Archive of Our Own ^beta

“so, um, do i seriously have to wear that?”

you already look like you’re lost to begin with, standing in the middle of a gamestop wearing embellished low rise jeans and strappy sandals. mac blankety is smeared across your lips and you look at your new manager with narrowed eyes, just enough for your frosty lids to shimmer underneath the store’s dull fluorescent lights. in front of you, he has a hand outstretched with a grey polyester polo dangling from his grip.

unfortunately, you aren’t lost. not even close.

darryl is somewhere around his late twenties, but the pull of his hairline doesn’t do much to help his case. he looks at you expectantly, until you bite back a sigh and take the uniform from him.

the interview went fast - probably just under ten minutes - and you accepted the job on the spot. you’ve been applying to dozens of jobs for the past few days, only to be rejected by all of them because you’ve never worked in your life. you came to the strip near where you live, unable to charm the rude receptionist at the tanning salon next door, while the last place you wanna try is anywhere in the mall because you didn’t even want to risk running into anyone you know. so, you walked into this stupid gamestop.

this. . .this is safe. none of your friends would even think of stepping foot in here and it’s only for the summer.

besides, you aced the interview. at least the knowledge part. the customer service part was whatever (he was a bit concerned about your attitude), but you thoroughly impressed darryl by going off your opinion on halo 2 and how you would sell a hard drive for the playstation 2. otherwise, you wouldn’t have gotten the job if you weren’t a pretty girl, but these are desperate times.

when you look out the window, the sun shines bright for the early may afternoon and given the scorching heat wave outside, the store is practically empty. so, when the front door rings, you brace yourself for maybe a pack of snotty middle schoolers coming to get their hands on the new pokemon emerald.

instead, you’re met face to face with jeon jungkook.

you hear him before you see him, as he hums obnoxiously to the song playing in his ears.

that. fucking. loser. you would recognize him anywhere - he’s been terrorizing you since the moment you met in your freshman orientation group. the lead singer of the disturbance to society that is SW!M, there’s nobody at your college that hasn’t heard of his merry band of musicians. everyone on campus knows jungkook and his stupid wannabe warped tour band not just through their huge presence on myspace, but how they somehow always seem to be seen at the right parties with the right people. he’s hard to miss, standing out against the crowd.

you freeze.

on the other hand, you absolutely cannot be recognized. you would rather die than have anyone know that you have to work this damn part-time job.

before you can react, darryl shuffles from behind the counter and throws a set of keys at jungkook.

“you’re here, thank god!”

then, you see it. a black lanyard hanging from jungkook’s neck and his name written on the card. nothing else about his appearance remotely signals that he works here otherwise - he’s wearing cargo pants, a black muscle tee, and beat up vans. his dark hair falls underneath his ears and the silver hoops that dangle from them, matching the bar that runs through his eyebrow and the ring on his bottom lip.

jungkook doesn’t even look at darryl, catching the keys without doing so. his eyes zero in on you, looking helpless by the cash register, and especially on the gamestop-issued polo in your hand. he stops in tracks, mid-bubblegum chew, and yanks his earphones out when he sees you.

a hot flush has already crept onto your cheeks and you open your mouth to stutter out something, anything, but darryl speaks before you do.

he walks over to jungkook, clapping him on the back. “congratulations, you’ve just been promoted.”

this pulls him out of the way he’s staring at you, but your shoulders are now tense and your mind is racing with the dozens of excuses you can spew out. hell, you contemplate quitting on the spot - five minutes into your new job.

jungkook finally realizes darryl’s presence and turns to him, scratching his head. "what the hell are you talking about, man?” he asks, while still side eying you from where he stands.

you want to crawl into a hole and die at this point.

“tomorrow, i’m going to europe for two months -”

“- the fuck?”

“yeah, i’m gonna try and ‘find myself’ and all that. so, you’re going to be acting manager for the time being,” darryl rattles off, making a grand gesture into the air about this trip that he did not mention once since you walked into the store. evidently, jungkook was not informed either, as seen by the bewildered expression on his face.

you don’t even know what to say, if you should say anything at all. you look at darryl with an equally confused face. god, you should have just sucked it up and tried getting an interview at the mall at this point.

jungkook just stares at him. “dude, what?” he pauses, thinking for a second. “wait. . .do i get a raise?”

“yeah. oh, also, this is our new employee!”

the head turn that jungkook makes your way is slow and comical, but even with the alarms going off in your head, you have to stand your ground. so, you glare right at him, arms folded across your chest, as if daring him to say shit to you.

really, he kinda has every right to make fun of you. for the past three years, jungkook has only ever see you in very specific places. he’s seen you at parties where you don’t even look at people who aren’t a part of greek life, parading your little beetle convertible around town with your hair blowing in the wind, and in lectures, where you can barely keep yourself awake after a night of drinking. on campus, you walk everywhere like you own the place and jungkook is certain that he’s never seen you wear anything but the colour pink.

and now, you’re standing in the middle of his shitty part-time job, with an ugly grey employee uniform bunched up in your fist.

jungkook smirks at you when the realization settles into his head. “oh, we’ve met.”

in that moment, you try and remember positive thoughts. you think of the breathing exercises that your yoga instructor taught you - those damn yoga lessons are now so far out of reach. every class was charged to the credit card your dad gave you and as of two days ago, poof. gone. remembering this only causes your blood pressure to spike even higher.

darryl doesn’t even care, walking back to behind the counter, where his belognings are. “great. since you’ll be acting store manager as of today, you will have to train her.”

“w-what?!” you sputter out, looking at darryl like he’s absolutely lost it.

he gestures to jungkook. “i have to get home and finish packing. jungkook will go over everything you need to know,” darryl says, whistling to himself. “oh, and uh, welcome to the team.”

“are you leaving now?” you ask and your eyes widen.

“yup. the two of you will be doing the closing shift together,” darryl answers. “see you both in six weeks!”

meanwhile, jungkook just pinches the bridge of his nose. “really?”

“really!”

your jaw aches from the pressure of clenching it so tightly. it’s unclear what burns so deeply on your face. a good part of it is sheer embarrassment, but you also feel your heart marching from anxiety. you look at darryl’s bored eyes, then your eyes flicker over the smug expression on jungkook.

just like that, darryl walks right out the store.

jungkook stares out the door, probably still confused about his random promotion.

“listen -” you start, but don’t even know how to explain yourself.

he looks at back at you and raises a single eyebrow. “what? did daddy’s money run out?” jungkook chuckles lowly, sauntering over to where you stand behind the counter.

“oh, fuck off,” you hiss, still frozen in place.

he flings darryl’s set of keys into a drawer and sets his belongings on the floor before punching into the time card machine.

“you don’t gotta wear that shit.”

“what?” you snap, looking down at your outfit. the last thing you needed was jungkook making comments about your appearance.

he just rolls his eyes and steps closer to you. at that, you instinctively step backwards, your ass hitting the counter, and jungkook is unintentionally caging you in. he smells like cigarettes and vanilla, maybe something spicy as well. he looks down at your big eyes and lets out a laugh, mocking you just a little. then, he plucks the polo shirt in your hand and backs off like nothing, tossing it into an empty cardboard box.

“the uniform, dumbass,” jungkook says.

you let out an exasperated huff, still not able to find any words. you don’t owe him an explanation, but you do make out a threat.

“if you tell anyone that i’m working here, i will personally make your life a living hell,” you promise, stepping closer to him to muster up as much intimidation you can.

but, jungkook doesn’t budge. he finds what you said real funny, laughing again like you told the wittiest joke in the world. his eyes make a once over over you, crawling from your feet to your heat, and he doesn’t look impressed at all.

“and if i do?”

“i’ll kill you,” you answer simply, ignoring the way his intense gaze doesn’t even falter.

“god, i’m terrified,” he drawls out, the same smirk on his face remaining fixed there. “you can walk out now, if you really want.”

the front door rings and in the span of about five seconds, half the store is full. it seems like school has ended and in front of you is that crowd of middle schoolers looking for pokemon emerald, like you predicted. it happens so fast, the way all these kids and their parents come in, leaving you and jungkook in the thick of it all.

jungkook grits his teeth. “fuck,” he mutters under his breath.

you send him a thin smile. “what was that again? should i just walk out?”

“shut up,” he snaps back. “just. . .just stand by the register. if you have any questions, just look here.”

he reaches underneath the counter and tosses a thick binder onto the surface, a cloud of dust erupting at the slam. you cough, waving your manicured nails around to clear the air and when it does, you read the cover. it says training manual and before you can say anything else, he’s left to go yell at some little kids for touching merchandise.

a part of you does want to walk out and abandon jungkook for the wolves, but you also know that you have little to no chance at landing another job. the whole dropping off your resume and batting your eyelashes for an interview was humiliating enough. you need the money.

it turns out that little binder is the most training that jungkook bothers to give you. he’s a bit disgruntled - he obviously doesn’t wanna be here as much as you do - and is just as unfriendly to customers as you. no wonder darryl hired you, it’s not like he had much of a standard to begin with.

in between trying to figure out the register, the rush goes grows bigger and so does the line in front of you.

jungkook doesn’t help at all, preoccupied with stacking some gaming magazines while you suffer.

“read the binder,” he says every single time you have a question, rolling his eyes at you.

you wrinkle your nose at him, having enough of getting grime from the pages that look like they haven’t been touched since the eighties. “is there nobody else that can come in? maybe someone who can train me properly?” you grumble.

within your first shift at gamestop, a total of five of the worst hours of your life, you quickly learn that the store is understaffed. jungkook mentions that the one other employee that worked here quit yesterday. it’s the only real conversation you get out of him, who you understand is rightfully pissed about the store manager going off on a random, last-minute vacation. he spends the entire time either ignoring you or tormenting you.

you manage to get through the first bit of the day with the binder, but you’ve never been so flustered in your life. it’s true - you’ve never had to work a day in your damn life and now, you’re running around like a headless chicken to cater to snotty little kids. at least the moms give you sympathetic looks.

when the afternoon rush ends, you’re able to take a deep breath.

well, not for long.

after you cash out the last person in the store, you think you’re free, until jungkook walks over with a mop and bucket.

“get to work. the back is looking a mess,” he says simply, a lopsided grin playing on his lips.

you furrow your brows, looking at the mop. “yeah, no.”

“no?”

“no! i’m not a maid, you think i’m going to mop the floor?” you shriek.

jungkook laughs and without saying more, drops the bucket in front of you and shoves the mop in your hand. it seems like he’s quickly figured out that you’re not going anywhere because if you could, you would have left already.

the last thing you needed this summer is to be at the mercy of jeon jungkook of all people, but he’s realized that you have no choice to be here and is already taking advantage of it.

“first day duties, princess. chop chop.”

you inhale slowly, trying to calm yourself down. you also try to remember if you know how to mop a floor. at least you’ll be in a different room than jungkook. your eye twitches when you watch him sit on a stool, pulling out a psp to pass time.

“you -”

honestly, you can’t even finish your sentence, not with the way he just completely ignores you. you complain to yourself under your breath in frustration and walk to the back room. it doesn’t help that you can hear jungkook cackle as you leave and it takes all of you willpower to not hurl the wooden mop into his stupid face.

you take your sweet time with mopping the disgusting back room and when you come out to inform jungkook that you’ll be taking your fifteen minute break - yes, you read that you get one of those in that stupid training manual - you hear a fit of laughter.

jungkook is preoccupied with a conversation, leaning casually against the wall and talking to none other than park jimin. he’s the bassist of SW!M and just as much of a menace as jungkook, if not more.

during some party last semester, you reamed out jimin in the middle of it all for accidentally spilling his beer all over your new bebe top. of course, jungkook came to his defense and after a back and forth screaming match, you dumped your own beer all over him. that was probably the last time you ever had a conversation with jungkook, which explains why you were immediately set off when he walked into the store.

by the mischievous glint in jungkook’s eye, it’s clear that he hasn’t forgotten either.

jimin is hunched over the counter, looking over at jungkook’s psp, and is dressed in a familiar-looking blue polo shirt with yellow collars.

great. jungkook’s loser friend works at the blockbuster right next door, which means this won’t be the last time you’ll see him.

“do you do any actual work around here?” you scoff at him, slamming the bucket down on the tiled floor.

“see,” jungkook snickers, ignoring your question to nudge jimin. “i told you i wasn’t lying.”

he’s clearly been spreading the news that you’re his new employee. you suppose it can’t be helped if this best friend works next door and visits, but you’re already on high alert. you can already imagine how people are going to talk about you.

jimin looks up and his eyes go round at the sight of you. “woah -” he says your name, as if you guys are the best of friends. a cast of fear imemdiately washes over his face.

“not a fucking word!” you threaten, pointing a finger in both males’ direction. “neither of you. will say. anything. about me working here.”

while jungkook rolls his eyes, jimin puts his hands up in defense and just nods rapidly at the sound of your scary tone. he looks like he’s one second away from bursting into tears, almost. he doesn’t like crossing you and has paid for it in the past.

“you got it!”

you walk over closer to jungkook, crossing your arms. “i’m taking my break now.”

obviously, he doesn’t care. he’s the rare kind of person that doesn’t fall for your intimidation tactics and never has, which drives you nuts.

“‘kay.” he shrugs. “when you’re back, i got more things for you to do.”

“what things?” you query. you can already tell that something is up and you hate that you have no choice but to follow orders of you apparent store manager.

he looks too pleased with himself, especially since you’ve had no room to refuse any of his directions so far. “you can wipe the windows and dust the displays.”

“sure, your highness. anything else?”

jungkook grins. he points to a box on the floor and when you peer into it, there’s dozens of xbox game cases inside.

he says, “those are all pre-owned games that need to be put on the shelf. label all of them and organize them by genre, then alphabetically.”

your jaw drops. this is your first day and jungkook is making it your worst one. the worst part is that you have to just suck it up. you can’t believe this.

“you are such a fucking loser!” you exclaim, as you stomp away to the back room for your break.

this was supposed to be your summer. the last summer before you graduate college. instead, you’re stuck taking classes to make up for the ones that you flunked over the winter when you should be doing something fun and exciting. hell, you should be the one jetting off to europe to ‘find yourself’ or whatever the hell darryl said. maybe tanning some place in the caribbean. at the very least, you thought your presence would be welcomed at your family’s summer house in the hamptons, but that quickly left the picture as soon as your parents cut you off.

since you’ll be near campus to take your make up classes, you might as well stay in your little sorority house. we won’t be giving you a dime until the fall and you are completely on your own.

your dad’s words ring in your ears as your fifteen minute break flies by and you’re left with the scent of windex on your hands, while jungkook continues to chat happily with jimin. he’s not even greeting any customers that walk in, too preoccupied with the game in his hand. you scoff and roll your eyes, as you wipe the front windows.

by the time you’re done and you’ve moved onto the box of games, jungkook is at least doing a semblance of his job by helping a customer with a console issue. you crouch next to the cardboard box and find the label maker, wrinkling your nose at the amount of work you have to do.

he ignores you as usual, until you get to stocking the shelves. sauntering over, jungkook’s voice behind you makes you jump.

“put the racing games out first, they sell better.”

you whip around and look up to see him hovering over your shoulder, inspecting your work. he sighs when he notices that you’ve actually managed to make all the labels correctly. you wonder if jungkook has been waiting for you to make a mistake all day, probably hoping for the chance at berating you.

before you can help yourself, you retort back, “how is need for speed going to outsell gta? you do realize this was the biggest release last year, right?”

jungkook was already halfway turned around and ready to walk over to where jimin is still loitering by the counter, but freezes. he slowly looks back at you, brows creased. oh fuck. you shouldn’t have said anything.

