Jungkook could not remember the last time conversation had flowed so easily with someone he had known for such a short period of time. Before either of them knew it they had moved on from the first cocktail and were well into a third. The food was long gone and there were no awkward silences to speak of.

“Do you have pets?” Jungkook asked.

“Not at the moment, but I have grown up with dogs.” Rebecca’s face lit up as she spoke, the healthy flush on her cheeks likely from the drinking and endearing as hell.

“Tell me about them?” He did not regret asking as she launched into an animated discussion of all of her previous dogs and how cute they were.

“Sometimes I don’t think I would have made it to adulthood without them around.” A flicker of something sad crossed her face. That will not do. Jungkook thought.

“One of my fellow members has a dog, he is small but lively.” He thought of Taehyung’s dog fondly.

“Member? What do you mean by that? Are you part of a company with them?”

“Yes.” . I need to be more careful.

Thankfully Rebecca did not pick up on his panic, and did not press him on the slip up. “My mum used to be a ballet dancer. She was with the Australian Ballet from the age of 14 to 26.” She mentioned.

“I imagine that would have been a lot of work for her.” Ballet required a lot of discipline, he knew that much.

“It was, it left her with a lot of issues as well though. She had to have a double hip replacement at 40 because of the strain.”

“Is that why your ankle is weak, did you do ballet too?”

“Hell no!” Rebecca laughed, “I do not have a graceful bone in my body. I injured my ankle when I was a kid by literally jumping on it the wrong way. Add in a slew of inept doctors and I ended up with a bum ankle.”

“That seems very unlucky.” Jungkook winced in sympathy.

“Story of my life it seems.” Despite the less than cheerful topic she still remained smiling and happy. It was impressive to see.

Jungkook could not remember the last time he had a conversation without BTS lingering overhead of it. Sure he chatted with the members, but they were part of it. Everyone else he talked with at least knew about it as well. It was incredibly freeing to not have to think about it all, and seeing Rebecca so relaxed and happy he was not about to ruin it by dropping some sort of bombshell on her.

“Do you have any awkward work stories? I imagine that you would have interesting situations as a dancer?” She asked. He thought for a moment for a suitable memory that would be easy to tell without context.

“Well I tore my pants right open at the crotch area.” He admitted, getting an adorable giggle from the woman. “It was on stage too, all I could do was keep going and hope no one noticed. What about you?”

“I had to facilitate an awkward conversation between a woman, her GP and her son about an IUD removal.” She spoke the name of the device in English, leaving Jungkook confused.

“What is… an IUD?” He asked.

“It is a contraceptive device.” Rebecca explained, “Long term, can last between 5-10 years depending on the type.”

Jungkook was sure he was blushing, unused to discussing such topics. Cultural difference he reasoned. Part of him wanted to change the topic, but he was also curious. His curiosity won out (aided by the drinking he was sure). “How does it work? That seems like a long time.”

“Well it sits in the uterus.” Rebecca made a vague gesture at her pelvis.

“Inside?” Jungkook’s voice came out as an alarmed squeak.

“Yes. It is about this big.” She indicated a few centimeters with her fingers, “And basically makes the uterus inhospitable for a baby.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“Any medical procedure holds a degree of risk. I have had one for a few years now and I am still alive.” She spoke so casually about it. Meanwhile, Jungkook was sure his eyes were almost bugging out of his head.

Finally it appears Rebecca caught sight of his expression and she looked embarrassed. “Sorry if I have freaked you out, I work a lot with a ual health clinic so this sort of talk has become normal for me. I forget how odd it can be for other people.”

“You have not freaked me out, I just realised how little I know about… That stuff.”

“I am practically a walking encyclopedia at this point. Translating for the appointments is so much easier when people are direct so I try to normalize it with clients as much as possible. For everyone’s sakes.”

“I need to ask – why was the son involved in that conversation?”

“Well the client spoke a specific tribal dialect which he was able to speak but his English was not so good. He would translate to me and I would translate to the doctor and so on.” Rebecca laughed.

They had both finished their third drinks and were chatting amicably, Jungkook looked at his watch and saw that the time had crept to 1am without him realising. “I did not realise how late it was, I do not want you walking home so late at night!” He exclaimed. Confused, Rebecca checked the time and her face paled a little.

“Well that went by quickly. I admit I am not a fan of getting home late at night, but I will make do. I am more worried about you; this is an unfamiliar place after all. I can walk you to your hotel if you like.” She offered.

