<OST: Sleepless Night - Crush ft. Punch>
"I'm outside your apartment building, come down."
Jungkook did not need to be told twice. He hurriedly put on his hat and mask, grabbed his phone and hurried down to the ground floor. The moment he came out of the building, he saw a red car pull up in front of him. The window rolled down and Jungkook instantly caught sight of Jieun's familiar smile.
"Hop on."
With an excited smile on his face, he pulled the door open and hopped on. Jieun zoomed off and parked her car somewhere where it was dark, and she was sure that no one would be able to see them. Finally, she pulled the handbrake and turned to face Jungkook.
It was silent in the car, as the newly-made couple finally faced each other for the very first time.
"H-Hi."
"Are you really sitting next to me..." Jungkook asked as he reached a hand out. "Or are you just an illusion?"
"I'm real, Jungkook-ah," Jieun said with a small smile as she grabbed Jungkook's hand in hers. "And I'm here."
Jungkook shook his head. "This doesn't feel real at all."
Jieun reached over and pinched him on the arm.
"Ya!" Jungkook winced as he rubbed his arm. "What was that for?"
Jieun laughed. "Do you believe that this is reality now?"
Jungkook's exaggeratedly pained expression slowly turned into a small smile, as he let go of Jieun's hand briefly, only to interlock his fingers with hers when he held onto it once more.
"There we go," he said as he glanced up at Jieun, observing her expression carefully.
Jungkook eventually turned to face the front with a gleeful smile on his face, as Jieun stared at him for a while in silence, completely unable to take her eyes off him.
"Stop looking at me..." Jungkook looked out of the window. "I'm gonna start blushing soon."
Jieun let go of Jungkook's hand at once, reaching her two little hands up to Jungkook's face and cupping it gently, before turning it to face her. Jungkook's eyes widened a little in surprise, as Jieun looked into her eyes.
"I'm not gonna stop though...?" Jieun scrunched her nose as she admired Jungkook's face. "I'm gonna sit here and stare at it all night..."
Jungkook's expression softened. "Be my guest."
Silence fell over the car as the two stared deeply into each other's eyes, not needing to say anything to know how much they meant to the other person whose eyes they were peering into.
"What made you change your mind?"
"Hm?" Jungkook hummed, caught off guard by Jieun's sudden question. "Well... it's a combination of a few factors."
Jieun tilted her head to a side, finally letting go of Jungkook's face as she leaned back in her seat once more, turning her entire body to face him. She waited in silence for him to carry on.
"Firstly... I read your diary."
"You did...?" Jieun sat up abruptly. "I thought you wouldn't."
"I didn't intend to, at the beginning," Jungkook admitted. "Because I was scared. I was scared of many things - that I would either get hurt beyond repair, or that the opposite would happen and I'd want to come running back into your arms. Both of which, were undesirable outcomes in my head back then."
Jieun nodded slowly.
"But I read it from cover to cover when I couldn't sleep yesterday..." Jungkook pursed his lips. "It did things to me I didn't expect at all, it kind of opened my eyes to see things from your perspective, and it helped me understand you way better. But of course, I was still apprehensive."
"So what's the next factor...?"
"Your eyes," Jungkook said with a shy smile.
"What?" Jieun burst into laughter. "Hey, that's cliché."
"You're cliché," Jungkook corrected as he booped Jieun's nose fondly. "You're the one who told me that eyes are the window to one's soul, remember?"
"I did?"
"That's the whole principle why you always do eye shadow last..." Jungkook hesitated. "Unless you made that up...?"
"Oh, no, of course not-" Jieun shook her head in denial. "Of course I know, but I'm more surprised that you still remember."
"Lee Jieun, I remember everything you tell me."
Jieun smiled fondly as she batted her eyelids at him. "So... what did these eyes of mine tell you about me?"
"I tried to convince myself that you could be lying about everything," Jungkook said softly. "The whole time, I kept trying to prepare myself for the worst... maybe just so that I wouldn't get so hurt when it turned out not to be the case in reality. But every time I looked into your eyes, you had this same look. I saw in your eyes that you weren't lying about your feelings for me. But even then, I always tried to ignore that feeling in my gut."
"Well, your gut feeling was right-" Jieun smiled as she reached over and ran her fingers through Jungkook's hair. "You're the most important person in my life, Jeon Jungkook. I don't know when or how it happened... but it did."
"Well, same here-" Jungkook replied with a sweet smile as he reached up to his head and held Jieun's small hand in his strong one once more. "And... that's the third factor, why I changed my mind. I realised how important of a person you were to me... and that my life would never be the same without you. At that point, I didn't care anymore. What went through my mind at one point was like... okay, you lied to me, so what? Even if I knew it and had the chance to choose all over again - like what you said, I'd do the same thing and keep you by my side."
Jieun teared up a little.
