Jungkook whistled from the front porch of his house when he saw his girlfriend had just come back from grocery shopping. Chaeyoung turned to look at him and sent him a smile as he approached her. He eyed her house, trying to see if Jimin was anywhere around being a spy inside the house or inside the bush to avoid getting caught if he was to plant a kiss on his girlfriend.

Chaeyoung was quicker, though, as she slightly leaned toward him and pressed a kiss on his cheek.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going grocery shopping?" he asked.

Chaeyoung pouted a bit and let a frown hang on her face. "I do this every week, Jungkook."

He chuckled and bent down a little to take all the plastic bags from her hands. "I know. But you don't buy this much every single week. If I knew that you'd be buying the whole store, I'd give you a ride."

Chaeyoung laughed and pushed his shoulder playfully once both her hands were free. "What ride are you talking about? Junghyun's car isn't even here."

"Are you underestimating me?" he scoffed. "You can ride on me while I lift all these items with one hand," he laughed before he realized that he said the wrong thing when she looked a bit embarrassed, ducking down her head with a soft shy smile. "I mean, ride on my back. You can ride on my back. Piggyback ride. I meant that."

Her eyes flitted up and locked with his before she chuckled and Jungkook felt his throat tightening as his mind gave him a wild imagination as a cause of his own words. Without words, Chaeyoung went to behind him and jumped to his back, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He could feel her lips grazing the nape of his neck and her warm breath caressing his skin softly.

"Hey..." he said gently. "What if Jimin sees this?"

"He's not home," she murmured next to his ear, tightening her legs around his waist. He felt one of her heels gently pressed close to his crotch, sending tingles to his body.

"Really?" his low voice asked, slightly turning his head.

"Mm-hm," she responded. "Quick. Prove to me that I shouldn't underestimate your strength," she chuckled, her breath tickling him.

With a smirk, Jungkook fisted the plastic bag in his hand and held one of her legs before he began to run forward and his smile broadened when she began to laugh cheerily behind him, her sweet laughter was so melodic and got even louder when he almost tripped but managed to find his balance when he was nearing the front of her house.

Chaeyoung jumped off his back and walked in front of him, unlocking the door and while she was doing that, Jungkook took the time to sniff her head and made exaggerating sounds showing how satisfied he was with the sweet scent emanating from her hair.

"What are you doing?" she giggled as he planted kisses on the back of her head multiple times before she pushed the door open and they both got inside.

Jungkook shook his head when Chaeyoung wanted to take the plastic bags from his hand and he just walked past her, heading toward the kitchen with her following from behind.

After he'd finish helping her stuffing the items she'd just bought into the cabinets and refrigerator, Jungkook felt himself smirk as he whipped his head around just to double check if there was any pair of eyes watching them in the kitchen. After he made a whole 360 degree inspection, Jungkook slowly approached Chaeyoung who was busying herself washing some fruits and carefully wrapped his arms around her waist, pushing his face into her shoulder. He didn't need to look to know that she was smiling despite the quietness.

He made the sniffing sound again, teasing her while at the same time, appreciating the sweet scent of the new body wash she used, he noticed. Jungkook pressed his nose on her neck, humming approvingly before he was blowing raspberries against the skin of her neck, causing her to squirm in his hold with laughter.

"Stop," she chuckled, releasing the fruits she was holding into the sink, causing a few thumping sound to join in the sounds of their laughter mixed together. "It tickles!"

Jungkook refused to release her from his trap, making sure that she stayed within his arms as he continued to blow raspberries against her neck until she turned around to face him in a futile attempt to stop him. He laughed when he saw how breathless he'd made her as she tried to stop herself from laughing and just when her laughter began to slowly die down, he launched his third attack, aiming for a different spot this time.

Chaeyoung kept on giggling and squirming when Jungkook used one hand to tickle her side. And he wasn't sure himself of how they had shifted from the sink to her being pressed against the refrigerator, only realizing it when he pulled back his head and releasing her from the circle of his arms.

