#au:musician | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ggukkiereads · 2 years ago

Text

"Why don’t you give me a shot?"

🌷Okay, first, I love When Harry Met Sally so OC dropping the title gave my heart that little kick. It also feels like their dialogues have similar vibes? Those quick witty banter between two people that make you just realize they are good together and they have this great chemistry/connection going on.

I love how cute everything is (except the bathtub scene)! The roommates Arie and Taehyung are such characters and added fun to this scenario. The meet cute, definitely memorable! I've always imagined this kind of scenario meeting a stranger somewhere in the wee hours and you connect with this person so well (then you keep meeting in the same place and same wee hours). Oh wait this is definitely some romcom film and the writing captured this well (playing Higher and Hearts Like Ours by The Naked and the Famous during their 3:00 am dates-but-not-dates) . I also like how "the kitchen" definitely made their interactions more...domestic?

I guess the only thing that made me frown a bit is OC's 'secret'. All along we are thinking it's Jungkook who we should be careful of but turns out she's not being honest too. I was worried for a bit if Jungkook is safe (lol) because it's also too sudden but the way she explained about her situation made sense. Still, if we didn’t get such a good preview of how good they seem to be, I won’t be rooting for them this way. Great job with building that ‘connection’ between them

pairing: jungkook x reader / word count: 10.5k / genre: college au, strangers to friends to lovers  

summary: Jungkook somehow gets into the habit of meeting a beautiful girl in various slightly strange situations at various slightly strange hours of the night, and somehow ends up falling for her along the way  

tags: obnoxious flirting, mild angst, mostly due to a healthy dose of ~miscommunication, cursing, alcohol consumption (it is a college au after all), brief reference to infidelity, brief reference (too brief) to side vmin pairing, brief reference (too brief) to side namgi

thank you to my yeobo @hellojeongkook for being the first (as always) to read through this and thank u to the tae gang @taejinnies @taehyungsupremacy for finally convincing me to post this ! ily 🤍

At around 2:37am Jeongguk finally gave up on the hope of falling asleep. Kicking his blankets off he stood up and walked over to the window, pressing his forehead against the cool glass. The apartment was completely silent, something unusual in a space shared by 3 college students, and Jeongguk found a sense of calm finally settling over him as he looked up at the stars. Deciding he might as well do something useful with his time he padded into the kitchen. 

‘Oh hi, didn’t think anyone was up.’ the voice in the dark room startled Jeongguk as he walked through the door and he stopped abruptly.  

‘Who the fuck are you?’ he asked as he looked up at the girl perched on the kitchen counter, a mug in one hand and phone in the other.

 ‘___.’ she replied simply, taking a sip of her drink. ‘And who the fuck are you?’  

‘I’m Jeongguk… I live here?’ Jeongguk said hesitantly as he squinted over at the girl. ‘And you definitely don’t.’  

‘Observant, aren’t you?’ she grinned, placing her phone down on the counter beside her.

Realising they were still in semi-darkness, the room only lit by the glow of her phone screen, Jeongguk turned around to put the lights on. He instantly regretted his decision when he remembered he was only wearing a pair of sweatpants, and ___ turned out to be very pretty with the lights on.

 ‘You still haven’t explained what you’re doing in my kitchen in the middle of the night.’ Jeongguk said, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to ignore his semi-naked state.

And ___’s he realised with a start, seeing she was only wearing a loose oversized t-shirt over her underwear. Not that he was staring at how the black outline of her bra showed faintly through the white of her shirt or anything.

 ‘I’m one of Areum’s friends.’ she stated, referring to Jeongguk’s roommate. ‘Unfortunately, she ended up living with you guys this year, so I ended up living with another friend. Even more unfortunately, this friend has a bit of a habit of taking boys home on weeknights. And having obnoxiously loud sex with them.’ she continued after a pause, looking at Jeongguk over the rim of her cup and taking another sip of coffee.  

‘So, you come here to escape?’ Jeongguk guessed.

 ‘And that brings us right up to about now.’ she smiled, setting her cup down and holding out a hand for Jeongguk to shake. ‘Nice to meet you Jeongguk.’  

‘You too.’ Jeongguk said after a moment’s hesitation, taking her smaller hand in his.

 ‘Coffee?’ ___ offered.

 ‘Shouldn’t I be the one offering, seeing as I’m the one who actually lives here?’ Jeongguk asked with a raised eyebrow, opening the cupboard behind him to take out the shitty instant coffee found in any student kitchen.

 ‘True, but I feel like I owe you an apology for waking you.’ ___ said, holding out a mug to Jeongguk as he turned round.

 ‘You know where we keep our mugs?’ he asked in surprise as he took it from her.  

‘I don’t know if I stressed enough how much of a habit this roommate has.’ ___ rolled her eyes.

 ‘And so you have a habit of hanging out in our apartment when everyone is asleep?’ Jeongguk asked again, chuckling slightly as ___ only responded with a shrug.

 ‘Usually I pass out on the couch and then leave in the morning but tonight I just couldn’t sleep.’ she answered, swinging her legs back and forth (in a distractingly cute way, Jeongguk couldn’t help but notice).

 ‘You didn’t wake me up by the way, I couldn’t sleep either.’ Jeongguk said, leaning back against the counter beside ___ as he took a sip of his coffee.

 ‘Maybe the universe is sending us a message.’ ___ said, glancing over at Jeongguk out of the corner of her eye.  

‘Or maybe the universe is sending me someone to make cookies with?’ Jeongguk replied, holding out his hand expectantly to ___.  

‘You got up at 3am to make cookies?’ she asked incredulously. 'What CW original show did you walk out of?'

 ‘Okay 1, rude. I already told you I couldn’t sleep.’ Jeongguk huffed. ‘And B, seemed like as good a way as any to pass the time.’  

'You can't start with a numbered list and then switch to letters half way through.' ___ rolled her eyes at him, and Jeongguk tried to pretend it wasn't the prettiest thing he'd ever seen.

'So is that a yes?' he asked again.

‘Only if they’re chocolate chip.’ ___ said after a moment, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

 ‘What kinda question is that? Of course they’re gonna be chocolate chip.’ Jeongguk scoffed. Satisfied with his answer ___ finally took his outstretched hand and hopped down from the counter.

‘Can you pass me the flour?’ he requested as he moved over to the fridge.

 ‘Look I might sleep on your couch sometimes, but I don’t often do much baking while I’m here.’ ___ pointed out.

 ‘You already knew where the mugs were, just assumed you’d know the rest of the kitchen as well.’ Jeongguk shrugged, getting out the rest of the ingredients on his own and beginning to measure them out.

 ‘Are you actually gonna let me help?’ ___ laughed as she watched him.

 'I don’t know, that is putting a lot of trust in someone I just met.’ Jeongguk teased, holding the bag of sugar out of ___’s reach.

 'Why don’t you give me a shot?’ ___ asked innocently enough, but Jeongguk felt something flutter in the pit of his stomach as she looked up at him with a smile curving her lips.

 'If you mess these cookies up it’s on you.’ he warned with a raise of his eyebrows as he handed her the sugar.

 ‘Jheeze.’ ___ chuckled. ‘Can you have a little faith please?’

 'Well, it’s kinda hard considering I still don’t know anything about you.’ Jeongguk pointed out. 