“No!” He continued softer, “No. I will walk you home; it is the gentleman thing to do.” She scoffed a little at that and went to stand, falling back on the couch with a groan.

“, I forgot about that.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, my ankle just stiffened up because I was still for so long.” This time when Jungkook stood and offered his arm Rebecca took it without complaint. They both wobbled a bit thanks to their drinks but made their way to the front of the bar where the register was.

“How was everything?” The lady at the register asked.

“It was perfect thank you.”

“Your total comes to $150.00.” Fairly expensive, but Jungkook supposed that those had been some strong cocktails. He stopped Rebecca when she reached for her wallet.

“Here.” He handed his credit card to the lady, and signed the receipt when prompted.

“I should have paid; I am the one who took you to such an expensive place.” Rebecca complained as they left.

“Don’t worry; I am more than happy to do this.” Jungkook reassured, supporting her as they walked out and descended the staircase.

It was a slow and stumbling trip back to Rebecca’s apartment, but Jungkook relished in it. The two stayed close together and he was able to keep an arm around her waist – it was to support her but he enjoyed it nonetheless. He refused to leave her at the foot of the stairs and took her right to the apartment door. Rebecca got quiet once they were out the front, and looked at the ground.

“You can stay if you want. It might be easier than trying to make your way back.” She offered quietly, still not meeting his eyes.

Jungkook hooked a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. “I will only stay if you are comfortable with it. You do not need to invite me in.” She looked at him for a long moment, searchingly, before nodding.

“Come in.” She turned and unlocked the door, flicking on the light switch as they entered. Jungkook’s mind raced with the possibilities. Obviously she was beautiful, but he did not really do this often.

“I don’t do this often.” Rebecca echoed his thoughts. “I am sure you do though, I mean look at you.” Jungkook went to deny that, but she continued. “So I guess… Do whatever you want?”

“What?” He was flabbergasted.

“I know you are a lot more attractive than I am. So you could have gone out with anyone tonight. I really enjoyed myself and you were so nice to me so just whatever you want to do with me, let me know. I won’t say no.” The cheerful girl he had speaking to all night had disappeared, covered by a thin visage of nonchalance.

“Has this happened before? What makes you think that I was nice to you just to get something?”

“I have been out with enough men to know how it goes if that is what you are asking. I don’t sleep around much but they make their expectations clear. You have been nice, so I want to give you something back as well.” Jungkook could not stay standing where he was and strode up to her, internally fuming when he saw her flinch before she could stop herself.

“You do not have to pay me back with this. Not for showing what is just basic decency. I had such a good time tonight, using your logic I should present my body for your whims. I don’t want tonight to be the last time I see you either.” Rebecca looked shocked at his words.

“We have both had a fair bit to drink, how about we just… Sleep.”

“I can sleep on the couch if you want my bed.” Rebecca offered, cheeks pink.

“No way, I will take the couch.” He shook his head.

“This is stupid.” She laughed. “We will both sleep in the bed; I am getting changed in the bathroom though.” With that she collected a few items of clothing that she had left on the floor earlier in the day and wobbled into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Once she was in the room Jungkook let out a deep breath. He was furious. Not with Rebecca, but with whoever had treated her so poorly she thought this way. Shaking his head to dismiss those thoughts he shrugged off his jacket. He would be sleeping in his clothes tonight, but it would not be the first time. Soon she emerged from the bathroom in an oversized sweater and tracksuit pant combination and threw her other clothes on the couch. Silently she crawled into her bed, going to the far side and then lifting up the covers in invitation for Jungkook.

He took the invitation and joined her. “Are you comfortable?”

“I will be fine.” he replied. Nodding, Rebecca turned off the light. After his eyes adjusted Jungkook was able to make her form out and noticed she was looking at him. This intimacy while clothed was so odd and unfamiliar to him, he was almost overwhelmed.

“I lied.” Oh the truth was on the tip of his tongue but it was soon, much too soon. He couldn’t. “When I said you looked nice, I wanted to say that you looked beautiful.” Rebecca seemed to have no reply to that, so he moved himself closer. Taking a deep breath Jungkook leant in and pressed his lips to hers. He kept it chaste and gentle, ignoring the part of him that wanted to deepen the kiss further. She deserved better than to be used like that.

Rebecca returned the kiss, and when they broke apart Jungkook took her into his arms and rested his head atop hers. It took no time to drift off, and as he did so he knew that he was in trouble for sure.