“How are you not fired?” Jungkook mutters the moment he sees Lisa perched on the counter, painting her toenails with utmost attention, mindless of her surroundings. “You’re aware this is a workplace, right?”
“Literally no one but you comes to this depressing store, relax.” She stretches her legs and hums in approval at the sight of her feet. “Turns out maroon is a good color on me.” she starts swaying her legs to make the paint dry faster, but even he knows it’s going to take a while. He shakes his head and takes a seat next to her, a small smile growing on his face. Lisa notices it and quirks an eyebrow.

“You’re smiling. It’s disgusting.” she comments, waiting for a snarky reply but is surprised by his smile growing wider. “Dude, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong with you?”

“I met the most beautiful rose yesterday.”

“Huh?” Lisa narrows her eyes “You met a rose? that doesn’t make sense.”

“She was so bright, Lis, so so bright and radiant and-” he closes his eyes and sighs “She was so unreal.”

“So, it’s a girl you’re talking about.” she observes the way his eyes shine like a little child who just discovered the existence of ice-cream, the way the corner of his lips seem to stretch even more, the slight shaking of his legs indicating his palpable excitement. This was a new Jungkook she has never seen before and something suddenly clicks. “Oh my god, you’re in love.”

“Love?” he asks, the word sounding foreign in his tongue. Jungkook has never been in love before, sure, he had crushes on several people during his school years, but love? such a strong emotion never compelled him, besides, the thought of falling for someone so deeply and giving up so many things for them weirded him out. He had thought about wanting to be in love, to share a life with a significant other and enjoy each other’s presence, to belong to each other heart and soul, his thoughts going as far as wanting to get married in the future, but soon his rational side would kick in and remind him of the emotional suffering love puts you through. It’s an inner turmoil that bares both good and bad fruits, Jungkook knows that, but why risk the bad when being single is a guaranteed recipe for self-fulfillment?. Being alone was the better choice, so why would people sacrifice themselves for something as changeable as love? why bother when you’re good on your own? why bother when you know it’ll never last?

Lisa observes his distant stare, deducing almost instantly his train of thoughts.

“Well, it could be the start of love.” she says, snapping him out of his trance.

“How so?”

“From my experience, it starts with a small moment that may not seem like much, like a simple glance or a casual hello, but then you can’t stop thinking about that moment and you keep rewinding it in your head over and over, picturing the other person right in front of you and smiling like a fool, and before you know it, you’re drawn to them.” she starts, thoughts of her first love clouding her head instantly. “It doesn’t always hit you unexpectedly like in the movies, I personally don’t believe in that love at first sight bull, but I do believe in attraction at first meeting, and if you willingly give it time, it may grow into love.” she stops and shrugs “I could be wrong though.”

Jungkook stares at his friend in thought, images of brown hair, soft smiles and rosy cheeks flashing through his mind.

“I don’t know, I don’t really get it.” he runs a hand through his hair “But-” he looks down at his hand and his lips crack into a warm smile “I want to see her again.”

“It’s so weird seeing you like this, I don’t think I can get used to it.” she says but really, deep down she’s kind of happy for him. Despite her ty experience with her first love, love is a magical feeling and seeing Jungkook so smitten makes her miss the feeling terribly.

“Just do your job properly for one.” He gets up and straightens his shirt, frowning at how crinkly it got. “I’m gonna go see the rose again.”

Lisa waves him off, her legs still up in the air as she watches him disappear into the throng of people in the street. “He’s got it so bad.” she mutters to herself and throws her head back, sighing heavily. “Someone love me please!” she shouts, scaring away the new customer that was about to go in.

It’s weird. He’s only been here once and the sight of the bookstore’s entrance alone is enough to make him buzz with joy. He goes in and is once again amazed at the setting of he shop. He isn’t the type to form a connection with places, after all, nothing lasts for long, but the intimate vibes it radiates truly makes it hard not to fall for it. He hears a soft gasp and turns around to see Chaeyoung gawking at him, struggling to hold a pile of books in her hands.

“You really came back.”

He takes about half of the books from her gasp, grinning at the way she shyly avoids his eyes. “I’m a man of my word.”

She nods silently and walks to a nearby display of books situated in the center. “Didn’t think you’d come back.” she sets the books down and starts organizing them on the stand. Jungkook does the same, following her movements with a playful smirk.

“You were waiting for me?”

