“I’m guessing this was a bad time to come over to say ‘hi,’ huh?” -Kim Seokjin

 

 

 

Chapter 3: Dark Chocolate Mocha Flavored Confession

 

 

“Kook-ah, why are you crying?”

“Because I’m sad...”

“Why are you sad?”

“Because Mom said I can’t live with you…”

“Silly. Of course I can’t live with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have my own family I need to live with.”

“Why can’t you be my family?”

“I can be your friend, Kook-ah.”

“No! I want you to be my family! Otherwise I can’t live with you…”

“Well the only way I can be your family is if I marry you.”

 

“Then marry me.”

 

“No, are you crazy? I’m only eight years old! And you’re six. We’re too young to marry, you silly.”

“Marry meeeeeeeeee!”

“Shhhh! Okay okay fine! I’ll marry you if you stop screaming and crying!”

“Really (sniff)?”

“Yeah…”

“Promise?”

“Uh huh.”

 

“Pinky promise?”

 

“Pinky promise.”

 

“Hehehe yay!”

“Are you happy now?”

“Yup! You better keep that promise Hyunnie noona!”

 

 

Hyun could’ve sworn her room was never this hot. No. Her and her roommates always the fan before going to bed because all three couldn’t stand sleeping in heat. They’d much rather be freezing than sweating in bed.

Then why was it so hot? And why did she feel so stuffy?

 

Hyun groaned as she opened an eye, her body still tired despite the sleep she just had. She had the weirdest dream of a past memory, one where she almost jokingly got engaged to Jungkook—that she had totally forgotten about. She hoped he also didn’t take that seriously. She honestly couldn’t imagine getting wedded to Jungkook, who was just a baby to her. Hyun shuddered in relief that it was all just a dream.

 

Except what could possibly explain why her eyes were taking in the very face of the Jeon Jungkook that haunted her in her dreams....eyes closed and soundly asleep in front of her?

 

Am I still dreaming? Hyun wondered, convinced that was the only explanation she was inches away from a sleeping Jungkook.

 

Frick. I’m not, Hyun opened both her eyes wide when Jungkook’s constant breathing and occasional nose scrunches were a little too real, realizing she was most definitely not dreaming. And if that wasn’t enough, she found herself tightly wrapped in his arms, with both of them laying on...the ground. 

 

What the—how did this happen? Hyun rolled her eyes from left to right, trying to remember what had happened the night before. 

 

She recalled walking Jungkook to his dorm, repeating she’d stay only until he fell asleep, sitting on the ground as she waited for his eyes to close, even singing a fricken lullaby to him, and...she couldn’t remember what happened after that. When did she fall asleep? And why was Jeon Jungkook lying on the ground with her instead of sleeping on his perfectly fine bed?

 

So this is why it was so hot and stuffy, Hyun wanted to groan a second time, realizing Jungkook’s embrace was a little too toasty and suffocating for her taste. There was no doubt he was an athlete; she could literally feel his arms around her hard and heavy with muscle. She gritted her teeth as she tried to squirm to get free.

“Hyun-ah...don’t go…” Jungkook muttered, making Hyun freeze. She looked at him, but saw his eyes still closed. She tried a second time to get free, using both hands to lift Jungkook’s arms off of her. 

“Don’t go…” Jungkook muttered again, and Hyun had to quickly move away before he trapped her again. She sat up and peered down at him, relieved he didn’t budge after she successfully got away. She started to inspect his face and was soon surprised when she saw a tear trickling down his cheek. 

 

“Shh...I’m right here,” she whispered, using her hand to caress Jungkook’s sleeping face and wiping his tear with her thumb.

“Don’t leave me…” Jungkook’s voice broke as more tears trailed down. Hyun furrowed her eyebrows, wondering if Jungkook was dreaming just like she had...of a past memory that wasn’t so nice. A memory of his most favorite person in the world leaving him.

 

“Kook-ah, I’m right here. I’m not leaving you,” Hyun began to his hair and only then did Jungkook’s tears begin to die down. Hyun felt confused. She was certain she was annoyed at how clingy this baby in front of her was, but then at moments like this, where she saw how much he needed her...she felt a wave of wanting to comfort him. Wanting to hold his hand and assure him of her presence. Guess it was just the side effect of growing up with him for too long.

