It had been a while since you had last seen Jeon Jungkook. Living a few hours away from each other never allowed for much face-to-face interactions, but with the modern advances in technology the two of you had talked nearly every day. The bond that the two of you had formed over the performance conference stayed strong through the hundreds of miles of distance.

 

You had also made a friend out of Namjoon and several of the other boys that Jungkook had hung out with during the college conference. The rapper and his cohorts were strong supporters of their youngest friend’s flirtationship with you, so naturally when you had mentioned to Namjoon and Jin on a Skype call that you wanted to surprise Kookie for his birthday, the boys set about making the meeting happen. Two weeks later and here you were, parking in the apartment complex of the man that you had more than a vague crush on.

 

Before climbing out of your car you took a quick glance in your rearview mirror, checking to ensure that your lipstick remained smudge free and your hair was still in place. Your stomach felt like it was on a Ferris wheel taking small loops up and down, too slow to cause any real concern but just enough to make you uneasy and faintly sick. Deep breaths in and out helped suppress the feeling a bit, but as you stepped out of the vehicle and glanced at the tall building in front of you, the queasy feeling came back at full force.

 

One text to Namjoon and an elevator ride later, you were standing outside of apartment 304. This was the apartment that Jungkook shared with Namjoon and Jin, two of his oldest friends. However you knew behind this door were all seven of the boys, gathered together to celebrate the youngest boy’s birthday. Your heart was racing as you reached up to knock on the door, hand trembling faintly.

 

The faint noise of laughter that was coming from within ground to a halt, replaced by a low murmur. Namjoon’s deep voice made an appearance behind the door but you could not distinguish any words. You were so involved in trying to listen that when the apartment door suddenly opened it startled you.

 

Jungkook’s wide dark eyes echoed the surprise in yours. You however recovered much more quickly than him, throwing your arms around his neck and shouting “Happy birthday Jungkook!!” The poor kid almost lost his balance, still in shock, but managed to regain his footing and wrapped his arms around your waist.

 

“_____, what are you doing here?” Kookie asked, pulling back to look at you.

 

“I’m here to surprise you!! I’d say it was a success, too,” you said, chuckling. You winked at Namjoon. “The boys helped me to get here for your birthday.”

 

Namjoon approached and clapped a hand onto the youngest boy’s shoulder. “We knew that you guys were pretty close, so we all thought we should bring her down here so she could join us for your birthday celebration today.”

 

Jungkook looked from you to Namjoon and back again. “Whoa, really?” he asked. As the two of you responded with a nod, he broke out into a grin. “Wow, that’s so awesome! Thank you guys! I’m so glad to have you here, _____.”

 

A groan came from the lump of Yoongi that was resting on the apartment couch. “Can we go get the ice cream now?” His grumpy voice was muffled by the beanie that was pulled down over his face, but the full intensity of his question was clear. If they didn’t get Yoongi sugar soon, it wouldn’t be a happy birthday for anyone.

 

“Come on, let’s go! The ice cream shop is just a few blocks away!” Jimin grabbed your hand and began to drag you back out into the hallway.

 

“Ay! Jimin! What are you doing with my guest?” Kookie called after you.

 

“Kidnapping her! If you want her back you better get the rest of the peanut gallery moving!”

 

***

 

A short walk later, the eight of you had finally found your way to the local ice cream shop. After some debating, all of you got different flavors. Kookie went with Rocky Road, the same thing he always did according to the rest of the boys. Namjoon chose mint chocolate chip and Yoongi went for a refreshing raspberry sorbet. Taehyung always picked something new whenever he came to this shop, and today bubble gum caught his eye. Hobi landed on double chocolate to the surprise of Jin, who favored classic vanilla. Jimin closed his eyes and pointed to a random flavor, winding up with cookie dough. Finally, you went with your own favorite ice cream, the one that never disappointed you even after all these years.

 

Since there were so many of you everyone decided that it would be best to leave the small shop and meander over to the nearby park. It was a Tuesday, so the place was fairly quiet except for a couple jogging on the sidewalk and a middle age man playing Frisbee with his German Shephard. A solitary picnic table resting underneath a pine tree was quickly commandeered by Hobi, who waved the rest of you over.

 

There was silence for a few moments as everyone dug into their snack, each relishing in the cool relief that their mouth found in the near summer heat. You and Kookie swapped bites of ice cream, complimenting each other on choice of ice cream before his cheeks flushed and he fell silent.

