When Jungkook entered the elevator even when it was already quite packed with people, she was reminded of the past. A pretty similar situation in which back then, he stood in front of her but now they were standing side by side, his arm brushing against hers for the slightest moment. She refused to chance a glance at him, eyes glued onto her feet most of the time when she recalled back the last conversation they had on the phone.

"If I told you yes, are you going to give up?"

"I don't know."

If someone asked about it, she would deny it but only God knows how badly she wanted him to say 'no'. Only God knows how desperate she was with the need of wanting to listen to him telling her that he wouldn't give up no matter what. Only God knows how he made her feel even when she was so disappointed in him.

Once outside, they went their separate ways and she noticed that he was heading to a car with Hoseok on the driver's seat. Not wanting either man to notice that she was looking their way, she looked away immediately and her eyes searched for Jennie but instead, they landed on Taehyung who was having an ice cream. Taehyung saw her, waved his hand at her and she offered him a smile that she hoped looked like a friendly smile but deep down she knew that it was merely a polite smile used mostly for works.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have work?"

"I do," he smiled down at her. "I just thought that I should get the ice cream I had the other day. It's really good." Taehyung had sort of developed likings toward the homemade ice cream sold at a booth just a few blocks down from where her apartment was.

"Here," he pushed his hand that was holding a plastic bag. "Your favorite."

She took it from him, peeked inside and a small grin decorated her face. She was about to say her thanks when she looked up at him but her eyes caught the sight of Hoseok's car moving past them as she looked over Taehyung's shoulder. She saw Jungkook looking right at her for only a few seconds before averting his eyes to somewhere else and the betrayed look on his face made all her insides felt guilt all of a sudden, although there was no reason why she would have to feel so.

"Are you all right?" Taehyung said, nudging her shoulder softly.

"Huh?" she blinked. "Oh. Yeah. Yes, I'm good. Thanks." She lifted the plastic bag at him. "Have you seen Jennie? I'm gonna be late for work."

"Where's your car?" he asked with genuine concern. "Is it broken again?"

"No. I just don't feel like driving today. Besides, I don't have to go anywhere for the rest of the day. It will all be spent in the office anyway."

Taehyung nodded. "I can send you if you want?" he offered.

She thought about it for a few moments. "No, it's okay. I think she'll be here in a minute," she said with hope, flicking her wrist to check the time. "Aren't you leaving for work?"

"I am leaving. Tell Jennie that I'll be sending you to work."

"You're going to be late, Tae," she chuckled softly.

"Well, I'm already late anyway. Come on. Hop in," he told her after throwing away the ice cream.

She checked the time again and pressed her lips into a thin line. "Okay then."

The song that played during the ride to her workplace didn't help her much on getting Jungkook off her mind even for a bit. It was that very song he had sang to her, the latest song she had heard that managed to pull the tears out of her. She was so immersed in the song, her mind was busy reminiscing everything that she didn't even realize that Taehyung was talking to her.

"Hey," Taehyung nudged her arm. "Were you listening?"

"What?" she asked. Her eyes blinked a few times before she turned to him. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Taehyung looked at her for a moment, looking in between confused and wounded at the lack of attention she was giving him. He smiled nonetheless and focused back on the road. "My mom is inviting you to dinner tonight. You coming?"

As much as she enjoyed being around the older woman, she couldn't help but feel like something was going on with all these sudden invitations to spend time with her. Taehyung's mother wasn't acting like this back when Chaeyoung was still with Taehyung. Sure, sometimes the older woman would come all the way just to visit her son, and maybe spend a little time on lunches or dinner with her but not so often even when she would be staying for a month or more.

Taehyung seemed to notice the hesitance in her as she mulled over it. "She wants to have dinner with the four of us. Jennie, Namjoon, you and me," he said with a big smile.

At the mention of Jennie, her eyes lit up. "Are they coming too?"

"Of course," he assured her. "Are you coming? If you're not coming, I'll tell my mom so she doesn't need to cook that much."

With soft nods and a warm smile, she looked at him and said, "Sure. I'll come."

*

Jungkook stared into the liquid in the glass he was holding. He moved the glass into a circular motion on the marbled counter, causing a light ripple before he brought the mouth of the glass to meet his lips. The alcohol burned his throat as it slid down and he sighed heavily as he placed the glass back on the counter. His other hand reached for the bottle, filled the glass and drank it again, except that he took them all in one shot this time around.

He turned his body around on the stool and watched the people around him. He saw his coworker, Yugyeom showing off his hidden talent to both males and females surrounding him. Yugyeom was dancing passionately and was actually applauded by a few people around him. Jungkook smiled at that sight and had an instant recall of the club, dancing, and Chaeyoung.

In the many memories of him with her, there was one when he was more than grateful to agree joining Hoseok and Yoongi hitting the club. Because that was where he met her again, and he was actually thanking his fate for letting him see her, interact with her and dance with her.

