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SEULGI found herself gawking. which was weird, because she almost never gawks; at least she thought she didn't.

god, this was weird.

jimin was scanning the first few bags he had brought in by the living room, his hands on his hips, his forehead frowning like it always did when he was thinking. he had placed his glasses on the coffee table, so she could see a good, clear view of his face now.

she was supposed to be relieved - relieved that he wasn't agitated in some sort of way, that he wasn't considering suing her for the situation before.

jimin looked divine – when hasn't he ever, really – but it's only as if time has carved for him a few improvements. he's certainly not the plump college boy she knew before: he's lost half the amount of cheeks he had the last time she'd seen him, and he's cut his hair shorter, giving him a more mature look to him.

he still had the same gleam in his dark eyes, though. and wow, he was fricking beautiful.

not that she cared, really; there was no goddamn way she was drooling over him.

but, she realized, there was something to jimin when he scratched his head when he was checking his stuff, or when he scoffed and smiled that little smile when he forgot something outside, or when he - god, don't even get her started when he rolled his sweater up to his upper bicep.

seulgi, what the hell? she asked herself. he's jimin, get a hold of yourself, woman. he's your roommate, and he's an ass.

"seulgi?" she heard jimin call, which made her snap out of it. "seulgi."

"yeah?"

she couldn't possibly bring herself to make eye contact with him for no more than two seconds because of what happened earlier. don't play this game with me, jimin? what the hell was that about, seulgi?

who could've known he had no intention of winning her back?

"your water's - uh, whistling."

the small kettle behind her, which contained more or less two mugs of water for coffee, was whistling. "oh." she quickly turned it off before standing there awkwardly. she took a deep breath internally; she was still a bit hazy with all of this. well, true, it's not every day that you wake up to a ridiculously hot guy by your doorstep, but it was highly unlikely to be greeted by your ex-boyfriend on a weekend looking like he was about to set your heart on fire just by wearing a sweater.

"this is a nice place," he said, peering over at her direction, which was on the way to the small dining table by the kitchen. "still in good shape. not bad."

seulgi stared at him for a minute. wait, are you talking to me? "oh, yeah," she replied when he looked at her. "not bad."

"any broken stuff?" he continued.

"uh, not much," she replied. "the bathroom door's lock is broken, but other than that, it's pretty okay."

"that's great."

then the silence that came next just hit her like a truck. it was so awkward, and she had no idea if she was supposed to say something or not. she would've sipped her coffee as an excuse to not talk, but it was boiling to oblivion, which was a big pain in the ass.

"seulgi?" jimin called again.

"yeah?" seulgi answered, looking up. she wondered for a moment if she replied too fast too soon.

"could you, uh-" he motioned with both his hands to the door.

"oh, yeah. sure." she agreed to help him bring some of his stuff in, which where mainly situated inside duffel bags of different colors that were about as heavy as cinderblocks, because as soon as she got a hold of one her arms started regretting the decision.

which was why she only managed to bring in one, with jimin behind her carrying three.

she set the bag down and almost toppled over, and jimin was almost catching her. but she regained her balance and managed to swipe that loose piece of hair off her face.

"there," she said. "easy." jimin's lips brought in a small smile as she stepped outside to bring in some more bags.

a few bags inside later - just when seulgi had decided she'd help him out - he brought in the last two bags as seulgi came in behind him with a smaller box. he placed the bags on the floor and took short breaths to steady himself. seulgi placed the box on the couch.

the truck-hitting silence was still there, and she wanted to get rid of it.

she turned his gaze from him to the bags as he stood up to close the door. "you have a lot of duffel bags." she kicked one gently. "where'd you get all of them?"

"they're my consolation prizes after we broke up," he said casually, returning to unzip one duffel bag. seulgi just stared at him.

having getting no response, he looked up at her, and his expression immediately changed. "oh, wait, no."

seulgi blushed and looked away. "look, if this was because of what happened earlier-"

"no, no! it's not," he cut her off, apologizing repeatedly. "it was a crude joke, i'm sorry. shouldn't have said that."

seulgi just looked down and jimin rubbed the nape of his neck.

there it was again. and this time, it was jimin's fault.

she awkwardly got up. jimin scratched the back of his head again. "seulgi, i didn't mean to-"

"it's fine, jimin."

"y-you're sure?"

