Yeri found herself aimlessly walking through the same park Jungkook had left her hours ago. Unable to sleep, she had returned to this spot and had spent the last thirty minutes pacing back and forth. It was now quiet and empty because of the obvious fact that it was already past midnight, but she just couldn’t stay confined in her apartment with all the thoughts she had swirling around in her mind. She should have been terrified or at least concerned for her own welfare, but instead she felt surprisingly content with being alone with her thoughts out in the cold.

For hours, she thought about where she was with Jungkook in their relationship. It was too early to really blame him for leaving her there, but her mind was also aching to learn of why he had denied her the chance to aid him in dealing with whatever that phone call was about. He was his own person and had a right to his own life, but at the same time, she wanted to share those problems and stresses with him. Even more, she wanted to help him overcome them. She wanted to be the one he could turn to. She wanted to be like Namjoon and Seokjin, both men whom he wholeheartedly trusted without question, and she wanted to be there with him, wherever he was.

Since the moment he’d left her there, she realized that she had already gone and fallen in love with him long ago. Then when he turned and rushed away from where she stood, her heart had followed him without looking back.

Her head drooped another inch as she again conceded that she was being too selfish for her own good, “you’re so annoying, Kim Yerim.” As soon as she muttered that to herself, her thoughts reeled again to the argument of whether she should ask him about his phone call or not. It shouldn’t be this hard, she thought to herself. She shook her head again. Why was she even worried? What was she scared of?

Never knowing him… being with someone who could never trust you… would never trust you. He will always be secretive like how he was now… he’ll never share his life with you.

With a soft groan, she turned quickly on her heels and started stalking in the opposite direction. Though her feet were beginning to ache from all the walking, it did little to distract her from those thoughts; useless thoughts that made her seem immature, needy and… like an annoying girlfriend. Yes, those things made her the annoyingly clingy girlfriend, but she realized that she didn’t care much about that fact. She knew what she wanted and knew that it included knowing about her boyfriend’s secrets, about his dreams, aspirations and even his problems. She just wanted to know more about him, and yet somehow, she knew that there was a very big chance that he would never share those things with her, and that was slightly terrifying.

Resolving with the fact that time was the only way to know whether he would ever trust her, she finally made her way home. She hadn’t meant to stay out so long, but all the thinking took a surprisingly longer time than she had anticipated. Walking and thinking was something she rarely did, but whenever she did find herself doing just that, it usually lasted hours.

With so much on her mind, she almost didn’t even notice Jungkook standing in front of her apartment building, casually leaning his back against the door frame at the entrance with his arms folded in front of his chest. Like an innocent young besotted girl, her heart raced at the sheer sight of him. He was still dressed in the clean suit and long black coat he had worn during their date earlier that day, though now it was slightly disheveled, making it obvious that he hadn’t gone home since his departure from her. What exactly happened to him? Why were the shadows underneath his eyes so dark? Was everything alright with him… and his family… or friends?

With the loose hair against his forehead coupled with a concerned scowl, he seemed almost like an avenging warrior currently resting in wait to battle. He slightly rolled his tense shoulders back, which brought her eyes to the broadness of his chest. She swallowed a swoon as the sight of him made the heat prickling the back of her neck feel even more blistering.

“J-Jungkook-ah,” her voice came out in a hoarse whisper.

Upon hearing her voice, his gaze shifted from the ground up to hers, and his face instantly contorted into a frown. Almost like a startled feline, he leapt off the building and in five long strides, he had her in his arms. Contrary to the rough seizing of her body, he gently whispered, “hello Yeri.”

After hours of waiting in the hospital and remembering that he had practically abandoned her at the park in the middle of their date, he had gone straight to her apartment to see her, only to find it empty. Though his instincts to worry tingled, he had willed himself to be optimistic. It was the 21st century after all, and they were deep in the city, so no truly nefarious deed could fall upon her, right? The anxiety he experienced while waiting for her only increased with the passing of the time. He told himself not to worry, that she would eventually come home, and so he waited… and waited, until finally, he heard her beautiful voice.

Time seemed to slow immensely as their gazes collided across the dainty courtyard, and he could almost swear that his soul had ascended to nirvana the second he recognized her perfect figure. Seeing her sweet face after the day of anxiety he experienced was like being tossed into a cloud of serene confections, but rather than smile, his face contorted into a scowl. He was angry at her for being out at such a late hour, but he was even more angry at himself for being the reason why she’d been gone, not that he knew if it was really due to his abandonment or not. No matter how angry he was though, he had missed her, and all he could think about in this moment was taking a large bite out of those sweet confections in front of him. He flew off the wall and in only five strides, he had her in his arms.

“Hello Yeri,” he whispered sweetly against her ear.

She shuddered and her knees felt weak with the touch of his soft breath against her neck. She shut her eyes and shook her head to wake up from the sudden weakness, “J-Jungkook-ah… w-what’s wrong?”

He adjusted his arms so that he had them wrapped around her waist and held on even tighter, “I missed you.”

If her knees were weak before with just the sound of his voice, now she felt completely lost in his arms. As if on command, she completely gave in and fell against his chest, wrapping her arms around his wide shoulders, “I missed you too.”

Feeling weightless against her acceptance of him, he dug his face deeper into the crook of her neck and took a deep whiff of her soothing scent, which comprised of a seductively musky and clean perfume that he’d found to be fetching only on her, the woman he loved… love?

His eyes shifted low over her shoulder and his brows tipped into a frown. Where had that thought come from? That wasn’t the right question…

He leaned away and held her face with his hands, “I’m sorry…”

“For what?” Her brows lifted on shock.

“For everything,” he placed h