#2 - The Fine Line

Plot: There's a fine line between friendship and romance. For these two, the line is often disregarded. 

Genre: Fluff/ Comedy

Word Count: 4,840

Notes: It gets kind of intense in the middle. You are warned. Prepare yourself.

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If anyone knew Jessica well enough, they'd all agree to one obvious thing. She loved to sleep.

Well, she didn't just love it, it was more of a full-blown obsession. While she was well-liked by her classmates and had many friends in her social circle, she rarely ever left the house for this reason.

But there was exactly one exception.

Which is why, obsession and all, she was standing in front of Jiyong's room door at 2:30 in the morning. Her hair was in a messy bun piled on the top of her head, and she was wearing an oversized sweater that hugged down to the top of her kneecaps. She wasn't even sure if she had matching shoes. Maybe she wasn't even wearing any. She was that tired.

Before her fist had even landed on the face of the door, it swung open and a wild Seungri looked at her distraught and on the brink of tears. His hair was pushed and pulled in all different types of directions, and he had various stains on his white t-shirt. He didn't even bother with pants, but somehow, he'd still managed to put on matching tube socks.

He was always a mystery.

She knew better than to question him. 

Leaning down onto his knees to catch his breath, he wiped the side of his face with his sleeve. "Sica, you do not know how happy I am that you're here. Jiyong, he-"

Even in a shortness of breath, he managed to hurriedly explained to her everything that had happened. Jiyong got sick, and being the strong hyung figure in Seungri's boundless life, the young boy could hardly take care of himself for an hour without wreaking havoc. He tried to help Jiyong, he really did, but he just wasn't the "homely" type and all of his attempts ended miserably. Of course, there were others that could handle the situation much better, but being the oh so lucky man he was, no one was able to stop by.

Youngbae had the graveyard shift in the local minimart and couldn't switch shifts with anyone, Daesung was working on some crazy psycology paper that was due in a mere few hours, and TOP was, like always, visiting his girlfriend way back in Busan. The poor maknae could only handle so much responsibility, and even the bare minimum was a lot for him to accomplish on his own. 

He looked like a headless chicken blindly running around without a remote sense of direction. 

His eyes flickered down at her hands and a wave of relief instantly washed over his face. "The soup. You're a lifesaver, Sic."

Jessica nodded, aimlessly looking over his shoulder. "It's going to get cold if we continue standing out here. Jiyong would probably appreciate this right now."

"You wouldn't believe."

 

Being the only son in his family, Kwon Jiyong had spent his entire childhood being heavily pampered by his family. He was even dubbed the precious "baby" that needed constant attention and love. As a result, developing a rebelious behavior wasn't very hard to accomplish. However, he also became heavily dependent on their support. Moving to college in Seoul was the shock of a lifetime.

For months, he lived on instant ramen and bottled water, not knowing how to take care of himself. While he came from a pretty well to do background, his independent instincts weren't all that in tune. Though he had a few girlfriends that took care of him, they were all too irritating for him to keep around for more than a few weeks.

His cheeks were sunken in, his eyes were lined with bags, and he couldn't even afford hair dye to maintain his platinum blond hair. He had reached rock bottom. 

In the second semester, he met his saving grace. She walked into his life with bright blonde hair and long legs that caught more than a fair share of whistles and hoots. She was from America, and though she had moved across the world by herself, she had total control over her life. She was pretty, elegant, and smart. Not only was she the embodiment of beauty, but she could easily articulate her thoughts and defend her own opinions and beliefs. She had a good head on her shoulders, and she had one of the prettiest smiles he'd ever seen. She was the full package.

He thought about dating her at first, but he realized that she wasn't stupid like the other girls in their school. Girls like her were, well, expensive. Did he have that kind of money? Not in the slightest.

But a few weeks after her transfer, the interraction was unavoidable.

At the time, Jiyong was failing miserably in his English class and Jessica was fluent. To help pay for her tuition, she had agreed to tutor failing students who were struggling to improve on their own and needed help. Besides the English professor, there weren't many English speakers that were willing to offer up their time. Jessica was one of three, and the others weren't as good at speaking as she was. Naturally, she'd been assigned the worst student. Jiyong was at the very top of the list, his name bolded, highlighted, and underlined.

The two had hit it off immediately, and as a result, his grades raised exponentially. 

During a late night study session, she'd come prepared, warm kimchi soup in one hand, a thermose of juice in the other. While some would label it a date, Jessica called it common courtesy. 

Jiyong tried one spoonful and his pupils dilated. His mother's kimchi soup was famously known throughout his home town, but he could argue that Jessica's was nearly as delicious. For the first time in months, Jiyong felt at home.

