He called me up a few days later. I was surprised that he hadn't deleted my number from his phone by now. I wonder if he had set my contact name as 'no one'?

"Hello?" I said indifferently, stuffing my hand in my pocket. I was taking a walk in the park, trying to enjoy the last few colorful leaves and trees.

"Hey." Jungkook exhaled. He didn't say anything after that, which resulted in a really awkward silence.

"...Are you going to say something else?"

"Right. Sorry." He chuckled awkwardly. "Um, where are you right now?"

"The park." I looked at the bench where we had sat that one night before exams, glaring at the couple that were sitting on it now. "Why?"

"Well, um, can you come over to my house right now?" 

"Sure." I bit my lip. "Do you need something?"

"Uh, not really." His voice sounded distant. "It's Jimin's birthday today, so I'm gonna be Skyping him. I thought you would like to wish him too."

"Oh , I completely forgot." I covered my mouth with my hands. "Yeah, I'll be over there soon."

"K bye."

I stared at my phone in shock as he hung up. He had said 'K' out loud. He couldn't even make the effort to say 'Ok' or "alright' to me.

ing .

I rung the doorbell, feeling incredibly nervous. We had stood in this exact same spot two months ago, our arms wrapped around each other. Now, I was practically a stranger to him.

His mom opened the door, squealing in delight as she hugged me.

"Jihye!" She exclaimed. "Oh, I haven't seen you in so long!"

"I've been kinda busy." I lied, pulling away from her grasp. 

"I'll say." She chuckled. "You're too busy to even talk to Jungkook nowadays. Oh well, at least he has Alice."

I forced a smile and nodded. Yeah, Jihye. At least he has Alice.

We talked for a little while, after which she pointed me upstairs to Jungkook's bedroom. Normally, he would come running down when he heard my voice, but I guess he was preoccupied.

I heard laughter as I walked up the stairs. Loud, genuine laughter. Is he already talking to Jimin? I thought, gripping the handrails a little tighter than usual.

"Give it back! Hey!"

"I will never surrender!"

It definitely wasn't Jimin. My heart dropped as I heard him say her name.

"Alice! You're gonna pay for this!"

I looked into the room to find Jungkook's arms wrapped around Alice firmly, as she struggled against him, laughing like a little child. He kissed her hair, making her laugh even more. I stood in the doorway quietly, staring at them. Why were they so happy? Why did she make him so happy? A part of me had hoped to see him here alone, just like old days. A part of me still hoped for this to be a nightmare, something that would go away once I woke up.

"Jihye?" He finally turned to look at me. Alice cleared and he let go of her, cheeks turning red.

"Hello, Jungkook." I said coolly, pretending to be completely unfazed by what I had seen.

Alice got up and straightened herself, patting down her hair and readjusting her clothes. She was wearing Jungkook's sweatshirt. 

"Sorry." He muttered sheepishly. "Alice managed to get a hand on my baby pictures, you know, the ones I never let anyone see."

"Ah, of course." I chuckled darkly. I almost felt like saying 'Everyone except me', but I restrained myself.

"So, um." He coughed, making his way to the desk and switching on his laptop. "Let's begin."

I stood behind him awkwardly, looking around the room as he called Jimin up. His room had definitely changed a lot since I was here last. He now had an entire wall filled with Polaroids of him and Alice smiling and having a good time. I tried to scan them for the pictures we had taken together, but they weren't there. It was only the two of them. Even his lock screen was a picture of sleepy Alice. 

I guess he must really like her.

I looked back to the computer screen in time to see Jimin's bright smile flash across the screen as he fervently waved to us.

"We can't hear you!" Jungkook yelled, pointing to his ear. Jimin seemed to fidget with his iPad for some time, after which the sound came on.

"How about now?" His voice boomed across the room, startling all of us. As if on cue, Jungkook and I erupted into the happy birthday song, clapping our hands wildly as we sang together. Jimin's face lit up as he clapped along too, all of us ending the song with a huge cheer.

"Happy birthday Jiminie~!" I cooed. "It's too sad that I don't get to squish those chubby cheeks!"

"It really is." He sighed dramatically. "It's so good to see you gu-"

He stopped talking abruptly, seemingly staring at Alice. "Oh, hello. Who's this?"

Jungkook chuckled and brought Alice to the front, interlacing his fingers with hers.

"This is the surprise I was talking about, Jimin." He smiled proudly. "Meet Alice, my girlfriend."

I felt cold, even though it was a million degrees inside. Jimin's head snapped towards me, a sorry expression flashing across his face. I shook my head, putting a finger to my lips.

"Ah...oh!" He laughed nervously. "Wow really? Mr. I-pee-my-pants-around-girls managed to get a girlfriend?"

"Shut up, you ." He mumbled, squeezing Alice's hand tightly. She giggled and introduced herself, bowing sweetly. Jimin simply nodded to her, his eyes still fixed on me. Jungkook noticed this.

"Why do you keep staring at Jihye?" He asked, sounding amused. 

"Well..." Jimin hesitated. "It's just that it's unexpected-"

"So how's Seoul so far?" I interrupted him, giving him a death stare. "And practice?"

He bit his lip. "Ah, both are awesome. I'm enjoying being a full time trainee."

"That's good to hear." I mumbled, looking away as Jungkook started talking to him. I tuned out the entire conversation, mainly because him and Alice took turns telling Jimin how they met, how she confessed, etc. He kept looking at me, eyes shining with pity. I tried to ignore the three of them by texting Hyerin furiously, yelling at her to rescue me from this place.

"How long has it been since we started talking?" Jimin asked, lounging against the sofa idly.

"A couple of hours." Jungkook replied, playing with Alice's hair, who seemed to be dozing off.

Jimin looked at her, his expression softening. "What are you guys going to do after you move to Seoul?" He whispered. "Long distance relationships are hard."

Jungkook smiled and kissed her hair. I scoffed and turned away, feeling a little sick of the PDA at this point.

"Actually..." He began, ducking his head shyly. "I promised Alice I wouldn't tell anyone, but apparently her family is planning on moving back to Seoul in mid-December."

Jimin's eyes widened along with mine.

"So, she'll be with me there, too." He grinned, patting her head affectionately. 

"Oh."

My little exclamation made Jungkook and Jimin turn towards me. I stared at the floor blankly, too overwhelmed to say anything.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Jihye." He smiled apologetically. "But Alice had asked me not tell anyone else, so-"

"I have to go." I mumbled, getting up quickly. Jimin's face grew alarmed as I put on my jacket, gathering my stuff in a hurry.

"Wait, Jihye-" Jungkook began, but I left the room before he could say anything else, nearly sprinting out of the house and into the cold wind.

The last of my hopes were now gone.