"do you not want it to be fine?"

seulgi had her back turned, but she looked back, and saw jimin looking into her eyes, as if contemplating what reply to give her.

and for a moment, they just looked at each other. no words, no anything.

she cleared her throat. "that's what i thought," she finally said, piercing the silence again. "just don't say things like that again, okay?"

she drank the last bit from her mug and walked nonchalantly back to her room, leaving jimin shaking his head at himself.

seulgi was leaning her back against the door inside her room. what the hell was that?

no, no, the joke was fine; a little bit uncomfortable, a little ways beyond the belt but otherwise fine. but that look? that soul-piercing, brain-kissing look that he gave her?

what was that?

she decided to just shake it off the moment she realized wendy and the others already were waiting for her, and it drew her to get ready.

still, seulgi kept thinking to herself, what was that look? it was like he was drawing her to him, even if he was doing nothing wrong. and the bad thing was that she was letting herself get drawn towards him, without even trying to break away.

and it hasn't even been a day.

don't do this again, seulgi.

she kept saying that in her mind when she emerged out of her room a good thirty minutes later, in jeans, boots and a leather jacket, looking as casual as she could so she could finally go out.

she kept her gaze on her bag, rummaging through it, looking and double checking as she walked to the living room, where jimin was still busy.

"jimin?"

"yeah?" his tone made it look like he didn't make her heart skip a beat earlier.

"i'm headed out," she began, still not looking up. "i think i'll be gone the day, so just help yourself to whatever's available. there's still some pizza and noodles in the fridge, if you get hungry, and jimin-"

seulgi looked up to his direction, and as if on cue, jimin stood up to look at her as well. the only difference was instead of a dark sweater, he was wearing a black tank top over his jeans.

seulgi could've sworn there was a spotlight on him.

she only snapped out of it when he covered his chest protectively with his arms. "wha—"

"it's like your undressing me with your eyes," he said, chuckling, and seulgi looked down, blushing.

"don't be so full of yourself," seulgi commented back, and jimin kneeled to empty another one of the bags. he was barely halfway through all of them.

"you were saying?" he looked up again.

seulgi shook her head, forcing herself to seriously snap out of it. wait, was she going to say? "i—" she began, "just, don't burn down the place."

jimin looked at her again with his signature smile. "don't worry, i won't. i'll be unpacking, so no need to worry." he continued with the bag.

"there's still some coffee water, if you want some-"

"i'll save it for breakfast later." he smiled again, and she swore she saw his eyes twinkle.

"whatever, i'm out."

"see ya, sweet cheeks."

and in a few minutes she was out the door.

····· • ·····

"i don't get why this is so funny," seulgi said, definitely bothered by how her friends were laughing at her. joy and yeri were finding it extremely hilarious, and irene was smirking at the corner of the white sofa as she drank the wine.

"how is it not?" joy asked. yeri was still calming down. "you so knew it was a guy."

"i didn't!" seulgi chugged down a glass of the wine. "bad enough he wasn't a girl, he had to be my ex, too! if only someone had given me a fair warning, then maybe this wouldn't have happened!"

wendy, who was getting her third dress on, called out back, "i told you i was sorry!"

"yeah, well, sorry's not going to find me another roommate."

"yah, stop blaming wendy," irene scolded. "if anything, she did find you a roommate despite everything, so you should be thankful."

"i am thankful," seulgi retorts, "but i'm just, well - god, i don't even know what i feel!"

she threw her hands in the air in exasperation, and slumped back. joy and yeri both have finally calmed down, and irene was now tutting. "what a crisis this is, unnie."

"don't mock me," seulgi spat, looking up at the ceiling. "i should be moving out."

"unnie, you're being overdramatic," joy said, scooting closer to her. "it's not the end of the world."

"easy for you to say, you're not living with the awkwardness that manages to eat you alive," seulgi replied. "and it hasn't even been a day!"

"it's only awkward because you're making it awkward." joy poured them some champagne. "you're adults, for the love of god, move on."

"yeah, spill it. you're both acting like you never had some kind of closure," irene added.

seulgi stayed dead silent, and sipped her champagne awkwardly.

"what the hell, kang seulgi." irene sat up. "did you not clear everything up after you broke up?"

"it's not as easy as you think!" seulgi gulped in defense. "it was abrupt, and we didn't want anything to do with each other anymore and-"

"it was by phone, wasn't it?"

"well-"

"oh my fricking god, seulgi!"

"i-"

"why'd you do it?"

she contemplated for a moment. "he, uh, cheated on me."

"so that's why you're so awkward around him."

"what are y-"

"you probably think he's mad at you for breaking up with him for no reason and leaving him, aren't you?" joy's eyes were wide.

"that's not important! what matters is that he's going to live with me. in contrast with the word live, i'm going to die!"

"stop being so hard on him for something that happened years ago," irene said, pointing her champagne glass at her. "even if he did cheat on you, at least he's still willing to live with you even after that shitty break-up, get that."

seulgi rolled her eyes in frustration. "i don't handle break-ups well, okay? i didn't want to do it with him physically so i did so by phone."

"first rule of breaking up: never do it by phone." joy drank her second glass.

"whatever." she poured herself another glass and chugged it down.