'Good point.’ ___ mused. 'We'll start with the important questions first. 'Fullmetal Alchemist or Avatar?'

'Is that even a question?' Jeongguk replied, before launching into a detailed explanation of why he and some guy called Taehyung were actually Katara and Sokka in real life. Soon they were both chatting back and forth easily about other shows, their classes, favourite midnight snacks, and who had the best stories about drunk Areum.   ~  'These are actually looking great.’ ___ said, bumping Jeongguk’s hip with her own lightly and casting a smile up at him. 

'Yeah, we make a pretty good team.’ Jeongguk smiled softly back, placing the last ball of dough onto the tray. 

'I guess we do huh.’ ___ hummed to herself, taking the tray from his hands (while carefully trying to ignore the way his fingers brushed against hers) and sliding it into the oven. 

'What do you wanna do while they cook?’ Jeongguk asked. 

'Wanna see what kind of weird shit they have on TV at this time of night?’ ___ suggested.

 ‘Cable instead of Netflix? What decade are we in again?’ Jeongguk teased as he settled himself on the couch.

 ‘Come on, live a little Guk.’ she replied, and Jeongguk couldn’t help but smile at how easily the nickname rolled off her tongue.  

‘I mean this whole situation feels vaguely 80’s romcom so we might as well lean into it.’ he mused, motioning for ___ to come and join him with a tilt of his head.

 ‘Pfft, you wish this was When Harry Met Sally. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.’ she teased back, although sitting down she promptly curled into his side, resting her head on his shoulder familiarly as if they’d known each other years and not a little under an hour.

 'What was that about not getting ahead of ourselves?’ Jeongguk asked with feigned innocence as he let his arm fall across the back of the couch.

 'Don’t feel too special, it’s late and I’m cold and you’re warm.’ ___ stated matter-of-factly.

 'I’m not complaining.’ he said, glancing down at ___ and noticing that soft smile playing across her lips once more.

 'Just turn on the TV Jeongguk.’ ___ said, studiously avoiding the dark eyes boring into her.

Flicking between channels they finally settled on an old black and white movie and the calming orchestral soundtrack soon lulled them both to sleep.  ~  'The fuck is that?’ Jeongguk mumbled, trying to figure out A. why he had a dead arm and B. what that horrible ringing noise was.  

'For fucks sake.’ he heard a voice mumble beneath him, and the reason for the dead arm was explained by ___ cuddled into his side.

‘It’s your phone alarm. For the cookies?’ she mumbled, extracting himself from his hold and explaining the ringing noise in the process. 

'Oh shit of course.’ he mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and quickly turning the alarm off.

 'Wanna go check on them?’ ___ asked, quickly adjusting her t-shirt and running a hand through her hair.

 'Cute bed head.’ Jeongguk teased as he stood up and stretched.  

'Could say the same to you.’ she replied, reaching up on tiptoes to tousle his already messy bleached blonde waves as they walked back to the kitchen.  

‘How do they look?’ Jeongguk asked, trying (and failing) not to stare as ___ bent down to peer into the oven.  

'I might be biased but, they look kinda perfect.’ ___ smiled back at him, trying to convince herself the smile was about the cookies and not the fact she’d definitely caught Jeongguk checking her out.  

'What the fuck are you guys doing?’ Taehyung asked blearily as he suddenly appeared in the doorway.

 'Making cookies.’ ___ replied nonchalantly as she set the tray down. 

'At half past 3 in the morning? And in your underwear?’ Taehyung continued. 'Wait and who the fuck even are you?’ he said as the sleep started to lift from his mind, and he took a closer look at the girl in his kitchen.

 'Technically I’ve got sweatpants on.’ Jeongguk pointed out.

 'And I’m ___.’ she said, grabbing a cookie from the tray and taking a bite. 

'She’s one of Areum’s friends.’ Jeongguk explained simply. 'They taste good?’ he asked, turning back to ___ and letting her feed him a bite of cookie.

 'You know what this is too weird, I’m going back to bed.’ Taehyung shook his head and turned round to leave.  

'Did I miss something in the group-chat about a late night kitchen hangout?’ Areum said as she appeared behind him.

 'Oh hey Arie, sorry for waking you.’ ___ said.

'___? Why are you eating cookies with my flatmates at 3am?’ Areum asked.

 'To be fair they are really good.’ Jeongguk interjected, grabbing the cookie from ___ to take another bite.

 'I have no idea what’s going on, JK’s alarm woke me up.’ Taehyung shrugged when Areum turned to him for an explanation.

 'Both of us couldn’t sleep and we ended up in the kitchen at the same time, it’s really not that deep.’ ___ said with a shrug of her own.

 'She’s right, I really don’t care about this enough to be awake at this time.’ Taehyung said through a yawn. 'Save me some of those for breakfast.’ he called over his shoulder as he walked out again.

 'And you’re sure you’ve just been baking?’ Areum asked, arms folded over her chest as she stared enquiringly at ___.  

'Scout’s honour.’ ___ said with her hand on her heart.

 'Shut up, as if you were a scout.’ Areum rolled her eyes with a grin. 

'Guess you’re just gonna have to take my word for it then then.’ ___ said, sticking out her tongue.

 'Seeing as you’ve woken me up anyway now, do you wanna come share my bed rather than sleeping on the couch?’ Areum offered.

 'I mean, my bed’s pretty comfy too if you wanna share with me.’ Jeongguk suggested with a grin.

 'Nu-uh Jeon, I’ve been keeping her away from you for a reason.’ Areum said, taking ___’s hand and pulling her towards her.

What the hell did that mean? Jeongguk wondered to himself.  

'Thanks for the offer though.’ ___ winked as Areum pulled her away. 

'Stop being a hoe.’ Jeongguk heard Areum sigh as they both walked out the door.

 'Make me.’ he heard ___ reply before what sounded distinctly like someone getting hit on the back of the head and an indignant 'Ouch!’

 Realising it was nearly 4am and he had a class in about 5 hours Jeongguk finally shuffled back to bed and buried himself under the covers once more. He found his thoughts drifting to ___ sleeping only a few feet away, and he couldn’t help but wonder when he’d next see her again.  ~   Recently, Jeongguk has been feeling a little disappointed each morning when he wakes up to sunlight streaming this window rather than strange noises coming from his kitchen in the middle of the night.

It had been over a week now since he’d last seen ___ and either she’d gotten better at making her coffee quietly or her roommate was going through a dry spell.

 ‘Hey Guk?’ Jeongguk was pulled out of his thoughts (which he swore were on the textbook in front of him and not ___) by the sound of Areum’s voice.

 'Yeah, what’s up?’ he asked, turning round to see her leaning in his doorway with arms folded over her chest. 

'___ is coming round this evening to work on a project with me so don’t make it weird, okay?’

 'Why would I make it weird?’ Jeongguk asked indignantly. 

'Oh come on, the whole flirting thing you two had going on was embarrassingly obvious. Even if I was half asleep when I had to witness it.’ Areum rolled her eyes. 'And before you say anything, I already asked Tae and he agrees.’ 

‘Kim you’re an asshole!’ Jeongguk yelled over to Taehyung’s room across the hall. 

'I don’t know what this is about, but fuck you too Jeon!’ he heard his best friend’s voice call cheerily back. 

