Annie

Days on trial: 59

"Quick! Quick, quick, quick!" Chloe rushed us through a crowd of people, trying to get the best vantage spot. "It's nearly time! Ah, there they are - baby!"

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Jimin cooed, engulfing her into a hug like fire taking hold of a dry forest.

We'd found them through a maze of cedarwood huts, temporary stalls for the Christmas market that had come to town. Lights had been strung from building to building, twinkling above us like stars that had come to say hello to us mere mortals. We welcomed them eagerly, bewitched by their dazzling sparkle, which illuminated the vast dark sky.

I hadn't had a single cup of coffee yet that day, and dare I say it, I was getting addicted - so you can imagine my delight as I saw Jungkook, leant against the thigh-height wall, two steaming cups in hand.

"One of those better be for me, Kook," I narrowed my eyes as I glanced at them.

My eyes focused on his hands that were clasped around the wax-coated cups. It was intentional; an attempt not to get a stupid grin on my face when our eyes met.

Though the Multi life had been an easy adjustment for him, his wardrobe still resembled that of a Mono. Dark jeans covered his legs, and I almost blushed remembering them bare. A thick black bomber kept his torso warm and peeking out from the top, I could see a little bit of green. For some reason, I felt proud. The idiot was finally wearing colour.

"Pick your poison: syrup with a little coffee, or coffee with a little syrup," he joked, knowing how much I hated his order. My raised eyebrows gave him my answer as he passed me my coffee. "Thought so."

"Thank you."

The sizzle of bratwurst sausages steamed around us, the scent heavenly and enticing, but it wasn't time for dinner yet. There was far too much to explore to just settle for the first stall next to us.

Like a gaggle of tourists in our home city, we marvelled at the sights around us. Blushed noses and frozen breath aside, there was warmth amongst us.

"No bother. I was getting one for myself anyways," he shrugged, mumbling against the lid of his cup before taking a sip. "How have you been?"

We dissolve into conversations of this and that, tales from my office and details of his latest commission.

What I don't tell him is that I hadn't been able to concentrate for two days straight.

"Hair up," Chloe had instructed me when she saw me groaning over the three sentences I had written on my screen earlier that day. It had been the same way for nearly four hours by that point. "You concentrate better with your hair up."

Reaching for the hair tie that she was holding my way, I sighed, knowing she was right.

But I also knew I couldn't thread my hair through the band without thinking about the way Jungkook had played with it in my kitchen a few nights ago.

I had been cooking, and he had been talking about something inconsequential when he decided that he wanted to play a part in the creation of our meal. Stood next to me, half a glass of wine in his system, he'd started to let himself become tactile with me.

It was nothing, really, just his palm clasped around my ponytail, gently brushing downwards, as if he was making sure all of the hairs were uniform. It might have just been a distraction technique so that he could take the wooden spoon out of my hand without me questioning it - and it had worked.

The rest of the night had followed suit; tiny insignificant actions and words that meant nothing, but had me thinking they meant everything.

Jungkook's knee had rested against mine under the cover of my fuzzy grey throw after dinner. We were sprawled on my sofa after one too many fajitas, and were both aware that we were touching, yet neither of us moved.

The remains of our dinner and two bottles of wine had been discarded on my coffee table. He'd insisted on a white to pair with the chicken, but I was after something a little sweeter so had opened a bottle of rose too. By the time we'd had our first respective glass, neither of us cared what we were drinking, just as long as we were drinking.

"Annie?" His voice was a mumble, eyes closed and half asleep. I could feel the vibrations of his croaky voice sink into my sofa and through my body.

"Mhmm," I sounded, not bothering to muster up an actual response.

Midnight had come and gone, and we should have really stopped watching television hours ago, but the way his face would light up whenever scenes he had memorised in Mono greeted him in full colour was enough to make me soft. I couldn't take that away from him.

"I like your perfume."

I let out a small laugh through my nose, surprised by the compliment. My fingers traced along my neck, twiddling the warm metal of my necklace which I knew was coated in the scent.

"It's the same one I always wear," I dismissed. He's just being nice. That's all.

"I know."

His eyes were solely focused on mine. There was no scanning of my face, nor glances towards my lips. Just my eyes.

