"Good morning, Sunshine." Jungkook greets you as you drag your feet into the kitchen some thirty minutes past nine in the morning. The grogginess still hasn't completely left you, puffy eyes glaring over at the crisp young man who's finishing up cleaning last night's mess. "Sleep well?" He asks casually, tying up the big white trash bag and completing the front office's security deposit requirements. You want to feel guilty for sleeping through it, but you can't right now.
Give it ten more minutes. "You could say that." Your voice is raspy and cold, calling you out for not even clearing your throat to give it some sort of warm-up. Jungkook places the bag on the floor next to the island, hopping up on its counter the same way you had during your fun little moment a couple of hours ago. He knows what he's doing, but you choose to pretend you don't know he knows. "How long have you been awake?" You ask, rubbing your puffy eyes.
"A while." Jungkook answers, watching as you make your way to the last three water bottles placed neatly on the dining table. You wouldn't say you're hungover, but you do feel the grasp of dehydration taking hold of your body. "I woke up around six, but you were knocked out cold and I didn't want to be the one to drag you out of that." Jungkook adds, thinking back to the pretty sight of you under the small sliver of moonlight peeking through the curtains.
"How kind." You practically drink half a bottle in a single gulp.
"Ready to go back or should we spend another night here and see where it leads us?" Jungkook asks cheekily, catching your glance back at him just in time to see you squint your eyes. Suddenly, you're back on the counter and your hands vividly remember the feel of his hair between your fingers. A hot flush creeps up the back of your neck, so you turn away before you can remember anything more scandalous. Jungkook sighs and hops back down to his feet. "Sooo, the latter?"
"Can you only get it up at night or what?" You drown out the embarrassment with the only weapon effective enough to work on him. Except you're avoiding him more than you should.
"You wanna go back upstairs and see for yourself?" Jungkook pops up right next to you, looking down into your eyes with a depth that almost convinces you to say yes. If there were a number hovering over your head that pertained to how many times your heart beats per minute, he'd be the proudest man on earth. His tone had caught you off guard; it had no trace of the humor present in his last question. The question was intimidatingly genuine. Unmistakably.
You force a smirk. Force the playfulness back into the mere inches that separate you. "See you in the car." You step away first, kicking down every urge you have to give in and finish what you started yesterday. Jungkook actually makes it to the car well before you do, with all his stuff in order too. He gets on you for 'taking so long,' but you brush him off and tell him to hurry the hell up because you have a lot of homework that needs to get done by tonight, no later.
He thinks that's a great idea, so he proposes a study sesh. At your place, of course. "We have a leftover box, might as well." Jungkook raises his eyebrows with a tilt of his head. Your lips press into a flat line, but you know damn well you'd much rather be a little tipsy for this, so the extra box might as well be a sign from the universe. "We're doing it." Jungkook focuses back on the road, mind made up with no chance of being changed. You try to argue but he's not having any of it.
Truthfully, you don't mind the idea. You tell yourself it's just homework and hanging out a little longer, but sincerely, you like the idea of potential opportunity. You just won't say it. "Whatever." You look out the window as he raises the volume rather high on the song that plays. You don't remember, but it's the song that was playing in the background when you first met. You wouldn't remember a detail so small, a simple mention, a quick mumble about liking it. But he does.
"Have you ever considered a singing career?" You turn to look at him halfway through the chorus, finding the cheerfulness in his eyes and the way he seems to sing with his whole body somehow very endearing. There's a different air about him. It almost feels free. Jungkook chuckles between verses, eyes smiling while looking straight ahead. "What? Serious inquiry." You press. He shrugs, not a missed note or syllable. "You should." You get a little more comfortable in your seat.
"Now why would you want me to do that?" Jungkook turns the volume knob back down.
"What do you mean?"
"You should only want me singing for you."
"Oh—kay." You laugh. "You'd give me exclusive rights to your one and only talent all because you're madly in love with me?" You tease, watching the way his face scrunches. "Wow." You keep going so he won't be able to turn that hilarious expression into actual words. "See that doesn't benefit either one of us, Jeon. We have to be a little smarter. I propose this," you put your hand on his shoulder, "I'll be your manager. Ninety-nine/one split. You get the one, obviously."
"Make it two."
"Hm." You pretend to think about it. "Don't you think that's a little greedy?"