“wait, what did you say?” he asks, as if he heard you incorrectly.

thankfully, you’re saved by a mother calling jungkook over for help about a game. her tween son is whining, begging her to buy a copy of resident evil 4, despite the rated M for mature sticker plastered on the cover. he doesn’t have a choice but to go over there, which saves you from the painful explanation of how exactly you know anything about what were the best selling games last year.

it’s a little stupid, the way you have to hide a hobby that you enjoy so much. after some stupid frat guy called you names for being into video games in freshman year, you’ve decided that it’s not even worth mentioning. when anyone looks at you, they come to a clear conclusion without you having to open your mouth. you’re conventionally pretty, ultra feminine, and you’re in a sorority. you don’t look like someone who spends their saturdays hunched over their gameboy. at the very least, it’s helped you land this job, which you desperately need.

the feeling of shame isn’t helped by the fact that your social circle is relatively judgemental. you forged a very specific identity for yourself when you rushed for zeta chi phi and wanted to be perceived in a certain way. being a computer science major is easily dismissed when people find out that your father owns a software development company, but you’d rather not anyone see you differently because of how you spend your free time.

at least no one batted an eye when you failed your exams. most of your sorority sisters did, anyways - they were the ones that you were with when you neglected your studies last semester. funnily enough, it wasn’t like you were partying your life away to fit in, but because you’d had enough of your overbearing parents constantly reminding you about your grades. all that for it to blow up in your face and make the situation worse.

you make some serious efforts to hide this, including stuffing your playstation 2 underneath your bed before any of your sisters come inside your room. when you come home that night from your first excruciating shift at gamestop, you pull it out and plug it in immediately.

there aren’t that many girls that stay in the sorority house over the summer. the ones that remain are just like you: students who need to take summer classes after flunking. once you arrive back to the house, you can tell that everybody’s gone and with a sigh, you make your way to your room to indulge in a well-deserved night of gaming.

after powering up your computer, you boot up the game and relax in your pink desk chair when you hear the music blare as the start-up screen for final fantasy xi appears in front of you. you’ve changed into your victoria secret pajamas and there’s a glass of wine next to your keyboard, completely prepared to decompress for the night.

no29: hiii anyone exping tonite ^^

the first thing you do when you log in is type to the linkshell chat belonging to your guild and then, see who’s online. there’s quite a few people on tonight, but it’s one user that replies to you immediately.

jkae: hey no29

jkae: u know the drill join the party

you breathe a sigh of relief. there aren’t too many reliable healers in your guild and no one is more proficient at it than jkae, who is a white mage and your co-leader. he joined the guild not too long after you established it and over the past few months, has quickly become your right hand man in just about every camp and raid that you’ve done. he loves the game and it’s clear with the way he runs the group with you, always available to help anyone in need.

no29: hii how was your day

jkae: awful day at work wbu T_T

no29: same

no29: hows ur sister doing

one of your favourite things about the mmo community is that, even though these are strangers that are probably in a whole different part of the country, you feel so connected with them. jkae is genuinely one of your closest friends and you share so much with each other - he tells you about his younger sister and how she’s been battling a serious illness, while you tell him about how you’ve been struggling with school.

the idea of being able to be vulnerable with this complete stranger feels silly. you talk to jkae about things that you can’t with your friends in real life and express fears that you can’t even admit aloud. somewhere in between big raids and playing as a duo in smaller dungeons, you feel like you know him as if he’s really your friend.

you treat it as an escape from reality, away from overbearing parents and friends who don’t get you.

these conversations stretch out as your avatars travel to each levelling area and between monster pulls. before you know it, you’ve been on the game for hours and the time is trickling into the early morning. your raid group has dwindled down until it’s just you and jkae again, walking together and no longer talking about just the game.

jkae: u should just tell ur parents that they’re being too hard on u

no29: i did rofl and they told me to not come home for the summer

no29: >.<

jkae: are you srs

no29: dead serious

jkae: thats fucked

no29: ikr

jkae: now we rly have no excuse if u got all this free time xD guilds gonna be no 1 in the server by august

you laugh at the way he’s able to lighten up any situation. when you do, you realize how hoarse your voice sounds and you squint on the wall clock. in a few hours, you have to wake up for one of your summer make up classes - the whole reason why you’re even left behind in your college town in the first place instead of going off on a holiday. rubbing a hand on your face, you type a farewell to your online friend.

no29: its late now ;_; tyfp

jkae: always

jkae: night no29

“dude, i swear that she’s flawless.”

“did you know that she has a birkin? and a lexus?

jungkook rolls his eyes. he offered to be everyone’s designated driver after the gig tonight, letting everyone enjoy the first show of the summer by getting wasted, but the last thing he needed is having to hear all about his favourite new coworker. even hearing her name is like nails on a chalkboard, but jimin just had to go and blab about how zeta chi phi’s president is working at the local gamestop.

“don’t go around telling people about this,” jungkook growls, hands tightening on the steering wheel. “if word gets out, she’s gonna blame me and chew me out.”

beside him, a still-tipsy hoseok twirls his drumsticks mindlessly. “so, it’s some sort of secret part-time job?”

“who knows,” he scoffs. “she made a big deal about it on the first day. maybe daddy’s money ran out.”

in the backseat, jimin and taehyung don’t even care about the debate. they’re too busy arguing with each other about the rumours that they’ve heard about her. everything from her family to her wealth to her friends, the two bicker about the stupidest things that jungkook couldn’t give a single shit about.

taehyung raises a hand. “i heard she does photoshoots in italy. why doesn’t she go make some extra cash with that?”

“i heard that, too!” jimin adds, his eyes wide. “i even heard that some freshman once paid her thirty bucks just to step on his foot -”

“ - okay, enough! we’re here!”

the car comes to a sudden halt, stopped right in front of taehyung and jimin’s apartment building. jungkook has obviously had enough and barks at his friends to get the hell out. he rubs a hand across his very sober face, not in any sort of mood for this conversation.

he’s always had his problems with you and the crowd that you hang out with. you’re stuck up and live in a completely different world that he does, with your shiny lip gloss and designer heels that cost more than his damn car. for such a big campus, jungkook is surprised that he’s run into you so many times over the past three years, but it’s like fate has scratched his name to be constantly at odds with you.

there’s just so many instances of your crazy wrath. one time, you even pushed jungkook into a pool during a party. that was probably your worst offence. everything else ranged from you two having screaming matches in the middle of bars to jungkook sleeping with your sorority sister and making her late to your birthday dinner. the two of you look like you shouldn’t even know each other - with jungkook’s tattooed arms and metal running through his skin in contrast with your baby pink closet - but, you do. and it’s unfortunate.

jungkook doesn’t necessarily hate his job. he gets a nice discount on games and it pays the rent during the school year. the only thing that sucks is that the store has always been understaffed and he has to deal with snotty preteens on his own half the time. he didn’t think he wold ever complain about getting help on the sales floor. . .until you got hired.

the first week of you at the job, you come in late nearly everyday. jungkook can only give you so many menial and repetitive tasks as retaliation because it gets downright annoying. on top of that, he quickly realizes that no matter how many tasks he tries to give you to drive you away and quit, you seriously won’t do it. besides, it’s not like the store is going to be fine without you. it’s so hard to hire these days and technically, the store is now even more understaffed than before with darryl gone. jungkook just has to suck up the fact that you aren’t going anywhere and you’re gonna come in late, whether he likes it or not.

he’s left to deal with a rush of customers fifteen minutes after your shift is supposed to start, until you strut in wearing jean shorts and a red tube top. there’s a bikini top underneath and jungkook watches you clock in with narrowed eyes.

“where the fuck have you been?” jungkook snaps, arms folded across his chest. the redbull he chugged earlier is slowly wearing off until there’s nothing left but post-caffeine rage.

you shrug. “none of your business.”

when you walk in, you shove right past jungkook. he can smell a whiff of your vanilla perfume and you intentionally collide your hip with his. he doesn’t move away and neither do you.

“sweetheart, i’m in charge of your ass,” he reminds you with an scoff, but you pay him no mind and go into the back to put on a different shirt.

meanwhile, you’re suffering just as much as he is. there’s a hint of dark circles under your eyes from the amount of summer classes you’ve had to attend, all for you to race to gamestop right after the sessions come to a close for the day. it’s endless and you scrunch your nose at how hard you’ve had to work. is this what normal college students have to deal with? jesus.

on top of that, you have to hide your stupid fucking part-time job from your friends. there aren’t too many of you staying at the sorority house over the summer, only the dumbasses like yourself that partied too hard over the spring and let their grades slip, taking classes over the break. and of course, girls like elena and heather, who gave you shit for having to take on a part-time job.

“oh, honey. that is so horrible,” elena had said over breakfast a few days ago, literally shuddering at the thought of having to get a summer job. “so, your parents really meant it, then? cut off?”

you picked at your fruit bowl, frowning. “yup,” you reply simply, popping the ‘p’ like you didn’t care.

heather titled her head to the side. “so, where did you get the job?”

and that’s where the lie had to come in. there’s no way you were going to admit that you got a job at the stinky gamestop around the corner, so the words fall out of your mouth before you can help yourself. you had to think quick, figuring out a job where nobody could visit you and a job that sounded more fun than lame.

“i’m teaching surfing lessons at the beach.”

quickly, the girls saw the brighter side of things. heather gasped, hands to her cheeks.

she said, “wow, so you get to tan all day!”

from here on, you had to make sure of two things everyday. the first is that you bought some self-tanner because you could not afford any sessions with a bed. the second is wearing some sort of beach wear to your shifts at gamestop, looking like a damn fool every time you walk in, but you needed to leave the house looking like you were about to go catch some freaking waves.

of course, you don’t actually know how to swim, but the girls don’t need to know that.

today, you ignore jungkook’s usual complaint of how you’re late - there’s no way for you to actually make it to the store in time after your lecture - and go into the back room to kick off your flip flops for some platform flats. you also throw on a different shirt because you don’t need the little middle schoolers that come in to be staring at your tits.

the last few days have been nothing short of awful. you and jungkook yell at each other over every small thing, but to make matters worse, you have to follow his directions no matter what. at the very least, he tries to avoid you as much as possible physically. when he barks at you to go do something, it’s often on the other side of the store.

you take a deep breathe before you come outside, mentally preparing yourself from another six hours of hell.

when you emerge, you’re not even surprised to see jimin being a disruptive little shit at the front counter. he’s in his blockbuster uniform, as usual, and you wonder if you’ve ever actually seen him working next door. all the little shit does is disrupt jungkook during his shift by distracting him, which in turn, leads to jungkook making you do all the random shit around the store.

“dude, you should have bought more hyper potions.” jungkook laughing, hunched over the counter to watch jimin play on his gameboy.

the latter is in obvious distress. “shut up, i can beat him!” he growls, taking a moment to pause and think about his next move.

and of course, jungkook just takes one glance at you and points to the box of new stock by the door - silently ordering you to fill the shelves all by yourself. you smile the kind of smile people use when they’re imagining someone’s funeral. then, you saunter right up to jungkook, until you’re nearly chest to chest.

jungkook straightens up when you do so, an amused smirk on his face. your hardened expression is unwavering, though, and you narrow your eyes up at him. meanwhile, jimin has finally paused his game and looks at the two of you with great interest.

“i think it’s time for a staff meeting,” you grumbles. “storage room. now.”

he doesn’t look impressed. “what?”

“the store is empty. jimin can watch the floor since he’s obviously familiar with how often he’s here.”

jimin sinks down slightly at the glare you send his way, not complaining at all.

before jungkook can protest, you wrap your manicured nails around his wrist and drag him to the back. he yelps, surprised at the sheer strength that you have. you lead him into the back, past the tiny section of the room where people take their breaks, and into the storage room that smells like cheap paint and burnt plastic. just a single light bulb hangs from above and the space is tighter than what you expected for two people.

still, the door shuts with a bang when you bring jungkook inside and when you whip around, there’s not even two feet of distance between the two of you. you grimace, but you don’t let it knock you down a peg - even with how close he is. too close. you can feel the heat radiating off of him and it’s maddening. if you took half a step forward, you could wipe that smug smirk off his face if you tried.

“the hell you got me in here for?” he drawls, also aware of how little space there is between your bodies. his eyes rake your body from head to toe subconsciously and you flick his arm when you catch it.

you respond after taking a deep breath. “i’m implementing a jimin ban.”

“a jimin ban? you can’t ban my best friend from the store, babe -”

“- do not call me that!” you interrupt, poking his chest. “and yes, i can. all he does is come in here and cause disruptions and i end up doing your fucking grunt work!”

jungkook laughs right in your face at your outburst, despite of the fact that you are genuinely losing your mind. if you have to walk into work everyday and spend it with jungkook, that’s one thing, but having his buddy be around 24/7 would drive you to insanity.

to your surprise, though, he begins to actually mull it over.

he says, “how about this. we can have a jimin ban if you actually come in on time for your shifts.” jungkook crosses his arms. “you’ve been late every single day since you got hired.”

this is a fact and you know it, but you just pinch the bridge of your nose. now, you have to actually tell jungkook about your personal life and while you would rather die than do that, it’s not even an unfair deal. if he relents, at least.

you brace yourself, shoulders straightening. “the reason why i’m late everyday is. . .” you sigh, looking anywhere but jungkook’s eyes and pretending that he isn’t so damn close to you. “. . .i’m taking summer classes at school. alright? there!”

jungkook blinks blankly, not expecting that answer. in the years of knowing you and disliking you, a part of him forgets that you go to school with him. not in the literal sense because, obviously, seeing you on campus reminds him that you attend the same college. but, he doesn’t see you as a student. just an annoying sorority girl.

he does remember someone once mentioning that you’re a computer science major and this memory comes easily because it surprised the hell out of him. they clarified that your father ran a software company or some shit, which explains it, but he still couldn’t picture it. you, coding away with your pink acrylics and writing down notes with a sparkly pen that has a fluffy top.

he laughs to himself aloud at the image and you shove him in the moment, thinking he’s laughing at your expense for taking make up classes.

“ow, jeez!” jungkook groans, rubbing his shoulder. “relax, dude.”

“this isn’t a laughing matter!”

“so, you’re saying that you’re late to work because you have class right before?” jungkook asks with a dry tone.

you tap your foot, growing impatient. “yes.”

“you know we can just adjust your schedule, right?” he says, like he’s explaining one plus one. “god, you really never have ever worked a day in your life. i can just change the shifts so that you start later.”

oh. the thought never really occurred to you. for some reason, you thought that you just had to go with whatever the schedule says. there’s now only two other employees at the store - one guy who you never saw because he worked mornings and the other worked friday evenings that you specifically requested off - so, you assumed that there was no wiggle room.

“wait, really?” you say, cheeks growing warm.

jungkook rolls his eyes. “really. if i do that, you won’t be late anymore?”

“will jimin be banned from the store?”

“fine.”

“fine!”

there’s a moment of thick silence enveloping you after this, as you and jungkook glare at each other with a certain intensity. when the conversation fades, you’re left with nothing but the smell of his cologne and his face inches away from yours. the room shrinks when the two of you cease talking and you’re left to realize just how small the closet is. he doesn’t move, an unreadable look on his face.

then, jungkook finally clears his throat.

he mentions, “by the way, the door to this room locks on its own from the inside.”

locked. jungkook says the door is locked.

your jaw nearly drops, causing him to chuckle lowly. “what?”

at his statement, you brush past him, not caring about the way your body briefly collides with his. you grab the doorknob and rattle it back and forth, but it stays put. the door is locked. there’s no leaving.

“yeah, usually you have to prop it open with a chair,” jungkook replies, continuing to snicker to himself.

“why did you let me drag you in here, then?” you snap, whipping around to meet his eyes again.

he grins wide and steps forward. you unintentionally back into the door, caged by his body, and gulp. somehow, he’s even closer now and you can’t help but freeze. you can see the mole by his lip and the slope of his nose and the bar that runs through his eyebrow.

jungkook says, “to teach you a lesson. duh.”