"I'm going to marry you," he told her, his expression firm and completed in honesty.

Jessica smiled, an eyebrow raised like it always did when she was amused. "Well, darling, you're gonna have to get to know me better."

And so he did.

Among study dates, late night shenanigans, and cringingly embarrassing moments, a friendship had formed. It was easy, he thought. The connection between them was effortless. As his long strew of naggy girlfriends came and left, along with her pretentious snotty boyfriends, their friendship was virtually unbreakable. Though their relationship, at the time, had never surpassed the label of "friends," he never wanted to let her go. She was his. And even more so, he was hers.

 

Which is exactly why, without even batting an eyelid, she had raced over to his dorm room to help remedy a slight fever that he'd complained to her via text. She didn't even care about what she looked like; Jiyong probably looked like crap, himself.

He proved her assumptions correct.

Clad in a navy-blue crewneck, Jiyong was buried underneath his sea of throw pillows and crumpled tissues, the only sign of presence being his bright red nose and never ending sniffles.

Even with a cold, his senses were quick enough to notice her presence. "I'm going to die, sweetheart. How are we going to sit in his and hers rocking chairs and watch our bratty grandchildren when I won't even live past twenty-one?"

He paused to stifle a sneeze for the next three seconds, only to be surprised by a disastrous one right as he let his guard down. It blew his mountain of tissues off his bed, revealing a very helpless Jiyong. "."

"If I die, let my mother know that you get Gaho. Please don't tell her what happened to me, she's only a dog and she doesn't need that kind of emotional damage. I went on a long vacation and-"

Jessica rolled her eyes and walked over to the edge of his bed. She cupped a hand over his forehead, then felt his cheeks, progressively working down to his neck. He instantly nuzzled into the warmth of her palms.

"Jiyong, relax. It's just a cold."

Jiyong pulled away his covers and Jessica snuck in. His body was like a furnice, but he still snuggled into her, desperate for her warmth.

"You better not be contagious, Jiyong."

"If I'm leaving this earth, I'm taking you with me. This 'till death do us part' nonsense isn't part of my agenda. We're forever."

Jessica rolled her eyes, playing it off, but she couldn't avoid the plunging feeling in her gut. Was Jiyong really joking when he said these things? Day by day, he seemed to become more serious and these so called jokes snuck into regular conversations. The skinship wasn't a laughing matter, either. They were dubbed "the it couple" and Jessica hated the way it chased away the boys, including her crush, Donghae.

While he was comfortable about it all, she wasn't.

Were they really friends?

She ran a hand through his dark sweaty locks, and he gave her a tight-lipped smile in response.

Who knows. 

 

 

The illness passed quickly, much thanks to Jessica's famous soup. In almost no time, Jiyong was back on his feet and more hyper than ever. He said that after escaping death, he needed to seize the day and take it by the horns. As a result, he started taking risks, lounging around was a rarity, and he also dedicated a chunk of his time to trying new things.

He took up skateboarding for a few weeks, but after standing on the ramps, he realized that losing his fear of heights wasn't an easy task to do. In fact, it was impossible. He gave up instantly. 

After that, it was soccer on the safety of the ground. But after rolling his ankle, it wasn't hard to give up on that either.

As he ventured out, Jessica saw him less and less and she didn't know if that was a bad thing or not. To be completely honest, things had gotten pretty awkward after that one night. Her mind was getting to the better of her, and she couldn't seem to control her thoughts.

It was dangerous, she came to realize very fast.

 

Jiyong hovered over her, his hands supporting his body on either sides of her head.

"You want me."

Jessica nodded, entranced by the subtlety of his lips. "I do."

The end of his lips curved into a crooked smirk, but he didn't look surprised at all. He slipped his hand under his shirt, and wrapped it around her thin torso, palming onto the small of her back. His finger traced down her spine at a tauntingly slow pace.   

While one hand was playing naughty tricks on her, his other one wasn't doing much better either. His coarse thumb rubbed along the sharpening of her jawline and down to the point of her chin. Almost immediately, he began to move in closer, his eyes focused on her lips. Jessica found herself itching to close the gap herself as he moved as slow as possible. The wait was intoxicating, and her desire was overwelming.

But right as his lips ghosted upon hers, they swept down her chin and onto . He must've seen the way it quivered when she swallowed nervously. He gave it a soft kiss.

He mumbled against her skin, slowly peppering kisses between every mind-numbing word. "I. Need. You."

She remained silent, but her hands expressed her eagerness. Her thin fingers buried themselves in the abundance of his dark-brown locks and he immediately hummed in muted pleasure.