"Well, sometimes you have to be a little greedy." Jungkook shrugs. You nod. He takes those words very seriously. Recently, he's made you take them more seriously, too. "So," he drags out the word after a short silence, "can I sleep over this time, too?" The question should stun you more than it does, but even when you weren't in this strange relation-space with Jungkook, he'd done a magnificent job of desensitizing you. He smiles at the way you playfully roll your eyes.
"Sure, Jeon. Let's restart this whole cycle." You draw a quick circle in the air with your finger, injecting sweet sarcasm into each and every syllable as you speak. Music to his ears. "My neighbors will inevitably see you and I can totally walk around hearing your name whispered behind my back for another month." You nod, not really all that dreadful about it. You figure the third time can't be as mortifying. You won't find it in yourself to let it be that way. "Do what you want."
"I always do." He lies. And so he stops at his place for his things and you two proceed to make it back to your dorm. He manages to sneak in, probably unseen (probably not). You get yourself situated, changing into something more comfortable and grabbing a small snack before climbing into your bed with your infamous book bag. Jungkook's not too surprised to see you take out your books and laptop right away. He takes his sweet time, in no particular rush whatsoever.
Today, 8:03 pm
ken
Are u alive
ken
If not can I keep your controller
8:12 pm
Jay Kay
fuck no
ken
:(
Jay Kay
won't be back tonight either
ken
Tf
ken
Ur still with 9???
Jay Kay
no
Jay Kay
just won't be back
ken
Whatever fucking liar
"Hey, can you look this over real quick?" Jungkook nudges you as he types the last word on the one and only piece of schoolwork he had left on his checklist—an essay that isn't even due until next week. You distractedly nod, keeping your eyes on your lab report as long as possible before turning to him and his stupidly bright computer. "Sorry." He mumbles, lowering the settings after you squint dramatically. You take his laptop while he lays back with a big sigh.
As you read over his surprisingly scholarly words, you fail to notice him moving off of your bed. "Hm. Okay. Wow." You mumble here and there. Jungkook's curiosity gets the best of him after a quick stretch, walking around your small dorm toward your dresser. You have a couple of frames on it, just you and Rafa, and a group picture from an event you volunteered at freshman year. He picks that one up and looks over it, smiling at the sight of you frozen in laughter.
"Look, here where you said th—" You glance over and finally see what your lovely guest is up to. "Oh, you're looking at the lake pic." You hold down a small laugh at him putting the photo down like he'd been caught doing something entirely heinous. "That was freshman year." You start giving the explanation he hadn't asked for, but you could tell he wanted anyway. "It's my favorite volunteer experience. It was this kiddie spring camp. All the kids were so sweet."
"Who's the guy next to you?" Jungkook motions at the frame. "You two seem pretty close."
"His name's Amare." You recall. "He was super cool." To this, Jungkook fights the urge to dramatically roll his eyes. You obviously notice. Amare is handsome, and not objectively. He was good-looking, period. You'd be lying if you said you didn't have a teeny crush on him back then. You two weren't 'close' in the sense Jungkook's implying. Amare was simply quite friendly. "It was his second time volunteering at the camp, so he helped me out a lot the first few days."
"Oh, did he?" Jungkook grumbles, about to walk back to the bed.
"Hey, while you're over there can you get me my Wite-Out? It should be in one of those two drawers." You motion at the same dresser he's walking away from, returning to the task at hand by highlighting a sentence on his screen. "I need to start this essay and my professor doesn't believe in Word or even Google Docs." You pick up your big purple three-subject, college-ruled notebook in preparation as Jungkook swivels on his heel back into Amare's line of sight.
"Wite-Out.." Jungkook mumbles, opening the top drawer first and scanning the items inside for the sight of that small white bottle. You ask him if it's there. "Oh?" Jungkook's eyes widen slightly, reaching for the one item that made the word leave his lips the way it did. It's not until you lazily turn your head to see what he's doing that your eyes widen completely, your face flushing instantly as your body immediately shoots out of your bed and practically lunges at him.
You don't even notice the pens and papers you send flying onto the floor. There it is. The one thing you especially didn't want nor were you expecting to see in his hand.
Your goddamn vibrator.
"Oh my god. Fuck. Hey!" You almost yell, pushing his shoulder and making a grab for the damned item that's making your heart pound so uncomfortably in your chest. Jungkook's slightly taken aback by your sudden physical nature, stumbling back a couple of steps while he pulls the little pink clit-sucker away from your desperate fingers. Fuck him and his stupid long arms a million damn times, you think. He notices the way your shorts have scrunched up pretty high. "Jeon!"
