A Past & Present Attraction
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"Have you ever thought of dating someone again?" Minji asked. Her words echoed in Ara's head, making it impossible for her to listen. Ara's last relationship wasn't much of a relationship. There wasn't even a dating phase. It was just a marriage—and it failed terribly. Then before that, she dated a very smart and attractive man. The only issue was that he focused more on work than her. His name was Kim Namjoon.

"Aren't you both friends? Namjoon, I mean." Minji, confused at Ara's sudden question, just nodded her head. It had been four years since their breakup, and she wondered how he was doing all the time. They didn't end on bad terms, but they didn't just automatically stay as friends either. There was tension between the two, which led them to disappear from each other's lives. Ara stayed quiet, but Minji had something in mind.

"Let me take you to work," she said. "Jimin is bringing some friends over and he needs his maid there for longer than usual. I guess you'll have to cook dinner for them."

Ara nodded without arguing and got herself ready. She assumed it was the reunion that Jimin and Jungkook were talking about before. The multiple guys that were going to be there at his house for the day. Ara didn't mind being in a house full of men. She was just curious about how Eunha would handle the situation. If she even cared about Jimin's friends, or if she had tried to sleep with them before, too.

At Jimin's house, he barely said much, just like Ara. Eunha was there, but once again, she left when the guests arrived. Jimin invited his friends inside as Ara was in the kitchen making dinner. In Ara's perspective, she thought that the guys and Eunha didn't get along since they seemed really close to Jimin as Eunha disregarded their presence before she left. She was right.

"Jimin, I heard you have a maid now," one guy said. Jimin nodded in response, perhaps thinking Jungkook had told him.

"Eunha wanted some help with the chores. Luckily, Minji had this friend of hers that could come and be our maid," Jimin explained as he then chuckled. "Are you planning on taking her with you? I know you, Namjoon."

Ara froze. She stopped cutting the vegetables once she heard the name. The conversation continued, but Ara didn't care. She just wanted to confirm that it was the same Namjoon she knew. The Namjoon that she loved so much, until one day, he abandoned her. Lost in her own world, she didn't hear when Jimin said that he was going to check up on dinner. As she was about to walk out of the kitchen, she bumped into him and immediately apologized afterwards.

"Ara, are you okay?" he asked, and she nodded. "Be careful. Is there something you need?"

Ara stayed quiet, trying to look at the group of men who were behind him in the living room. She tried to look over Jimin, but she couldn't get a good view and he noticed. Jimin stepped back, and she took a step forward, trying to look at the man perfectly. The man was Kim Namjoon.

"Joon," she said. "How has he been?"

Jimin looked at her, confused, wondering not only how she knew his name, but even more about her past life with Namjoon. How she knew Namjoon and what relationship she had with him. It made him so curious. Ara had been carrying the knife from before in her hands for a while now. Jimin noticed her grip on it and held her hand carefully as he took it from her. She gave him even more curiosity now.

"He's fine," he said. "Um, would you like to talk to him?"

Jimin didn't know what had happened to Ara and Namjoon, but it sounded like they had a strong connection. Ara shook her head at the question. Their breakup had hurt her more than ever and even now, she still thought it was her fault for their love that faded away. Maybe she just didn't love him enough? Maybe she should have loved him more? Ara wondered about so many things, but she was never close to the answer. Their breakup was more significant to Namjoon.

"Let me help you clean up here. I'll take the food outside, okay?" Jimin said, and she hummed in approval. During dinner, Ara was having her own mental breakdown in the bathroom. The guys enjoyed their dinner, laughing and joking around except for Jimin. He was still stuck on the brief scene from before, so all he did was observe. He looked over at Namjoon as Namjoon chuckled at a silly statement that his friend Hoseok had made.

"Ara," Jimin said in order to prove his point. Namjoon immediately turned to Jimin, wondering why he had said the name so suddenly. Ara indeed wasn't there, but Jimin wanted confirmation. Jungkook just stayed silent. He knew what Jimin was doing. He recalled who Ara was. Namjoon's ex. He remembered how Namjoon had told him about her before, even without Jungkook knowing who she was. He only knew Baekhyun. Namjoon knew both.