'Why have you and Arie been chatting shit about me and ___?’ Jeongguk continued to yell as Areum rolled her eyes and started to scroll on her phone.

It was not unusual for Jeongguk and Taehyung to conduct whole conversations like this through the walls. Better to just wait till they stopped yelling. After a loud scraping of chairs and banging of doors Taehyung soon joined Areum in the doorway. 

'So there is a you and ___ then.’ he smirked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

 'Don’t be a dick, I didn’t mean it like that.’ Jeongguk groaned. ‘Do you think she was flirting back though?’ he asked after a pause, and now it was the other two’s turn to groan, the noise soon turning to laughter as Jeongguk whined a 'Shut up!’ at them. 

'You’re not allowed to have a crush on her.’ Areum warned, phone lowered to give Jeongguk a stern glare.

 'Not saying I have a crush on her (he totally had a crush on her), 'm just saying I kinda wanna fu-’ Jeongguk began, before Areum stepped forward to give his chair a kick with an indignant ‘Hey!’.

She turned to Taehyung for support, but he just shrugged as well. 

'I’m kinda with Guk here sorry, ___ is really hot. And as much as I hate to admit it, she was definitely flirting with him as well.’ he added.

Jeongguk tried to pretend his heart didn’t speed up on hearing those words and hoped his casual smile was still in place. It wasn’t a crush he reminded himself (it was absolutely a crush).

 'I don’t care if you think she’s the best piece of ass you’ve ever laid eyes on, she's off limits. Anyway, I don’t trust you with girls.’ Areum said, arms once again folded over her chest and eyes narrowed dramatically at him.

 'Aw come on Arie.’ Jeongguk chuckled, getting up from his chair and walking over towards her. 'I’m not really that bad am I?’ he said softly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. 

'See! That’s exactly my point!’ Areum exclaimed, stepping back from Jeongguk abruptly. 'You’re dangerous Jeon.’ she laughed as Jeongguk and Taehyung couldn’t help but join in as well.

 'Well as much as I’m sure Jeonggukie loves us talking about how desirable he is.’ Taehyung said pointedly with a roll of his eyes. 'I have a composition to finish.’ 

'Oh fuck.’ Jeongguk whispered, eyes widening suddenly. 'Please don’t tell me that’s due soon.’ 

'It’s due tomorrow.’ Taehyung said, laughter escaping from his mouth as Jeongguk abruptly sunk to the floor in a tangle of limbs. 'Have you even started yet?’

 'No?’ Jenongguk said hesitantly, looking up at Taehyung. 

'I guess you’ve got a fun night ahead of you then.’ he chuckled. ‘Text me if you need any of my genius artistic input!’ he called as he retreated out of the room.  

'Well, that solves my problem of you being in the apartment.’ Areum smiled brightly.

 'I’m glad you take so much joy in my suffering.’ Jeongguk sighed, thanking the universe (or more realistically the college’s caretaking staff) that the music department’s soundproof practise rooms were open 24/7. 

'You gonna be alright finishing that composition in one night?’ Areum asked, still lingering in the door as Jeongguk gathered up his things.

 'I think I can manage, I’ll probably ask Joon for some help.’ Jenongguk said over his shoulder. 'Anyway, why are you checking up on me? I thought I was dangerous.’ he grinned as he turned back round to face Areum. 

'And that’s exactly why I’m checking up on you, it’s impossible to tell what you’re thinking Guk. That’s part of the danger.’ she shook her head disapprovingly although Jeongguk could tell there was fondness behind the action.

 'Ah but everyone loves a sense of mystery.’ he shrugged nonchalantly as he grabbed his jacket. 

'The shit that comes out of your mouth I swear.’ Areum laughed again, dodging out of the way as Jeongguk tried to ruffle her hair on his way past.  

'Say hi to ___ for me!’ Jeongguk called from the door as he pulled on his boots.

 'I won’t!’ Areum called back.

 'Well when she asks about me, tell her I said hi!’ Jeongguk grinned, one foot already out the door.

 'And how do you know she’ll ask about you?’ Areum replied, the laughter clear in her voice as well.

 'I just know!’ he yelled before shutting the door and setting off.

Stepping out into the oncoming evening he wished that his certainty could have been real, and that ___ really had been thinking about him just as much as he’d been thinking about her.  ~  Jeongguk rubbed a hand wearily over his eyes as he read over the scribbled notes and lyrics intertwined across the pages in front of him. Seeing as he’d only started at about half 9 that evening, he was pretty pleased by how far he’d managed to get by quarter past 1 the following morning. There was just something about this melody that wasn’t fitting quite right.

 ‘What if you tried shifting it up a key?’ Namjoon, Jeongguk’s classmate (and something of a mentor to him although Jeongguk was too shy to admit it), suggested from his spot sprawled on the couch to the side of the piano.

 ‘No that doesn’t sound right either.’ Jeongguk sighed frustratedly. He shuffled through the papers in front of him again, trying to make sense of the jumbled harmonies in his head.  

‘Don’t keep agonising over these.’ Namjoon chided, his hand reaching out to still Jeongguk’s movements. ‘Just take a second and breathe man.’

He listened to the older boy’s calming tone, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.  

‘I just keep thinking about-’ he started to say, but Namjoon cut him off.  

‘Then don’t think. Just play and see what happens.’ He urged, leaning back in his seat again.  

Jeongguk let his mind wander as his fingers trailed across the piano keys, adjusting and readjusting subconsciously as he tried to find the right combination of notes. Predictably he found his mind wandering to ___, as it always seemed to do these days.

At first his thoughts were on the way her t-shirt rode up when she was reaching for a mug, revealing more of her thighs. Or the way her hair would shift over her shoulder and expose her neck just begging to be marked by Jeongguk’s lips. But then he began to think about her muffled giggles, how she held a hand to her face to hide her smile, how she curled into him and pillowed her head on his chest.  

‘Hold on a second. Play that part again?’ Jeongguk was pulled out of his reverie by Namjoon’s voice.

He played the chords again, looking up with a smile to see an identical one on Namjoon’s face.

‘What did I tell you huh?’ he grinned.

 ‘I won’t forget you in my Grammy’s acceptance speech don’t worry.’ Jeongguk grinned back.  

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Namjoon rolled his eyes playfully. ‘Now write that down so we can finish up here and I can get home. Yoongi’s gonna kill me for working so late again.’

 ‘It’s fine, he loves me almost as much as he loves you.’ Jeongguk teased.

 ‘As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right.’ Namjoon sighed dramatically. ‘Now write!’ he instructed as he passed Jeongguk a pen.  

Trying to ignore the fact he’d been thinking of ___ when he found the final component he’d needed for his song, Jeongguk went back to his notes and continued to compose.  ~  At around half past 2 Jeongguk was finally back in the apartment, the melody from his composition trailing round and round his head. But it was finally finished, and he heaved a sigh of relief as he went into the kitchen to grab something to eat.

For the first time that day ___ was not on Jeongguk’s mind as he tried to decide between Pop-Tarts and Lucky Charms (his favourite thing about moving to the US was undoubtedly the number of options he had for indulging his sugar cravings), which was pretty ironic considering that was also the first time that day she was under his feet.

 'Fuck!’ he exclaimed as he toppled over ___’s outstretched legs. 

