The obvious stares they're receiving only add speed and power to her tapping fingers.

Song-hee tries to focus on the content of the velvet-clad menu, but even skimming through the food choices feels scandalous with the looks being passed at them.

She wants to sigh, but she's worried Jungkook will take it the wrong way and ask if she's alright. Instead, her bottom lip is trapped between her teeth and she rolls the pink flesh to and fro.

She's grown thick-skinned against women's sticky glances thanks to all the years of being Jin's friend, but it's unusual to have it happen because of another man. Dining in a posh restaurant she can barely pronounce or afford, she guesses, only adds to the novelty of the whole situation.

She agreed to his spontaneous lunch invitation because of the kind favors he did for her yesterday. Aside from his impromptu text message this morning that caused her coffee to spill all over her, she didn't have any reason to decline. She had a pleasant time with him, but she won't sugarcoat it, either - her wallet's aching just from sitting here.

"Keep that up, noona, and you could probably make an interesting beat." Jungkook teases her from across the dressed table, his dark eyes never leaving the booklet in his hand.

Although he was just pulling her leg, she stops her unconscious drumming in an instant.

"Oh," she sheepishly realizes her restless action, retracting her hands from the table and resting them stiffly on her lap instead.

Jeez. The urge to cringe and berate herself for acting so petulant this whole damn day is now almost impossible to suppress. It's just barely past noon, yet she managed to make a fool out of herself hours ago.

"No, I'm not kidding. It beats whatever music they're playing right now," Jungkook insists with a nod, raising his pointer finger up as if telling her to listen.

Although she didn't agree, she recognizes the classical piano piece filling the air. Yoongi comes to mind as she's reminded of her brother and the way he plays the same instrument so well.

Her lips twitch. "Not a big fan of Chopin?"

He shakes his head, returning her grin. "Not in a restaurant. I'd rather eat my food with something a little more upbeat than 'Nocturne',"

She titters a bit and, before she could stop herself, she adds, "Would you like me to request for them to play some Big Bang instead?"

Her eyes widen once the words are out of her mouth, caught off-guard by her lame attempt at joking. She blinks at him.

Jungkook mirrors her own expression before laughing softly - a melodic, boyish timbre that deviates from his low, almost smoky talking voice.

"I'm more of an EXO guy though,"

Visibly loosening up, she chuckles, her smile reaching her eyes and the flushing of her skin due to her relief more than anything else.

"Noona, thank you again for joining me for lunch. Please choose anything you want to eat; it's on me." He gestures at the menu.

Song-hee shakes her head quickly at that, the curve of her lips falling flat. Brows furrowed in opposition, she returns her expensive glass of white wine on the table, dabbing the corners of her mouth with the ruby-red napkin after swallowing the crisp, bittersweet liquid.

"No, you don't have to do that. I can pay for myself," she starts to decline, but Jungkook is quick in cutting her off.

"Please, I insist." It's his turn to object.

He crosses his brawny arms across the table and leans forward slightly, regarding her with resolute and adamant eyes. He's dead-set on not taking no for an answer.

Shrugging, he continues his case. "It's the least I can do for taking you away from your boyfriend."

Song-hee grows red in the face humiliatingly fast once it clicks to her that Jungkook was pertaining to Dongmin.

Fortunately, she's able to compose herself quick enough and manages to turn the corners of her lips up in a natural smile.

"Ah, the guy I was with? He's not my boyfriend," she corrects his surmise, causing Jungkook's dark eyebrows to cock.

"He's actually my boss." She nods at his enlightened countenance, fingertips dancing across the linen table runner.

Jungkook doesn't say anything for a moment after that, just humming contemplatively in an undertone. When he speaks up again, his tone is low and indicative - curious.

He leans in a little further on the table; since the silk dress shirt he wore was not buttoned all the way up, it crinkles in his movement and exposes a little more of his chest.

Is he not cold? Song-hee can't help but think.

"Do you have a boyfriend, noona?"

The question, rightfully so, catches her off-guard.

Although her gaze is settled on the shining silverware before her, she's aware of how her eyebrows catch in her hair.

"You don't have to talk so formally, Jungkook-ah. You're just two months younger than me," she ignores his inquiry, choosing to remind him of their age-gap instead with a polite smile.

His gaze flickers to her face, Bambi eyes blanking all of a sudden like she said something unpleasant. He regards her this way for a few seconds, but it's long enough to make her simper waver and she starts to wonder if she did say anything wrong.

"Ah, right. Sorry about that," he reconciles, abashed, his tone half a pitch louder in his sudden recollection.

She watches in awe how his vibe changes almost instantaneously. It's kind of crazy how different he looks just by the mere presence or absence of a smile.

Maybe it's the low-hanging, orange incandescent lights or just the dimly-lit ambience of the place, but the harsh shadows dancing over his features now make him look slightly intimidating.

He shrinks back into the Nordic chair, his toothy smile permitting his face to brighten up again. "I'm usually younger than a lot of people I'm around, so I'm used to addressing everyone with honorifics."

Still thinking it's not necessary for him to call her that, Song-hee allows an 'oh' and nods at his explanation. At least she understands now why he had automatically called her 'noona' yesterday at the park.