“you -”

before you can really panic, without moving, he moves to bang his fist on the door. “jimin! jimin, come back here and let us out!”

for the first time since starting your job, park jimin is actually good for something. you hear footsteps approach quickly after jungkook calls for him and the door swings open.

because you were backed up into the door with nowhere to go, the sudden loss of the weight behind you has you unbalanced. you squeal, losing footing and grab onto the nearest thing to you - jungkook’s biceps. he does have the courtesy to reach out for you to make sure that you don’t fall right on your ass, but this means that you’re right in his arms.

god, jungkook is strong.

you can feel it in the effortless way he holds you and for a second, you forget where you are. jungkook is taken aback momentarily, but snaps out of it and props you up - though, he doesn’t fully let go. when he catches you, your face is closer than ever to his. the sight surprises you and you quickly shove him away when you find your balance again, face burning red.

jimin’s eyes go wide at the sight, holding his hands up. “woah, sorry!”

blinking rapidly, you fix your clothes and regain a semblance of dignity.

you point a finger in his direction. “you are such an asshole,” you hiss, ignoring the way he’s still laughing. then, you turn to jimin and growl, “and you are officially banned from the store!”

even with the new jimin ban in the store, your new job doesn’t get any easier. you’re honestly surprised that the deal came about so quickly and that jungkook honours his word. he does change the schedule so that you can come in fifteen minutes later that what you’ve been originally set for and it helps immensely, between you having to change into beach clothes right after class and hurrying over to gamestop from campus.

you also don’t see jimin hanging around anymore, as he starts to only come in when jungkook is on break. the blockbuster next door should thank you for pushing their employee back to work.

none of this actually matters, though, because the day-to-day of being with jungkook for so many hours is just as excruciating. the store being empty but for the two of you is just as bad as when jungkook was ordering you around because jimin was too busy distracting him. the tasks are split up evenly, but at what cost? this means spending more time together cooperating, which seems impossible at this point.

the two of you fight about everything - your attitude about picking up a mop to stealing customer from one another to jungkook’s ability to make fun of you in every single situation.

“oh, and by the way. . . “

the two of you have to stop arguing about the cash register when a group of customers walk in the store. you jump at the chance to leave the front counter, but jungkook holds you back.

“what?” you sneer.

jungkook grins. “you should be nicer to me, considering i’m keeping your secret.”

“whatever. i need this job as much as you need me here -”

“- not just the job, sweetheart,” he interjects and your heart drops. jungkook leans in close, his breath fanning over your ear. “you think i didn’t notice? you’re a fucking video game freak.”

you freeze. jungkook pulls away and laughs coldly at your reaction, probably looking like you just saw a ghost. of course, he would notice. you talk to customers all the time about games and give solid advice. you’ve even argued with jungkook about small things, which he’s picked up on.

still, you try to recover fast. you shake off his grip, muttering something about him being stupid. the last thing you need is him actually thinking that you enjoy this job.

no29: how long u think it will take to recover hp

jkae: probably 30 min

no29: okie lets just chill for a bit and wait before we try the next boss!

jkae: hey no29?

no29: yea? ^_^

jkae: do you believe in ghosts?

the only person in the sorority house who won’t judge you for lying about your part-time job is imani, a kind hearted sophomore that you mentored when she first joined. she patiently listens to you rant, as the two of you walk along the boardwalk on the weekend.

“and then, we got into a back and forth about how to clean the freaking floor properly! he thinks i haven’t lifted a pinky for my entire life, so he won’t listen to me about how you’re not supposed to use fucking windex!”

children run past you, screaming and laughing while they chase each other. summer break is marked by a street festival by the beach, lined with booths selling deep fried foods and rigged games with oversized stuffed animals for prizes. music booms from a stage not too far away, where local artists play their songs. you and imani have iced coffees in your hands to beat the heat, strolling through the festival from where you were shopping for sandals.

imani blows some hair out her face. “yeah, girl. that sucks,” she remarks, shaking her head. “surprised he hasn’t fired you.”

“he can’t. they literally have nobody else.” you roll your eyes.

she shrugs. “and you can’t quit?”

“i’ve been trying to look for somewhere else, but it’s no use,” you grumble and push your hair back with your sunglasses.

“well, what job experience do you have?”

“. . . .exactly.”

imani grimaces and you know you have absolutely no chance at getting a position at any place. hell, you needed to lie on your resume because you’ve never worked before and you still keep getting rejected. you’ve quietly accepted the fact that you’re stuck at jungkook’s stupid gamestop for the rest of the summer and it sucks. you haven’t even used your employee discount yet, saving it for a trip to the other gamestop in town so you can avoid further questions from jungkook. none of it is fun and you’re absolutely stuck.

more children run past you and imani, causing you to groan when the kids nearly collide into you. however, you notice that they aren’t necessarily chasing each other and having fun. they’re. . . screaming. and crying.

when you look further out into the distance and see who’s on the stage, you realize why. there’s nothing but pure garbage emitting from up there and front and centre is jeon jungkook, singing into the microphone. the rest of SW!M is present, banging away at their instruments. they’re making babies cry and making a ruckus for no good damn reason.

“thought the festival was for local artists, not local neighbourhood disturbances,” you mutter, staring at them.

jungkook wears baggy shorts that go below his knee and a graphic muscle tee, cut just right to emphasize his tattooed arms. it’s also the first time you’ve seen jimin in a few days, after the jimin ban was put into place at gamestop, and he’s on bass. you also recognize kim taehyung playing guitar and jung hoseok on drums, as the two are often by jungkook’s side as often as jimin.

you’re not surprised to a see a loyal crowd up at front, cheering for the band and even singing some of the lyrics. everyone in town knew SW!M, not just student from your college, and they played at many local bars and venues.

“look! there’s some ice cream!” imani interrupts your thoughts, pointing at a booth nearby.

at that, your ears perk up in light of the scorching hot temperature. you and imani immediately scurry over.

you momentarily forget about jungkook and tune out the noise, as the vendor scoops you a cone of your favourite ice cream flavour. however, the peace doesn’t last for long. after thanking the vendor and receiving your cone, you and imani agree that it’s time to go home. your car isn’t parked too far away, but when you take a step back . . .

“my god -” you squeak.

“you called?” it’s jungkook standing in front of you, grinning wide. “you should where you’re going.”

too concerned with the decision of whether or not you wanted to upgrade to a sugar waffle cone, you didn’t even notice that SW!M’s setlist came to a close. in fact, all four members of the band stand right in front of you, with jungkook inches away from you after turning around.

you yelp and back up, eyebrows knitted at the sight of him.

“what the fuck, you freak?!” you exclaim, looking at jungkook in pure disgust and especially when you almost dropped your ice cream because of him.

on the other hand, he’s looking more than pleased with himself. “you a fan of us, baby?”

“we were just passing through,” you say with a scoff. it’s harder to insult jungkook’s music when three of his band mates are standing right there, but there’s a hundred different insults bubbling in your vocal chords that you need to hold back to be polite.

the tension is growing and his friends go to order their own ice cream, but jungkook doesn’t budge. you glare right up at him, unsure of what to say. it would be nice to just have a jungkook-free day, considering you spend nearly all your days with him in that stupid gamestop, but fate has other plans. he even looks like he’s enjoying it, knowing he’s ruined your afternoon with his presence alone.

“staring, much?” he chuckles.

you grit your teeth. “just figuring out where i should land my punch.”

it’s imani who clears her throat, looking between the two of you with an amused glint in her eye.

she whispers your name. “you’ve never punched anyone in your life.” the idea of you trying to hit someone is probably more than amusing and you would likely come out with a broken nail before you actually inflict any pain on the other person.

“i’ll make an exception right now, wanna see?”

jungkook laughs. “you’re cute when you’re angry.”

at that, a blush creeps onto your cheeks. you don’t know why when you hate when jungkook does this flirtatious shit, making comments like that and calling you pet names.

“oh, get a life,” you shoot back.

his friends return to his side and you watch hoseok hand jungkook a cone of chocolate ice cream. meanwhile, imani is tugging on your arm, muttering something about ‘letting it go’ and leaving.

jungkook turns to you, flashing you a grin. “see ya around, baby.”

you immediately turn on your heel, stomping away in the other direction. imani catches up to you, giggling a bit to herself. the two of you brush past the crowd lining up for corn dogs and make your way to the parking lot, where you were supposed to be a while ago.

sighing, the heat is only getting worse. the ice cream helps, but there’s a bitter taste left on your tongue after that interaction with jungkook.

“of all the people who had to be working with me,” you say, fishing for your car keys from your purse.

imani chuckles dryly. “yeah, you guys are definitely -” she pauses, thinking for a moment. “- intense. yeah, you guys are intense.”

you have no idea what she’s getting at. “intense?” you ask, glancing at her.

she shakes her head. “you have no idea. you and jungkook have always been like . . .that.”

at this point, you’re still confused and brush it off by silently unlocking your car. besides, it’s one of your only rare days off from work and the last thing you want to do is think about your obnoxious coworker. you’re not surprised at the lack of luck you have to run into him when you’re supposed to be getting away from him. instead, you change the topic to summer classes and imani groans, immediately launching into a rant about her lecture the day before.

you can only hope that you’re able to keep your interactions with jungkook limited to work. of course, with how small this town is, it was only a matter of time before you run into him again outside of your shifts.

even with summer break and work, having fun doesn’t stop. there’s a pool party happening on a saturday where you don’t have work and like clockwork, you and your girls are there. more than enough people have showed up by the time you arrive, the backyard packed with attendees. to your left, there’s a crowd of people swimming and then, there’s others playing pong by the deck. elena and heather drag you to poolside, where bottles are laid out and drinks are being poured.

the heat is relentless as usual, as you tie your hair back out of your face and make your way over to where the beverages are. with so much on your mind between work and school and figuring out how to get back on your parents’ good side, you definitely need some time to relax.

you’re well recognized as the president of zeta chi phi and wave to those who greet you by name, even if you’re unsure if you’ve ever even met them before.

“psst,” elena suddenly whispers, nudging you as you crack open a cider. “three o’clock. loser number one and number two.”

without looking up, you know exactly who elena is talking about. you’re not even surprised at this point - it’s as if you have some sort of jungkook curse inflicted on you for the entire summer. he’s walking deeper into the backyard with taehyung at his side and already has two pretty girls coming up to him, giggling about god knows what.

you still narrow your eyes at his appearance, eyes trailing over his stupid muscle tee and board shorts. “what the hell?”

“i heard taehyung is fucking ari,” whispers heather with a sneer.

ari is one of the girls that live at this house, some girl that’s on the cheerleading team with heather and invited you three to the party. she wears a hot pink bikini and greets the boys with a giggle, coming up to them and throwing her arms around both.

when jungkook hugs ari back, he looks like he’s making a joke of some sort and takes a look around the party. that’s when his eyes fall on you, tanning in the sun with your friends. you can feel the steel of his gaze tracing your legs, all the way up to your face, and you hate that you need to suppress a shiver at that.

surprisingly, you’re used to seeing jungkook at the same functions. it didn’t happen a lot during freshman year, but over time and with the rise of SW!M’s local popularity, he and his friends began to pop up at parties and outings. they definitely don’t look like they would run in similar social circles as you, but everyone wanted their own little slice of the green day wannabes. incredible what a little bit of myspace fame could get you.

unless either of you are explicitly looking for a fight, it’s easy to avoid him at most parties. they’re usually in crowded frat houses, where you can stay as fucking far away at you can.

today is an exception.

summer parties tend to be less packed and especially with a backyard setting, you could feel jungkook’s eyes on you ever so often. you and your friends remain by the pool, laughing with other acquaintances and sipping slowly on your mixed drinks. the sun is sizzling and you dip your feet into the water for some sort of relief, surrounded by the smell of coconut scented tanning oils, beer, and chlorine.

“hey, i’m gonna head inside for the bathroom,” you inform elena and heather, passing your drink over to them.

they don’t give you much of a second glance, just nodding and continuing to flirt with the boys that approached your group minutes prior.

you rise to your feet carefully. you have no intentions of getting into the pool at all - not because you don’t want to get your hair wet or ruin your makeup, but because of something even worse.

you can’t swim.

it’s a silly fact that you haven’t done anything about all your life, preferring simply opt out of situation where you would need to do so. at these parties, you’ve never jumped in and the same goes for things to do with beaches. in fact, it’s the last thing on your mind when you get up.

so, when a football comes flying your way, you don’t think about the fact that you’re still at the edge of the pool. you don’t think about the way your friends - who believe your elaborate lie about teaching surfing lessons for the summer - are a few paces away. you let out a yelp, losing your balance at the impact to your chest, until your trip over your own feet and you feel nothing but the cool submerge of the pool water. there’s some gasps and some laughter, but it all drowns out once you’re inside.

you’ve never been in this situation before, panicking immediately. your eyes sting and you flail about, sinking and unable to fight the force of gravity. to make thing worse, you’re surrounded by all these damn people.

“are you fucking insane, you dweeb?!”

elena and heather are too busy chewing out the guys who just unintentionally sent you in the pool to notice that you’re basically drowning. you’re still trying to make your way to the top, but your movements are so uncoordinated and novice that you make no progress. hell, you think you’re about to die.

until a pair of strong arms come around you.

the figure heaves you to the surface, pulling the entirety of your body weight until you bob to the top. a fit of coughs and choking noises leave your mouth as you gasp for air, your white vision finally clearing to see the clear skies above. you still hear yelling, figuring that your friends are still berating whoever was behind the football.

your arms are like jelly from fighting against the current, as your lungs still need a second to adjust and the last of spots in your sight disappear.

“you alright?”

even recognizing jungkook’s voice, you’re too preoccupied trying to come back down to earth to say anything about his hold on you. he’s behind your body, gripping you tight, and drags you to the edge of the pool where you can hang on.

in between your fit of coughs, reality sets in and when you look up, jungkook is still treading water next to you. his eyebrows are furrowed watching you, as if he’s genuinely concerned. most of the other partygoers around you are no longer paying attention to the scene, mostly back to drinking or chuckling at the way heather has some random dude by the ear, pulling it tight for what they just did to you.

“i’m fine,” you manage to say, pushing hair out of your face.

you don’t think you’ve ever been this close to jungkook before, not even in the storage closet at work. wet strands of hair frame his face and you’re so close that you can see the mole underneath his lip, the slope of his nose, the curve of his jaw. he smells like a combination of liquor, sunscreen and peppermint, and his arms remains around yours. the heat of his body has shut you down, along with any snarky remarks that you usually let out in his presence.

he’s also staring right at you and you freeze when he brushes the rest of your hair out of your face. the touch of his skin on yours sends shock waves up your arms and you pull away slightly, realizing how pressed up against him you are.

“you got still that thing where you can’t look away from me.” he smirks and you roll your eyes.

“obviously you have no idea what personal space is, i’m not fucking staring at you.”

“you definitely are.”

scoffing, you turn away. “shut up.”

“make me,” he retorts back, not backing down.

the proximity between you and jungkook is just as suffocating as moments ago when you were underwater. you feel naked in your bikini with him so close to you, as you strain to not look at his bare upper body. he is so insufferable and you hate that he has to look so good. at the very least, you’re grateful that nobody around you is paying attention to you and jungkook. you try to push yourself up to the ground from where you hang onto the side of the pool, but he speaks before you do so.

“see, notice how you pushed me into the pool last time?” he snickers, referencing the infamous fight you had with him in sophomore year. “now, i just saved your life -”

“- you did not save my life,” you interrupt, not needing anything else to get to jungkook’s huge ego.

jungkook eyes your friends. “. . .they don’t know, huh?”

“about?”

“i overheard your conversation. you told them you’re teaching surfing lessons?” he chuckles. not mockingly, but actually amused. “meanwhile, you obviously can’t swim?”

it didn’t seem like anyone else noticed that you were practically drowning a few moments ago, paying you no mind. you’re not even really sure where jungkook came from, but he was the only one who noticed your struggle in the water.

you grit your teeth at his observation and shake off his grip. “like i said,” you hiss. “not. a. word.”

with that, you finally exit the pool, just in time for elena and heather to approach with a towel and pitying looks. you can hear jungkook bark a laugh from behind you, but you don’t turn around, too embarrassed and knowing that the flush across your cheeks will only spread.

“were you just talking to jungkook?” elena asks with her nose scrunched, handing you the towel so you can dry off.

you grimace, shrugging. “just bothering me as usual.” you look over their shoulders and see the group of guys throwing around the football, yelling apologies your way that you ignore.

