Jihye's POV:

"Jungkook, I can't hear anything." I complained, a little annoyed by how chaotic everything seemed on the other side of the screen. 

", I'm sorry." He laughed as another girl squealed and gave him a hug. I sighed and shifted in my chair, waiting for him to finish thanking her. "I'm getting into the car right now, hopefully things will calm down."

I waited as he yelled one last "thank you!" to the fans, giddy with excitement as he finally settled into the car and closed the door. After the final cheers and yelling, the chaos subsided as all the members either fell asleep or plugged in their earphones.

"That was intense." I exhaled. "Stop moving around so much, I can't see your face."

"Sorry, sorry." He apologized. "Let me just get comfortable--ah, there it is. Hi."

"Hi." I said shyly. "So, what's up?"

"Nothing, just waiting for the adrenaline to subside." He took off his beanie, mussing his hair up. "I'll crash pretty soon."

"Yeah, you need to sleep." I laughed. "You've been calling me up at like 3 a.m. every night to say good night."

"Everyone's so tired. We practiced for eight hours straight." He yawned. 

"They should be, your performance looked really hard." I smiled at him. He grinned back proudly, bunny teeth and all. "You were really cool."

"Really? You think so?" He bounced eagerly. "I still can't believe you watched the broadcast. Aren't you at work?"

"Yeah, but all my patients are stable, so I'm taking a break." I propped up my phone on the counter and tied my hair up. 

"Goddamn, you're pretty." He whispered, but it was loud enough for me and the entire floor to hear. The nurse sitting beside me shot me a look, so I plugged in my earphones.

"That was random." I commented, amused. Ever since last week, things seemed a little more intimate between us. There was this new vibe; like we had passed our awkward new relationship stage and gone back to being best friends again. Best friends who kissed each other and went on dates. The best kind of best friends. 

"I like your hair." He rested his head on his palm. "It always smells like vanilla and maple syrup. Plus it's really soft"

I pulled out a book from my bag, snuggling farther into the chair. I gave him a small smile as he continued to talk about random things. This had almost become routine for us. Whenever we FaceTimed, Jungkook was the one who usually talked about his day and paid me random little compliments (which he didn't think I heard) here and there. I preferred to talk face-to-face, cuddling in bed with him. But since we barely got to see each other, I usually fell silent during these times. He had promised me that he would listen to me for an entire day whenever he had a day off. If he even got one, that is.

"And you have food dimples, did you know that? You get dimples whenever you chew on something." He said absentmindedly. I knew he was staring at me. "Jin says it's a sign of good luck. Like, you'll be healthy for a long time."

"That's good." I muttered, flipping the page. "You're being awfully observant lately."

"I've always been observant." He said proudly. "For example, you can't crack any of your knuckles except the second one, right?"

"Impressive." I said sarcastically, secretly loving that he knew these little things. "How are these observations going to help you in life?"

He shrugged, and I went back to reading my book. We sat in silence, a comfortable silence. I occasionally looked up to see him staring at me intently, with that look of his. Instead of looking away, he would simply smile and continue to look at me. Since when had he become so confident?

"What's your ideal date?" He asked me suddenly. I set my book down, giving him my full attention.

"Didn't you already ask me this? Or was that Hyerin?" I raised my eyebrows, my memory failing me.

"Just tell me." He whined.

"Well, it's definitely changed since school." I muttered to myself, slightly embarrassed by what I had said back then. "I don't really have an ideal date, but it would be nice to eat food on one of those shingled, slanted rooftops late at night, and then watch the sun rise."

"It's settled then." He announced. "That's going to be our next date."

"I'd be happy just lazing with you at home." I sighed, picking my nails. "Or just being with you in real life, not behind a screen."

"Our promotions might last a little longer." He admitted, sounding hesitant, like he didn't want to think about it himself. "But I have a break coming up pretty soon."

"Don't tell me when it is." I said quietly. "I don't wanna get my hopes up, in case it doesn't happen."

"Okay." He nodded, sounding sad. I picked up my book, and silence surrounding us again.

It was nearly 4 a.m. now. I felt myself grow drowsier and drowsier as time passed by, lulled to sleep by the steady beeping of the machines around me and the fact that Jungkook was at least close to me, if not with me.

For some reason, I thought I heard him say "I think I'm in love with her".

It was probably just a dream. 

Jungkook's POV:

"Is she asleep?" Jimin peeked over my shoulder. I nodded, resting my head against the window.

"So you're just watching her sleep, huh?" He laughed. 

"Shut up, you're being too loud." I hissed, poking his side. "Let me be."

"Jungkook's in loveeee" He cooed. "Look at that glowing face and glowing smile! That's the look of a man in love."

"You're about to look like a man who got punched." I jabbed his side again. He winced in pain and scooted away from me, cursing me under his breath.