"Hey, woah, woah, woah," he mumbles quickly, practically fighting you at this point while you try so comically hard to get that thing out of the cage that is his fist, "ask me nicely." Jungkook finishes his sentence. His voice comes out airier than he'd like at the sudden exertion his body's undergoing. Still, that stupid grin that'd formed at your panic won't budge. "Ask me nicely, Nine," Jungkook repeats, holding your wrist up while you glare at him. He laughs brightly.
"Give it to me." You say flatly, fighting down the volume you so desperately want to raise. Your face is neutral despite being a word away from embodying a scary, icy complexion—chest heaving up and down while the rest of your body goes completely stiff. "Now, Jungkook." You follow, staring into his amused eyes. He shakes his head, silently repeating the stupid phrase he'd already told you twice. Oh, this is humiliating. You sigh sharply. "Please. Give it to me."
"I don't think I like your tone."
"Jungkook."
"Okay, fine." Jungkook gently lets you go, calmly extending your toy back out to you as if he's making some sort of peace offering. He chuckles when you immediately snatch it away from him and turn to shove it back in its actual designated place. "Don't be embarrassed. It's normal. I'd probably be more shocked if you didn't have one." Jungkook follows you back to your bed, sitting down by the foot as he notes your particular body language. "It's a nice color."
"Does its job exceptionally well, too."
"Better than the real thing?"
Jungkook was expecting you to say yes. If you had said yes, he would've told you it's because you've never been with him. And if you had said no, he would've told you—well, he's not quite sure what he would've told you. Who's good enough to be better than one of those? Would he be okay with an answer in that realm? Would his ego be okay? Would he survive a blow that hard? It doesn't matter, anyway. You don't say anything in the proper response time.
Your words seem to jam. All you manage to say is, "Uh," and try to find the best, perfectly vague answer as nonchalantly as you possibly can, but it's been a few milliseconds too long for it to actually be nonchalant. You know an answer's big implications, regardless of its direction. To lie or tell the truth. Quite the big dilemma. Ugh. Fuck it. Oh, well. "Honestly doubt it." You decide to grace him with sincerity. Now you must brace yourself.
"What was that?" Jungkook leans in closer to you. You mumbled the words, but despite his inquiry, he'd heard the sentence quite clearly. He was looking for repetition, a clear, stern confirmation. Maybe an 'I'm kidding' or something else of the sort. "Wait." He furrows his brows. "You're still a virgin?" Jungkook asks, astounded. You see his face light up with something. The question itself stuns you despite seeing it coming, but what gets you more is the way he asks it.
"Yes." You reply, slightly embarrassed. The answer is firm, though. Clear and stern. You didn't want him to hear you falter. The slight sheepishness you feel was not about to be showcased in your voice. You're not ashamed. There's no reason to be. Sadly, however, your friend here is a bit too keen to miss this. You know he's probably picking up on your conflict anyway. But why are you even embarrassed? It's not that big of a deal.
"You're alright, Nine. No need to get all flustered, I'm not gonna tease you or anything." Jungkook clings onto his notorious nonchalant nature, trying hard to push away any other thoughts. He remembers you saying you'd 'keep it casual' with Jaehyun if destiny had led you down that path. The thought of him being your first almost makes Jungkook cringe. "It doesn't intimidate me, either." He lies. Still, he wants to offer you some comfort, seeing the blush on your cheeks.
You puff out a small chuckle. "Why would that even intimidate you?" You say mindlessly. "Oh, well," a thought comes to mind, "unless you're a super expert and the possibility of having to do all the work to teach me everything is what's so 'intimidating.'" You look at Jungkook playfully. He returns a blank, unamused stare. "No worries, friend!" You smile brightly. "I like to read more than just school books. I've picked up on a thing or two." You watch him squint and laugh.
Jungkook gives you the most dramatic gasp you've ever gotten from anyone. "And here I was thinking you were a complete prude." He waves his hand at you like a fancy lady in the colonial times gossiping at tea. You laugh some more. He's actually trying his hardest not to show how nervous he's become. It's cute. Obviously he's had his thoughts about you, but actually having you tell him the possibilities are much realer than he'd anticipated is what intimidates him so. "Wow."
"I can recommend you some really good stories if you want." You point at a small, very organized IKEA shelf full of books.
"What? To get me in the mood?"
You're about to be stuck for words, but thankfully you've mastered the art of conversing with Jungkook. "Would I really need a book for that?"