"Do you see the sky?"

Jungkook is standing on the cusp where the sand meets the ocean. His feet feel soft; the water tickles his skin briefly. 

A girl is standing next to him. Her familiar shade of black hair frames her face as she leans back to stare at the horizon.

He copies her, breathing in the sight spread before them.

"Do you see it?" she repeats, pointing ahead.

"I see it," he replies, not quite understanding what's so special about it. It's like any blue sky with a few clouds here and there. The sun is further down, descending beyond the sea line. 

"It's changing."

He can hear the smile in her voice, but he keeps his view in front of him.

At that moment, the plain blue sky bursts with color, slowly at first. Pastel pinks and oranges start to make their mark, dusting the clouds. Patches of purple emerge. Suddenly, the sky looks so much richer and fuller, Jungkook feels like he could leap up and touch it. 

"The sky is changing," the girl says, almost in a whisper.

The way she says it so gently intrigues him and he takes the chance to look at her. From her profile, he notes the way her cheekbones are raised with her smile and how long her eyelashes are. Her eyes capture the dimming light of the sun. Was she always standing this close to him? He has the urge to reach out and pull her closer, but something in his mind tells him she'll disappear if he does. He decides to just admire her.

When she finally tears her gaze away from the sky's display and their eyes meet, Jungkook feels his breath catch.

"Jaera?"

Her face breaks out into an even brighter smile and it's all too surreal for him. The pure tranquility that envelops him at that moment makes everything blur. The sunset hues fade, her face is smudged into the sand, and everything is white.

---

The smell of vinyl and the quiet humming of machinery welcomed Jaera at the door. She breathed it in. It was like warm plastic and it smelled familiar and homely. It had been a while since she'd last been to work. Her mind had been a mess lately, but after finally gaining some sort of closure with Jungkook last night, she decided to get back to reality. Her first line of duty was going to school that morning, and as promised Jungkook walked her there. He even came to check up on her during breaks. It was the first time he had openly interacted with her at school in a friendly manner, and Hyesoon, who was over-excited to have her best friend back, wasn't the only one to pick up on it.

Mr. Kim had spotted their brief conversation at lunch time. Jimin and Taehyung were also a little confused but they figured Jungkook would tell them if it was really important. 

Jaera didn't mind at all, though. It was nice to have one less thing to worry about. Having Jungkook as a friend was much easier than having him as an enemy. That's what they were, right? Friends...

She still wasn't sure what they were. Hell, she wasn't even sure what she felt. She wasn't the type of girl to get crushes, so everything was new to her. Everytime she remembered their kiss or the nights she visited his room, she told herself it was nothing. That way it would hurt less. But it was harder convincing her heart of that.

"Jaera! You're back, finally!"

Chanyeol couldn't help but lift Jaera into a friendly hug, making her laugh and pat his head.

"The shop hasn't been the same without you."

After Chanyeol let her go, she looked around and noticed how disorganized everything was. The posters weren't even hanging on the window straight. 

"Disgraceful." Jaera tutted. "You guys are lost without me, honestly."

"Exactly. Never leave again!"

She laughed. "Looks like I don't have a choice. Guess I better get started seeing as I have a lot of work ahead of me." She shot him a look.

"You're welcome," Chanyeol joked. "Oh, before you go."

"Hm?"

"We've got a new team member. This is his first shift, so I'm gonna need you to help train him."

Him?

"He's out the back, so just introduce yourself when you see him. Make him feel at ease."

"Sure thing."

Her heart fluttered at the thought of having to make conversation with a stranger. It's not that she had anything against it, it's just that small talk wasn't really her strongest point. 

Well, I'm gonna be working with him so I might as well make an effort.

As she approached the door to the staff room, it suddenly opened, almost whacking her in the head. 

"Woah!" She jumped back, and then froze. "Taehyung?"

His face lit up with a smile. "Jaera!"

"Why are you here?"

He rolled his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I work here. What are you doing here?"

He walked over to a nearby shelf and started sorting through CDs, although Jaera was quite certain he had no idea what he was doing.

She followed after him. "I've worked here a while now. Didn't you know that?"

"Umm... Literally all I know about you is you have a crazy cousin and you've always been 'that girl Jungkook hates'. Well, until recently."

She stepped back slightly. "Until recently?"

"Yeah." He grinned. "Since he doesn't seem to hate you anymore".

"Right." Why did feel like it was closing up when he mentioned Jungkook?

"Anyways, that fluffy haired guy said somebody was gonna train me, so I'm assuming that's you?"

"Looks like it. I'll just go get my stuff and then we can start."

He nodded and Jaera breathlessly headed for the staffroom. 