With that, she can't help but backtrack and compare the Jungkook in front of her now and the Jungkook in front of her then. She never would've guessed he was leading such a grand lifestyle from how he initially presented himself to her.

That's probably a good thing, she judges.

Song-hee reaches for her drink again. "It's alright. It's good that you're so respectful," she compliments.

He accepts the praise with a nod.

"My mother would expect nothing less of me," he grins, but she catches the dismissive tone well enough to immediately whip up another question.

"So, you told me yesterday that you recently opened an independent media company?" She clears her throat, finding a perfect opportunity to steer the subject clear of family - for his and for her sake.

Jungkook nods in lieu of a response, making no comment about the abrupt change in topic. Instead, his gaze latches onto her glistening mouth after she takes another sip of her alcohol.

"Yeah, though it's nothing yet," he confesses, lacking any hint of concern or disappointment - oddly so.

He reaches for his own wine now, slow in the way he drinks from it and subtle in the way he keeps his eyes on her through the moist glass.

She licks her lips, managing a soft smile. "Well, if you're ever looking for a journalist to hire-" she shrugs, "-we'll probably bump into each other again. I mean, it's happening an awful lot lately."

Jungkook's laugh is as authentic as it is spontaneous. The small flutters in his chest are enough to get his head bobbing ardently.

"Yeah, we'll bump into each other again." He promises.

𖣔︎𖣔︎𖣔︎

After practically forcing the poor girl to promise her who the 'hot man in black' was and why he had stolen Song-hee from them during lunch, Se-young finally lets Song-hee breathe.

"Write the whole thing down, okay? I want to know everything!" She gushes as they step out of the elevator.

Song-hee frowns at her friend, who constantly and consistently proves she's only older in age and nothing else.

"I'm telling you, unnie, there's really nothing to it. He's an acquaintance," she insists, following suit as her friend puts on her houndstooth-patterned overcoat.

"He's the one I met during the police address, the one who helped me out when I got hit."

The other girl pulls a long face. "Come on, just give me this, will you? He's the most attractive guy I've seen in a while, so humor me."

Song-hee tsks at her, feigning distaste. "What would Jimin say about this?"

"Nothing." Se-young shrugs. "The guy took me out on three dates. We're not married and I certainly haven't gone blind towards other attractive men."

Song-hee shakes her head at that but smiles anyhow.

"Seriously though, tell me what happened tomorrow, alright?" Se-young implores again as they approach the exit of their office building.

"In return, I'll tell you how down Dongmin-ssi was acting. Seriously, he looked so sad!" She nods, trying to get her point across.

Fortunately for her, it catches Song-hee's attention right away even though she's sure her friend was just teasing.

"Pfft, sure."

Se-young tries to prove her case until they reach the exit.

Just like earlier, the snow blankets the streets of the busy district, and it hasn't stopped falling either.

Song-hee shivers right away just from her friend opening the main doors and she's convinced her tolerance for the cold is thinning with each passing day.

"Song-hee-ya, stay in here while I get the car, okay?" Se-young instructs through the tinted glass, to which the younger girl nods gratefully.

When Se-young disappears into the night, even though the lobby is still filled with office workers alike, Song-hee - for the first time in almost the whole day- is finally alone.

She heaves a deep breath and watches it form faintly in front of her face. She reaches sheepishly inside her bag and searches for her phone.

8:09 PM.

Jin must be home now.

Her lips purse as she goes through her contact list, her thumb hovering over his name and the same pang she felt earlier in the day shoots back up her heart - this time seemingly with a vengeance.

"Ha," she huffs, creating another cloud. Her eyes droop, kicking softly at the polished marble floor.

She really messed up today with how she treated him.

With renewed purpose, she straightens up, resolute now on calling Jin - whether or not he chooses to answer.

Attempting to fortify herself, she assures her fears and insecurities that Jin doesn't love her any less just because he's mad at her.

Running a hand through her hair, she looks up briefly to check for Se-young's red SUV. She squints to inspect the cars lined up at the stoplight before roaming over the rest of the perimeter.

She does a sudden double-take at the bus stop in front of the building.

No... There's no way.

Song-hee, transfixed suddenly, approaches the exit and slowly walks down the steps, her gaze unwavering despite the snow falling and catching on her eyelashes.

Oh, my God. Is it really -

"Jin?"

As if her heart wasn't already beating so hard, it thumps with even more vigor as she calls his name out.

Jin, with his back facing her, whips around quickly at the sound of her shaky voice.

When he reveals himself, the breath she didn't realize she was holding escapes her in a form of a small whimper.

Her eyes instantly drop to his hands and, quite frankly, feels like she could burst into tears right then and there.

He holds a small bouquet of purple flowers and, mustering the softest smile, he says with no hesitation whatsoever, "I'm sorry."

[A/N: Say it with me now... KIM SEOKJIN IS BEST BOY! Ahhh, this book got my simping game for Jin on another LEVEL, y'all - I hope y'all enjoyed it too. Also why is JK so scary in this story i hate it here HAHAH]