Date posted on AFF: 2017.04.08

Summary:

In which Chaeyoung received a sexy picture of an almost naked stranger on New Year's Eve and coincidences suddenly happening one after another.

p.s: This is absolutely my favorite! :) and I'm pretty sure a lot of ricekookers have checked this out on AFF! :D

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Ding.

Chaeyoung placed her mug carefully on the coffee table and sighed, ignoring the device located next to her on the couch. Within probably five minutes, her device had dinged for five times and she knew that all of those notifications were from the same group chat without even checking. Just yesterday, her friend Jennie had been talking nonstop about her plan on New Year's Eve, telling Chaeyoung that she was going to spend it with her boyfriend in a party in his house and that there would be lots of drinking. Lots of grinding and lots of humping –as what Jennie said.

Basically, to sum it up, it would be a really wild party and Chaeyoung didn't think that she would like to be present in that surrounding during this moment in her life; especially when she knew for sure that her ex-boyfriend would be there since he and Jennie's boyfriend were best buddies.

Her fingers crawled on the couch to slowly grab on the remote to change the channel. New Year's Eve was supposed to be fun even if she chose to stay at home and alone but boy was she wrong. Had the television always been so boring on New Year's Eve? She remembered that it used to be so fun back then. Maybe when she started to hang around Taehyung that staying at home felt so boring.

Even so, she needed to train herself to love being at home because this new home of her would be the safest place since Taehyung had no idea she had moved.

Chaeyoung stood up and decided to go to the balcony to take in fresh air while waiting for some fireworks to decorate the dark sky when her phone suddenly dinged for another five times in a row without any gap. With a deep sigh, she bent down to silence her phone when she noticed something weird.

There were five messages from an unknown number and they were all the same message.

– You would be begging on your knees if you could see how happy I am now.

She furrowed her brows for a second before deleting all five messages, not wanting to reply to any of it. It could be Taehyung wanting for attention.

A few seconds before she managed to toss her phone on the couch, a notification came in, telling her that she had just received another message. It was from the same number and for some reason, she clicked on it to read.

– I thought I was going to be in despair without you in my life, but I guess not.

– I just want to tell you that dumping me for some nerd was probably the worse decision you've ever made in your life.

– Wanna know why? I'll show you why.

Chaeyoung knitted her brows and thought that it might be best if she told this person that he or she was sending messages to the wrong number. She didn't need to know about someone else's breakup story when she was trying to handle her own, even though she was the one initiated it in her situation. Just as she pressed her thumb on the 'Send' button, she was notified of another message by the same number, and somehow, her thumb automatically slid on the screen and clicked on the notification without realizing that she had just received a picture.

It was too late to press 'Back' when her eyes were greeted with a picture of an unknown man in just his underwear, posing in front of a long mirror. One of his hands was holding his phone while his other hand had the fingers slipped in the waistband of his black underwear, showing his v-line. His thighs were big and looked strong, as well as his veiny arms. The perfect lighting in the room he was in made the lines of his abs looked so beautiful and well, he was mesmerizing.

Chaeyoung could feel her eyes were wide and she didn't think she had blinked once ever since she had laid her eyes on the picture. She felt herself heating up the more she stared at the picture before another message came in that eventually stopped her from staring and helped her to blink.

What do you mean wrong number????

She figured that he had read the message she sent to him. Would it be wise to reply to him or it was a better decision to ignore him? She thought of it silently in her head, sometimes getting distracted over the new image she had seen playing around in her head before finally deciding to keep her phone away and proceed to the balcony. He would probably stop sending her messages now that he knew.

As soon as she stepped into the balcony, her phone rang from the inside and she somehow found herself turning around to grab the device, chewing on her lower lip multiple times before she answered the call from the stranger.

"H-hello?" she softly said.

There was a long pause before the person on the other line responded.

"Shit."

And the line went dead.

*

It was 3AM and Jungkook was still unable to sleep. He tossed and turned for a few times but none of those attempts helped him to get his sleep.

Every single time he saw his phone, it made him wish that he was born way before the first telephone was born. It made him wish that technology didn't even exist in the first place. It made him wish that he was born around the same era as Alexander Graham Bell so he could stop the scientist from inventing telephone.

Jungkook gulped and brought himself up to sit on his bed. He took his phone on the bedside table and checked back on all the messages he had sent to that number he thought owned by his ex-girlfriend. Fuck, he cursed in his mind, his face scrunched up and eyes squeezed shut as he tugged on his hair. "Damn it!"

He must had typed in wrongly when he saw his ex-girlfriend's number on a poster promoting a competition held in the dance academy belonged to her father.

After minutes of cursing and telling himself how stupid he was for even sending that picture and ruining his New Year on his own, he finally forced himself to think that at least he sent it to a stranger and that there would be less to zero chance of meeting that person. Besides, it wasn't as though he sent a completely naked picture of him. At least, his thing was still hidden.

And well, now that he thought of it, it was great that his ex-girlfriend didn't receive those pathetic messages. When he read those back, he sounded like he was desperate for her attention and that he still couldn't get over her, which was the opposite of what he was trying to tell her. And that would be embarrassing.

There was no need of him to think about that stupid incident further.

*

"Oh dear god," Chaeyoung groaned when the sky suddenly growled and before she could get herself into the restaurant she was heading to, the rain poured down and covering her face with her hand was no use at all. By the time she finally opened the door to the restaurant, her hair was already soaked as well as the new beautiful shirt she had bought herself last week and she believed that her makeup was ruined.

"Look at you," she heard Jennie muttered when she approached the latter. Jennie was with her boyfriend, being all touchy and flirty and Chaeyoung hated that her brain had to remind her of when she used to be like that with Taehyung.

"Don't say a word," Chaeyoung mumbled as she settled herself in front of the couple, quickly taking out her precious mirror to check on the condition of her makeup. Well, it was totally ruined. And to make everything worse, when she was placing her handbag on the table, she accidentally hit on the glass, causing the drink that she hadn't tasted yet to spill on the table, onto her thighs. "Great!" she hissed. "Oh wow, I am such a lucky person, aren't I?" she said through gritted teeth.

It wasn't even a week into 2017 and one after another of an unfortunate event had rained on her mercilessly.

"That's what you get for dumping my friend," Jennie's boyfriend, Namjoon said with a shrug and Chaeyoung glared at him for seconds. She wished she could find some reason so her friend would dump that annoying man but then, Namjoon was such a perfect guy to Jennie.

"I didn't know that my luck depends on him," she muttered with a role of her eyes. "Jennie, do you have tissue or something?"

"No. Let me call the waiter," Jennie said and turned her head around. "Do they even have a waiter here? Oh wait, I think that's the waiter." She lifted up her hand and waved and Chaeyoung was praying that the tissue would come before her skin got sticky.

"Do you guys have tissue?" Jennie asked when a guy came to their table and Chaeyoung busied herself flicking off some ice on her shirt.

The guy was silent for a moment before he said, "Um. I think you're mistaken. I don't work here."

Namjoon chuckled and Chaeyoung could tell that he was about to shoot some annoying statement. "What do you mean you don't work here? You could pass as a waiter with your white shirt and black pants."

The guy chuckled in return before he responded with something that made Chaeyoung smiled from ear to ear.

"Well, you could pass as a clown with that choice of outfit," he said before leaving their table and Chaeyoung watched his back as he walked towards a table far away from them.

"The hell?" Namjoon said with widened eyes. "Who the hell does he think he is?!"

Jennie rubbed on her boyfriend's back, trying to comfort him as he asked her, "Do I look like a fucking clown?"

Jennie let out soft hums as she stared at him and Chaeyoung replied for her friend. "You look very much like a clown."

"You shut your mouth," Namjoon said with a glare and Jennie squeezed his shoulder.

"Well, even if you look like a clown, you'd be a cute clown," she said and like a magic, all the irritation on his face disappeared and Chaeyoung rolled her eyes at the sight of the two eating each other's face in front of her. Jennie used to complain about Taehyung and her doing that and she used to not understand why it was disgusting to her friend. Well, now she did.

"Babe, I need to go," Namjoon said after finishing his food. "I got some stuff to do in the office. Are you coming with me?"

Chaeyoung watched with her mouth halfway chewing on her food as Jennie pouted, her eyes slowly moved from her boyfriend to Chaeyoung and showed a pitiful kitten look. Closing her eyes in annoyance, Chaeyoung focused back on her food and muttered, "Just go then."

Jennie stood up abruptly and kissed her cheek hastily, saying her goodbye before leaving and Chaeyoung sighed. Being single was such a torture when everyone else was the opposite of that.

The rain did not stop even after minutes she had wasted waiting for it to stop. Chaeyoung eventually came up with a decision to just run to her car and hoped that she wouldn't break her heels while running. With her handbag placed above her head, she inhaled deeply before trying to step into the rain when a hand stopped her from doing so. She turned to look at her elbow that was gripped by a hand of a man.

"Are you going to run in those heels?" he asked and Chaeyoung averted her eyes to his face.

She was sure she didn't know him but he looked familiar.

"Where did you park your car?" the man asked, hand was still holding her elbow gently.

"There." She pointed at her car parked across the road. "The black one," she said.

The man smiled and gently let her elbow go. "Well, there are two black cars over there. Which one's yours?"

Chaeyoung furrowed her brows. "Why do you ask?"

He chuckled a little and Chaeyoung realized that he was the same guy who had dissed Namjoon earlier. He was quite good looking if she had to judge. The stranger opened his umbrella and said, "So I can walk you to your car?"

