Heaven took shape in the voice of my professor sounding across the room, "You are dismissed," and I stand, unable to hear whatever else he was saying as I escape the class.

Relief for being free from university for the remainder of the day was not enough to wash away the stress of midterms gnawing at every corner of my mind. As I make my way out, my phone buzzes with a sound of a call.

I assume for the quickest second it's Jeongguk as my hopes are lifted before seeing the absence of the letters of his name on my phone screen, reminding me of the busy schedule both of us have been lost within lately, I let out a frustrating sigh.

The familiar crowd waiting at the bus stop causes me to sigh again, being in no mood for the stuffy atmosphere in the large vehicle yet eager to reach my bed as quickly as possible. As if the day couldn't get worse, I find no buses towards the dorms in the next hour, making another negative thought find a comfortable seat over the already large pile in my head.

Flickering my gaze up and down the street, my eyes rest upon a row of city bikes open for the public, usually for tourist conveniences, but I find my feet already choosing the option for me as I walk towards one.

The chill of autumn air kisses my skin and the trees shiver overhead, as their tinted leaves meet the concrete ground my wheels ride over as I cycle. I allow for my brain to afford the moment to wander off, as the busy ambience of cars and pedestrians blur into the nostalgia of home, in Europe, in Holland.

The rest doesn't last long as I'm awoken by a familiar figure running ahead of me. I continue observing the way his hair bounces with each jog and his shirt falling loosely against his structured back, as memories dawn through my mind in the form of events I have tried to ignore since their occurrence. I stare longer, and the absence of my concious to my surrounding suddenly results in my loss of balance as I tip to my side, almost hitting strangers before my legs hold me from collapsing on the floor.

My quick apologies to no one in particular are interrupted when I'm met with a pair of charming eyes belonging to someone I recognised only moments ago. Then comes that smile, although this time, it feels much warmer rather than the teasing expressions in our first encounter. The friendliness of his current aura sounds through his soft voice, "Layla, I didn't expect to see you here. You remember me, right?"

"Jimin," I breathe out, "I still have you shirt," I blurt, "and your boxers," recalling the morning I met him before shutting my mouth.

A chuckle escapes him, and his eyes curve into crescents, making me smile, feeling the tension lift from my shoulders from the simple gesture. He pauses for a moment, gazing at me somewhat intently.

"Hey you want to get some coffee?" He asks, slightly tilting his head to the side.

A simple nod speaks over my screaming mind telling me to be studying, yet Jimin responds with a toothy smile, hiding his orbs behind the joy and I give in.

As I get back onto the bicycle, I ride slowly as Jimin jogs next to me, with the sounds of the city swallowing the comfortable silence between us. A minute passes, then another, and I catch Jimin not beside me, but ahead amongst the crowd, looking over his shoulder with a playful smirk across his face.

I chuckle in confusion, speeding up only to find him picking up his pace, his jog turning into a run as both of us tackle into a chase. Laughing and focusing forward, my stress over midterms drains out of my mind.

I throw Jimin a spirited grin as I pass by him, to which he laughs whole-heartedly, attempting to sprint once again only to fall further behind as I ride down a slight slope. My hair whips back against the wind and I let my feet off the pedals. As I slow at the end, my lips smile gleefully which remains plastered on my face all throughout stopping by a street corner cafe and settling into a window seat, until my coffee is placed in front of me, and I stop only to take a sip.

"How your studies going? I can tell you seem a bit tired." Jimin starts.

"Do I look that bad?" I chuckle, wrapping my palms over the side of the warm cup before slightly growing earnest, "It's just the midterms really caught up with me, I guess I haven't fully settled into the college life."

He hums in understanding, sticking a red striped straw into his iced drink, "And Jeongguk?"

"Busy as well," I shrug my shoulders, letting out a little sigh, "He's always either out with his camera or editing."

"He's working on that project isn't he? The video for the record label?" Jimin asks curiously, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table.

"You know about it?" I'm surprised, because of the tension between the boys, I couldn't recall when Jeongguk may have told Jimin.

