CHAPTER 7: A MERE “CRUSH”

Feeling guilty for how Yoori’s life was being affected negatively, specifically in terms of her relationships and friendships, Jungkook and his friends encouraged her to take time off the next day to try to talk to Jihun. Of course, apologizing to Jihun was not easy at all. He was furious even up until that afternoon that they met up. He didn’t want to speak to her but she had begged for him to just listen to her words and reasoning. It took her multiple tries and apologies for Jihun to finally accept her apologies. Being her friend, he had a weak spot for her even if he was entirely upset with her. Either way, he couldn’t remain upset with her forever. Trying her best to avoid having to tell the entire truth to Jihun, Yoori simply put it as being busy due to her new, additional job. Jungkook and Taehyung whom he had met were her coworkers. Putting it that way, Jihun put his trust in her and was no longer mad at her. Yoori made sure to make things up, she spent the entire day with Jihun. Hanging out, watching movies, going out for food, just like how things used to be. After spending her entire day going out, she still put in time for her to tutor her high school students. The sun had already gone down and the bright moon had already risen into the sky. The could see the familiar figure of a young man waiting outside of the building. Under the moonlight, she was then able to identify him. His head turned and he smiled sweetly at her, with his eyes forming crescents as his smile widened.

“What are you doing here? Has waiting for me become a thing for you now?” Yoori said, chuckling to herself as she approached him.

“I enjoy putting some time into waiting for you, okay. Be appreciative.”

“What ever happened to despising my entire existence?”

“Shhh…the past is the past okay?” She could hear him chuckle to himself. Seeing him smile and laugh wholeheartedly, it’s like he’s suddenly changed as a person.

“You do know that I have to open up my studio for my students for a bit, right?” Grinning, he nodded at her, letting her know that he didn’t mind tagging along.

Bringing along a male friend that was not Jihun was quite unusual for her students to see at the studio. Jungkook stayed with her, watching her work on her own painting. She would get up and monitor her students’ work from time to time but she really left them alone to do their own things. Jungkook’s eyes were focused onto her as she worked. Frankly, he didn’t even mind watching her work like this. To him, she was attractive that way whenever she was hard at work. It’s like he couldn’t help it, it’s like he was naturally attracted to her and there’s just no way to avoid it. He could watch her all day long if he had to. She was absorbed into creating her new painting. It’s just been so long since she’s had this much time to do her hobby without having to worry about anything else. Her students would question her who the unfamiliar male was since she would usually never have anyone with her. Simply telling them that Jungkook’s a friend of hers, her students settled down but didn’t seem to buy it.

“Come on, Sanha, you have to go home sooner or later.” Moonbin, another student, had said to the younger one. The latter pouted, refusing to leave. “But I don’t want to go home yet.”

“It’s almost your curfew and plus, you’ll once again be the only one left here.” The boy paused and smirked at Yoori before continuing to speak, “Anyway, you should leave. Noona got herself a new boo. I’m sure they want to be left alone.” Almost immediately, she objected to the boy’s comment while looking embarrassed as ever. Moonbin laughed aloud in amusement from his teasing. Although Yoori was years older than him, he enjoyed messing around like a little child towards her. Sanha was mumbling to himself grumpily as Moonbin continued to nag at him to pack up. Even as they walked out, Sanha wouldn’t walk fast enough, causing Moonbin to become impatient and to pull him by his ear. “Goodnight, Noona!” She could hear the tall boy shout out as he was dragged out of the studio by his friend.

“U-Uhm, I apologize if the students had made you feel uncomfortable. They get real nosy sometimes.” She said to Jungkook. He once again smiled at her happily, “It’s alright. They sure seem like they’re really close to you.”

“Yeah, they stop by the studio every time they hear that it’s open.”

“Ah, I see. So, I’ve been wondering, what are you painting? I’ve been trying to guess, but I just can’t tell if you’re just making some person up or not.” She turned her head and looked at him, “, I thought it’d be obvious, it’s you.”

Looking a little flustered and with widened eyes, he pointed at himself. “Me?” The painting was a portrait that only outlined the figure of the upper body. Within the outline, she painted abstract designs and she was careful enough to blend and mix colors at the right spots. It was artsy, a bit too artsy for him to be able to identify who it could be. The last person he’d ever assume that it’d be was himself. “I decided to paint you because…well, you just seemed somehow perfect for my idea for my painting. It’s a quick one, but I’m almost done. Sorry if I’m just taking up your time with all of this. You really don’t have to stay, you know.”

“I really don’t mind. Only the hyungs know but I actually enjoy art once in a while.” It’s as though her eyes immediately lit up in excitement from hearing his little confession.

“Really? Like, you actually like art?”

“Well, yeah, I have interest in it but I’m still not as passionate about it as you are.”

“That doesn’t matter, it’s just great even if it’s little interest!”

“You should see yourself right now, did hearing that from me make you that happy?” He asked her with a chuckle. “Of course!”

“You look like a child who spotted candy. Anyway, it’s getting late, have you eaten dinner yet?” Pouting, she shook her head ‘no’ at him. “Let’s go then. You can’t just starve.”

“Alright.” He waited patiently for her to clean up her work area. Jungkook had also lent a hand and helped clean up the work areas that her students had. Once they’ve made things pretty much clean, they left the studio.

“What do you want to eat? We can go anywhere you’d like.” He asked her as he swung an arm over her shoulder. Even he didn’t realize his own actions. It was just how he was and how close he felt with her. It’s been a long time since he’s opened up to someone. “I don’t want to tire you out for going everywhere…how about…we just order food to my apartment? My place is near this studio so it won’t take long to get there.”

“Yeah, sure.”

It’s as though they’ve been best friends for years. It was the last thing Jungkook had ever expected to develop between them. Here he was, hanging out with her when it was just months ago that he didn’t want anything to do with her. Things really can change.

Her apartment was small but still large for just one person to be living in. She had a small kitchen, one bedroom and a small living room area where her sofa and TV was. Although it was just herself who was living there, her parents were the ones who had insisted her to get an apartment like this. They didn’t really mind the money that they had to pay because for them, as long as she lived well and comfortably, they’d be perfectly fine with it. Turning on the TV, they decided to just watch any movie that would come on as they waited for the delivery of their food.

“Come on, don’t be a scaredy cat.” Jungkook said to her. She, who sat right beside him, had her hands over her eyes. “I know it’s scary, I don’t do well with horror movies. It’s scary and I don’t want to watch it.” There wasn’t really another show they could be watching. No other movies were running and her TV was limited to a certain amount of cable channels. The horror movie was the only thing on. Yoori had even wanted to turn off the TV but Jungkook pleaded her not to simply because it was his favorite horror movie.

“I promise you, it’s not even that scary. I’ve watched this like, at least 20 times. It’s not scary, I’ll tell you when it’ll be a scary scene in advance.” Side-eyeing him, she eventually agreed to it. And within 20 minutes, oh how she just wanted to end so badly. Although she was covering her v