C H A P T E R T W E L V E
People I've been watching
Are now all watching me

As soon as he got back to the dorm, Jungkook flopped heavily onto his bed with a low groan, face smushed into the pillow and leg hanging off the side. For the past week or so, his schedule had been packed full with performances and photoshoots and fanmeets, with barely anytime to catch some proper rest - a couple of minutes in the make up chair, an hour in the car on the way to a schedule, a small nap in the dorm between days.

He had missed sleeping, and now that they had some time to rest and recuperate he was going to stay in bed for a long, long time.

The other members trailed in after him, climbing into their bunks with the exception of a few. Taehyung sat against the wall with his iPad on his knees, headphones plugged in and a cup of pudding in hand as he watched videos. From the kitchen, distant sizzling and rich smells came wafting into the bedroom as Jin began to prepare a homecooked meal for them as a reward, and though Jungkook couldn't see him, he could hear Hoseok taking deep breaths and groaning at the delicious scent from his bunk.

"It's so good to be home," he whined, rolling over to look over the side of the bed. "Time to recharge the sunshine~!!!"

Jungkook made some sort of incoherant muffled complaint into his pillow and rolled over to stare at the ceiling, hands rubbing life back into his face. His eyes were aching but so was his stomach, so he wouldn't sleep until he'd stocked up on food like a squirell. Slipping his phone from his pocket, he held it cautiously above him incase he dropped it, scrolling through his social media to pass the time.

But when he went to text his eomma, his eyes caught her name in the messages, and her deep chocolate eyes and lilac hair immediately sprang to the forefront of his mind.

He hadn't spoken to her since they bumped into each other again in the corridors of JYP. They exchanged a few texts of course, asking how they were, offering congratulations, but nothing huge. In that short time, his hair had been dyed a lighter brown, he had performed the Attack on Bangtan stage well, and won a rookie award. It was November, and somewhere in the back of his mind he recalled that she said this month was her birthday, though he didn't know the day. Promotions were coming to an end so hopefully he would have some free time.

To: Fairy-ssi
What day is your birthday?

Before he could forget, he quickly typed up a message for her and sent it. He wasn't expecting a reply straight away, but within a minute or so his phone buzzed and her nickname popped up.

From: Fairy-ssi
12th... aha...

He frowned. The twelfth had already passed during his promotions, but she hadn't said anything to him at all on that day.

To: Fairy-ssi
Aish, why didn't you tell me? Happy birthday! We should celebrate

Again, his phone buzzed straight away.

From: Fairy-ssi
The JYP dinner is in a few days? ^^;

Oh yeah... It had slipped his mind, but as far as he knew there was nothing else on. If he asked the manager and his hyungs, maybe they would go with him? He didn't know if he would be allowed on his own.

Before he could reply to her, however, Taehyung swore and pulled his headphones off, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Yah, maknae, you have to see this."

"...Eh?" The newly brunette boy rolled off his bed sluggishly and shuffled over to where he sat by the wall. "What, hyung?"

"Just watch it."

And he shoved the iPad onto the younger's lap, putting the headphones over his ears. When he clicked play, Jungkook felt his mouth fall open.

|||

Days passed with little contact from Jungkook, but Aeri barely had time to notice it. Her time was filled with practising; singing with Jiho and dancing with Sumin after Jackson pushed her to ask for help. Though she was physically kept busy by her training, the face of the black haired boy never really left the back of her mind. It was almost... encouraging.

Even if they hadn't spoken much, she had found time to watch him perform on Inkigayo, and saw that his hair had now changed. With it dyed, gelled up and spiked he looked less like the maknae, and she had melted at his voice when he sang his solo, staring into the camera with his cheeky eyesmile. Since they didn't need to practise for their stage anymore, they probably wouldn't bump into each other around JYP as often, and the thought had made her sad until his named appeared on her phone screen.

From: Jungkook<