J I N H E E

 

They said not to, but Jinhee had always been a rebel, anyway. One who didn’t know any better.

So, she looked down. And regretted it right away.

She gulped audibly and flinched, taking a stuttered step back. Why did she think this was a good idea? Ah yeah, that ‘taking a leap of faith’ . Please remind her to never google ‘how to overcome your fear’ ever again.

The guard holding the harness strap behind her chuckled in sympathy. “It’s okay, take your time.”

She looked at him helplessly. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s cool. I’m ready when you are.”

She stepped closer to the edge and peered down again. Damn, this was very high, though. “You sure the strap won’t fail me?”

The man shrugged, looking amused and exasperated at the same time. “Well, it never failed anyone,” he said, voice dripping with thick Busan accent. “But we can’t predict the future, it might jinx you. You can swim, right?” 

He was not helping at all. “Not very well, but I can… float, I guess?”

“Then you’ll be fine.”

“Can you just push me or something?” Jinhee said, desperate. “I swear I’m not afraid of heights, just nervous to jump embracing my unknown fate.”

Now she was just being dramatic, she knew. But it was practically in her job description, so.

Still, the guard only smiled kindly. He had the patience of a saint. Jinhee wondered if he dealt with fussy first timers every day. “Sorry, can’t do. That’s against the principle of bungee jumping. You have to jump on your own will. It’s okay; business is quiet today. Like I said, I’m ready when you are.”

“Thanks,” Jinhee said, eyes oozing with sincere gratefulness. The guard nodded, and she proceeded to sit down to collect her courage. Maybe it was time to practice that Zen .

Having made sure that Jinhee was sitting on a safe two meters distance from the edge of the bridge, the guard let go of the strap and walked away to who knew where. Jinhee glanced back and saw him talking to somebody near the small wooden hut that stored all the safety gears. Feeling relieved that the guard was at least still in her line of sight, Jinhee looked away and tried to do that deep-breathing technique she’d read million times on the internet.

Soft thuds of footsteps on the wooden surface broke her trance.

“I’m next in line?” A voice said. Jinhee turned around and did a double check.

What the . It was Jeon Jungkook.

Jinhee whipped her gaze back around before Jungkook could see her.

The kind guard affirmed. “Yeah. A first timer.”

A beat of silence, and then Jungkook hummed in understanding. Jinhee wanted to jump now. Right ing now. She actually stood up and was about to ask the guard to get ready, because she was going to jump. Right. Now.

Jungkook must have recognized her somehow, because he stepped closer and peered at her face. “Jinhee Noona?”

“Hi, Jungkook,” Jinhee said without missing a beat, aiming for natural, and knew she failed miserably, because Jungkook didn’t look convinced.

“So, uh…” Jungkook said, rubbing his nape, clearly at the same loss as to what to say. “You’re trying out bungee jumping, eh…”

One of cliché tropes: stating the obvious when things get awkward.

Jinhee decided this wasn’t the time to get smart. “Yes, as it appeared. Though, I’m still gathering my courage, as you can see.”

Jungkook nodded, eyes flickering everywhere. Gosh, seeing him being clearly uncomfortable was torture. “You know,” Jinhee said, determined to save them both from further discomfort. “You can go first. I don’t think I can do this. Not just yet. I think I’d get some coffee first.”

“Um,” Jungkook said. “That’s… not a good idea.”

Jinhee frowned. “Sorry?”

“Hey, Jungkook is right, you know,” The kind guard said. “If you back away now, it will be hard for you to try again. You’ve come this far.”

Well, that was true. Jinhee crossed her arms over her chest, eyes glancing ruefully to the wide sparse of the ocean spread before her. Packs of seagulls flew around her, hooting, like mocking.

She was just about to say hell with it and back down. Maybe she could try again tomorrow, when freaking Jeon Jungkook wasn’t next in line, but her words died in when Jungkook said, “I can jump with you, noona, if you want.”

“What?”

“I don’t mind, if you’re fine with it.”

Jinhee rubbed the back of her head. She didn’t mind, not exactly, but it was Jungkook, and after that tragic rejection she received just one day before holiday began, before she impulsively booked a flight and hotel room in Busan because she needed to get away… just, after everything, it would be so awkward.

“I’d totally understand if you don’t want to,” Jungkook said quickly. “I… I’ll just wait. Take your time.”

“No, no,” Jinhee said before she gave herself time to give it a proper thought. “Let’s jump together. It’s fine.” She aimed for nonchalant, but she just sounded haughty. She felt so ty. It was as if she was doing Jungkook a favor, when it was pretty much otherwise.

