"I might be interested in him."

Yennie blinked at her. Once. Twice. 

The cogs in her brain turned, spluttered to a stop. 

All she could think was: huh? 

Huh? 

"What?" she blurted out without warning as Risako burst into a fit of small giggles, placing a hand over and her eyes crinkling up in those little crescents that Yennie found so adorable. Although funnily, she really wasn't in the mood to find them adorable right at this particular moment.

"Yeah," Risako said, trying and failing to hide the smile blossoming over her face while her cheeks filled with heat. It was impossible to hide the fact that she was definitely smitten with the young man and while Yennie had been having her suspicions for quite some time now, things were clearly out in the open now, practically hammering down onto her skull and pushing her into the ground like a dead weight.

"I don't know, I think he's cute," the Japanese girl continued, not noticing the way Yennie's features had frozen into place and were on the verge of crumbling, "and he's so fun to hang out with you know? We've grown closer now that we actually know we have classes together--" 

"Since then?" Yennie cut her off so abruptly, her voice flat and heavy with disbelief. 

Risako shrugged, "give or take a few weeks?" 

Yennie couldn't believe it. She ing couldn't believe it.

And she had told Jungkook, had warned him of Risako's growing affections for him as a man, had even thrown an angry fit about it for god's sake! And now, the knowledge was out in the open, buzzing through the air like bee stings. Yennie felt constrict with an overwhelming wave of emotions that coursed through ehr and suddenly, she felt like she couldn't breathe, like the air was tearing her lungs apart no matter how much she tried. 

"Also! You never told me you were lesbian! That's so cool!" 

Yeah sure, the said young woman thought inwardly with a string of curses that followed, Cool. Of course.

"I need to go," she abruptly stood up from the table, fists white and shaking from restrained emotion, and didn't wait for Risako's consent before she was already blundering out of the bubble tea shop in hopes that her legs wouldn't give out in mid-way. Her chest felt tight, as though someone had grabbed a hold of her heart and was pinching it in different directions. Yennie doubled over just as she turned the corner, doubling over and curling in on herself while she gasped for breath suddenly rushing through her lungs.

This felt like a nightmare. It had to be a nightmare. There was no way in hell the worst case scenario was unfolding right before her eyes as though piece by piece of her own narrative speculation was falling into place, each worse than the next.

Yennie was so caught up in the flurry of thoughts clashing through her brain that she hadn't realized her feet had marched themselves right up to her door until she spotted a pair of huge-sized combat boots that seemed all too familiar for her liking.

, she thought to herself, slowly lifting her eyes up to clash against warm doe eyes.

"You look like ," was his first statement and it took every single muscle in her face to formulate a smile despite the tension in her shoulders.

"Thanks Jungkook," her voice dripped with sarcasm, "that's exactly what I need right now." 

She pushed past him, not really caring to be pleasant as she allowed herself in and didn't bother asking about his whereabouts when he stumbled in after her like a child following his mother.

"What happened?" Jungkook asked quietly when she lurched onto the couch with a heavy sigh, grabbed onto a pillow and buried her nose in its familiar warmth. She didn't want to think, about anything, or anyone. She just wanted to cease to exist, to be numb to everything for a little while. 

A moment later, the couch dipped under a weight. His scent filled her nostrils and the memory of their bodies pressed against each other flashed behind her closed lids. 

God. She would be lying to herself to say that it hadn't felt good. It had. It had felt so goddamn ing good that Yennie had almost tugged him right back, had wanted to kiss him senseless so that she could taste the warmth of his lips, lips that dripped with such temptation it caused her stomach to twist in insecure knots just at the thought.

She hadn't seen his face ever since that fateful night. Not that she'd been trying to anyway. After that sudden snogging session, it had been impossible to push the thought of Jungkook's body away from her mind. Yennie had returned home feeling torn between guilt and temptation. 

On one hand was Risako, whom she knew she was deeply attracted to and had been crushing on for the past semester. Anyone who hadn't noticed was considered blind, especially now that it was out in the open that she was allegedly into the female gender.

But on her other shoulder was a smaller version of Jungkook that kept prodding at her and screaming for attention every time she attempted to ignore his existence. No matter how much she had tried rubbing away the warmth of his hands imprinted onto her skin where he'd held her, no matter how many times she brushed her teeth clean, she could still feel the tingles on her lips, the warmth of his breath on , the sensation sending electricity zipping straight down her spine.

She'd never admit it out loud. But Jungkook was a good kisser. And by god, did he know that.

"Yennie."

His soft alto brought her out of her own inner turmoil, and Yennie risked a glance over at his figure cast in soft angles from the dim light of the living room. 

