Jungkook took a few seconds to take that in, his eyebrows coming together. Is it the wine? Of course he found that question weird. It was so out of the blue.

I mean it's not "outrageous".. it's just... you're-you're cute... I mean.." he said, his own eyes unable to set on hers. He couldn't just decipher why she was suddenly bringing it up.

Being pretty . . .?? Of course you are pretty, you're....really... beautiful.

He found himself thinking.

Nisha was giggling and eating the last piece of the desert.

Jungkook sighed.

"Okay, just one more question..." Nisha was finally done and the waiter had taken the cutlery away.

"we're literally going to the same place, you can ask as many questions as you want. Let's just leave first." Jungkook looked at his watch and then asked for the bill.

Nisha decided to wait till they got home.

They were in Jungkook's room, in their pajamas. She was on his bed and he sat on the chair nearby.

" bol ab kya bol nhi thi bahar" he asked after a few minutes of pointless talk.

"dekh I am not gonna beat around the bush.... Tujhe pasand hai koi... matlab romantically?" Nisha asked.

" nahi.. aisa toh koi nahi hai." Jungkook answered.

"okkayyyy.... Got it, yup... that's all I needed to know—" She got up at lightning speed and was at his door, ready to leave before he could read her face or anything.

" jhooth bol rhi hai" He stopped her on the door.

Nisha did not turn around.

"You will hate me if I tell you." She said and Jungkook slowly started to realize where it was going.

He took a deep breath.

He did not want to assume anything. He did not want to ruin what they had based on an assumption.

"What's with you hating on girls that confess to you hah....?" Nisha asked, noticing him not speaking, her own voice not so playful anymore.

"Yaar, I told you.....I don't HATE them, it's just . . . . .hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. . . .it made me uncomfortable and back when I was young, I didn't know how to deal with it, Sach me...." he explained.

He knew that the reason was a"part" of it. It was now his automatic switch that flared up his anger.

Jungkook didn't know why, maybe it was the embarrassment due to it during the teen years that made him like that or just that he was too direct in expressing his dislike when he could've done it politely.

He hated how things suddenly changed between 2 people when they confessed, he had a hard time dealing with change, given the lack of emotional support and sudden additional responsibilities on him had made him somehow uninterested in "love".

It had always felt like a burden, a waste of time, just too much effort to him.

"I.....like you a lot, like really ....." Nisha said, after a long silence.

"Oh "

Jjungkook was not moving at all.

Nisha turned to look at him.

His face had hardened, lips tight in a line that told her from experience that they meant sadness, She said nothing else, just nodded slowly, tears falling.

What else I was expecting.

She ran out.

The door closed with a loud thud.

He was feeling so many things at once. Anger being the first, betrayal ,yeah,and just a deep sense of loss.

He plopped down on the bean bag and laid there for a long time.

When he finally got up,he realized he had been crying.

He couldn't understand why it was hurting him, she didn't demand anything in return, in fact he couldn't understand why it 'hurt' him at all.

He just hoped she'd walk in the door and tell him she was kidding,that it was just a silly prank and they'd be back at being best friends, everything will be normal, comfortable, warm again.

He felt the same way in his chest as he did before going on a long journey or the last day of school or breaking a habit after years of doing.
His heartbeat escalated and he sat down, breathing hard then he took big gushes of air in.

Why Nish?

He took his shirt off and lied in bed.

He put the pillow over his face and sobbed.

He felt like he lost her, her friendship because there was no way he would be able to see her the same, ever again.

Nisha had heard Jungkook smash the door and she took a few seconds to calm herself.

She couldn't.

Tears couldn't stop.

She walked to her room really fast and did only 1 thing.

Regret.

What is wrong with me?

For a very long time she couldn't sleep.

It was 3 am when she got off her bed. She decided to start on her assignment instead of replaying in her mind , everything about her and Jungkook, his best friend in the whole damn world.

XXX

She wished him good morning during breakfast but he didn't respond.

But Nisha smiled because Mrs.jeon was there too.

He didn't say a word on their way to college on his bike together.

"Jungkook, about yesterday I " Nisha tried to explain when she got off at the college gate but Jungkook put his helmet on and sped away.

He didn't sit on her side or acknowledge her existence but seemed perfectly normal to everyone else.