"But most importantly, more important than anything else I've mentioned..." Jungkook planted a gentle soft kiss on the back of Jieun's hand, before looking at her in the eyes once more. "I only ultimately changed my mind because of you. Had you not stormed out of your room before I left this morning... perhaps things would have turned out really different. You opened the key to my heart with what you did... and my feelings for you came rushing out like an unstoppable river. You were always the answer, Lee Jieun."
Jieun stared at Jungkook for a while, admiring how beautiful he looked under the moonlight as she let his words sink in. Then finally, she spoke again.
"Shall I just move back in with you?"
-•-•-
"You're embarrassed now, aren't you?" Jennie continued teasing Yoongi. "See? You're blushing."
"Excuse me? Can you focus right now...?" Yoongi covered his cheeks. "We're seeing your sajang-nim tomorrow... I don't want to mess up."
"You've got me, what are you worried about?" Jennie winked at Yoongi. "Wah... I've never seen you embarrassed before, Min Yoongi, you're really funny when you're acting like that..."
"If you don't stop, I'm gonna go home."
"Wait-" Jennie laughed as she grabbed onto Yoongi's wrist before he could leave. "Okay, I'm sorry. Let's focus now... I don't want to mess up tomorrow either."
Yoongi nodded slowly, turning his computer screen to face Jennie. "I made a few slides on our project, what do you think?"
Jennie clicked through the presentation slide by slide, with Yoongi watching her intently.
"So? What do you think?"
"If you want me to be honest, it's a bit lacking..." Jennie pursed her lips, furrowing her eyebrows in concern. "Everything is good, about all our concrete plans on how to carry things out... but you missed the main point. The main point is that, you want me."
"Oh...?"
"Like... your selling point is there," Jennie said slowly, clicking from slide to slide once more. "If I were in Yang sajang-nim's shoes... I'd be convinced that this is a good project. But I won't be convinced why you need to have Jennie Kim as the lead female in particular. That's the difficult part... you need a lot more to convince him to entrust you with me."
"Oh..." Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows, staring at his slides once more. "I know what you mean now."
"Right?" Jennie glanced at Yoongi. "And actually, that will be pretty tough. Because he manages my activities personally... and if he isn't convinced, he won't let me do any old random jig."
"If I was a big company, that wouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Truthfully... yeah," Jennie admitted. "But I'll be right there too, so that's a bonus. I can put in a good word for you, which I don't usually do for other companies."
"Ah..." Yoongi sighed loudly. "Looks like I'll have to stay up all night fixing the slides, then."
"I'll help you."
"Nah," Yoongi declined. "You need energy to help me persuade him tomorrow... Keep it."
"Alright then-" Jennie shrugged a little, before patting Yoongi on the back encouragingly. "Don't be too stressed out about it, oppa. If worse come to worse, Yang sajang-nim rejects... we can get someone else to stand in for me-"
"I don't want that," Yoongi said determinedly as he typed at his laptop. "I'll persuade him, Jennie-ya. Don't you worry."
Jennie rested her chin on her palms as she watched Yoongi with a fond smile on her face.
"Excuse me... are you Jennie Kim?"
Jennie looked up, and there was a guy standing in front of her with his phone in hand. His eyes widened and a huge smile spread across his face as he finally made eye contact with Jennie.
"It is you!" The young man squealed. "Jennie-ssi, I'm such a huge fan! Can I take a photo with you?"
Jennie pulled her hoodie over her head a little. She had tried to be careful not to be recognised, but it turned out the unavoidable still happened. "You're mistaken, sir. I'm not Jennie Kim, you got the wrong person."
"But I saw your face...!" The young man craned his neck, trying to take a look at Jennie's face as she tried her best to avoid his gaze. "I'm 100% sure it's you, Jennie-ssi! I've watched all your dramas, there can't be any way I'm wrong about this!"
Jennie flailed her arms above her head as she looked at the ground, trying to shoo him away. "Sorry, but could you please respect my privacy, thank you!"
"Why are you like that?" The young man frowned. "See? You're her, aren't you? I just want to take a photo with you, you don't have to lie that you're not her and try to chase me away?"
"I... Please stop..."
"This ain't it, okay?" The man reached out for Jennie's arm. "I know you may be becoming a big shot celebrity nowadays but that doesn't mean you can... ow!"
Yoongi reached out and grabbed the guy by his hand before he could even lay his hands on Jennie, twisting it behind the guy's back and pushing him up against the wall.
"Ya! What are you doing?" The man winced in pain. "Let go, let go of me!"
"If someone says that they want their privacy to be respect it, your first response shouldn't be to touch them, which you were just about to do-" Yoongi said softly yet sternly. "When someone says they're not the person you recognised them to be, shouldn't you have the sense to realise that perhaps they don't want to be recognised? Or do you not know how to respect one's privacy, hm?"
"Who are you?" The man huffed. "Let go of me first, before we talk."