"What?" her voice came out muffled against the pillow. She buried herself even further if that was possible, adamant on ignoring the elephant in the room, "Why are you here, Jungkook? What do you want?" 

"Jeez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," she didn't have to look over to know that he was currently wrinkling his nose in distaste, "I was getting boba and decided to stop by." 

That was when she noticed the bag of goodies on the table. Gingerly, she straightened up and reached for the bag, only for the said man to snatch it up and out of her reach.

Her eyes narrowed in annoyance, but Jungkook only shook his head at her, grinning like a mischievous child.

"It's mine. You bought it for me," Yennie scowled.

"Aww look at you, you're so annoyed," he reached out to tickle under her chin like he always did, except that made Yennie's heart leap. She lurched back upon instinct as alarm bells popped inside her brain before spluttering out, "just give me the damn boba and nobody will get hurt."

"Sure. Just answer me first." 

"I have nothing to say." 

"Yennie, I'm not as oblivious as Taehyung. I know something's bothering you. A big something." 

"Nothing--" the words got stuck halfway up , "nothing's bothering me." 

Jungkook just threw her a look, expression telling her that he was definitely not buying into her lie. 

Yennie pressed her lips into a flat line, contemplating her options for a moment, before tiredness suddenly swept through her and instantly, she just blurted out whatever was on her mind at that moment, not really caring anymore and too worn out from overthinking the entire situation, what with the now complicated butterflies that kept hovering over her chest whenever the said raven-haired man was around.

It didn't help that there was a softness that spread across Jungkook's face the more she talked, his features graced with tenderness and eyes swirling with understanding mixed in with another undecipherable depth she couldn't quite place. It made her stomach tighten in knots, made her all fuzzy and warm and made her want to just grab him by the face and kiss him senseless--

No! She inwardly screamed at her brain, no, no, no! What in the world is wrong with you?!

A warm touch caused her to stiffen momentarily, noticing the softness overtaking the doe-eyed man's demeanor as he brushed his hand along her arm in what was a seemingly innocent comforting gesture.

Except that it made her entire body coil with desire.

"Well, for what it's worth, I don't find Risako attractive and I'm definitely not going to go for her even if I had the chance to," came his snort. 

That statement made her feel a slightly bit better.

"Truthfully?" Yennie narrowed her eyes at him, "or are you just saying that to make me feel better?" 

It was then that she realized how close their faces were, how warm he was as he leaned against her shoulder, "I'm telling the truth." 

"Good. Keep little Jungkook in his pants." 

"Oh no, you're not going there again."

He was referring to the text messages from earlier this week. She couldn't help but chuckle, "it was funny. I don't think you've ever taken so long to answer me before." 

"What was I supposed to say to that?!" 

"It was a joke." 

"Yeah but still, Little Jungkook was offended." 

She flicked his forehead, "little Jungkook should learn not to be so sensitive. The world is full of evil men and women ready to take advantage of him--"

Jungkook didn't hesitate to slap shut with the palm of his hand, "you," he breathed with a shake of his head, "are disgusting." 

Yennie mumbled out an incoherent reply against his mouth, before she his palm. He drew back with a yelp and scowled as she grinned in victory.

Pillowing her head onto his shoulder as the tension eased off from her shoulders, she allowed herself to bask in the comfortable silence that followed, broken only by the soft humm of the fridge and the dim noise of cars roaring through the streets beyond. He passed her a boba silently, murmuring that it was just normal milk tea, with thirty percent sugar because she should really watch her sugar intake these days. That only made her shove him some more, before happily slurping down the said drink.

Here, with Jungkook at her side, she could almost imagine that everything was still the same and that her heart didn't beat twice as fast whenever he was around. For a moment, it felt like everything had frozen in time, as though there were just the two of them, nothing else to worry about, no one else to burst their small bubble of comfort.

These were the times she loved the most, where she could bask in the silence, that long stretch of time that seemed to linger on forever except was all too short when it came to an end.

"Hey Yennie," came a soft grunt from the said man, his alto dropping an octave when he turned towards her. His lips brushed against the side of her head and Yennie fought against the pleasure that his closeness gave to her.

"Hm?" 

"Can I ask you something?" 

Uh Oh. She swallowed thickly. She knew that tone, knew where this question was leading to.

"Is it something I'm not gonna like?" 

There was a soft pause. Then, "possibly."

"Does it have to do with what happened that night?" 

He fumbled with his jacket sleeve, "maybe." 

"Is this about the kiss?" 

"I--" she could practically smell the frustration rolling off him in waves, "I think--"

"So? What about it?"

"What?"

"We just kis