He took another glass and groaned quietly, his head was beginning to feel dizzy but he was sure he wasn't that drunk yet. Jungkook had his elbow propped on the counter, his hand holding the glass when his other hand that was holding the bottle reached for his phone. He sipped on the alcohol ever so slowly as his thumb searched for that certain someone.

Carefully, he pressed the phone against his ear and struggled to open his eyes as he lowered his hand to put the glass carefully so that it didn't fall from his grasp.

"Hello?"

Jungkook felt his heart lifted upon hearing the different tone she had used on him. Chaeyoung had previously sounded as though she was reluctant to answer his call, but now she even picked it up after just one ring, and she had sounded happy when she said her hello.

But then there was a faint sound of a male laughing at the background, and his heart sank. Who else if it wasn't Kim Taehyung? Jungkook let out a breath and thought he had responded to her but when she repeated with a more concern voice, he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Chaeyoung," he breathed to the phone. He gripped the glass in his hand tight. "Cong...ratulations."

He heard some movement, and he heard her excusing herself before she said, "What are you congratulating me for?"

Jungkook smiled wanly as his eyes lowered. "For what's coming soon."

"What are you talking about?"

He inhaled as much as he could and realized that the alcohol had kicked in. Even so, he took another sip. "I just thought..." he chuckled softly, "I should congratulate you. For it."

"Jungkook... are you drunk?"

He took one last sip from the glass and decided to replenish it when he heard her asking, "Jungkook, where are you right now? Who are you with?"

He didn't decide on answering. And so soon after she said the very last word in her question, he ended the call.

*

"So, when are you two going to settle down?" Taehyung's mother directed the question to Jennie and Namjoon.

Namjoon settled his eyes on his food almost immediately as he nervously chuckled, Taehyung shared a look with Chaeyoung next when both of them saw Jennie pouting a little at that question.

Jennie gave Namjoon a side glance before rolling her eyes and said with a sad sigh, "I don't know."

"You don't want to?" the older female asked curiously.

"Well, I do," Jennie said with a small pout and Chaeyoung swore she saw Namjoon's eyes flicker even though he didn't have them lifted. "But I don't think he wants to."

Namjoon looked like he was about to say something, maybe trying to defend himself and tell Jennie that she thought it wrongly but as soon as Chaeyoung sent him a look which, fortunately, he caught, he closed his mouth and opted for another series of laughter. If he was going to say anything at all, that would probably ruin his surprise for Jennie.

"I'm sure when the time comes, they'll settle down for sure," Taehyung said to his mother as if he was reassuring her about it.

"Well, let's hope for that," Jennie said, lifting her eyebrows lazily as she looked down at her food, pressing her lips into a thin line before sighing out loud which caused laughter to everyone in the room.

"Look at you," Chaeyoung teased.

"Hey, don't judge me," Jennie said monotonously, narrowing her eyes at her.

Everyone laughed again, and Chaeyoung averted her attention from Jennie to Namjoon, and her heart warmed at the look he was giving her. Sure, he could be an asshole from time to time but then she knew and she could see it and feel it that Namjoon loved Jennie more than anything in the world. She had come to his life when he was in one of his darkest days, she was like a light that never even dimmed and she was that friend that Taehyung could never be in Namjoon's life.

Her phone buzzed on her lap, without looking, she took it and slid her thumb across the screen, greeting the caller as she tried to suppress her laughter. When there was no response given, she furrowed her brows momentarily and heard a faint sound of breathing from the other line.

"Hello?" she repeated the second time, hoping to get some respond. Even though her mind had requested for her to check on who might be calling, she ignored it completely and decided to wait for any form of reply.

"Chaeyoung..."

Her smile faltered when she heard Jungkook's voice, and she felt her heartbeat quickened a little.

"Cong...ratulations."

Her grip on the phone tightened, her brows furrowed deeper as confusion rose within her. She looked up at Taehyung then turned to the older female. "Excuse me," she said politely as she rose from her seat and walked away from the dining table. She kept on walking until she was sure she was quite far from the rest of the people before she asked, "What are you congratulating me for?"

"For what's coming soon."

Confused, she leaned her hip against a couch and asked, "What are you talking about?"

His words were slurred when he responded with, "I just thought... I should congratulate you. For it."

She had just realized that there were sound of EDM music and lots of voices in the background. She wetted her lips slightly and quickly asked, "Jungkook...are you drunk?"

Although Chaeyoung knew for sure that he was definitely in the club, the question just tumbled out of her. Slowly, her worry began to conquer her heart and she was curious if he was there alone. "Jungkook, where are you right now?" she asked, not caring how obvious her concern was in her voice. "Who are you with?"

