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The stark rejection from his mother made Jungkook only cling to Iris even further. Desperate for validation, every study session went with a meal more glamorous and filling than the last. Rich, creamy sauces, pasta, rice cakes, moon pies, and concoctions of his own making. It came to the point where Iris had to refuse his food for fear that she may gain weight. He wouldn't have minded at all. Just more of her to love and hold and feed.
With test after test, his grades began to improve even by the smallest margin. Confidence built within him. Not just the fake stuff he draped over himself to hide the deep insecurities etched into his skin, something real and tangible. He was emboldened to flirt with Iris yet differently than before. His previous flirting had been a bit recklessly obscene and though everything he said was true, it wasn't about whether it was true, it was about what would best swoon her. Some like their flirting direct and straight to the point while others- Iris- wanted to be serenaded, wowed. Jungkook wanted to impress her. He wanted to please her, see her smile all because of him.
And with a day more important than his own birthday on its way, the anniversary of the day he met Iris. The day he walked out of his complex and saw Iris about to destroy the new paint job on his car. The day he fell in love. The day he heard the bells so loud they made his ears ring. Jungkook knew this would be the perfect time to snatch her up.
Jungkook was more than sure Iris didn't remember the exact date that they happened upon each other like he did. And when he asked her if she knew what day was coming while handing her morning coffee over, she looked at him, confused. "April 20th?" She spoke slowly, scared that she might have stepped upon something sacred to him.
His dewy lips fell into a frown. Now Iris felt bad because she had obviously forgotten something important but she doesn't know what. It wasn't his birthday, it wasn't her birthday. He didn't have a pet that died. The only thing she remembered happening in this month was when she almost keyed his car.
Jungkook quickly saw the opportunity in her lack of awareness. "That's alright. Just means I get to surprise you." An elaborate plan began forming behind the messy head of hair growing longer by the day. Iris was growing more and more fearful that he may do something stupid and she'd have to be the one to get him out of trouble.
The next few days, Jungkook didn't go to school. Too busy planning, getting everything in place, buying things Iris might like. What would a woman who didn't want anything want? She seemed to like practicality over aesthetics, things she'd find useful in her daily life. He could buy her damn near anything short of a helicopter. A car would be too much for a first date. Date, date, date. He's asking her out on a date.
Iris, completely unaware, was too caught up giving Namjoon googly eyes, silently admiring him as he rambles on about how he turned in the perfect project and his professor gave him only an A because he misspelled a single word. Just one. But he looked so undeniably beautiful Iris could only bring herself to blankly smile and nod at him.