'Ouch!’ ___ yelled back, her bowl of cereal spilling from her lap and onto the floor. 'Now look what you’ve done.’ she shook her head. 

'No use crying over spilt milk?’ Jeongguk shrugged back, trying to keep the grin from his face as he looked down at ___.

 'Yeah maybe not normal milk, but that was Lucky Charms milk. I’d say tiny brightly coloured marshmallows kinda up the stakes.’ ___ replied, still sitting in a puddle of milk on the floor and still somehow managing to look beautiful Jeongguk thought to himself.

 'Wait Lucky Charms milk?’ Jeongguk asked as ___ stood up and picked up her bowl. 'That was gonna be my midnight snack.’ he whined.

 'Too bad you got here way past midnight.’ ___ pointed out. 'Ugh, now my pyjamas are all wet.’ she groaned as she looked down at herself.

 'Well it’s definitely not how I was planning on getting you wet, but I can lend you something to wear anyway?’ Jeongguk smirked. C'mon, the innuendo was right there.

 'Oh you were planning it were you? I was thinking it was gonna be more of a spontaneous thing.’ ___ replied back casually and Jeongguk couldn’t help but snort with laughter.

'Cute.' ___ teased and Jeongguk tried to scowl at her, failing miserable as his grin only widened.

 'I can take back that offer y'know.' he said, stern tone completely at odds with the laughter dancing in his eyes.

'I mean, I’ll admit soaking me in milk is a pretty original way of getting me out of my clothes so…fine.’ ___ agreed as she followed after Jeongguk to his bedroom. 

'These’ll be big on you but, better than nothing right?’ he said as he passed over a pair of sweatpants.

 'Nu-uh.’ ___ snorted as Jeongguk stood grinning expectantly at her. 'Turn around.’ she said, motioning with her finger for him to face the other way.

 'Worth a shot.’ He shrugged but he did as she instructed.

 'What do you think?’ she asked teasingly and Jeongguk quickly turned back around.

 'You look good.’ he said softly, taking a step towards her and hooking his thumbs into the waistband of the sweatpants. 'Almost as good as I look in them.’ 

'Nice try, but Areum’s warning weren’t just for you. She got to me as well.’ ___ chuckled, taking a step back and removing Jeongguk’s hands from her waist. How she had the willpower she had no idea, making a mental note to complain to Areum about how unnecessarily hot her roommates were.

 'I swear it’s not like that with y-’ Jeongguk stopped abruptly as he heard Taehyung’s door open opposite them.

What did he mean not like that? ___ thought for a split second, before Jeongguk was stepping towards her again and her mind went blank.

He reached over and shut off the lights, leaving the room dark apart from a sliver of moonlight spilling in through the gap in his blinds. They heard Taehyung’s slow steps down the hall and to the bathroom, then a minute later return to his room followed by his door closing once more.

 'Do you think we should get out of here?’ Jeongguk felt a shiver pass down his spine as ___ placed a hand on his shoulder and stood up on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. 

'After you.’ he whispered back, hand slipping down to rest on her lower back as he guided her out the door.

They crept down the hall in silence, ___ making no effort to remove Jeongguk’s hand which burned through the thin fabric of her t-shirt. She slipped on her shoes by the door and turned to look at him expectantly. 

'Where to?’ she asked quietly.

Jeongguk reached into his jacket pocket and held up his car keys for her to see.  'Follow me.’ he mouthed, grabbing her hand in his free one and tugging her after him out the door.

They ran down the steps of the building giggling breathlessly and only dropped each other’s hands once they reached Jeongguk’s car.

'Seeing as you robbed me of my midnight snack and I kinda ruined yours in return, do you wanna get something to eat?’ he asked as they began to drive.

 'I dunno, going for a meal together kinda seems like a date to me. And Areum said no dates.’ ___ mused, eyes sparkling with amusement as she looked over at him.

 'Well seeing as it’s nearly 3am it’s technically the morning, and breakfast is a meal you have with friends not on dates.’ Jeongguk reasoned, a smile spreading across his face as he saw ___ struggling not to laugh. 

'Breakfast it is then, you know any good all-night places?’ she asked. 

'Not just good, the best.’ he assured her. 

'That’s a pretty big claim.’ ___ teased. 'Sure it’s gonna live up to it?’ 

'When have I ever let you down before?’ Jeongguk asked with a playful roll of his eyes.

 'Okay I’ll give it to you, those cookies were pretty good. Haven’t been able to get them off my mind all week.’ ___ laughed.

 'I could say the same thing about you.’ Jeongguk winked, and ___ only laughed louder.

'What?’ he asked indignantly, laughter bubbling in his chest as well.  

'Are you even aware that you’re doing it? Like does the outrageous flirting just come as second nature to you?’ ___ asked.

 'No of course not!’ Jeongguk protested. 'It’s only when I’m around pretty girls.’ he added after a moment’s silence. 'Okay! Okay! That was a joke I promise!’ Jeongguk giggled as ___ reached over to smack his arm. 

‘Arie was right, you’re completely ridiculous.’ ___ sighed once their laughter had died down.

She tried to think of all his flirty jokes as just that, jokes. But the way his dark eyes had shone as he looked at her in the quiet solitude of his bedroom earlier had felt deadly serious. She tried to remind herself that it shouldn’t matter however he happened to look at her.

Tried being the key word here.

 'Says the girl who was sitting on my kitchen floor eating cereal at 2 in the morning.’ Jeongguk shot back, pulling her from her thoughts.  

'Well you were in the kitchen at 2 in the morning as well.’ ___ pointed out.

 'I’d just got in from finishing a composition, I had a valid reason for being up.’ Jeongguk argued as they pulled into the parking lot of the diner.

 'Oh, you’re a music major like Taehyung?’ ___ asked.

Jeongguk noticed her shivering slightly as they walked towards the entrance and he quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He held his breath for a split second as he wondered if she would move away but let out a small sigh of relief as she only leaned in closer.  

'Yep, that’s how we ended up as roommates. I dunno why but we just seemed to click as soon as we met…probably because we’re both always the loudest person in the room.’ Jeongguk laughed.

 'Sounds about right.’ ___ giggled. 'Can I hear the piece you were composing?’ she asked, looking up at Jeongguk expectantly as they walked through the doors.

 'Maybe another time.’ he said with a non-committal wave of his hand. The thought of ___ listening to the melody she’d (inadvertently) inspired terrified him, not that he was going to show that.

 'Are you the kind of “artist who never reveals his work to the poor uneducated masses until its perfect” music major?’ ___ mocked with a roll of her eyes.

 'No, I’m the kind of music major that wants to order some food.’ Jeongguk said with an eye-roll of his own. 'Now here’s the big question: pancakes or waffles?’ he asked, gesturing up to the board above them which listed the menu. 

'I don’t get why that’s always been such a debate, one’s flat and one has little squares cut into it, what’s the big deal they’re both delicious.’ ___ shrugged. 

'Pancakes it is then.’ Jeongguk chuckled, dropping his arm from around ___ as he stepped forward to order. She tried to tell herself she didn’t mind.  Again with the trying (and failing).

The two sat down in one of the old leather booths and ___ finally took the time to look around at the old diner, only one or two other customers slumped over the empty tables. 'I gotta give it to you, this is pretty cute.’ ___ admitted. 