"just give him a chance, will you?" irene said. "he's probably so sweet-"

"you don't know jimin, unnie, he's beyond that."

"from what i see, you're just afraid you'll fall for him again."

"i am not!" seulgi narrowed her eyes at joy. "he is sweet, but he acts like that around every girl he knows and gets his hands on!"

"sounds like every guy you've ever dated."

"not the point, yeri."

"i can't live with him especially because i don't think we ever thought about leaving each other in the first place," seulgi confessed. "it's going to be hard."

irene pursed her lips. "still worth a try."

"alright, ladies!" a girl's voice from out back is heard, and a tall woman with a skinny frame emerges, wearing a uniform that resembles the shop's logo, as well as a small nametag with the words sooyoung on it.

"ladies, wendy's in her third dress today, and she's liking it. she wants to know what you think." upon seeing nods, sooyoung runs out back and brings out wendy, who looked so regal.

the dress was a simple one; it was a slimmer dress that emphasized her figure, and had a cream color to it. the skirt was decorated with streams of purple silk and beautiful bead flowers, and the transparent sleeves contained lace and silk as well. the bodice had a beautiful lavender flower, and the veil was sticking up from her hair all the way to the ground.

long story short, wendy looked beautiful.

all four girls stood up in awe, irene covering her mouth, joy and yeri shaking their heads in shock, and seulgi displaying the most radiant of smiles.

for a moment, they forgot what they were bickering about as the beautiful bride-to-be stepped in front of the mirror.

"she wanted a bit of lavender for the theme," sooyoung noted, "and crystal beads fit her beautiful face so perfectly." wendy was beaming as she twirled. "i'll leave you ladies to talk." sooyoung exited the room, closing the door behind her.

wendy examined herself in the mirror, smiling and muttering to herself before looking at them and asking, "so? what do you guys think?"

"what do we think, unnie?" joy asked as if the answer was so obvious, "you're so beautiful!"

"lavender makes you stand out," irene said, stepping up to look at her and hold her right hand. "this dress is perfect."

"more than perfect, it's the one," joy said,smiling up at her.

wendy was smiling as well, and she felt tears welling up, until she peered over and looked at seulgi. "seulgi-ah? what do you think?"

"it's the most amazing thing i've ever seen, wendy," seulgi said, stepping forward, too, to hold her other hand.

"i knew you'd like this one." wendy winked at her.

"yeah, well, i would've been in tears if you didn't manage to bring back one of my exes, but that's alright."

wendy rolls her eyes and chuckles at the same time. "c'mon, seulgi, just give him a chance, will you?"

"that's what we've been telling her," joy added. "it's not like he's there to destroy your life, anyway."

"he's evil. incredibly hot, but evil."

wendy tutted. "you never know if something bad is going to happen unless you trust that it would turn out good." she squeezed both of seulgi's hands. "just trust me on this one, you'll be fine. it's a little rushed, i get it, but i'm telling you it's fine because it will be."

seulgi looked around the faces of her friends, and contemplated on whether she should do it or not, but with her best friend in a wedding gown, about to face the most beautiful day of her life soon, it was hard to stand your ground.

"if anything happens," she began, "and i end up getting fucked up because of this guy, again, i'm blaming you, bride or not." seulgi raised an eyebrow.

"fine by me," wendy said, smiling. "i have a feeling you won't be blaming me, anyway."

"don't be so sure." seulgi squeezed wendy's hands. "now, let's get you off of this dress so we can take it home."

as wendy walked out of the room to change, yeri cracked the silence with - "unnie, what's he like?"

"who? jimin?"

"yeah, he must be really hot to get you all bothered like this."

"shut up."

---

that night, as seulgi stepped into her — no wait, their — apartment, arriving home after wendy drove them because there was no way they were going home having drank at least three bottles of champagne, she saw a sight worth seeing.

the living room was clear of the multiple duffle bags jimin has brought in; probably all emptied and his stuff all placed in his room. the television was blaring on, and park jimin was on the couch, his feet tucked together, mouth hanging open as he snores into sleep. his dark hair was covering his forehead, and he was still wearing the clothes he wore hours ago: the dark tank top and jeans. good lord, he was beautiful.

he was still an ass, though.

she took the small light-colored blanket by his feet and spread it evenly across his body, careful not to wake him up and see her like this. she never took her gaze away from him.

"alright, park jimin," she said, standing up, as if he could hear her, "if you're going to live with me, let's get one thing straight: i am not falling for you again. not now, not today, not in a million years. if we're still roommates by then."

she was sure she wasn't drunk. champagne doesn't make you drunk; only tipsy.

"i'm doing well on my own," she whispered. "i won't fall for it the second time."

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sorry if this took so long, i had darn school huehue comment what you think!!

- nayeonsbunny -