“Risako, I like you.” 

“Again.” 

“Risako, to be honest, I--I like you. I’ve liked you for a while now and--”

“You’re stuttering. Again.” 

“Risako, I think that you have the prettiest set of lips in this entire univer--” 

Jungkook threw his head back with an exasperated groan, a hand lifting to rub at his eyes. Sitting at the other end of the couch was a cross-legged Yennie, whose face matched the colour of a firetruck.

The three had taken to hanging out together as a regular occurrence that happened every week, sometimes twice a week if they were all free from their hectic schedules. The more time Yennie spent in Risako’s presence, the more she wanted to ask the girl out on a proper date without Jungkook around. So it wasn’t a surprise when she finally blurted it out to her best friend, who was totally on board with the idea despite the fact that they were still in the dark about Risako’s uality. 

From what they’d gathered, it seemed that she would’ve bent either way. She was an avid supporter of gay romance, for god’s sake. Surely, that must mean something? Surely that was a sign? 

“You are so much worse than I thought you would be,” Jungkook moaned as though it was a crime to be this bad. Yennie cringed at herself, cowering against the pillow that she held against her chest. She knew she wasn’t the best at relationships but up until now, she hadn’t realized how awkward she was.

Then again, she always had the underlying fear of being criticized, being exposed for her uality. That made it even harder to be as confident as Jungkook. The truth was that the said young man was aware of his popularity, considering the amount of girls that flocked to him with a snap of his fingers. Envy trickled through her at the thought, but she pushed it away as soon as it did, knowing that this wasn’t going to help her in such a situation.

“Try being gay and then we can talk,” Yennie snapped then. 

“You gotta put some oomph into it, you know what I mean?” Jungkook lifted his head to look at her, “like you actually mean it.” 

“But I do actually mean it.” 

“You sound like a desperate Japanese anime girl who can’t even seem to stand up straight when her crush is around,” he retorted. 

The scowl on Yennie’s face was so palpable that it would’ve made anyone run away and if it wasn’t for the fact that Jungkook had known her for so long, he would’ve probably been scrambling for the door by now. But there he was, undisturbed by her irritation, reaching over for a slice of pepperoni pizza that they’d gotten from takeout when they had decided that they were too lazy to go out. 

“Let’s try something else,” Jungkook said in-between mouthfuls of cheese and pizza crust. He scarfed down the rest like a hungry puppy before he continued, “I’ll be you, you’ll be Risako alright? I’ll show you how to make a proper confession.” 

“Fine then,” she crossed her arms over her chest, mouth still tugged down at the corners, “go on. How would you do it?”

“Well first off, I wouldn’t even be sitting that far,” without warning, the young raven-haired man slid over the couch until his shoulder bumped with hers, causing her to shoot him an unimpressed look, “that’s your strategy? Really, Jeon?” 

“I’d wait for the right timing,” Jungkook stated while ignoring her statement and tilted his head towards hers so that the light of the room danced across the planes of his face. He seemed softer, more delicate somehow.

Yennie decided to shut and just see what he was all about. Sure, she scoffed inwardly, he was more experienced than she was, after all. 

“I’d wait until conversation has died down, know what I mean? When everything gets the peaceful kind of quiet. Say you guys are talking softly,” his voice softened considerably, “like we are now.” 

“Uhuh.”

He proceeded to clear his throat and she gazed at him, at his eyes fluttering back and forth between the ground and the wall opposite him. Then, as though he felt her stare, his dark orbs flitted over to catch her own and it took everything in Yennie’s power not to gasp. 

Lord. Jungkook had such beautiful eyes and the worst was that he knew exactly how to work them to his advantage.

She didn’t realize that her breath had caught until her chest squeezed, causing her to let out a shaky exhale. 

“Hey,” his murmur was deep, as though his voice had dropped an octave altogether. He leaned in closer, orbs swimming with a darkness, a mysterious that made her stomach clench in anticipation. He smelt delicious. Why did he smell delicious? 

Since when did Yennie care? 

“Wanna go out sometime?” his lips quirked up, curving into a smile so sinful that Yennie’s brain suddenly froze, almost as if she’d forgotten how to function. His aura was indeed, mesmerizing, “just the two of us?”

Yennie quickly scrambled to play out Risako’s part and almost felt like bashing her head in when her voice trembled, “wh--what do you mean by that?” 

He leaned in even closer and when she lurched back upon instinct, his other hand pinned itself to the sofa behind her, practically caging her with his body. Their faces were close, closer than she’d ever been with Jungkook. She wasn’t supposed to find him so hauntingly beautiful, wasn’t supposed to find this completely attractive, and blamed it on the fact that he knew what he was doing, that he was a god in his expertise. Of course he knew what he was doing, Yennie thought to herself, he’s used to flirting with girls all day everyday, it was the only coherent explanation for the way that her heart seemed to stutter at his close proximity. 