‘Like I said, I never disappoint.’ Jeongguk grinned.

Over the course of their conversation as they waited for their food to arrive their hands somehow drifted across the table until they were intertwined. Jeongguk’s thumb absentmindedly rubbed over her hand as ___ twisted one of the heavy silver rings on his fingers.

 'Two pancakes?’ a pretty but tired looking waitress asked as she placed down the plates in front of them. 

'Oh that's us, thanks so much.’ Jeongguk smiled, dropping the waitress a quick wink before she walked away.

___ quickly retracted her hand with a roll of her eyes and turned her attention to her food.

As soon as she thought she was seeing a softer side to Jeongguk he reminded her that maybe she should have heeded Areum’s warnings about him. Warnings which mainly revolved around the fact that things were already complicated enough as it was. That she would fall for him and he wouldn’t fall back, because he “just wasn’t like that”. But every minute she spent with him, ___ became more and more convinced that Areum might have been wrong about Jeongguk.

 'What?’ Jeongguk asked as he grabbed the syrup from her.

 'As I said before, you’re ridiculous.’ ___ said, and Jeongguk merely shrugged it off as they ate their pancakes and picked up their conversation from before.  ~  'So, were they good enough to make up for the Lucky Charms incident?’ Jeongguk asked once they were done.

 'I think you’ve just about won me over.’ ___ mused. There was more truth behind her words than she was prepared to admit. 'You ready to go? I’m starting to feel pretty sleepy.’ she said, yawning (completely adorably Jeongguk thought) as she stretched. 

'Yeah of course.’ Jeongguk said, signally to the waitress to bring over the bill.

___ stood, slipping her arms into her jacket and waiting impatiently as the same waitress from before walked over to them. 

'Here you go.’ she smiled, placing down the bill on the table. 'And for you.’ she winked, placing a napkin with her number written on it in Jeongguk’s hand.

 'Have a good night.’ Jeongguk smiled back sweetly, pocketing the napkin and placing his money on the table. 

'I can’t believe she was hitting on you while you were at a restaurant with another girl.’ ___ snorted as they walked back to the car. 'What if I’d been your girlfriend?’ 

'Good thing you’re not then.’ Jeongguk grinned, holding open ___’s door for her. She didn’t notice him crumple up the napkin and toss it into a nearby trash can as he walked round to the drivers side.

Climbing into the car ___ uttered her third 'You’re so ridiculous’ of the night and Jeongguk tried to hide his smile. They drove back in a soft silence, ___’s head drooping onto her chest as she tried to stay awake.

'Hey sleepy head.’ he whispered once they were back at the apartment, the first streaks of light starting to appear at the edges of the night sky. 'We’re back.’

 'No, lemme just sleep here.’ ___ groaned, curling up in her seat and resting her head against the window.

 'Come on.’ Jeongguk chuckled, walking over to open her door and slipping an arm around her waist to hold her up. 'You gonna go back to Arie’s bed or the couch?’ he asked as they walked up the stairs. 

‘Couch.’ ___ yawned, leaning against the wall as Jeongguk unlocked the front door. ___ stumbled into the apartment, quickly dropping her shoes and jacket to the floor.

 'Thought you might want another of these.’ Jeongguk smiled, returning a few moments later with a blanket as ___ flopped down onto the sofa.

 'No. Stay.’ she whispered as he started to turn away.

 'I… I thought you were mad at me about the waitress.’ Jeongguk stuttered. Why hadn’t he just said yes? He cursed internally.

 'Yeah, but you were really nice to sleep on last time and that blanket isn’t gonna keep me warm enough.’ ___ explained simply, holding out her arms towards him.  

'Excuses, excuses.’ Jeongguk tutted, kicking off his shoes and coming to lie down beside ___. Her breath was warm and sugar scented as it fanned across his cheek.

'Kinda weird that we’ve only met each other twice and both times we’ve fallen asleep together.’ he blurted out, anything to distract him from her soft body pressed against him.

 'Kinda weird that it’s like 5am and you won’t go to sleep.’ ___ murmured back, wrapping her arms around Jeongguk’s torso as she pulled him closer.

He gave in, wrapping his arms around her in turn.  'Goodnight ___.’ he said softly, placing a fleeting kiss to her temple.

 'Night Guk.’ she replied, before both drifted off to sleep in the early morning light.  ~  ‘Hey JK, you gonna take this shot or do I need to shove it up your-?’ Taehyung called to Jeongguk over the sounds of the party.

 'You have such a way with words, Tae.’ Jeongguk cut him off with a roll of his eyes before downing the shot in question. 

'The ladies love it.’ Taehyung replied with a grin, before noticing a guy with platinum blonde hair and pouting lips eyeing him from the opposite side of the room. 'And the dudes too apparently…be right back.’ he said distractedly, already walking away from Jeongguk.

 'Hey Guk, where did Tae just go?’ Areum suddenly appeared at Jeongguk’s side, helpfully handing him another drink.

 'Gone to get his dick sucked. Or suck a dick. Couldn’t really tell which way it was gonna go yet.’ Jeongguk laughed to himself, looking around to confirm his suspicions that Taehyung and the blonde stranger had already disappeared together.

 'Better than I’m doing tonight.’ Areum sighed defeatedly. 

'I don’t believe that considering how beautiful you look.’ Jeongguk said as he took a sip of his drink.

 'I told you to stop doing that.’ Areum whined, although quickly breaking into giggles as Jeongguk winked at her teasingly. 'Anyway, I thought you had your sights set on ___.’ she grinned.

Jeongguk winced internally as he remembered waking up alone on the couch 2 weeks ago, the scent of ___ still clinging slightly to his t-shirt from where she’d slept pressed against him.

 'Speaking of, where is she tonight?’ he asked, desperately trying to keep his tone casual.

 'I think I saw her go upstairs a while ago with her boyfriend.’ Areum shrugged. 

'I’m sorry what?’ Jeongguk asked. 'It’s just I thought you said-’ 

'Her boyfriend.’ Areum repeated, a slight frown creasing her brow. 'Holy shit that little…she did tell you about him, right?’ she asked as realisation, frustration and then pity flashed through her eyes in quick succession. 

'No.’ Jeongguk said hollowly. 'She didn’t.’  

'Oh for fucks sake, and now I’m the bad guy for telling you.’ Areum sighed. 'I mean it’s not like it's serious, it's a whole mess honestly but she's just…’ she trailed off, stopping to take a long swig from her cup. 'I don’t really know what to say Guk. I’m sorry.’

 'No need to apologise.’ Jeongguk forced a laugh. ‘Not like anything happened between us. And if you’ll excuse me.’ he said, downing the rest of his drink. 'I’m off to get another of these.’  

Brushing past Areum he walked quickly up the stairs and into the welcome dark of the empty hallway. A heavy feeling was settling in the pit of his stomach and he didn’t think it had anything to do with the tequila he’d been drinking.

Had he imagined it all? He thought back to the small sigh that had escaped ___’s lips as he brushed a kiss to her forehead. The soft smile that had never left her face as she’d listened to him talk about music for hours. The way it had felt as their breathing had slowly found the same rhythm and they drifted off to sleep together. It didn’t feel like he’d imagined it, but now everything felt unclear.