He gave each side of a soft kiss before working down to her collarbones. "You don't know how much I've thought of you. Your fingers on my skin and mine on yours. It drives me insane."

His lips did wonders, giving attention to the parts of her skin that silently begged for it. It was as if he was reading her every thought, taking care of every need her body urged for.

He wasn't her cheeky best friend anymore; he was a man she could hardly recognize. Instead of the lively pupils she saw more often than not, she was met with darkly hooded lids with a dangerous glint in the pupils they concealed.

"It seems like you need convincing," he mumbled against her skin, now into the bend in her arm. She squirmed under his body, clutching onto his white t-shirt as if her life depended upon it. "You don't think about me as much as I think about you. Now, I know you feel something for me, but your mind has this funny way of hiding things you don't want to believe."

Unable to contain herself much longer, or to listen to his words for that matter, she buried her face in his neck, nipping daringly at his exposed skin. With one hand wrapped around his neck, she snuck the other under his shirt, pressing her palm flat against his abdomen. He flexed instinctively.

"See, you're doing it again, Kitten. People think that since a heart is physical, being physical will hide everything it feels. Like it paralyzes it and stuns it into not feeling anymore."

He turned his head and buried his mouth in the inner shell of her ear. "It won't."

She shivered.

He aligned his eyes with her, and she felt suddenly self conscious being held under his stare. "You and I both know what you want. And it isn't what you're using me for right now. It's much more than that."

Just as she was about to say something, a voice beat her to it. A voice all too familiar. It was booming, melting away the romantic mood in a matter of seconds.

"Jessica! Jessica! I know you can hear me! I see the way you're smiling! You're thinking erted things, aren't you?"

Her eyes knitted in confusion. Smiling? She wasn't smiling.

Then it all faded into the background. Jiyong gave her a cheshire smile and a wink, then dematerialized with the rest of the foreground. "See you again tomorrow night. Don't think of me too much. Or do. It's all up to you. We all know what I want."

 

Her eyes shot open, almost robotically. She stared up at the ceiling, the golden light making her eyes squint to adjust.

"About time," a voice said, interjecting her thoughts. Her head wobbled to the left, coming face to face with an amused Jiyong who was leaning on his palms, watching her intently. "This sleeping thing is getting out of hand. You missed Art History."

Her eyes looked over his shoulder and at the wall clock. 12:34 pm.

Her eyes focused back on him and she found herself staring at his lips. It was only when Jiyong clapped a palm over it did she realize how long she'd been staring. He scrubbed it violently. "Is there something on my mouth? I had a cupcake for breakfast and-"

Rise and shine.

It was the fifth time this week, and she was falling under the impression that this was becoming a daily thing. Her mind hoped not, but her body was begging to go back to sleep.

 

 

It'd been a while since she'd talked to Tiffany, her best friend pre-Jiyong, but she needed advice. Seohyun was wise beyond her years, but she was virtually clueless in the field of love - 

No, this isn't love, she told herself, friendship. Or weird romancy feelings. Ugh.

Of course, there was Sunny, but she was more flirty and didn't really have these kinds of problems. If she had any type of feeling for someone, she'd set her eyes on him and would pursue him relentlessly. 

That left Tiffany. Tiffany knew her better than anyone else, except for Jiyong. (Though maybe after this week, that'd change.)

"You like him," Tiffany blurted bluntly after hearing Jessica's story. "I don't know why you need advice. There's an emotional connection, and with these intense dreams, it's obvious you've developed a physical one. Put two and two together and you get Jisica, the model couple of our school."

Jessica buried her face in the beds of her palms. Ah, yes. The school had this weird habit of pairing them up together, as if they were two celebrities that followed their command. It was strange, and usually they'd play it off with a laugh.

However, this was not a laughing matter.

"Look, go out with him if you're unsure. As vivid as the dream was, that was not Jiyong talking, it was you. Give ultra-y Dream Jiyong a mini-vacation, and see the living and healthy one for yourself. You're not marrying the guy. It's a date - casual and lighthearted."

Jessica nodded.

Tiffany may be failing a few of her classes, but this plan actually seemed to be getting her somewhere.

 

 

"Sicaaaaaaaaa. But whyyyyy?"

Jiyong's body was sprawled across the length of his and Seungri's couch, his arms keeping a firm clutch on its armrests. Jessica tugged on his legs, but he remained adamant.

"The Voice Korea is on tonight and I need to see if my girl is going to pass through. She's doing a cover of my favorite song, and I want to-"

Jessica silently mimicked him with an unattractive face. Jiyong paused, and his arms let go to cross over his chest. "Why did you make an ugly face to mimick me? Huh?"