 

 

“What time is it?” Hyun mumbled once she placed a blanket over Jungkook, now tear-less and soundly sleeping. She looked around and reached for her phone. It wasn’t even half past seven yet. And the phone she just grabbed revealed a hundred messages and missed calls from Sooyoung and Ji Eun, clearly asking where she had gone off to and whether she had died.

 

Sorry guys. I should’ve called or something last night but I’m fine. I’m at…

Hyun thought about what she should tell her friends, unsure of how they’d react if they knew she had stayed over at a guy’s house...even if that guy was just a mere dongsaeng to her.

...a dongsaeng’s house and spent the night here. I’ll see you girls later today.

 

And send.

 

Hyun sighed as she set her phone down and got up. She made her way to the small kitchen available in each dormitory, and was jealous at how Jungkook got to use a whole room by himself. The dorms at BigHit University usually housed up to four students, each one structured like a mini-apartment with necessary facilities such as kitchens, single bathrooms, two bedrooms, etc.

Looking around as the sunshine lit up the whole place, Hyun was impressed at how clean and organized Jungkook kept things: dust-free counters, wiped floors, organized shelves, aligned hockey equipment, and spotless kitchen with no dirty dishes. She herself was nowhere near this neat.

 

She then turned around to face the fridge, opening it to see what he had. 

“Dang…” she said to herself as her eyes scanned the various ingredients inside. From fresh produce to all sorts of energy drinks, his fridge was nicely packed. It was clear he took care of himself quite well and probably didn’t need the school’s cafeteria to feed himself. That was surprising for Hyun, who had assumed he was a baby in need of someone to take care of him in all aspects. But guess he was fine when it came to food and cooking. After all, with his humongous appetite she remembered the night before, it made sense to have his fridge stocked up like this.

 

 

“Maybe I can make some breakfast,” Hyun reached for some eggs, hoping Jungkook wouldn’t mind. She quickly grabbed a carrot and half an onion as well. She looked around for some rice and found a rice cooker by the sink. Perfect. She could make omelette rice (omurice).

Hyun herself was not a bad cook, given that this was her third year living away from her parents. She had learned how to make basic dishes, and was quite confident in her omurice turning out to be decent.

 

 

“Noona?”

 

 

Jungkook’s sleepy voice reached Hyun’s ears as she was frying the rice and she quickly turned around to see him watching her, his bed hair like a bird’s nest and swollen eyes still struggling to fully open, probably from sleeping and crying.

 

“Go wash up. I’m making omurice for breakfast,” Hyun smiled, making Jungkook’s mouth open and form a small “o” and head plainly nodding.

 

“Hurry up,” Hyun commanded again. Jungkook quickly walked to his bathroom and obeyed. 

 

It didn’t take more than two minutes before he came back out, now standing next to Hyun and trying to help.

 

“I’m almost done. Just go sit Kook-ah,” Hyun tried to shoo him away. 

“It smells so good,” Jungkook grinned like an idiot, wrapping his arms around Hyun’s waist.

“I can’t cook if you do this,” Hyun glared at him shortly. “Come on. Go sit down—or set the table if you want to help me.”

“Okay,” Jungkook happily complied. He rummaged through some drawers and pulled out utensils—two of each, which made him elated to think that one was for him and one for Hyun. He let out a joyful laugh, absolutely loving the idea that this would be his morning every day for the rest of his life if he and Hyun really did tie the knot—

 

“Alright. Let’s eat! Sit down Kook-ah,” Hyun placed two plates of omurice on the small dining table. She then seated herself and Jungkook followed soon after, placing a spoon by Hyun and taking one for himself. 

 

“I can’t say it tastes anything like Auntie’s cooking, but it should be at least decent enough to eat,” Hyun smiled sheepishly, waiting for Jungkook to take a bite.

 

“Itsh sho goo,” Jungkook gave her a big thumbs up as he chewed his food. Hyun laughed, a little in relief. She tucked her short hair behind her ears as she grabbed the spoon by her, ready to eat as well.

