A/N: if you read this chapter several times, the couple did smtg that they don't even realize they had comfortably done... :'3

P/S: if you haven't read chapter 15, pls read. I make double updates today ❤

[ edited with Grammarly ]

———

The couple enjoyed the view of the evening as they walked together while holding hands. The sun had set and the sky was dark blue, giving the sign that the night sky was approching. Lampposts were the thing that lit the area to help visitors to see clearly.

Foreigners and locals were visiting the Han River at this hour. Not many though, even though it was the weekend.

Water sprinklers shone with different colors of lights from the Han River bridge. Bikers were seen everywhere as well. Some roamed around with their bikes, while some rented bikes.

Nahee and Jungkook found a seat at the staircase. They landed their buttocks together and took out the foods they had bought at a nearby tuckshop. They let go of their hands and helped themselves with the snacks.

Eating what Seokjin prepared for them at the café did not seem enough for them.

Nahee took a huge bite of bread, creating big lumps on both sides of her cheeks. Jungkook realized that. He quietly giggled. She somewhat reminded him of squirrels.

He took out his phone and activated the night mode of its camera.

"Nahee-ya!" Nahee looked at him and then at his phone as she realized the phone was facing her.

*chal-kak!*

A picture of her looking blankly at the camera with two big lumps on her cheeks got captured. Jungkook playfully laughed as he previewed the picture.

Unable to speak due to the food inside her mouth, she grumbled and lightly slapped Jungkook's arm to tell him to delete the picture. On the other hand, her boyfriend was laughing, thinking that she looked cute in the picture.

Nahee quickly chewed her food before she said, "delete that picture, Jungkook-ah!"

Jungkook was still laughing and he could not respond to her. He tightly gripped his phone to avoid it from slipping out of his grip as he held his stomach, laughing hard at Nahee's picture.

Nahee was glaring at him. He eventually stopped laughing and said, "okay, okay..."

"Delete it!" Nahee demanded.

"Okay, okay!"

Jungkook showed her the screen. Clicking on the trash can icon in the gallery and confirm to delete the picture. Nahee rolled her eyes after seeing him sheepishly smiling at her.

She did not know that the picture had not been deleted. It was in the 'recently deleted' album, which means Jungkook could recover the picture anytime.

Nahee watched a ferry slowly drive under the bridge, looked like it want to stop for a while. She saw two men go out, leaving the ferry's space with something that somehow looked like sticks. She also could see a lighter in her hand to burn the end of the stick.

The stick was then raised in the air and fire left the stick, creating a small beautiful firework.

"Omo!"

Nahee got startled by the small noise that came out from them. The noises came out continuously, making Nahee slightly flinch as the small fire exploded with colorful fire until the sight of a man on the platform they sat on stood up.

Although they were a little further, they could hear the man reciting something that sounded like a poem, but rhymeless. The man seemingly had tried hard to rhyme it. He was describing his journey and his love who was sitting in front of him, covering her mouth as though she could not expect the man would do that to her.

"Oh, he's proposing!" Jungkook told, whispering to Nahee when he saw the man take a square box out of his jacket and knelt on one knee.

The man's action made the audience who were there stand up and got their attention to them. They yelled out 'yes' to persuade the man's lover to accept his proposal.

Jungkook smiled upon seeing Nahee was overly excited when the woman accepted the man's proposal. He giggled when the more he watched her. She was clapping like a happy child and grinned widely.

He suddenly had a wish that he could stop the time. Stop the time to stay with her longer... To stop the time so that he could see that smile longer. The smile he just found that he cherished so much...

He did not understand why, but... He just loved it. Somehow, there was a part of him telling that there was a feeling as though his heart bloomed greater than anyone who ever smiled for him and, with him.

But then, he knew that they were only contracted. They were only a contracted boyfriend and girlfriend. It was strange to him how he could forget that they were it for some time.

Perhaps, guiding her made him this way. He did not have the mindset to think of Nahee as his real girlfriend though. He mentally reminded himself not to cross the border of guiding.

But the questions were: can he remember about it? Can he maintain the thinking for 21 more months?

The time that Nahee was assigned... 25 months was not short and he knew this would not be easy. He is a human with no superpower or someone who have great science bits of knowledge or someone who could do magic. Now that he wished the time to flow quicker so that he would not fall for her for real.

