Jungkook

The device in one hand, the trophy in the other, I must have fallen asleep on my sofa, not even bothering to take off my pants and shirt. I never sleep in my clothes. I hate that.

When the mysterious girl last night slapped me, which I definitely deserved, I saw her cell phone lying on the floor. I wanted to give it to her, but she took away the opportunity by running away, and now here I'm in my car repair workshop, not knowing what to do with it. The battery died at some point, so I couldn't call anyone on her contact list to let them know that I had found it. I asked Minho, a kid who helps me over the vacation, to get me a suitable charging cable so that I can charge it. 

As soon as I have the phone plugged in I will call someone she contacts a lot. Hopefully, I will be able to give it back to her, she must have been looking for it, but I don't know how to face her after what I said to her last night. I don't know what got into me.

I don't want to come off like the biggest playboy or cocky, but so far I've never had any problems flirting with women. They love my charming nature. But I don't think the girl last night appreciated my boldness. I was a total asshole, though. How could I say something like that right after a situation like we were in? And now she is thinking that I'm just like those other two jerks.

"I would also like to know more about the dangerous woman," I mimic myself in an insulting way. You idiot.

I gotta admit, though, she's got a really heavy hand. I can still feel her slap on my cheek. I chuckle at the thought of it. Never in my life would I have thought I'd ever get slapped by a woman.

__________________________

"Um, are you sure it's okay if I stop by? What if she slaps me again?"

"Again? What do you mean again?"

It looks like she didn't tell her friend about the incident. I shouldn't dare ask, though. What am I supposed to tell her? That some men tried to rape her and then I saved her and then I tried to hit on her, because I'm stupid as hell, and then she slapped me and then I found her phone on the ground? So I can get slapped by her friend, too? Not gonna happen. So I'll just pretend that I happened to walk past there and I found it.

And I assume it's her best friend, she was at the top of her calling list. Who else would you talk to for five hours straight? The longest call I ever had was with my teacher and it lasted 15 minutes with her scolding me because of a prank I made in high school. 

"Never mind. You know, if I get slapped, it's on you." I joke, she seems like a humorous person, judging by the conversation we had so far, so I allow myself little jokes here and there. I was never the type to be shy or uncomfortable talking to people I don't know in the first place. They have always considered my way of expressing myself sympathetic. Except for that stupid statement I made yesterday. I should really be apologizing to her. 

"Why would she hit you if you are just being nice and bringing back her missing phone, though," her giggling proves that she's not uncomfortable with me, which I think is good. "I'll send you the address on her cell phone, so you can bring it over to her. And don't worry, she's a lovely person, she won't hurt you."

"Thank you, um, Nora?"

"Yep, feel free to call me by my name. And no problem. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

I hope so too, Nora.

_______________________

To my disadvantage, the drive to her house only takes 20 minutes. I wish I had a little more time to think. How do I start the conversation? How do I apologize? I haven't even thought it all through and I find myself in a parking lot in front of her apartment. 

Suddenly I feel so nervous, and that's not me at all. I'm always the one who has to ask or say something when we are out in our friends group. I have already set up two of my friends because they were too shy to approach a girl. But now, I don't know.

I push open the mirror on my sun visor and try as best I can to create a short dialogue until two old ladies walk past my car and watch me like I'm completely mentally broke because I'm talking to myself. Smiling politely I bow my head at them a couple of times. Maybe I should just improvise and let it come naturally. How bad could it possibly go?

I get out of my car, lock the doors and walk to the main entrance of the building. The door is slightly ajar, so I open it and enter the building. Nora had given me the number of her apartment, so I move to the elevators and get into one that was already on the ground floor.

With a ding sound, the door of the elevator opens and I'm greeted by a corridor with many apartment doors. I walk past each door with heavy steps and make sure that I don't pass the right one. There it is, number 42. 

Taking a deep breath, my index finger lifts to ring at her door, but my finger halts on the button for a few seconds. The last time I was this nervous was when they were going to give vaccinations in fifth grade. All I have to do is return a simple cell phone, damn it. 

Taking all my courage together, I ring her bell, hearing her hasty steps and murmuring already. When she answers the door, the world seems to freeze for a moment. I was so goddamn right when I said that she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. 

Her eyes, opened wider out of surprise, meet my curious ones, her hair is now curly and falling wildly around her face, the heavy make-up from yesterday removed, revealing her natural beauty. She is wearing a simple oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts reaching down to her knees. On her feet, she is wearing pink and fluffy slippers with a bunny printed on them. Cute.

Her simplicity is enough to leave me speechless on the doorstep. The whole conversation I had planned in my head is now worthless because I have trouble pulling myself together right now and would probably stutter anyway as soon as I open my mouth. 