 

“Wait, this is really good; not gonna lie,” she looked at Jungkook with large eyes, surprised her cooking tasted better than even she herself expected. She had to say, this was the best omurice she had made...even though it was only her third time making it.

 

 

It took five minutes before Jungkook cleared his dish, and Hyun just stared at his capacity to eat that fast in awe. She did her best to catch up, finishing her food shortly after.

 

“I’m gonna get in so much trouble for sleeping over,” Hyun said as she began to clear the plates. Jungkook got up as well, taking the plates from her hands.

“No you’re not. I told you there’s no such rule that says you can’t,” he shook his head.

“But still...I can’t believe I fell asleep. Why didn’t you wake me up?” Hyun’s lips formed a pout. 

 

“Because I wanted you to sleepover,” Jungkook just shrugged nonchalantly.

 

“Well since you didn’t wake me up, you’re doing the dishes. Do you have morning classes?” Hyun sat back down and watched Jungkook go over to the sink with dishes in his hands.

 

“I have morning practice at nine, so I’m good with time. And yes, I’ll do the dishes noona,” he grinned, still giddy about Hyun at his place, ordering him around.

It felt surreal to have her in his dorm.

It felt unreal to have her back in his life.

It was like a dream he most definitely didn’t want to wake up from.

 

 

Hyun let out a yawn as she observed Jungkook putting on pink, rubber gloves in preparation for a massive dish-washing session. Her stomach was full and her eyelids were heavy...despite it being less than a full hour since she’d been up. She needed something to wake her up fully.

 

 

“Okay while you do the dishes, I’m going to go to the convenience store near our campus to grab a coffee. Do you want anything?” Hyun stood up, glancing at Jungkook’s busy back, swiftly working to clean the mess she made in the kitchen.

 

“Wait I’m almost done. I’ll go with you,” Jungkook called out.

 

“No you’re not. I’ll be quick. I’ll get you some milk,” Hyun put on her shoes.

 

“Noona wait—” 

 

Thud.

 

 

Hyun walked out the door and dashed out of the building, quickly pulling her hoodie over her head. She realized she hadn’t even properly washed up, which was funny since she was the one that nagged Jungkook about doing so earlier. Well, since she had no morning classes that day, she decided she’d shower at her own dorm as soon as she finished buying and delivering drinks from the convenience store. So for now, she made sure her head was completely covered and face completely hidden.

 

“Hi welcome to GS25!” an employee greeted Hyun as soon as she stepped into the store, the wind chimes attached to the door ringing. 

 

“Good morning,” Hyun gave a small bow and briskly made her way over to the aisle of cold drinks. Her eyes scanned the drinks lined up and smiled once her eyes landed on the drink she wanted.

 

 

“One strawberry milk for Kookie and…”

 

 

She reached for another drink, this time for herself.

 

 

“...one dark chocolate mocha for—”

 

 

Her hand landed on a can of coffee at the same time as another hand, large and warm.

 

“Oops, sorry about that!” she bowed to the stranger, her head still wrapped in her hoodie and limiting her vision.

 

 

“Hyun-ah.”

 

 

Hyun froze. Her heart began to race as her brain recognized the low voice her ears just took in.

She knew that voice all too well.

She loved that voice all too much.

 

She didn’t have to look to see who it was at this point, but her head still lifted slowly, her eyes wanting to confirm her thoughts as to who she had run into.

 

 

“Good morning,” he smiled, showing off his perfect teeth.

 

 

Yup. There he was, Professor Kim Seokjin. Dressed in a collarless button up and wrinkle-free slacks, he looked professional..ly handsome as always. He had one hand carrying his bag and the other one holding the dark chocolate mocha the two of them had reached for.

 

“Here,” he handed the can to her. It turned out to be the last one available, but Seokjin didn’t mind. He glanced at Hyun and knitted his eyebrows, recognizing her outfit to be the exact same as he remembered it to be from yesterday. 

 

Did she not go home last night? he couldn’t help but wonder. But then he shook his head, freeing his thoughts up. What was it to him whether she went home or not? Why did he care? And besides, it could also be that she just wanted to wear the same clothes as the day before...to save laundry.

Seokjin unconsciously wanted to believe the latter was the case.