He stopped, sinking to the floor and resting his head back against the wall. At least he thought it was the wall, until he tumbled backwards, and his head hit cold tiles. 

'The fuck?’ he heard a slightly slurred but very familiar voice say. 

’___?’ he said, looking up from his position on the floor to see a pair of legs dangling out of the bathtub. 

‘Jeongguk?’ she replied as he hauled himself back up to his feet again.

___ was sitting fully clothed in the empty bathtub, mascara smudged around her eyes and a half empty bottle of red wine clasped in her hand. She looked beautiful he thought. 

'You look like a mess.’ he said.

 'You’re rude.’ she pouted before taking a gulp from the bottle.

 'You’re drunk.’ he shot back, making sure to close the door carefully this time before leaning back against it.

 'And in the morning I’ll be sober, but you’ll still be rude.’ she smiled sweetly and Jeongguk couldn’t help but laugh. 

'Why are you hiding out here in the bath then?’ he asked.

 'Wanna join me? It’s actually pretty comfortable.’ she said, avoiding his question and taking another drink. 

Jeongguk clambered into the bath beside her, swinging his legs over the edge of it as ___ had done and then turned to face her. 'Now will you tell me why you’re here and not downstairs with your boyfriend?’ 

'Oh, so you heard about all that then.’ she raised her eyebrows, offering him the bottle.

 'I don’t really know what “all that” is. Only that you never mentioned it to me.’ Jeongguk said pointedly before taking a drink himself. 

'I know I should have. I just didn’t want to ruin what we…I didn’t want to ruin whatever it is we have.’ ___ faltered, casting her eyes down. 

'Have? Present tense?’ Jeongguk queried, the bottle frozen on the way to his lips. 

'Well seeing as the boyfriend is now in the past tense…’ ___ mumbled, taking the bottle off him and drinking in short swift gulps. 

'Hey, easy there.’ Jeongguk chuckled slightly, pulling the bottle away gently. A drop of wine remained at the corner of her full bottom lip and Jeongguk fought the urge to wipe it away. 'Is that why you’re up here by yourself?’ 

She paused for a few seconds, eyes never leaving his. 'I’m not by myself. You’re here.’  

Jeongguk suddenly felt like he could understand all of the old movie cliches. The sounds of the party downstairs seemed to fade, he felt like he could feel every beat of his heart in his chest. Wordlessly he put the bottle down beside him, his free hand now resting on ___’s cheek as he tilted her face towards his.

 '___ are you in he-’ the door suddenly flew open as another boy burst into the room. 'I see you didn’t waste any time getting your payback then.’ he snorted as ___ and Jeongguk sprang apart.

 'You really think I care about you enough to try and hurt you?’ ___ said, her voice dripping with scorn as she looked up at the boy.

 'Oh so we’re trying to play the tough girl now, are we?’ the boy laughed mockingly. 'Didn’t seem so tough when you saw just then me with-’ 

'Look man, I think you need to back off.’ Jeongguk interjected, pulling himself up out of the bath to face the other boy.

 'I don’t need you to stand up for me.’ ___ protested, trying to pull herself up after him but slipping down again and falling against the porcelain.

 'Looks like you need all the help you can get standing, sweetheart.’ the boy laughed cruelly again. 

Jeongguk ignored him, crouching down to check on ___ who was now sitting with her legs curled underneath her in the bath. 'You okay?’ he asked softly, a hand reaching behind her head to check for a bump. 

'I’m fine.’ she mumbled, taking his now outstretched hand and standing up.

'Dohyeon we’re over. I thought I made that clear.’ 

'We’ve been “over” like 6 times this month babe.’ Dohyeon rolled his eyes. 'Now come back downstairs, I was just having a bit of fun with her.’

 'Dohyeon, I mean it this time. I’m done.’ ___ said clearly. 

He paused for a moment, eyes flitting between the two of them and how closely they were standing. 'You know what, you’re not worth it.’ he shook his head before retreating back downstairs.

 'Well, that was embarrassing.’ ___ laughed as she reached for the bottle of wine again.

Before she could raise the bottle to her mouth Jeongguk caught her wrist. 'You don’t need to pretend like you’re alright. You can scream or cry if you want to or-’ 

'No, what I don’t need is you trying to play the role of Prince Charming.’ ___ said fiercely, pulling her hand free of Jeongguk’s grasp.

She desperately willed the tears burning at the back of her eyes not to fall as Dohyeon's words replayed in her mind.

 'Trying to play the? I’m trying to help y… I’m trying to be a good person ___, for fucks sake.’ Jeongguk raised his voice in frustration.

 'Trying to be a good person? Or trying to get a quick rebound in?’ ___ found herself yelling back. 

'Look just because your boyfriend was a piece of shit doesn’t mean I-’ before Jeongguk could finish ___ cut him off once again.

 'Oh really? So you weren’t just about to kiss me when Dohyeon came in?’ she asked.

 'And you weren’t about to kiss me back?’

Silence fell as the two stood looking at each other, chests rising and falling slightly faster than normal as they caught their breath.

 ___ opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, then calmly walked past Jeongguk and shut the door firmly behind her.

Jeongguk started to follow after her, but realised he had no idea what he’d say when he caught up with her. Once again, he found himself sliding down the door until he was sitting on the floor, legs drawn up to his chest as his head dropped into his hands.

Three times. He’s met this girl three times. Why does she get to him like this? 

'Hey open up man, I need to pee.’ the knocking on the door finally prompted Jeongguk to get up out of his self-pity party and re-join the actual party.

 'What did you do?’ Areum stormed up to Jeongguk with fire in her eyes as soon as he made his way downstairs. 

'What did I do? What are you talking about?’ Jeongguk asked, taking an involuntary step back. 

'___ just fucking bolted. And she was in tears.’ Areum took a deep breath as if to hold back tears of her own. 'She never cries.’ 

'It had nothing to do with me.’ Jeongguk protested. 'She caught her boyfriend, who seems like a real asshole by the way, with some other girl tonight and they had a huge fight.’

 'Oh fuck.’ Areum swore. 'I always thought he was kind of an asshole too, but he’s never done anything as shitty as this.’ 

'I thought you said they weren’t serious?’ Jeongguk questioned.

 'I mean it’s not like they were ever in love, and recently she’s been even more…look now is not the time to analyse their relationship.’ Areum shook her head slightly as if to help her focus and then looked back up at Jeongguk. 'I’m going out to try and find her. If she comes back here, call me.’ 

Before he could protest at having to stay any longer at this party, Areum had left. Jeongguk sighed, sitting down at the bottom of the stairs. He seemed to have spent most of this evening watching people walk away from him.

The party continued around Jeongguk without him, figures constantly moving back and forth. But none of them ___. Almost an hour had passed since Areum had left and Jeongguk was seriously considering going out to find you himself. As he was making his way towards the front door his phone buzzed with a text from Areum. 

(2:49 am) arie: okay i found ___ in some diner ??? taking her back home now 

(2:51 am) arie: ty for waiting btw guk, and sorry i thought u were the one that fucked up xoxo 

(2:52 am) gukkie: glad ur both okay, see u back home xxx 

Jeongguk breathed a sigh of relief that both of them were okay. Deciding that Taehyung should probably be left to whatever or whoever he’d ended up with, Jeongguk started the walk back to his apartment. As the cool night air hit him, he couldn’t help but wonder which diner ___ had ended up in.