“Okay,” Jungkook said, beaming. So child-like. Jinhee smiled a little. “Jaehun hyung, you heard her.”

The guard—Jaehun—gave Jungkook a long look she couldn’t decipher, and then went back to the hut to get Jungkook’s safety gears.

As Jaehun fitted the harness safely on Jungkook, Jinhee steeled herself and looked away. This was stupid. Why was she acting like this towards Jungkook, when he had done nothing wrong? Just because he was Yoongi’s group mate, he didn’t deserve her cold treatment. She had to snap out of it, get her together.

“Noona, I’m ready,” Jungkook said. Jinhee turned her head, and saw him with his harnesses on. She couldn’t help but noticing how relaxed his stance was.

As Jaehun proceeded to attach their harnesses together, Jinhee gave Jungkook a small smile. “You do this often, Jungkookie?”

“Yeah. I… my house is near this beach. Been doing this since my teenage years.”

“And when was it? Last week?”

“Noona!” He whined childishly, generating a chuckle from Jinhee. “I am twenty one years old.”

Jinhee tried not to laugh. “Sorry, sorry, noona is just kidding.”

Jungkook pouted. “I’m not doing this anymore. You jump alone.”

Jinhee laughed. “Come on! I’m sorry. Jungkook, I can’t jump without you.”

Jungkook pouted harder. “Say the magic word.”

“Oh my god, you are twelve.”

“Noona!”

Jinhee laughed harder. Jungkook was so easy to tease. “Okay, I’m sorry, seriously. Jump with me, Jungkook. Please.”

Jungkook honest to God preened. Jinhee smiled fondly. What a simple creature. It amazed her how Jungkook still managed to maintain his child-like innocence even after five years in the industry. Starting at fifteen and had been training since even younger; she would understand if he grew up corrupted and conceited, seeing the world in bitter angle. But since the day one she worked in the industry—just fresh out of college—and made contact with his group three years ago, Jungkook never changed. His eyes still held that sparkle, and he still spoke with everyone with this genuine excitement. It was admirable. She envied him a lot. Whenever she talked to him, mainly for work, his child-like take on the world was contagious.

“You guys gonna jump anytime soon?” Jaehun said.

“I’m ready when you are, noona,” Jungkook said.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m ready,” Jinhee said, mainly to save herself from further embarrassment.

Jungkook stepped closer and stopped in front of her, their bodies barely fifty centimeters apart. Jungkook lifted his hands, as if to hug her waist, then halted, almost dropping, but he lifted them again, up to her shoulders this time, then stopped halfway. “Noona, how do you want this?” He asked, sounding frustrated.

“I don’t know, Jungkook. You’re clearly the expert here. How do people usually do this?”

“Like, we can hold hands and simply jump at the same time. But it’s, um, kind of dangerous, especially because it’s your first time. There’s a chance of me jumping and you are not, but since our ropes are attached, you’ll get dragged down with me and, like, we can bang heads at the bottom. It’s pretty messy,” Jungkook explained, picking at the invisible facial hair on his cheek. Cute.

“Then what do you propose?”

“We can, uh, hug each other.”

“And one of us won’t let go of the other?” Jinhee asked. “If we hug, I mean.”

“Um, you might.” Jungkook said, blushing. Maybe it was from the wind. “I can still hold you even if you don’t, um, hold me back. I promise I won’t let you go, noona.”

He sounded so serious. So cute. “Well, let’s hug, then.”

“Um, okay,” Jungkook said, and his arms moved to circle around her waist. His movement was jerky, hesitant. He keeps peering down at her, maybe to gauge at her reaction. He looked so nervous, like he might do something wrong and get scolded. Poor boy.

Jinhee decided to solve the problem for both of them. She was the older one; she needed to put the younger one at ease. Quite ironic, considering that he was doing this to supposedly allay her fears. Boldly, she circled her own arms around Jungkook’s waist and pulled him closer.

Jungkook let out a small gasp when their bodies were flush against each other. “Noona, is this okay?”

“Brat. I should be the one asking you. Are you okay with this?”

“Yeah,” Jungkook said, sounding distracted. “Um. Here, just.” Jungkook retracted his arms from around Jinhee’s waist. She opened to ask what was wrong, but then Jungkook had his hands on her shoulders, then circling around her upper back. She could feel him tighten his hold. “Yeah. Better now.”

