He’s hurt. She can see it in his eyes, in the downward turn of the sides of his mouth and in the way he turns away from her. Lisa can’t bear it, can’t bear seeing him like this, so she focuses her attention on the book splayed out on the table. Her self-control is almost pitiful, she wants to drag him by the arm to the empty seat across from her. To hear his sweet, soothing voice speak about this and that as she listens intently with bright eyes and keen ears. There’s danger in this foolish daydream, in yearning for something she desperately can’t have. Lisa digs her fingernails into the soft flesh of her palm.

It hurts, and that’s almost enough.

She doesn’t allow herself to look at Jungkook as he passes by her, concentrates solely on the words that have begun to blur before her eyes. He’s so close, hand barely brushing by her shoulder, separated only by the fabric of her sweater. It’s so much.

And then its gone, along with Jungkook himself and she’s left all alone.

He stands in front of his relatively small closet, jeans in one hand and white shirt in another. His favourite pair of timberlands sit by his feet on the carpeted floor, staring up at him with what he imagines to be doe eyes. The room in the apartment he shares is messy, clothes strewn across the floor in a chaotic mess of fabric. Truth be told, Jungkook doesn’t even want to go. He doesn’t want to go to this group date thing where he’ll see the person who has been avoiding him for a week.

(Really, he wants nothing more than to see her again. Even just for a little while.)

The boy sighs heavily, kicking a pair of crumpled pants on the floor away as he walks over to his bed. He’s ready to give up, sink into the comfort of his mattress and sleep the entire day away while dreaming of round eyes and blonde hair when his door slams open and he jumps.

Taehyung stands there with a white shopping bag, some brand he’s never heard of (goo-ki?) stamped across it in imposing black lettering. He’s wearing black jeans, odd, Jungkook thinks, considering Taehyung had always preferred loose pants, a blue silk dress shirt and a plush white jacket. The shoes peeking out at the edge of the bottom of his jeans are a dark maroon colour. It’s not an outfit many would think of putting together but because of the person wearing it, the end result isn’t something entirely catastrophic.

“You are not wearing timberlands.”

Whilst laughing bitterly, Jungkook turns around. “Yeah, I’m not. Because I’m not going.”

“Like hell you are – “ the shorter, but older boy throws the bag on the bed covers, causing its contents to spill out slightly. “Get dressed now Jungkook, or I swear to god I’m going to give Namjoon-hyung your playstation controller.”

Jungkook hisses, “you bastard.”

“Call me whatever you want. Now hurry up and get dressed or we’re going to be late.” The door slams shut, just as suddenly as it had opened, and Jungkook is left alone in the room again.

He contemplates just locking the door but doesn’t out of fear of Taehyung scaling the window and strangling him in his sleep. Reluctantly, he makes his way to the bag that was thrown on his bed. A pair of dark jeans peek out of the bag, similar to Taehyung’s, although further inspection reveals that they are in fact, ripped. Jungkook pulls them on over his boxers – they’re a little tight around the thighs but not to the point where they would be particularly troublesome. The next article of clothing he pulls out is a black leather jacket which he tosses aside for the moment. The shirt Taehyung had brought is also black and Jungkook is starting to sense a theme.

Nevertheless, he pulls it on, again, it’s a little too tight. He shrugs his arms through the jacket which thankfully leave him a little wriggle room. Shoving his wallet and phone roughly into the pockets of the jacket, Jungkook moves to the door. He’s about to leave when he realizes that his feet are almost bare save for his socks. His eyes immediately go to the abandoned pair of timberlands that haven’t moved from where he had placed them the previous day.

Jungkook sighs, grabs the shoes and shuts the door behind him.

When he enters the living room he’s greeted by the sight of his captor lounging on his couch watching some stupid show playing on the television. Taehyung only notices him when he walks right in front of him to grab the remote from the coffee table and turn off the television screen.

“I thought I told you no timberlands,” comes his affronted voice from behind.

Jungkook rolls his eyes in an exaggerated motion, “I’m wearing everything else so shut up.”

In retaliation, Taehyung makes sure to step on the back of his shoes all the way down the stairs to the apartment, only stopping when Jungkook threatens to throw him out the nearby window.

“Chaeyoung-ah, which top looks better?”

Her roommate momentarily lifts her head up from the screen of her phone to appraise her outfit. The (barely) younger girl twirls around from her place in front of the wall mirror, her hair following her as she does so like the soft tentacles of a jellyfish. Lisa wears on that model-like body of hers an oversized white sweater and high waisted shorts that accentuates her long legs. She holds up another shirt, a much shorter pink one that Chaeyoung swears were originally hers. But its Lisa so she doesn’t mind.

Eyes moving back to her phone where a bright cellblock structure holding sweets stares back at her, Chaeyoung says, “that one looks good.”

“Yeah?” Lisa turns around again, inspecting every inch of the fabric. “You sure?”

“Mhm, its cute.”

There’s no reaction to this, causing Chaeyoung to break away once more from the screen of her phone. The other girl stands motionless in front of the mirror, staring with familiar eyes. Something akin to hesitancy taints her vision as her eyes drift from the top of her head to the toes of her feet.