And if Areum had been right that he wasn’t the one who’d fucked up. ~  'Are you awake? Guk?’ Jeongguk was awoken from an uneasy sleep as he sat up and tried to make out who had come into his room. 

‘Areum? Is that you?’ he asked, eyes able to distinguish a female figure in the darkness. 

'It’s ___.’ Jeongguk scrambled out of bed to turn on the lights, squinting as the sudden brightness filled the room.  'What are you doing here?’ he asked. 

'You were right earlier.’ she said, taking a step towards him. 

'Right about what?’ he replied, rubbing sleep from his eyes and trying to figure out what was going on.

 'That I was about to kiss you too.’ she whispered, taking another step forward and looping her arms around his neck.  

'___.’ he murmured, gently unwrapping her arms from around him and holding her hands instead. 

'What? I thought you wanted-’ ___ faltered, eyes wide with hurt.

Had she imagined it all? She thought back to the way his arm had wrapped round her waist as she’d stumbled half asleep beside him after their trip to the diner. How he would suddenly be overcome with laughter when she teased him, his deep voice somehow rising to a delighted childlike giggle. The concern in his eyes as he’d looked at her earlier, how she’d wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms when she’d walked away instead. It didn’t feel like she’d imagined it, but now everything felt unclear.

 'I do.’ Jeongguk said earnestly. 'So, so much. But I don’t want our first kiss to be an apology. Or payback for something. Or because you’re drunk.’ he smiled softly as she shrugged apologetically.

 'Can I still stay the night?’ ___ asked shyly. 'Promise I won’t leave in the morning like last time.’ 

Jeongguk paused for a second before leading ___ over towards the bed with a rueful smile. 'You do know Areum is gonna kick my ass for this.’

 'I’ll protect you don’t worry.’ ___ grinned.

 'Thought we had a no Prince Charming rule around here.’ Jeongguk teased, searching through his wardrobe for a shirt to lend ___. 

'Never said we can’t make exceptions.’ ___ stuck her tongue out at him. 'Like maybe…when the princess can’t get her shoes off?’ she added, sitting down on the bed and holding out a leg to Jeongguk. 

'That red wine still making things a little tricky huh?’ he asked with a grin, unlacing ___’s converse high-tops for her and tucking them under the bed (a/n: converse high by bts plays softly in the background).

 'That bottle you saw me with was not the first of the night let’s put it that way.’ ___ sighed, now holding her arms up above her head. 'Dress now please.’

 'You really can’t do that by yourself?’ Jeongguk chuckled.

 'I can, but I’d rather you did it.’ ___ teased. 'Looks like it’s the only way I’m gonna get you to undress me tonight so…’ she said, trailing off into giggles. 

Jeongguk shook his head with a smile, pulling the fabric over her head and tossing it to the floor. 'You’re ridiculous.’ 

'Hey that’s my line.’ ___ pouted. 

'Not when you’re the one being ridiculous.’ he pointed out with a raise of his eyebrows. 'C'mon, t-shirt now before I change my mind.’ he instructed as he handed her the shirt.

 'Fiiiiiine.’ ___ replied, drawing out the word exasperatedly.

After slipping the shirt over her head she looked at him pointedly before sliding first one bra strap down and then the other, then unclasping it behind her and pulling it out from under the shirt triumphantly.

 '___, why are you testing me like this.’ Jeongguk groaned.

 'What? It’s not comfy sleeping in a bra.’ she shrugged, a look of mock innocence on her face.

 'Budge over.’ was all Jeongguk said as he climbed into bed beside ___, trying to hide his grin.

 'Can I be the big spoon?’ ___ asked as Jeongguk wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

 'Nope.’ he replied, leaning over to turn out the lights again. 

'Just so you know I’m a really good big spoon.’ ___ said after a couple minutes of silence.

 'Go to sleep ___.’ Jeongguk chuckled, unable to stop himself from kissing the top of her head lightly.

 'I like falling asleep with you.’ she murmured as she cuddled closer to him.

 ‘Me too.’ he murmured back, and once more the two of them fell asleep as dawn light began to filter into the room.   ~  ‘So, you’re still here.’ Jeongguk said as ___’s eyes slowly fluttered open. ‘That’s new for us.’ she winced slightly at the hurt she could detect behind his words.

 ‘Can you give me a second before I apologise to just appreciate how pretty you are in the morning?’ ___ mumbled, taking in the sight of Jeongguk’s soft golden hair on the pillow, the way his lips seemed a little plumper than normal, the way his eyelashes brushed the tops of his cheekbones when he looked down shyly at what she’d just said.

‘Wait, did I just make you blush?’ she teased with a giggle.

 ‘I changed my mind; you can go back to sleep.’ Jeongguk protested, although his actions were entirely at odds with his words as he pulled ___ closer towards him.

 ‘Don’t tempt me, my head is killing me.’ ___ mumbled, gladly burying into Jeongguk’s chest as his arms wrapped around her.

 ‘I’m not surprised.’ he chuckled softly. ‘Kinda seemed like you were drinking to forget last night…’ he trailed off, unsure of how much she remembered or if she’d forgotten it all.

He didn’t know which option would be worse.

 ‘I didn’t forget.’ she said quietly, lifting her face to look at him.

His breath hitched in his throat just for a moment as her wide eyes met his.  ‘Forget what?’ he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

 ‘That Dohyeon was a total dick. And then you tried to defend me, like the good person you are. And then I was a total dick, like the shitty person I am. And then…I tried to kiss you.’ ___ felt her words tripping awkwardly off her tongue, wishing that she could go back and do everything differently.

Although how far back she wanted to go for a do-over she wasn’t sure.

 ‘You’re not a shitty person.’ Jeongguk said after a pause.

 ‘I wouldn’t blame you for thinking I was after you had to find out about Dohyeon from Arie.’ ___ said, her eyes falling away from Jeongguk’s as she felt a sense of shame creep through her chest.

 ‘I just don’t know why you didn’t tell me.’ Jeongguk said, his fingers finding ___’s chin to bring her gaze back to his.

 ‘God, I don’t know how to explain this right but….’ ___ sighed, before continuing in a rush. ‘I guess I’ve always dated guys like Dohyeon because it’s easier. It’s easier if the feelings don’t run too deep, if I don’t really see a future with them. Because then when they leave, I can convince myself that I haven’t really lost anyone. Because they weren’t mine to lose in the first place. But then I met you and it was like… from that very first night it felt like there was an “us”. And each moment I spent with you that feeling got harder to ignore. I thought that if I just kept seeing Dohyeon I could push it all to the back of my mind but…’ she trailed off, taking a deep breath before lifting her hand to rest gently against Jeongguk’s cheek.

‘You know why I was actually so upset last night? It was because when I saw Dohyeon with his tongue down some random girls throat I didn’t feel…anything. I suppose a part of me felt, relieved? Because it finally gave me the push to walk away. I’d sort of been trying to for weeks like he said but…I was so scared.’

 ‘Why were you scared?’ Jeongguk asked hesitantly, his hand lifting to rest on top of hers.  