 

“No you can have it!” Hyun unfroze her body, still in a daze from his presence, and handed the can back to him. She saw there were no more left on the counter, and instead reached for another strawberry milk. She didn’t need coffee to stay awake anymore. Running into Seokjin at a convenience store was enough to make her mind and heart race like she had  chugged down five shots of espresso.

 

“Are you sure?” Seokjin asked her, his knitted eyebrows now raised.

“Yes sir,” Hyun bowed and quickly ran to the cashier, wanting to run away. 

 

 

Her mind had played a hundred different scenarios of how she’d react if and when she ran into Professor Kim outside of class, but now that it actually happened...she didn’t know what to do. And why now, when she hadn’t even gotten the chance to properly wash up and try to look presentable, out of all times? She sniffed herself to make sure she didn’t smell or anything and was too scared to check her face through her phone camera. She felt stupid and hopeless, hating how she acted like an idiot every time she encountered Seokjin. Why couldn’t she be cool and just...get over him already? 

 

“That’ll be 3,000 won,” the employee said to Hyun after scanning her two milks. 

 

“Can you add this one too and use this card to pay?” a hand swooped in front of Hyun’s view, and she looked up to her left. Her eyes grew big as she saw Seokjin holding out his card after setting his coffee down on the pay counter as well.

 

“You really don’t have to do that,” Hyun started to shake her head but the beep from the cash register signaled it was too late. Seokjin had just bought her—and Jungkook—strawberry milk.

 

“...” Hyun didn’t know how to respond, but thought she should at least thank her professor when he beat her to it.

 

“It’s to thank you for letting me have the last mocha,” Seokjin said as he grabbed the can. He added with a small grin, “Do you usually drink two cartons of strawberry milk? Or are those the alternative for the mocha you let me take?”

 

“Um…” Hyun was about to explain that one was for someone else when she heard the wind chimes again. She looked to see the door swung open and none other than Jeon Jungkook standing in the store, panting and out of breath.

 

 

“Noona!” he immediately ran over to her as soon as he saw her. 

 

 

“What are you doing here? I told you to wait—I would’ve come in like five minutes,” Hyun gawked at him incredulously, unable to believe he was actually here. My, was he impatient. 

 

“I missed you already,” Jungkook stepped closer, reaching for her hand.

 

“Here,” Hyun acted fast and almost threw one of the cartons to Jungkook, who of course caught it with his good reflexes. 

“You remembered I like strawberry milk, didn’t you?” Jungkook grinned wide, his bunny teeth flashing in pure happiness. 

“Uh huh,” Hyun just briefly nodded, now pushing him towards the door. She bowed to Seokjin, “Thank you for the milk Professor. I’ll see you tomorrow in class.”

 

 

“See you…” Seokjin gave her a nod, a crease forming in between between his brows. He eyed the figure next to Hyun, taking in his built figure and fluffy hair. He didn’t care all that much that the guy had not given him a single look, as rude as that was. From what Seokjin could tell, the fluffy haired bunny had his full attention only on the girl he repeatedly called “noona.”

 

He narrowed his eyes. Seokjin had a keen eye and a good memory.

 

He not only remembered Hyun’s outfit from yesterday but he also recognized the guy currently walking out of the store next to Hyun.

 

It was the same guy that chased after her the day before, was he not?

 

 

Who is he? Seokjin wondered internally, without even realizing it. From listening to their conversation, they seemed rather...intimate. He watched the two now fully outside through the glass door and almost dropped his coffee when he saw them linking hands.

 

 

Seokjin’s lips formed a frown.

 

 

Also without him realizing it.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

“That was Professor Kim; he teaches our rhetoric class,” Hyun said as the two made their way back to the dorm buildings.

“Who was?” Jungkook tilted his head.

“The man I was standing next to,” she told him.

“Oh. I didn’t really see him because I was too busy looking at you,” Jungkook shrugged. Hyun wanted to face palm herself but instead opened her strawberry milk, having to let go of Jungkook’s hand to be able to do so. Jungkook opened his as well and went right back to holding her hand as soon as they were both ready to drink.

 

“I swear you’re insane,” Hyun muttered under her breath before raising her volume, “Well next time you see him, you better greet him properly. You need to show respect towards professors and get on their good side.”