“ew, of course he was. ugh, i hope you don’t have to run into him for the rest of the summer,” says heather, oblivious and crossing her arms.

god, if only. you’re just relieved that your friends didn’t notice that you obviously can’t swim, which would break down every single lie you’ve told so far to save your ass and reputation. maybe you could pass off that you were a little too tipsy to tread water properly, but they didn’t even care to watch or help. typical. you flash a plastic smile at the girls and urge them to get some new drinks with you, leaving jungkook and his intoxicating presence behind for the rest of the night.

a bit of that feeling haunts you - the warmth the sunk into your tummy and the way his sharp gaze affected you even from afar at the start of the party. you hate that and especially knowing that you’d have to clock into work the next day, anticipating jungkook’s mockery and sarcasm about the incident.

when you get home that night, you realize that you’ve been carrying a certain strain on your shoulders since the pool incident. so, you do what you do best. you change into your pajamas, pour yourself a nice beverage, and log into final fantasy xi with a loud sigh. your bedroom doors are locked and you’ve informed your friends that you’d be going to bed, so nobody bothers you.

you load up the game and feel a sense of calm when you see your character spawn in town. you greet your guild through the linkshell chat and before you could even ask anyone to join your party, jkae has already sent you a request.

no29: i have literally had the longest week of my life

jkae: god me too

jkae: up for a chill xp night?

no29: of course lets do some easy prey mobs

no29: what’s new with u?

just like that, for the next few hours of the night, you’re able to find some peace in the escape that is your online life. you duo with jkae, fighting together and talking in between periods where your characters would recover health. it’s way less stressful than grinding with a full party and to be frank, it’s so much easier to talk to your online friend about your real life problems. it’s the same for him, who chats with you as if you’ve been friends your whole life.

jkae: my sister is doing a lot better but juggling two jobs this summer sucks ass

jkae: feels like my parents arent doing shit for her

no29: shes rly lucky to have you

jkae: you ever feel so lost and like you dont even know what youre doing though?

no29: actually all the time

no29: i dont even know what i really wanna do after college

jkae: me neither

jkae: im doing music and stuff but idk its just a hobby

jkae: just wanna make money for my family

no29: maybe one day i’ll be able to hear you sing

jkae: would love to do that for you one day haha

jkae: i’m sure you’ll figure things out with school ^.^ you’re incredibly smart

you sigh, laying back into your chair and think about your issues with school. you don’t mind your major, but you just didn’t have the drive to succeed this past spring. you like computers and coding, but a part of you wonders if you’ll ever measure up. it’s not like you meant to tank all of your exams last semester, but you’re tired of getting caught in between maintaining your social life and staying on track for your future.

no29: i feel like im getting pulled into many different directions yk

no29: being the perfect daughter and friend and student and all of that

jkae: i know exactly what you mean

jkae: it gets so hard

no29: you’re gonna figure things out

jkae: i hope so

no29: i know you will

jkae: i feel like you get me better than my friends

no29: i feel the same way :) like i can really be honest with you

no29: hope we can meet at some point

jkae: we’ll make it happen i gotta see you

jkae: don’t forget that nothing even matters as long as u do what makes u happy

a little over an hour later after completing your quests for the night, you and jkae call it at the same time. there’s a huge midnight release tomorrow, where you are required to stay later than usual. the idea of the shift physically hurt, knowing you aren’t going to make it home until late, but the prospect of the extra pay is too enticing. plus, it’s not like you have a choice. jungkook penciled you in for the schedule because the store literally had nobody else.

so, you go to sleep that night, thoughts swirling about the exhausting shift to come and your loser coworker. the images drift to flashes of jungkook that day, so close to you that you could feel something unknown radiating from his body heat. you hate that he’s stuck to your mind like bubblegum, like a sticker that won’t rip off. not only that, but he follows you everywhere, and it’s beginning to drive you mad.

you envision his soft lips and the shadows of his muscular arms in your dreams, attached to you into the next day.

“are you seriously smoking weed on the clock right now?”

technically, nobody at the store clocked out for breaks. jungkook didn’t care enough as the ‘store manager’ to implement such strictness, which led to you and him just stepping out whenever it isn’t busy - the only thing you can agree on.

you’re not surprised that it’s been a slow afternoon so far, since there’s a storm brewing outside and most people would come in closer to midnight to make their preorder reservations for the release at twelve. there was barely any new stock that came in and for once, jungkook took charge of it, obviously bored out of his mind. you’d been sitting at the counter, chewing gum and picking at your nails while he did random tasks to keep himself busy. probably to avoid you, as well.

jungkook watched you clock in for your shift that day with a smirk on his face, noticing that you didn’t come in wearing beach wear for your “surfing lessons” job. it’s not like you could lie about your job when it’s pouring rain outside and you were scheduled to stay for the midnight release, so you just told your friends that you had something else to do for the evening.

still, he didn’t make too many snide remarks. it was a relatively peaceful shift so far. . until now. you knew what was gold couldn’t stay and when a random rush of customers came in, it just so happened to be a few minutes after jungkook randomly stepped out.

you push the back door open to find him, frustated that you’ve been left alone just for it to become busy.

he stands in the alleyway in between the gamestop and tanning salon, just underneath a little awning over the emergency exit. there a joint in between his thumb and index finger, as he blows out a cloud of silvery smoke amidst the mist of rain. jungkook looks up when you appear and chuckles at your question.

“let the store manager know, he’ll be furious,” he drawls sarcastically, flicking some ash to the ground.

“you’re so pathetic,” you shoot. of course, jungkook doesn’t care. “just come back inside now. there’s, like, ten snotty brats looking for pokemon emerald again.”

“i’ve been doing everything all day, you go help them.”

“go fuck yourself -” you start, but jungkook just laughs and puts out the joint before you can continue.

there he goes again, riling you up on purpose. he walks right past you and you notice him pluck a pack of gum from your pockets when he does so.

“hey!”

still, jungkook goes back onto the salesfloor and does his job effortlessly. you hate him for that. you let out a grumble, shutting the emergency door close with a slam - leaving behind the smell of rain on pavement and the linger of marijuana in the air.

even with how impossible jungkook is and the fact that he can technically break any rules he wants to while in charge, he at least does work. he cares enough to get paid and get the hell out of there when needed, even going out of his way to help you when you’re lost. you wouldn’t go so far to say that he loves his job, but jungkook is good at it and is good at making money.

later that night, the gamestop closes for an hour to prepare for the midnight release party. jungkook sweeps the floor, while you count the register. he comes over to double check your math and laughs under his breath when you realize you forgot to log something in the binder.

this escalates into your usual back and forth with him, as he makes fun of you.

“don’t fucking laugh at me,” you say, shoving him.

jungkook is still amused, but rolls his eyes at your action. “that’s assault, you know.”

“you’re an asshole,” you reply, your entire face scrunching up.

he ignores you and reaches over your to grab the binder on the counter. when he does so, his hand brushes ever so slightly over yours and you visibly freeze. jungkook doesn’t seem to notice at first - until you realize he’s doing it on purpose.

it isn’t just the binder. he places a hand on your hip to urge you into a side step so that he can stand in front of the register. he stands far too closer than he has to, so close that you can hear his steady breathing.

you turn around so you can go do something else, but jungkook is still there and that’s your mistake. when you move, he’s right in front of you and you’ve trapped yourself against the counter. his proximity sparks something unknown in your gut, from his cologne to the heat off his body. he peers down at your face, raising an eyebrow, and doesn’t move either.

“by the way,” jungkook suddenly speaks, voice lower than usual, and he holds your gaze. you’re breathless and his eyes are dizzying. “you look nice in red.”

at first, your eyes flicker down to the red halter top you wear, but then you remember your outfit yesterday. the cherry hued bikini you donned and the way jungkook stared at you from across the party for hours. with that, the same shade burns your cheeks, as you’re too flustered to respond.

he’s so close right now. again. you keep finding yourself in these situations, where jungkook is just inches away from your face and it constantly leaves you frozen.

after what feels like forever, realizing that you have no witty response to his teasing, jungkook steps away with the curve of a smirk on his lips. you huff, realizing that he got you and you stomp away to the back, needing a moment to just get the hell away from him. the blood rushing to your head is indicative of the frustration you’ve been burning since you got this job.

you search the back for some water when footsteps approach and you have to will yourself to not turn around. in fact, you go deeper into the back, pretending to look for something in the storage room.

the footsteps continue as you feign the action of searching the shelves, until the footsteps stop and you can feel him right next to you once more.

jungkook says your name. “what are you doing? you’re not done with the register,” he says, irritation lacing his voice.

“i need to grab something back here,” you lie through your teeth, refusing to turn around.

you’re going through the random assortment of objects in front of you, deciding on a cardboard box of contents that you have no clue about.

except, you drop it.

you drop the box with a bang and the impact follows to the helpless door stopper, floor shaking for a moment and forcing it out. just like that, the door shuts close and so do your eyes, as you squeeze them tight in disbelief.

this can’t be real. jungkook isn’t fast enough to grab the door, as it shuts right in his face.

“oh, just great,” he groans and you turn around to see him wiggling the knob. he even kicks the door a few times, which is hopeless.

you want to facepalm yourself. you push past him, grabbing the doorknob for yourself to see if it’s actually locked. you rattle it several times, muttering a series of ‘no’s’ under your breath, and feeling your chest stutter. it’s locked completely, just like the first time.

you continue to wiggle the doorknob, even trying to shove your shoulder into the door a few times. “this can’t be happening -’

“- well, it’s your fault! the fuck you do that for?” jungkook yells, hands in his face.

“i obviously didn’t mean to drop that box, you asshole!” you growl back, turning around to look at him.

and, there it is again. the two of you, stuck in this closet, with just inches of space between you. jungkook doesn’t care, still continuing to argue with you.

“i literally told you that this shit locks!” he says and runs a hand through his messy black hair.

“and i told you that i didn’t mean to do it!”

“god, you’re so annoying, why can’t you ever just fucking listen to me?”

“why would i ever listen to you?!” you scream back, getting up in his face to poke him in the chest.

jungkook is unfazed, getting even closer to you now.

“because you’re a brat -”

the both of you are breathless from both the frustration of being locked in the storage room again and from the way neither of you back down from one another. you try to steady your heartbeat, but it’s difficult when you look up and see jungkook’s angry stare right back at you.

in that moment, everything goes silent. there’s just you and him, the buzz of the air conditioning, and a bubble of heat surrounding you. jungkook takes half a step forward. you don’t move. you can’t. something grounds your feet into place, planting you tight so that you can’t back away from the fuzzy tension floating in the air, as your breathing changes.

surprisingly, you move first.

an unknown force comes over you and your muscles, as you reach out and grab a fistful of jungkook’s t-shirt. he just lets you and even stumbles closer before you can even yank him to your lips. you capture them messily, so forceful that you nearly knock yourself over, but don’t because jungkook grabs your hips harshly, pulling them against his.

the kiss is all teeth and tongue, mountains of vexation poured into the heated movements. he pushes you against the door and you fucking moan at the impact, your hands flying to wrap your arms around his neck. your fingers find purchase in his hair and you tug, eliciting a sinful noise of out him.

jungkook doesn’t stop - not with the way his tongue swirls around yours and the way he sinks his teeth into your lip. you press your tits into his chest and his hand trails down to your ass, grabbing a generous handful through the thin skirt that you wear.

he pulls away to trail hot, open-mouthed kisses down your neck and you’re shamelessly hissing his name. he nips and sucks at the sensitive spot he finds near instantly, soothing his ministrations with his tongue.

“fuck you,” you manage to choke out between the waves of pleasure shooting straight in between your legs. “god, i fucking hate you -”

“- fucking hate you, too -” jungkook snaps back at you, despite the way he’s now hooked his arms underneath your thighs. you don’t need to be told to jump slightly, as he carries your weight like it’s nothing, and pushes your back against the door with your legs wrapped around his waist.

you roll your hips up, feeling his hardening cock underneath his jeans, and the searing heat leaves your blood pumping. the layers of clothing are driving you mad and you’ve realized that you’ve reached the point of no return.

he finds your lips again and he thinks he’s obsessed. your touch, your taste, the scent of your perfume - it all leaves him intoxicated. jungkook deepens the kiss, even with the forceful way you return it, as if it’s a verbal fight. he grinds right back into you, meeting the movement of your hips, and you both groan into the kiss.

when you’re back on the ground, you don’t think twice about unbuckling his belt. jungkook hisses at the feeling of your hand on his clothed cock, pausing the kiss to let you continue. instead, he attaches his mouth to the valley of your breasts, running his thumb over your nipples and discovers that you aren’t wearing a bra.

“just take it off, you dumbass,” you whimper in spite of your insult, head thrown back in pleasure.

his hand finds the tie to your halter top, undoing the string and brings his swollen lips to your tit. his tongue flicks out, wet and hot, and swirls around your bud.

jungkook looks up at you with a defiant expression. “like that?” he coos mockingly, watching you writhe when he returns to your nipple, sucking and using his free hand to play with the other one. he pinches softly and you unconsciously jerk forward, pussy grinding into his erection.

“go fuck yourself,” you say, moaning as you do and finally rip off his belt from the loops, too distracted by jungkook’s touch to get if off immediately.

“i’d rather fuck you right now,” he defiantly shoots back, hands squeezing your ass again.

an uncomfortable wetness seeps through your panties and jungkook finds it after he parts your legs open with his knee. his fingers are feather light against the fabric, chuckling into your skin when he realizes just how soaked you are.

you lick your lips. “please,” you mewl, even opening your legs further. “just touch me. now.”

jungkook complies. he pushes your panties to the side and drags in just one finger past your folds, causing your mouth to hang open in bliss. his lips are still wrapped around your nipple, sucking and grazing his teeth slightly around the sensitive area, and he enters a second finger without warning.

the stretch leaves you dizzy, as he finds no resistance with how wet you are, easily scissoring and pumping his fingers into your core until you’re putty in his arms. you feel a pressure build up, a heat that’s about to spot your vision - when jungkook suddenly pulls his fingers out of you.

your eyes open, wide and angry. “you’re such a fucking asshole -”

jungkook cuts you off by yanking you into another kiss, hard and passionate. he kisses you with all the irritation that bubbles underneath the surface, like he wants to devour you. his words mumble against your mouth and you whine at them.

“god, shut up - if you’re gonna cum, i’m gonna make sure you do it on my cock.”

you can’t argue with that. you fumble with jungkook’s zipper and unbutton his jeans, while he reaches into his back pocket. jungkook pulls out his wallet, where he fishes out a small foil square and tears open the condom package with his teeth.

not wasting any time, you pull down his boxers and his cock springs free, thick and heavy. the tip is leaking with precum and the girth has you struggling to even wrap your hand around the whole thing. you give it a few experimental strokes, biting your lip.

jungkook chuckles lowly, though a bit hoarse at the way you’re pumping his cock. “don’t worry, i got you,” he mutters, rolling the condom on.

then, he suddenly grabs your hips and spins you around, pressing you against the door. you gasp, hands flat against the surface, as jungkook torturously presses his cock into your ass. he moves your hair back, sucking into your neck again and you accidentally arch even further into him at the contact, whimpering at his touch. he’s good. too good. he’s already found what places make you weak. and you are weak underneath him, completely at his mercy. jungkook’s arms snake around your torso, holding you in place.

jungkook grunts, lining the tip with your entrance. “fuck, look at this ass,” he says, landing a harsh smack onto a cheek and you back up even closer to him.

“knew you wanted to fuck me,” you manage to spit out through clenched teeth, wiggling your ass against him. you can hear him moan at the sight, grip tightening on your hips.

he just laughs bitterly, not acknowledging your statement. jungkook slowly pushes in, sliding his cock through your walls and hisses when he does so. you’re no better, moaning as you try to adjust to his size. your hands reach back to him, finding his hair again and tugging him close.

jungkook finally bottoms out and you cry out. once he’s all the way in, he wastes no time in pulling all the way out - only to pound right back into you in one fluid motion. he fills you up so good and the stretch leaves you drowning in pleasure, the feeling crackling between your bodies.