 

“We’re glad you could make it down, _____,” Jin said, attempting to break up the awkward tension. “We’ve missed you.”

 

“I’ve missed you guys too!” you exclaimed, smiling brightly at the group of friends.

 

“Do you still remember the dance routine our group learned?” Jimin asked eagerly. Seeing you nod, he hopped up onto the picnic table to everyone’s surprise and began dancing. The sharp hip hop moves made the table squeak as if it was going to break at any moment, causing the rest of the party to beg him to get down. Begrudgingly he agreed, sitting down to finish his ice cream with a pout.

 

Once the cups had been thrown away neatly in the trashcan, the group was about to head back to the apartment when Taehyung launched himself at Jimin, yelling “Tag you’re iiiiiitttttt!!!!” before immediately dashing off across the park. Jimin froze, watching his friend run off, then turning his attention to slowly glance over at each of his other companions.

 

No one moved a muscle as Jimin gave them a once over, the park oddly quiet except Taehyung’s screaming in the distance. Suddenly, Hobi yelled “Scatter!!” and without another word the entire group launched themselves in different directions, hoping to get far enough away from Jimin that he wouldn’t choose them as a target.

 

You didn’t have a direction in mind when you took off running, your only goal was to go as far as possible as fast as possible. A sudden expletive not too far away on your right made you realize that Namjoon must have been caught by Jimin, and you immediately diverted your path to the left. A loud whoop from Taehyung encouraged you and you pulled yourself behind a tree to give yourself a moment to catch your breath. A quick peek around allowed you to assess that Namjoon was in hot pursuit of Yoongi, who seemed to be groaning something about how he was “too old for this crap” before being taken down the younger man.

 

Using the moment of distraction from the change of attacker you sprinted across to the next tree, but Yoongi saw you out of the corner of his eye and began to pursue. Desperate to lose him you began to run towards Jin, hoping that the presence of another target would make Yoongi change his focus. The distraction seemed to work as you heard Jin give a sudden yelp, but you kept running for fear of gaining the tagger’s attention once again.

 

For the next few minutes you kept blindly running, dodging everyone who came anywhere near you. You had lost track of who was “it”, so your main strategy was just to stay as far away from your friends as possible within the perimeter of the park. Various yelps and cuss words flew behind you, but you were a determined to get out of this one unscathed.

 

When you finally noticed Jungkook rushing up behind you, it was too late to divert your path, so you stopped dead in your tracks, hoping that he would run past you whether he was “it” or not. However Kookie’s quick reflexes were in full effect today and his long arms reached out to grab you as he passed. The strength of his grasp and his momentum sent the two of you spiraling down to the ground, rolling over a few times on the grass until finally you both came to a standstill, Kookie’s back on the ground and you flush against his chest, his arms still holding tight to you.

 

A fit of giggles took hold of you as Kookie asked “Are you all right?” His big brown eyes looked at you with worry until you nodded, when he himself began to laugh. “Um, tag you’re it I guess?” he said. The two of you kept chuckling, lost in each other’s smiling gaze until you heard the approach of the other boys.

 

“Well, what do we have here?” Taehyung teased. You quickly rolled off of Kookie, noticing that his suddenly flushed face must match your own.

 

“Mmm, I dunno, maybe we should give them some alone time…” Jin said, jokingly turning around as if to walk off.

 

“All right, up and at ‘em,” Namjoon said, offering you a hand to get you back on your feet. Hobi did the same to Jungkook, although you could have sworn you saw him wink at the younger man as he helped him up.

 

“Can we go back to the apartment now?” Yoongi groaned. “I’m tired.”

 

“Good idea! Last one back pays for pizza!” Taehyung shouted, before launching off with inhuman energy once again towards the apartment complex. Hobi gave a half-hearted sprint to follow before giving up.

 

“HEY! THAT’S IT. NO MORE RUNNING YOU PUNK. WHEN WE GET HOME I’M GONNA KILL YOU.” Yoongi said before slumping over on Jin’s shoulder, resigning himself to a slow trudge back to the cool air conditioned room.

 

***

 

The next three hours were spent chowing down on pizza and playing games on the boys’ Xbox. Just Dance was a popular choice at first, but as everyone was still exhausted from the game in the park earlier, the idea was quickly abandoned in favor of karaoke. You had never before been in a room with so many people who could sing extremely well that were singing so off key on purpose. The antics made you have such a wonderful time that you didn’t even notice that it was getting so late until Jin leaned over and showed you the time on his phone.