The light sweat on her skin was making her face glow as she tried to catch her breath, the smile never faded from her face as their eyes locked. Jungkook took his bottom lip in between his teeth as he gazed deep into her eyes, his hands reaching hers before he brought them up to each side of her head, linking his fingers with hers while pinning her hands against the warm refrigerator behind her.

When Chaeyoung closed her eyes, Jungkook couldn't help but smile as he leaned in, short moments of just pressing his lips against hers before he began to trace the inner part of her mouth with his tongue, gently caressing her tongue with his. He let her hands go, occupying his empty hands with holding her head as gentle as he could, pulling her away from the refrigerator and he lightly nibbled on her lip when her hands held onto his waist like her life depended on it.

They both pulled back at the same time, the hazy gaze she sent him was causing his heart to thump loudly behind his chest. Slowly, his thumb slipped underneath her shirt, feeling her soft skin under his touch and just then, she slipped her own finger into the collar of his shirt, pulling it down to reveal the center line of his chest and Jungkook chuckled when he saw his girlfriend eyeing his chest for long seconds. He took his hands off her, immediately reaching at the hem of his shirt while stepping backward. Her hand fell slowly, crawling down his chest to his abdomen before her touch disappeared.

Jungkook was halfway done pulling his shirt upwards when there were voices calling Chaeyoung's name cheerily from the main door.

"Chaeyoung, honey! We're home!"

Jungkook's wide eyes locked onto his girlfriend's eyes and obviously, she didn't expect her parents to be home that early. They were always away and the only time they'd reach home was usually close to midnight.

Quickly, Chaeyoung helped him pull his shirt back down before they helped each other ensuring their hairs weren't messy and Jungkook quickly shifted toward the sink to pretend that he was helping with the fruits while Chaeyoung unloaded some stuff from the cabinet just to load them back.

"Oh, there you are," her mother said when she stood at the entrance of the kitchen. "Oh, Jungkook! I haven't seen you much. How are you?"

"I'm great, Mrs. Park," Jungkook smiled politely. "How are you?"

"I'm fine as always," she responded. "Honey, where's your brother?"

"He's out with his friends, as usual," Chaeyoung said while approaching her mother and took the food that her mother brought from her hand. "You guys are early."

"Oh, yeah. We bought Jimin his birthday present and we're going to give him it early but..." she paused, waiting for Chaeyoung's father to come to her side. "...we actually decided to celebrate Jimin's birthday together this year."

Jungkook slowly turned his head to Chaeyoung who looked a bit surprised and somehow, he could see that she didn't seem to want that to happen for some unknown reason.

"Are you not excited?" her father questioned.

"I... Of course I am excited!" she chuckled, and her parents seemed to buy it, but Jungkook's eyes could see and could hear how fake that excitement was.

"But don't tell your brother about it. It's a surprise. Make him think that we're not staying. Make him think that we're only staying for tonight. Can you do that, buddy?"

Chaeyoung displayed an awkward smile. "Okay, dad."

"Jungkook, would you like to join us for dinner?" Mr. Park asked and it wasn't as though it would be his first time getting invited, but he felt as though there was something else about this dinner that he was invited to. It left him with a new feeling.

Usually, every time her parents invited him to a lunch or dinner with the family, he'd get excited albeit not showing it. But this time, the invitation left him with a heavy heart and he didn't actually know why.

*

Despite how disappointed Jimin was at their parents every single time, he could never hide his happiness whenever they were home even for only a few hours. And Chaeyoung could see it in his eyes as he chatted with them happily, everything happening in college although their parents didn't seem to mind much of anything related to stories of his friends from college. They gave hums and smiles and she was feeling suffocated at how little efforts they had in getting to know their children.

After Jimin ended his stories, their father hummed once and asked her to begin hers. It was so immediate, so quick of him to move on from Jimin's story of him being the top athlete in the college.

Chaeyoung sent Jimin a look that he avoided before she started to tell her parents of how it had been in school and how she'd been doing well to which she received the same treatment as Jimin. She felt Jungkook holding her hand from under the table, squeezing it that it was making her feel all right. She sent him a small smile, and she didn't miss how Jimin was actually eyeing them for a split second before averting his attention to their parents.