Jessica immediately took his crossed arms to her advantage and pounced on him the moment he let go. She sat on his stomach and wrapped her legs around his torso. "Please, Jiyonggie?"

Oh, not that nickname, he thought, rolling his eyes. Why does she want to leave so badly?

"I can't go on my own. Who will I laugh with? Myself? What' the fun in that?"

He honestly didn't want to watch the movie. Movie tickets, in his opinion, were vastly overpriced and he'd rather watch movies illegally online. He knew he'd probably be the one paying and while it was easy for Jessica to decide, his wallet protested against it.

His hands naturally fell on the sides of her thighs and he saw her tense up immediately. Skinship usually wasn't an issue. Although he was more touchy than she was, she always made herself open to it.

She gave him a weird look and he felt awkward. It made him feel like a ert, and quite frankly, he felt offended. Here she was victimizing herself, when she was an even bigger ert than he was (not). 

Who was the one that snuck into his bed on stormy nights and initiated cuddling? She was.

Who shamelessly dug into his back-pocket when she needed to see his phone and let her hand hovered for, what he thought, was unnecessarily long? She did. (Even on skinny jean days, might he add.)

Who didn't bother wearing much more than an oversized t-shirt when he was around? She did. (He scolded her countless times over the years, but she still continued to do it. She knew what she was doing.)

He was just an honest man. It was her who was turning this weird. 

She swallowed nervously, then hopped off of his lap, landing ungracefully onto his floor. "I'll pay."

 

 

Jessica remained true to her word. Except for one teeny tiny detail. It was unnoticeable, in her honest opinion.

"I thought you said we were watching Robots Versus Superheroes?! This was not part of the deal. I'm not watching this romance bullcrap!"

Sticking to Tiffany's outline, she mentioned that romantic movies set the mind in the right "mood." Her boyfriend, Yesung, was forced to watch The Notebook once a month for this reason. He was a bit of a rascal, himself, so this was a way to keep him on a leash.

She didn't like romance movies, but it was imperative that this plan went according to the outline.  

Jessica clapped a hand over his blabbering mouth, masking his uncensored rant. His eyes were enough to assume the idea of what he was saying. He her hand and she yelped, quickly taking it off.

He crossed his arms in a childish pout. "That hand kiss was enough romance for a day. You don't need a stupid movie to get that cheesy nonsense! You want romance? Here, pucker up, Princess."

He leaned in with an exaggerated pucker and attempted to shamelessly kiss her. Jessica, mentally thanking to her quick instincts, caught him by the shoulders, somewhat keeping him away at a safe distance before any damage was done. He was definitely riled up today. A riled up Jiyong was proven dangerous, and sometimes lethal. Just her luck. 

"Okay, okay, well R.V.S. is completely sold out, so you can choose a different movie, I guess."

He carefully paced along the theaters walls, carefully eyeing the wall-paneled movie posters. There were two other romance type movies, a kids' one, a comedy (Jiyong already watched it), and a few others Jessica couldn't see.

He stopped in front of one in particular and Jessica had to crane her neck in order to see it. She regretted doing so almost immediately.

Jiyong swiveled on his heels and gave her a demonic grin. "Slaughter House: Axe Murderers Unite."

Jessica died a little.

 

 

Needless to say, Jessica spent the entire movie cowering in the crook of Jiyong's arm. He had his arm protectively wrapped around her hunched body and had also removed his jacket, to which she used as a blanket. Her hands clawed into his shirt and he had to slap them away every so often.

Her constant whimpering made it hard for him to focus on the movie (not like there was much of a storyline anyway). He her hair to help remedy her fear, but she only slapped his hand away claiming that it felt weird. 

Weird, huh?

Well you're weird.

It came to a part where a couple sat tied up next to each other, crying about how they might never live to marry each other and yadda yadda, other romantic stuff.

Jessica nudged him in the ribs. He looked down, not really caring if he missed this particular part.

"If that was us, what would you tell me?"

He shrugged. "Probably that you're stupid for getting us into that situation, and getting us both killed. And that your feet are ugly, because they are."

She punched him. "No, really. I'm curious."

He sighed. Might as well, the movie was turning stale and he felt kind of bad for the whole movie thing. He stretched out his legs and rested her head on his lap. "If we were to get into a situation where we might not make it out alive, I would tell you that even though we're young and way in over our heads, we had a great run. Even though we're single as hell and no one wants to date us because we're both really ugly, being your best friend was enough for me to get the love I need. You saved me from ruining my life, and I can't thank you enough for that."

Jessica broke into a goofy smile, and she was about to speak, but he continued on.