“pussy feels so good,” he groans, setting a brutal pace and fucks you like he’s been starving for this.

the scene is filthy, the way neither of you have actually really taken off any clothing. neither of you wanted to waste any damn time - your thong barley moved to the side, the way his muscles and veins pop out of the shirt he wears with each slam. he slams into you with movements full of built up tension over weeks, maybe even years. you can barely hold your balance with his thrusts, moans spilling out of you and you try your best to meet his rhythm, throwing your ass back with as much frustration.

you fuck like you’re intoxicated, under some sort of wicked spell. jungkook is lightheaded, watching you look back at him with parted lips as he snaps his hips relentlessly. your walls clench around his length and your eyes don’t leave his.

“just like that, i’m close -”

“you like getting fucked like this?” jungkook hisses, hand in your hair the same way yours is in his. you moan even louder at the sting. “you’re so fucking dirty, look at you. like the way my cock fills you up?”

“y-yeah -” you squeak, screwing your eyes shut.

“good girl, take it -”

his words are marked by even sharper thrusts, as he lifts one of your legs slightly off the ground. the angle sends you over the edge, as his cock finds the sweet spot that ignites a crash of pleasure over you. your orgasm ripples through your vision and you nearly scream, vision going white and muscles failing you.

jungkook follows not long after, gritting his teeth at the sinful way your walls flutter around his cock, squeezing tight and sparking his own release. with a grunt, his finishes into the condom, eyes squeezed closed. you’re both out of breath, dizzy, and still connected to one another.

when jungkook finally pulls out, you’ve finally found your balance again. your heartbeat steadies once more, as reality sets it.

the worse part is that you aren’t even mad about it. you haven’t came that hard in a long time.

you fix your skirt and tie your top back into place, turning around. jungkook has discarded the condom into the garbage bin in the corner and is now zipping himself back into his jeans, also visibly unbothered by what just happened.

there’s silence again between the two of you, but for some reason, you don’t feel awkward about it.

your eyes meet and jungkook’s signature smirk returns. “well?”

“well, what?” you return, voice more casual than it is irritated.

he studies you for a moment, thinking. then, he decides on one word.

“nothing.”

“then, nothing. loser.”

jungkook nods, smirk not faltering. instead of talking about what just happened, he finds his cellphone and makes a call - presumably to jimin, so that the two of you could be let out.

it doesn’t even take two minutes for jimin to run over from blockbuster, somehow making his way inside despite the fact that you and jungkook had long locked up the store after closing. you don’t question it, though, not when the man rescues you from the confines of the storage room.

the door swings open to reveal the man, looking both exasperated and amused at the same time.

“again? i’m surprised you didn’t kill each other,” jimin comments, but jungkook just walks past him and back to the salesfloor after muttering a ‘thanks’ under his breath.

the rest of the night mostly goes by without incident. you and jungkook open the store again for the midnight release and get through the late night shift, closing again after two hours once all the customers come for their reservations.

hell, you don’t even speak to jungkook for the rest of the shift. there’s nothing to say to him. except, it’s not like either of you can avoid each other. not just because you’re working, but because it’s obvious you don’t want to. he caught you several times sneaking a glance at him throughout the shift, as you do with him. you’re not blind, you can tell when a man stares at your ass, and jungkook doesn’t even hide it.

when the last customer finally leaves and you and jungkook finish closing, you’re exhausted. you don’t care to think too hard about what happened in the storage room because it’s obvious he doesn’t care either. if anything, you’re debating on if you should bring in your resignation letter tomorrow. he was a good fuck, but you’d rather not deal with some sort of eventual blackmail deal where jungkook threatens to tell everyone that you slept together. this is only going to end badly.

instead, when you pull on your jacket and follow jungkook out the store, you’re stopped. he doesn’t say anything, just grabs you by the wrist when you turn to make your walk home.

“what are you doing?” jungkook asks, eyes narrowed.

you don’t have the energy to conjure up any sarcasm. “going home.”

this isn’t the first time that you’ve closed the store with jungkook. most of your shifts together are closing shifts, even. you usually walk home because the sorority house is across the corner.

“it’s almost three in the morning. i’ll give you a ride.” jungkook says this like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, but you let out a huff.

“i’ve literally walked home every single time. i’ll survive,” you reply.

he rolls his eyes. “none of those times were in the middle of the night,” he points out. “just come, stupid. don’t make it in a big fuckin’ deal.”

truth be told, you don’t want to make it into a big deal, so you wordlessly follow jungkook to his car parked at the back of the store.

this is now the first time you’ve been alone together since earlier in the night when you fucked in the storage room. you slide into the passenger seat and jungkook turns the key, the engine roaring to life. you take a glance around. it’s surprisingly clean and a pair of foam dice hang from the interior rear view mirror. there’s a gym bag in the backseat, along with some loose drumsticks, but that’s it.

you don’t ask how jungkook knows where the sorority house is because you don’t want to hear any stories about which sisters he’s fucked. the drive is quick and mostly quiet, if not for the green day cd playing in the background. there is something unknown floating in the air - you aren’t sure if you would call it tension, but it’s thick and waiting to snap with each glance that you and jungkook pretend to not notice.

when he finally stops in front of the house and you unbuckle your seatbelt, you somehow know it’s not the end just yet.

your thoughts are confirmed when you barely reach down to grab your things and jungkook has unbuckled his seatbelt to lean over. your lips are on his before you can stop yourself, moaning into the kiss.

you don’t break away when you climb over to the driver’s seat, straddling jungkook’s lap and shoving your tongue into his mouth. his hands find your ass, squeezing tight when you suck on his lip ring.

after a few moments, you yank yourself away and crawl back into the passenger seat like nothing even happened. jungkook appears dazed, wiping his mouth with his hand and grins wide. you narrow your eyes at him, challenging him to say anything.

“what?” he holds his hands up, innocently.

“fuck off,” you mutter, fixing your hair and grabbing your things again.

jungkook wraps his hand around your wrist, tugging you back before you can exit the car. he slips a piece of paper into your hand and you don’t need to check to know that it’s his number. you think you saw him scribble it down at the store. it’s a bold move and he’s confident in doing so, seeing the look in your eyes.

you don’t say anything, just shoving the paper into your purse.

he laughs. “night, princess.”

you mouth another ‘fuck you’ when you close the car door, sauntering into your house. you can feel jungkook’s smoldering staring into your back when you do, making sure you sway your hips with every movement. a dozen thoughts run through your mind, but only one stands out and it’s making sure you save jungkook’s number into your phone as soon as you’re upstairs.

jeonjungkook0901 - instant message

jeonjungkook0901: what r u doin tonite

xXprincessXx: are you srsly asking to hookup over an aim chatroom

jeonjungkook0901: soooo ur not busy

xXprincessXx: just come over already

the last person jungkook ever expected to sleep with this summer was you. a lot of girls fell to his feet and were charmed by him so easily, but you were never one of them. still, that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to be himself. he flirts with you because, to be frank, you’re hot and getting you all pissed off made you even hotter in his books. he likes the way your nose crinkles when you see him, the way you pretend to not get affected by him when he’s up close to you. it’s almost cute. as irritating and stuck up you seemed, jungkook saw no problem in messing around you a little.

you’re not even that bad of an employee. sure, there are a lot of small things that tick him off about you and he can’t stand the way you always think you’re right, but he’s slowly come to accept that you’d be his coworker for the entire summer.

still, fucking you in the storage room was not in his cards.

the thing is, jungkook doesn’t even mind. the sex was nasty in the best way and he knew he was hooked. he also knew that you weren’t far off from it either, especially with the way he gambled and gave you his number. when you walked away that night without a word, jungkook knew he’d find a text in his phone from you the next morning.

that’s how your little arrangement emerged. all it took was one message from you, telling you what time you’d be home, and jungkook was there. he climbed up your window, away from all the other girls in the house that would question his presence, and into your bedroom. within five minutes, you were riding him on your bed.

you figure out quickly that he’s an insane fuck and he finds out all the ways to drive you mad from just the first few times you sleep with each other. you love the way he stuffs you full with his cock slowly, muttering insults into your ear and how pathetic you look. he’ll pin your wrists over your head and you’ll defiantly tell him how much you hate him, eyes full of tears because of the way he makes your pussy spasm around him. both of your bodies wrecked together, fueled by nothing but pure frustation with one another and it goes on for weeks.

sometimes, the two of you would fuck in his car or you would make your way to his apartment when hoseok wasn’t home.

tonight is no exception. it’s late and you’re up, gaming as usual. your party has defeated the latest raid released in last night’s update and you’re bidding goodbye to everyone. only a few stick around to chat about life, until it’s just you and your guild co-leader, jkae.

no29: what do u think about hosting a guild event next weekend?

jkae: ohh that sounds like fun what did you have in mind

unfortunately, you can’t really focus. at some point in the conversation, jungkook sent you a text with the usual ‘r u up’ line. you roll your eyes at the message and reply with a yes. the thought of him coming over this late has you biting your lip, as you think about your last encounter at his place just two days ago, after your last shift together.

you hate yourself for it, but it’s addictive. he’s so insanely good with his hands and something about the way you can’t stand each other fuels the sex even more. most of the time, neither of you would go home after closing the store and instead, would find your way to each other’s beds one way or another.

jkae: hey actually sorry i have to go

jkae: we can talk more abt it tmrw!

you wince. you realize that you’d been too busy texting jungkook, who has now confirmed that he’s leaving his apartment to see you, to remember that you’re also in the middle of a conversation on final fantasy xi. quickly, you type up an apology to your friend.

no29: omg im so sorry i think im just getting sleepy

jkae: lmao no worries its late af

jkae: have a goodnight no29

no29: haha have a good night ^^ ttyl

soon enough, you hear pebbles shooting at your window. currently, you’re tucked in bed with your gameboy in your grasp, so you quickly chuck it into your desk desk drawer and make your way over. sliding the window up, the cool june breeze is sharp against your skin and you see jungkook below.

“be fucking quiet,” you remind him with wide eyes, your index finger over your lips.

he’s wearing just sweatpants and a hoodie, climbing the wall with skill. this is maybe the third time that you’ve snuck him into the sorority house, the first in the middle of the night.

when jungkook hops into your room, finding footing, he raises an eyebrow at your appearance. he loves the scowl on your face every time he sees you, as if you wanna be anywhere but here, when he knows the truth. this is the first time he’s seen you completely dressed down. you’re wearing cotton shorts and an oversized shirt with your glasses perched on your nose, as well your hair messily thrown up.

“you look cute,” he mutters, closing the window behind him.

“shut the hell up,” you say, blushing. you weren’t expecting to see anyone tonight after logging into the game, much less him. the last thing you were going to do, though, is throw on a face of makeup just because jungkook was feeling horny and texted you. if he wanted you that bad, he can just come and have you as you are right now.

jungkook’s eyes scan your appearance, then your room. your heart stills for a moment, noticing that your computer is still on. thankfully, the game has long closed and instead, the screen shows your myspace page.

“this is why you were up?” he teases, walking over to your desk. “your page looks super detailed. how’d you do that?”

you pause. it’s not often that the two of you have idle conversation, but it’s been happening more often since starting to sleep with each other. it’s always small, mindless things that you chat about, maybe after sex or when the two of you meet up like this. he’s learned a few things about you, like the fact that you wear glasses and the kind of beer you prefer. in turn, you’ve also learned random facts about jungkook, like how he enjoys cooking - though, you declined the one time he offered to make you something at his place, citing that you’re convinced he would poison you.

“i coded it,” you answer. “i’m a comp sci major, remember?”

if jungkook is doubtful in any way, he doesn’t show it. he nods instead, clearly impressed, and doesn’t question you further.

you sit on your bed, laying down on your stomach and chuck a throw pillow in his direction. “stop snooping through my shit now,” you huff.

“not snooping. so, you’re taking a bunch of comp sci classes for the summer.”

“yeah. i tanked my exams last semester.” you don’t know why you admit this, but it’s not like jungkook can’t tell that you’re not exactly at your highest of highs this summer.

“how are you able to do all that and work?” he questions, genuinely surprised. maybe even impressed.

“i have no choice, genius. my parents got pissed about my grades and cut off my credit card, which is why i got that stupid fucking job.”

jungkook considers this for a moment, expression unreadable. you half expected him to make fun of you for what happened, but he doesn’t. instead, he just moves on with the conversation and doesn’t belittle you once. you try to not react to that.

he turns around with a grin, eyes dropping to your appearance again. “but seriously, you look really cute like this,” jungkook hums.

if anything, he especially likes the way you look tonight. you’re in your little pajamas and he loves the way you pretend like you don’t want him. your eyebrows are furrowed and you keep avoiding eye contact with him.

jungkook stalks over to you, as if a predator seeking his prey, and smiles wider when your scowl doesn’t falter. it’s slow and deliberate, the way he calculates his moves.

he makes himself comfortable next to you and you don’t get up, still sitting down on your stomach. you know your shorts are riding up your ass in this position and make sure jungkook can see it. he doesn’t even try to hide his stare.

“why are you even up this late?” you glance at the small clock on your bedside table that reads 2:03AM.

jungkook shrugs, “had a gig that went late, then ended up gaming.”

you shift so that you sit up, scooting closer to jungkook. he smirks at the action, now just inches away from you. his eyes trail over your body again, then to your face.

“your neck looks stiff. you been up at your desk, too, huh?”

“is this supposed to be your version of flirting? it’s dogshit.”

jungkook’s smirk widens. “hey, we don’t gotta beat around the bush. you know why you wanted me to come.”

“fine, i’ll bite,” you reply, rolling your eyes and you clear your throat. “yeah, my neck is killing me. can you help me with it?” you even bat your eyelashes, to which he laughs at.

“would be my pleasure.”

you turn around, playing along with the whole thing, and jungkook’s hands find your shoulders. surprisingly, he’s pretty good at casually massaging you. his thumbs find your neck - which is actually stiff from the hours of gaming - and you can’t help but moan at the soft circles they make.

jungkook has moved even closer to you, chest to your back, and you can feel the heat radiating off of him. his hands continue to massage your neck, when suddenly you feel a kiss just below your ear. you can’t help but lean into his touch even more, as his teeth graze your earlobe and one of his hands leave your neck to ghost just above your cleavage.

“god, you shouldn’t even be here -” you whine, even though you know you’re too far gone.

jungkook chuckles. “- don’t fuckin’ care.”

one hand slips under your thin shirt, brushing your nipples once and you have to bite your lip. jungkook’s lips are now on your neck, sucking and nipping at the skin. you can feel his hardening cock pressing into your back and you reach back, palming it through the fabric of his sweatpants.

without warning, he manhandles you onto his lap. you let out a gasp and instantly curse yourself for making a loud noise in the middle of the night, covering your mouth. he obviously doesn’t want that, grabbing your wrist and ripping it away.

“jungkook -”

“- let me hear you,” he growls, palming your ass and attaches his mouth to the column of your throat.

you hopelessly grind into his lap, the cotton of your shorts already dampened in between your legs. he shoves your top all the way up, your tits spilling out and moves his mouth to wrap around one of them. you tangle your fingers in his hair, head tilted back in bliss.

when he pulls away, it’s to yank you into a sloppy kiss, muffling both of your moans. you return it with fervor, tugging at the hem of his shirt. he breaks the kiss to pull it off and you also make quick work of your own shirt. your lips meet again and jungkook flips you so that you’re trapped underneath him, pinned to the mattress.

soon, he’s ripped off both your shorts, leaving you in just your panties. jungkook admires the sight, taking a sharp inhale.

“like what you see?” you breathily snap. “stop wasting time.”

jungkook smirks, seeing right through your words. he smacks the inside of your thigh in response and you whine, the arousal shooting through you. the shared eye contact is nothing less than heated and visceral - he looks like he wants to devour you.

“don’t tell me what to do, you fucking brat,” he grunts, kicking off his pants.

“shut up -”

he gets rid of your useless panties and slides two fingers into your heat, causing you to arch off the mattress with a whimper. jungkook grins at this and doesn’t hesitate to add a third.

“so fucking tight and messy already. you just want to me fuck that attitude out of you, don’t you?”

you nod rapidly without shame, digging your nails into his back. you grind into his palm, your breath stolen from you when his thumb meets your swollen clit. with each thrust, he curls his fingers so perfectly, stretching your walls to the point where you think you’re already going to cum.

