ʙᴛꜱ ᴀᴍʙᴡ ᴏɴᴇ-ꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ, ꜱᴄᴇɴᴀʀɪᴏꜱ, ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ ꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴇꜱ | ʙᴛꜱ x ᴏᴄ

The one where they drifted apart (KSJ)

  Seokjin couldn't keep his eyes off the corner of the room. She was there, after all these years and anguish and there she was just a few feet away from where he sat. The booming, poppy music was dull but their bassy undertones were enough to have the speakers pumping. The building was vibrating with social energy, the buzz of people's conversations and alcohol on their lips was easy to lose yourself in. It was crowded, more than he was promised. Yumi had told him it wouldn't be so bad, he'd never been too fond of crowds, after all. But he supposed she could never seem to remember that.

Ingrid did. She always took his shyness seriously. From the corner of the room he saw that head of ebony hair whip to the side of her. She shared a laugh and a sip with a tall guy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He seemed especially close to her.

  "Jinnie! You're so quiet tonight." Yumi whined beside him, gripping his bicep with her arms. Her breath smelled fruity and the potent, lingering scent of vodka permeated in his nose. Yumi always had quite broad taste for alcohol. He's hardly seen her turn a drink down at an opportune moment.

  Jin wasn't sure what he could respond with, so he simply gave the shorter woman a smile. She looked especially pretty tonight. She had on a lot of make-up, and a nice outfit that wasn't too revealing. She seemed a bit suspicious of his unease, a small frown framing her lips. "What? What's wrong?" She asked him sincerely.

  He didn't want to say; he couldn't. Yumi was a sweet girl, she truly was, but she got so insecure sometimes when it came to Jin. Especially because he was a famous actor whose movies and tv series have been prominent in pop culture in and out of Korea. How could he explain to her that he was watching his ex from afar? The woman that, at one point, he was certain was his soulmate. He still wonders what could've been at times... But he had Yumi now. And she was very enthusiastic about her shiny new engagement ring dressing her finger.

  "Tell me, oppa." Jin mentally cringed. He and Yumi were the same age, and in fact she was older than him by a few months. He enjoyed the name basis they had, no need for honorifics, especially when they didn't apply. She liked to tease him about it, though, and he didn't have the will or the heart to tell her otherwise.

  He shifted in his seat, turning back toward the bar where his drink remained virtually untouched. Yumi moved with him, turning her head to see what he was looking at, but not really recognizing anything significant. Jin swallows a lump, having completely lost any appetite he'd managed to work up. He was glad he hadn't ordered anything. "Is it the crowd?" Yumi asked under her breath, like it was a secret between just the two of them. Jin was a famous actor not only for his roles but his genuine shy nature around crowds. Some found it ironic or even cute, but most respected it and his boundaries.

  And while the crowd certainly wasn't helping his sudden queaziness and heart palpitations, it wasn't solely responsible for his sudden wave of emotions. He felt his ears burning hot, and Yumi took it upon herself to start massaging the shell of one of them. He told her it helped sometimes when he had too much attention on him when he didn't want it. However his body never seemed to soothe the way it used to when Yumi did it. Only Ingrid knew that, and in fact she was the one who'd discovered the trick, though it seems she was the only one who could master it.

  "Why don't you go get some fresh air, and when my co-workers get here I can introduce you? There's a balcony upstairs, some people go to smoke but it's a nice view. Might help you clear your head." She suggested. He almost declined, eyes training back on the corner of that room. Only the young woman he was watching had vanished, as did her male company beside her. His eyes searched frantically, landing on the back of the couple ascending the very stairs towards the balcony. Maybe he shouldn't.

  Her hair was different, he'd never seen it short and straight the way it was before. Ingrid had always said she didn't want a bob and yet it was exactly what she was sporting. It looked good. Sexy.