"Also, I'd want you to die knowing that you were beautiful. So I'd tell you. Once or twice, but probably over and over again. Even with those ugly feet of yours, no one can ever meet your level of beauty. Also, I'd tell you that you're the smartest person I know, even though you may say some of the dumbest things ever. However, I'd thank you for being comfortable enough around me to act like an idiot. Then, I'd tell you that I wished my family could've met you at least once."

He took a deep breath, as if preparing himself, then spoke in a quick exhale.

"Because I love you unconditionally, and I'd want to die with the world knowing who made my life worth living."

Before she could reply, he spoke again. "And as for you? It'd be selfish to do all of the talking at a situation like that."

Speaking after a speech like that, she felt scared. But as she spoke, she realized it was much easier than she thought. The words came out effortlessly. "I'd tell you that you're crazy. Knowing you and your obsession for scary movies, you probably got us into that situation claiming you wanted an adventure. I'd probably question ever being your best friend, I'm not gonna lie."

Jiyong pouted. "Hey-"

"But it'd be a joke, of course. To ease the tension, because knowing you, you'd be screaming from the top of your lungs making this murderer want to kill us sooner. You're stupid in that way."

He rolled his eyes, silently scoffing.

"But I love you, anyway. And because of the shortened time, I'd have to rush out my goodbyes. There are many things I'd want to say to you, but it'd take forever to say them all. So I'd start with your smile. Thank you for always smiling. Your smile is great, 80% of the time. The other 20% of the time, you're doing something bad, and that smile creeps me out beyond words. But it's a great smile, nonetheless. Which leads me to point B. You're insane. When I first started tutoring you, I thought I should run for the hills and never look back. To be completely honest, you were a punk."

"I was lying before," Jiyong interjected. "You're mean and I hate you. Good night."

"But I learned that it was just your immaturity," she continued, "You've grown a lot in the past three years I've known you, although it's hard to imagine most of the time. It's hard to imagine a lot of things. Like why I like you, and why you're invading my mind all the time. I see you enough during the day, I don't need you dominating my dreams too. It's a burden, honestly, so I'd say that if I was dying, at least I wouldn't have to dream about you and your weird erted dream self at unreasonable hours."

"You dream about me? Wh-"

"And they had me staring at your lips like a freak, which was and is horrible. I felt like a dog in heat, and it gave me unnecessary amounts of stress."

Jiyong stared at her in disbelief, making her pause. "You're a weirdo, Sweetheart. I feel violated right now. Mine was so sweet, and yours is about having weird dreams about me. This, future almost-dead me, wouldn't appreciate. Say something nice."

"Which, if you didn't interrupt me, brings me to my next confession. It made me realize my feelings for you. Weird erted Jiyong wasn't just a object, he was philosophical and insightful. He was like the opposite of Real Jiyong."

"Hey-"

"And from these weird dreams, I realized that I had developed feelings for you. You may be weird and stupid, but you make me the happiest girl on this earth. Even though we'd probably raise Seungri instead of having kids, we could've been a damn happy married couple if we made it out alive. We complete each other, and I can't deny that I love you for that. You make me undeniably happy, and I would tell you I loved you over a million times. In fact, it'd probably be the last thing I'd say before that axe murderer chopped off. I love you, Jiyong."

Jiyong's harsh glare melted into a goofy grin. With her head rested on his lap, and her hands around the hem of his shirt, he couldn't resist the urge to lean down and kiss her. It was soft, and although it might not have been the steamy kiss she was aching for in her dream, it was nice. She couldn't help but break out in a grin immediately after it.

"Now," he said, arching an eyebrow "in these dreams, am I any good?"

She glared at him, then elbowed him in the thigh before he begged for mercy. She made a horribly unattractive face and started mimicking him. "I'd want to die with the world knowing who made my life worth living, blah blah blah."

He grabbed onto her cheeks and squeezed them until she stopped. Even then, she couldn't resist a loud cackle. "Roses are red, violets are blue. Jiyong should direct a romantic movie because he's the reincarnation of Cupid."

His features weighed down into a deep glare. "I hate you."

She giggled uncontrollably. She reached out for his necklace, and pulled his head down to hers. She kissed him again, this time savoring the feeling of his lips on hers. "And I love you, Mr. Kwon."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

 

---

 Author's Notes:

/loud cackle. 

happy new year my lovelies. wow, im blown away by the number of subscribers after only a single chapter. i love you guys. 

anyway, here's a new one where they're best friends. i hope it's alright. it's 3 am and i dont know if i'll regret it in the morning or not. anyway, happy reading.

 

oh, and in regards for the requests for ch 1 sequel, well you'll just have to wait and see. c: