Chaeyoung awoke to the soothing sound of Jungkook’s heart beating beneath her ear. She wished she could lay there, in his comfortable bed with her head resting on his chest and his warm arm wrapped around her, for the entire day; but, she had a wedding (in which she was the maid of honour) to get to.

Slowly, she forced herself to open her eyes and tilt her head slightly to gaze up at Jungkook. A slow smile started to spread across her face as she admired him. From his slightly parted lips, to his tousled hair, and the way his long lashes framed his eyes so perfectly, everything about him was breathtaking. He looked so peaceful and relaxed as his chest rose and fell evenly with each breath. There was a boyish charm – an innocence – in his expression that made him appear even younger than he was. Knowing that she was one of the only people to see him like that made her feel honoured and incredibly lucky.

“Jungkook-ah,” she said gently, brushing a strand of hair away from his eye. She felt bad for interrupting his tranquil state, but she had to leave and didn’t want him wake up alone.

She wasn’t surprised when he didn’t budge at all. They’d been up till the early morning, sleep seeming irrelevant as making up for lost time became their priority. Sensing her own tired eyes and groggy state, she could completely relate to him.

Unable to resist, she raised her head and pressed her lips against his softly. This time he stirred a little, his bicep flexing against her back as he pulled her closer to his chest. He felt so warm and comfortable that for a split second, she actually contemplated skipping the wedding. But, the wiser part of her mind soon kicked in and convinced her to extinguish these thoughts.

With a disappointed sigh, she reached across Jungkook’s body to grab her phone off the nightstand. When the screen lit up in front of her to reveal the time, her heart dropped and a loud gasp escaped .

11:38 am.

She was supposed to be in hair and makeup at 12:00 and the appointment was on the other side of the city. Jennie was going to kill her if she was even a couple seconds late, and Chaeyoung wouldn’t be surprised if she immediately revoked her maid of honour rights.

Starting to panic, she tried to detangle herself from Jungkook, but his hold on her only tightened. She looked up just in time to see his eyelids fluttering open to sleepily stare at her.

She momentarily stopped stressing to smile at him as he adjusted to his surroundings.

“Good morning,” she murmured, running a hand through his messy hair.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he replied in his y morning voice that always made her weak.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked softly as he shifted his position slightly and brushed his feet against hers under the warm blanket they were sharing.

“Very well,” he said, his hand gently her back.

That caused her to smile wider, as she reached up to peck his cheek, “as much as I wish we could sleep all day, I have to go get my hair and makeup done for Jennie and Jimin’s wedding.”

“Noo,” he groaned, locking his arms around her waist while she tried, but failed, to get up.

“Jungkook, I’m already late,” she whined, struggling to free herself from his strong arms.

He groaned again, “can they get married another day or something?”

She laughed and smacked his chest lightly, “Jungkook.”

Reluctantly, he finally let her go. But, Chaeyoung could feel his eyes on her as she slipped out from the covers to sit on the edge of his bed. She took a second to stretch her sore body and run a hand through her tangled hair before she stood up and walked over to the puddle of clothes laying on his polished floor. Sensing his eyes piercing into her back, she slowly pulled his t-shirt on and then threw him a knowing glance over her shoulder.

Sure enough, he was staring at her with eyes full of fervid desire and admiration.

“See something you like?” she teased, grinning at him.

The longing in his eyes only intensified as he smirked and had the audacity to bite his bottom lip.

“Come here, baby,” he murmured quietly.

Chaeyoung shook her head adamantly, “I’m gonna be late.”

He grinned at her, “just come.”

“Why?” she asked, regarding him doubtfully.

“I have something to tell you,” he said with a light laugh.

Cautiously, she walked towards him, stopping a couple steps away from the bed.

“Closer,” he beckoned, causing her to narrow her eyes at him suspiciously as she reached the bed.

“Closer,” he repeated, until his lips were only a couple inches from her ear.

She really thought he was going to say something, but he suddenly slipped his arm around her waist, pulled her down on the bed, and rolled on top of her in one swift movement.

“Jungkook!” she screamed and laughed at the same time before he preoccupied with a long, deep kiss.

“I love you,” he whispered against her lips when they pulled apart, causing her to look at him in surprise.

“That’s what you wanted to tell me?” she asked with an incredulous laugh.

He nodded, burying his face in her shoulder with a small, shy smile that made her laugh again, while a thousand butterflies swarmed through her.

“You’re so cute,” she gushed, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him close to her.

“Almost as cute as your tattoo,” he said sarcastically, laughing against her shoulder.

Chaeyoung groaned, “I totally forgot you’d see that.”

“Since the day you told me about it, I’ve been going insane picturing what it could be,” Jungkook confessed, resting his body weight on his forearms as he gazed at her in amusement, “but a Disney quote? Really, Chaeyoung?”

With a short laugh, she smacked his chest and tried to defend herself, “it’s a good quote!”

“It fits you perfectly, I’ll admit,” he said, beginning to play with her hair.

Chaeyoung smiled as she thought back to a couple months ago when she’d gotten the words “have courage and be kind” from Cinderella on her hip, along with a small butterfly underneath it. One day, she would explain to Jungkook that her mother used to read that book to her every night and that she’d gotten that tattoo on her death anniversary to honour her memory. One day, she’d tell him that was the quote that inspired her to become a nurse. One day, he’d know how much it meant it to her. But, she didn’t have the time or emotional capacity to do it that day.

“Okay, I really have to go now,” Chaeyoung said half-heartedly as Jungkook began trailing kisses across her jaw.

“Just a couple more minutes,” he muttered against her neck, causing her hands to instinctively knot in his hair, her breathing beginning to quicken.

“But, Jennie’s waiting,” she complained in between ragged breaths as his teeth lightly grazed her neck.

“Well, Jennie’s gonna have to wait a little longer,” he whispered in her ear and from then on, she knew trying to resist him would be a pointless and losing battle.

She really was going to be late.

~*~

Chaeyoung reached the salon 30 minutes late, mentally preparing herself for Jennie’s wrath as she walked through the doors. The other bridesmaids – Lisa, Nayeon, and Yerin – were already fully groomed and ready, leaving only Chaeyoung and Jennie in the hair and makeup room. When she saw Jennie sitting in a high chair with her eyes closed as a team of people worked simultaneously on her makeup, hair and nails, Chaeyoung breathed a sigh of relief.

“Jendeuki!” she exclaimed innocently, wrapping her arms around her from behind in an attempt to appease her anger.

Jennie snapped her head around and glared daggers at Chaeyoung, “finally! Where the hell have you been?”

“Sorry,” she apologized sincerely and sat on the chair beside her, a makeup artist immediately tending to her.

Jennie gave her a long side-glance, her anger gradually fading into curiosity, “wait a minute. Under eye circles the size of tea-bags, wrinkled dress from last night, swollen, cracked lips, and a visible glow? Who were you with last night?”

Chaeyoung tried her best to maintain a poker face. But, deep down, she knew hiding things from Jennie was useless since she always figured things out on her own anyway.

“I’m glowing? Really?” she asked innocently, glancing curiously at herself in the mirror.

“I’ll forgive you if you tell me who it was,” Jennie promised as one of the ladies began curling her hair.

Chaeyoung took a deep breath, uncertain of how she’d react, before finally working up the courage to tell her, “it was Jungkook.”

She was half-expecting Jennie to either yell at her or disown her, but she was surprised when Jennie just smiled knowingly, “it’s about damn time.”

“What?” Chaeyoung blinked at her in confusion.

“Please, did you really th