Yoongi glanced briefly at Jennie, who shook her head, motioning for him to let it go. Yoongi took a deep breath and finally let go of the man and giving him a little shove before taking a step back.
"Ow," the man grumbled under his breath as he rubbed his arm. "There was absolutely no need to be physical."
"If I didn't stop you, you were going to touch her-" Yoongi folded his arms. "Who was the one who started being physical...?"
"Hey, calm down, man!" The guy frowned as he glared at Yoongi. "Who even are you, anyway? I just wanted to take a picture, do y'all really have to make such a big fuss? Fine! I'm not even that much of a fan, anyway! I very much prefer Joy and Yeri to you... Your acting sucks and your attitude sucks even more... you better reflect on it."
Yoongi balled his fists as he took a step towards the man. "Excuse you?"
"Oppa!" Jennie got up from her seat and grabbed Yoongi by the arm, holding him back. "Forget it, let's go."
The guy shook his head at them. "Wow, look at you... acting like you're the victim now."
Yoongi breathed heavily as he glared at the guy, with Jennie trying to calm him down by his side.
"Look at you..." The guy turned to Jennie with a disgusted smirk. "Supposedly dating one guy, yet being seen at a hospital with another guy, having dating rumours with your co-star, and now acting all chummy in a café with another guy... I guess the rumours must be true, after all. Your clean image onscreen is all fabricated - you're just a lying, promiscuous slut who goes around-"
Yoongi had enough.
Pushing Jennie's hand away, he turned around and stormed up towards the man, his blood boiling. He grabbed the man by his collar with his trembling hands, his eyes filled with rage.
"Say that again," Yoongi growled. "I dare you to say what you just said again."
"I said that..." The man smirked as he nodded his head towards Jennie. "You're just a chess piece in her game, dude. It's time to wake up your idea... Can't you see that she's making use of you? You're just another one of her boyto-"
Yoongi lifted up a balled fist, ready to strike.
"Oppa, no!" Jennie grabbed Yoongi by the arm, desperately trying to stop him before he did anything he's regret. "Don't let his words get to you. I'm okay, let's just go."
Yoongi glanced at Jennie and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down for her sake. He glanced at the guy once more, who still had that same stupid smirk on his face.
"How dare you say such things when you don't even know her?" Yoongi said beneath his breath. "You should be ashamed."
"Why would I?" The guy scoffed. "I'm not the one who's being used."
Jennie hurriedly packed up their things and tugged at Yoongi's sleeve urgently, begging him to go.
"Let me tell you, I know her better than you ever will and I can bet my life that she's not that type of person-" Yoongi scowled as he finally let go of the man's collar and took a step away. "I'm only letting you go because I'm trying to be considerate of her... but if you don't know anything, you better learn how to shut your trap."
The man let out a mocking chuckle.
Without another word, Yoongi grabbed his bag with one hand and Jennie's hand by his other and pulled her out of the café onto the dimly lit street. They walked for a few moments in silence, before Yoongi finally let go of her hand and turned to face her.
"It's all my fault."
"Why?" Jennie shook her head as she looked up at Yoongi. "Don't say that, oppa. How can it possibly be your fault?"
"I was the one who insisted that we shouldn't be left all alone at home together at night..." Yoongi pursed his lips and lowered his head. "If we had done this at home tonight, you wouldn't have gotten recognised by him... and then you wouldn't have to hear all those nasty things he said."
Jennie shook her head as she took a step towards Yoongi. "I'm fine, what he said to me really didn't hurt me at all."
"How can it not...?" Yoongi exclaimed. "His words made me so mad... For you, in particular, it should be even harder to swallow, no? Especially when you're the type who is conscious about what people say about you... How can what he said not matter at all?"
"Well... I admit that I was slightly taken aback," Jennie confessed with a little frown. "But it didn't hurt me like how I thought it would. And seeing you stand up for me like how you always do... it made me feel strong."
"I couldn't just stand back and do nothing..." Yoongi scratched his head. "I'm sorry I almost lost control back there..."
"No, it's nice-" Jennie smiled a little. "Seeing you finally able to express your feelings in front of people makes me happy. You used to never interact with anyone... and now you can talk to them, tell them how you feel, stand up for the people you want to stand up for... I'm really happy for you. Meanwhile, I have such a long way to go..."
"No, the fact that you don't feel as intimidated as before by someone like him is a huge achievement in itself-" Yoongi assured her. "Stop putting yourself down, you're making as much improvement as I am, Jennie Kim. You're already freaking cool right now, in my eyes."
Jennie beamed from ear to ear, lowering her head shyly. "You're freaking cool too, Min Yoongi."
Then Yoongi did the unexpected - he reached down and gently picked up Jennie's hand with his. This, of course, caused her to glance up at him in utter surprise, unable to mutter a single word.
"Let's go home, Jennie-ya."