As if she didn't have enough reminders of Jungkook, now his best friend was working with her. Just my luck.

---

To her surprise, Taehyung wasn't as annoying as she'd assumed and he actually put a lot of effort into his work. At school, he always seemed like he was mucking around and making a joke out of everything. Although that was half true, for the most part he was diligent and hard-working. She was happy because it meant a lighter workload for her from now on. 

She was also surprised to find that he was easy to talk to. His presence made her feel so comfortable that it wasn't long before they were joking around like old friends.

When their shift ended, they bid Chanyeol goodbye and Taehyung insisted that they eat before going home. "To celebrate my first successful day of work," was his reasoning, and Jaera half-heartedly agreed even though she really wanted to sleep. There was a bistro just a few blocks away and, since most of the places were closing up by that time, they decided to go there.

As soon as they stepped into the warm air of the eatery and the smell of grilled meat filled her senses, Jaera realized how hungry she was. Her appetite had almost completely disappeared over the last week, so she was happy to feel that rumble in her stomach.

"Have you come here before?" Taehyung asked, grabbing two menus off the counter.

They walked over to a table and sat down across from each other. 

"Nope. I don't eat out usually, to be honest. Seems like a waste of money when there's food at home."

He laughed. "Ah, yeah, I get you. They've redecorated since I was last here," he said, noting the new shade of deep red painted on the walls and the dimly-lit lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

Jaera nodded. It felt homely and inviting. Almost romantic, but seeing that she was with Taehyung, it lost its effect.

"I usually come here with Jimin and Jungkook, but it's been a while."

Jungkook.

"Oh... really." Jaera had to shake her head to get the sudden rush of thoughts out. It didn't work.

"Yeah, maybe I should tell them to come." Taehyung had an oblivious smile on his face as he reached for his phone. "Oh, wait. Jimin has work... But Jungkook should be free."

"I..." 

Her body was heating up as she watched Taehyung send Jungkook a message. She wanted to grab his phone and throw it at the wall. She couldn't understand why, but she didn't want to see Jungkook. The thought of being in such an intimate setting with him made her stomach turn. 

It's just Jungkook. What's the big deal?

Taehyung finished texting and put his phone down. When he looked up, he noticed Jaera chewing the straw of her drink, her eyes set on the table in front of her.

A smile spread across his face. 

"Don't be nervous."

Her eyes shot to his and she shook her head furiously. "I'm not!"

"I'm not~" he mocked her in a high voice. 

"Shut up." She pursed her lips.

"You are so totally in love," he sang, unable to hold back his smile.

Jaera frowned, but didn't say anything, choosing to sip on her water instead.

"Oh my God!" Taehyung gasped. "You actually are! Holy , tell me it's true. You like Jungkook?"

Her face flushed bright red. Why was it so damn hot?

"Tell me!"

"Drop it, Taehyung," she warned, trying to keep her voice steady.

He examined her face and she avoided his stare. "You're blushing and fidgeting just at the sound of his name. You can't even give me an answer."

"Stop."

"You like Jungkook."

"I said, stop."

"You are so in love with Jungkook."

"Shut up!"

"You're madly in love with your childhood enemy and you wanna marry him and have lots of babies and live for the rest of your lives togeth - " 

"FINE!"

He froze, the biggest, stupidest smile emerging. "Fine what?"

"Fine..." She felt like something was pressing down on as she tried to force the words out. "FineILikeJungkook!" she mumbled quickly. The relief she felt was incomparable. To finally admit what had been on her mind, even if it was just to herself, was like a weight off her heart.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Taehyung teased.

Jaera sighed, her shoulders slumping, feeling defeated by her own confession. "I... like Jungkook."

"Oh."

Taehyung and Jaera both shot up at the sound of a new voice.

Jungkook was now standing there, a little out of breath, sweat sliding down his neck towards his chest and his basketball uniform hanging loosely from his skin.

His eyes were focused intensely on Jaera who had instantly died inside as soon as she saw him.

"Jungkook!" Taehyung exclaimed, trying to break the tension. "How'd you get here so fast? I only just texted you."

"I was already close by when you messaged," he said monotonously, his eyes still on Jaera.

"Oh, I see." His eyes flicked to Jaera and then back to Jungkook. "Uh.. Let me... Let me get you a menu."

He laughed awkwardly and then quickly ran off, leaving the pair alone.

This can't be happening. "I better go," Jaera mumbled, shakily reaching for her bag.

"Do you?" Jungkook finally said, his eyes not leaving hers. 

Jaera held her breath.

"Jaera, do you like me?"

---

 A/N: Honestly, I have no excuses. I'm a horrible author T_T please don't hate me for being so late with updates! ♥