Jungkook gazed at the floor with his back glued to the wall. He stood next to her door with food in his hands. They had been eating take-outs more than they used to and more than they liked but it was something that neither of them could avoid as their work began to pile up with each day passed. Chaeyoung had been busying herself with the final stage of her work and Jungkook himself was busy with his own.

There were soft sounds of heels clacking against the floor and Jungkook straightened himself, a smile appeared even before it met the person who was meant to get the smile. When Chaeyoung finally came to his view, his smile broadened on his face, waiting for her to look up at him as she walked with her head down.

She lifted her head up when they were a couple steps away and Jungkook could feel his eyes crinkled even more with his lips stretching into a wider grin when her slightly startled expression replaced with a slow sweet smile of hers.

"I hope you're hungry," Jungkook said, lifting the plastic bag higher to the level of his chest.

Chaeyoung breathed in softly as she stood next to him while opening the door to her house. "That smells nice."

He nodded his head with a soft bite on his cheek, trying to stop himself from smiling further. "Yeah, it's your favorite food from your favorite restaurant."

He sat across her and waited for her to get her first bite before he started to dig in for himself. There was something so relaxing about that moment, like nothing had ever gone wrong in the past. It felt amazing to be feeling that way and he wasn't so sure what the reason or reasons could be.

Perhaps it was because of how easily her smile had slipped for him these days. He could have just thrown her a small smile and she'd return it just as quick as a heartbeat.

Perhaps it could be that she was finally able to accept the reality of all that had happened and had learned how to let go.

Perhaps, it was caused by something that happened between her and Taehyung on the day she went to visit the latter. After that very day, Jungkook couldn't help but notice the positive changes on her.

Chaeyoung began to stop ignoring her own health. Although she wasn't always eating like before, at least, Jungkook was glad that she filled herself in without the need for him to tell her to do so. She could finally sleep well without having a company or sleeping on his bed. Despite being sad over it, Jungkook was also glad because it meant that her sleeping pattern would no longer be affected. Sometimes, she talked about her past memories with Taehyung's mother but instead of making it a sad situation, she chose to reminisce it in all the good ways.

No longer did she talk and focus about the downside of the lady leaving and instead, she talked about all the nice things and the very great memories of them. It made him smile when she smiled. Although at times, her voice became slightly wobbly and her eyes got a little teary, but it all were rid with a chuckle.

Despite all these, though, there was something that kept him from being a hundred percent grateful and calm and feel at ease.

Chaeyoung sometimes would stare into space, though briefly, and when he asked her what was bothering her, she would just brush it off with a smile and tell him not to worry about it. The thing was he always caught the slight discomfort or worry that painted her countenance every single time after she told him that it was nothing to be worried about.

He knew there was something, there was definitely something that had probably inhabited her mind, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Trying to crack his brain for an answer had always resulted in nothing. He just couldn't think of any reason that would be close to being logic given the current situation of her.

Jungkook lifted his gaze from the almost clean plate in front of his and let his gaze settle on Chaeyoung. That moment was the exact example of what he was thinking of. Chaeyoung was staring blankly into the food. She had eaten half of it, which was good, but instead of trying to finish the food she had on her plate, she pushed the food around in small movement, making indefinite shape.

Pressing his lips into a thin line, Jungkook reached forward with his own spoon and scooped the food off her plate before lifting the spoon up to the level of her mouth. Chaeyoung looked up at him in surprise, her beautiful eyes widening slightly as confusion masking her face.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Trying to feed you."

"I can do it myself," she forced a smile, he noticed.

"I know," he nodded with a blank face. "But you're not doing it so I'm trying to help you."

She sighed, looking away for a brief moment before she hesitantly opened her mouth but before Jungkook could move the spoon forward, she gently took it from him and fed herself.

"What's bothering you?" Jungkook asked straightaway, couldn't even hide his curiosity when she began to make that deep-in-thoughts face again.

Chaeyoung blinked up at him, forced another small smile as she shook her head before her eyes downcast, and Jungkook didn't miss the subtle sigh that escaped her. He chose to remain silent then, knowing that forcing her to unleash her inner thoughts would only cause her to fight to have them remained locked inside.

"Jungkook..." she began a few seconds later and he immediately settled his eyes on her.

"Hm?"

"I..." She chewed her lip, hesitancy was forcing her to forget her intention to speak to him about something but Jungkook was glad when she continued. "I need to know...something."

By the sound of it, he knew that it would probably be something serious, at least to her. Jungkook straightened up on the seat, pushing the empty plate forward to make space for his arm to rest on the table. "What is it?"

Her fingers fidgeted against each other before they stopped and she looked up at him, and Jungkook's heart felt a slight twinge upon seeing the soft frown hanging on her face. She took a deep breath before releasing a long one, eyes never leaving his.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked softly. "Why are you... still here? Why are you always here taking care for me?"

Jungkook gazed into Chaeyoung's eyes intently, hoping to see the reason why she blurted out this type of questions.

"Why?" her voice cracked a little as she repeated this.