There was no answer from him and when she heard the beeping sound next, the worry made her heart stopped beating for a second. Sure, there was nothing to worry about when he was a grown man who was more than capable to take care of himself. It wasn't the first time for him to get drunk anyway. But when Jungkook said those things to her while being drunk, Chaeyoung had her mind occupied with negative thoughts that wouldn't go away unless she had him in her sight.

Chaeyoung rushed back to the dining room where the laughter had slowed down, but the people were still in the mood to joke around. "I have to go," she looked at Taehyung's mother apologetically. "I'm really sorry that I have to excuse myself now."

"What happened?" Jennie asked anxiously.

"Just... nothing. I mean, yeah, there's something. It's an urgent matter but it's nothing that I can't handle," she said quickly.

"I'll go with you," Taehyung offered, already standing up while wiping the corner of his mouth with a tissue.

"No! No, it's okay. I'll be fine. I can handle it."

"Are you sure?" his mother asked, holding her hand gently.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Don't worry. It's just... work. I just gotta get it done," she smiled and hoped her lie was useful enough to get her out of there fast.

"Okay then," the older woman smiled warmly at her. "Be careful on the road."

She nodded and hurriedly went out of the house, hopped in her car and fastened her seatbelt while the car was already moving. The first location that came up in her mind was the club they frequented, the club where she had her first time dancing in the crowd because of Jungkook. Her eyes were frantic as she looked for him in the club once she had entered. She didn't see him. He was not anywhere in the club. Could it be that he had gone home?

She went to the bar and leaned her body forward, calling the bartender by his name. "Junhong."

The tall man turned to her and displayed a dimpled smile at her. "Hey! What's up? I haven't seen you in a while."

Ignoring his question, she asked her own, "Where's Jungkook? Did he go home?"

Furrowing his brows, Junhong tilted his head and put an arm on the counter. "I haven't seen him too. What's wrong?"

She felt her heart slowly sink at that answer. "He wasn't here?"

"Nope."

"You sure?"

"Very." He leaned forward and arched an eyebrow. "Did something happen?"

Chaeyoung lowered her eyes and thought quickly. She tried to dial his number for three times, but he didn't answer any. That left her with more worries to overcome with. When she looked up at Junhong's curious face, somehow, her brain made some connections and she quickly grabbed the arm he was putting on the counter and leaned towards him, her eyes wide as an idea popped up in her brain. "You're friends with Hoseok, aren't you?"

Junhong looked startled for the slightest moment, trying to pull his arm away from her when she gripped it. "Easy there. Yes, he's a friend of mine. Will you tell me what's wrong?"

"Just give me Hoseok's phone number, please."

"How come you never have his phone number when you're actually dating Jungkook?" he gave her a confused look and tried to pull his arm again. "Can you let go of me for a moment?"

She looked down and quickly retracted her hand, muttering a soft 'sorry' before she urged him to be quick. He retrieved his phone from the back pocket of his pants, his thumb busy trying to search for Hoseok before he turned the screen around so that she could see. Chaeyoung typed in Hoseok's phone number as quick as she could, double-checked it and said her thanks to Junhong before dashing off to get into her car.

"Hello?"

"Is this Hoseok?" Her words were thrown pretty fast that she was unsure if he caught the question or not. When he said 'yes', she swallowed to wet her dry throat. "It's me, Chaeyoung. I got your number from your bartender friend. I'm calling 'cause I need to know if you guys are with Jungkook."

There was a pause and compared to the first 'hello', he sounded clearer when he responded, "What?" She figured that he must be sleeping when she called.

"I'm sorry if I was disturbing your sleep but I'm just... Jungkook called me and he said some weird stuff and I'm pretty sure he was so drunk and I don't know where he is. I'm..." she paused briefly, closing her eyes. Chaeyoung was uncertain if she should be telling Hoseok at all about what her feeling was. "I'm worried. I tried to call him but there was no answer. Please tell me you're with him."

"I'm not with him. I'm not sure if he's with Yoongi. Have you checked if he was at the club?"

"He's not here. Junhong told me he didn't see Jungkook at all for today." Trying to push some positivity in her to make her feel better, she prayed so hard that Jungkook was actually hanging out with Yoongi. "Do you think he's with Yoongi?"

"Not sure. I'll ask Yoongi and for the time being, I'll go out and look for him too. Maybe he's still in a club, a different one."

Chaeyoung thanked him and ended the call immediately, sighing out loud in her car and tried to call Jungkook one more time but the attempt was met with the same result. In the recent years, the number of clubs in the city had increased, which made it slightly difficult to find him. Her heart told her that he wasn't inside any club anymore but it wouldn't hurt to try.

She went from one to another, each of the clubs was fortunately had been visited by her at least once thanks to Namjoon and Jennie and of course, Taehyung. Instead of using only her eyes, she walked deeper into each of the club, once or twice people around her would either accidentally bumped into her or she bumped into them as she pushed herself into the crowd. She looked for him in every nook and cranny, if she had to exaggerate.

Still, there was no sign of him.