 

“Okay,” Jungkook nodded. Hyun shook her head in disbelief. Clearly Jeon Jungkook’s vision lacked the peripheral aspect, seeing how his eyes were solely fixed on Hyun all the time. Then something occurred to her that she hadn’t asked the night before during her questionnaire session. It turned out she was far from done asking questions to the bunny next to her.

 

 

“Okay random thought and question,” Hyun cleared after taking a sip of strawberry milk. She turned her gaze towards Jungkook, also taking a sip. His doe eyes waited for her to go on.

 

“Yesterday at the freshman welcoming...why didn’t you come acknowledge me right away? I could’ve sworn we made eye contact and yet you just...turned away,” Hyun recalled how confused she was at that moment. She had thought Jungkook didn’t recognize her or didn’t care about her as much anymore. But seeing him now and how his only focus was herself, those two scenarios were clearly not the case.

Not even close.

 

“I was waiting for you to come to me first,” Jungkook pouted. He squeezed her hand. “But you never do anything first, noona. You never contact me first, and you never come talk to me first.”

 

“I…”

 

“So I gotta do it first,” Jungkook shrugged a second time, accepting the fact that if that was what had to be done in order for him to have his Hyunnie noona by his side, he’d be more than happy to do so.

 

“Sorry…” Hyun looked down. What else could she say honestly? Every time Jungkook pulled the blaming card, she just felt bad. And he had already pulled that card multiple times now. If someone were to hear everything Jungkook said about what Hyun did to him with no context, man, she’d be quite the evil witch.

 

 

“Don’t be,” Jungkook bent a little towards her, wanting her to lift her face. “As long as you’re here with me, I don’t care if I have to be the one that has to run to you first. I’m ready to run any day, any time.”

 

 

Hyun froze, feeling rather flustered. She stared at Jungkook with large eyes, speechless. It was weird to hear those words from him. They were words she would never expect to hear from a baby like Jungkook. A little bit cheesy, yes, but they were words quite promising of his loyalty to her and guaranteeing of his consistent work towards maintaining their relationship. They were sincere, assuring, and...sweet. And on Hyun’s part, that wasn’t so bad to hear.

 

 

“I better run off to practice now,” Jungkook checked his phone, gently letting go of Hyun’s hand. To be frank, he had considered skipping practice altogether just so he could spend the whole day with Hyun, but he remembered her stern words about “not slacking off.” And the last thing Jungkook wanted was to disappoint his noona in any way. So he was going to try his best in everything he did. He gave her puppy eyes. “I hate having to leave you, but my coach is probably going to kill me if I’m late.”

 

“Don’t worry about it; of course you should go!” Hyun laughed, shooing him away with her hand. 

 

“I’ll see you at lunch?” Jungkook asked.

 

“Yeah sure,” Hyun nodded reassuringly. “Now go!”

 

“See you noona!” Jungkook waved, jogging towards his dorm, probably to get his things in order to start another hard-core day of practice and classes. Hyun smiled, waving back and watching him scurry into his dorm building within seconds.

 

You seriously can’t hate him, Hyun said to herself, taking another sip of strawberry milk. She looked at her carton, fully tasting the milk in . Yes, it was bought by Professor Kim Seokjin minutes ago, but the sweet, nostalgic taste she was getting only reminded her of the bunny she was with seconds ago. 

 

 

Sweet, sugary, child-like. 

 

Precisely Jeon Jungkook.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

“Good morning,” Yoongi flashed a gummy smile as soon as he walked into his shared office. 

 

“Good morning,” his co-worker and office mate nodded, already seated and on his computer.

 

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Yoongi raised an eyebrow, immediately reading the grimace on Seokjin’s face.

 

“What do you mean?” Seokjin looked at him with raised brows.

 

“Did something happen to make your morning not so ‘good?’” Yoongi inquired, setting his things down on his desk. “You look upset...or confused...or both.”

 

Was he that obvious? Seokjin was fairly good at hiding emotions and putting on a perfect poker face. But perhaps whatever was going through his mind was big enough to pierce through his typical, collected mask. He shook his head.