“s-slow down, i’m not gonna last,” you admit with flushed cheeks and it only makes jungkook’s cock harder.

“yeah?” he mutters, eyes zeroed in on the juices that coat the inside of your thighs.

he leans down, replacing his thumb with his mouth and sucks hard. you cry out, rolling your hips on instinct against his face, chasing the heat and chasing him. he pins your hips down with his forehead across your stomach, ruining you and splitting you open with just his tongue and fingers.

jungkook groans at how needy you are, his ministrations never faltering. he circles his tongue around your clit and when his fingers find the spot that makes your vision go blurry, you have to grab a pillow to cover your moans as you cum. you cum fast and it’s embarrassing, but jungkook is loving it. you shake violently, the orgasm shattering all of your senses, and jungkook doesn’t let up.

when he finally pulls away, he brings his fingers to your mouth. “suck,” jungkook demands.

you lazily wrap your mouth around his fingers, tasting yourself and staring right back at him when you do so. he grits his teeth watching you, having enough and finally takes off his boxers, where his cock has been painfully straining the entire time.

reaching into your bedside table, you find a condom and tear it open. jungkook reaches out to grab it, but is surprised when you decide to put it on him. you carefully place it at the tip of his cock and as you roll it on, your tongue drags down the length and he’s left shuddering.

“filthy fuckin’ girl,” he moans, looking at you with want in his eyes.

you grin wickedly and he brings you in for another bruising kiss, pushing you back onto the bed. your fist wraps around his length and you guide him to your entrance, wetting the tip with your slick release.

jungkook pushes in, inch by inch, and your cunt swallows him full.

“oh my god,” you whine, adjusting to his size.

“so soaked, taking me so easy,” he groans.

he moves in long, lazy strokes, his hand creeping up to wrap around your throat.

“this what you wanted?” jungkook chuckles darkly, applying just the right amount of pressure. “needed by to stuff this pussy full so you can finally shut up for once?”

“fuck you,” you hiss back, unable to help the way you clench at his words.

he screws his eyes shut at the sensation. “you’re such a brat, squeezing that tight pussy around me like that,” jungkook grunts.

before you can shoot back another retort, he moves your legs and pushes your knees to your chest. his next thrust is so deep that you think you see stars, crying out in pleasure.

jungkook presses his forehead to yours as his rhythm turns sharp, the dirty whispers coming from his lips just ghosting about yours. the strokes are punishing and hard that leave your tits bouncing with every thrust, until your ankles are at your ears and the room is filled with nothing but filthy, wet sounds.

“i - i’m gonna -” your mouth hangs open, as his cock slams into your g-spot and your thighs are soaked. you continue to arch and gasp beneath jungkook, feeling him twitch inside you and you know he’s also close.

“yeah? cum for me, baby.”

at this words, your limbs turn into absolute jelly as you come undone and his name is a broken sob on your lips. he follows just seconds after, cock pulsing and groaning your name through gritted teeth.

you whimper when he pulls out and releases your legs. you’re sore all over and you’re not even sure if you’ll be able to walk tomorrow. when you look over at jungkook, you catch him smirking and you can tell he’s thinking the exact same thing.

“you’re such a dickhead,” you mumble and he smirks wider. “you know you’re the one who scheduled me tomorrow? i don’t wanna hear a single complaint about how i’m gonna be sitting the entire shift.”

jungkook barks out a laugh, as he stands up to dispose of the condom. you take a moment to drag your eyes over his body, admiring how obvious he takes care of it. he’s very built and you can’t help but think that his tattoos are insanely attractive.

well, you have to be attracted to him if you’re helping him sneak into your house and letting him fuck you in the middle of the night.

he catches you staring, but doesn’t comment on it. “you always have something to complain about, even after i fuck you nice,” he snickers.

“cry about it,” you shoot back, rolling your eyes.

jungkook suddenly kneels right back on to the bed, crawling towards you. there’s a dark look in his eyes and you raise a single eyebrow. when he slowly spreads your legs, pussy still ruined and leaking, your breath hitches.

“bet i could make you cry in record time.” jungkook grins. “though, it won’t be from my words.”

and just like that, his head lowers to your cunt, ready to clean you up with his mouth.

if anything good were to come out of getting that stupid part time job, at least you were getting dicked down. it’s unfortunate that it has to be the one man who truly gets under your skin, but as you lay back and feel jungkook licking you clean, you tell yourself that it doesn’t even matter.

no29: wow i feel like i havent been on the game as much lately :(

jkae: ikr lifes been so busy

jkae: how have u been

no29: things have been…complicated

jkae: oh yeah?

no29: just a lot of weird things going on ig

jkae: hows work and school?

no29: i mean technically its going well

jkae: thats good :) wb your friends and all that?

jkae: you should invite them to play the game too

no29: rofl i dont think they would be into this kinda thing

no29: they would make fun of me prob

jkae: what kind of friends would do that

no29: i mean not all of them!

no29: i just feel like sometimes its hard to be myself around them

jkae: nah i get you

jkae: but you shouldn’t be afraid to be yourself

jkae: you’re great

no29: you think so?

jkae: you’re genuinely one of the coolest and smartest people ik

jeonjungkook0901 - instant message

jeonjungkook0901: come over

xXprincessXx: cant

xXprincessXx: studying for a test

jeonjungkook0901: study on my bed :)

xXprincessXx: ur such a pig

jeonjungkook0901: how many classes r u even taking

xXprincessXx: 3

jeonjungkook0901: wtf 3 summer classes at once???

xXprincessXx: do u see why im always stressed u fkin asshole

jeonjungkook0901: lemme make it better for u

jeonjungkook0901: just come im a good study buddy

jeonjungkook0901: ….i’ll order u pizza

xXprincessXx: kk be there in 10

your entire day with your friends has been ruined with one simple voicemail. you’ve been avoiding going out with your friends to save money and while the girls sympathize with you after your parents cut off your credit card, you think they don’t realize just how different your situation is now. you have to navigate finances for the first time in your life and it’s taking a toll on you. on top of that, you’re juggling all of these classes and you’re losing you'r mind. still, you agree to go out for some coffee and get your nails done together as a little treat to yourself.

unfortunately, you check your phone midway through the appointment and see that your mother has left you a message. neither of your parents have been in much contact with you since the summer began, only opting for communication if absolutely necessary.

imani is to your left and notics the panicked look in your eyes. “what’s wrong?” she asks.

“my parents said they’re coming to visit tomorrow,” you grumble, holding out your right hand for the nail technician. “to check up on me.”

on your other side seats heather and elena, who tune into the conversation.

“yikes,” elena says. “check up on you?”

this proves a problem. you have work tomorrow for most of the day and besides, the last thing you want to do is deal with your parents.

imani is the only one who looks remotely concerned, as she’s the only one that knows about your actual job, while elena and heather go on about how annoying parents can be.

“mine are in europe and haven’t even bothered to call me once since last month,” huffs elena, who then nudges you. “can i have some gum?”

you wordlessly pass your purse to her, too preoccupied with thinking about how to go about this.

“can you guys just turn them away if they show up at the house?” you ask.

“sure - uh, girl, what is this?”

in elena’s hand, she holds up your gameboy. you flush red, as your friends look at you, confused. quickly, you snatch away both the gameboy and your purse from elena’s nosy ass, sending an apologetic look to the lady doing your nails for the sudden movement.

“it’s my brother’s, i found it in my car the other day,” you lie quickly, too embarrassed to explain yourself.

heather nods. “oh, okay. thought you were a video game weirdo there for a second.”

while imani sends her a look, elena laughs along with heather and you have to bite back whatever irritated response is about to come out of your mouth.

elena isn’t the only person who randomly finds your gameboy. you know that you probably shouldn’t just carry it in your purse, but you’ve been obsessed wtih beating the new fire emblem game that you can’t help yourself. the next day, you don’t realize that it’s fallen out of your bag at work until jungkook comes out of the back room with the blue device in his grasp.

you’re just finishing up with a customer, bagging their purchases and wishing them a good day. you’ve heard enough from jungkook about how you never smile at customers, so you’ve at least tried to be a little nicer.

“so, you do like video games.”

he slides the gameboy across the counter, the plastic smooth against the surface. your eyes widen at the sight and you grab it, glaring at him.

“are you going through my shit, you asshole?” you accuse, pointing at him.

jungkook holds a hand up. “chill. it fell out of your bag and i found it on the floor.” he smirks. “but, that’s cute. who would’ve thought?”

at this point, you’ve stopped threatening jungkook to not tell anyone about you working here or your interest in video games. he seems to get the message - plus, it helps when he goes on and on about how you’ve given the ‘best head he’s ever had’. he wouldn’t dare cross you.

before you can retort, mike, the only other employee at the store, walks in. he usually only comes in for the weekends, but jungkook scheduled him in today since you’re all expecting a large shipment coming in. you’ve only really met mike once, so you just give him a half wave and go back to the register.

jungkook comes up to mike to brief him as the latter clocks in, which is when you call out that you’re going on break.

you slip into the back room and put your gameboy back into your purse, scowling to yourself at how careless you’ve been. you also check your phone to see if you have any messages or missed calls from your parents.

zero. maybe they changed their minds after all. you didn’t see why they would need to come in and check up on you, tired of them treating you like a child ever since the semester ended. maybe it’s deserved, but you’re losing patience.

the door swings open and you already know it’s jungkook before you turn around. you open your mouth to say something, but change your mind. you’ve been eying him all day and he’s been looking infuriatingly good.

“can you - woah, what the hell?”

with all the irritation pent up inside about your parents and your friends, you decide your next course of action quickly and do so by yanking jungkook towards the bathroom. he follows you quickly, amused by your sheer force and the frown on your lips.

you drag him inside and after clicking the lock, pull him in for a bruising kiss. jungkook certainly doesn’t complain, his hand hot on your body instantly.

“mmph, take your shit off,” you mumble against his lips, looking for the drawstrings of his sweatpants.

jungkook laughs, taking the hint and also helps you with the button of your shorts. “your legs look too good in these,” he says, lips now on your neck and you arch into him.

you never get an opportunity to fuck at work, mostly because somebody has to be out on the salesfloor. whenever it happens, it’s after hours, but you and jungkook prefer to just take things to someone’s place. the thrill of knowing all those people are outside sends a jolt through you, leaving you pressing your thighs together.

your shorts pool at your ankles and your quickly step out of them. you don’t expect jungkook to suddenly kneel down, pressing kisses down your exposed belly. biting your lips at the sight of such a strong man like him on his knees for you, he hooks a leg over his shoulder and like a fucking freak, buries his face into the lace of your panties and moans at the scent of your arousal.

“you need to hurry,” you half whisper, trying to hold in a moan.

“fuck it, what the hell will mike say?” jungkook grunts back, a languid lick up the wet fabric and you bite your lip even harder to suppress any noises. “just relax and let me get a taste.”

he peels off your panties and you notice him tuck it into his back pocket. you don’t say anything about it because without hesitation, his lips wrap around your clit and he sucks like he’s been waiting all day. you writhe in place, the frenzy of his desire so fucking hot.

then, there’s a knock on the door.

you and jungkook both jump up, eyes wide.

“hey, jungkook! mike said you’re back here?”

of course, it’s jimin. the one time he decides to break the jimin ban, it’s when jungkook’s is about to fuck you with his tongue.

“go away, i’m busy,” answers jungkook, before returning his mouth to your glistening pussy. he looks up at you with a glare that tells you to shut up, so you slap a hand across your mouth.

jimin doesn’t move. in fact, he knocks again.

“okay, i’ll wait outside. by the way, are you guys the only ones in today?” he asks. “there’s a guy and his wife outside, talking about how their daughter works here. . . “

in record time, you and jungkook get your clothes back on. well, you’re missing your panties that are neatly stuffed inside jungkook’s back pocket, but you pull everything else on once you hear this and push for jungkook to do that same.

you nearly rip the door off the hinge when you’re done, pushing past jimin, whose eyes are wide as saucers after he realizes that it was the two of you in there and what he just interrupted. jungkook looks at him with a clenched jaw, pissed off at getting cockblocked.

“dude, you’re supposed to be banned from the store.”

“i saw mike outside and i thought that she wouldn’t be here!” he exclaims, awkwardly scratching his neck. “there’s never more than just two of you here.”

jungkook pinches the bridge of his nose. “you’re a dick.”

“my bad, i didn’t know you guys were fucking,” jimin says, grinning wide. “so. . .this is who you’re always texting at band rehearsals?”

unbeknownst to them, outside, you’re engaged in a very dramatic back and forth with your parents.

you’re not surprised that they’ve showed up out of nowhere, but you’re more upset at the fact that they clearly have zero respect for your privacy. mike has relegated himself to a far corner of the store where he pretends he can’t hear and busies himself with stocking hselves. at the very least, there aren’t any customers nearby.

“how did you even find out where i work?!” you snap, slamming your palms down on the counter.

your mother haughtily huffs and lifts something. it’s the grey gamestop uniform given to your on your first day by darryl. after jungkook informed you that you don’t have to actually wear it, you stuffed it into a random corner in your bedroom.

“this is what you’ve decied to spend your summer doing?” your father asks, exasperated and scrunches his nose up at the surroundings.

your jaw drops. “you told me to get a job -” you step back for a second, blinking rapidly at the sight of your uniform in your mom’s hand. “wait, did you go into my room? how did you -”

“ - elena let us into the house,” your mother says, hand on her heart. “she says that she and heather have been worried about you, how you’re never with them anymore.”

there’s about a dozen different names that you’re about to call your mom, who has never been able to mind her business, when the back door opens.

“excuse me, but i’m going to have to ask you to leave.” jungkook approaches, voice flat. “i can’t have you harassing one of my employees.”

“young man, i’d advise you to stay out of our business,” your father says, not even sparing jungkook a second glance. “this is between us and our lazy daughter.”

this just makes jungkook angrier, coming around the counter to face your parents directly. he doesn’t like when people talk to him like that, like he doesn’t matter, and he can see the way there are tears threatening to spill out of your eyes.

he crosses his arms, not budging one bit. “she doesn’t need to answer your questions. it’s obvious that you’re uninvited here.”

“excuse me?” your mother gasps.

“please leave. you’re upsetting her,” jungkook points to you, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. “and, by the way? she’s not lazy. she’s annoying and has an attitude, but lazy is the last thing i would call her.”

you almost want to scoff at jungkook’s words, but it’s the latter part that freezes you in place.

your father just chuckles bitterly. “you don’t know anything -”

“- actually, i do. i’ve been going to the same school as her for four years and she’s unfortunately really smart,” jungkook interrupts, lips pressed thin. “she’s the president of her sorority and does charity work on campus. she even codes in her free time. she may have fucked up last semester, but she’s balancing her first ever job and all her make up classes. do you know how many times i’ve had to yell at her because i caught her studying on the salesfloor?”

you try to interject, eyes wide. “jungkook -” but, it’s jimin who shoots his hand out to stop you from coming closer.

jimin shakes his head, finger on his lips. “shh. i’ve haven’t seen him this worked up in a minute, let it get good,” he whispers.

in front of you, jungkook isn’t letting up. “she comes in here nearly everyday after class and does her job. i think it’s ridiculous to call her lazy - it’s clear to me that she’s trying the best that she can to please you.”

safe to say. your parents are left absolutely speechless. so are you. if anyone was going to come to your defence, you would have guessed anyone else in the whole world before you would guess jungkook. except, he has come to your defence and you can tell that he means every single word.

he stands tall, not backing down. you still have to pull your parents aside and ask them to leave quietly, but this marks a turning point in whatever is going on between you and jungkook.

the insults and attitude don’t decrease, but the charged air between the two of you has changed. it’s become. . .lighter. softer. like there’s a wall that has been quietly crashed down since. you still fuck and yell at each other at work, but there’s always a hint of a smile of either one of your faces, like you’re both finally in on the joke.

meanwhile, jungkook doesn’t even know what came over him. he’s surprised at his own actions. he had no reason to go and defend you in front of your parents, but he did anyways.

no29: my friends are so awful

jkae: what happened???

no29: i realized i dont even really like them god they suck

no29: im just stuck with them because i have to be

jkae: what do you mean by that

no29: idk how to explain it

no29: ive been stuck with them since freshman year anyways i just have to do this for another year

no29: T_T

jkae: imagine how free ur gonna feel

jkae: you’ll feel like a chocobo

no29: lmao you always know how to make me laugh

jeonjungkook0901 - instant message

jeonjungkook0901: saved u a copy of the new megaman

jeonjungkook0901: hid it underneath the discount games in the back

xXprincessXx: wow i think you just put a real smile on my face for the first time ever

jeonjungkook0901: :)

as the days go on, it’s getting harder and harder to hide things from your friends and you’re beginning to care less or less. it’s not just about your dumb part-time job anymore, but they’re getting closer to learning about other things that you’ve been trying to hide for the sake of your reputation. fucking jungkook. playing video games. not being able to fucking swim, much less surf. and you’re getting tired of putting on the self tanner.

you think about your past conversations with jkae, how you shouldn’t even have to hide things from people you consider friends. you haven’t heard from him in a few days, too preoccupied with a busy week at work after another huge release.

instead, you’ve somehow turned to jungkook of all people to rant. it’s not like there’s anybody else that you spend more time with - willingly or not.

after a busy night, it’s just the two of you closing the store. he’s just finished closing the cash register and you’re sweeping the floor.