"Oh..." she muttered and she didn't know why she had her eyes glued to his arm and his hand that was holding the umbrella. "The one with pink stripes."

"Okay," he nodded and moved closer to her. "Let's go."

Thanks to the handsome stranger, she didn't have to be soaked by the rain for the second time and it was really heartwarming to know that there was someone like him existed. He was still standing next to her car when she had settled herself in the driver's seat.

"Thank you," she said with a smile once she rolled the window down. "Where's your car?" she asked and the stranger stepped back a little, his thumb slipping inside the pocket of his jeans and Chaeyoung blinked her eyes in confusion because that pose seemed a little bit familiar and it was weird how she felt as if she had seen him before with that pose.

It took her only a few seconds to recall back where, how and when had she seen him. Her eyes widened as they traveled down from his face to his neck to his chest to his hand and she quickly looked away before she could settle her eyes on his crotch when she was reminded of her New Year's Eve.

"My car's just –"

Chaeyoung sped away.

*

"My car's just –" Jungkook's eyes enlarged and he moved backwards quickly when the woman's car slipped off the parking space in a rush. "– behind. Yours," he continued, brows furrowed deeply as he stared at the car.

That was weird.

He wondered alone if any other woman was as weird as she was. And Jungkook wondered about what the possible reasons could be of why she would suddenly leave after asking him a question without even getting her question answered. She was probably just born weird or plain rude. Perhaps, she thought it was fun to fool a guy after getting helped, either the help was asked by her or it was volunteered.

Oh, how he hated that kind of woman. It reminded him of her ex.

On his way home, Jungkook couldn't get the woman's face off his head. Her fierce yet innocent looking face was so attractive to see and deep down, he was hoping that he could at least get her number and try out his luck because he felt like it had been forever since his ex-girlfriend left him and that she had said to him that he should at least be grateful that he had once dated her because she would be the only good looking girl who would date him.

Well, he wanted to prove her wrong. Jungkook wanted her to know that she shouldn't think so highly of herself because someone else out there was also pretty and charming and she was not alone in that.

But maybe, he was just unlucky in dating after all because all his attempts on getting numbers of pretty girls that he had met were all vain. Two days ago he had asked for the librarian's number with a sticky note on the book he wanted to borrow, and the reply he got was written beneath his question.

'010-fuck-off!'

Was his mother lying when she told him that he was good looking? Was everyone in his high school blind when he was chosen as the most handsome student in his senior year or were they just pranking him? What was it about him that threw people off? Why wouldn't girls come to him with or without effort made by him?

Did Lisa date him just to get people to know her back in high school and throughout college?

Well if she did, Jungkook prayed that Jimin, that fucking nerd would leave her so she would be as broken as he was when she left him. Jungkook could see how Jimin was becoming Lisa's world the last time he saw the two. He had never seen her looking at him that way when they were dating before.

When Jungkook arrived at his apartment, the rain had stopped and he sat at the balcony when he heard the new person living above him was playing guitar and singing. So far, it was probably the only best thing that had happened to him for the past few weeks. It seemed as though his neighbor knew exactly when to sing to cheer on him whenever he had a bad day.

*

"So, let me get this straight. A hot stranger sent you a sexy picture of him and you actually met him?"

"Yes," Chaeyoung answered flatly.

"And you ran away from him?"

"Yes."

"And you're asking me if you're actually stupid to do that?"

"Yes."

Jennie stared at her long enough to make her feel uncomfortable. "Yes. You are stupid."

"What?" Chaeyoung asked, jerking her head backwards. She wasn't surprised to have Jennie used that word on her but she was surprised that Jennie would call her stupid to do that. Usually, when a guy approached her after her breakup with Taehyung, Jennie would be the biggest supporter of her rejecting those guys because she wanted Chaeyoung to get back to Taehyung.

Jennie shrugged and lay on Chaeyoung's bed as careful as she could after getting her nails painted. "I just realized that no matter how hard I try to get you back with Taehyung, you, in a million years, will never ever agree to that. I just realized that you really want to move on from him. I just realized that maybe you should get back to dating but not with him."

Chaeyoung rolled her eyes with a loud scoff. "What took you so long to realize all that?"

"I admit that I hated to see you two being so in love with each other that it seemed as though you couldn't live without one another but then when I started to date Namjoon, I kind of understand all of those acts. Seeing you being alone was really weird to me and seeing Taehyung talking about you made my heart hurt, you know. I wanted you two to be together again, and I guess I was blinded by that."

Wasn't it always that way? People tend to start appreciating a little too late.

"What changed you then?" she asked, not really curious but she needed something to distract her from the image of that stranger. She swore that she couldn't get his face out of her mind ever since she met him that day.

"I saw it with my own two eyes that he was with that girl. Clearly, that girl was not a one-time thing," Jennie said with a sad sigh. "Sorry for doubting you."

They went into a deep silence after that but it wasn't an uncomfortable one before Jennie suggested her something that managed to color her cheeks red.

"Luckily you have that stranger's number. How about you send him a sexy picture of you in your cutest lingerie and see what his respond will be."

"Are you crazy?!" Chaeyoung shook her head and stared at her phone as she said, "I'm not doing that!"

*

Jungkook would do anything just to get his mind off the tension he was having from the loads of work he had been assigned by his boss. This week was hell to him because he needed to finish up a bunch of reports and he wished he hadn't taken up this offer in the first place and chose to work in Yoongi's workshop instead.

Yoongi might be the stingiest person in the whole world when it came to salaries –Hoseok had been complaining a lot –but Jungkook would probably have a lot of fun working there with his two friends instead of working with those strangers. If he hadn't been blinded by money, he wouldn't have to live an exhausting life like how he was at that very moment.

It was late when he arrived home and he was beyond exhausted to even cook himself a proper meal. Nevertheless, he wouldn't leave his stomach growling and crying for food so he feed himself with some instant noodle and a few slices of bread.

It was 12AM sharp when his phone vibrated next to his head and he groaned as he tried to open his eyes to check on the message sent by the person who had disturbed his sleep. It took him almost half a minute just to get his eyes to fully open and it took him a few more seconds to realize what was sent to him.

It was a picture of lingerie.

Jungkook's eyes shot open when he saw the sender's ID.

'Not Lisa'

For some reason, he hadn't deleted that number when he found out that it wasn't Lisa's and renamed it as 'Not Lisa'. He couldn't figure out himself why he had decided to keep that number.

Why did the stranger send him this? Was this person trying to make fun of him after that stupid incident of him sending his almost nude picture? Or was this person trying to flirt with him?

Jungkook swallowed as the last one crossed his mind. If this person was trying to flirt with him, it wouldn't be wrong to be playing along. He was sleepy and tired but this was new to him and seemed interesting. Besides, tomorrow was Sunday. So if this would ease his exhausted mind for a little bit, he didn't think it would harm anyone if he decided to send this stranger a reply and hope for some interactions until he fell asleep.

*

Chaeyoung buried her face into her pillow when she realized that she had done the dumbest and perhaps, the most embarrassing thing in the world. Sure, she didn't send a picture of herself wearing the lingerie like what Jennie had suggested but the fact that she even sent him a picture was just so embarrassing. Since when did she become so into this flirt-with-a-stranger thing? Was she that desperate to find someone to fill in the void?

Chaeyoung's breath stuck in her throat when she heard her phone was notified of a new message and with a soft bite on her lip, she slowly reached towards her phone and glanced at the screen.

It was him. He had sent her a reply.

She didn't know what she expected him to reply but she knew she didn't expect that kind of reply at all.

– Cute lingerie you have. I wonder what you actually look like wearing that.

She could feel herself slowly heating up at that and she didn't know if it was the devil or her own brain being a little demon that made her contemplate about it. She was trying to think of a reply when another message from him came in.

– You don't have to show me your face, although it would be lovely if you do.

Exactly three seconds after reading that message, Chaeyoung found herself running towards her wardrobe, grabbing the lingerie she had snapped a picture of earlier in a rush.

*

Jungkook was late to work and he knew that his boss would be infuriated if he found out about it. He cursed under his breath when the first elevator that stopped at his floor was packed with people and one of the three elevators was under maintenance. And the only one left was going down too slow that he wished he was living on the first floor instead.

When the elevator door opened, he sighed when that one was also packed. But if he was going to wait any longer, he might as well end up having to listen to his boss nag at him for one whole day. With a soft grunt, he slowly stepped towards the elevator but was stopped when he saw that familiar face standing in the center of the people inside.

It was that woman who had sped off by her car the other day.

"Are you coming in or not?" One old man asked in a very annoyed tone and Jungkook nodded and muttered his apology as he quickly stepped into the elevator.

He didn't fail to notice the look the woman had on her face when he stepped to her front before turning around to face the door – she was looking at him with wide eyes, blinking rapidly when he stepped closer and looked away when he wouldn't take his eyes off her.

Jungkook smirked. Well, she probably felt guilty for being rude the other day.

*

Chaeyoung forced herself to calm down as she stood behind the stranger with the handsome face whom she had sent a picture of herself posing in front of a long mirror with her lingerie on. Although she didn't include her face in the picture, it didn't help to lessen the embarrassment she was feeling at that moment.

He was just supposed to be a person whom she should meet only once in her life even though she planned on to not lose contact with him. He wasn't supposed to show up again. He definitely was not supposed to show up after the series of flirting session they had on the previous night.

