Fluffy Head

 

 

He never meant to blurt out those words. He was shocked to hear them himself. The moment she hung her head down, he felt a twinge of sadness in his heart.

 

Wait. In his heart?

 

"You didn't have to walk me home, really." She said, walking ahead.

 

There it was again. That sad tone in her voice that made him want to find out more of what was bothering her. He'd figured out a lot about her by just observing the other day; the way she turned a deep magenta when everyone's eyes were on her, how talented she was in the musical arts, even the fake smile she had ever so naturally plastered on her face. He couldn't explain why either, but he just wanted to be around her, even though that sounded really creepy.

 

'Don't be foolish,' his inner thought said, 'You might think you want to be around her, but you just met the girl.'

 

'But I do.'

 

He was brought back to his senses when he heard her stop in her track, a startled look on her face for the slightest second, then plastered on an unreadable expression. Her long, wavy hair fell from behind her ear and landed perfectly next to her rosy cheek, making her look even more stunning. 

 

"What?" She said, barely a whisper. 

 

Crap. He'd said that aloud. 

 

He'd eventually ended up gazing at the floor, his cheeks burning up. He kept asking himself why he was so affected by her. Was it because of her kindness and quietness? Or was it because she could hide her emotions in a blink of an eye? Was because he could possibly have the slightest crush on-

 

No.

 

He probably wanted to help her out. She was an acquaintance, but Jungkook wanted to befriend her the moment he saw her again in the rain. He obviously didn't want her hanging out with Yesung and his group, so he'd come to a conclusion; he wanted to find out more about his friend, who obviously had a troubled look hidden in her eyes. His eyes were full of sincere when he said his next words.

 

"I want to be around you."

 

There was a flash of fear and insecurity in her eyes for a split second, but then she covered it up ever so slightly. What was troubling her? It was that exact look in which Jungkook volunteered to walk her home. Normally, that would cross the line for an acquaintance, but he quickly lost his senses when she'd wore that look on her innocent face.

 

There was silence between them for a few minutes. He looked at her now, trying so desperately to read her.

 

"You.." She trailed off.

 

"What?" He asked.

 

It took her a few seconds, but she then replied back, "We just met, not long ago.." Jungkook held his breath, listening in on the next important words.

 

"Are you sure you want... To be involved with me?"

 

He could've over looked her sentence, but he felt that this meant more than befriending her. The way she fiddled with her small, delicate hands. The way her eyes looked into his, sending butterflies in his stomach.

 

"O-of course," He said, trying to shove the butterflies out of him, "I like being around you. You're my friend, right?"

 

She looked a bit nervous, blinking rapidly. "I guess s-so.."

 

Jungkook took a few steps towards her and raised his hand to pat her head, like he had done before. But right before he could even touch her, she whirled around and said with a muffled voice, "I-I can walk by myself, I'll see you later."

 

Before he could go after her, she dashed ahead, him loosing sight of her in seconds.

 

 

*

 

 

During the passed few days, Soo-In had been avoiding him. And that took a lot of effort. She took the same bus as him, was in the A-Class with him, and worked after school at their coffee shop.

 

But he hadn't seen her once in those three days.

 

"Wow~ You scared her off that much?" Jin asked, patting Jungkook on the back. Jungkook smacked Jin's hand away, giving him a glare. Jin was a good guy, but his sarcasm was his turn off.

 

He'd convinced his friends to come to the shop earlier around 6, just so he could catch Soo-In. But alas, she wasn't here and he had to explain why he wanted to come there so early.

 

"I don't know what I did to her." He pouted, sprawling across the black table. He'd been pouting as soon as he found out she was nowhere to be seen.

 

"Mark! Did she ever come by here?" Jimin asked, tackling Mark as he handed them their drinks. Mark let out a painful and annoyed growl, "Yeah, she came by and left around 5:30."

 

"And you didn't bother telling us about it?" Jimin asked, messing up Mark's hair. Jungkook almost laughed at the face Mark made, reminding him of his own when they did that to him back when he was younger. But, they stopped as soon as his hair looked the same no matter how many times they fluffed it up.

 

Huh. Soo-In nicknamed him Fluffy.

 

Jungkook was then out back into pouting mode. 

 

"I didn't think it was that crucial for me to tell you every detail about her. Next thing you'll ask of her is her height, weight, and IQ." Mark spat, looking a bit agitated. What was his problem?

 

"Yah. Aren't you a bit over protective of your Noona?" Nam Joon asked, appearing out of nowhere. Mark jumped, glaring daggers at him until he digested what he just said.

 

"N-no. I don't even like her." He faltered, red seeping into his cheeks.

 

"Wait, maybe he's upset because Noona took the early shift off for the past three days." Ho Seok joined in, a smile fixating on his lips. 

 

Jungkook felt that twinge of jealously again, just like he did when he'd seen Soo-In and Mark so close together on her first night on the job.

 

"Anyways, she's not here. I told you she left early." Mark growled, obviously flustered. 

 

Jungkook's frown deepened. Did he really say something that made her feel uncomfortable around him? All he really said was that he wanted to know her better as a friend.