He was unsure if she was totally oblivious to all the reasons there was that could be the definite answers to all her questions she threw at him earlier or she actually knew, but needed to hear it from him.

Jungkook scoffed lightly, finally breaking the long intense gaze as he turned his head to the side, looking at whatever. "I'm surprised you still feel the need to ask why." When he looked at her in the eyes again, Jungkook creased his forehead with a slight tilt of his head. "Is it not obvious enough, Chaeyoung?"

She didn't tear her eyes away from his, holding his gaze firmly, her eyes never once blinked –he realized – and her frown, it just deepened as she waited for his answer. Instead of answering his question, Chaeyoung repeated again, "Why?" which made Jungkook let another scoff escape him albeit softer.

"Because I care you about you. I really do. I care about you too much. I care about you a hell lot. I have no power to stop myself from doing that, because I love you too damn much, Chaeyoung. That's why."

*

"How do you feel about me?" Chaeyoung kept her eyes fixated on the cactus, finger grazing the thorn cautiously.

"You'll hurt yourself, careful."

Chaeyoung smiled softly, removed her finger from the thorn and looked up at Taehyung who was leaning against the railing in the balcony of his apartment.

"How do you feel about me, Tae?"

Taehyung threw her a brief glance, lifting his brow as he did so. Slowly, he turned his body so he was facing her completely, his arms came up to cross over his chest. "Would you get upset if I tell you how I truly feel about you?"

She looked away, propping her elbow on the railing with her chin tucked against her palm. "Truth might hurt, but it's nothing compared to a lie." As soon as she said it, her eyes widened slightly, realizing that she accidentally reminded him of his past mistake and that it could hurt his feelings. Her head whipped to look at him and her hand was quick to touch his arm. "I didn't mean to –"

Taehyung chuckled instead, brushing her off with a tiny wave of his hand. "I know. Don't worry."

She went silent then, not knowing how to undo the awkwardness that she created herself.

"Truth is I still love you, Chaeng," he said softly, his deep voice was soothing but what he was saying did the opposite to her. She felt uncomfortable because the truth for her was that she could never return his feelings. She was unable to lift her gaze to meet his, forever staring at the thorny plant. Taehyung seemed to notice it, and when his thumb and index fingers came in contact with her chin as he tried to make her look at him, Chaeyoung closed her eyes with a faint sigh before she really opened her eyes to see Taehyung displaying a wan smile at her.

"There's a truth for that too. And the truth for that is," he paused midway into finishing the suspenseful sentence, giving his head a very subtle shake before he went on to continue, "it's not the same kind of love that I felt when we were still together."

Taehyung moved his hand so that it was cupping her cheek, and his thumb brushed softly against the skin around her cheekbone. "But I want you to know that you were not the one with flaws that I chose to... you know," he shrugged, pressing his lips into a thin line. "You're amazing. You've always been amazing and I was being a jerk when I was seeing someone else behind your back. I was too scared to hurt you if I was to tell you that... I felt like we would no longer work out."

Chaeyoung would have gotten deeply upset if she was to get fed with this information long time ago, when her feelings for him hadn't faded. At this moment, she felt like the burden had been lifted off her chest. Like the case of the century that she had never bothered to find an answer for because it felt too unnecessary to her had finally met its closure.

Taehyung put down his hand, shoved it into the pocket of his robe. "And at the same time, I didn't know how I wanted to tell my mom about how I was feeling. She was too fond of you. I was scared that I would hurt two amazing women in my life. It was dumb, really. I didn't think deeply of what the consequences would be. I didn't want to lose you, because I still want to at least be a friend to you but I was too scared that if I came clean about it at that time, I'd really lose you. In the end, I really did."

Chaeyoung inhaled as deeply as she could, her eyes staring at him and thought of their past together. Being together with him was truly an amazing experience, she experienced things she had never had before and it was such an adventurous journey. Taehyung was not really her first love, because she experienced her first love in middle school but it was stupid and there was almost zero love experiences in school should even be considered 'love', she thought.

But Taehyung, she believed, was the first man to ever truly sweep Chaeyoung off her feet, make her heart truly jump in exhilaration, meant the three simple magical words when he said it to her the first time, make her stomach knot in the most pleasant way as they shared from soft pecks to passionate kisses. She knew love when she knew him.

It was written in their fate, though, that the both of them were just there for each other to serve as an important life experience. As time passed on, deep down, she also knew and realized that slowly, they actually became slightly distant and it was only now that she wanted to admit that the distance between them actually happened naturally. Back then, Chaeyoung wanted to believe that the only reason why was because he got someone else and that was all. She used to refuse to think of other reasons that could result in their breakup.

It would be false to say that her bitterness had completely gone, because it had scarred her when she caught him with another woman but she believed that the memory would stay anyway and there was nothing she could do to rid it away. All she could attempt for was to eliminate the bitterness over the whole situation because neither of them was in love with one another anymore.

"What happened to her?" she questioned.

Taehyung's eyes dropped to the floor, a smile that was rather sad pulled on his handsome face. "Told you, I broke up with her."