“Chaeyoung stares horrifyingly at him, as if he just insulted her pet fish, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. “what? N-no, no.” she huffs and busies herself with arranging the books. Jungkook chuckles, amused by her cuteness.

“If you say so.” he eyes the books he was holding and the name of the author catches his attention. “Is this a new release?”

“Oh yeah, it’s Kim Namjoon’s latest novel. It just came out today and I am so ready to read it!” she exclaims happily, clapping her hands in excitement, the endearing gesture doing weird things to Jungkook’s heart.

He’s familiar with the name, no scratch that, he knows Namjoon. Well, not personally, but they’re both under the same publishing house and Hoseok has once worked with him before he got permanently assigned to him, even so, he had never read any of his books. Namjoon specializes in fantasy and fiction, two genres Jungkook is not particularly fond of, but he respects him as a fellow writer.

“Do you like him?” he finds himself asking.
“Who doesn’t? his stories are amazing! Have you read his best-selling book ‘Reverse Society’? it’s so so good! it’s getting turned into a movie by the way, how cool is that!”

“You like him better than J.J. Koki?”
“What?” she tilts her head with a slight pout that really shouldn’t affect him so much. “There’s no better, they’re both good, they have their own style. They’re different and I like them both.” she shrugs as she finishes piling the books with a satisfied grin.

“You done with those?” a guy he hasn’t seen before approaches them, peering at Chaeyoung’s handiwork. Jungkook takes a step back and examines the guy from head to toe. Okay, this guy is a piece of art, he’s not gonna lie. Soft features, blonde hair that would normally look ridiculous on anyone but he pulls it off effortlessly, adorable crescent moon eyes that contrast his sinful plump lips and- Jungkook shakes his head and gives himself a moment to realize what the hell he just did. He seriously was checking a guy out and he’s not even into guys!

“Yup, you need my help with something else?” Chaeyoung says to which the guy shakes his head and looks at Jungkook then back at her.
“Ah!” she clasps her hands in realization. “Uhm, Jungkook this is my brother and owner of the bookshop, Jimin. Jimin, this is Jungkook, he’s-” she stops, not knowing how to introduce Jungkook. A customer? kind of but not really. A friend? doesn’t sound right, at least not yet. A stranger? now why would she introduce a stranger to her brother, it just doesn't make sense. Thankfully, Jungkook jumps in and saves her.
“I’m a big fan of the shop, it has a nice feel to it.” he says and Jimin nods with a smile.

“Thank you. It’s one of the oldest buildings in the city, nearly a century old.” Jungkook whistles at Jimin’s words in amazement.

“Mind if I bring my camera next time and take pictures of the interior?”

“Feel free to do so.” Jimin smiles again and Jungkook can see the resemblance between the siblings. No wonder they’re both beautiful to look at, their parents must be one hell of a sight. “Anyway, I’ll be in the stockroom.” he looks at Jungkook “if you need any help, my sister here would be glad to assist you.” he pats Chaeyoung lightly on the shoulder and disappears to the back of the store.

“Your parents are dangerous.” he comments, grabbing Chaeyoung’s attention.
“What do you mean?”

“They said you to everyone by giving birth to the most gorgeous people I’ve ever seen.” he deadpans and she laughs hard, her hands covering to muffle her laughter.
“That’s not true! I mean, have you seen yourself? you’re like super hot-” she stops, eyes growing wide, and turns around in embarrassment. Now it’s Jungkook’s turn to laugh, his lips stretching into a wide satisfied grin. “Please forget I said that.” she squats down, burying her head in between her knees, her cheeks a flaming shade of red and Jungkook is too far gone, gazing softly at her hunched form.

“Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I think you’re super hot too.”

“That only makes it worse!” she groans loudly, making him laugh again. “Seriously, you’re too honest.”

“And you like it.”

“Oh god, stop it.” she whines, slowly getting up and pulling at her hair to hide her face with it, her pretty brown doe-eyes peeking through and seriously, does she not realize how sickenly adorable she is, it’s too much for his heart. “You’re awful.”

“I’m just honest.” this was a new side of him that he never thought was there. Jungkook and people never mixed well, rarely does he fall for the charms of people and yet here he was, hostage to the spell of this girl he just met yesterday.

“Are you gonna buy something or are you here just to embarrass me?” she says after a while, straightening her hair back.

He shrugs with a smirk. “A little bit of both. What do you recommend?”

“Well, since you haven’t read anything by kim Namjoon, I’d suggest you do. Preferably, ‘Reverse society’.”