“i can hear your stomach swallowing itself. let’s go eat,” remarks jungkook casually, noticing the furrow in between your brows.

you don’t know what possesses you to say yes, but he ends up taking you to a diner that looks like it hasn’t been updated since the sixties and unsurprisingly, has the best pancakes in town. the two of you sit in a booth tucked in the corner and the servers are on rollerskates, bringing your orders with smiles on their faces.

biting into your burger, you let out a groan. you haven’t been able to eat properly all day, having woken up late for your classes and gone straight to work afterwards as usual. jungkook watches you with a smirk.

you sigh. “this is really good.”

“i’m surprised you haven’t put on some sort of disguise to hide that you’re here with me,” he chuckles. “would be bad for your reputation, no?”

“good heavens. should i put on some sunglasses?”

“you think that’s gonna hide the bright pink juicy couture you got on?” jungkook scoffs, gesturing to your outfit that stands out against the dullness of the sandy leather you sit on.

you smirk. “maybe you’re the one who wants me to hide for your reputation. will your loser band mates drop you if they find out you’ve taken me here?”

“jimin already knows we’re fucking,” he snorts. “i think you should be more concerned about getting overthrown by your little sorority sisters.”

“don’t care anymore. i’m tired of watching my back,” you mumble, sipping on your milkshake. “i’m starting to wonder if it all even really matters.”

“never did, princess,” jungkook says.

you give him a look. “easy for you to say. you get who be whoever you want and everyone will love you.” you gesture to his appearance from head to toe - from his combat boots to his tattooed knuckles and the bar that runs through his eyebrows. “everyone’s always expected a specific girl when they see me.”

“god, no wonder all you greek people are assholes,” he jokes.

“yeah, it’s all because of societal expectations,” you say wryly. “and coke rage, don’t forget.”

“how could i forget?” jungkook snickers.

“but, honestly, it’s true.” you reply, shaking your head. “my friends would get weird if they found out i game in my free time. they already think it’s weird that i’m a computer science major.”

“just doesn’t add up to me.”

you snort. “they found our aim chatroom and asked me if i was doing hard drugs because i was messaging you.”

well, not only that, but elena and heather also happened to come across your emails with jkae from your game. you tried to pass it off as a penpal, but they started questioning you over it, too. they kept asking where you even found this ‘penpal’ and think you’re on some weird forums or something.

at that, jungkook nearly chokes on his burger from the laughter that surfaces. he coughs and wheezes at the same time, taken aback by your statement. you roll your eyes and throw a napkin across the table, but you’re laughing, too.

you watch jungkook finally catch his breath, ignoring the alarmed looks of patrons that surround you. “oh, stop,” you say. “. . .you know what?”

he raises an eyebrow. “what?”

“. . .i feel like you’re the only person who doesn’t actually judge me.”

“hey, i ain’t perfect. i judged you plenty,” jungkook clarifies, earning a glare from you. “until i got to know you. i thought you were just stuck up and cruel.”

“yeah?”

“yeah. you’re funny, smart and stuck up and cruel.”

now, it’s your turn to laugh. something about being able to be whoever you want to be around jungkook is nice. there’s an easiness in the air around him. you’ve always been able to speak your mind around him - though, it was mostly unfiltered insults and threats in the past - but, it’s different now. he entertains all of your little thoughts and laughs at all of your jokes. he doesn’t make you feel stupid or look down on you in any way.

he speaks up again. “but, seriously. nothing even matters. you just need to convince yourself that it’ll be okay no matter what.”

the words bleed into you and follows you in the next few days. they echo because of jungkook’s completely earnest tone, the way he looked at you like he meant each syllable.

the same goes for him. jungkook has always been unapologetically himself in every way and doesn’t hold back, but there’s something about your presence that makes him feel like he can really be honest.

during a particularly slow day at work, you’re sitting on a stool behind the front counter next to jungkook as you paint his nails black. the two of you are bored, talking about games and making fun of the mean receptionist at the next door tanning salon.

“can you make it neater?”

“can you go fuck yourself?” you shoot back, not even bothering to look up as your glide the shade of onyx onto his hand.

jungkook laughs, but tries not to move too much as you do your work. he’s been doing his nails himself every once in a while, but has no patience with the polish and ends up doing them messily. you pointed out a few minutes ago that you can just do it for him, shoving him into a chair and demanding for his hand.

he watches you, staying still. “you should come to the gig.”

you learned that jungkook’s band got their first steady gig for the entire summer and that SW!M plays at the local watering hole just down the street every weekend, which is why it’s only ever mike at the store on those days. you also figure out that the gig is why jungkook is even around for the whole summer.

at the suggestion, your eye twitches. “your band is garbage,” you say, not missing a beat.

“untrue, especially to the patrons of the drowning cat,” he replies with a smirk.

“your music sounds like a drowning cat.”

jungkook is no longer offended by your insults and actually chuckles at each and every one, especially when you get really snappy with him. he knows you don’t really mean all of it.

he brushes some hair out of your face when you lean forward to get a closer look at his pinky. you hope the sharp inhale you make isn’t obvious - you’re still ultra sensitive to his touch at times. jungkook does notice, but doesn’t say anything, just smirking to himself.

“the band’s just for fun anyways.” jungkook shrugs. “will have to figure shit out and get a real job after graduation.”

you raise a perfectly threaded eyebrow at him. “really? you seem like the type to drop everything and move to los angeles, find an agent.”

he shakes his head. “nah. not me. maybe back when i was eighteen, but things change and i needed to go to school,” jungkook says. “money’s important and i gotta make it.”

you don’t push too much, but you can tell that this is pretty serious to him. “is it?”

“family stuff,” he replies, tone casual, and it’s left at that. “the rockstar dream was never gonna happen.”

neither of you go in too deep about personal things and it’s been kept at this level - even though you’re both more perceptive than you give off. jungkook has obviously observed your family dynamic and hasn’t commented on it, especially since your parents came into the store. meanwhile, you can tell that jungkook is the breadwinner of sorts for his family, mentioning that he sends money back to them.

except, jungkook does drop another piece of information. “my sister was sick for a while, so i was helping my parents with those bills. now, she’s a junior and will need money for college,” he says.

you nod in understanding, despite the strange itch in your brain when you hear the story. you’re not sure what it is, something familiar that won’t piece together, so you ignore it for now.

“you’re probably really tired.”

jungkook doesn’t expect that kind of response from you. “at times,” he agrees.

“i know what it’s like to feel like you have to live for someone else,” you say with a shrug. “not that taking care of your sister is a bad thing, don’t get it twisted. but, you probably feel like you’ve been on survival mode.”

“i. . .yeah. you feel that way with your parents?”

you pause. you haven’t exactly delved into anything about your family situation, but jungkook has put two and two together from what he’s seen. the reason why you even got this part-time job, all the studying, the appearance of your parents at the store. there’s nothing to hide from him.

“uh huh,” you answer simply, reaching for jungkook’s other hand to paint. his hands are rough against yours and his palm is warm, where your touch lingers longer than necessary. “and then it all blew up in my face. deservingly so.”

you didn’t mean to let last semester to go as far as it did, but you probably needed to be knocked down a peg anyways. escaping from your responsibilities and turning to focusing on only having fun was always going to be detrimental in the long run.

jungkook gives a lopsided smile. “well, if college doesn’t work out, don’t even consider going into cosmetology. this sucks.”

he peers down at the work you’ve done to his nails and with an eye roll, you flip him off and both laugh.

“but, seriously, jungkook,” you say. “you don’t give yourself enough credit. what you’ve been up to is impressive.”

“you think so?”

“well, for one, i know you’re on the dean’s list,” you admit dryly, having heard the rumour from a friend. “and you’re working two jobs this summer. i think you’re pretty capable of saving the world at this point.”

jungkook snickers, but there is a certain warmth that spreads through his chest. he’s been so stressed out, juggling all of his responsibilities, that he’s never taken the time to really acknowledge his success.

it’s surprising to see how much has changed between you and jungkook these past few weeks. there’s an air of mutual respect now that cuts through the sharpness of your tongues and the intense sexual tension layered underneath. you’ve slowly peeled back the layers and discovered a lot about jungkook. even in the back and forths, there’s something to learn about one another - like now, when he casually talks about the band and squashes the premature notions you had about his music career.

during another shift, it’s just you and jungkook as usual and you both come in for an opening shift. you meet him at the front door, about to snap at him for being late and making you wait outside, when he hands you a coffee as an apology.

“the gig went late last night and i slept in by accident,” he yawns. “the bar owner didn’t let us go home on time and we’re kinda at his mercy, even with the shitty pay.”

it’s hard to not notice how jungkook seems to always have caffeine on him. you realize that you both have that in common, being constantly overworked.

“you do like playing with your band, right?” you dryly ask.

jungkook chuckles and wiggles his key into the entrance of the store. “yes, dumbass. it’s a fun hobby, but i wouldn’t be working at gamestop if music paid enough.”

“at least you’re doing it for you and nobody else,” you say.

it makes jungkook pause, mulling over your words. he never considered the small win, but feels a surge of pride when you point it out. you, of all people, reminding him that what he does is important, so long as it’s important to him.

“. . .yeah. yeah, i guess you’re right.”

when the two of you get settled and finish the opening operations of the store, there’s just two minutes until it’s time to unlock the doors. you finish counting the register and move to get to the box of returns that need to be put back, but jungkook calls your name.

“don’t you have an assignment to finish? just go do it in the back, i’ll call you if it gets busy.”

you blink, taken aback. “are you sure?”

“you need to pass your classes this summer, don’t you?” he quips, raising an eyebrow. “see, this is why i’m not nice to you.”

“pft, you have every reason to be nice to me. especially two days ago, when you bent me over your back seat -”

jungkook groans and waves you off, urging you to just leave. you laugh and take the cue, skipping happily to the back room.

there’s a certain vulnerability that settles in the cracks as the days go on and neither of you really mind it. you challenge one another, make each other question yourselves and figure out things from there. you don’t think you’ve ever found that quality in another person. it leaves you with wandering thoughts about jungkook that you just have to extinguish.

jeonjungkook0901 - instant message

xXprincessXx: btw i never got to thank you for that day with my parents

jeonjungkook0901: thank me by putting them in their place next time

jeonjungkook0901: u work too hard for them to act that way

xXprincessXx: promise i will :)

jeonjungkook0901: atta girl fight for yourself

jkae: summer school really kicking your ass like that huh

no29: u have no idea T_T

no29: just finished the hardest assignment of my life today

jkae: today? oh really xD

jkae: hey no29 i never asked before… but what do you study?

no29: i’m a computer science major ^.^

“you needed to get out tonight. no ifs ands or buts.”

wearing a low rise, bedazzled jeans and a halter top, your friends have dragged you to a bar for the night. elena and heather did so without mercy, making scornful remarks about how you’ll just lock yourself up in your room to be on your computer. they’ve been particularly critical of how you’ve been spending your free time and haven’t let up on asking who you’ve been hanging out with lately. imani is wedged in betwen you all, trying to play peacemaker with pitying eyes.

“so, like,” heather says, sliding a margarita towards you. “you have an online friend?”

they’re still asking about this jkae person and you just want to blurt out that you’re into a damn video game, not apart of a cult.

“can we talk about anything else?” you snap, losing your patience with the girls.

you don’t even want to think about the game or the way your friends have been all up in your business lately. you haven’t had time to log on with work and school going on and it genuinely feels like you’re losing a bit of yourself. final fantasy xi is the one place where you feel like you can express yourself and be whoever you want to be, between all the expectations about who you are from your friends and family.

the one place, until recently.

a glimmer of hope shone deep within, wondering if you’d run into jungkook tonight. the notion is ridiculous, considering you’ve been let down for years when you wished the complete opposite. except, it’s changed now. he may get under your skin in every single way, but he’s the only person in the world who doesn’t want you to be different. the only person who you can finally be yourself around, free from the confines of a virtual world where you live faceless.

and, with your luck, he stands just scross the room with the rest of SW!M. jungkook sits next to taehyung, waving the bartender over for an order. you can’t exactly approach him with your arms looped into your friends, but there’s a strange feeling in your chest that dizzies you when you see him.

“hey, are you alright?” it’s imani who whispers into your ear, eyes wide. she notices the irritation in your voice and is concerned, especially knowing about work and how stressed you are with school.

your shoulders relax slightly. “yeah. i think i’m actually going to go to the bathroom.”

“want me to come?”

you shake your head and send her a half smile. neither elena nor heather volunteer to go with you, to your delight, so you hop off the stool and make your way for the toilets. usually, you’re all for a night out like this, but you just feel so unsettled around the latter two. you’re also, frankly, tired. everything is slowly coming out and you’re prepared at this point to tell them all about your part-time job and how you’re fucking jungkook, exhausted of the lies.

the thing is that you don’t even know how to explain your relationship with jungkook. you still yell at each other and hate your job, but you’re sleeping together and getting fucking burgers after work. you makes jokes over instant messenger and talk about life. the lines are blurring and so is your resolve.

on your way out, you spot the man in question again. he’s no longer surrounded by his band mates, but is talking to a leggy blonde by the wall. jungkook leans against it, an easy grin twitching at the corner of his lips, as the girl places a hand on his chest when she talks. she’s pretty and ultra feminine, wearing a pink dress that you would wear yourself. the sight leaves you grinding your teeth.

“of course,” you mutter under your breath. this is the same jungkook who slept around for years, even going for one of your sorority sisters. you’re not different from the rest of them and you knew that going into your arrangement.

then, something surprises you. jungkook looks up and like he knew you were there, instantly finds your glare in the crowd.

you leave for the restroom, but before you can make it to the door, you hear someone call your name.

turning around, you’re unsurprised to find jungkook’s figure approaching. he looks so damn good - the leather jacket that hugs his biceps and the tight graphic tee underneath. he licks his lips for a brief second and you try to not get fixated on it, tearing your eyes away. yet, you still stop in your tracks.

“what?” you say, nearly snarling.

jungkook’s eyebrows shoot up, not expecting the attitude. “woah, who do you think you’re talking to like that?” he huffs out an empty laugh.

“oh, bite me. i can talk to you whatever way i want.”

he’s even further shocked at your tone. it’s different than usual and it’s clear something has pushed you.

“the fuck is with you?” he snaps back, approaching closer.

you gulp, backing up as he does so, until your back hits a wall. your lips part slightly, unable to find any words, not with how close he is to you. jungkook’s presence is unwavering, his larger frame towering over you.

“go away. you’re obviously busy,” you manage to spit out, returning his sharp glare as forcefully as you can.

jungkook ignores your comment. “you’re such a fucking hypocrite, you know.”

“what?” you scoff.

he backs up by half a step, not enough to give you space, but enough for him to gesture back to the main area of the bar. with a finger pointed in the direction of your friends, jungkook’s jaw is clenched. elena and heather happily dance with each other, giggling and twirling one another.