 

"Did you say anything to her?" V quietly asked, playing with the straw in his drink. Jungkook lifted himself up from the table and raised an eyebrow.

 

"Why do you ask that?" He asked.

 

"Nothing. Just curious." V quietly responded. 

 

Nam Joon came by and nudged V's blonde head. "Why so shy, hyung?" V immediately looked away, a bit red. Something pricked inside Jungkook. What was V acting up about? He was usually very energetic and naive. Jungkook then thought of the possibility of Soo-In talking to V alone, which made his stomach turn. Wait. He was this protective over his friend Jung Soo-In?

 

Jungkook was hoping his next question didn't have an answer as he stared at the fidgeting blonde, "Has she talked to you, V?"

 

V was silent for a few seconds, trying to come up with the right words, "Well, yeah, kind of." Jungkook felt his heart beat accelerate. What was this girl doing to him?

 

"What did she say?" he pressed on.

 

"Nothing much actually. She was just returning a book she borrowed when I asked her where she'd been all this time. She said she was just exploring the school and then Seoul afterwards for a new guitar string." V explained, still looking a bit red. 

 

"I need to talk to her." Jungkook responded, looking out the coffee shop windows.

 

Within a few seconds Jungkook excused himself from his friends and headed out the door, hearing some snag comments about his bipolar attitude and how he bailed from paying for the food. (Which was nonsense because he payed the day before.) 

 

He'd headed for the main streets in Seoul, where many tourists would appear and go shopping at. He still wasn't sure what he was doing and why he went out to search for Soo-In, he just needed to fix things with her. There were couples everywhere wearing the same clothes, shoes, hats, and even the same accessories. The cafés were filled with couples and so were the jewelry stores.

 

A typical weekend in Seoul.

 

After a few moments of wandering around aimlessly, he'd stopped by a popular guitar shop.

 

There, standing in front of the strings section, was a very cute Jung Soo-In. Just staring at her made his heart flutter. She looked very different from her uniform, now cute and cozy. She wore a navy blue blouse that defined her small waist and had on a Forrest green jacket to accent the top. She had on a pair of black skinny jeans and brown calf high boots that had the smallest platforms, which Jungkook liked. Normally, girls would be wearing six inch heels to look tall, but seeing her made him smile. And to top it all off, her hair was tied up into the most innocent side ponytail he'd ever seen, her wavy hair flowing out in perfect strands.

 

She was picking between two types of string for her guitar; a silver and a gold. He chuckled at her dilemma, wasn't her other strings gold? Jungkook instantly wanted to be by her side, picking out the objects with her. That's what friends are suppose to do together, right? The wave of cowardliness had washed away, leaving a smirking Jungkook. No matter how cute she was, he couldn't help but sneak up behind and her and say, "The gold string looks better."

 

 

Soo-In

 

 

I'd spent nearly ten minutes on deciding which guitar string to choose. A lot had been on my mind, and even though I'd spent nearly hours strumming on the black guitar, I couldn't remember what color the chords were. 

For the past three days, I had done whatever I could to not meet Jungkook. He wasn't at fault at all, and I felt guilty for avoiding him, but I just decided it was best not to become close with that boy. I had taken the later bus to not meet up with him, and learned that I didn't have to actually be in class at all times, I just had to check in and could leave since that place was really only the haven for tea and crumpets. After school, I had been prepared to play music in my plain room all day after school until there wasn't anything to play anymore. So, basically, I was prepared for anything.

 

But what I wasn't prepared for was when Fluffy's voice vibrated in my ear as he said ever so smoothly, "The gold string looks better."

 

Within a matter of seconds I let out a gasp and threw the two bags filled with guitar chords in the air, landing onto my head a moment afterwards. Fluffy let out a wave of laughter as I spun around to face him.

 

He was wearing a black crushed jacket with a grey hood attached and dark blue jeans. His hair flipped and flopped in all sorts of ways, but that was what made him look even more dashing, and what made my heart race even faster.

 

"W-what was that for?" I questioned him, turning away to pick up the bags. Jungkook beat me to it though, and personally placed the gold bag into my hand.

 

 

Warm.

 

 

"Is this what I have to go through to get you to speak to me?" He smirked, a glint of hurt in his eyes. 

 

I looked away, obviously too flustered by his emotion, "You never spoke to me at school."

 

 

Well. That was a weak response.

 

 

"And can you explain to me why I couldn't? We ride the same bus, go to the same classroom, and even the same coffee shop." He countered.

 

"I don't know, I wanted to explore," 

 

I wasn't lying at that. After practicing my instruments, I would walk around the buildings, getting lost here and there. I guess in the past three days I now know where several rooms led me towards. (Don't go in the west wing of the Class C building. I've seen some... Intimate students interacting with each other very.. intimately.) 

 

"You can't blame me for wanting to know what my school looks like." I simply responded.

 

 

Okay. That was an exceptional comeback.

 

 

Jungkook's eyes softened and he sighed, "Well if you wanted to explore than you could've asked me to help you. That's what friends do, right?" 