"Can we just go straight to the point?" her mother asked her father with an excited smile on her face. "I don't think I can hold it any longer."

Her father laughed and nodded. "Fine. Go ahead."

From the moment her mother opened her mouth to speak up to the point she finished her long speech, Chaeyoung found herself fisting her pants as she continued to listen. Her heart was slowly breaking, she could feel it.

"So what do you think?"

When she lifted her eyes to look at Jimin, he looked furious. "Seriously?" he asked their parents. And when they nodded, she saw how his jaw clenched. "You can't do that to Chaeyoung."

"It's for her best," her father shrugged. "I know it's far, but the college is the best. Surely, she'll be able to do well."

"I don't plan to go there, mom, dad," Chaeyoung said with a slightly shaky voice.

"Well, we've arranged everything for you. I'm sure you'll like it there, honey," her mom responded with a big smile.

Chaeyoung shook her head slowly, muttering a low 'No' before she pushed the chair to the back and slipped out of that suffocating space, running toward her room.

"Chaeyoung," she heard Jungkook called her name softly but she ignored it.

"Hey, you don't need to follow her!" she heard Jimin told Jungkook but her parents told her brother that it was okay.

She pushed her door to slam it to a close, but there was no harsh sound at all, because Jungkook was blocking it with his hand. As she sat on her bed, she waited Jungkook to close the door and sit next to her. As soon as he did, she instantaneously flung her arms around him, soaking his shirt with her tears.

"They can't force me to go there," she said through her sobs. "Why can't I decide for myself? Why is Jimin allowed to reject their offer to enroll him to a college of their choice but I can't do the same?"

Jungkook was silent for a long time, stroking her head and patting her back gently. When he said something, it broke her heart even more. "They're just concern of your future."

Pushing herself off him, she wiped off her tears aggressively. With a glare, she asked him back, "So if I were to enroll in some college of my choice, I won't have a future? Is that what you're trying to say?"

"That's not what I meant," he said calmly. "Maybe they know what the best is for you and Jimin. Maybe they know that Jimin's choice was right for him. And maybe they know that your choice is not really the right thing for you."

"Maybe. Maybe. Those are just maybes, Jungkook. You saw everything yourself, Jungkook. They don't know us. What do they know? Chanyeol was and is the one who has been raising Jimin and I, not them. They won't know what the best is for either my brother or I. They will never know because they never want to learn more about us, Jungkook. They don't have the rights to decide what I should do just because they hold the title 'Parents'. No."

Jungkook sighed long, trying to reach her hand. "I know, Chaeyoung. But –but what can be done? They've arranged it."

Chaeyoung stared at her boyfriend long and pulled her hand away. She expected him to support her, being the clingy boyfriend he was that he wouldn't want her to go but here he was, seemed as if he'd be okay with her parents' decision.

"Why are you so okay with this whole thing?" she asked, tone was clear how disappointed she was at him.

"What am I supposed to do, then? Tell them 'No'?" he asked her back with a frustrated sigh.

"I don't know. But you seem to be okay with me being away from you!"

Jungkook stared at her in disbelief. After a long moment, he shook his head and scoffed out loud. "Don't you realize how powerless I am in this situation? Who am I in your family? No one! How do you expect me to change their minds if they won't even listen to Jimin just now?" he retorted.

Chaeyoung didn't feel satisfied. While she knew that he was right, she was still dissatisfied with how he acted a few minutes ago. As far as she knew, he was not one who could be labeled as a person who'd easily give up. "If you can't do that, at least show me that you don't want me to leave. Show me that you care."

"I'll show you how I care about you the way I want to. You can't expect to have me show it how you want it to be, because I can't read minds. If following you into your room despite Jimin's warning is not a part of 'care' to you, then maybe I should just leave."

The words to stop him were just at the tip of her tongue and Jungkook actually stayed there for a few more moments, more than enough for them to talk it out but Chaeyoung remained silent, taking that tension moment to stare out her window instead and the next thing that she knew was her door made a clicking sound as it opened and another soft clicking sound as it closed.