"You like him, don't you?" my father exclaims as I just put my body on the seat. My veins freeze, but I pretend to not understand his sentence. "Uh? What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean," he sends his rude look through my eyes, but I look straight in front of me. "I just like how kind he is...that's all."
"Hm, sure," his haughty voice fills the space, but he starts the car. I buckle my seat belt on and just ignore what he said. "You know you can't date him anyway, am I wrong?"
"I know!" my frustration runs away from me. "Why do you even talk about this?"
He shrugs but stays calm, enjoying the way he managed to make me react. I huff but look out the window.
Thanks to him for reminding me I won't ever date an amazing guy like Jungkook. This old man knows how to ruin my dreams.
— Two days later —
Thursday, October 09, 2019.
9 am.
"Ah, the daily visit of Anastasia," Jungkook giggles at me, sipping on his coffee or warm chocolate and leaning back on the window with one hand in his pocket as I just entered his office. "Don't call me that, Mister Jeon..." I look down but smile, shyly, knowing the reason why he uses this name. I should have watched where I was going two days ago, now he's going to make me think of someone in particular each time I see him. Especially since he holds the same power.
"Come on," he licks his lips but bends forth to lay his cup on his desk and tuck both of his hands in the pockets of his tight trousers in order to get back in his previous position. "Why are you here today?" he fixes his glasses on his nose bridge but keeps his eyes on me as I'm pretty sure my face turned red. I walk up to him with an important file in my hold, his attention not drifting away. "My dad wanted me to show you this," I stand before him but get the pieces of paper stapled together. "The other company that works with you on the project made some sketches for the type of design they would want the devices to have..."
"Oh, really?" the interest takes over him, and he steps towards me to be on my left side but very close. "Show me everything," he lays his big eyes on the first page I displayed but keeps his hands in his pockets. "This is the first one," I turn it towards him to make sure he sees all the details, feeling my arm against his tough torso. "So that's the product number three, right?" he takes his left hand out of his pocket and lifts it up to the page to turn it and check the next one, putting his veins and tattoos in sight while brushing his warm skin past mine. "I...I don't know. He didn't tell me anything about it."
"All right," he smiles near my hot face but gets the first sketch back into sight. "It's written just right over here, I'm stupid," he points his finger at the bottom left corner of the paper but chuckles in my ear, making me smile and feel some butterflies in my stomach. "Hm, but this one is good," he nods and goes back to the second device. I try to keep calm as the smell of his cologne is filling my nose and hitting my brain to entice me.
Each time he's around or that I'm in a room where he has been, this smells like him, and my brain knows it. This is like smelling something delicious and craving for it, even if he's not food. Unless the food isn't—
"Hm?" the deep humming sound vibrating through his throat snatches me out of my dirty mind. I dart my eyes in his direction but drown deep into his penetrating ones. "I...Sorry...? I was...I was thinking..."
He stares at me without any readable emotion through a heavy silence, my heart racing from the tight-close contact that only affects me. A soft giggle suddenly runs away from his glossy lips, and his expression turns all soft and baby-like. "You really are in another world most of the time, aren't you?"
If only he knew. "Yes, I guess..." I gulp down but put my shy eyes back on the sketches. "I was just asking you if I could take a picture or save it?"
"Oh...he said you can..." I nod but feel embarrassed. "I'm going to scan it," he walks up to his desk but walks behind his chair to get to a small table where the scanner is. I head towards him, and he goes to his desk to grab his laptop and place it next to the scanner.
"Can I have it?" he turns towards me with his arm stretched out towards me, so I give him the stapled pages. "Thank you," his sweet voice goes out, and he starts to do everything. I wonder if he acts like that with everyone. "By the way," he closes the top of the scanner but lays his eyes on me now that it's working. "I heard you call me Mister Jeon," the crinkles in the corner of his eyes sharpen. "You can call me Jungkook, I told you."
"I know...I just forgot," I don't lie but tell the truth. I was just so nervous I called him like that. He grins and focuses on the scanner. "Do you want a hot chocolate?" his veiny hands slide back into his pockets, and he steps to his desk just next to him. "No, thanks. I already have one in my dad's office."
"Ah, all right then. I'll keep it for myself," his soft facial expression doesn't disappear, but he pushes his glasses up and lets them on his head, pulling his long hair back with them. "How are you doing today anyway? Were you able to sleep well?"