Well, one thing that she hoped for was that he didn't actually know her and only recognized her as that woman whom he had helped before. Because if he knew her, the embarrassment would eat her alive.

What is he doing here anyway? Chaeyoung thought. It couldn't be possible that he'd look for her because she didn't tell him her name and where she lived. Well, why do I have to think so hard about it? He probably lives here as well. What a coincidence!

She chewed her lip hard as she thought back of the things they had sent to each other last night and couldn't believe herself that she wasted an hour of her sleep to flirt with some stranger.

–What should I call you?

Chaeyoung held back her smile as she typed;

–What do you want to call me?

A few seconds passed and she received his reply;

–How about I call you mine?

Her smile disappeared when Taehyung's face came to her mind when she read that sentence. With a little pout, she quickly typed;

–Cliché and overused. Call me 'Pasta' instead.

She waited for his response and it took him almost a minute that she thought he was disgusted at her choice of name or that he already fell asleep.

–I can sense that you're a cute person, Pasta. Call me Cookie.

She chuckled a little. Even with those muscles he had, somehow, he fit that name and she liked it.

The elevator door opened and an old lady looked like she was going to enter when Chaeyoung looked over the shoulder of the stranger in front of her. Chaeyoung pressed her lips into a thin line. There was no space anymore behind her for her to be able to move backwards. When the lady stepped in, the handsome stranger stepped back a little and accidentally bumped into Chaeyoung. She gasped a little when she lost a bit of her balance, afraid that she would fall backwards to the few middle aged men behind her and suddenly, a hand held her hip and when she looked down, it was the hand of the man in front of her.

He looked over her shoulder and said, "Sorry, are you okay?" His hand was still reaching back, holding her hip firmly. Chaeyoung felt her heart skipped a beat as she stared at the strong arm of his before she cleared her throat.

"Yes, thank you," she replied lowly and he slowly removed his hand from her.

As soon as they reached ground floor, Chaeyoung quickly stepped out once everyone else in front of her went out and she kept her eyes down when she noticed that the guy earlier was standing a few steps away from the door. She gulped when she realized that the guy moved once she was completely out of the elevator, and when the guy suddenly walked next to her, she increased the speed of her feet walking.

Does he not have a car? Why is he following me?

"Do you always run away after saying your thanks?" he asked, matching her steps.

Chaeyoung slowed down and turned to look at him. "Excuse me?"

"You went away after thanking me the other day. And now after thanking me in the elevator, you're running away from me."

She was confused. What was he trying to say? What did he mean? Did he actually... know her?

The man looked at her straight in her eyes and she couldn't bring herself to blink even once. Seeing him face to face, and longer than before, made her think that he was even better looking in person. There was something about the way he looked at her that made all the words she knew her entire life vanished just like that.

"What I'm trying to say is," he paused briefly before he smiled a little, scratching the back of his head. "Am I that repulsive?" he asked softly.

Was he crazy? How the hell a beautiful face like his was considered repulsive?

Chaeyoung didn't even know why she was stopping in the middle of her way towards the main door where her friend was waiting to spend time on this stranger. "O-of course not. You're not even close to repulsive."

The man blinked a few times at her and smiled, nodding his head softly. "So, do you just run away from people after thanking them?"

Swallowing thickly as she was reminded of her New Year's Eve 'present' by this man, she shook her head softly and looked down when she felt vibrations in her handbag. "I just –um..." She thought of a reasonable answer. "I'm not used to strangers being kind to me."

He chewed on his lip briefly and nodded again.

"Um...I'm late. I need to go," she said softly as she awkwardly stepped away and the man's eyes rounded before he cursed under his breath.

"Oh. Oh shit. Yeah. I'm late too," he said in panic.

Chaeyoung sent him a polite smile and turned away when she felt a soft grip on her wrist and heard a soft 'hey'.

"Can I have your name?" he asked.

She hesitated for a few seconds and asked back, "Why?"

"Well, since...I feel like we're going to meet again in the future, I can't just call you 'hey' all the time when you have a name," he grinned.

"Right," she chuckled softly and she didn't know if she was doing the right thing. "Uh...it's Chaeyoung."

His lips formed a sweet smile after he muttered her name a few times softly. "I'm Jungkook."

Cookie. Jungkook. Okay, cute.

*

"Where the hell were you?" Hoseok whined as soon as Jungkook entered the car.

Jungkook ignored his friend whining as he stared at Chaeyoung who was walking gracefully towards a car of her friend, he assumed. Smiling to himself, he thought of how she wasn't as rude as she was in his mind before. She seemed like a sweet and shy person and well, the way she smiled somehow managed to calm him down from the tension of going to get nagged by his boss.

"So are you coming tonight?"

Jungkook blinked and turned to face Hoseok. "What?"

The older male sighed and threw him an annoyed face. "Yoongi and I planned to hit the club tonight. Are you coming?"

He snorted and slouched down into the seat. Every single time Yoongi and Hoseok wanted to hang out in the club and brought him along, he would end up not drinking so that he could take the two older boys home. And the fact that he was not that familiar with where Yoongi was living would make it even difficult to send him home, because he swore he'd lost his way twice before and had to spend the night with them in the car until morning arrived.

"No thanks," Jungkook said. "I got stuff to do. Got buttload of reports I need to finish."

"Well, I heard that Lisa and Jimin will be there to recruit some dancers into their crew."

Jungkook's eyes twitched at the two names. Slowly, he responded, "...so?"

Hoseok looked at him briefly and chuckled. "So I guess, new year means new you, huh? You no longer want to prove to her that she made the wrong decision to choose Jimin over you?"

Honestly, even though he seemed as though he hated her for doing so to him, deep down there he had to admit that he might still have feelings for her and that he wanted to get her back even if he knew he got no chance. He knew and had accepted the fact that Lisa might not have any feelings for him anymore, or even while they were together, but he hated that there was a little part of him that was desperate for her. And that might be the sole reason why he was so desperate to find a replacement so he could forget about her and so he could finally have his own happiness.

"What benefit will I get if I show up there?" Jungkook muttered as he stared out the window. "Will she come back to me?"

"Man," Hoseok sighed. "Get over her already. You don't need to show up in the club for her. You seem so stressed these few weeks so I thought that it might be a great idea if you come to the club with us. And maybe, you'll find a new girl? Who knows?"

How was he going to get a new girl when it seemed as though all girls would push him away even before giving him a chance?

*

Chaeyoung turned around in her seat and watched her friend dancing with her boyfriend on the dance floor. She swore she was embarrassed for Jennie when Namjoon was showing off his so-called dance skills and it was even more embarrassing when a few other good dancers were clapping for him. She was sure they were being sarcastic when they yelled that he was such a good dancer.

When she was about to turn back around, she stopped midway when a familiar face came to view. It was that handsome stranger named Jungkook, walking next to another two guys. He noticed her as well and smiled, which she gladly returned. Jungkook turned to his two friends, telling them something before they looked at her and she noticed the smug grin they had on their faces before they went on separate ways.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Jungkook said, taking a seat next to her. "Are you here alone?"

Chaeyoung took a sip of her drink, her lips stretching into a smile. "No, I'm with my friend and her boyfriend. She said she wanted to join the dance crew over there," she said, pointing at where a few dancers were observing Namjoon and Jennie dancing in the middle of everyone.

Jungkook turned around and stared at the crowd a little bit too long before he turned around on his seat, suddenly silent and Chaeyoung was not sure why the silence of a stranger made her feel uncomfortable to the point that she wanted him to say something. She didn't know what triggered her to even try to start thinking of anything just for the sake of having something to be talked about with him.

"Did you see the blonde girl over there?" Chaeyoung said.

Jungkook's head snapped towards her, eyes a little wide as he stared at her. "What?" he asked.

Furrowing her brows in confusion, she blinked a few times, trying to figure out the reason why he was suddenly surprised by her question. It wasn't as though she yelled at him to make him startled. "The blonde girl," she muttered and turned around in her seat again, facing the crowd. "She's really good. She was dancing with her partner before my friend and her embarrassing boyfriend tried to show off their skills," Chaeyoung chuckled.

Jungkook was silent again before he faced the crowd and cleared his throat. "Do you dance?"

She slowly tore her eyes away from the crowd and turned to Jungkook. "Huh?"

"Do you dance?" he asked, and looked at her with a smile.

Chaeyoung stared at him for a moment and shook her head with a shy smile. "I don't."

"No way," Jungkook said with a teasing tone as he leaned backwards, propping his arm against the counter. "I'm sure you dance."

She laughed and shook her head again, observing how Namjoon was still moving his body like a robot and thought of how it would be embarrassing to dance especially when there were skillful dancers observing. "Well, I do dance but I can't consider myself as a good dancer. I don't have skills or anything. Mostly it would only involve jumping," she explained with a soft chuckle.

"Well, I didn't ask if you can dance or not," he said gently and when she turned to look at him, he was having a slight smirk on his face. "Come on," he said, grabbing her hand gently.

He didn't hold her hand tightly that she couldn't take it off of his grasp, she could easily let her hand slip away from his hold if she pulled it but for some unknown reason, she let herself being dragged by him to the dance floor although her words were trying to stop him. "Hey, Jungkook. Don't!" she chuckled. "I can't dance! I'm just going to embarrass myself!"

"You won't," he said over his shoulder.

She felt her whole face reddening when everyone went silent as soon as both of them stood in the middle of the dance floor. Namjoon slowly stopped dancing when Jennie told him to before both Namjoon and Jennie stepped back. When she glanced towards Jennie, she saw her friend's lips slowly formed a bright and wide smile and it was only making her blush even more when Jennie signaled at hers and Jungkook's linked hands.

"Jungkook, I don't want to dance," she said after tugging on his hand. When she looked at the blonde girl and her boyfriend, she gulped when the both of them lost their smiles and their eyebrows were lifted.

Jungkook turned to look at her and leaned down to whisper at her ear. "Just dance with me."

"No," she said, shaking her head while her eyes wandered wildly towards the crowd. A new song replaced the previous one and before she could walk back towards her seat, Jungkook stopped her, dancing in front of her, his hand never letting hers go. She wanted to get angry but it was strange how she found her own lips curving into a smile that slowly went wide before she let out a chuckle. "What are you doing?"

Jungkook slid his feet on the floor and got closer towards her. "Trying to make you dance."

*

His eyes crinkled as his lips stretched into a really wide smile while he watched Chaeyoung laughing as she took a seat before he followed suit.

"That was embarrassing! I can't believe you made me do that!" She said in between her laughs. Her palms cupped her cheeks for a few seconds before she fanned herself, ducking her head down and her hair fell like a curtain closing before she lifted her face to look at him.

"You were awesome," Jungkook said softly, he was chuckling himself.

"Awesome? Pretty sure you meant awful!" She giggled and buried her face in her palms, using her hair to cover her face even more. When she finally took her hands off her face, she breathed deeply and Jungkook laughed when he saw how red her face was.

"You were pretty awesome, Chaeyoung. Not everyone can dance like that." He stood up for a bit and imitated the way she danced earlier and she burst out laughing, asking him to stop.

"Did I dance that way?" she asked with her eyes widened. "Oh my god! Namjoon must have pissed his pants laughing at me," she whined although her face was full of smiles. It had been a while since Jungkook made someone smile as much as this. It made him proud of himself. "She was watching me, wasn't she? I embarrassed myself in front of them!"

"Who?" Jungkook asked with a slight tilt of his head.

"The blonde girl," she softly laughed after sipping her drink. "And her partner. Her boyfriend, I guess? The other blonde guy."

Jungkook stayed silent and took that chance to order another drink. He felt his own smile earlier had dropped upon hearing Chaeyoung mentioning about Lisa and Jimin. He couldn't wait for the day when he could finally feel nothing at all when those two were mentioned because right now, he could feel some sort of sadness and anger. It wouldn't be right to be upset about Chaeyoung mentioning them to him, because she was a stranger and she didn't know anything about what happened in his life before. To treat her with silence wouldn't be a right thing to do to someone like her.

Someone like her? Jungkook thought. Why this stranger was suddenly so special that she was labeled as 'someone like her' instead of just a stranger in general?

"Are you alright?" she asked and Jungkook whipped his head to look at her.

"Why do you ask?"

Chaeyoung shrugged and smiled a little. "Every time I mention about the blonde couple, you look like you want to eat a person alive."

He blinked and slowly averted his eyes away from her. Was it that obvious?

"Since you're so good in dancing, could it be that they're your rivals?" The way she questioned him that made him feel like she was the most innocent human being on earth, he didn't know why.

And Jungkook certainly didn't know why he thought he could just let her know a little bit of his bitter past when she wasn't even a friend. With a small smile pulling softly on his face, he looked at her and said, "She's my ex."

Chaeyoung's face turned from a very innocent looking girl trying to feed her curiosity to a look of surprised that her eyes widened, as if the new information he had just given to her was the biggest secret of the country. Her brows furrowed before she looked back and forth between him and probably Lisa and Jimin, the blonde couple as what she referred them to.

"Oh –"

"No," Jungkook chuckled, stopping her from finishing what she wanted to say. She wasn't at fault. "It's okay. You didn't know."

"I'm sorry," she said softly, and Jungkook stiffened for the slightest moment when she placed a hand on his arm. A little part of him was wishing that she would rub his arm, upwards then downwards and maybe rub on his back as well.

"No, no, no," he shook his head. "Not your fault. You didn't know about it."

They were silent for a few moments before she suddenly asked. "Did it end badly?"

Jungkook let his eyes glued to the drink he had in his hand as the corner of his lip lift into a soft smile. "Pretty much." Inhaling deeply as he looked to his front, watching as the bartender doing his work, Jungkook continued to tell even though she didn't ask. "She cheated on me with that guy."

Jungkook wasn't sure himself why he was always like this. He tend to tell people bit by bit when asked about what happened between him and Lisa, which somehow ended up becoming a whole story. In the end, the people that he gave the information would know his story and even though he thought it was stupid for those people on TV to be doing it, he always found himself doing the same thing. He probably wanted sympathy from others although he would never admit it and he wanted them to know who the bad guy in the relationship was. He wanted some comforting words from others and he would always get them.

"So you dumped her?" she asked.

Jungkook shook his head and stared at his fingers sadly. "It's... the other way around."

"So she cheated on you and dumped you?"

"Yeah," he breathed. He heard her scoffing lightly next to him. She was probably irritated by Lisa as well. This was not uncommon and he had gotten this kind of reaction every damn time but he was not bored by it. He liked it the best.

"I'm sorry if I'm being so blunt to you right now but... you were stupid."

Jungkook's eyes widened and he furrowed his brows as he turned to stare at her. "Excuse me?"

"Why would you let her dump you? You should be the one to dump her because she cheated on you."

"What?" Jungkook asked, confused that this was way different than what he usually got in the past.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Chaeyoung breathed, placing her palm on his arm again for a brief moment. "Maybe you weren't stupid when she dumped you. Maybe you didn't know about her cheating on you and you only knew after you got dumped."

He blinked a few times and felt his cheeks getting hot. Not of anger but of embarrassment. "Actually, I knew about the cheating before she dumped me. I just thought that if I keep quiet about it, she'd realize about the mistake but that's not what happened," he explained slowly and felt as if he should bury himself alive because when he thought back about it, he was really stupid.

"Oh..." she said flatly. "So..."

"I guess yeah, I was stupid," Jungkook finished it for her. Strangely, he was not annoyed. Instead, he was surprised that this wasn't the reaction he was expecting from her. The only person who would give him this kind of reaction would be Yoongi. These days, Hoseok would too but back then, Hoseok had gifted him with sympathy like everybody else did.

For a long moment, they went into a silent mode and it was weird how sharing silence with someone who would be considered a stranger felt so uncomfortable when the silence thickened. Chaeyoung suddenly chuckled and said softly, "Honestly, you don't look like someone who would get dumped."

Jungkook raised an eyebrow at her and asked with a smirk, "Do I look like a playboy to you?"

She shrugged and returned the smirk. "Sort of."

"Excuse you," he scoffed playfully. "I am probably the most loyal person ever alive. The ideal boyfriend of everyone."

Chaeyoung laughed softly and shook her head while saying, "Yeah right."

She's the only girl who didn't mind talking to him and hold longer conversation rather than telling him to fuck off. Maybe it was the right thing to do next to ask her about herself as well.

"So you came here with your friend and her boyfriend?" Jungkook asked. "Just the three of you?"

"Yeah," she answered slowly.

"Where's your boyfriend?"

She looked at him long before he noticed that she was sending him a smirk. "I dumped him."

Usually, Jungkook would keep on talking and asking without observing and taking every info he received by heart, he wouldn't try to analyze but here he was, analyzing the meaning behind the smirk and trying to come up with a reason why he was called stupid earlier.

"You dumped him because...he cheated on you?"

Chaeyoung smiled kindly and winked at him. He felt his heart jumped at that. "Bingo."

He chuckled and nodded his head. If he had a white flag he'd show it to her. "So basically I'm an idiot and you're the smart one here, huh?"

She shrugged and tried her best to stop herself from smiling, he noticed. "You can say that," she responded in a cute manner that he was sure she wasn't aware of. Or maybe he was the only one who found it to be cute.

Probably only a couple minutes later when Jungkook heard his name being called in a yell that he would consider a lazy yell and he knew who that was without turning his body around to see. Chaeyoung looked stunned as she sat frozen before she asked, "Isn't that your friend?"

Jungkook closed his eyes for a brief second and sighed, "Yes." He stared at Yoongi swaying on his way towards Jungkook. Not even a minute after he caught Yoongi before the older male could kiss the floor, Chaeyoung called his name again and this time, she sounded in between panicked and disgusted and when he looked to where she was pointing, Jungkook groaned.

Hoseok was humping on a couch. Again.

"Isn't that your friend as well?"

"I wish he isn't," he chuckled dryly as he made his way towards Hoseok who was moaning 'Yeah' multiple times, people were looking his way.

Jungkook complained to the two older males even though he knew they wouldn't be able to take in a word that he said. "This is why I refused to come here in the first place. I'll end up having to drive them home."

He knew that she would think of things like; "Is that such a bad thing?" so he immediately said, "I can't really remember the way to his house," he pointed at Yoongi. "Last time, I had to sleep in the car with him because I lost my way. In the morning, I had to listen to him nag and curse at me," he said, chuckling himself when she started to laugh.

"Does he live far?"

"Kind of," he shrugged.

Chaeyoung hummed for a few seconds and asked, "Do you know where he lives?"

"Yeah, but I can't remember the way."

"Well, where does he live then?"

Jungkook shrugged and told her the name of the place and she blinked with a smile. "That's where my friend lives. I know where that is. I can show you."

*

When Jungkook went out of his friend's house, she lifted a brow at him. "So, everything's done?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem," she said, and stood straight, getting ready to get in her car when he suddenly stopped her. "Hm?"

"Um..." he hesitated a little, scratching the back of his head and chuckled. "I'm not trying to use you or anything, and I know that we just knew each other but can I follow you home? The car that I used just now is Yoongi's and I don't want to stay the night here, I'll be late to work tomorrow. So, if you don't mind, can I...?"

Can I follow you home? She repeated it in her head and felt her body stiffened. What did he mean by that though? Did he want to stay at her place instead?

Jungkook looked at her, trying to search for her eyes before he quickly said, "I mean, we live in the same building. So...you know."

Even after she was reminded of that fact, it took him more than ten seconds to get it clicked in her head. "Oh! Yeah, yeah sure. Of course," she laughed nervously and quickly unlocked her car to let him in.

It was strange how she felt like she could go on with conversations with him and it was something satisfying as well. They laughed and teased each other about some random stupid things they had done in the past, which was quite a fresh thing to Chaeyoung because her past – sweet or bitter – would only get passed to certain people and out of all people, she was now sharing some gossips of celebrities with the man who had sent her a his sexy picture on New Year's Eve.

"So I guess I'll see you when I see you?" he said before stepping out of the elevator.

"Yeah, see you around," she responded gently.

The elevator door was about to close when he used his arm to block it. "Thanks. And, um, it was nice talking to you."

She beamed and felt as though she couldn't stop doing it as she stared at him. "Yeah, it was nice talking to you too."

"I'll see you around."

Chaeyoung chuckled; bit her lower lip softly with a light nod. "I'll see you when I see you."

When she was about to go bed, her device let out a ding sound and she subconsciously smiled when she saw from who it was.

Cookie: –Hey.

Pasta: –Hi.

Cookie: –I need some help.

Pasta: –Regarding?

Cookie: –Outfits.

Pasta: –I'm not a fashionista.

Cookie: –But you have a good taste ;)

Pasta: –Okay then.

Cookie: –What kind of style would women in their 20s enjoy staring at?

Pasta: –When the man is topless, it's a nice view ;)

Cookie: –Naughty. I like it.

Pasta: –Lol. But seriously. Just wear whatever you want.

Cookie: –If she hates it?

Pasta: –She's just not for you then.

Cookie: –Any reason?

Pasta: –If she's for you, she'll accept you for who you are and support you doing or enjoying the things that you like. Simple as that.

Cookie: –Smart girl.

Pasta: –Good night.

Cookie: –Good night. Thank you.

Chaeyoung stared at the exchanged messages between her and Jungkook, or in this case, Cookie. She didn't know when or how exactly it started but they went from flirting buddies to her becoming his advisor. Probably when he started to pour out his frustrations about his ex-girlfriend on one night.

When Jungkook told her about some things regarding his ex-girlfriend, she pretended to not know about it even though she already knew, and that she was just listening to a playback of the story. What she didn't know was the identity of that woman. Turned out that she was the really beautiful blonde girl in the club. She was quite a catch, though. Who wouldn't be smitten?

Perhaps, with her knowing his sad story of him getting dumped was the reason why she suddenly get comfortable telling him how he was stupid for letting himself being treated like that.

Chaeyoung put her phone aside and breathed in softly. It had been a while since she felt like it was worth it to go out of her house although staying at home would bore her to death as well. Tonight was strange in a good way, and fun.

*

Jungkook leaned backwards and closed his eyes, ignoring the gossip his colleague was telling him in whispers. When he wouldn't pay any attention, the male flicked his ear and Jungkook groaned with a scrunched up face.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked, slowly opening his eyes and glared.

Yugyeom leaned towards him once again and said, "I said, I heard that our office will get a makeover. Like, finally!"

Jungkook scoffed, closing his eyes again. He was trying to take a nap while their boss went out for a while and considering how majority of his colleagues were slacking off as well, it was just the perfect moment to have a little nap. He didn't understand what was so special about getting a makeover for their office, he was sure that it wouldn't make him, in particular, productive nor would it make him love his job.

"Boss will be back in a bit, so you should stop napping," Yugyeom told him.

"He can't come back that fast, he just went out," Jungkook said with a sigh.

"He's back!" Yugyeom hissed. "Get up. Put your legs down! He's back!"

"Shut up. He just went out."

"Yeah, but he's back!"

Jungkook grunted and slumped down in his seat before he heard a thunder roared. A thunder in a human form. "Jeon Jungkook!"

Jungkook stood up abruptly, fixing his hair on the back of his head, his other hand pulling down his shirt.

"I told you," Yugyeom said lowly, pretending to focus on his work, hitting his fingers on the keyboard.

"Shut up," he hissed lowly before slowly lifting his head up to face his boss.

"If I see you slacking off one more time, do you see that door?" Bang Sihyuk pointed at the main door. "You can get out. Do you get me?"

Jungkook heard everything clearly and he knew what to reply to his boss but the figure standing next to Bang Sihyuk was taking all the words in his mouth away from him. He blinked slowly and had his lips parted but no word seemed to exist.

What was Chaeyoung doing here in his workplace?

"I didn't know he had a daughter," Yugyeom said.

"Did you hear what I said, Jeon Jungkook?!" Bang Sihyuk roared once more and Jungkook jumped a little, finally taking his eyes off Chaeyoung.

"Yes, yes," he responded, bowing hastily before landing his eyes on her again. She was staring at him too and looked a little stunned when his boss thundered. When his boss led her to his room, Jungkook stayed frozen in his spot even though he heard Yugyeom telling him to sit. Chaeyoung turned to him again and smiled a little and a few seconds later, he was able to smile back before she turned away and entered his boss' room.

"I know she's pretty but you probably don't stand a chance seeing as how Boss is upset at you. Most likely he's not going to accept you as his future son-in-law."

"What?" Jungkook asked, eyes not leaving the closed door and thought of how and why there were so many coincidences happening between him and Chaeyoung. Not only that they were living in the same building and had shared some fun stories in the club, she was also his Boss' daughter.

Yugyeom snorted and pulled his arm down, forcing him to sit. "You have zero chance of becoming his son-in-law."

Jungkook responded with a scoff. "Who said I want to be his fucking son-in-law?"

"Why do you look like you just found your soulmate when you saw her standing next to Bang Sihyuk just now?"

"That's because I know her," he replied calmly, stealing glances towards his Boss' room when curiosity provoked him. "She's...my neighbor."

"Why didn't I know that you have Boss' daughter as your neighbor?" Yugyeom feigned disappointment.

Jungkook tapped his pen in a quick motion as he kept his stare on the door to his Boss' room. He shouldn't care of any purpose why Chaeyoung was in his office after all, but he was. "As if I know she's his daughter," he muttered. When he felt like he was about to get suffocated with curiosity, he stood up and took the files and some papers he had on his table.

"Where are you going?" Yugyeom asked when he walked past their cubicles.

"I need him to check on these reports," he said quick and heard Yugyeom scoffing before saying, "Yeah right."

*

There were knocks on the door while Chaeyoung was just done showing her portfolios. She was on her way to spill some ideas on how to revamp the look of the office but was stopped with a raise of Bang Sihyuk's hand.

"Come in."

She heard the door opened and turning around, she was met with Jungkook looking straight at her with some files in his hands. He sent her a small smile before the man sitting opposite her started to speak in that funny voice of him.

"What are you here for?" Bang Sihyuk asked Jungkook. "Are you here to hand in your resignation letter?"

Chaeyoung chewed on her bottom lip softly as she looked at Jungkook taking a spot next to where she was sitting, standing still for a few seconds before he placed the files on the table. "No, Boss. I want to show you the reports."

He turned to look down at her for a brief moment and she felt her heart tickled when they shared smiles at the same time.

While Bang Sihyuk was busy browsing through the papers, Chaeyoung felt like it was a compulsory thing to do to steal glances at Jungkook but she got flustered when he caught her eyes. It was more embarrassing that it happened a few times.

"Finally you got them right. Why do you have to take forever to do so," Bang Sihyuk said with no emotion at all before he pushed the files roughly on the table.

"Well, Boss. Good stuff takes time. And mistakes happened so we can learn," Jungkook responded with such calmness and Chaeyoung tried her very best to not laugh because she liked how he responded to his boss. It reminded her of when he dissed Namjoon's outfit.

"Get the hell out of here."

Chaeyoung took a deep breath softly once Jungkook was out before proceeding with her work as an interior designer. Minutes of discussing with this man made her feel her blood was boiling and she could explode at any moment even though her face was displaying calmness and politeness. If she didn't need this client so much, she would walk out that door because Bang Sihyuk was irritating her so much.

One time he would ask for her opinion and the second he would tell her how awful her design would be if she was to do this and that. One time he would ask her how would she transform his room into a room that would scream elegance and masculinity and when she did, he would tell her how he didn't think that was the right way to design that room.

She wanted so much to yell at his face that art is not something that is fixed. It should be a way to express freedom and everyone has his or her own way and preferences on some things. When she was asked for her opinion, she was just giving her opinion. There was no need for him to tell her how suck her taste was.

When she first came into that room, she didn't think she would exit it with her smiles all gone. She was startled when she heard a low 'hey' from her left and looked up to find Jungkook standing with his hands in his pockets.

