----Chapter Twenty-Four----

When she comes to the next morning, Chaeyoung opens her eyes to Jimin's sleeping face and a huge smile immediately blooms on her face. She stays immobile, watching him sleep. Her heart feels so huge and warm, it might burst from too much happiness.

He looks like perfection, his mouth slightly open and his blond hair all tussled up.

It’s enticing waking up next to him... She could never get tired of it.

This sight is special though, it’s one to revisit later as part of one of the most amazing moments of her life.

A small part of her is perfectly conscious of their bodies hugging each other, but a bigger part of her wants nothing more than to stay hidden under the covers forever, close to his warmth.

Thinking about what happened last night makes her blush. The things she did, but she regrets nothing. It all feels so right.

The man lying next to her has crept his way into her heart so deep, she can't envisage him ever getting out.

Jimin, Jimin, Jimin, her mind chants continually, adoringly.

So she keeps gazing at him, painting in her mind every line of his relaxed sleeping face. His sharp jawline, his cute nose, the freckles spread sporadically on his face, his full lips. Until she notices his eyelashes fluttering and his eyes slowly opening.

His beautiful eyes where she loses herself every time they stare at her. His eyes that make her feel like the most beautiful woman on earth, and the strongest.

He gives her a lazy smile, the arm around her bringing her closer to him.

"Hey."

His hoarse morning voice is so y, she almost swoons just from that one little syllable.

She’s so embarrassing.

"Hey. Did you sleep well?"

Her innocent question brings out a satisfied grin on his lips. "Hmm. I did. And this is a great way to start the day. I could get used to waking up with you beside me."

Chaeyoung blushes, but also, she couldn't agree more. It’s greedy of her how she always wants more of everything related to Jimin.

He gives her a soft kiss on her forehead, then his fingers brush her hair gently. She leans her head in the crook of his neck, the movement in her hair almost enough to lull her back to sleep.

There's a sudden knock on the door. Jimin's hand stills in her hair. Her eyes open wide.

Oh god, wasn’t one of s also in the dorm? Did he...hear anything?

Mortification engulfs her, reddening her cheeks so deep they burn as hot as an oven ring high. She wants to crawl into a hole in the ground and never come across any other human being again.

"Hyung? There's no one else in the dorm, what do we eat for break-" The door opens and Jeon Jungkook starts entering the room until he catches sight of her. He stops short, eyes round as saucers as he stands frozen in the doorway.

Chaeyoung lets out a shriek and hides her face under the covers, pulling all the blankets over her as she tries to cocoon herself around them. She's under those after all!

"Yah, Jungkook, don't barge into people's room unannounced!"

"I knocked!"

"Well, wait until I answer! I could've been changing!"

She hears Jungkook snorts. "I'm not interested in your body."

She can't help the chuckles that escape . They're muffled by all the covers she surrounded herself with, but Jimin still hears her as his hand finds her cheek and pinches it teasingly.

"Well, Chaeyoung could've been changing then. Get out, we'll be out soon."

There's a protective undertone in his voice, and she smiles softly despite the situation. He’s just too cute, and he should stop being so cute because it causes strong urges inside her to jump on him and never let him go.

If Jungkook answers, she doesn't hear him. After a short time, he nudges her. "The coast is clear. Sorry about that, he didn't know you were here."

"Ah, no problem." Her head peeks out of the covers, and she relaxes when she finds them alone again.

How awkward.

"Hungry?"

She nods, her stomach immediately waking up at the thought of food. She pats it distractedly while watching Jimin gets up slowly from the bed.

First, he stretches like a cat, his back and shoulder muscles contracting – a mouth-watering sight – before hunting down clean clothes in his drawers and closet, contemplating each item carefully.

She watches him the whole time.

When he's all dressed, he sends a cocky smirk her way. "Enjoyed the show?"

Of course, he’d been aware of her gaze on him. Maybe he put on a more active show than he would have, with all the bending and crouching he did, not to mention that -wiggling as he put his pants on. "It wasn't bad," she teases.

It’s an understatement, and he obviously knows how great he looks since she's practically drooling. Instead, he raises a brow at her, motioning to her still well-hidden figure under the covers.

She shakes her head at him, somewhat shy. Sure, he already saw everything, but she still can't move as freely as he did with his piercing eyes focused on her.

"Fine," he laughs at her. "I'll be in the kitchen. Just hurry if you want us to leave you any food." He leaves his room on these parting words.