I gazed her sleeping face for a little longer. It was weird, I only ever got to really look at her when she was asleep. Not that I would ever get tired of looking at her. Was this what love felt like?

"Can you tell that I'm in love?" I looked at Jimin, who was reading a comic. "Because I can't. How do you know?"

"There's no solid way to tell." He mumbled, not looking up. "It's always more obvious to the people around you."

"I think I'm in love with her." I said quietly. Jimin looked at me for a second, then went back to reading again. "I don't want to be in love."

"Why not?" He asked me.

"There's no point." I said sulkily. "It'll just get harder and harder for me to be away from her. It's bad as it is now, and if I fall in love, it'll be worse."

"You can't help it, Jungkook. It's out of your control." He said softly. "You just have to make it work."

"I know, but just look at her." I bit my lip. "I want to wake up next to her. Whenever she wakes up, she yawns like a cat and does this little stretch and hugs whatever object is closest to her. Then she mumbles 'good morning', and it sounds like 'goomoning'. It always makes me laugh."

Jimin sighed and shifted closer to me, slinging an arm around my shoulder.

"I asked our manager we had anything lined up in December, you know, around the time of her birthday." I let out a shaky breath. "He says we have a tour. I won't be here for her birthday. Hell, I won't even be here to celebrate our first Christmas, or our first New Year's together. I won't be here to help her when she can't get the jar of pudding open, and she'll wish that I was there because now she'll have to settle for the name brand pudding that she hates. But, I'll be in some random city in Korea, away from her and away from home cooked pudding."

"Shh, Jungkook." Jimin pulled me closer. "Don't think about all that now."

"I hate disappointing her." I hid my face in his neck. "Last week, she cried into my shirt because she hated when I wasn't with her. She looked so sad, Jimin. This won't change if I tell her that I love her. It won't change if we get married, or have kids; I'll just keep disappointing her until she realizes that she deserves better."

"Hush, hush." He patted my back comfortingly, before gently nudging me up. "You don't know if that's going to be the case, Jungkook. You've never done this before. Don't start assuming things, and just enjoy the moment, hm?"

I nodded, tears rolling down my cheeks. Our manager called out to us from the front, telling us that we had reached our dorms.

"Hey, looks like your girl is waking up." Jimin said in my ear, fixing my hair. "Clean yourself up and say bye to her."

I wiped away a few stray tears and cleared my throat, before turning my attention back to my phone. Jihye yawned, smacking her lips like a cat. She stretched and wiggled her fingers, wrapping her ams around herself.

"Morning, beautiful." I said softly, praying that my voice held up.

"Morning, cheesy." She giggled sleepily. "Sorry that I fell asleep. Why didn't you hang up?"

"Just because." I shrugged. The members filtered out of the car, trooping into the dorms sleepily. "I gotta leave now, though. We just got home."

"Aw, okay." She pouted, making my heart hurt. She looked ethereal, soft brown hair tumbling down her shoulders as her obsidian eyes glimmered in the early morning sun. "Call me when you have time, alright?"

"Yeah." I coughed, my eyes and nose stinging again. Dammit, I was going to cry in front of her.

"Kookie, you ok?" She said, tucking her hair behind her ear. She had been complaining that it was too long, but I loved it. "You look sad."

"I'm fine." I forced a smile, avoiding eye-contact. "Just a little tired."

"Alright." She sounded skeptical. "Oh by the way, I meant to ask you, are you busy this Friday? There's this little art show that's going on at college. My work's in there too." 

"I don't know. Something could always come up" I stared at her, hating that I couldn't just say yes. I had learned not to make promises a long time ago. "That sounds really cool though. I really wish I can go."

"Ah, don't worry about it. It's not that big of a deal anyway." She flapped her hand, averting her eyes. Disappointment.  "But am I going to see you anytime soon?"

"I'll try." I bit the insides of my cheek to stop my tears. "I'm so sorry, baby."

"Baby?" She looked at me. I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

"Sorry. It just slipped out." I apologized. "I know you don't like it."

A shy smile crept across her face. "Baby's actually kinda cute."

"Yeah? Not too cheesy for you now?" I chuckled, my voice breaking.

"Nah, I've changed my mind. I don't mind it now." She grinned. "But don't wear it out."

Jimin knocked on the window just then, telling me to hurry the up since I was the one that had the keys. 

"I gotta go." I looked back at her just in time to see the smile leave her face. "Bye, baby."

She didn't smile this time. "Bye, Kookie."

The call ended as I sank down in my seat, covering my face with my hands. A mix of sadness, guilt and happiness washed over me at the same time. 

, I was in love with her.

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forgive any mistakes, I can't edit right now lmao.

bUT you guys and your comments make my day ; u ; <3