 

“No, everything’s fine. Just…” he gave Yoongi a weak smile, “I hate that it’s only Tuesday.”

 

“You sure that’s it?” Yoongi wanted to confirm, chuckling at Seokjin’s answer.

 

“Yeah,” Seokjin confirmed. Yoongi slightly tilted his head to the right, a bit skeptical at that, but ended up not pushing it further. He respected people’s spaces. Especially personal and emotional ones at that.

 

 

“Busy day today?” he tried to change the subject.

“Not too bad. I have two advising appointments and one class,” Seokjin responded, leaning back in his chair. He glanced at Yoongi. “You?”

“Just two classes myself,” Yoongi sat down and his computer, scooting in his chair.

“Nice,” Seokjin nodded before moments of silence followed as the two professors began to individually prepare for their day. But despite both of their desktops being on, only Professor Min’s was actually being paid attention to. Professor Kim Seokjin found himself utterly distracted, and his finger just scrolled aimlessly up and down repeatedly.

 

 

In all honesty, Yoongi’s earlier question hit him right in the chest. Seokjin bit his lip, trying to figure out what was bothering him to the point of showing up on his usually serene face. What was he so irritated about?

 

 

Well, being the professor he was, his mind automatically began to dot some factors together.

One, the two strawberry milks he bought for Hyun turned out to be not just for herself, but for some guy too.

And two, that guy seemed to be more than close to her, from the way he looked at her to the way he spoke to her. Seokjin felt his hand on his mouse clench briefly.

Then lastly three...what could possibly explain the two of them holding hands so naturally?

 

 

There was only one explanation: Hyun had a boyfriend.

 

 

Who else could that bunny be if not? A family member? A close friend? 

 

 

But what family member or friend holds hands with you? Seokjin shook his head. He paused, a little incredulous at how much his mind was occupied with this matter. Why did he care if Hyun had a boyfriend? And so what if he bought her and her boyfriend strawberry milk? He was the one that offered without asking, anyway. 

 

Seokjin grabbed his can of mocha on his desk and drank away, trying to forget the girl that let him have it and wash away all the distractions keeping him from working. This was not who he was.

He was always focused. Collected. Professional. Kim Seokjin.

 

And he did not care that it looked as though Hyun had moved on since last semester. Moved on from him. After all, isn’t this what he wanted? What he had hoped? He ought to be glad about this move, no?

 

Yes. He ought to be.

 

And he was, or so he rather desperately wanted to believe. Seokjin set his can down and adjusted his glasses, back to work mode on.

 

He was now nothing more than a professor and advisor to Do Hyun, and she was nothing more than a student to him. But that was always who she was to him. And hopefully she’d stay that way. 

 

 

Or else Kim Seokjin would suffer some major regrets.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

“You’re Jungkook, right?” a girl with long, brown hair in perfect curls looked up at Jungkook, blocking his way. She smiled at him, blinking multiple times to flex her sparkly pink eyeshadow and excessively curled eyelashes she spent at least an hour perfecting.

But Jungkook couldn’t care less.

 

“Yeah?” he looked down at her, expressionless.

“I’m Ye Jin, one of the freshmen ballerinas here at BigHit University,” she kept her smile on.

“So..?” Jungkook adjusted his bag strap on his shoulder as he raised a brow, a little irritated and wanting her to get to the point. Whatever it was that she had to say had better be worth him having to stop for more than a minute to talk.

 

“I um, just wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out sometime,” Ye Jin let out an awkward giggle, a bit caught off-guard at how Jungkook was so indifferent to hearing her name. There was no way this was the first time he heard it. She was one of the freshmen girls the male sunbaes (upperclassmen) talked about nearly all the time, especially because her physical attractiveness rated a ten out of ten. No male student made it through a day without hearing her name at least once. She was just that hot of a topic.

 

Well, it turned out Jungkook was an exception to that, given that this was the first time he heard her name. And again, he couldn’t care less. But that was obviously so since his mind was fully occupied with someone else. 

 

 

“No thanks,” Jungkook began to walk past her, completely convinced this wasn’t worth stopping for a minute for.

“Hey wait!” she reached out, grabbing his arm. Jungkook nearly growled at that, jerking away from her reach.