With food on the line, Chaeyoung hurries out of bed as soon as the door closes behind him and starts hunting for her clothes. They're all spread around in his room, and that little fact brings memories of last night to her.

She giggles before she can stop herself.

"Not now! Breakfast, breakfast is waiting!" She rapidly dresses and pats her shirt down, trying to reduce the wrinkles it got from its discarded status on the floor. When satisfied, she then stops in the bathroom to freshen up by splashing some water on her face. Her hair is a rebel mess, all tangled up and flying around, but a quick brush of her fingers will have to do.

She wishes she had time to take a shower and put some makeup on, but the calling of food cannot be ignored any longer.

She’s famished. Her stomach is empty, and she’s barely eaten the past few days too. Needless to say, it’s desperate to be filled judging by all the distress signals it keeps sending.

When she enters the kitchen, she finds the two males arguing about what to eat. For a moment, she stands there, suddenly timid from Jungkook’s presence. Did he...hear anything? Even if he heard nothing, he still knows exactly what happened, and her face flames up at the thought.

So embarrassing, so embarrassing, so embarrassing.

He’s definitively going to tell the rest of s, and she’ll never be able to face them ever again.

She holds back a whine at the thought and palms her heated cheeks.

They’re all adults. This is a normal situation for adults. This is a dorm where seven men live. Surely it isn’t the first time something like this happened.

She stares at the two men still arguing about food and she rolls her eyes.

After a quick pinch of her cheeks, she wills herself to move forward and slips past them to check what they have hiding inside the fridge. With a critical eye, she observes its content.

Varied vegetables and fruits are filling the two bottom drawers, tons of water bottles occupy the bottom row, with eggs, tofu, some leftover meat, and an assortment of sauces spread around.

It’s not as bad as she imagined, but there’s still two whole rows empty.

That’s okay, she can figure something out with what she has, surely.

The two men have stopped arguing, watching as she mumbles under her breath. She can feel their eyes on her as she reviews recipe options in her head.

Finally reaching a decision, she grabs a handful of vegetables, handing them to Jimin one by one until she has everything she needs to make a chicken stew, or as close to it as she can.

Chaeyoung isn't the best cook around, but she's confident enough that her dishes are editable. It’s a better option than the ‘ramyun’ Jeon Jungkook was suggesting when she stepped inside.

"Cut those," she says as she pushes the peppers and celery toward Jimin who complies with an amused smile.

"Could you peel these?" she asks Jungkook, pointing to the carrots and potatoes.

He's avoiding her eyes as he nods and takes the selected vegetable from the counter.

"You're polite with him, but order me around?" Jimin asks with faux-annoyance.

"I don't really know him," Chaeyoung answers with an apologetic shrug. There’s something about the youngest member of BTS that intimidates her. Maybe the fact that he looks like he could cut those carrots without a knife pushes her to be respectful.

Or maybe that he’s watching her with wide eyes, and she can’t tell what he thinks.

He looks like he’s never seen a girl before in their dorm.

Maybe he doesn’t like that she’s here?

But there’s no hostility coming from him, as far as she can tell.

She can ask Jimin later, to explain to her the great mystery of Jeon Jungkook.

They then settle into their selected workspace on the counter and start to prepare the food in relative silence, the boys breaking it only to ask further directives to Chaeyoung. It’s a pleasant moment that reminds her of her time cooking with all the girls, which doesn’t happen nearly as often as she’d like.

Just not as boisterous.

It doesn't take very long, both males are more efficient than she thought, and when all the preparations are done, she transfers everything to their biggest cauldron, adding the left-overs chicken cubes from the fridge to the water, with a few different spices.

Now they only have to wait until it's cooked.

"That's going to be more than three portions," Jimin remarks as he peers inside the cauldron's content.

"I wasn’t sure how much to cook for two grown males, you'll have some leftovers for a few days."

Jimin and Jungkook share a look. "Everyone's coming back tonight, so this might not last two days," Jungkook says.

"Oh no, should I make another batch?" Chaeyoung wonders, worried that everyone might not get to eat a portion. If there were leftovers, she at least wanted everyone to have a share.

"Don't worry about those idiots. They won't starve," Jimin says. But Chaeyoung is clearly anxious at the thought of the other BTS members lacking food.

He snakes an arm around his waist, giving the top of her head a soft kiss. "We'll just divide what's left into five plastic bowls with their names on it."

She turns to him with a smile, clapping