‘Because I knew I’d finally have to admit to myself how much I like you and…fuck Jeongguk I like you a lot.’ ___ said, her bottom lip trembling just slightly. ‘And I couldn’t stop thinking about what Arie had said, that I’d fall for you and you wouldn’t feel the same because you don’t really do serious and well…like Dohyeon said I guess I’m just not really worth it anyway.’ ___ closed her eyes again, as if willing herself to disappear.

 ‘Hey.’ Jeongguk said quietly. ‘Hey.’ he said again, a little more firmly this time. ‘Can you look at me?’ ___ opened her eyes, and as the first tear spilled onto her cheek Jeongguk felt like his heart was about to break.

He wiped the tear away with the pad of his thumb before continuing. ‘Okay well first of all, that guy is a fucking idiot. Areum is kind of an idiot too but I’m less mad at her right now.’ he said, earning a small giggle from ___. ‘And second, do you have any idea how much I like you too? I mean I wrote a fucking song for you so if that’s not serious enough for Areum I don’t know what is.’ Jeongguk suddenly stopped, his eyes wide with panic.

 ‘You wrote a song for me?’ ___ asked shyly, a smile appearing on her lips.  

‘Wait, I wasn’t gonna tell you that. At least not yet.’ Jeongguk backtracked. ‘That makes it sound weird it wasn’t in a weird way I…’ he trailed off as ___ broke into giggles, and the sound suddenly filled him with warmth. ‘What I was trying to say is, I guess I don’t usually do serious. And I think Arie was just trying to protect us both because she cares but…’ he trailed off again.

‘___ you make me want to do serious.’ he said resolutely. ‘And stupid and spontaneous and 2am and 11am and every other hour of the day. The more I talk to you the more I want to talk. The more I know about you the more I want to know. And the more I fall in love with you the more I find to love.’

 ‘Are you gonna let me kiss you this time?’ ___’s words broke the hushed silence that had fallen between them.  

‘Just tell me that you feel the same.’ Jeongguk implored.

___ simply leaned in, finally bringing her mouth to Jeongguk’s. His lips were soft but pressed insistently against hers, his hands cupping her cheeks as her fingers tangled in his hair. They finally pulled apart, chests rising and falling like they had last night, but for an entirely different reason.

‘I’m gonna take that as a yes.’ he said finally, unable to keep the grin off his face.  

‘Yes.’ ___ grinned back at him, before bringing her lips back to his. ‘That was also a yes.’ she said. ‘And that one.’ she giggled, as she kissed him again and again.

 ‘Thank God I decided to get up that night to make cookies huh?’ Jeongguk mused, his grin still firmly in place.

 ‘I did say the universe was trying to send us a message.’ ___ reminded him, unable to resist planting another kiss on his lips.

 ‘Yeah, but I just thought you were saying that to try and flirt with me.’ Jeongguk teased.

 ‘I mean? It kinda worked, didn’t it?’ ___ giggled, gesturing to the way their bodies were intertwined beneath the blankets.

 ‘Nah, you’re only here because I impressed you with my impeccable baking skills.’ Jeongguk shrugged.

 ‘You’re ridiculous.’ ___ giggled again, her laughter only growing louder as Jeongguk protested.

 ‘You still think I’m ridiculous?’  

‘Yes…but now I can also tell you that I think you’re funny, and charming, and stupidly hot and-’ ___ continued, cut off by Jeongguk pulling her to him for another kiss. 

‘Oh for fucks sake. You guys are gonna be insufferable, aren’t you?’ Taehyung appeared at the door, which Jeongguk only now realised had been left half open last night.  

‘Tae what the fuck are you doing there?’ Jeongguk asked, half-heartedly throwing a pillow across the room at him which he dodged easily.  

‘I was just being polite and seeing…’ he trailed off, looking behind him at the platinum blonde from last night who had joined him.  

‘Jimin?’ the boy said, with an indignant raise of his eyebrows.  

‘I was just being polite and seeing Jimin out.’ Taehyung finished with a bright smile. ‘And I just so happened to walk past while ___ was telling you how stupidly hot you are.’  

‘You already know I’m stupidly hot, you didn’t need to hear that from ___.’ Jeongguk rolled his eyes dramatically, as Taehyung threw the pillow right back at him with a laugh.

 ‘You guys go back to your love declarations, I need to convince Jimin to give me his number between here and the front door.’ Taehyung directed his smile back to the other boy.  

‘After you forgot my name?’ Jimin asked incredulously.  

‘It is a very pretty name.’ ___ added, earning a bright smile from the boy.  

‘Not helping ___!’ Taehyung called as he grabbed Jimin’s hand and led him away down the hall.

 ‘___?’ Areum’s voice sounded as she appeared at the door, which Taehyung had (un)helpfully left wide open. ‘You told me you were getting an uber home yesterday.’ she said pointedly.  

‘I may or may not have got slightly side-tracked.’ ___ replied meekly. ‘I had to come and apologise to Guk, I was such a dick last night.’ 

‘Looks like you apologised alright.’ Areum said, a smile playing on her lips.

 ‘Hey we didn’t actually-! I mean we kissed but we didn’t…’ Jeongguk protested before Areum let out a peal of laughter.

 ‘Jeon Jeongguk you are blushing like a schoolgirl.’ she laughed, walking across the room to sit on the foot of the bed. ‘And you’re like this after just a kiss?’

 ‘Shut up.’ he whined half-heartedly. ‘I’m mad at you right now anyway.’ he said, but the smile on his face gave him away.

 ‘I thought I was doing what was best for you both but, clearly I was wrong.’ she said, smiling back at both of them. ‘I’m happy for you guys.’  

Arie was wrong about something? Why are we surprised?’ Taehyung suddenly reappeared, throwing himself onto the bed beside Areum.

 ‘Jheeze, if I’d known we were having a reunion in here I’d have got out the fancy china.’ Jeongguk grumbled as he budged over to make room.

 ‘We don’t have fancy china.’ Taehyung deadpanned.  

‘Not the point.’ Jeongguk huffed.

 ‘What was your point then?’ Taehyung shot back.  

‘The point is we were having a very smug very cute moment together before you guys joined.’ ___ laughed as Areum stuck her tongue out at her.

 ‘C’mon Tae, I can tell when we’re overstaying our welcome.’ Areum chuckled, pulling him up off the bed with her.

 ‘Let us know if we ever are welcome though…like…in your bed.’ Taehyung said with a suggestive raise of his eyebrows. 

‘Too soon Tae.’ Areum shook her head fondly as she dragged him out the room.

‘I’m gonna need details from both of you later though okay!’ she called over her shoulder.  

‘You’ll get the full PowerPoint presentation don’t worry!’ ___ called back with a laugh.

‘I guess that solves the problem of figuring out how to tell them?’ ___ said as she turned back to Jeongguk.

 ‘I can only think of one problem right now.’ Jeongguk said, flipping ___ onto her back so he was leaning above her.

 ‘And what’s that?’ she asked breathlessly.

 ‘That you’re not kissing me right now.’ he grinned to himself.  

‘You’re so ridic-’ but before she could finish ___’s words were cut short as Jeongguk pressed his lips to hers.

MASTERLIST

#ggukkierecommends #jungkook x reader #m:jjk #l:oneshot #5kto10k #g:humor #g:fluff #r:s2l #meetcute #r:f2l #au:college #au:musician #rate:mature

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