“What’s your problem? I said I don’t want to hang out with you,” he glared down at her.

“Why not?” Ye Jin blurted out, her face heating up. She couldn’t have felt more mortified than she was now at the current moment.

“Because I already don’t have enough time to spend with the one person I want to hang out with. And you’re wasting my time now too; I have to go to practice,” Jungkook stuffed his hands in his pocket and strode down the hall. 

 

“...”

 

Ye Jin stared at him, her whole body shaking with embarrassment and eyes teary. How dare he speak to her like that? She was Choi Ye Jin, the number one ballet recruit and top freshman girl everyone wanted to go on a date with. And if she mustered all that courage to ask Jeon Jungkook, the number one hockey recruit, on a date, shouldn’t he be at least somewhat honored?

 

Well, apparently not.

And that made Ye Jin mad.

But she wasn’t the only girl Jungkook had brought to tears since he got to campus. 

 

Because he was too devoted to the one girl that brought himself to tears.

 

 

So the rumors were right. Jeon Jungkook was nowhere near that clingy, attention-seeking baby to anyone except Hyun. In fact, he was quite difficult to approach in the first place due to his lack of interest in making relationships. 

 

 

 

“Hey man,” another interruptor entered the scene, and Jungkook sighed out of frustration. Why was it so difficult to go to practice in peace?

 

“What do you want?” he eyed the figure in front of him and soon found himself scowling as his brain registered the face. It was the same guy Hyun had talked to during the welcoming. And not just “talked to” but even ran her hands over after spitting water on him. In other words, it was the guy Jungkook strongly wanted to hit.

 

“Whoa, I don’t mean any harm dude. Relax those eyes,” the guy put up his palms and grinned, his smile boxy. 

“If you don’t have anything to say, step aside. I need to go to practice,” Jungkook once again tried to walk past his interruptor.

“I do too,” his interruptor followed. “I’m Kim Taehyung, also on the hockey team.”

“I don’t care,” was Jungkook’s response and Taehyung laughed at that, unbothered. 

“Well you should.” he placed a hand on his shoulder. “Because it looks like you don’t check your phone or email all that often. Which means you need someone like me to tell you that Coach actually postponed our actual, official practice to tonight and wants us to do individual workouts on the smaller rink this morning.”

 

“Tonight?” Jungkook scrunched his nose in displeasure as he took Taehyung’s hand off of him. He didn’t like the sound of that. He wanted to spend ‘tonight’ with Hyunnie noona—

 

“Yup,” Taehyung nodded. “Come on man. Let’s go before the whole team gets there and hogs the whole place.”

 

 

Jungkook silently followed Taehyung, still annoyed that he had night practice. A part of him told him to it up. He could still see Hyun at lunch and maybe even after practice...right? There was plenty of time and many instances he could see her. 

 

But not enough.

Nowhere near enough.

And that’s why his irritation didn’t seem to die down.

 

 

Jungkook eyed Taehyung walking a few steps in front of him. He didn’t like that he was on the same team as him. He didn’t like anything about him really, from his deep velvety voice to his stunning facial features. Jungkook grumbled internally, his mind missing Hyun immensely.

 

Already.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

“Oh my gosh, no way,” Sooyoung’s eyes nearly popped out of her sockets. She set her cup of water down, “So you’re telling me the Jeon Jungkook—that literally all the girls are crazy about—is obsessed with you?”

 

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say ‘obsessed,’” Hyun gave her a weak smile, “He’s just a dongsaeng I grew up with back in Busan.”

 

“But you literally slept over at his place because he wouldn’t let go of you,” Ji Eun in, putting down her fork to rest her elbows on the table. She smirked, “And we didn't get to talk to you at lunch because you were too busy eating with him instead, were you not? This is getting a little interesting, Hyun-ah.”

 

“I personally approve. He sounds like an adorable, loyal guy, and not to mention he’s quite the looker as well,” Sooyoung added, nodding in support as she gave Hyun a mischievous look. “What’s stopping you from snatching such a fine specimen?”

 

“Guys. He’s literally family, okay? I don’t even see him as a man—he’s a child for crying out loud,” Hyun slammed her hand on the table out of frustration.

