Jungkook joins her family for dinner that night after he shows her mother his pouty lips. He always wins the heart of everyone when he pouts. Eventually, all her friends are joining in as well, as though it is her who’s going to step out of the city tomorrow.

They have had dinners together most of the time and usually, Chaeyoung enjoys it. Not tonight, though. The rest seems normal as they chit chat with each other, making jokes like they used to, her dad with his old jokes who gets a respond from Seokjin, the oldest friend in their circle of friends who had just arrived yesterday for his semester break in the university.

Jungkook is the last to step out her house after the dinner and he whispers to her, “Stay awake,” and he rushes to his house.

He doesn’t need to tell her that because she can’t sleep anyway even if she forces herself too. Chaeyoung sits on her bed with the piece of the tree he gave her earlier, fingers tracing her own name against the rough surface and without her consent, a tear escapes her eye and she wipes it away quickly. She hates Jungkook for this. She hates how he makes her feel.

Without realizing, more tears begin to fall as she reminisces his teasing and thinks that her life is going to be dull without it anymore. Jimin is the biggest jerk among the boys when it comes to teasing but there is something about Jungkook’s way of teasing that makes her feel something. It is indescribable and all she can say is that his is light and free and perhaps, calming even, and she can never stay angry for long despite being overboard sometimes.

Chaeyoung uses her pillow to wipe away the tears and checks her face in the mirror when she hears knocks on her window. When she pulls the curtain to the side, her face creases in confusion when she sees Jungkook in his pajamas and a pillow close on his side. She slides the window open and asks him in panic, “What are you doing?!”

To have him outside her window in the balcony is never a surprise at all. He does that all the time. And he used to make an appearance with his pillow and a blanket as well at night. But that, showing up at night, was long time ago. Back when innocence was still something valid to them. Back when platonic was all what she felt about him. Now, it’s different.

And tonight is the first night in so many years he appears in her balcony at night and Chaeyoung is unsure what to do about it.

“Can I sleep here tonight?” he asks as he throws his pillow inside before putting his leg one by one.

“No!” she hisses. “You can’t.”

“Why can’t I?” Jungkook lifts a brow. “I used to sleep here all the time with you.”

“That was when we were little, Jungkook.”

“So?”

“Now we’re both… have grown. It’s not the same.”

“The only thing that changes is that we have grown taller, okay? That’s all. We’re just going to sleep,” he plops on the bed, the side he used to occupy back then. “Unless…” he smirks as he puts an arm behind his head. “Unless you have something to suggest?”

“Why have you become so ert,” she says flatly with a dramatic roll of her eyes. She turns to face her bedroom door. “Get back to your room. What if my sister or my mom or my dad walks in on us? They might think that –”

Jungkook sighs heavily at her and walks towards the door. He locks it and stares at her with a tilt of his head. “There. Problem’s solved,” he says before climbing onto the bed again and gets to his previous position. “Come on now, Chae. Aren’t you going to spend the last few moments of today with me? You won’t be seeing me anymore starting from tomorrow.” He pats the space next to him.

Chaeyoung groans but obeys anyway as she settles herself next to him lying on her front. “Why do you want to sleep here all of a sudden?” she sighs.

“I’m going to be lonely once I move to a new city and finding new friends will not be easy. I guess I should spend my last night in the city I was born in with my best friend for the memory to last long, long enough until I get a new friend.”

Her heart is pricked at that. She never thought that the day of her going to be replaced is going to come. Chaeyoung keeps a straight face as she grabs a magazine and says, “So I guess you’re just using me so you won’t feel lonely for the time being. Huh.”

Jungkook laughs. “Sort of.” He probably saw the look on her face. It’s uncontrollable when a frown forces itself on her. “I’m kidding. No one can replace anyone. Relax.”

She scoffs lightly before sitting up, putting away the magazine. “I’m going to make a hot chocolate. Do you want some?”

“Sure.”

When she comes back with two mugs filled with hot chocolates in her hand, Jungkook is already asleep. Putting the mugs on her desk carefully, she puffs out her cheeks as she stares at him and murmurs, “You’re taking up the most space, Jeon Jungkook.” She climbs on the bed carefully and tries to push his arm and thigh away to make space for her.

Instead of trying to sleep, Chaeyoung takes that time to observe the way his chest rises and falls, the small sound of his snores, the way his lips slightly separate and her own lips curl inwards as her fingers slowly moves to reach his face. She touches him very lightly, not wanting him to wake up although she knows that Jungkook is a heavy sleeper. She could kick him in the groins and he would still be in a deep sleep.

The tips of Chaeyoung’s fingers trace the line of his face softly. The pad of her thumb brushes against his eyebrow lightly before her index touches the skin of his forehead in random places. She then moves her finger down to his nose and taps on the tip of his nose twice very softly. When Jungkook stirs a bit, she pulls her hand quickly and stares at him, waves her hand in front of his face to check if he’s awake. When she’s sure he is not, her finger once again his beautiful face.

Somehow the tip of her index ends up on his lips and she quickly jerks her hand away. She stares at Jungkook’s kissable lips – she has always thought of them as kissable – and finds herself chewing her bottom lip the longer she stares. Tonight might as well be the last time for her to be able to stare at those lips like this because she is unsure of when she is going to see him again.

His shiny and pink lips look so inviting that Chaeyoung finds herself leaning down slowly. Her lips graze very slightly against his before she pulls back and swallows whatever it is that’s blocking the air in . Again, she tries for the second time and closes her eyes, except that this time, she presses a little, very gently, just enough to have all her lips connected to his. Jungkook’s lips are soft and all of a sudden the urge to tear up and choke on her sobs rush up her system because to imagine themselves being more than just friends is really a painful thing. Simply because it’s impossible to happen.

And that is why she can only put on an attempt to kiss him while he is unconscious. Chaeyoung decides to let her lips linger a little longer before trying to pull back when the slightly separated lips beneath her suddenly close, pressing against hers. Her eyes go wide as she draws back quickly, only to have Jungkook staring back at her.

She gulps, her heart beats wildly against her chest and she hopes that this is just a dream where he realizes that she kisses him in his sleep. If it is not a dream, she hopes so much that Jungkook is not fully awake to be able to comprehend what has just happened and that his eyes are going to fall shut again and the sound of his snores will bounce in the air.

Jungkook blinks slowly at her and she saw his tongue darts out a little, wetting his lips. He doesn’t look surprised as he continues to stare at her who in return, has her lips parted, breath unable to be inhaled and exhaled properly. She wants to say something but she is muted the moment Jungkook kisses her back. When she does seal her lips shut, she swallows more than once before her lips tremble, trying so hard to let out anything just to break the silence.

A moment later, Jungkook’s lips lift into a faint smile and she feels her heart stops pumping for a second. Slowly, she shakes her head and tries to move away from him. Maybe run to her sister’s room or the attic or anywhere just to get out from his sight. Jungkook is quick to catch her arm and she pauses, turns her head to look at him with her ears colored with crimson red.

“Stay,” he says softly. “Stay with me.”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter