NARRATOR

“Come on, hurry up!”

Sera almost choked on her milk as Jungkook paced back and forth on their dining room. Jang was attending to them by laying out different kinds of dishes on the table.

“Why don’t you sit and eat for a while, Young Master?” He smiled. Sera wiped her lips with a napkin and frowned. “Yeah, sit your down and eat instead of hurrying me up.”

Jungkook heaved a sigh and pulled the chair across her. He drank his glass of juice and spoke after. “We’re gonna be late, you know.”

“Jang, what’s the thing I hate the most?”

Jang chuckled on the corner and shook his head. “Hurrying when it comes to meals.”

“Bingo.” She winked and faced Jungkook. “I like savoring my meals, okay? So if you really wanna be friends with me, let me eat peacefully.”

He stared at her and scowled. “Well, I’m having doubts on that.”

“On what?”

“Being friends with you.”

She took a big bite of her pancake and shrugged. “Too bad we’re stuck with each other.”

“Oh my god.”

Jungkook smirked as Sera watched her surroundings. He took out the jackets from the car and handed her one. “Seems like our princess can’t take the—“

“Come on, Jeon, I want to start already!”

He watched in amusement as she hurriedly wore her jacket and tied her hair to a ponytail. He hesitantly followed as she rushed to the feeding station.

“Jungkook-ssi, can you help out with the kids?”

He nodded as the teacher assigned him to a different station. He glanced at Sera but she was already busy handing packets of goods to the people that she didn’t even notice him leaving. They were attending a medical and feeding mission to help out on countryside. It was a requirement in their school before they graduate. Doctors from a partner hospital came for the check-ups, and students were helping out with the feeding and other tasks.

Jungkook watched as Sera happily handed the packets of snacks to the teenage crowd. He pursed his lips as he carried one kid, entertaining it with a toy.

“She’s not so bad at all.” He mumbled, watching keenly as he danced the kid around. He noticed that she was smiling all through out, and the crowd seemed to love her too. He was about to look away when he noticed a group of teenage boys eyeing her differently.

They lined up and giggled as Sera reached out to hand them packets. They purposely touched her hand longer that they should’ve, but she was too oblivious to notice.

“Jungkook-ssi, there’s one kid at the back that needs help!” The teacher shouted. Jungkook looked away and put the kid down. “Ne, seonsangnim.” He muttered, but he was already walking towards a different direction.

Sera wiped the sweat with her towel and exhaled. “Hey Jeon.”

He pushed her to the side and started handing the packets to the endless line of people. She frowned and tried to push him away but he gave him a firm look. “I’ll do it.”

“Don’t you have other things to do with hat kid station?”

He remembered that the teacher asked him to watch some kid and mentally cursed. “Me? No. No. I’m done with everything.”

“Are you sure?” She raised an eyebrow. “Your station over there looks busy…”

“Can you just let me do this and stop asking questions?!” He snapped. S

he stepped away and looked at him weirdly. “Okay, calm down.”

He sighed and went back to handing out the goods. When one boy from the group earlier came up, he gave him his deadliest glare, but the boy was so busy looking at Sera who was arranging the packets. “Ya, do you want these or not?”

The boy was startled as he nodded and took the packets, giving Sera’s legs one last look before he smiled widely and walked away.

“Okay, let’s have a break everybody!”

Sera took out her phone and took pictures of the vast mountainside. She turned around and gasped when one girl from her class stared back at her.

“Do you need… anything?”

“I don’t believe you two, you know.” The girl stated.

She furrowed her brows, trying to figure out why the girl looked so familiar. “Who—“

“You’re just pretending, right? I bet this is all arranged.”

“Oh, you’re the girl who likes Jungkook!” Sera chuckled dryly. “I’m sure you’ve heard he just got engaged.”

The girl rolled her eyes and stepped closer. “Marriage for business, it’s a typical arrangement.”

Jungkook arrived and looked at the two. “Uhm, excuse me but can I talk to Sera for a minute?”

The girl’s expression changed to a cheerful one. She grinned at Jungkook and nodded. “Sure, Jungkook-ssi. We were just talking about the—“

“Just leave, will you?” Sera cut her off, silencing her with her glare. The girl managed to roll her eyes and scurried away.

