Narrator

“Hello, sunshine!!”

Sera flinched as her office door opened, and excited Jimin and Hoseok prancing in. Yoongi trailed behind, unfazed and looking bored.

She wondered why they were suddenly barging in. She had been busy for the last few days, burying herself with paperwork. She hadn’t met anyone, even Jungkook. They talked on the phone, but their conversations were always short.

She reminded herself that she did not need unnecessary distractions. She would find herself in her work. She’d be focused and diligent.

But seeing the boys made her really happy.

Jimin attacked her with a bear hug, to which turned into him carrying and swaying her around.

“Oppa, put me down.” She playfully hit his back.

“Put the poor girl down, Jimin.” Yoongi said and Jimin complied, still grinning from ear to ear. “So you started working, Sera? Why? We didn’t even start and yet here you are, two years younger than me, already signing papers.”

She chuckled and sat on the couch, squeezing herself between Yoongi and Hoseok. She wanted to deny it, but she missed hanging out with them. She missed not having to worry about anything.

“It’s fun. And we quit school, so what else should I do?” She shrugged. “You quit school?!” Hoseok echoed, and Yoongi sighed. Why did he have to be stuck with the two today, he didn’t know. He just had to suffer.

“Not school in general. Jungkook and I are homeschooling.”

“Oh.” The boys nodded. “Jungkook told us that you’d be happy if we come. We heard about it from Namjoon hyung.”

She smiled and leaned her head against Yoongi’s shoulder. “Yeah, you guys… you’re like a breath of fresh air. Work is stressing.”

“Awwe, come here, you little pudding.” Jimin tried to pull her to him, but she clung on to Yoongi and Hoseok’s arms. “I’m good here.”

Yoongi smirked and shook his head. “You know what, why don’t you buy food, Jimin-ah? Sera looks hungry.”

“Starving.” She nodded.

Jimin sighed and looked at Hoseok who tried to avoid his gaze. He managed to pull his hyung along and left Sera alone with Yoongi. As soon as the doors closed, Yoongi pulled away and turned to her. “I talked to Jungkook. He really wanted to come, you know.”

“Then why did he not come?” She looked away, leaning back on her chair. Yoongi sighed. The truth was Jungkook called him this morning to ask him to check up on her. When he asked why he wouldn’t come himself, he simply said that she probably would be happy to see them.

That was when he knew something was wrong.

“I don’t know. You should know why. I’m not engaged to him.”

She shot him a glare, but he just shrugged. “Sera, I don’t want to be between you two. I’ll be blunt about this. That guy, he ing cares for you. If you don’t see that then you’re dense as .”

She winced at his words but he went on.

“I don’t know what’s going on. We all have our burden to carry, but don’t forget that you don’t have to carry it alone. And Jungkook, he’ll be more than willing to carry it with you.”

“Oppa—“

“Just don’t shut people out, especially him. Give him a chance.”

She furrowed her brows. Yoongi was talking as if Jungkook felt something for her. As if he needed to prove himself to her when he really shouldn’t.

“Have you forgotten? We’re in a fake engagement. As real as the agreement was, we did not consent to this because we wanted it ourselves. Our parents wanted this. I don’t want to tie someone to my own problems.”

He rolled his eyes, which agitated her more. “And have you forgotten that you entered this fake engagement together? The two of you. You may have your own problems, and he does too, but you’re stuck with each other, Sera. Stop playing martyr.”

She clenched her jaw, refusing to look his way.

“Jimin already ordered pizza downstairs. I left him.” Hoseok chuckled as he walked in. He noticed the tension between the two and cleared his throat. “Uhm... guys?”

“Sera’s having a headache.” Yoongi said, standing up. “Do you want to be alone, so that you could think of things?”

She nodded and smiled at Hoseok. “I suddenly don’t feel too well, Oppa. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

Hoseok nodded and hesitantly followed Yoongi to the door.

The Samsung heir crossed the vast lobby, his face void of emotions. He sighed when he arrived at his office, looking at the stack of papers already waiting for him. He loosened his tie and opened the first one.

His brows furrowed. A week ago, he sent some people to track down the suspicious hackers that got Sera’s information. There was still no lead, but the situation seemed to worsen.

“Namjoon.” He breathed out when Namjoon picked up. “I have news.”

He could hear some shuffling before Namjoon replied. “Did they find anything?”

“No.” He paused, looking out the window. “But things are getting out of hand.”

“What do you mean?”

He looked at the report once more and winced. “They’re hacking the whole system. Call your IT experts. Triple your security. It’s not just Sera anymore… they’re targeting Park Industries.”

Sehun heard a mix of English and Korean curses, followed by a deep sigh. “Okay. I’m on it. Thanks, Hun.”

“And Joon?”

Namjoon did not respond. He just waited for Sehun to tell him more.

“I might have a solution.”

Sera got her coat and nodded at the receptionist on her office floor. After her talk with Yoongi, not only did she feel ill, she felt disturbed.