They were so close that she could feel his breaths wash over her face, could touch noses with him if she wanted to. But Yennie stayed rooted in her spot, eyes wide and skin exploding in a series of goosebumps. 

It was almost like he could read her mind, for the slightest flicker of a smirk curved at the edges of his mouth. Like a predator, eyes alert and hooded with a darkness she couldn’t quite place.

It made Yennie swallow the bile back in . She knew Jungkook, knew him like the back of her hand and had seen his tantrums and childish antics. 

Once upon a time, she had gazed and admired boys in all their glory because she thought it was the norm. Sure, she had had a few crushes here and there, all innocent and filled with the kind of puppy love that never lasted. It was only during the older years in high school that she started finding an interest in girls before veering off guys altogether. 

It had been ages since Yennie had actually checked out a guy. Like, actually. She found some cute, like all normal people did. It wasn’t a secret right? Having good genes made you stand out, no matter what, and though Yennie didn’t bat for that team anymore, she still found herself appreciating someone’s beauty. 

Jungkook had never even been part of her list before.

Until now, when she noticed how long his lashes actually were, or the duality of his eyes that darkened with a smouldering gaze that made the hairs at the back of her neck stand on their end. This wasn’t the Jungkook she was used to seeing. This was Jungkook when he was on the hunt for a woman, and she had to steer her brain around to remind herself that so as not to lose all of her sanity altogether.

One thing was for sure though: he was good. And he knew it.

“I mean, like a date,” his voice dropped to a murmur and hit her skin, alighting her body on fire. Yennie instinctively tried to press back against the couch, hands finding purchase onto her pillow that she gripped so tightly against her chest she could rip it right off. 

“Hm?” he cocked his head suggestively and his eyebrow -- his ing eyebrow-- arched up in a sinful, delicious way. It made him look playful, yet sensual, as though they shared a secret that pooled with the essence of desire. 

Yennie didn’t think. Her arms jolted up and she shoved him back. Hard. 

Jungkook toppled over with a surprised cry and she was satisfied to find that her heart felt normal when she placed a hand onto it. Throwing him a glare that was scorching as hot fire, Yennie quickly scrambled up from her seat with a huff, “you’ve got game, I’ll give you that.” 

The wounded look he sported suddenly vanished into a bright smile, as bright as a child being praised for his good behaviour and Yennie wanted to choke on how different he looked from just two seconds ago. 

“Really?” his smile broadened when she rolled her eyes and looked away, “are you blushing, Yennie?” 

“No,” she replied hotly, “I don’t blush.” 

“Sure,” he proceeded to flop back onto the couch before his head found its rightful place in her lap, snuggling up to her like an appeased tiger. Again, Yennie couldn’t help but wonder where that charismatic aura had come from, but whatever that was didn’t seem to be present any longer. She was happy and relieved to find that Jungkook had returned to the usual puppy-like toddler that needed all too much affection to function, and with a soft sigh, she allowed her fingers to trail through his locks. 

She was so engrossed in her own pool of thoughts that it took her a few seconds to realize that Jungkook was calling her name. 

When she did, her eyes blinked down at him. The said young man had his eyes closed, a faint smile on his face.

“Hey,” he murmured, traces of sleep in his alto as Yennie continued combing her fingers through his raven hair.

“Hm?” Yennie hummed in response. 

“I made you blush,” he giggled then, and Yennie proceeded to smack him.

The group of boys from the basketball team had decided to host a barbeque in their flat as a way to celebrate the end of mid-term season, and since Jungkook was invited, Yennie had no other choice but to be dragged along. 

“Remember,” Jungkook leaned in close as they made their way up to his flat, “cool and casual, okay?”

Yennie didn’t have to ask further to know that he was referring back to their latest conversation that involved Risako. Her cheeks flushed at the thought and she didn’t hesitate to send Jungkook a scowl upon hearing his soft chuckle.

“Gosh darn it, Namjoon! Move!” 

That was the first thing that blared through the flat the moment the pair stepped in, Yennie’s nostrils picking up on the scent of something burnt. She grimaced, pulled out her shoes and placed it by Jungkook’s, before following the latter out towards the front terrace where a pair of young men about the same age were busy wrestling with the barbeque grill.

“You’re the one who told me to leave it for five more minutes,” the one named Namjoon replied, but did little to protest when the other man with the dyed blonde hair whipped the tongs out of his grasp. 

He then looked up before noticing the two new arrivals, “Yennie," he greeted with a dimpled smile, "you came.” 

Yennie proceeded to fist bump him as she stepped onto the terrace. Since they were both English majors and had pretty much all of their classes together, it had become something quite out of habit to have Namjoon around at her side on campus. They shared similar tastes and could spend hours talking about their favourite writers, something that wasn’t very common in their generation. She had slowly grown to love the brown-haired young man with eyes so intense and lips that could outdo even Celine’s. Tall and lanky, he stood practically a head and a half taller than her, ca