“What was that?” He asked, and she just shrugged. She looked at the sweat running down his face and his soaked shirt.

Look at this pabo taking all the work for himself. What does he think of me, weak?

He groaned and leaned on a tree. “Damn, that was tiring.”

“Who told you to help out there, anyway?!”

He ignored her question and removed his jacket. He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. Sera’s eyes widened, her lips parting in surprise. “Ya, Jeon Jungkook!”

She could feel his rising and falling chest on her back, and she tried to pry his arms away but he pulled away first.

“Who told you it was a good idea to wear shorts to a place like this?” He muttered. She was about to scream at him when she noticed that he had tied his jacket around her waist.

“What is this for?”

He just handed her the water bottle and walked away, leaving her stunned and confused.

The ride home was silent. Jungkook was sleeping, probably due to exhaustion, and Sera was leaning on the window, looking at the scenery passing by.

She wondered about a lot of things. How did she get to this situation? She glanced at Jungkook sleeping with his mouth slightly open and she snickered. “Pabo.”

Honestly, Jungkook wasn’t so bad, she thought. It just annoyed her that he had tons of fangirls willing to do anything to get rid of her. What did they see on him anyway?

I don’t wanna know. She closed her eyes and joined him to dreamland.

“Young Miss, Young Master, your parents are having dinner inside. They are waiting for you.” Jang said before the two could get out of the car. He helped Sera out and escorted them both to the dining room.

“Hello, young ones!” Mr. Jeon happily exclaimed as they entered. They both bowed respectfully at the elders and took their seat. The dishes were served and the two dug in wordlessly.

Namjoon was there, sitting across his cousin. He kicked her leg and she looked up, annoyed. “What?”

“You two look tired.” He stated. Jungkook swallowed his food and replied. “We didn’t expect a lot of people to come, but the mission was full of participants.”

“So as Jin said.”

“What does Jin oppa have to do with the medical mission?” She asked.

“His family owns the partner hospital.”

“Oh, cool.” She replied, slicing her steak. They were enjoying their meal until Mrs. Park turned to her daughter. “Sera-ah.”

“Yes, mom?” She looked up from her plate. The elders were looking at her, smiling. “We were just talking about your accomplishments in the US.”

She lowered her head. “It’s not that much…”

“We didn’t know you took extra classes in New York during your summer breaks.”

“Ah yes.” She took a sip from her water. “I took some summer courses on business and management.”

Mr. Jeon clasped his hands together. “That’s impressive, Sera.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m just curious.” Mrs. Park started again. “Maybe you could invite your friends from the US here too sometime.”

“They’re busy with their classes. And besides, I don’t have a lot of friends there.”

“Any boyfriends?” Mrs. Jeon asked, and Sera looked a little surprised. “N-none, Auntie.”

The elders smiled in satisfaction and went back to chatting. Namjoon looked at his cousin and frowned. He was about to talk to her when Mrs. Park spoke again. “You don’t happen to be involved with anyone in the US, right? Any flings? Puppy loves?”

“Mom.” She replied, flustered. Jungkook remained silent. He wondered what their parents are up to. He could feel Sera stiffen on her seat.

Mrs. Park chuckled. “It’s nothing honey. You’ve never really told us stories from your time there. Did you attend a lot of parties? Any crushes? Just childhood petty crushes, you know. A mother is always curious about those things~”

“Yeobo, let the children eat.” Mr. Park stated. “Honey, I was just making them comfortable.”

They all looked up when Sera pushed her chair back and stood up.

“Sera.” Namjoon called out, but her eyes were fixed on nothing in particular. “I don’t feel good. I think I just need some rest. The medical mission was exhausting.” She bowed to the elders and turned to leave.

“But honey, you didn’t finish your meal.”

“I’m not that hungry.” She replied before walking out, her brows knitted together.

Jungkook watched her leave and shot Namjoon a questioning look. Namjoon cleared his throat and went back to eating.

“Hyung.” Jungkook whispered.

Namjoon looked up and shook his head. “Let her be. She’s just tired.”

But he knew too well it wasn’t just that.

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