Requested by: ChunsaAngel21

Characters: Jin [BTS] & Kim Jung-Ae [OC]; Bobby [iKon]

Premise: Jin is in love with his boyish best friend, Jung-Ae.  However, he never confesses because he thinks she's dating Bobby, who's actually her cousin.

Author: Admin K, DivinestSense

Between You And Me

Mindlessly tapping his foot, Jin checked his watch for the fifth time that minute. To those passing by, he must have looked impatient, as though he had a thousand other places to be, and while that was slightly true (Taehyung had been hounding him to join the others at karaoke while his mother kept slyly commenting about how nice it would be to see her son again), there was no place he would rather have been than right where he was.

Standing outside the gate of his former high school.

It was the last day of exams and he could practically feel the eagerness to escape oozing from the building.  Having graduated but two years ago, he knew all too well the sensation of being done and off to university and he had to stand strategically as to avoid being trampled by the students when the doors opened.  The last thing he wanted was to greet his best friend appearing as though he had come out of a fist fight (and lost)—not that she would have cared how he looked, that was one of the great things about Jung-Ae.

Smiling as he thought back to when they first met, Jin released a content sigh.  He had been a second year in school and she a first year (she was only a year younger than he, but she was forced to repeat a year for her horrible attendance that year).  The guys in his group of friends were all different ages and in all actuality, Jung-Ae had started off as the friend of a friend.  His friend, Jimin, had brought her to their hangout place briefly;  The two of them were working on a project and he needed markers and other things of the sort.  As his friend dug through their stuff searching for things to use, she stood there awkwardly so as the eldest (and the most gentlemanly) of the group, Jin took it upon himself to make her feel at home.

When he had first looked at her, it would be a lie to say he was not surprised.  From head to toe, she had a boyish style to her.  She wasn’t masculine—no, she was actually very feminine in her features—but she made no conscious effort to dress in a manner that showcased her femininity.  Dressed in simple black pants with a sweatshirt and a snap back, he was slightly confused as to why she was not in her uniform—the rest of them still were.  Pushing that thought aside, he took note of how she tucked her hair into her hat, the only sign of her long, beautiful black hair coming in the form of strands that had escaped their captivity in the cap.

Even though he was a pretty boy himself, Jin knew and believed that there was no right way to appear—that girls (or guys) didn’t have to look a certain way.  Sure he would have said that his ideal girl liked to wear dresses and light colors and curl her hair, but that didn’t mean that Jung-Ae was ugly.  In fact, the more he had stared at her, the more he saw her beauty.  

Hearing the school bell ring, Jin had five more minutes before Jung-Ae appeared from the building.  Closing his eyes as the sun hit his face, he tried to remember what he had said to her that first day they met.  With his friends sitting around playing games and her just hovering in the doorway, he knew that he couldn’t be too awkward (Hoseok and Taehyung would have had a field day), but there wasn’t much he could think of to say.  

In truth, what he said first and what the rest of their conversation was remained a mystery to him in present time, but that didn’t matter—all that did matter was that he had spoke to her because from there, their friendship bloomed (or, well, more like awkwardly grew).

When Jimin had collected all he had needed, the two of them left to go elsewhere.  As Jin had watched her retreating figure, he noted how even in her gait she was relaxed and casual, rather than focusing on how she appeared.  

She was so natural and so herself, and as someone who had always worried about pleasing other people, he found that to be her most attractive quality.  While some were put off by her boyish appearance and comportment, he instead chose to see the beauty in her confidence and freedom.  She had told him that how she was, was more the result of growing up around boys as opposed to it being some statement to society, but that didn’t change how he saw her.

She was gorgeous.

And he was in love with her.  

When he had first discovered that he had fallen for her, Jin could not quite recall, but he knew that now—five years since they had become friends—he was in love with the girl he was proud to call his best friend.

“Yah, what’s up with you?”

Opening his eyes at the question, his vision focused on the teasing face of Jung-Ae.  Changed from her uniform to casual clothing, it amazed him just how much she disliked the skirts.  Something that was even more amazing, however, was how he had no desire to see what she looked like in a skirt.  He knew she wasn’t comfortable in one and he hated the thought of seeing her self conscious or fidgety—her strong attitude is what made her Jung-Ae.

“Yah, show some respect," he joked as he straightened his posture.

“But seriously, are you all right?  You looked deep in thought," she said as they began walking to her home.  Even though she only lived a few blocks away, he wanted to celebrate this day with her—finishing high school only happened once in a lifetime.  She told him she was busy later so they couldn’t hang out, so they agreed that he would at least accompany her on the walk (and even though he had a list of things to do, he would have put them all on hold for her.  

He was willing to upset Joongki and unlike that guy’s nickname, Suga, he was not sweet all the time.  The kid could swear the alphabet.

“I was just thinking about you," he sang, a smile on his face.  She would take it as a joke and he would brush it off as one (like they always did), but it felt good to say it aloud.  She was always on his mind and he wanted her to know that, even if it got brushed aside as humorous.

“Oh man, maybe I should steal more of your time so that you have to deal with an angry Suga," she joked.  “Or even better, let’s wait until Jungkook gets there before you—you know how much he hates waiting.”

That was true—for being the youngest out of the seven friends (not including Jung-Ae), Jungkook had a thing for punctuality, especially when he was tired.  Jin could understand though—the golden maknae was juggling school, dance competitions (he was in a group with Jimin and Hoseok), singing lessons and underground rap battles (Suga and Rap Monster—he mentally laughed at his friend’s stage name—were prepping him to