He was afraid... Afraid to fall in love for real one more time. And at this time, he believed and had concluded that he had not gotten over Kang Gaeun yet.

'Kang Gaeun...'

The nightmare still haunts him...

Nahee got the feeling that Jungkook was staring at her. She lifted her head and had her eyes grasped the man's stare.

"Jungkook?"

He instantly diverted his gazes to the ground once he heard her calling him. He made a quick lick on his dry lips and then turned his head to the opposite side.

"Jungkook-ah..." Nahee called once again, softly. Soft enough to soften his heart as well.

He turned his head to look at her with eyebrows raised. "Yeah?" He asked.

"Are you okay?"

He smiled at her softly and bobbed his head up and down to sign her that he was alright.

She barely knew Jungkook but this was not the first time Nahee felt his answer was unconvincing. He might have been a great actor but, too bad that he could not lie. There was always a slight, tiny action that he had made by accident and that, Nahee was very keen to catch it.

Nahee hated to see him being in that way. She wondered what had gotten Jungkook to act like that all of a sudden. She wondered if she made a mistake or said something wrong by accident. But they had long arrived there and he looked fine even before the unexpected event happened there.

"I want to go home..." Nahee said almost in a demanding tone. She knew this would spoil the mood but she could not hide her expression.

Jungkook almost let out 'why?' But he managed to block his voice from letting it out. He just nodded his head and accepted the demand.

"Let's go then."

They stood up together and walked away from the platform they just sat on earlier.

While making their way to the area Jungkook parked his car, he started to think if he had made a mistake that made Nahee sound demanding. But his positive side was telling him that maybe, Nahee was tired. She had been stuck in the university for 8-9 hours afterall.

'Then, maybe that...' He mentally concluded.

To avoid any awkwardness later, both of them stretched their arms to reach the others' hands. Their actions seemed to have already been predicted. Perhaps, they had telepathy for a moment.

**********

Nahee was using her phone while Jungkook was driving. It looked like being mute for a long moment in the car was more comfortable for the couple. Music was the only noise that broke the quietness.

Now to think of the quietness, Jungkook thought it was probably because they were not close yet. But come to think about their closeness then, they were holding hands, remember?

Hmm... But friends or bestfriends hold hands too...

Jungkook exhaled through his nose, tired of thinking of some kind of theory for him and Nahee.

Nahee, on the other side, was only scrolling onto random posts she saw on Instagram. She tried to find some funny posts and wanted to show them to Jungkook, but none were shown in her newsfeed. She felt like the site was not cooperating with her mind at that time. She desperately wanted to break the silence.

Quietness for so long was not a good thing for her, especially when she could sense a creep of awkwardness would come soon.

She did not want that! What's more, she had to be with the man for 21 more months.

"Jungkook—"
"Nahee-ya—"

They acted almost at the same time. They then burst into laughter the moment they saw that they were staring at each other blankly before.

"You first," Jungkook said.

"No, you first," the girl said.

"No, you go first," the boy insisted.

But then, she hummed and said, "I forget what I wanted to say..."

Nahee's blank look made it clear that she had forgotten. Jungkook snorted.

"Anyway, what you wanted to say?" Nahee asked.

"Our company has an annual dinner gathering next month," Jungkook said. "Just telling you beforehand just in case you have many things to do and want to prepare."

"Why does this sounds like I really need to prepare for something?" Nahee asked, emphasizing a word.

"Because of us, the permanent boyfriends and girlfriends choices at the company will have to bring our clients with us," Jungkook answered. "And you all will be meeting our CEO."

His statements made Nahee gasp.

"Are you serious?!"

Jungkook smiled with his lips in a thin line and nodded his head.

"I didn't know to be a contracted girlfriend to a choice must meet the CEO," Nahee said. "Feels like I'm meeting your parents."

"How'd you know how it feels?" Jungkook playfully smirked, raising an eyebrow later. "You're lying you never had a boyfriend before, aren't you?"

"No!" Nahee denied, with her eyebrows creasing as though she was angry. "It was my brother. My brother met his girlfriend's parents. So he told me about his experience."

Jungkook found it fun to tease Nahee. And he also found that she was the type who took almost everything seriously, which made him want to tease her more.