Look. Jinhee knew Jungkook had great body and all, but being in the entertainment industry for years and surrounded by beautifully unreal people every day made her kind of immune. However, now, she was hyper-aware of Jungkook’s toned chest, surprisingly-slim waist, and taut stomach hidden underneath white t-shirt, flexed biceps bracketing her neck, broad set of shoulders under her chin, and strong back muscles she could feel on her fingertips through the thin material of his t-shirt.

She didn’t have the tall, toned, and perfectly curvy bodies of the female celebrities Jungkook must be used to, but she was never ashamed of her body shape. But pressed against a body like Jungkook’s, it made her self-conscious about her own body; about her average-sized s, her noodle arms, the protruding ribs alongside her waist, her soft tummy, her short height… the list would just go on.

“Jump when you guys are ready.” Jaehun’s voice cut through her meandering thoughts.

“You ready?” Jungkook whispered against Jinhee’s ear. She shivered.

“Yeah. You jump, I jump.”

Jungkook let out a choked laugh. “You jump, I jump,” he repeated with a softer edge. Jinhee’s heart hammered in her chest. She wished Jungkook couldn’t feel it.

“Hold on tight,” Jungkook said. “On three.” Jinhee tightened her hold around his back.

“Two.” Jinhee closed her eyes, holding her breath.

“One.” Jungkook flung their bodies off the edge with an ecstatic shout that sounded like a yahoo!, and suddenly they were flying. No, they were falling.

“Oh my God,” Jinhee squeaked, and they were still falling. She loved adrenaline-challenging rides like roller coaster and Niagara Fall, but bungee jumping was a whole lot different. It was free-falling; no machine to break their fall, no timer to determine when it would end and start again. It was just the harsh wind against her cheeks, the merciless gravity, and Jungkook, whose shoulder was muffling her scream as they fell, fell, and fell.

She felt a sharp tug on her ankle, and they were bouncing on thin air. She gasped in shock as the gravity dropped them again. It went on a few times more, until the impact softened and finally stopped. The thick rope around their ankles kept them afloat barely a meter above the water; their bodies were slowly spinning in place.

“.” Jinhee let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.

Jungkook laughed heartily. “Yeah.”

“That was… amazing.”

“I know, right?” Jungkook said, sounding so giddy. Jinhee looked up (or down?) at him and watched enraptured as he grinned so widely, all smile and visible teeth, eyes crinkling in the corners. What a happy kid, she mused. She wished she could be more like him, able to find great joys in little things.

When they were safely on the ground and had their harnesses off, Jungkook fidgeted on his feet, not making a move to go. Jinhee raised an eyebrow at him in askance.

“Are you in a rush?” Jungkook asked

“Um, not really?”

“W-want to grab coffee with me?”

Jinhee kept her face blank, studying Jungkook’s face for a moment, trying to read what his intention was. She was never an oblivious person. She was not those people in books and movies who had no clue when someone was making a move on them.

Jungkook looked at anywhere but her face, hands shoved deep inside his jeans pocket, but she noticed they were balled to tight fists. His teeth worried his lower lip, and his cheeks were tinted in pink blush. She might easily mistake his gesture as nervousness after asking someone out on a date, but she knew him personally. Jungkook had always been a shy person, especially around someone he wasn’t close to.

The both of them were pretty close, but their time together was mostly happened in a working environment, and their conversation that wasn’t about work was usually accommodated by Yoongi.

Ah, Min Yoongi. Yoongi, who was the same age as her. Yoongi, her good friend. Yoongi whom she loved more than a good friend. Yoongi who didn’t love her more than a good friend.

But now was not the time to think about Yoongi. Quite the contrary, she went to Busan to clear her mind, to sort herself out, to be able to greet Yoongi evenly at work, not to let her feelings get in the way, to be Yoongi’s good friend again.

So, she focused on Jungkook again. He was never good at hiding his feelings. That was why she never wrote him as a spy on any show, except for the occasions when she wanted to make things obvious.

So, no, Jungkook was not making a move on her. She would know if he was. Jungkook was just nervous, most likely worried she would take it the wrong way and thought he was asking her out on a date. What a cute bean. Also, as much as she hated to acknowledge it, Jungkook probably felt awkward because he walked in on her and Yoongi last week, when they were… okay, stop right there. No need to pour salt on open wound.

Maybe it was the leftover adrenaline, maybe it was loneliness, maybe it was Jungkook who was being a cute dongsaeng. “Okay. But only if I pay.”

Jungkook looked up and met her eyes. He looked surprised for a second, before chuckling in glee. “Done.”

 

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“So,” Jungkook said while sipping at his jumbo chocolate milkshake. “What brought you here, noona?”