“I’ll take it then.”

She raises a challenging eyebrow “So you’re just gonna trust my taste that easily? what makes you think I’m not fooling you? I’m a bookseller after all, this could be my tactic to get you to buy something.”

“Okay first, any fan of J.J.Koki has a solid taste no doubt, and second, you’re too pure to fool people.”

She furrows her brows “Is that an insult or a compliment?”

“It’s a compliment.” he remarks then adds “And even if you were fooling me, I wouldn’t mind. You’re too cute to ignore.”

At that, she blushes and wordlessly points at a random shelf as she starts walking backwards, completely avoiding his gaze “I-I - you- book-” she mumbles incoherently before she runs to look for the book, Jungkook trying hard not to smile but fails miserably.

He waits by the cash register, tapping his fingers on the counter until she appears and drops the book in front of him.

“That will be $100, how would you like to pay?”

“That can’t be right.”

“You’re right, the actual price is $7.99 but since you decided to torment me today, I added a little bit as a tax.” she says with a fake smile.
“Right. Little.” he snickers and hands her a hundred dollar bill, much to her surprise. She stares back in bewilderment and he just shrugs. “I’m willing to pay the extra, I love seeing you all flustered. It’s cute.”

“I can never win with you.” she pouts, the blush coming back to her cheeks and quickly hands him back the money “It’s on the house.” she mutters, ducking her face coyly.

He grins, pocketing the money and grabbing the book in his hand. “Thank you, Chaeyoung.” he winks, the action catching her off guard and she’s back to hiding behind her hair. Goddammit, she’s cute. “I’ll be back.”

True to his words, he comes back two days later, giddy to see Chaeyoung again, only to find her brother working the register, no sight of the girl anywhere.

“Oh, it’s you again.” Jimin greets him with a smile, his eyes falling on the camera bag hanging off his shoulder and nods at it. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Of course, this place is beautiful. Mind if I take some shots now?” he asks for permission a second time, Jimin simply beckoning him to do so, and he immediately gets into it. As he hold the camera between his hands, he realizes how much he missed photography. Writing took a huge part of his life that he couldn’t focus on anything else, he can’t even remember the last time he took a picture. Was it high school? freshman year of university? it doesn’t matter, he’s here now, reconnecting with an old friend, the sound of the shutter sending a rush of adrenaline down his spine, reminding him of his undying love for photography.

He takes a couple few shots here and there, trying to get the best position with the best lighting possible. Once he’s done, he goes over the pictures, smiling to himself. They’re not perfect, but they’re something, a precious memory to hold onto and that’s good enough for him.

“Chaeyoung doesn’t work today.”

“Oh.” he visibly deflates, Jimin notices his disappointment and purses his lips.

“So, you like my sister.” he states, no tinge of doubt in his voice.

“I like her spirit. She reminds me of a rose. Pretty on the outside, but there is more to it than meets the eye.” he replies, images of Chaeyoung’s laugh and her cute antics running through his head. “I like being with her.”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard someone talk about her like that.” Jimin comments, an amused grin on his face.

“You’re pretty yourself.”

Jimin raises both eyebrows “Are you hitting on me?”

“No,” he snorts “I’m just stating the obvious. Besides,” he nods at the diamond ring on Jimin’s fourth finger. “I wouldn’t want to create unnecessary drama.” Jimin chuckles then, nodding in approval. “How long?” Jungkook asks, still staring at the ring.

“Three years and still madly in love.” he brags, a faint blush adorning his face.

Jungkook genuinely smiles, feeling oddly happy for him even though they’re practically strangers.

“Must be nice.”

“It is.”

They fall silent for a couple of minutes, Jungkook awkwardly checking the buttons on his camera.

“You’re an alright guy, Jungkook.” Jimin breaks the silence “Would you like to work here?”

He freezes. “What?”

Jimin sighs, “I don’t usually do this. I don’t particularly like it when guys lurk around Chae, but I have a good feeling about you and honestly, I could use some extra help. Now, would you like to work here?”

Jungkook’s too shocked to process what he just heard. “You serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious. Is it yes or no?”

He thinks about it, he really thinks about it. Spending all day in a beautiful place like this surrounding by books where he gets to see Chaeyoung, hear her melodic laugh and enjoy her enchanting existence?

“When do I start?”

He was not going to let a golden opportunity like this fly away.

-----------------------------------

A.N: This is random, but can you guys recommend me some rosekook fanfics? I haven't read one in a while.