•••

the phone keeps ringing without any sign of being answered any time soon which irritates and worries taehyung at the same, knowing his girlfriend isn't the type to have her phone on silent or ignore people's calls, especially his, and he's already called her about ten times in the last two hours as they couldn't talk earlier during the day.

he sighs deeply, nibbling on his lower lips, sitting on the couch while his best friend is busy laughing with tears evident in his eyes, watching how 'i met your mother' all over again for the fourth time in his life. taehyung's stressed look must be stressed enough to grab jimin's attention, letting his laugh settle down and pull himself to sit straight, peeking over his arm which is when he realises taehyung is still trying to get in contact with hayeon.

"bro, leave it, she must be busy." he pats taehyung's back, "she'll reply when she has time okay? relax,"

"no, jimin you don't understand, she never does that. something must be wrong!" taehyung exasperates, his foot tapping on the carpet with a deep, low thumping sounds that were just depicting how serious this was in his head.

"i do get it man, i talked to her yesterday she seemed fine to me,"

"i am the boyfriend," taehyung gives him straight and jimin scoffs, standing up with the empty bottles of soju in his hands and a packet of half eaten cheese crackers.

"fuck you, keep calling her and die,"

"jimin!" taehyung groans, following him to the kitchen and takes a deep breath, "wait! fuck! i should call her dad!" he beams and jimin nods dismissively.

"put it on speaker,"

"you're an ass," taehyung mutters to him, but puts the phone on speaker while jimin gives him a sarcastic smile. the call is answered after a few rings, being filled in with the voice that belongs to hayeon's father.

"ah hello, taehyung, how are you son?"

"hello dad, i'm great," he smiles a little, "i hope i'm not disturbing you... am i?"

"no no, you're never a bother my boy," the father chuckles. "tell me, what can i help you with?"

"actually i've been trying to call hayeon for a while, but she's not answering... can i talk to her?"

"oh yeah, right, this silly girl left her phone at home. it was dead and she kept it for charging because we planned to have dinner outside today." the father sighs softly, "i got some urgent work at the last minute and i had to cancel the plan."

"ah okay, so where is she right now?"

"if she's not answering your calls then she still must be out, i guess. i'm at the company right now and i don't think i can go home tonight. but don't worry, she's with jungkook and they must be about reach home."

"jungkook? who's that?" taehyung frowns, not even liking the sound of his girlfriend going out on dinner dates with some random guy in his absence.

"the guy i rented a few months back. don't worry taehyung, he's a nice boy, he'll take care of hayeon."

"uh sure... but dad, they- i mean-"

jimin laughs awkwardly, covering up for his friend and takes the phone from his hand, "hello uncle, jimin here. tae got another call,"

"oh it's fine, tell him not to worry too much. i know jungkook and he's such a good guy, just like you both."

jimin chuckles lightly, nodding as he glances at taehyung, "yeah, i'm sure he is. anyway, thank you uncle."

"no problem, children. good night,"

"you too," jimin sighs before hanging up and covers taehyung's mouth before he let out any curses, "i know! shut up!"

"how can i shut up?! there's my girlfriend going out with a guy and her father just fucking left them alone for the whole damn night!"

"relax tae, it's not that big of a deal. you trust hayeon don't you?" jimin garbs taehyung by his shoulders, staring at him with a serious gaze while taehyung stares back at him, nodding his head. "then it's fi-"

"but i don't trust that guy! no you tell me jimin, would you leave your girlfriend alone for the whole night with a guy you never met?!"

"i... no, okay, i won't," jimin sighs, pulling himself back, "so what now?"

"you were going to busan day after tomorrow right? go tonight, raid that fucking house and catch that motherfucker who's trying to get my hayeon." taehyung declares, grabbing jimin by his shoulders now, "look, jimin, you're my best friend and i trust you with my whole life. you gotta do this for me, please."

"why don't you go?" jimin sighs, "she's your girlfriend,"

"and the commissioner won't leave my ass alone," taehyung exasperates, "jimin, i love you, please..."

"how can i go tonigh-"

"you can. you're a police officer park jimin. a senior investing officer from crime branch seoul! use that! nobody can fucking dare to say anything to you."

"fuck you" jimin mutters, "but you're right. help me pack,"

"that's my boy!" taehyung hugs him tightly, leading them upstairs to the room jimin is staying in and pull out a suitcase.

__

"-and after that day, the criminal is reported dead by the police."

"that is a really nice plot jungkook! thank you so much!" hayeon squeals, writing the last bit down and turns to face jungkook with a wide smile, "really thank you so much, i owe you a big time,"

"you do, i'll remember it don't worry," he says, making hayeon chuckle as she nods at his words. jungkook stares at her while she puts her notepad and the pen in the pocket of her jacket, now focusing more on eating her food.

jungkook's head tilts slightly to the side, mind wandering to the café scene two days ago when he confirmed for his life that hayeon's taehyung and his taehyung are the same person. the only difference is that hayeon seeks love from him and jungkook seeks revenge. it was early in the morning when hayeon still talking to jungkook and he had accidentally peeked into her phone, catching a glimpse of the wallpaper of two people smiling, one was hayeon and the other was kim taehyung in his service uniform, the one jungkook hates.

after that, hayeon's father had to cancel the dinner plans with her which made the girl upset and jungkook couldn't see that. what made him feel his first step towards victory was when hayeon and her father agreed to let him take her out instead of having her alone and upset at home.

one more reason jungkook found this girl genuinely interesting and even wanted to know her, keeping her boyfriend away from the situation, was the book she said she's working on. he did want people to know that what kim taehyung and his department made him look like was just the half truth, and his side of the story is yet hidden deep within him which nobody knows- nobody dared to listen and give him a chance.

and park hayeon is a way to get his truth out to the world, to kim taehyung and people like him who judge too soon and believe too easily.