"Byun?" Jimin asked himself in a moment of realization. The remaining guys looked confused, except for Namjoon. He swallowed dry and kept eating. Jimin had just remembered Namjoon's ex-girlfriend, who coincidentally was called Byun Ara, just like his maid. He had mentioned her only a few times, so everyone had completely forgotten about her. However, Jimin remembered. Jungkook remembered. Ara was Namjoon's ex-girlfriend.

"Why is that name so familiar?" Seokjin asked. Jimin chuckled as Namjoon chugged on his water, ignoring the question. Jimin was now curious about who Ara truly was, even if she kept denying that her life was any short of interesting.

Late at night, Ara was still at Jimin's house getting ready to head out while Jimin was also doing the same. The entire group of guys had already left and Eunha was still out. It was close to four AM.

"Ara, let me drive you home. It's been a long day," he said. Ara thanked him for the ride and followed him to the main door. Right when he opened it, Eunha appeared right outside. She was about to open the door with her key when she saw Jimin.

"Babe, where are you going at this time?" she asked. Jimin became nervous for a second, but it wasn't like he was hiding something from his girlfriend. Her voice just sounded very authoritative. Very demanding. It disturbed him, since he never allowed others to use that tone with him. Having Eunha do it now that he knew about her affair was upsetting him even more.

"Dropping off Ara. She had a long day at work today since the guys came over. Minji is asleep right now, so she doesn't have a ride," he explained.

"Why can't she go by herself? Actually, why don't you tell Mr. Lee to take her? He's your personal driver for a reason." Eunha couldn't believe that her boyfriend was going out in the middle of the night to some other woman's house. She didn't trust the fact that he was a loyal man. Maybe she was just projecting, but she didn't like Ara one bit. Her eyes made Eunha paranoid. Those eyes that could see any single mistake Eunha made in her plans. And those lips—those lips that could seduce her fiancé in a matter of seconds, just so that she could take her place. Everything about Ara annoyed her.

Before Jimin could say anything, she pushed her way past Ara and walked inside. It was very clear that her 'social anxiety' was a stupid excuse for her aggressive behavior towards others. Jimin had finally cleared his mind. Eunha had always been such a despicable woman, to him and to everyone who approached her. Whether it was with her attitude or with her actions, she made it easy for one to hate her.

Jimin shook his head as he turned to Ara and directed her to his car. Back at home, Jimin opened the car door for Ara and walked with her up the steps. He took his time with every step since he didn't want to go home just yet. Unlike with Eunha, he felt comfortable with her. Ara had saved him from a horrendous marriage even after months of warnings from his loved ones. He had to hear it from a stranger to believe it. He had to see the proof to believe it. Still, he didn't know if he could even get out of marrying Eunha. It wasn't like he was the one who planned it. He just accepted it with no argument.

"Thank you—" both of them said in unison. Jimin was very thankful for Ara being involved in the whole situation and saving him, but Ara was thankful because he had helped her out when her ex was in the same house as her. It might've been little, but it meant a lot to her. Mostly because she didn't know whether to cry or attack him. She was an anxious wreck and didn't know what she could do.

They both smiled at each other before Jimin said, "Can I pick you up tomorrow as a way of showing my gratitude?"

Ara couldn't understand why he would offer that as a way of showing his gratitude, but she accepted it anyway. They said their goodbyes and finally went their opposite ways.

+

The very next morning, Ara was opening the door to leave when she saw Jimin standing right outside the house. He was leaning against his car as he looked up and smiled when he saw her. It had been a while since his fiancée made him smile like that.

At his house, Ara greeted Eunha with a smile, but she ignored it. Jimin chuckled behind her and she heard it, so she turned around and suddenly he was back to being serious again. It made her chuckle as well that he thought the situation was funny. It made him laugh, but not because of the encounter, because of how stupid he was to believe she was such a saint. He signaled at Ara to go clean the rooms and she did so as he sat down next to Eunha. She was texting a guy and wasn't afraid of showing it.

"Who's that, baby?" Jimin asked, already feeling disgusted by the 'baby' coming out of his mouth. He just had to put up with it.