"Yes. I'm fine, what about you?" I return the question, loving the attention he gives me. "Well, I'm tired, but since I know that starting tomorrow, I'll have a whole week off, I'm all good," he mentions this little week I'm going to spend at his house. "Are you sure this doesn't bother you?"
"Not at all," he smiles but shakes his head before moving back to the scanner that faces me. He turns the pages and now does it on this side. "I already planned some things we could do to not stay home all day long because I wouldn't want you to feel bored."
"Like what?" I ask curiously. "Maybe going out, at the mall, at the beach or we can also visit some places, I don't know. Depends on what you like to do," he shrugs but makes my heart go crazy. I like to know I'm not going to be just a little bug in his house that he will not want to hear or care about. "I like everything."
"Great then," he licks his lips still curved up into a crescent shape but checks his laptop. I can't wait to be tomorrow, seriously.
— Next day —
Friday, October 11, 2019.
7 am.
"Hello," Jungkook greets us with a broad smile, letting me in his house I've never seen before. Damn, that's so beautiful and cozy. Black, white, and brown to make it look warmer, I love it so much. I hope I'll have such a house in the future. "Hello," I stop my suitcase just on the welcome mat but my father speaks out without walking in. "I'm sorry for not being able to stay here but we have to take the flight in short minutes."
"Oh I understand, don't worry," Jungkook answers him while I'm taking my jacket off. "Hope this won't be too hard for you, good luck," he waves at him, talking about me as if I was a monster but making Jungkook giggle. "I'll handle it, have a good trip together."
While they're chatting for the last minutes, I look up at the coat rack and stand on my tiptoes to hang my jacket on it but hear Jungkook close the door. "Here you are, how do you find your new little house?" he asks as I'm taking my shoes off. "I like it a lot. You can keep me here all the time honestly," I chuckle but grip the handle of my suitcase.
"You wanna see your bedroom, don't you?" he notices my eagerness, and I nod. "Yes...I wonder how it looks," I don't hide my enthusiasm about this week starting for me. "Give me that," he takes my belonging but carries it and leads me to the room I'm going to occupy for seven days.
For the first time, I see him in casual clothes. A white t-shirt and ripped skinny jean. Everything fits him. I watch him from behind and once he goes in the sort of square hallway with a big sculpture in the middle, I check the door he opens but see him stand on his spot. "Go in," he smiles and makes me enter the room first.
I gape from shock at the first step in. "Oh my—" I beam but turn around to look at him, my eyes probably sparkling with awe. "Is that my bedroom?" I ask without believing it, but he comes inside and puts my stuff down. "Yes it is, do you like it?"
"I do...a lot," I scrutinize every corner of the room, amazed by the size of it and how modern and so pretty it is. "Good, because...to be honest with you, I changed all the bed for it to be a canopy one just for you. I thought a girl like you would love it."
"I love canopy beds, I've always wanted to have one, thank you so much," I walk up to it, checking the white and transparent surrounding it with the fairy lights he placed meticulously. I've never seen such a wonderful bedroom before. I will not ever leave it. "This is so beautiful..." I express my joy about this.
"You have the TV here so you can watch whatever you want," he mentions the large screen hung on the wall facing the bed. "Over there you have your closet, the door leads to your private bathroom, then the little corner with the wall-mounted table is for you to work or put makeup on since you have a large mirror, on the wall right before," he shows the side I didn't focus on yet.
I must be dreaming.
"Well...can I work for you as a maid and have this bedroom?" I joke with him, or not really, but notice in his facial expression that I was a bit too straightforward. "Let's say a kind friend who would clean for me," he chuckles as if this sounds better but tucks his hands in the pocket of his jean, the tattoos over his arms now visible. "But I wouldn't mind keeping you here for longer, it's just that your parents will want you back."
"Well..." I glance away after hearing this, not believing in this at all given what happens in my everyday life. "My parents are barely home because of work so...that wouldn't change anything for me. I'll just feel less lonely..." I avoid his figure in order to not see his reaction but head up to my closet. "I'd feel less lonely and depressed too, but since I don't want to keep a little nineteen years old girl in my house just to keep me company...it's better to stay alone."