The car ride then had no more sense of awkwardness. The mood has lifted!

**********

Jungkook had arrived home after sending Nahee to her house. The goodbyes were different tonight. They were more to teasing each other than the one as usual.

Of course, Jungkook won. And Nahee just left his car sulking, making him satisfyingly grin. He also found that she was cute with eyebrows creasing and stomping her feet as she walked to the entrance of her house.

Seokjin did not seem to have arrived home yet. Maybe he was busy with his café at this hour, who knows?

Jungkook unlocked the door with a key that matched the keyhole. He then turned the doorknob to enter the house. He took off his timberland boots after that, and then nicely placed them on a shoe rack. He did not want Jin to come back home, scolding him about his boots.

He dragged his feet to the refridgerator to grab cold water. After finishing his drink, he went to his room to take a shower.

Done showering he put on his pajamas and then plopped himself on the bed. He looked over on his bedside table for his phone. He lifted his body and got his phone.

After entering his phone's password, he immediately went to the gallery and clicked on the 'recently deleted' album. He chuckled the moment he saw the picture of Nahee he caught when they had a date at the Han River.

He clicked on the 'RECOVER' button and confirmed it. Somehow, he thought that the expression that Nahee made was cute and funny. He could not stop smiling at that.

Looking up at the middle top of his phone, he did not realize the time had ticked to half-past ten. He wondered if his girlfriend had gone to sleep. She had classes the next day, so he was expecting her already sleeping.

He put down his phone on his chest as an arm supported his head beneath. Looking up at the plain ceiling, he was remembering the moments he had with Nahee.

The memories played as if they were transitioned. He chuckled the moment he remembered the incident at the alley a few months ago. Then, he could not stop smiling at how Nahee sulked whenever he teased her. He knew he was being harsh with her. But what could he do?

Nahee had let him show his real side. Almost none of his past clients let him be himself. Almost all of them were hoping for him to be what they want. Selfish, you could say.

But he did not mind. He worked. He worked only as their contracted boyfriend. But to think of Nahee, she was different. Never had he thought he would meet someone like her.

His thoughts were snapped out when his phone vibrated against his chest, notifying him with a ringtone he applied for his phone.

He raised it to his eye level and saw an incoming call notification was showing on the screen. He swiped the button to the left to answer the call.

"Yeoboseyo (Hello)."

"Oh, you haven't slept yet?" The caller questioned.

"Uh-hm..." Jungkook said. "And you. Why aren't you sleeping yet?"

The person groaned, probably trying to tell him something that he had tried really hard to do. Jungkook smiled, trying to bear the chuckle that he wanted to let out.

"I can't sleep..." The caller said.

"Why can't you sleep?" Jungkook asked, still smiling. "Thinking for revenge for what I did this evening?"

"No, that's not it. I'm used to boys teasing me like that. My brother, especially," the person said. She then continued.

"Um... Well, because," the person halted. "Because of the lattés, I had at Seokjin oppa's café?"

Jungkook snorted at the answer. "Did you know you drank two glasses? You drank Rosy Latte and Vanilla Latte."

"It's not my fault that Seokjin oppa's lattes are too nice..."

Jungkook lightly laughed at Nahee's comment. "So, you're blaming Seokjin hyung and his lattés?"

"No... I'm not blaming anyone and anything..." Nahee said sounding bored. She sounded like she wanted to do something that required activity. But it was already night. There was nothing she could do.

"So, you're calling me. What do you want me to do?"

"Erm..." was the only thing that Jungkook heard from his phone speaker. Then, there was silence.

"Nahee-ya, you there?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here. I'm just... Uhm... Do you have any storybooks there? Like you know, the story of Alice In The Wonderland? Or Rumpelstiltskin? Or Pinocchio? Or maybe, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?"

Jungkook laughed at her questions. "I wish I have to help you to go to sleep, but nope. My room has no such stories," he said. "There are only comic books I borrowed from Taehyung hyung."

Nahee was heard groaning again, making Jungkook chuckle as he started to think his girlfriend was like a toddler despite her age.

"Do you want me to sing for you?"

"You can sing?" Nahee asked.

"You can expect from how Yoongi hyung praised me for being golden," Jungkook stated, making Nahee giggle through the speaker.