"A friend of mine," Eunha said. That was all. Jimin just shrugged, as he didn't care anymore. He felt nothing. He stood up and went up the stairs and into his room. Ara was cleaning up the bathroom floor as Jimin walked in. She couldn't hear the door opening from the bathroom, so she didn't have a clue when Jimin walked over to where she was and found her kneeling on the floor. She was scraping off a stain as Jimin looked at her. To be exact, he didn't see her face. He saw her behind, that was directly facing him.

"Jimin!" Eunha yelled. Jimin rolled his eyes as he took a deep breath. That scream caught Ara's attention as she turned around quickly and stood up. Jimin felt a rush of awkwardness since he was just standing there as he looked at her cleaning the floor. He knew she noticed where he was looking and it made him embarrassed by his actions. He didn't want to seem disrespectful.

"I'm sorry, Ara. I came to get my phone but I can't seem to find it," he lied right through his teeth and Ara knew. He had his phone with him when he picked her up and he had not gone to his room since he arrived, so that was obviously a lie. She knew he was just standing there, and it made her feel embarrassed.

"Jimin," Eunha called him once more. Ara and Jimin just stayed looking at each other without saying anything, knowing that the situation was awkward for both of them. He apologized once again and walked out of his room to the other one that his girlfriend was calling him from. Once he opened the door, he saw his girlfriend laying down on the bed wearing her black lace lingerie.

"Eunha—" he said, but she just signaled him to come closer. Thoughts were racing through his head. She was driving him insane. He wanted her just like before. Every inch of her. But he couldn't and he knew that. She lied to him and she betrayed his trust. He couldn't just go back to how everything was before. He couldn't start thinking with his dick again.

"Eunha, not now. I got work to do," was the first thing he could think of. "Ara is also here, and she's cleaning up the rooms, so get dressed before she comes."

He immediately left the room and left her to deal with her issues herself. He gathered himself up and left for work. Eunha, however, had some work to do herself.

Later on, when Ara finished cleaning up the rooms, she went to the first floor as Eunha went back to the rooms. A few hours later, Eunha walked back down the stairs and glared at Ara before grabbing her purse and leaving the house. Ara scoffed, disgusted at her trashy behavior as she continued to clean. That enormous mansion took hours to clean up, and it was mainly Eunha's fault. Jimin already knew that.

Jimin had arrived from work early and was relieved to not see Eunha anywhere around, meaning that he could finally relax. He took off his suit jacket and threw it on the couch before he walked over to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. As he reached the kitchen, he saw Ara washing the dishes. She placed the dry ones on the counter as Jimin looked at her from afar. That counter reminded him of the many times that he had sex with Eunha on top of it. It was one of the most memorable times in the kitchen.

It didn't take long for him to feel all the sensations that he felt before. The times that he lifted her up and sat her on the counter just to make her cum over and over again. Cum would drip down her thighs, down the counter and even down his body. Suddenly, his pants felt tighter and tighter as he remembered those wonderful times.

Then he saw Ara.

She was too distracted to even notice him, but he was paying close attention to her. He shook his head, trying to get those thoughts out of his mind, and walked over to the fridge to get his water. Ara noticed his presence but didn't exactly see where he was. Once she finished washing the dishes, she tried backing up to get the towel that was inside the cabinet when Jimin passed by behind her. Her immediate move when Jimin stepped closer made him spit out the water that he was about to swallow.

Her ass was directly on his crotch, feeling every inch of his bulge poking her from behind. She got nervous and immediately turned around, apologizing to him. That whole situation did not help Jimin's thoughts whatsoever at that moment, but he had to keep his composure.

"No. Don't apologize. It was my fault," he said. Ara bowed regardless, very embarrassed by the sudden encounter. He was even more ashamed, as he believed she felt what was going on in his pants, which she clearly did.

+

"So, Tae. One more drink?" Eunha asked as she was already handing the liquor to him. She couldn't get Jimin's attention, so she tried getting one of his friends to give it to her. Taehyung was getting drunk, but it was still clear to him that Eunha just wanted to get in his pants. The alcohol, however, was blinding his judgment.

"Only one," he said hesitantly, grabbing the drink and chugging it down.

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