Jinhee shrugged, sipping carefully at her hot coffee. Black. No sugar. “I’ve always wanted to go to Busan.”

“Why?”

To see the beach, to go far away enough but still close enough to home, to bungee-jump, to mend her broken heart, to get over Yoongi, her mind supplied. But what came out of was, “I want to be surrounded by Busan accent-speaking men. Sounds so y.”

Jungkook choked on his milkshake. He coughed, hitting his chest dramatically. He also blushed so cutely. Jinhee felt bad for teasing him. But she wasn’t lying, though. Busan accent was hot.

“Noona, don’t you like Daegu accent more?” Jungkook asked after he'd recovered.

Jinhee’s smile slipped off her face, and she watched as realization dawned on Jungkook’s face. “That’s so insensitive!” He groaned to his hands. “I’m so sorry!”

“Nah, it’s fine,” she said, voice still. “Well, Daegu, Busan… My Seoul just doesn’t stand a chance against Kyeongsang-do men.”

Jungkook still looked apologetic, but her answer extracted a small giggle from him.

“What about you, Jungkookie? Going home to see your family?”

“Yup,” Jungkook began to devour his banana cake. “Tonight I’ll go to Jimin hyung’s, though. We found out we had days off so suddenly. My parents already booked a flight to Japan for work. There’s no point to stay in an empty house.”

“That’s too bad,” she said.

“Hm.” Jungkook inserted a huge bite of banana cake into his mouth. She once more realized he was a very animated eater. “But that’s okay,” he said around a mouthful. “Jimin hyung’s house is up near the mountain. The air is so good there. And the water, ugh, don’t let me start on the water. It’s so clear and cold like whoa, no wonder hyung’s skin was so good when he just arrived in Seoul.”

“So you’re saying that Jimin’s skin is bad now?”

“N-no!” Jungkook put down his fork, shaking his head vehemently. “It’s just… the pollution, and, and the make-up, it’s…”

“Relax, Jungkookie, I’m just ing with you!” Jinhee threw her head back and laughed. “Gosh, you’re just so cute, aren’t you? Now I understand why your six hyungs won’t shut up about you.”

“I’m not cute,” Jungkook said, stabbing his banana cake with a fork.

“But you are,” Jinhee said, much softer than she intended. “So cute.”

Jungkook huffed around a chunk of banana cake. “Your coffee is getting cold, noona.”

Jinhee shook her head fondly, and spared Jungkook from any more of her teasing remarks. She sipped at her coffee and Jungkook continued to enjoy his banana cake and chocolate milkshake. She watched him for a moment. How could a cake and milkshake make someone look so happy? Maybe it was just Jungkook and his ability to live in the moment, to savor what he had, not taking anything for granted. No wonder Yoongi liked to buy him food so much. There was something satisfying from watching Jungkook eat. It inexplicably made her stomach—and heart—full.

“Noona,” Jungkook suddenly said. Jinhee averted her gaze from a greasy spot on the table. “Um, you are really okay, right?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just… you know. Yoongi-hyung…”

“It’s not his fault, Jungkook.”

I’m flattered, Jinhee-ya. But I don’t… see you that way. I just can’t.

 “I know, but…you guys are so close.” Jungkook looked genuinely upset. “I don’t understand.”

I’m sorry. Jinhee, I’m so ing sorry.

“But I do,” she said gently. “Sometimes we just can’t help it. I can’t help my feelings. And Yoongi can’t, too.”

“If… if you need space away from hyung for a while, I can help you. Maybe I can steer him away from the staff room…”

Jinhee, please tell me we can still be friends.  

“No, Jungkook. I’m not avoiding him. I’m his friend. Before anything, I’m his friend first. I’ll be there for him.”

I can’t lose you. Not you, too, Jinhee. Not you, too.

“S-shouldn’t it be the other way? He should be there for you, he hurt y—”

“I will be there for him, Jungkook,” Jinhee said, with finality in her words “Just like how he’s always been there for me.”

Jungkook lowered his head. “I'm sorry.”

“Hey, hey, it’s alright. No need to apologize.”

“I’ll," Jungkook started strong, but faltered in the end. "Be there for you, too, noona,” he said, voice so small.

“Yeah," Jinhee softly said. "Thank you."

 

Jinhee went to Busan to get over her feelings for Yoongi. She might have failed. The thought of him still hurt like a first-degree burn. But at least she had made a friend in Jungkook.

And a new friend would never hurt.

As long as one did not develop additional feeling that was nowhere near friendly toward the other.

Like what she did with Yoongi.

 

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Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment down below and tell me what you think! <3