"What song are you going to sing for me?"

Jungkook buzzed for a while, processing his mind to think of a song to sing.

"I can't think of a quick idea for this moment but," he paused as he lifted himself into a sitting position. "I have a song I made for myself."

"Then, sing it for me," Nahee said, eagerly with somehow a hoarse voice.

Jungkook smiled upon hearing Nahee's eagerness. He let out a soft breath before he let out a silky, soft voice with lyrics that he made up in his mind.

Euphoria
Euphoria
Take my hands now
You are the cause of my euphoria

Jungkook could hear Nahee softly chuckling through the front speaker of the phone which was attached to his ear.

Euphoria
Euphoria
Close the door now
When I'm with you I'm in utopia.

There was too much silence in the speaker. He doubted that Nahee was already asleep but at the same time, he wondered if he should continue singing.

Maybe, he should...

[A/N: italicized + bolded texts; translations]

Mujigaecheoreom jiwojin kkumeul chaja hemaet eulkka unmyeong gateun heunhan malgwa dalla
Apeun neoui nunbichi nawa gateun goseul boneun geol
Won't you please stay in dreams
{Did you wander looking for a dream erased like rainbow
It's different from a plain word like fate
You're looking at the same place with me with a pain in your eyes
Won't you please stay in dreams}

Jeogi meolliseo badaga deullyeo
Kkumeul geonneoseo supul neomeoro
Seonmyeong haejineun geugoseuroga
Take my hands now
You are the cause of my euphoria
{I hear the ocean from far away
I walk across the dream over the forest
And go towards there as it gets clearer
Take my hands now
You are the cause of my euphoria}

Euphoria
Euphoria
Take my hands now
You are the cause of my euphoria

Morae badagi gallajin daedo
Geu nugai segel heundeureodo
Jabeun son jeoldae nochi mara jwo
Jebal kkumeseo kkaeeonaji ma
{Even if the ground cracks
Even if someone shakes this world
Don't let go of the hand you're holding
Please don't wake up from the dream}

Jungkook made silence for a while, to make sure Nahee was still there. But he heard no sign of her snoring nor a sound of ruffling to indicate his girlfriend had deeply fallen asleep. So he continued.

Neoneun nae salme dasi tteun haetbit
Eorin sijeol nae kkumdeurui jaerim
Moreugesseoi gamjeongi mwonji
Hoksi yeogido kkumsok ingeonji
Kkumeun samagui pureun singiru
Nae an gipeun gosui a priori
Sumi makil deusi haengbokaejyeo
Jubyeoni jeomjeom deo tumyeong haejyeo
{You are the sun that rose again in my life
The return of my childhood dreams
I don't know what this feeling is
Perhaps I'm also in a dream
Dream is a blue mirage in desert
From deep inside of me, a priori
I get breathtakingly euphoric
My surroundings become more and more than transparent}

Jeogi meolliseo badaga deullyeo
Kkumeul geonneoseo supul neomeoro
Seonmyeong haejineun geugoseuroga
{I hear the ocean from far away
I walk across the dream over the forest
And go towards there as it gets clearer}

Take my hands now
You are the cause of my euphoria
Euphoria
Euphoria
Take my hands now
You are the cause of my euphoria

Jungkook stopped singing. He ended it beautifully and melodiously.

For an instant, he paid attention to the noises he wanted to hear. He wanted to make sure Nahee had fallen asleep this time. So, he stayed quiet.

A soft rhythmic breath could be heard from the speaker. Jungkook softly smiled the moment he knew Nahee was asleep.

"Good night," he said softly. And with that, he hung up the call and slowly put down his phone on the bedside table.

He stared at the phone for a moment, still thinking about Nahee. His euphoria.

'My euphoria?'

She was...

_________________________
|| A/N ||
Contract Relationship facts: Namjoon often calls his sister, Nahee, Goguma (sweet potato), Gamja (potato), Hobak (pumpkin), and baby sister. And now it became a habit. He has no bad intentions like offending her or anything. Nahee isn't fat or ugly, but she is the cutest, the sweetest and best younger sister for him.

And...
Nahee is fun to bully...
He plans to stop calling her those soon....
Namjoon: because my sister is almost 30...