Seri was a paradox that he sometimes understood, but more often than not didn't. When he met her in high school, she captivated him with her charm. She was outgoing, well-loved by many, and she was pretty. God, she was pretty.

Even their teachers then liked her a lot. Teacher's pet, but the good kind. It also helped that on top of those exquisite shoulders was a top notch brain. And she was so well-mannered, prim and pristine that she naturally became the class president. She was, however, a well-packaged surprise.

"You should join the band on the school fest."

He had been singing under his breath while choosing snacks on the second aisle when she interrupted. Before he even sees her, he recognizes the sweet and tangy smell of her perfume. Citrus - he had already deduced a few months back. He sat behind her one time for a quarter of the school year and he couldn't help that her smell always distracted him, drove him more and more curious. He always leaned in, tried his best to go unnoticed till he was able to get a waft of the pleasant smell that drove his nostrils insane. He's unsure whether the seating rearrangement was curse or a blessing when they never really talked that much. On one hand, he was no longer distracted, but that meant he had to watched her chummy it up with her new seatmate, Taehyung.

But now he's looking at her pick a variety of snacks. She makes it look like it's the most important task in the world.

"Please don't tell on me," he says, heart thumping, eyes wildly scanning the convenience store for the school prefect. He heard they'd been monitoring the school belt quite a little more than necessary. Exam week was fast approaching yet skipping classes was a trend lately. Probably because the students were getting increasingly stressed. 

"Sure. How can I? I'm doing the exact same thing as you."

"You skipped class?"

She nods. "Went over the fence and all. Hey, do you think you could lend me a five? I want a gajillion of these choco pies, but I left my wallet at school."

"But you're supposed to help keep tabs on who skips school."

She looks at him with a cheeky grin. "I know," and she lifts a finger, pressing it playfully on her lips as she leans in. "Shh."

Jungkook wonders if he's breathing hard because he feared he might be getting detention or because she was standing a little too close. 

--

By the end of junior year, he was planning to confess. He'd written a note, telling her to meet him after class the next day. He was going to sing her a song. The one he'd sang at the convenience store, when she'd complimented him and made him sing the rest of it on their way back to campus. She liked it, he assumed, judging by the smile etched across her lips the entire time.

He leans on the wall down the band room corridor as he waits, palms sweaty in anticipation. His heart thumping wildly in his ribcage with his blood rushing to his ears. Jungkook finally sees her coming, rounding the corner with flushed cheeks and a bounce to her steps. Before he could take a step away from the wall's concealment, he sees Taehyung follow suit. He's carrying her guitar bag in one hand as the other reaches out to her. In the next minute, he has an arm slung around Seri, and he mirrors the exact amount of giddy in her face. In his eyes is a familiar look of fondness, one that Jungkook assumes to be on his face each time he's around Seri. Except Taehyung wears it better than he does, because Seri beams back at the guy in a way she never did to anyone. Especially not at him.

Jungkook had imagined multiple ways his confession might go wrong. He even considered the possibility of rejection and how he'd probably bury himself from embarassment if that ever happened. Out of them all, he hadn't considered a scenario like this one. So he didn't know what to do except fight away the stinging in his eyes as he ran, crumpling the note and shoving it to the first garbage bin he came across. His feelings along with it, he decides.

--

"You should really join a boyband or something."

Jungkook looks behind him, pausing mid-hum to find Seri on the other side of the marble counter. 

"I was right. It was you!" she beams.

Her hair's a little shorter than he remembered. Her cheekbones are more pronounced after having lost all the baby fat, tinged with a pretty pink that matches the shade that stained her lips. She looks more mature, there are bags underneath her eyes that crinkle as she smiled. But she looked radiant nonetheless, like the five years since junior year did her all good. 

"Hi," he finally replies. Seri looks amused but hestitant at the same time. Probably because Jungkook was staring at her for far too long, too stunned to even formulate a much less generic greeting.

"What are you doing here?" he finally musters. But even that sounds wrong in his ears, rougher than welcoming.

"I'm here to order some coffee?" she says, wide-eyed yet amused. Her brows are crunched, like she's confused (or weirded out by him) but she also looks like she's stifling a giggle.

"Of course. Yes." So Jungkook steps aside as the employee behind the register takes her order. As she idles by the counter waiting for her order, he asks, "I meant, what are you dong here in Jeju-do?"

"Ah, I have an intership down the marine center."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh." She nods. She tucks a stray hair behind her ear and scans Jungkook. Her eyes don't feel like they're prodding. They have this innocent, curious gleam that's all the more making him self-conscious. It makes him run his hands over the creases on his shirt, as if on autopilot. Her eyes finally land on his nametag.

"So I take it you're the manager?" 

He nods. "Have been for over a month."

"Wow. Good for you." 

They are interrupted by the arrival of her order. She takes the neatly stacked coffee cups in her hands and gives him the teeniest of waves. "I have to go now, I was just running this errand for my seniors at the center."

"Of course," he nods. "I'll see you around?"

She pauses, and he wonders if he sees her breath hitch. Then she grins. 

"Sure." 

Her gaze hold his for a second longer than he expected, but second shorter than he would have wanted. 

"Bye, Jungkook."

Then her strides take her to the cafe's exit, her back to his as he watches her go. His eyes follow her through the clear glass of the cafe as she swiftly crosses the parking lot. Jungkook bites his lip and dashes. He makes it just in time to her car engine revving to life. He gives the window a light tap and it takes a second or two before it rolls down.

"Did I forget anything at the counter?" she asks, looking over at the passenger seat where the coffee cups sat.

"No," he replies, in a lungful of air as he continues, "but I forgot to ask for your number."

"Oh." 

"Yes, oh." He nods playfully this time. "Would that be okay with you?"

"Of course. Here, take my phone and type your number."

Jungkook does, with anxious fingers flying across the screen. He hands them back to her and prays to the heavens she didn't see his hands shaking. He sees her jab at the call button and lets it ring for a few seconds. 

"Done," she says. "Call me?" 

Jungkook's heart races. 

"Of course." 

 

 

---

 

A/N: I did not proofread. please don't get mad at me. peace, me out!