“Lisa?” Her friend sits up, concern colouring her face as she places her phone down by her side.

The blonde shakes her head before tossing the pink shirt onto the seat of her desk chair. A quick glance at the alarm clock on the table by her bed causes her to let out a little gasp. She picks up the pair of shoes that were sitting on the floor behind her and the bag draped lazily across her desk, clumsily holding them as Chaeyoung watches, disorientated.  Lisa almost staggers out of the room, quickly imparting goodbyes and ‘see yous’ before shutting the door behind her.

It’s the first time Chaeyoung has seen her so agitated.

The plan was to meet outside the amusement park’s gate a bit after noon. Taehyung is the first to exit the bus, and almost immediately runs off, leaving Jungkook a little bit winded. The reason for his hasty departure from the vehicle stands by the ticket barrier to the park, dark hair spilling over thin shoulders like ink.

“Jisoo-yah,” Taehyung bounces up to her like a puppy dog, smitten, probably why the girl falters just a little before smiling back at him. If Jungkook were being honest, he wouldn’t have initially thought them to be so close.

They exchange a few words before finally realizing Jungkook is still standing quite a bit away. Taehyung beckons for him to come closer and he reluctantly complies.

“Noona,” he bows his head a little and she does the same. “It’s good to see you again.”

He remembers meeting her at Taehyung’s movie night a few months back – they had talked a little, enough, and he truly means what he says. She’s pleasant to be around, her reserved, polite image hiding a boisterous and honestly, a little weird, disposition. In that way, she’s not too different from Taehyung.

“Jungkook-ssi,” Jisoo greets him with a gentle smile, she’s dressed in a pale blue dress that’s paired with a cream coloured cardigan. It’s a look that reminds him of the summer sky painted with fluffy white clouds. “We’re just waiting for Lisa then?”

Taehyung rolls his eyes, “of course we are.”

Unable to help himself, Jungkook tilts his head curiously, “I didn’t know you were that close with her hyung.”

“Hm? Oh we’ve known each other for a while,” he turns to Jisoo and grins – a small, offhand gesture that makes Jungkook’s stomach churn in irrational unease.

He doesn’t have time to dwell on this strange feeling for the sound of enclosed feet smacking against pavement approaches them. There’s a small, barely noticeable hitch in his breath when he turns around.

She’s possibly dressed the most casually out of all of them, but still manages to render him speechless. His eyes trail from her face to the bottom of her shoes and he isn’t able to pinpoint a single thing that does not look good. Her brown eyes flash to his form quickly but she averts them almost immediately. His heart tightens until its nearly unbearable. Jungkook decides then and there that the universe has made it its personal mission to torment him.

“I’m sorry I’m late – I lost track of time,” Lisa confesses – there’s a small bead of sweat hanging off her forehead and her voice comes out a little breathless.

Jisoo snorts, “yeah, we figured Lisa.”

Her soft looking lips form a pout, “it’s true unnie! I wasn’t late on purpose.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes again before slinging an arm over Jungkook’s much wider shoulders. It appears as if the two have gone unnoticed (ignored) by the girls who have begun talking animatedly. Finally, having clearly had enough, Taehyung coughs loudly. Lisa and Jisoo turn to him with heated glares and to his credit, he only flinches slightly. Recovering quickly, he opens his mouth to speak as he turns his head to Jungkook.

“You haven’t met her yet, right? This blonde is the Lisa we talked about earlier. And Lisa, this is the Jungkookie I told you about.”

A frown appears on both of the youngest faces. Jungkook’s eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“We know each other though,” Lisa says slowly as he’s still standing, unable to snap out of his state of utter bafflement.

Taehyung blinks owlishly as Jisoo tries her hardest to hold back her laughter, “what?”

Jungkook finally snaps out of his momentary shock, “she works in the Starbucks near our campus dude.”

“I know that, but how – “

“And we both attend Hoseok-oppa’s dance classes,” interrupts Lisa.

“What?”

At this point, Jisoo has taken to wheezing, bending over and trying her best not to make too much noise. Her giggles can be heard echoing through the space between them as the other three stand in bewilderment. When they make no move to the entrance to the amusement park, Jisoo straightens up, wiping away what seems like a tear, and grabs hold of Lisa’s arm.

“Come on, let’s go already,” Jisoo says, already dragging the girl towards the ticket barrier.

Taehyung stares after her for a second before turning to Jungkook, his expression a blend of frustration and disbelief.

“You didn’t tell me you knew Lisa already!”

“Why would I?! You would just make fun of me hyung!”

A sigh escapes the older man’s lips as he presses his hand against his forehead, irritation now clouding his features.  

“Jesus christ Jungkook,” he exhales deeply, eyes shut.

“I don’t get it, why is this even a problem – “

They’re interrupted by Jisoo, who calls for them while waving wildly next to a quiet Lisa. Taehyung throws them a thumbs up and they seem satisfied with this, turning back to the staff by the ticket gate. He turns his attention back to Jungkook and frowns.

“No, it’s no problem at all,” lies Taehyung.