"I heard of it, and knowing Jeongguk, there's no way he wouldn't take part."

I itched to question him about their history, to hear his side of the story, yet I decide it's best not to intervene, so instead, I tell him more of his friend, "He's so motivated for the project but he's always complaining lately about a lack of inspiration."

A chuckle escapes Jimin as he shakes his head, "That sounds just like Jeongguk," he pauses, takes a sip and looks back up, "When he first started, home just wasn't interesting to him anymore, so I took him out to Tokyo for a day."

"Most of his videos he's put up on youtube are from travelling," I remind myself out loud.

"He will probably need to get out of the city for a bit, somewhere new."

"We do get a week off for Thanksgiving, he can take the chance and do that. Do you have any suggestions?" My eyes widen curiously.

Jimin raises his eyebrows in mischief, his lips turn into a sly smirk.

"What's that face?" My eyebrows knit as I start to grow timid.

"You," He points his finger at me bluntly, "should take him somewhere."

I feel the heat growing on my cheeks and I suppress a smile, knowing what Jimin was implying but I try and ignore it, swallowing before I divert his comment, "What about Chicago? Have you been?" I ask of the first city that comes to mind.

Finally, he sits back on his chair, drumming his fingers on the edge of the table and staring at me through a thoughtful look that remains on his face,

"Actually, I had somewhere else in mind."

...

My keys jingle as I pull them out of my bag and the lights of the hallway flicker on as I'm approaching the door to my dorm. Turning the knob, I find it unlocked, it swings open and I step in, but pause abruptly upon the darkness and silence of the room— only the ticking of the clock sounds over the quietness.

Under the hush of noise, the colours of the bedroom sit in muted hues and shapes were in monochrome. Jeongguk's figured is sprawled across the empty bed. His laptop rested open on his side, as thought he had fallen into slumber int he midst of working.
The only movement was the slight rise and fall of his chest, as his breathe makes gentle snuffling noises. I didn't know his features could look any softer as they do in his sleep, appearing calm yet youthful.

I hope he wasn't waiting for me to get back.

I tiptoe across to the window, pulling the curtain to the side to get a peak at the sky, gazing to see the stars, that is almost impossible every night under the illumination of the city lights.

I find a small smile dancing on my lips as I turn my attention back to the sleeping boy and I step towards him, feeling a sudden rush of deja vu, back from the first day we spent together— I slip his shoes off again and place them to the side, successfully careful not to wake him this time.

A tired sigh escapes me as I gather the many papers and notes messily left around the room, finally reaching for his camera, which I perch on the ground with, leaning my back on the bed frame. A small light to the side of it flickers on as the lens jut outward, making me bite my lip in alert hearing Jeongguk shift around a bit behind me.

I let a second pass, then another, and a last one for good measure before I'm sure that he is still sound asleep.

I glance through the photos he's taken, mainly consisting of the streets and buildings, portraits of his classmates and strangers— until I pause on one of mine.

The picture captures me studying sometime in the past week, hunched and yawning over my computer with earphones— explaining why I may not have noticed. It takes a good amount of effort to move my finger away from hovering over the delete button, after deciding I'd scold him for it in the morning.

I scroll on and find a few others of myself, each caught randomly, from brushing my teeth to strolling ahead of him out in the city, many of which I fail to recognise when they may have been taken.

I land over the last picture he has on his camera, a selfie of the two of us from a reflection of a window. A smile grows across my face and my heart twirls from seeing the two of us together in content.

It suddenly feels like liquid adrenaline is being injected into my body, not too strong to freak me out, but just enough to get me excited.

And I finally realise— I admit to myself what I've known for a while and tried to ignore.

I like him.

A lot.

(A/N)

do you guys feel as though the story is moving too slow? someone brought it to my attention that we're almost at chap 20 and nothing significant has happened yet, so i'll definitely be trying to pick it up from here!

where do you think jimin is planning by the way?

i hope all of you are well! this story hit 3k throughout this past month which is mindblowingg! i love you all SO much!

♥️

- zay