“you talk such a big talk about hating your friends and hating who people want you to be,” jungkook says. “yet, i just watched you walk into this place with the same people you’ve been complaining about for weeks to me.”

at both of your sides, there’s a fist clenched hard. you can feel your manicure digging crescent moon shapes into your palm, taken aback by jungkook’s perceptiveness.

you have to take a deep breath. “that’s none of your business. you don’t understand -”

“- but i do!” jungkook interrupts, chuckling with no humour again. “i’ve listened to you talk about how you want to just be yourself so bad and now look at you. you’re just the person i thought you were. you can’t stand up for yourself?”

that stings. you think about how you’ve been fighting for your life trying to defend yourself against your parents, yet you come up empty. you can give them all the brashness and disappoint them as much as possible, but at the end of the day, you’re still doing what they want of you. you’re still partying up with the friends you don’t like because you don’t want them to think that you’re somebody else.

heat rushes to your face. “you don’t know me! you think because we have the same loser job that we’re suddenly best friends? because you got in my fucking pants like half of the campus?” all of it comes out like word vomit, as you yell without a second thought.

jungkook isn’t even fazed. he just crosses his arms, like he’s waiting for what else you have to say. the hallway is empty, save for the two of you and your screaming match.

“but, i do know you and i know you fucking hate that,” he quips back, not backing down.

“you don’t!”

“that’s what you think,” jungkook says, eyes hardened as he looks right back at you.

his statement is so firm and grounded that it takes you aback. you don’t know what to think, what to even assume what he’s implying. so, instead of thinking things through, you just try to shove past him.

your nostrils flare. “jeon jungkook, move. stop acting like you care about me.”

at that, jungkook sighs. he runs a hand through his messy hair, trying his best to not lose his mind. something is clearly troubling him, like he’s playing with the words on the tip of his tongue and they just won’t come out.

“fuck, i wish you were right. i really do. but, it didn't work.”

before you can respond, jungkook turns his heel and walks away. it happens so fast that you can’t react at all. he’s gone, like a ghost in the wind, disappearing back into the crowd. when you squint, you notice that he’s returned to hoseok’s side and the older man passes him a beer.

you’re just frozen there, mulling over jungkook’s words. you don’t even know what you were fighting about in the first place because you know that everything that came out of your mouth was lie. jungkook knows exactly who you are, from the fears that you’ve shared with him to the coffee order that he’s memorized.

you stand there like an idiot, staring into the ground, until you hear your name once more. unfortunately, it isn’t him, but a very concerned looking imani that makes a beeline for you. she places a hand on your shoulder, trying to get a read on your face.

“hey girl. are you okay?” she asks softly. “. . .was that jeon jungkook?”

by this point, you’ve given up. you nod solemnly, taking a sharp inhale through your nose and you try grounding yourself.

you reply, “yeah, it was.” then after a beat, you blurt out, “we’ve been fucking.”

“oh.”

imani doesn’t say this with any judgement or anger, but in a way where she processes everything. she stays quiet for a moment, looking between you and where jungkook wandered off to. her eyes flicker to jungkook’s previous spot on the wall, where he’d been talking to that girl.

“well. are you into him?” she questions bluntly, a single eyebrow raised.

your eyes go wide. you don’t know how to answer and that’s the first red flag. the whole reason why you’d been snapping at him was clearly because you saw him with some girl. it’s not like you expected to be some different and unique girl to him, but it’s clear that the image irked you one way or another. it made you feel uncomfortable in the one place where you’ve found comfort.

“i. . .” you trail off.

imani offers you a sympathetic looks. “look, i know you don’t want to be here tonight,” she whispers. “let’s just go home. elena and heather won’t even notice.”

going home is probably the one and only thing you need to do right now. you’ve had enough of this bar and the loud music. you need to hide away to the safe confines of your room, where you can sit in front of your computer screen and forget about everything around you.

but, a part of you knows it can’t last forever. you can’t find escape through the screen every single time. jungkook is unfortunately right - you’ve been playing into the hands of people who don’t care for you or who you are.

still, you retreat back to the house with imani, who bids you a goodnight when it’s clear to her that you want to be left to your own devices.

then, it’s just you again. it usually ends up this way.

it’s always just you heaving yourself to bed after crazy parties, your ears ringing and your throat dry. you’re left all alone, just the way you want it to be - until, it becomes too much. maybe you never wanted to be alone, but it was just easier this way with nobody to explain yourself to.

you sit in front of your desk, booting up final fantasy xi. you don’t know what compels you to do so, but it’s the only safe place where you can breathe at the moment. the glare of the screen hurts your tired eyes, but you still type your password to get in, each letter seemingly slower than the last. you’re haunted with visions of the night that passed, from elena and heather ticking you off to the confrontation with jungkook in the hallway.

jungkook. you remember the question imani asked about him and the way you couldn’t answer. you still don’t know what to say and you don’t move, even long after the game has booted up, too busy wrestling with these thoughts.

until, you receive a party invite. it’s jkae and initially, you ignore it because you’re not in the mood to duo with anybody tonight. if it was any other day, you’d maybe even rant to him about how awful life has been going lately. you just want to keep to yourself and you end up declining the invite.

then, he messages you.

jkae: hey no29 what’s up

no29: hey

no29: sorry just a long night don’t think i’ll be exping tn

jkae: something wrong?

jkae: just got home from a bar with my friends

no29: oh

no29: me too actually

jkae: yeah long night for me too

jkae: got into a fight with this girl i really like

your heart stops. you think that your imagination is just running wild, especially with all the plaguing thoughts about jungkook, but jkae messages again when you don’t reply for a few minutes.

jkae: http://www.myspace.com/event?e=12345678

jkae: ask for shawn and he’ll let you into the back after

before you can click on the link, jkae has gone offline. when you go to double check his profile, he’s even unfriended you. you mouth hangs open, completely shocked at his actions and what they mean now. everything begins coming together like a riddle you’ve been toying with for months on end and it sinks deep into your chest, aching and rumbling to the point where you can’t bring yourself to click on the event link.

because you know what you’ll find.

when you tell imani about the event, she immediately convinces you that you have no choice but to go. you’re too humiliated to even consider the thought at first, but she leaves you no choice. you can’t avoid jungkook forever.

it’s been three days since your last conversation with him and whatever the hell happened on the linkshell chat over the game. you can’t keep yourself surrounded by delusions and you admit that jkae is, in fact, jungkook. you also have to admit that he knows that you’re no29 and he’s apparently known for a while now, with how he insisted how much he knows about you. it doesn’t even feel like a betrayal, but a wake up call.

you also think about the last thing that he said to you when you accused him of not giving a shit about you and what he said to you on the game.

i wish you were right.

got into a fight with this girl i really like.

darryl has since returned from his self-discovery europe trip looking like he discovered nothing but the importance of sunscreen, by the looks of his lobster red skin. this means that jungkook hasn’t had to come into work, taking these days off following his surprise promotion as store manager for the past two months. he probably does deserve the rest, but you feel more relived than anything, being able to stay away from him while you gather you thoughts.

tonight, SW!M is playing at their biggest venue yet, which is opening for a fellow local band with slightly more popularity at a nearby theatre. you also figure that’s why jungkook hasn’t been showing up to work, probably preparing for the show with his friends. you’re about to find out, as you rsvp ‘going’ to the myspace link that he sent you over final fantasy xi. you half expected a text or aim message from him after, but nothing. it leaves you wondering if you should just back out.

“he was showing you that for a reason,” imani says, on the way to the concert. the two of you are seated at the back of a taxi, wearing tight dresses and stilettos. “he’s trying to say something and you need to hear him out.”

so, you show up at the damn concert. you buy a cheap cocktail and manage to find a good view thanks to imani using her pretty privilege to shove past the crowd. the theatre is dim and a little bit stale all over - from the air to the walls and the decades old tiling. you can smell somebody smoking weed from somewhere in the room and you can count the amount of cracks on the stage. imani makes some jokes under her breath to cheer you up before the show starts.

then, the lights darken even more and the crowd cheers, bracing for the start of the show.

you expected jungkook to come out first before the rest of the band, but when he actually does, your breath still hitches. he’s wearing the same leather jacket from the bar with nothing underneath, showing off the lines of his abs and the intricate tattoos that adorn his chest. his baggy jeans have chains hanging from them and his nails are painted black, bringing you back to the store where you’d do them for him in between customers. his hair has been trimmed, now falling just above his ear, and frame his face like something out of a movie.

taehyung and jimin follow next, then hoseok who settles behind the drumset. but, your eyes are only on jungkook and a flood of memories rush back to you. the ones that remain clearest are the late nights you’ve unknowingly spent with him, getting lost in your favourite game and talking about life in between - not unlike the sarcastic banter that filled spaces during work shifts and the late nights in each other’s beds.

his eyes find yours in the crowd after a few seconds and you’re not sure how he keeps managing to do that, especially with the bright lights in his eyes.

“good evening, we are SW!M,” bellows jungkook into the microphone, causing a good portion of the crowd to cheer. the band is plainly well-known with the audience.

this is the first time that you’ve really seen jungkook in his element up close. you’re still not a big fan of the music, that shit hasn’t changed, but you’re briefly memorized by the intoxicating way he moves on stage. his voice is also out of this world - that isn’t changed by the genre or song - and you do get lost in it.

in one song, jungkook looks right at you as he sings and you can’t feel anything in your body, like your feet are rooted to the ground.

SW!M’s set is short, as expected for the opening act, and it goes by fast. there’s a buffer period between them and the main band, so you tell imani that you’re going to find jungkook.

finding shawn isn’t hard after asking around a few times and soon, you’re face to face with a big, bald man with aviators and a scowl. you give him your name and he wordlessly lets you past his burly body, where the door leads to the backstage area.

the space to walk around in isn’t very big, so you’re able to spot jungkook as soon as you step into the hallway. he’s chugging a bottle of water amidst his band mates, who chat happily. jimin notices you first, nudging jungkook.

when his eyes meet yours, he briefly chokes on his water. you raise your eyebrows, walking towards him as he tries to catch his breath. taehyung tries his best to slap his friend’s back, urging him under his breath to ‘play it cool’ and that he needs to stop choking.

“kook, relax -”

you smirk, folding your arms across his chest. his face is red and he’s slightly hunched over, hand balancing himself on the wall, as he clears his throat repeatedly.

“- argh, sorry - one second.” jungkook holds up a hand, still in a fit of coughs.

beside him, hoseok rubs his temples. “absolutely pathetic.” he turns to you and waves slightly.

“um, hi.”

when jungkook decides that he’s done dying, his three friends have dispersed. they disappear so quickly that you’re taken aback. it’s now just you and jungkook here, apart from some stage crew members that run back and forth frantically, preparing for the main act to go out any second now. however, this means that nobody is paying attention to either of you.

he’s still furiously blushing and you wonder if he even expected you to come tonight. “hey,” jungkook says, voice hoarse.

“i thought i’d be the embarrassed looking one right now,” you remark, fixing your hair.

“embarrassed? because you’re a level 99 beastmaster?”

it’s hard to avoid the fact that jungkook really is your online friend that you’ve been finding comfort in for months. the irony is that he’s played the same role for you in real life. in either case, he never once judged you for who you are or encouraged you to be different in any way.

you let out a long sigh, face scrunched up. "how long did you know?”

“i’m not sure,” he answers honestly, now leaning against the wall as he gathers his thoughts. jungkook just stares at you for a bit, like he’s not sure if you’re actually here or if he’s hallucinating. “. . .nice dress.”

now, it’s your turn to blush. you usually don’t react in such a way when it comes to jungkook’s flirtation, usually ready with a witty comeback, but the air is different this time.

you steady your breathing.

“look, why did you ask me to come here?”

“did you bring your little friends to this, too?” jungkook questions dryly. it almost feels like a test.

you bite the inside of your cheek. “no. not those ones, at least,” you say. “jungkook, maybe this has gone too far.”

“yeah? what’s gone too far?”

“i don’t even hate you,” you blurt out, covering your face. “i don’t. i don’t hate the way you care about people around you more than you care about yourself or the way you notice the little things about someone or how you don’t judge me for everything i beat myself up about."

“even mopping the floor with windex?” jungkook offers and you peek out from your hands, glaring at him.

you shake your head. “even that, somehow.”

“all i see is a girl who’s a lot of things,” he starts and you suck in sharply when he tucks some hair behind your ear. “doesn’t matter if it’s what you do in your free time or what you want to change about yourself. i just want you to be whoever you wanna be because i like every version of that.”

it’s hard to find words right now. you’re not even really sure why you came. imani said that jungkook is trying to show you something, but you’re just caught in between awkward pauses and uncertain questions. a part of you want to turn on your heel and leave. jungkook can see this and all of a sudden, steps forward.

he wraps his hand around your wrist and any thoughts of fleeing have disappeared.

“you are the most frustrating person i know,” jungkook mutters, voice gravelly. “and i can’t figure out why i can’t stop fucking thinking about you.”

you think your heart has stopped pumping blood completely.

“i. . .you’re lying.”

“i’m not,” he bites back without hesitation. “i hate the way you think you’re always right, the way your pride matters more than anything. i hate your stupid sparkly motorola and how you always scrunch up your nose when you’re angry.”

as if on cue, you unconsciously wrinkle your nose and it makes him chuckle.

“don’t laugh at me,” you say through gritted teeth. “you don’t -”

“- don’t what? know you? i think we made it clear that’s not true,” jungkook fires. “i don’t care about you? like you? trust me, baby, i’ve been trying to get rid of it for weeks now. i bet you can’t lie and say you don’t feel the same way.”

“you can’t just go out and say those things. i know i’m just another warm body to you.”

jungkook lets go of your wrist. he paces back and forth, hand covering his face in frustration.

“you’re doing that shit again. that shit where you pretend and pretend and you can’t just be honest with another person,” he says, taking a deep breath and it hits you like a ton of bricks.

he stops in his tracks, turning to you once more. suddenly, jungkook’s hands are on either side of your face, cupping your cheeks and you feel every tense muscle relax. it’s like you melt at his touch and he can see it in your eyes, by the way his own soften.

“jungkook,” you start, trying to not stutter.

“be honest with me. you’ve been doing it for weeks now and even longer online. be the girl i know.”

you know he’s right. you have to be honest.

just like the first time, you move first.

you grab the lapels of his jacket with as much force as you can muster, dragging jungkook towards you. your lips collide and for second, you think the world goes quiet. the crowd outside cheers wildly for the band that has appeared on stage, the stage crew members yell cues at each other, but you only hear silence when jungkook deepens the kiss.

he kisses you like he means it, pouring everything he has into each movement. he yanks you even closer, fingers tangled in your hair and his arm snaking around your waist. your tongues swirl around one another and your teeth click, causing you to giggle into the kiss. jungkook smirks into it and without warning, hooks his arms underneath your legs and lifts you without an ounce of effort.

when you pull away, jungkook has backed you up against the wall and your foreheads are connected, as you both try to steady your breathing. his lips are swollen and wet, barely hovering over yours, while the shared oxygen leaves you in a daze. you want to live on this high for as long as you can.

“you’re so fucking annoying, but i don’t want anyone else,” you admit, still panting and pupils blown out. “you. . .make me want to be better. for myself and for no one else.”

jungkook lets out a dark chuckle, lips brushing over yours again. “good. i don’t want anyone else either.” he whispers. “even boring blondes that make my girl jealous.”

your face reddens, but he’s loving it. he especially loves the way you don’t correct his words.

“and you piss me off in every way possible, but god, you make me feel like i could do anything and succeed,” he mutters, eyes boring into yours and he shakes his head in disbelief.

when you’re with him, you feel an strange wash of emotions heightened like never before. jungkook makes you want to yell and blow up and lose your mind in every way possible, but he also makes you feel calm. it’s the kind of calm where you don’t ever need to think too hard or worry about anything but yourself. he makes you comfortable, even in the moments where you feel isolated or where you feel like a failure.

jungkook drives you crazy. somehow, at the same time, he makes everything feel like it’s going to be okay.