"What's the problem?" I turn around with some curiosity, willing to hear his answer to this. We both look at each other, but he shrugs, again. "You know...that's a bit weird...I mean...I do this for your dad, not to have someone with me," he stabs me in the heart.
I'm speechless, he has no idea how much his words just hurt me. I thought he was doing this to be a little bit with me and share some time, but it's clearly just about my father. I nibble on my inner lip but break the eye contact. "Hm. Okay," I coldly answer and just walk up to him to get my suitcase. I roll it on the floor and drop it. I get down on my knees and start to unpack, in silence.
If I knew this, I wouldn't have come. We spent a good week, chatting and getting to know each other a bit more, but I believe this was just random. I'm always delusional.
"Did I say something wrong...?" he puts an end to the quietness, but I shake my head while getting my clothes out of the suitcase. "Damn...is it my sentence...? I..." he realizes what he just provoked without me even telling him. "I didn't mean to say it like that, it sounded really bad when I let it out...but...you know what I meant, right?"
"Well," I raise my eyebrows but gaze up at him. "That you don't care about having me here? Because that's the only thing I understood."
"No, y/n," he tries to make it up, pulling his hair back but biting his lips in a nervous manner. "I just wanted to say that I'm not using you as a housemate to not be alone, I do it for your father because I don't mind being with you. If I didn't want to have you in my house, I would have found an excuse and refuse, you know."
"Yeah..." I take his words but don't think much of it, however, he comes closer and squats down. "Come on, don't be mad," he stares at me, stretches his arm out to me, and pinches my cheek, getting a smile from me effortlessly. "Do you want me to help?"
"I have a lot of clothes, so I wouldn't mind," I don't decline this but start to free my suitcase, leaving only some products and towels but also my lingerie inside. "You have a lot of space in the closet so don't worry," he stands up and picks up the tops I left next to me. He heads to the closet, so I peek at him and check. He lays all the fabrics on the round ottoman to pile them up. He unfolds the first one and grabs a hanger in the closet.
That's sweet to do that.
"I see a lot of black in there," he mentions, now aware of my type of clothes. I don't say anything but just grin. "Is there a drawer for my lingerie?" I ask, hoping to be able to place them properly. "You have three big drawers so you can separate everything."
"Great," I stand up and walk up to him with my socks, I get right by his side and look for the drawers, but he understands right away and makes one of them appear in my sight. I put all the pairs of socks into it. "Do you have a lot of things to do during the day?" I stand next to him, gazing up at his face. "When I work I'm only home like...maybe for fourteen hours, but I have to sleep, work, and eat dinner during that period of time so..." he leans over before me to grab another clothing. "You know, once I'm back home, I work then take a break to cook dinner, then eat, then I work a little bit more and go to bed because I just want to do the best. So the little habit I got makes me fall asleep right when I land onto bed, and I sleep till the alarm of my phone rings."
"I'm scared to find a job now...it looks like you have no life..." I say some words without thinking first. That just seems pretty depressing, but I guess this is what happens to every adult who has to work to earn money. "Honestly...I like being at work more than at my house. Because at least, I'm not alone, but I'm so used to it that I don't really realize it. But my days aren't always similar, I can sometimes play, especially on weekends, then I also cook all the time so this makes my day different..." he smiles but tries to hide the fact this affects him a lot. "But when the project will be over, I know I'll have way more time for myself."
"And you don't even have anyone when you're back home..." I mumble but feel hurt to know this. I can't imagine how difficult this must be, not only physically but also mentally. "Don't you feel sad or...depressed...?"
His lips remain curved up, his teeth appearing as if he was convincing himself he's all right. "I can't ever answer that," he hangs the last of my tops and pushes the clothes to the left to leave some space for the others. Once his body turns towards me, I step forth and wrap my arms around his muscular body to hug him.
"Ya, what are you doing?" he laughs softly but only puts his hands on my arms. "What you said breaks my heart..." I hold him tight to maybe give him some affection he must not have received for a while. "Aw come on, I'm all right. Really."
I move back but keep my eyes on him. "Don't feel pity for me, please," he smiles at me but ruffles my hair before walking up to the clothes I laid on the floor. He bends over and takes the three skirts put together. "Are those dresses?" he peeks at me while pointing his fingers at it, so I nod and get to him. I take care of the pants and help him since it's supposed to be my task.