----Chapter Twenty-Eight----

Time moves forward diligently.

It's been thirteen days since the day they had that dinner with both of their groups, the last time she's seen Jimin. 

It wouldn't be such a dramatic thing if Chaeyoung hadn't gone through the worst of meeting with the prosecutors as of now. They said they still aren't sure of the path the defence will take, but the attorney representing that man is reputed for her aggressive style so they have spent a nightmarish five hours attacking her from every angle possible.

To better prepare her.

"Why were there no signs of a struggle? In the apartment nor on this man?"

"He didn't physically abuse you. He could have done worse. Isn't there a part of you that feels thankful toward him?"

"Don't you think you're partly to blame, wearing the kind of clothes you do on TV and on stage?"

"He has no background of violence. Are you sure you've never talked to him beforehand? Had a prior confrontation?"

She had to leave to throw up in the bathroom after a few questions, the intensity of them too much for her.

She can't imagine what the actual trial will be like, but her mind conjures various scenarios every night in her nightmares.

Falling asleep has become distressing again.

With Blackpink currently on a hiatus, she can't find solace in her work and while her members have been busy with their own schedules, she hasn't had many opportunities for either working or hanging out with friends.

With too much free time on her hands, she longs for Jimin even more, knowing his presence would make everything bad go away, if only for a moment. She always feels at peace when he's close.

Has she been depending on him so much that with him gone, she can't handle her harsh reality?

How will she make it through the long line of obstacles that are heading straight for her at a rapid pace?

Where will she find the strength?

Too many worries, too many thoughts. And no answer to all of her questions.

"Did it go well?" her manager asks as Chaeyoung gets in the van after another practice run with the prosecutors.

"We made some progress." Which is true. At which price, though...

She lowers her cap over her eyes, to hide the desperation flooding in them. To distract herself, she checks her feeds on her phone, purposely ignoring the way her fingers shake.

BTS win first place at Music Core

She smiles at the news, happy that all their hard work is rewarded. She immediately sends him a congratulation text, refraining from mentioning how much she misses him and wants to see him. She can't be too greedy.

It always comes back to this, it seems. This feeling that she needs him more than he needs her.

Her current circumstances probably play a large part in her constant desperation to be near him, but she shouldn't use it as an excuse.

Yet she can never stop herself.

She waves at her manager half-heartily when the car stops in front of her building and it's only when she's back at the dorm, in the haven of her room, that she receives his reply.

Thanks! :) Miss you...

Her heart clenches. She doesn't hesitate anymore before replying what she's been itching to write, unable to keep it in any longer. Miss you too, so much.

He feels the same as her. Except that-

We're done for the day and headed back to our dorm. You can drop by if you want. ^_^

His text makes her brain stop thinking, and the world stops moving.

She doesn't need to think about it.

Her reply is barely sent and she's already at the door after throwing a grey hoodie over her head. She yells an 'I'm off' in passing to Jisoo who doesn't even have time to ask questions before Chaeyoung is already gone through the door.

Even if she's in a hurry to get there, Chaeyoung is still careful of any eyes that could be hiding anywhere, spying. Waiting. She doesn't want Jisoo to tell her she's being reckless again.

She shouldn't be in a hurry anyway, it's not like anyone is running after her. It's not like they haven't seen each other in months. But she's in a frenzy, her whole being concentrated only on Jimin whom she needs to see as much as she needs air.

I didn't ask him, I held myself back. He's the one who asked. I wasn't about to refuse, I wasn't busy.

I just miss him.

We're in a relationship. It's normal to miss the other if you haven't seen him in a while.

Nothing wrong with that. Besides, who knows when they'll have free time in the future? They should meet whenever they can because time isn't on their side and any chance they get is one that shouldn't be wasted.

It might sound like an excuse, but it's also the truth, so Chaeyoung holds onto the last part while trying to bury the first part away.

When she knocks on the door, it's a tired-looking Taehyung that opens up for her, smiling when he sees her.

"Hello, Park Chaeyoung. Welcome to our humble home." He makes space for her to enter, going as far as bowing down with his fist clasped on his chest. "Jimin is in his room, hiding the stash of magazines he bought in Japan, so I've been tasked to stall you a bit."

It's hard to guess if Taehyung is joking, but Jungkook appears behind Taehyung and slaps the back of his head.

"Isn't that you?"

He grins. "I'm having them gift-wrapped for Namjoon's next birthday."

The two males chuckle mysteriously at that, leaving Chaeyoung out of their inside joke. "Men," she mumbles.

"Yah, I said to tell me when she'd get here," Jimin suddenly scolds as he appears in the living room.

"Sorry, we were talking so I forgot about you" Taehyung answers with no trace of apology in his voice.

"What about?" Jimin asks, suspiciously.

" magazines," Chaeyoung offers before Taehyung can answer, bringing chuckles out of the two male idols.

Jimin looks scandalized as he materializes next to her. "I knew I shouldn't have asked Taehyung to open the door for me, should've done it myself," he grumbles under his breath as he grabs Chaeyoung's shoulders and directs her away from the living room.

She lets him push her because he's adorable when s fluster him. And his hands on her shoulders make her skin tingle deliciously.

He's still mumbling by the time they reach his room, and Chaeyoung is dying of curiosity as to why he asked Taehyung to open the door instead of doing it himself. But once inside his room, she refrains from asking, and instead thoroughly examines him.

She's slightly relieved to find him looking less exhausted than Kim Taehyung, and it doesn't appear like he lost any weight too.

One of her worries eased.

"I swear, they're so annoying," he complains.

"Annoying, but still your friends," she concludes with a smile.

He just huffs in answer and when he turns to look at her, his posture is stiffer than usual, his feet dancing on the ground restlessly.

"Is something wrong?" she asks, worried. He looks like he has a specific reason for asking her to come, and without any clue to what it could be, she starts fretting.

"No, no," he shakes his head vehemently, reassuring her. "I have something for you. I just finished working on it, and I wanted to show it to you as soon as possible. I was hoping to finish it earlier, but I got busy and didn't have as much free time as I hoped."

Curious, she observes as he goes to his desk and fumbles around until he grabs something, holding it behind his back as he returns to her side.

"It's not much, but I know how much you loved that place we went to, and I was looking at my camera roll, and there was one picture... well, I decided to draw it, and I thought maybe I could give it to you? It's not very good, but..."

He's biting his lip and avoiding her eyes as he shows her.

It's the chalet they went to, drawn with charcoal, the traits rich and in an angle to show the pier and the lake.

It's just as she remembered, and even though she also has taken her own pictures, there's something special about Jimin's drawing, a warmth spreading inside her as she looks at it.

"It's beautiful," she breathes