But before I even have the chance to pull myself together and open my mouth, she slams the door right in my face. Well, it's better than a slap in the face. Of course, I'm not going to let it just fall, I still have a cell phone that I have to give her back and an apology that I owe her.  

I ring the bell three times in desperation but get no answer from her.

"Hey, can you open the door for a minute, please? I need to talk to you." I try to keep my voice as quiet as possible so that the neighbors won't hear me, but I'm sure that she will definitely hear it from the other side of the door. I know she's waiting for me to leave.

"Go away, I don't want to talk. How do you even know where I live?" Her muffled words sound like they contain fear, "What are you, a stalker or something?"

"No, I'm not a stalker. I found your phone and wanted to give it back to you. Also, I wanted to apologize, so can you just open the door for a second, please?" 

______________________

Elaine

As soon as the guy at my door mentions my lost cell phone, I doubt whether to open the door or not. There's no way of knowing if there's something behind it. Being in a state of doubt, I stand behind the only barrier that separates me from the guy and try to listen to what he is doing by leaning one ear against the door.

I really shouldn't be so paranoid and think positively. He is nice enough to take the effort to bring my phone back. He might as well have sold it, or even worse, hacked it and resold my data.

I put my door chain on and open the door as far as the chain allows me to. On the other side of the door stands the man with hopeful eyes and stretches out my cell phone with one hand so I can believe him that he came here for this and not for other reasons. I gently close the door again, remove the door chain and then reopen it safely.

His hand with the device in it is still stretched out in front of him without saying anything, waiting for me to take it back. His gaze is directed at me, the same eyes as yesterday, but this time they have a different message. They are big and round, his irises are still dark as the night, but not in a cloudy way of lust. It is their natural color, dark like chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa, but not nearly as bitter as that. 

I take it out of his hand, his fingers brushing mine, giving me a nice electric feeling of tingling sensation, and thank him in a small voice, now ashamed that I thought so negatively about him.

"Thank you."

"No problem," he smiles and I nod just my head, not knowing what to say, so he takes a deep breath and continues, eyes now fixated on the ground. "I also wanted to apologize to you for what I said yesterday. I had no right to make you feel so uncomfortable after something so disgusting happened to you. It was wrong of me and I wanted you to know that I'm not that kind of person or like the two jerks, I was probably too caught up in the moment to realize what I was saying," he looks up again ashamed, his facial features showing with certainty that he regrets it, waiting patiently for a response from me. 

I look at him for a couple of seconds, not knowing whether to forgive him or not but he looks with such intense and expecting eyes that I can't just say no to him. "I appreciate your sincerity in asking for an apology. I forgive you," I involuntarily smile at the handsome man in front of me. It only occurs to me now that his appearance is completely different from yesterday. He no longer has that playboy image. Instead, I see an honest and polite man. He's still as handsome as yesterday, I'll give him credit for that.

His white and bunny-like teeth appear, giving me a warm smile and I can't hold back and grin at the sight. His eyes sparkle with joy and he pulls something out of his back pocket, causing me to give him a confused look. My eyebrows furrow and my head tilts to the side. 

"I also wanted to give you this," he says extending his hand to me, "I think you deserve it more than I do."

The trophy he had won for his mind-blowing performance.

Shocked, my eyes fly from the trophy back up to his breathtaking orbs. Shaking my head I say, "What? No. I can't possibly accept that. You deserved it, so you won it."  

"No, please, I insist. Think of it as another way of apology, my words were actually nothing."

Wow, now I really feel bad that I was so paranoid and distrustful a few minutes ago. Everything the man has said so far is putting my bad thoughts into a trash can and kicking it across the room. It is actually nice to see that there are still people who can be nice and sweet. I think I have run into very few of them, one of them being this interesting man in front of me now. 

"I, um, really don't know what to say, um, I mean thank you. Again." I take the trophy, looking up from it to the man who is suddenly making me blush, and take a deep breath to stop the rising temperature of my body. 

"No problem. Again." His cute grin shows up and I groan internally at the sight. Please God, make him stop, "Well, I should get going now." 

He nods his head, receiving no answer from me and is just about to turn around and leave, so before I probably never see him again, an idea pops into my head that might not be so clever of me, but at this moment I just feel the need to say it.

"Would you maybe like to come in and have a drink? Well, I don't mean like a drink drink. You know, like tea or coffee or whatever you're into. If you want to, of course. And if you have time. But it's okay if you have to go. Don't feel pressured." Oh, God, Elaine, just shut up. I probably look like a complete idiot who can't even get a proper sentence out. 

I internally slap myself for my stuttering and give him an awkward smile while I wait for his response. Although I'm actually sure he will say no because he looks at me for almost an eternity, he catches me off guard with his answer. 

"I like coffee."