jaehyun worked closely together. I only hoped that by sending her to work in the morning, her mind would be filled with thoughts of me throughout the day. Sometimes, I even randomly sent her snacks at work. Knowing that food was always Chaeyoung’s top priority, I hoped that doing that would make her think about me more.
However, I knew that mine and Jaehyun’s situation was still my biggest worry at the end of the day. I could not freely express my feelings for Chaeyoung unless Jaehyun and I had that talk that I’d been worrying about. I was fully aware that I already delayed it too much yet I still could not seem to do anything about it.
Thus, here I was in a drinking spree with Yugyeom. Today I was feeling a bit bothered about my situation with Jaehyun so I dragged Yugyeom in this pub near his office right after he got off work. When we got there, only a few tables were occupied so I immediately walked to the farthest table possible.
Among my friends, Yugyeom was one of the few whom I can truly share anything about my life.
“Yugs!” I somberly said, putting my arm over his shoulder. “So I have this friend . . .”
We’ve been drinking for almost an hour already but the both of us were still looking far from drunk, a little tipsy maybe. And it was unusual for me to be starting this kind of conversation at this point yet I couldn’t help myself anymore. Besides, Yugyeom and I were sitting a few tables away from other customers so I was feeling less concerned about my story being broadcasted.
Yugyeom nodded his head in response, wordlessly telling me that he was listening.
I tried not to stutter as I continued, “I have this friend who likes this girl for a while now. Let’s say . . . um, since high school. He likes her but he never found the courage to confess even when they became friends during college. ALSO, he actually got robbed off of the chance in confessing his feelings for her because she suddenly disappeared sometime during college. Then she came back only recently, very recently . . . like a month ago.”
Yugyeom squinted at me, carefully observing me when he asked.
“How is your story so detailed? Are you and that friend of yours that close?”
I moved away from him and intertwined my middle and index fingers together as I answered.
“We are this close.” I said, showing him my intertwined fingers.
“Fine, go on.” He relented.
“So this friend of mine . . .” I gulped and looked away when I continued. “He realized that the girl that he likes happened to be his OTHER friend’s ex-girlfriend. Plus, that OTHER friend still has feelings for that girl that my friend likes very much. So now . . . my friend here was in a great dilemma because he did not know what he was supposed to do with the situation that he and his other friend were in.”
“Hmm, that’s real tough bro.” Yugyeom commented.
And I could only nod my head in agreement. But his next statement took me off guard.
“But I’m sure you and Jaehyun won’t have a problem talking about it.”
I looked at him with my eyes bulging out of its sockets. I wondered how he knew it that I was talking about Jaehyun and me when I was very careful not to mention any name.
Then he added, “You guys had been friends ever since. So I’m sure that you won’t let anything, even a woman, ruin the kind of friendship that you two have. Right?” He asked while meeting my gaze before continuing. “And in case that you both wanted to pursue her even with the present circumstances, I guess that you should just be honest about it . . . to each other. Talk it out and respect the woman’s decision . . . whatever that would be.”
The shock remained in my face for a while. I was left tongue-tied and totally taken aback that Yugyeom knew who I was talking about.
Was I that obvious?
“Bro . . .” Yugyeom put a hand on my shoulder, waking me up from my thoughts. “You were pretty obvious that time we visited Jaehyun at the hospital and we saw her with his ‘Rose’. After she left, you immediately revealed that the two of you knew each other as neighbors. You said it out of nowhere and hurriedly excused yourself without giving us a clear explanation of why you had to catch up with her. So after hearing your story and knowing Jaehyun’s story beforehand, I realized that you were talking about yourself and Jaehyun.”
He shook my shoulder as he chuckled, “That’s really tough, bro.”
“Yeah? Is that why you seem to be a little too happy about it?” I barked at him, feeling more frustrated at the situation that Jaehyun and I were in.
… … … … …
When I sent Chaeyoung to her office this morning, I saw Jaehyun standing by the elevator, near the entrance of the building. He approached her with a wide smile on his face, revealing his adorable dimples. I used to admire his dimples before, saying that it was one of his charms. But seeing that he was flashing it at Chaeyoung, I suddenly wanted to erase those dimples off his face.
Those thoughts occupied my mind throughout the day, Chaeyoung and Jaehyun’s charming dimples. It hardly left my mind, making me jealous over the ridiculous ideas running through my head. So to stop myself from having any more of those disturbing thoughts, I drove to Chaeyoung’s office after I got off from work.
I called her on my way to her office and asked her to meet me in front of their building without telling her the reason why. In no time, I reached Chaeyoung’s workplace.
The excited smile that I was wearing became wider the moment I saw Chaeyoung approaching my car. Even from afar, I could see that she was fuming. She must be furious at the way I demanded her to meet me outside her workplace. But it did not matter since she still came.
I quickly got off the car when I saw that she was already near.
“Park!” I called in glee, feeling honestly happy to see Chaeyoung. “There’s this good kimchi stew restaurant that I wanted to visit.” I grabbed her by the shoulders when she stopped in front of me and hugged her sideways. “Since I’m really hungry and feeling generous today, I’m taking you there for dinner. So, let’s go?”
She stared at me in response, looking dumbfounded and confused at my sudden invitation. I giggled at how pretty she looked while looking straight into my eyes, nearly melting me with her charms.
Then there came the interruption.
“Chaeyoung!”
I tried to retain the smile on my face as I faced Jaehyun, standing a few meters from us. But my smile instantly faded when Chaeyoung lightly pushed me away and stood in the middle between Jaehyun and me.
Jaehyun briefly looked at me before facing Chaeyoung, “Um . . . Chaeyoung, have you decided where we are going to eat dinner?”
I snapped my head at Chaeyoung, eagerly waiting for her answer. I wanted to know whether she and Jaehyun actually had a plan to eat dinner together beforehand. And I was hoping for her to deny it and say that she would be eating dinner with me instead.
But confusion was written all over her face as she shifted her eyes between me and Jaehyun.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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