"Yeah. But why? I mean, it couldn't be because she got jealous of me, right?"

Taehyung nodded. "Well, the breakup was not because she was jealous of you, but the reason was still you," he chuckled and Chaeyoung playfully pouted at him which brought laughter out of him. "Like I said, my mom was too fond of you. She wanted no one else to join the family unless it's you. If I were to introduce her to someone else, she'd get upset. When I realized I made a big mistake, that for the sake of my mom, I could actually try to work on my feelings for you again instead of jumping into another relationship... before my mom could find out that you and I have ended, I chose to end it with her."

"Are you guys still in contact with each other?"

"She never replied to any of my texts anymore," he chuckled sadly. "Anyway, let's not talk about this. Tell me about you and him."

Her heart skipped a beat upon hearing that name. "What?" She didn't know if she was really going to do this. It was strange to be talking about Jungkook with her ex-boyfriend.

"How did you two even know each other? I don't think he's an acquaintance of Namjoon or Jennie."

"Why do you even want to know?" she frowned softly.

"Come on, we're friends now, aren't we? I know it's a bit strange to talk about him, after all the drama I created involving him. But you just asked me about the girl I dated. So it's only fair if you talk about your boyfriend with me too."

Chaeyoung turned to look at him with an unsure look on her face, which he noticed in a beat.

"I'm cool with it, Chaeng," he assured her.

She sighed heavily, shook her head and ran a hand through her long hair. "I don't know. We're not together." She pouted slightly before adding, "I think."

Taehyung threw her a look showing how confused he was with what she was trying to say. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, we were. But now, I don't know. I'm not so sure myself. Maybe we are, maybe not."

"It was because of me, wasn't it?" He looked at her with a sheepish look.

Chaeyoung couldn't help but smile, and chuckled on the next second. "Yeah, you caused the official breakup."

"So there was an unofficial one?"

"Oh, come on, we also had our unofficial breakup last time," she stated, defending the relationship she had with Jungkook. "We got into this big fight about pets and broke up."

Taehyung laughed heartily and it warmed her heart to be hearing that. It had felt like it was already forever since she heard that kind of laughter from him. "Yeah, but it only lasted only a few hours."

They were silent then, and her face was still smiling and when she glanced at him, he was still having the wide, boxy smile of his on his face. A moment later, Taehyung said, "I bet the fight you had with him was a stupid one as well, which caused your unofficial split."

She looked down with heat blooming on her cheeks. "Well, I don't want to talk about it."

"So... you haven't told me how you met him."

She exhaled heavily, pressing her palms against her hot cheeks and thought of New Year. A smile began to form on her lips as her mind supplied her with the reminiscences, and slowly, after much thought, she began to let the words pour out of her. She didn't think she'd be able to do it, to share with him stories of her life, but perhaps they were really back to how they were before, before they were lovers, when he was her really close friend after Jennie.

Taehyung laughed together with her, and he commented on how she was blessed with good coincidences and all Chaeyoung could think of after their laughter had finally died down was how all she wanted was to get her spot back in Jungkook's heart.

"I'll see you later," she said into Taehyung's shoulder as she hugged him before leaving his apartment.

"It was nice talking to you," he said, patting her head.

"Stop that," she pushed herself off him. "You're making it awkward like we've just met each other."

"Well, we're starting anew anyway," he laughed.

As soon as she stepped out and closed the door behind her, a few steps away from her stood a figure that she hadn't expected to see. Chaeyoung froze in her spot, and her eyes locked on the person's for a long time before the latter turned around quickly.

"Wait!" Chaeyoung's feet padded on the floor of the hallway as quickly as she could to catch up.

It was her, the woman that she and Taehyung had talked about earlier.

She caught the female's elbow but did not grip on it. Chaeyoung didn't need to, because the woman stopped immediately, and turned to face her.

"I'm sorry," the woman said with a soft smile. "I... really shouldn't have come here."

Chaeyoung let her hand fall, bit her bottom lip softly. She cleared her throat and asked, "Are you here to visit Taehyung?"

The shorter female looked up at her, and slowly nodded her head. "I met a friend of his and he asked me how Taehyung was doing. I didn't know what he meant until he told me about what happened." She breathed in softly and looked as though she was contemplating on what she wanted to say. "Is he...okay?"

Chaeyoung honestly wanted to tell her that Taehyung wasn't fine until recently, the progress had been positive but it could have been better but instead of that, she decided to lock them all up and proceeded with a different response. "I think you should go and check on him to answer that," she said, smiling softly which caused the woman to widen her eyes a little, obviously surprised with Chaeyoung's response.

She looked a little nervous, frowning as she looked at Taehyung's door.

"He's been waiting for you," Chaeyoung assured the woman, and decided to walk away to leave the two on their own because she didn't want to make either of them to feel weird for her to be there to witness their possible reunion.

"Excuse me," she said from behind Chaeyoung as she had stepped away. Chaeyoung turned around and looked at the older woman questioningly when the latter stayed mum a few moments. "Thank you," she finally said.

Chaeyoung smiled in response and nodded before both of them turned away at the same time.