She was right. Burying herself with work made her forget her worries. It reminded her of who she was— an heiress who was incapable of strong attachments. Everything was for the good of the business, nothing more.

She needed to be independent, to stand on her own. She could not depend on anyone. She could not trust. If she wanted to be strong, then she could not let others break her.

They could if they got too close, she thought.

She slipped inside her car and closed her eyes briefly. She gripped the steering wheel and let out a sigh. She glanced at her buzzing phone and bit her lip.

Jeon

Yoongi’s words started ringing on her head, that she had shut her eyes once more.

We all have our burden to carry, but don’t forget that you don’t have to carry it alone.

The buzzing finally stopped and she exhaled, stepping on the pedal and speeding away.

Jungkook sighed and threw his phone at the bed. He raked his hair in frustration, letting out an agitated groan.

He fell on his bed and balled his fists. Just when he accepted the fact that he was definitely feeling something for her, she distances herself.

“It’s like she could read my mind.” He muttered.

He could not fight it. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. He didn’t want to. Why would he fight something that made him so happy? Why would he fight the very first thing in his life that he was so sure he wanted?

He was being reckless. There should be nothing more— that was the deal. That was what they agreed upon.

He bit his lip when he realized one more thing.

“She loves her ing bestfriend.” He mumbled, kicking the air furiously. “She’s ing in love with Kim Jongin.”

A knock on his door made him sit up.

“Young Master—“

“I’m not hungry. I’ll go down when I am.” He hollered, lying back on his bed. He closed his eyes and decided that he should just sleep when another knock ensued.

“I told you—“

“Jeon? Can I… come in?”

He sat up immediately as he nearly choked out his response. “Y-yes.”

The door opened and Sera walked in, giving him a slight smile. His brow rose as he watched her place a small box on his coffee table.

“I passed by ahjumma’s place and brought you some spring rolls.” She muttered and stood there, drawing circles with her foot on the carpet. He had to admit, she looked really adorable when she was fighting off the urge to be a brat.

He chuckled at the thought, and she frowned. “What?”

“Nothing.” He tapped the space beside him on the bed and she paused for a moment before obeying. When she finally sat down, he went against his better judgment and wrapped his arms around her. He felt her body stiffen, but after a few seconds, she eventually relaxed and leaned on his chest.

They stayed like that for a few minutes before he pulled away and bopped her forehead.

“.” She winced, slapping his leg.

He grinned and hugged her again. “I hate to admit this, but I ing missed you, you stupid, annoying, self-centered brat. Or wait… are you still gonna be cold to me?”

She stared at nothing in particular, avoiding his gaze. “I…”

He wasn’t stupid. Whatever happened, she clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

“I guess you were just having a major PMS.” He shrugged and stood up to grab a spring roll from the box. He jumped to the couch and beg munching. “Plus the work in the company. That must be so stressing.”

She cleared and nodded. “Y-yes. It was. I’m…”

Jungkook fought back his grin as he waited for her next word. Finally, she exhaled and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have… I don’t know.”

When she opened her eyes, she saw him grinning. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She got herself a spring roll before sitting beside him. “Wipe that nasty grin, idiot.”

The grin remained, even getting bigger. “I’m just happy. It’s rare for Park Sera to apologize. I must be special.” He winked.

She snickered and looked away.

“You know…” she started after a few minutes. “The boys visited me earlier.”

He got another roll. “They did?”

“Yup.” She glanced at him. He was eating his spring roll sloppily. “Yoongi Oppa talked to me.”

That made him stop chewing. Everybody knew that conversations with Min Yoongi were no joke. He tried to hide his surprise by clearing his throat. “He did?”

“Yup.” She said again, waiting for him to ask more. And he did. “What did he… say?” He was trying to avoid her gaze, worried that his hyung might have said something he himself hasn’t said to Sera yet.

She shrugged and leaned her back on the couch. “He lectured me about… being a workaholic. He’s such a blunt person.”

“That’s all?”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. Jungkook felt relief wash over him.

“So, are we okay?” He poked her side and she couldn’t help but smile, looking at his eyes for a few moments before nodding.

That guy, he ing cares for you. If you don’t see that then you’re dense as .

“Yep, we are.” She tapped his cheek.

Sera dismissed Jang and told him she wanted to sleep early. She had been feeling utterly disturbed for the last few days, and she still was, but at least it got a little bit better.

She even started talking to Namjoon again, who gave her a long lecture about his importance in her life. She shook her head as she entered her room.

Truth be told, she made peace with the fact that Kai might be right. She was hesitating not because it wasn’t right to be with him. Deep down the corners of her heart, there’s this voice telling her that she did not want to. That she wanted something else.

In the meantime, she’d keep her guard up. Maybe shutting people out was not the right solution, but being careful was certainly something she was capable of doing.

Just until she could figure out what was going on. 

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haiiiiii