"jungkook?" hayeon clicks her fingers in front of his face, making him snap out of his thoughts, biting his lower lip as his gaze lands on her tinted lips as the first thing in the world. "are you okay?" they part and mumble, making jungkook wonder if those blossom lips tasted that sweet the way they sounded with her voice.

"yeah," jungkook looks down at his plate, "i'm full, shall we go?"

"yeah, sure," hayeon smiles, wiping her lips with the napkin while jungkook pulls out his wallet, "jungkook, i've paid. let's go," she chuckles, grabbing his hand and stands up, smiling thankfully at the waiter who served them.

"wow... uh thanks," jungkook says, rubbing the back of his neck as he glances at his other hand, still being linked with hayeon's who doesn't look the slightest bothered about it and it gives him a reason not to pull away.

"no problem," she replies, "ice cream?"

"if you want," jungkook mumbles, sighing at the sight of her eyes shining into a million stars as though mimicking the blanket of sky above them, reminding him just how different hayeon is from taehyung. "i'll pay this time," he adds, placing his hand on her back gently, just enough to make the rest of the lustful gazes avert away on their own.

"if you want," hayeon giggles at her own joke, walking unbothered and unaware of her power of drawing men in without even trying or knowing.

"let's go home after this, is that okay?"

"sure," she nods, "now i'm tired too, it's after a long time that i hung out with someone other than tae or his best friend."

"i hope i don't suck at giving company,"

"not at all, you're awesome,"

"can i expect this more often then?" jungkook stops by an ice cream parlour, not opening the door or even making any move, just staring down at her face with an unreadable expression as he, himself, is confused whether to get her into his course of action now that he has some hope, or let her out of the mess between him and her boyfriend.

"i'll think about it," hayeon teases, stepping inside the store with a smile while jungkook nods briefly.

"i need to think too," he mutters, "park hayeon,"

"about what?"

"if we should be friends or not?" jungkook leans forward, standing beside her, having his eyes on her while hers are busy choosing between ice cream flavours from the chart hanging on the front wall.

hayeon gasps, leaving the ice creams alone and turns to jungkook with a frown, "i thought we became friends today!"

"did we?"

"did we not?" hayeon clicks her tongue, "you helped me out with my story, then we had dinner together and now we're here for ice cream. if we're not friends, jeon jungkook, you can leave me right now, i won't say anything," she says to him, returning his stare back with her soft and trustworthy one, making him look ahead at the counter guy.

"a mint chocolate for me," his voice says with fingers tapping on the counter, realising that he's actually done thinking as soon as he started to think. "-and for her..."

"cookies'n'cream," hayeon chimes, getting a nod from the man behind the counter as he goes to scoop out the said flavours into two cups, leaving them to wait in comfortable silence. "thanks jeon jungkook i think i like being friends with you,"

"you'll like a lot of stuff," his gaze turns to her again, leaning down, "-now that we're friends. i hope this lasts, princess."

"no nicknam-"

"yes, i use them, that's rule number one of being friends with me." he smirks, "you don't say no."

"but-"

"your ice cream," the counter guy returns, placing two cups in the front which makes hayeon smile, diverting her attention to sweet, cold treat, letting jungkook know that this is one of things she likes. he pays quickly, following her out of the store after hearing her mumbling out a thank-you to the guy with a happy smile.

she takes a bite from her ice cream, humming softly at the taste and turns to look up at jungkook, "jungkook, you never told me anything about you. tell me something,"

"what do you wanna know?"

"uhm about your family? or your friends? or what you like to do?"

"i don't have a family, you're certainly the first friend till date, and about the last question, i like playing videogames."

hayeon stares at him with hesitant eyes, trying to quickly pull up a smile for jungkook doesn't look even a bit bothered about the question and his answer sounds monotonous, devoid of emotions, "oh uhm, i'm sorry, i didn't mean t-"

"it's fine," jungkook looks up from his cup and glances at her, "anything else you wanna know?"

"uhm... whatever you wanna tell me..." she mumbles, not looking at him again as digs quietly in her ice cream, taking small bites to make it last longer. however a hand tugs on her arm, making her stop with a little surprise, finding jungkook standing close in front of her, "what happened?"

"you're not happy," he breathes out, "why?"

"i- huh?"

"you don't need to worry about me, hayeon, i'm used to my life and i'm okay with it." he says, "don't feel bad for anything,"

"i'll be your friend okay?" hayeon smiles at him softly, "you can call me whenever you want, i don't have many friends too y'know?"

"sure," he nods, "but will you come when i call you?"

"of course," she gives him a hug and pats his back, "friends always have each other's back, jeon jungkook."

"stop saying my name like that," he pulls away, staring at her with hooded eyes, "don't say my name like that, hayeon."

"why?"

jungkook bites down the urge to tell her how hot he imagined her actually saying his name the way wants and the way only he wanted himself to hear it. but that seems like a far off dream for now, at least until he figures something out about her boyfriend first, "just don't, i don't like it," he looks away.

"well, okay," hayeon shrugs, "what do you want me to call you then?"

"jungkook," he replies, stepping away and takes her hand, fishing out the keys of the car from his pocket, deciding it's time to head back home, "just call me jungkook for now."

"okay, as you say, jungkook," hayeon giggles, yanking her hand back and jogs towards the car, "i'll drive this time!"

"no,"

"it's my car,"

"your dad told me to take care of you,"

"i won't die driving!"

"still no, move aside."

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a/n- please and vote and comment to let me know if you like the story or not. 😭❤️✨ take care yall have a great day/night. And Happyy new yearrrrr ❤️❤️✨✨✨✨✨