 

 

She knew it was a bad idea to tell her friends everything that happened the night before. She had tried to leave some bits out, like how she had to stay over Jungkook’s place and all, but knowing her two besties, there was no chance of her keeping even the slightest of detail away from them. They were professionals at making her spill every bean and drop of tea.

 

 

 So hence, here they were, chatting away a little too loudly in a restaurant near their campus for dinner. Only made possible by Jungkook’s coach that announced that late night practice, which automatically meant the bunny had to spend the whole evening at the rink.

 

 

“Okay okay,” both Ji Eun and Sooyoung backed off at that, giving each other looks that clearly displayed their skepticism. And with the two of them sitting across from Hyun, that didn’t go unnoticed by her.

 

“Come on. You guys know how I feel about younger guys. Just because I’m desperately trying to get over Professor Kim doesn’t mean I’m going to just date any guy,” Hyun began to defend herself when she saw Sooyoung and Ji Eun’s eyes grow wide, their mouths opening. She furrowed her brows.

 

“What?” she asked.

 

“Um…” Sooyoung didn’t know how to respond except point to something behind Hyun, and Ji Eun looked down in embarrassment. Hyun froze at their reactions, a terribly bad feeling creeping over her entire body. She could feel the hair stand up on the back of her neck. She stiffly and slowly turned her head, already dreading what—or who might be standing behind her.

 

 

 

“I’m guessing this was a bad time to come over to say ‘hi,’ huh?” 

 

 

 

Frick.

 

Hyun was determined to kill herself tonight. She hated every part of herself at the moment and seriously wanted to bury herself so she never had to encounter the man standing before her ever again. It already half killed her seeing his beautiful eyes gazing right at her.

Why did he always have to show up at the worst times possible? How was she supposed to see him in class now?

 

 

“Hi…” Hyun let out a defeated laugh. She gave up wholeheartedly, “...Professor Kim.”

 

 

What to do now? There was no hiding or turning back. Hyun’s mind told her she had two options:

One, be extra shameless and keep having a crush on the man in front of her.

Or two, she could seriously murder herself and not show up to class ever.

 

Option two sounded better in her head. It brought no more degrading, humiliating instances like the present moment.

 

 

But looking at how gorgeous Kim Seokjin looked even under the dim lighting of a rather shabby restaurant, Hyun thought it was too early to die. She wanted to see that addictive, captivating face of her professor for a bit longer, even if he would never be hers.

 

And as if to further push her towards the first option, her face flushed pink and her heart raced frightfully. 

 

So option one it was. As bittersweet as it seemed. 

 

 

Just like the dark chocolate mocha Hyun wasn’t able to drink that morning. 

 

The dark chocolate mocha that ended up in the hands of the man currently standing flustered in front of her, not knowing what to say next.

 

 

 

The man that would now need to get used to being in such a flustered, speechless state.

 

 

 

 

Because he was in for quite the ride ahead of him. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

---

Author's Notes:

OOF WHAT WAS THAT IDK BUT DAS RIGHT WHATTA MAN YOU ARE KIM SEOKJIN (What a sentence HAHAHA)

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Oh my goodness hello hello and thanks for waiting for the next bit of this rather low-quality tale (LOL I BET THERE'S NO ONE WAITING but)!!!

I have to say, I've been writing this at work in fragments and everything's all discombobulated at the moment and I am literally ashamed to post this but here it is nonetheless..!

 

I want to sincerely express my gratitude to those of you reading this and THANKS SO SO SO SO MUCH for all the reads, subs, and of course comments (my fav honestly; they make my day each time I read them-even if there's only a few of you guys who take the time to leave a comment hehe).

But yes, really ANYONE who is even reading this is super appreciated^^ Such angels y'all are:)

 

Well...again, I have no idea where this is going but um Kim Seokjin's really gonna have to brace himself hahaha

And it seems as though Kookie has some split personailities going on...being all cold to other peeps but then still being that clingy baby to Hyunnie...yep see, I have no clue where this going as you can clearly tell. HAHAHAHA *hides*

 

Stay safe all of you and hopefully I'll come back soon with the next chapter!

 

Much much love,

@blonde_cup_of_joe