The sides of eyes were not crinkled when he smiled and she could tell it was not real.

His eyes were sad.

They made her feel guilty.

He hates me.

She stopped walking towards him in the cafeteria, turned around and rushed to the washroom.

She tried smiling at herself in the mirror, then washed her face and did the light makeup.

Tears threatened to come out but she held them in.

There is no getting him back.

She felt helpless, tired. Smiling sadly at the unread messages on whatsApp, unread dms on insta and unopened snaps on snapchat.

She knew that it was impossible to change Jungkook's mind on something.

And when she walked out of the washroom, she had decided to not impose herself on him anymore and respect what he wanted.

Dammit it hurts so much, so fucking much.

Nisha moved back to her dorm the next day.

And as she had expected the next 2 weeks were fucking excruciating.

Her mind was fixated on him, their moments, their friendship.

Lectures were longer than she had ever known.

A dozen people had asked her what's wrong. She had to stop herself from saying anything.

She felt small when their eyes met, like it was her selfishness which had led to that situation between them.

It isn't. with my feelings, it would've gotten weird one way or the other.

It hurt when she wasn't occupied, not one moment went by when she didn't think of him.

Another week went by just like that.

It had gotten a bit easier to live with the hurt. She kept herself busy studying most of the time. Library was her new favorite destination. Literally the only place in college which didn't remind her of Jungkook.

"Oh Nisha! Hi !" She heard a voice while looking for a volume on Biochemistry.

The tone was familiar.

It was Riya.

Jimin's girlfriend or to be girlfriend .She could never tell what went on between Riya and Jimin so she refrained from giving them labels.

"Hey! Hiiiiii it's been so long Yaar, how are you doing?" Nisha smiled for the first time in a month, a genuine one.

Riya was a pure soul.

Nisha knew right from the first 2 times she had met him. (2 out of 6 times).

Riya has always been nice and kind to her, always made an effort to make Nisha feel comfortable when her, Jungkook, Nisha and Jimin hung out together.

"I'm all good, just here to get a book Jimin wanted? don't know how he forgets to issue them?" Riya showed her the title and Nisha realized it was the same volume she was going to pick up.

"Here it is " Nisha picked it out for her. " Thank you!" Riya beamed and jumped a little.

The shorter girl was turning around to get the book issued but she stopped.

"Nisha,,, I'm sorry if I'm being too nosy but.......are you okay? You look..a bit" Riya asked,her face soft but still serious.

Nisha's face fell.

And Riya realized she was right.

"Nisha? Everything okay? What's up? " Riya put her hand on Niha's shoulder.

She had never seen Nisha like this. Though she had a hint of what she felt for Jungkook, she had never seen Nisha upset like that.

They were in the cafeteria and Nisha told her everything that had happened. Riya was in pain. She got mad at Jungkook at first but deep down she knew feelings can't be forced.

"Nisha.....girl I'm so sorry... . . . .

.okay..I just really like you girl but I always hesitated but I'm gonna say it. Let's be besties plsssssssssss, the boys are unbearable and trust me immma punch BOTH of them when we hang out next time!! The one with bunny face first for being rude and that shorty next for not knocking some sense into his 'bro'. Riya said enthusiastically and Nisha found it adorable.

"Riya, , , , you're the girlfriend I never knew I needed" NIsha said.

"NISH..... GIRL, you gonna make me cry?????OKAY now TELL me about your faves so we can hang out & do sleepovers and what not. I need that girls trip, girls night okay?"Riya demanded instantly and that made Nisha forget a lot of her pain.

"And trust me this is just only like 40% of my dramatic ass, coz I don't wanna scare u off " Riya said and that was it, Nisha laughed.

Riya was already half hugging her and Nisha liked the warmth. It was something close to when Jungkook hugged him, warm and loving.

"This must feel so sudden to you right, I'm sorry Nisha, I know it's hard for you with Jungkook coz he's been with you forever, but I don't want you to be sad either" Riya said, seriously this time.

"Riya you don't know how much this means to me, I've never felt this happy since that day, it's all I needed, I'm literally thankful for how extra you are" Nisha said and that made both of them giggle

to be continued. . . 

Thank you for reading loves! don't forget to drop a vote . Have a great day XO.
Shoutout to mani2310 😻 for typing this chapter for me ! You're a great help!!💜 Love u sm.