"Shit," he whispered, as if he was coming to a realisation of some kind. It wasn't unusual for the pair of us to mutter foul language towards one another, but this was different. I lifted my brows for him to explain. "Nah, it doesn't matter."

"Tell me," I urged.

His pearly white teeth are resting on his bottom lip, and then he's smiling.

"None of your business."

And so, for almost 48 hours now, I'd been thinking about nothing but his secrets.

I wondered how many he kept and how many he had shared. Was I the keeper of any secrets at all, or was I still not to be trusted? I was a reporter, after all. Our whole entire purpose was to make people trust us, yet we'd go on to tell their secrets to anyone and everyone who would listen.

Sat beneath a large tarp fashioned as a shelter for the beer garden, I forget for a moment that I'm supposed to be writing articles about him. When his eyes twinkle under the soft exposed bulbs and he lets crisp beer glug down his throat, I find myself wanting to write stories instead. You'd be hard-pressed to find a work of fiction more beguiling than him.

I'm lost in his laugh and our childish banter, not wanting to be found. In fact, I think I'd quite like to make another wrong turn.

Ironically, it's as I'm turning to head to the bar to fetch us more drinks that I become a deer in headlights. I've been found by someone who stopped looking for me a long time ago.

"Rhi," he hums my name, which doesn't entirely feel like mine anymore, and suddenly I'm back in his flat nine months ago watching the colour fade from his eyes. He looks handsome, as always, slightly leaner than he had been towards the end of our relationship. A girl -tall, dark and gorgeous- hangs off his arm and it's hard to tell who is the trophy partner. Perhaps they both are.

He doesn't bother to introduce her, and I can tell it pisses her off. It would piss me off too.

A long thick coat covers the body I used to know, and I'm incredibly aware that I don't recognise it. It's camel, and it compliments his complexion like a dash of lime in a vodka soda. God, I could have done with one of those right now.

I know this man like the back of my hand and yet he's complete stranger.

"Tae, hi," I smiled, a little bit too enthusiastically. His eyes are just as startled as my voice sounds. "Wow, didn't expect to see you here!"

"Ah, you know me. Can't stay in the same bar for more than one drink," he chuckled and it felt awkward and contrived. We used to stay in the same shitty bars from happy hour until closing time. Did I know him? Really?

"Oh, yeah, same, totally," I rambled. I was the dictionary definition of 'playing it cool - and failing'.

"It's good to see you," he nods and looks at the company I'm keeping. "Chloe, you look great. Joon, Jin," he nods a further few times to the boys.

They'd joined us not so long ago, having finished up interviews with stall owners and merry fair attendees. The local news wasn't gonna write itself, after all.

There are two new faces in the pack. One of them has their back up, unsure of Tae's compliment towards his girlfriend. The other has his back up too, but he's trying not to let it show. His breathing is audible, but only to me.

"Make sure you look after her," Tae nods towards Jungkook with a taunting smirk, and I just know that Jungkook must have worked out who Tae is. "She's a wild one."

"Oh no, we're not together," I cringe and I feel Jungkook's arm, which had been rested on the back of my chair, fall into his lap. "It's not, like that."

I could see in my peripherals that he was adjusting his body, a slight shuffle away from mine. Come back, I wanted to whine. Instead, I could do nothing but let disappointment wave over my body knowing that I was entirely to blame for it.

"Well, it was good to see you, Rhi," Tae nods as his new girlfriend tugs on his cuff. "Merry Christmas. Take care."

"You too, Tae."

Once his back is turned, my eyes instantly dart to my hands. I don't want to talk about the interaction that just happened, but it's inevitable.

I half expect Jin to speak up first, something to soften the tension.

But he doesn't.

"Who the fuck is Rhi?"

A/N: I've started drinking a crazy amount more coffee since writing this and I hold CV entirely responsible.

Also have a very soft spot for the green jumper jk wore in today's run, so that's where the outfit inspo is from lol.

In light of the events of this chapter, the pair of them will at some point play 21 questions to avoid future issues like that lol- what would you like to see asked between the pair of them? Anything you're dying to know?

Header image is from the life goes on teaser. SO EXCITED!