She smiled a little at him, hugging her portfolios and some files close to her chest as she approached him. "Are you slacking off again?" she teased. "You could get fired."

Jungkook laughed softly and strangely, she felt at ease when she heard his laughter and stared at his beautiful face while he laughed.

"Doesn't matter. I'll work at my friend's place if I were to get fired," he said with a shrug. "It's break time in like, eight minutes. You wanna grab some lunch with me?"

Chaeyoung knitted her brows briefly, checking her watch and said, "Sure, I'll wait for you in the cafeteria?"

"Wait? Why don't we go there together?" he asked and before Chaeyoung could respond, he had his hand pressed to her back gently as he walked next to her towards the main door.

She chuckled lightly and turned to him with furrowed brows. "Your break time is in eight minutes."

"So?"

"Aren't you afraid of your Boss at all?" she asked with an amused tone.

"Why should I?" Jungkook said once they were out. "He wouldn't realize it. It's his nap time anyway. And in like one minute," he paused briefly, flicking his wrist to check on the time. "About four to five more people will go out for a break."

With a wide smile on Chaeyoung's face before her laughter broke, she shook her head and told Jungkook how he and his colleagues were cool.

"I didn't know you're my boss' daughter. I had some bad stuff I wanted to talk about but I don't think I can," he laughed next to her.

"What?" she asked in slightly widened eyes. "He's not my father."

"Oh?"

She looked at him long, trying to figure out what made him think so before she gave him a smile. He probably thought of any possible reasons why she was there in his workplace. "I don't know if you've heard of your office going to go for some changes in design. I'll be in charge of it. I came to discuss it with him," she explained.

"That's a relief," he said with an exaggerated relieved expression on his face.

And as she expected, their lunch was spent on eating and badmouthing Jungkook's boss, which she found to be fun to do. She never knew males would gossip as well. When his break was almost over, she decided to leave as well. It was partly uncomfortable in a way that it made her feel special when he decided to walk her to her car instead of going back to his office.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" he asked before she entered her car.

"No. Why?"

Jungkook kept his head down and she saw a nervous smile as he hummed for a moment. "I was thinking if you'd come to my house for a dinner?" he asked, lifting his brow at her.

Chaeyoung swallowed and she didn't know if he actually realized how that question somehow made her smile freeze on her face while her eyes went unblinking. And days or months or years later, she knew she was going to regret it because of how embarrassing it would look when she was quick to nod her head. "Yeah. Sure."

"Awesome." He slowly stepped back, his grin wide on his face. Each step of him going backwards would be accompanied with the number of his house and she felt her face flushed when he said, "I'll see you tonight."

*

It took him less than thirty minutes to tidy up his place and shortly after he took a shower, Jungkook heard the doorbell rang. His smile widened even before he opened the door and he chewed his bottom lip lightly when Chaeyoung smiled at him. It was funny how he expected her to dress up really nicely but then standing in front of him was Chaeyoung with just an oversized jumper and a pair of sweatpants and when his eyes landed on her feet, she was wearing house slippers. For some reason, he loved that look on her. Plus, Jungkook personally thought that she looked cuter without having any layer of make up on her face.

Jungkook smiled, crossing his arms over his chest and leaned his body against the doorframe. "Do you always come to other's house looking like you're going for a sleepover?"

"I live on the floor above you. Won't it be a waste to dress up for only a dinner with my neighbor who lives just downstairs?"

Weird how he felt like every single interaction he had with her made him feel warm inside, he realized. Smiling warmly, he made a space for her to enter, "Come in." Jungkook led her towards his kitchen, not wanting to waste more time since he was starving himself and he was pretty sure Chaeyoung was too. When she saw the food on the table, she looked at him with eyes forming crescents when she chuckled.

"Wow..." Chaeyoung said slowly as she examined the food. "You cooked all this?"

Jungkook raised his eyebrow and enlarged his eyes at her and a small chuckle broke out of him. "Excuse me? Are you underestimating me?"

"I'm not," she giggled. "I just find it hard to believe that you would cook and probably for an easier way, you'd just order some food."

"Well, I need to impress you with my cooking skills," he said. "Aren't you impressed yet at all the good qualities I have?" he teased, although he was half hoping for that.

"Apart from being a good cook, what's the other good quality?" she asked, fingers tapping on the chair.

"I thought I told you that I'll be loyal to the person that I like. I'm all you ever wanted for a boyfriend," he winked and noticed how she suddenly looked away, and her chuckle was different from the teasing one. And he also noticed that slight pink colors on her cheeks. "I mean...well, you know, how I was loyal to my ex-girlfriend, being so loyal and dumb at the same time," he chuckled nervously and awkwardly looked away. "Hey, sit down. And tell me what you think of my cooking."

They sat in silence before she hummed and told him that his cooking weren't bad and he was glad when she tried to lighten up the mood with some teasing, which made it easier for him to break the awkwardness he created himself.

"For a man, these aren't bad and you have a decent skill in cooking," she said with a shrug, pretending to have that arrogant critic look on her face.

"I'm beyond decent, okay? You just have a weird taste," he defended himself in a playful way.

"Oh," she scoffed and flipped her hair. "Look at you, sounding like Bang Sihyuk telling me my taste is weird."

Jungkook laughed and leaned backwards, tipping his head to the back when the food nearly jumped out of his mouth. After managing to save it from falling off his mouth, Jungkook leaned towards the table and propped his elbows on the table, his hands linked under his chin. "Well, sometimes people tend to inherit a little bit of everyone from around them."

Once they were done with dinner, he let her wash the dishes since she insisted. The longer he stared at her back dealing with the plates and bowls, the itchier his hands felt to reach and maybe, encircle her within his arms. It must feel damn good to have his chest pressed against her back while his arms caged her in, and it would feel even better if he could, maybe, tuck his chin on her shoulder and maybe, inhale her scent in while he press his nose to her neck. And it wouldn't be enough if only his nose would be having that chance and he knew his lips should have a taste of her as well. And –

Jungkook blinked. What was he thinking? Why did those things even cross his mind?

"I expected your house to be the opposite of neat," she chuckled. "I am impressed."

He cleared his throat and looked around his house before following her from behind. "Well, I need to impress you after all. So I just threw everything in one of the rooms to make my living room look amazing."

Chaeyoung whipped her head around and stared at him with opened mouth. Three seconds later, she laughed at him and said, "Oh, you just ruined the perfect 'you'. I started to think that you're really perfect until you came clean."

Jungkook smiled sheepishly and exhaled softly as he looked at her. "Well, I thought everyone does that? Pretending to be perfect."

"Yeah, but not everyone will reveal the truth."

"Didn't that add up one more of a good trait of me? I am not only loyal, I cook well and I am an honest person."

Chaeyoung stared up at him with a softened look and a warm smile. Jungkook found himself staring into her eyes before he felt his gaze went down to her lips. Before his imagination could go even further, she turned away towards the balcony and slowly, she stepped forward.

Jungkook swallowed and put on a smile back on his face. "I don't know about your place, but I love the view I have here. The balcony faces exactly where the sun will set. It makes me love hanging out in the balcony," he said, standing next to him.

Chaeyoung's brows furrowed as she looked around from left to right, up to down. "Hm..."

"And, the view is not the only thing that makes me like the balcony," he beamed. "Living above me is a girl who plays the guitar and sings. She doesn't sing every single day but when she does, I feel blessed."

Chaeyoung didn't remove her eyes from the space in front of her.

"And it's like she knows exactly when to sing. Almost whenever I had a bad day, she'd play the guitar and sing her heart out. Sometimes she sang songs that fit my mood and sometimes she sang songs that cheered me up. I wish I could just shout from here to tell her to sing for me every day because I love she could make me like the songs that I hate but that would be weird and she'd probably stop singing."

Jungkook furrowed his brows when she didn't give any respond after telling her every single thing about why he liked the singer living above him. "Chaeyoung?"

"Huh?"

"Are you alright?"

She blinked a few times and chuckled softly, not meeting eyes with him. "Yeah."

He nodded, still unsure but decided to continue. "You know, she always sings three to four songs. Sometimes she made them into medley, sometimes she just switched the songs but there's always one song that she wouldn't exclude. I used to dislike that song but then I felt like it relates to me and –"

When Chaeyoung opened her mouth and interrupted him, she was singing.

"'Cause if you like the way you look that much, oh baby you should go and love yourself. And if you think, that I'm still holding on to something, you should go and love yourself."

Jungkook's eyes widened, his body slowly turning towards her completely before she did the same. He recognized that voice really well. Looking up at him, she began singing again.

"For all the times that you made me feel small. I fell in love, now I feel nothin' at all. And never felt so low when I was vulnerable. Was I a fool to let you break down my walls?"

When she stopped, she licked her lips and gazed at him with twinkling eyes.

Jungkook gulped and the corner of his lips slowly pulled, forming a slow smile that widened on his face. It was the same voice he heard singing above him, only clearer and louder this time. "It...it..." he stammered, taking in a deep breath before chuckling. "It was you?"

Chaeyoung looked away with shyness painting her cheeks. "I... guess? I don't know. Is my singing voice the same voice you heard before?"

Jungkook was speechless for longer seconds and spent those moments of silence to gaze down on her. "Yes. It's... the same. It's," he chuckled. "It's you. Wow. Oh my god. I can't believe that –" he laughed, unable to find any words that would be right to say at that time.

Chaeyoung sighed with a smile on her face. "How many coincidences have we encountered so far?"