 

I winced at the word, don't ask me why because I truly didn't know why either. 

Still, I gave him a nod and walked towards the cash register, which was guarded by an uninterested female worker. 

 

She wore mountain loads of makeup and balanced on three inch heels. How do we girls bare it, you ask? I don't know. I don't think you should've asked me, because I wasn't experienced in that area.

She was on her cellphone, watching what appeared to be a Korean Drama. There was a lot of rain within the few seconds of watching it from her phone, I noticed, and apparently one of the characters liked to paint the love interest. If only that happened in real life.

I waited for her to notice me waiting in front of her, but after a minute, I cleared my throat, making my presence known.

 

The girl just glanced at me. Rolling her eyes.

 

It took me a total of twenty seconds to not reprimand her for her arrogance.

 

'You're not who you were back then.'

 

Taking a deep breath, I softly asked, "Excuse me?"

 

Finally, the girl looked up. Looking elsewhere. 

 

Waving a small hand in the air, I suggested, "Can I please buy this?"

 

Still, no response.

 

I let out a frustrated sigh, not failing to catch the girl's smirk as I turned around to find Jungkook.

 

And what do you know, her eyes were on him.

 

He was looking through the drum section, tapping on the instruments and even tuning them in the process. It amazed me to see how hard he worked on them, seeing as the instruments would be untuned the next day due to customers playing them. He must've been really bored.

 

I looked away, trying to grab the girl's attention one last time, "Excuse me, can I please buy this? Please?"

 

The girl glared at me.

 

"You're ruining the view." She said in a nasal voice.

 

 

My blood ran cold.

 

 

'You aren't who you were in the past. You aren't who you were in the past.' I chanted in my head.

 

I really wanted to give her a piece of my mind.

 

I then noticed the girl's gaze fixed on something closer towards us. And closer. And closer. And closer until she was looking at something behind me.

 

A warm hand landed on my head, patting me ever so softly.

 

"I'm bored. I just tuned six instruments and your still at the counter paying for one item?" He asked into my ear, making the worker girl stare daggers towards me.

 

Fluffy then looked at the cash register worker and said, "What was the hold up?"

 

A smile formed upon my lips as she became dumbfounded and embarrassed. At least she was reprimanded somehow.

 

After I'd bought my chords string for the guitar, I thanked Jungkook and walked away, only to feel a hand interlace mine with their own. A small gasp escaped my lips, but only so quiet enough that I could only hear it. Jungkook looked sincere, pulling me closer to him.

 

"You wouldn't spend time with me for the past three days, so why not spend some time with me right now?" He asked, his eyes looking elsewhere. 

 

"But I have to go back to the school and fix my-"

 

"You can do that on Monday," He interrupted, squeezing my hand.

 

"Besides," he smirked, now looking at me, "It's not everyday you get a free tour of Seoul from the one and only Jeon Jungkook."

 

My heart stopped. The way his smile formed on his lips, daring me to reject his offer. I couldn't say a word, only nod in defeat as he gently pulled me towards the streets of Seoul.

 

*

 

Seoul, South Korea. A place known for the world's fastest technology, or even the heart of handsome and beautiful Korean idols. A place with the technology of 2050, but the mentality of 1950. 

 

I truly wasn't that interested in exploring Seoul. My aunt said I could go exploring with her later when she had free time, but that would be in a while. So, evidently, I planned on sightseeing the wonderful place some other time.

 

 

Guess that time was now.

 

 

"Yah, where are we going?" I asked, trying to gain footing. Jungkook had practically been dragging me around the streets, smiling like he'd found his favorite toy.

 

"We need to show you around." He replied happily.

 

"I've seen everything already, its fine-"

 

"No excuses," he said sternly, "this is your punishment for avoiding me."

 

"I wasn't avoiding you.." I started, but he shook his head, tugging me closer.

 

"Liar. But I'll forgive you if you spend today with me."

 

I sighed in defeat. Mr. Fluffy was in high spirits all of a sudden. He wore the most dashing grin on his face as he strode me along, unwilling to let go.

But there was a part in me that didn't want him to let go. Surprisingly, I was a bit glad he'd found me at the store, even though I tried to avoid him during school hours. 

 

Jungkook led me towards a building twelve stories high. It amazed me how they stacked buildings rather than laying them across.

 

"What are we doing here?" I asked him, still looking up at the building. Jungkook gave a lopsided smile as he simply replied back, "Exploring."

 

My heart skipped a beat.

 

I felt my cheeks burn up from his comment. Instantly, I looked away, trying to busy myself with the busy people moving around in the streets of Seoul. I felt Jungkook squeeze my hand, making me turn towards him with a flustered, 

"W-what?"

To my surprise, he chuckled and led me towards the doors, being a gentlemen and letting me go in first. 

He had on the biggest grin, like he was waiting for my reaction to something. Ignoring his expression, I walked into the shopping center, unaware of what lay before me.

 

 

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Happy Holidays! Thank you for 500+ reads! Hope you enjoy this cute chapter!

 

Stay tuned every weekend for new chapters! 

{Neauchia}