 

“Oh crap, guys. I’m so sorry but I have to go. It’s still a two hour drive to get back home. Thank you for inviting me to hang out though, I had so much fun.”

 

A round of “No problem”s, “Thank YOU”s, and “Anytime”s echoed around the room as you gathered your shoes and keys. You gave each boy a hug before heading to the door.

 

“Hey, mind if I walk you down?” Jungkook asked, rubbing the back of his head nervously. “It’s getting kind of late and I want to make sure you get to your car safely.” He looked at you then at his friends, who abruptly stopped winking and giving thumbs up as soon as you turned around.

 

“I’d like that very much, Jungkook. Thank you.”

 

The walk to the elevator and the ride down to the ground floor was a strange silence, filled with a nervous tension that neither of you were willing or able to voice. Your hands brushed as you both went to push the elevator button, making the two of you blush once again.

 

When you finally got outside you decided to take the leap and break the silence. “I hope you had a good birthday Kookie. And I’m really glad that I got to spend it with you.”

 

Jungkook’s hands were nervously into his pockets, his broad shoulders hunched a bit. “I did! It’s been the best birthday I’ve had in a while. Thank you for showing up, it… really did surprise me.”

 

By this point, you had reached your car and were standing awkwardly beside it, uncertain of what to do. “Good, I’m glad! Maybe for my birthday, you can come visit me!” you said, smiling uncertainly.

 

“Oh! Yeah, I’d love that!” Jungkook said, nodding enthusiastically. Silence fell once again, the cool breeze filling the space in between the two of you.

 

“Well, I really need to get going… Thanks again, and I’m glad you had a fun time!” You leaned forward to hug him and the tall figure wrapped his arms around you, the warmth from his body making your heart race. His scent matched his personality, soft upon first encounter but strong and welcoming the longer you lingered. You wanted to stay here forever, encircled in his embrace.

 

The pit in your stomach that formed when he pulled away was quickly replaced with an electric tingle when Jungkook leaned down and hesitantly placed his lips on yours. You were shocked at first causing you to tense, but your brain suddenly shut down and you melted, relaxing into the kiss. His lips were soft, despite everything else about his body being strong. He pleaded no entrance to your mouth, nor did his hands roam around your body. It was simply a gentle kiss, relaying his affection and desire for the beginning of what could be a beautiful relationship.

 

When he pulled back, it took you a moment to open your eyes. Your mind was capturing the moment, recording it forever to be cherished and enjoyed. As you flicked your eyes open you saw Kookie, looking at you with affection and worry, perhaps afraid that you wouldn’t be all right with the events that had transpired just now. Before you could reassure him, you heard the faint sound of yelling in the distance.

 

Startled, the two of you looked up to see five shapes pressed up against the third floor window, eagerly watching the events in the parking lot. You could faintly make out Taehyung performing what appeared to be a victory dance, Hobi rapidly fist pumping the air, Jin giving a small thumbs up, and Jimin and Yoongi exchanging high fives.

 

“Um, Kookie… Are your friends celebrating… us?” you asked, sure that your face was bright red at this point.

 

“Oh my god. I think they are.” Jungkook said, staring horrified at the window to his apartment. “I’m going to kill them. I swear I’m going to kill them.”

 

“It’s okay, let them have this victory. They diiiiid kind of set this up anyways. Next time we’ll just have to be more careful.”

 

“Next time?” This broke Kookie’s gaze from the window as he turned to look at you with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Well, there won’t be a next time if I don’t get home in the first place. Good night Kookie.” You stood on your tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before darting into the car.

 

“Text me when you get home, okay?” Kookie said as he closed the car door for you. He stood in the parking lot, waving you goodbye until you were far out of sight.

 

***

 

Made it home safely =)

Glad to hear

IMAGE

So Namjoon sent me this picture…

Oh my god

Is that what I think it is??

Yup

Wow, they really were invested

Apparently

Oh and Jimin wants to know if I’m a good kisser…

But you don’t have to answer that!!

Just a warning in case he brings it up

Tell him that I have inconclusive evidence

I’ll need to perform more tests before I can get enough data to determine the status of your kissing skills

Oooh

Wait more data??

-_-

You know what I mean Jungkook

OH

Right

More tests it is hehe

Anyways I’m going to bed

Have a good night Jungkook

Thanks for everything =)

And Happy Birthday!

Thank you!

Goodnight and sweet dreams. <3

Sweet dreams Kookie