He listed anything he could remember in his mind while his eyes lingered on the side of her face while she was talking about the things that he couldn't take in. He was too distracted of how he could even have this part in his life where it seemed as though coincidence after coincidence fell on him, and he could say he enjoyed each of those coincidences. He had first met her weeks ago but he just knew her. But there was just something about her that made him feel comfortable in his own skin in a very short amount of time.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" she chuckled when he realized that she noticed how he was unable to keep his eyes off her.

His brows were furrowed while his lips formed a tiny smile, a look of unsure. "I... I don't know," he answered.

She tilted her head and her forehead wrinkled, lips pouting slightly before she asked, "You don't know? So you just stare at people for no reason?"

He could feel how his responses felt robotic, as though he was hypnotized but he couldn't stop it. "I guess..." he said with a low voice.

"...okay," she laughed softly before looking away again. A little while later, she turned to look at him again and nudged his arm. "Hey, stop looking at me –"

Jungkook leaned down in a rush and pressed his lips onto hers, covering her mouth with his and felt his hand trying to find its way onto her waist and it did. He held her waist gently while his mouth taking its time to study the outline of her lips. It took him a few moments to realize that she wasn't responding, stiffened under his touch that he awkwardly pulled away. His eyes met hers, they were wide and mirrored the feeling of surprise.

He swallowed thickly and felt a little bitter going down the wall of his throat. "Sorry, I..." he breathed and cursed at himself in his mind. What did he expect? Hadn't he learned that not everyone who clicked with him would share mutual attractions?

He was about to step backwards when he noticed that she was moving forward a little before her hands landed on his chest. Jungkook felt his heart beat quite abnormally when she didn't look away from his eyes as, very slowly, her hands moved upwards, sliding over his chest and linking them behind his neck. She pulled his neck gently but she was the one moving her face towards his a little quick for him to get ready. He didn't get to inhale a little bit of air when her lips touched his, but he wasn't complaining. Not when she gave him a kiss that he would consider as electrifying, and he was glad when he was given another chance to explore the beautiful shape of her lips.

Jungkook moved one of his hands from her lower back to run upwards and downwards of her spine while he slowly wrapped an arm around her body, pressing her close to his chest. His tongue darted out to trace the contour of her lips, tasting one of the many tastes of her and he felt his insides cheered when the sound of her soft moan entered his ear.

He heard himself growl when Chaeyoung didn't hesitate to grant access for him the moment he urged her lips to part using his tongue, nudging her lips softly but demanding. When his tongue met with hers, she moaned against his mouth and Jungkook furrowed his brows as he felt her fingers laced through his locks, tugging on them for dear life as the kiss exploded within their connected mouths.

It was Chaeyoung who broke the kiss, and Jungkook wanted to whine like a baby when he felt her lips dragging away from his that he pulled her neck to connect their mouths again for a brief moment before releasing her mouth free. He looked at the lashes that rested on the skin of her cheeks as she was looking down. He kept his hands on her hip, holding her firmly as her hands slowly slid down from his neck to his chest.

She breathed out loudly, chuckled softly and Jungkook let his hands fell to his sides when she moved within his arms. She leaned towards the railing of the balcony and Jungkook did the same. He looked up the dark sky before glancing towards her who was busy trying to hold her smile. Without any hesitation at all this time, his hands crawled its way to find hers on the railing, lazing their fingers together and saw from the corner of his eyes that she turned to face him the moment he looked at the night sky again.

No words seemed to want to roll out of their mouths at that time, Jungkook thought. With a smirk, he looked at her who was still staring at him. He pulled the hand he was holding down the railing, slowly using it to pull her towards him and using his free hand, he cupped her face gently. It was just a few minutes apart but he suddenly longed for that mouth of hers on his again and so, he once again seized her lips, trying to steal her breath once more and maybe drown them both in a pleasure even for such a simple kiss.

When they parted again, Chaeyoung smiled and murmured against his lips. "Don't you think that this is too early?"

"No," he said with honesty albeit grinning.

"But we don't really know each other to be doing this," she chuckled.

"Well, we do have our lifetime to learn about each other."

Jungkook had stared into a woman's eyes before, with affection and with admiration and with his feelings displayed clearly. Although it was bitter, he had to admit that that woman had never stared into his eyes when he was doing so. He had stared into a woman's eyes for longer period, but it wasn't reciprocated at all and he was blind back then when he thought he would get it one day from the same woman. That didn't happen.

It was a new thing for him to have a woman staring back at him for so long, stared into his eyes, with quite the same things he had on his eyes. It made his heart raced happily.

He pecked her lips with exaggerating sounds that made her laugh before her phone reverberated somewhere in his living room; breaking the sweet atmosphere they were having in the balcony. Turned out it was a call from her friend and she had to go.

"Wait," he said, taking her hand in his. "We kissed before we got each other's contact number. Give me your phone number."

Chaeyoung blinked up at him and clung onto his shoulder as she pressed her lips onto the corner of his mouth. Her lips shifted towards his ear and she said, "There's no need to rush. We have our lifetime to learn about each other." And she ran away, giggling.

He wanted to protest, but at least, he knew the exact location of her house and that was more important than her phone number.

*

Chaeyoung lay on her bed, staring at her phone and thought of Jungkook's request to have her number. She'd give him right away if it wasn't because she had been the anonymous who'd entertain his night when he felt like it. Well, she wasn't forced to do so. She did it on her own with no one forcing her. She could just refuse the first time he had requested to see how she'd look like wearing the lingerie. She could just not send anything at all to him.

But for some reason, she did. And she wasn't sure if she was ready to reveal to him that she was Pasta and she wasn't sure how he'd react. Was it considered exaggerating to feel scared that he'd be disappointed and angry at her when she didn't know him that much and the same was for him?

She forced herself to sleep and didn't think much of how she was going to tell him. She'd just tell it straight to his face and what his reaction would be shouldn't matter much to her. Next week, she would have a meeting with Bang Sihyuk and surely, she'd meet Jungkook as well. Meeting that client of hers would be another torture but at least, she knew she'd have Jungkook to be her partner in talking badly about Bang Sihyuk and she could already imagine all the fun they'd get from doing so.

But the meeting was far from what she expected.

It was surprising that the meeting went well and Bang Sihyuk seemed to like her new design this time. She went home with Jungkook on that day after they had spent dinner outside, and while they were in the elevator, when the old couple went out of the elevator, she held back her smile when she heard shifting on the floor. Once the door closed, Jungkook turned her around, captured her lips into a kiss so breathtaking that she had to push him away to take a breather.

Chuckling, she playfully poked his chest and said under her breath, "There's a CCTV in here, Jungkook."

Jungkook cornered her, placing both hands against the wall beside each side of her head. He leaned down and said with a deep voice she didn't know would come out of him. "They're probably bored to see nothing's going on so let's give them a show."

"You're insane," she laughed and ducked down, moved to her left but he cornered her again, holding her waist and pinning her to the wall. The tip of his nose was tickling the skin of her face as he used it to roam around her face in a slow and gentle movement while having his eyes closed. When he pulled away, he looked straight into her eyes and she bit her lip when saw the request in his eyes.

She smiled at him seductively while still biting down the flesh of her lip when he moved backwards, pressing the button to his floor to cancel it. Luckily, no one came in and they just spent those moments of waiting until the elevator stopped on her floor gazing and pecking each other's lips.

Chaeyoung's fingers slightly trembled when she was trying to key in the password to her house; Jungkook was moaning while kissing her neck, nipping lightly and sucking the skin that she had to stop for a moment to make sure she wouldn't make a mistake. When she turned to her right, she noticed a man awkwardly walking back into his house when he noticed them and Chaeyoung felt her cheeks burned but giggled anyway.

As soon as the sound telling her that her password was correct and that her door was unlocked, she gasped and laughed next when Jungkook impatiently pushed the door open and pushed her inside. He kicked the door close with his heel and started to pull her, switched their position and pinned her against the door. When he roughly crashed his lips to hers, her head bumped to the barrier behind her and Jungkook immediately pulled back, a little worry was displayed on his face but instead of getting angry, she laughed at him and pulled him into a quick kiss that broke almost as quick as the way he pushed the barrier open.

"Patience, boy," she said in a slightly whispered voice.

Jungkook grinned and took her lower lip in between his teeth after he kissed her. "I spent my past being a patient person. It's time for a change," he said and tried to pull his shirt over his head but she stopped him.

"At least, let's not start here," she giggled, pushing him backwards as her hands tugged on his waist. "The mess should only be in the bedroom. My friend could come at any time and I don't want to be caught in that situation."

He gazed down at her for a moment before he smirked and said, "Okay. I hope I'll get your room right."

Before she could get an explanation on what he meant by that, he bent down and lifted her up his shoulder, his arm pressing her thighs to his chest so she wouldn't fall and Chaeyoung laughed heartily as she tried to keep her hair from blocking her view of where they were heading to. Of course he would get it right on the first try since she used the master bedroom as her bedroom and surely, he was the same.

Jungkook put her down on the bed and hovered over her, his hands dipped down the mattress on each side of her body. He helped her to push all the hair on her face and she felt her heart danced when he smiled down at her, using the back of his finger to caress the skin of her cheek. All of the things she wanted to tell him earlier had gone muted in her brain that all she could think of was to enjoy this moment at the time being and not ruin the mood. When he dipped down to latch his mouth onto the skin of her throat, her fingers slowly moved to his waist, pulling the hem of his white shirt upwards while letting her fingertips to graze on the skin of his body lightly.

She had thought of wearing the lingerie he had seen before from the picture she had sent to him but a rushed Jungkook was beyond hot. And plus, his impatience was slowly affecting her as well.

*

Jungkook sighed, his eyes blinking lazily as he stared into the ceiling before he slowly turned to the sleeping figure next to him. A lazy smile pulled on his face when he saw the little red marks on Chaeyoung's neck and shoulder. He shifted on the bed slowly and pressed a soft kiss on her shoulder where he had left a mark.

When she stirred in her sleep, Jungkook hushed and pecked her forehead softly, patting her duvet-covered stomach tenderly. He sat up and leaned his back against the headboard as careful as he could as he didn't want his lover to be woken up so early. He grabbed his phone on the table next to the bed and confirmed that it was still early in the morning.

He recalled back the thoughts he had a few days ago during night when he had exchanged some more messages with the anonymous who wanted to be known as Pasta. He knew that it was still too early to decide what he wanted to be with his lover because honestly, he felt like they were going too fast with everything. At the same time, he didn't feel any regret. Perhaps it was for that reason why he thought it was best to cut off his contact with Pasta since there was a part of him that kept telling him to try to start anew, start forgetting his bitter past and start something with this woman next to him.

Maybe it was still too early to start things, maybe it was too quick to be doing so, but it wouldn't hurt to try. And to start with that, he really needed to stop contacting Pasta to show to Chaeyoung how he was serious when he said he was a loyal man. He didn't want her to think that he had side chicks or anything similar to that. He didn't want to be caught having Pasta's messages or pictures in his phone.

Inhaling deeply, he made up his mind and searched for Pasta's contact number and typed in his message. As much as he liked what he shared with Pasta, he didn't think anything could bloom with her because she didn't even want to reveal her face to him. A few seconds after that, he heard Chaeyoung's phone dinged on the bedside table on Chaeyoung's side. It must be her best friend, Jennie.

He stared at the messages he had sent to Pasta and felt like he should at least thank her since she had helped her quite a lot. And so he sent another message. Soon after he clicked send and placed his phone on the table, Chaeyoung's phone dinged again and she stirred. Slowly, Jungkook moved above her to carefully take her phone to silence it. Chaeyoung was too cute when she was asleep and he wanted to see this side of her longer.

The light of her screen had not died yet the moment he retrieved the phone. He accidentally glanced at it and saw 'Cookie' on the screen with two new messages.

His eyes widened as he kept his eyes focused on the device and the messages.

They were the messages he had just sent.

*

Chaeyoung stretched on the bed and let out a deep sigh after. She opened her eyes slowly, her fingers tracing on her own body, feeling the skin where she was sure became the location where she was marked last night. A faint smile painted her face as she slowly tilted her head on the pillow, trying to search for the man whom she had shared a passionate night with.

She spotted Jungkook sitting on the edge of the bed, still not dressed and she figured that he might had just woken up a few minutes earlier than her. She brought herself up, pressing the duvet to her chest as she slowly moved her butt forward towards him. She chewed her lip when she saw a few red lines on his back, slowly recalling that awesome night and replaying the scene in her head. She traced them with her fingers gently and felt his body jerked a little, probably felt ticklish under her soft touches.

Jungkook looked over his shoulder as he scratched his head, his hair was messy. "Morning."

She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair, styling them to make them less messy. "Good morning. Why are you up so early?"

He took a deep breath, humming a little and said, "I'm starving."

She chuckled and folded her legs beneath the duvet, her eyes wandered around trying to search for her shirt but instead of wasting more time for that, she grabbed Jungkook's white t-shirt, which was the closest to her. She didn't know why after one night, it suddenly felt like she had known him forever. "What do you want to eat?" she asked while slipping into his shirt.

Jungkook hummed for long seconds before replying. "Do you have cookies here?"

She lightly kicked the duvet off her feet after putting on her underwear. "Yeah, they're in the cabinet. That's all that you need for your breakfast?"

"No," he said with a small smile. "I was hoping for you to prepare me something else."

"Okay," she nodded while smiling up at him. "What do you want me to cook for you?"

Jungkook stood up and put on his underwear quick and grabbed his pants. He stared into her eyes as he said, "Pasta."

Chaeyoung blinked and felt a tiny invisible prick on the inside when she heard it. "What?"

"I'd like to have pasta for my breakfast...Pasta," he said calmly. The smile he had earlier had been wiped off his face.

Her throat had been blocked by a sudden lump when she heard the name he had just called her.

Pasta.

For probably a minute, maybe more or maybe less –she wasn't sure – neither spoke a word, and she kept her head low as she tried to think of a way to have the thickening silence to break. She knew that she shouldn't expect to have him gave her no reaction when he knew about it. Yet, when this reaction was what she received, she felt her heart sink.

"Is that why you don't want to give me your number?" he asked. She suddenly missed the teasing tone he would usually use on her. To have him being serious made him look and feel like a stranger again. A total stranger.

"I want to give you my number but I thought I'd have to explain some stuff beforehand," she said softly.

"You know," Jungkook began, pulling on his pants and leaned his hip against the dressing table with his arms crossed. "It's silly to me how quick we get into this, because I didn't believe in this concept one bit before I knew you. And I don't know what the hell happened to me that when I met you and I knew a few things about you, I feel like I want us to be more than just strangers. I want us to be something. Maybe I'm desperate for a relationship, I don't know for sure. But I honestly don't want us to be just strangers, just neighbors. It's ridiculous, but that's what I feel."

She knew she had to say something but she was just out of words when she listened to him telling her all of that.

"I'm serious when I told you I'll be loyal to someone that I like. That's why I texted Pasta this morning to tell her to stop contacting me anymore. I don't want you to think that I was joking when I told you about my loyalty. Turned out you and Pasta are the same person."

Her face softened and at the same time she felt the skin of her cheeks burning hot. "Jungkook..."

"Why didn't you want to tell me about it?" he asked.

Chaeyoung swallowed thickly before responding, "I wanted to. I was planning to tell you yesterday but I don't know, I forgot about it when I spent my time with you. I got distracted that I even forgot about it after our dinner. But I do plan to tell you about it. I swear. I swear I wasn't trying to fool you or trick you. I didn't mean –I didn't know that we'll go as far as this. I thought we'd stay as strangers."

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked again. "Why did you hide about it?"

She sighed and combed her hair backwards using her fingers. "I don't know, Jungkook. I guess..." She pressed her lips into a thin line briefly. "I guess I was scared that you'd find me weird or embarrassing for my personality as Pasta. I don't want you to think of me like ninety percent of me is actually, what, a horny woman who sends sexy pictures to a guy she barely –no –a guy she doesn't know at all," she breathed, rubbing her face with her palm.

The moment her hand dropped from her face, Jungkook suddenly launched forward, bending his body down and pressed both hands onto the mattress on each side of her body. His face leaning forward as he gave her an intense gaze and she jerked backwards, startled by the sudden movement he made. Her own hands propped on the mattress behind her, her eyes widening as she blinked at him. His face was so close to hers that she felt her eyes crossed when she stared at him.

"To know that a good girl like you have a naughty side to herself," he murmured, the tip of his nose touching hers, "it's a major turn on for me," he breathed against her lips and she gasped when he pushed her body to fall on the mattress before he kissed her long and deep, leaving her lips red and swollen before he slid off the bed and walked towards the door in slow steps.

"Wait, what?" Chaeyoung asked with slight stammer before she quickly got off the bed, trying to follow him from behind.

Jungkook turned around abruptly and she bumped into his hard rock chest. When she looked at his face, he displayed a smirk and tucked her hair to behind her ear and said, "You should have come clean earlier, you know."

She furrowed her brows deeply. Her lips parted and sealed a few times before asking again, "What? Hold up a second. Wait –you're not...mad?"

"Mad?" Jungkook chuckled. "Are you silly? I'm just disappointed that you didn't tell me about it earlier."

She was left frozen on the spot she was standing on, and her eyes blinked only when Jungkook came back to pull her hand, dragging her towards the kitchen. "I'm serious when I said I want pasta, though," he said with a smile.

Seeing that smile again on his face, she finally was able to find hers. She slipped her hand off his hold and said, "Okay. Fill yourself with the cookies while I take a shower."

Jungkook lifted his brow at her, not letting her go as he tugged on his shirt that she was wearing. "Can I join?"

"You can shower at your own place," she grinned, pulling the shirt away from his grasp and ran lightly towards the bathroom, squealed when she heard his footsteps following her. Before she could close the door, Jungkook's foot blocked it and she bit on her lip when he started to unzip his pants that he had just put on a few minutes ago.

"I need to shower as well," he said lowly, smirk was pulling on his face.

"Wait for your turn then."

"There's no turn whatsoever," he said, stepping into the bathroom and she kept her eyes on his as she stepped backwards.

"I'll prepare your pasta while you shower," she said, trying to slip out of the bathroom playfully but he grabbed her arm and pushed her away from the door.

"You're not going anywhere." His hand reached backwards and without looking, he slid the door close, gaze never leaving hers. "We might not be able to save water but," he said in a voice above whisper, fingers pulling the shirt covering her body upwards very slowly, "we can save time if we shower together, don't you think?"

The moment both their bodies were freed from any garment, their mouths connected almost quickly, just like how quick they went from strangers to something.