escort | njm

twenty-eight.

"What the fuck was your recent post about?"

It's the panic in his voice, the desperation and anger in his voice that keeps her hopes high, knowing somehow or somewhere he could have felt the same way she does for him. It's the way he doesn't show the fact that he cares through words but actions and it makes her heart ache, it aches for him dearly.

"Good evening, what can I help you with Mr. Na?" There's always that toothy grin on her face whenever she welcomes him, it's almost like happiness but it's slightly more than that. It was always beaming with rays of sunlight with her eyes ever so mesmerizing, with stars that filled up the emptiness in her blacks. "Explain?" Jaemin has his granite coloured phone in his tight grasps, his knuckles turning white from the pressure it's receiving.

"Uh, my pictures with my date for tonight...?" She states the obvious, which of course pushes a button in him which triggers some sort of irritation and unhappiness. "And why did you post about him and not other pictures of us you have in your gallery." It's the monotonous tone in him that scares her, the way he mentioned it so cooly yet so emotionless makes her question herself if she should be feeling this way for him. "Are you really not gonna answer me? What even is this caption, you don't even put that with your own best-friend?"

"I mean, you post about your dates with red hearts all over the place on your stories so why can't I do that too?" Areum steps aside, allowing him in before shutting the doors behind her. "That's different, I don't post about them on my feed do I?" Jaemin takes a sip of the ice water, his adam apple bobbing up and down which somehow made Areum feel something in her. "I'm pretty sure you posted about some Min-Rae kid but decided to delete it, didn't you?"

Words were caught up in his throat, unable to escape from the sudden tense feeling. "Uh no? That never happened, I think?" A sheepish smile decorates his face, with a slight frowning of his eyebrows in confusion as if he knows nothing about what she's speaking of. "Night date with the one and only, Rae in her white gown. Ring a bell, doesn't it?" Maybe just this time he isn't able to escape from his actions, and decided to shut up about it before it gets worse already.

"No but you aren't allowed to post about a freaking man in your feed? And he's your only post after you decided to archive everything?" Areum's fist clenches, leaning over the kitchen counter with her face shoved into Jaemin's as if she was trying to challenge him. "And who said that?" Her eyebrows cocks, a slight lifting of the ends of her lips. "Me, I, Na Jaemin also known as your best-friend says you can't post about him and that's why you should listen to me or I'll get mad."

"Exactly like you mentioned, you're just my best-friend. You're acting as if you're my boyfriend who's getting all jealous over a small post." It felt wrong for her to phrase it that way when she knew she wanted him to be more than just her best-friend. She knew how she wanted to be addressed as his girlfriend by his friends, by their schoolmates, but that's never happening. "So what if I act like your boyfriend, it's not like you'd care about it anyways. Besides, we're just best-friends and we'll stay that way."

"It does bother me, I'm not going to be your little test subject before your first relationship with god knows who. I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea of us, we're just abnormally good friends and that's it. I'm still waiting for a boyfriend and you know it very well." She probably doesn't realise that the man in front of her could possibly be the one she wants, be the one who she's waiting for. "And you're assuming the right one is Jaeyun?" What nonsense is this, there's plenty of man waiting and you pick him out of all?"

"I didn't pick him, yet. He doesn't seem like a problem to me, I like him and he likes me, plus he treats me well." Her fingers poke at Jaemin's left cheek, pulling it up a little for a smile to take the place of his frown since the moment she saw him. "That's the same thing as 'I think he's the one for me' type of beat, I treat you well too but I just don't like Jaeyun got it?" Areum shakes her head, covering her ears with her finger poked into this entrance of her ears. "Blah blah blah, can't hear you and your ass."

"Stop your nonsense, listen to what's good for you." With his face so emotionless, voice so hoarse, he has his grip tight on her wrist, practically pulling her closer towards his face then it already was. "What's with you? You act like I'm dating Jaeyun and that's a crime whatsoever. Why are you even bothering me about just one date when you and Eun were the ones who wanted me to find a partner?"

"I didn't even mean it that way, yeah I guess you should get a boyfriend but out of everyone, seriously Jaeyun?" It almost sounds like he's tired of going through the same topic over and over again when he can't even address his main point. "I don't get it, you're being so quick to judge and have I ever judged the women you went on a date with? No, that's exactly what I'm trying to say. It really isn't a big deal Jae, I don't mind getting my heart broken since it isn't even my first time anymore."

"It's different, I do it for money wise but you do it for a real thing here and I mind if you get your heartbroken. He is going to be your first, that's provided you two get together but I want you to enjoy love fully with the right person. Not someone who thinks of you as a fling?" Jaemin groans, his fingers running through the strands with his brows furrowed. "I'll handle my love life myself, I don't need you involved." It felt so hard yet so true, because all she wants is him to be involved in her love life as her lover, and not someone who's concerned over her platonically.

Areum walks away from the counter, with heavy footsteps, making her way towards her bedroom, obviously tired from the dinner date and this whole conversation with him. "Where are you going, we haven't settled this." All he's met with was the awkwardly tensed air with the slamming of a door shut and he stood by the counter with his head tucked in between his arms resting on the countertop. He knows he's wrong, wrong at the fact that he shouldn't be prying into her love life as the status of a best-friend, and knows that he has no rights whatsoever to be lashing or advicing and controlling her but it's all for the sake of her well-being.

Jaemin should be apologising to Areum and that's exactly what he's going to do after consulting the wheel of names with two options whether he should be apologising or not. His feet shuffled in a tense manner with slight sweating of his soles. His hands all clammy when it grips at the metal doorknob, hesitating to turn at it, wondering if it will only agonize Areum more than she already is from the previous conversation. He curses under his breath, fumbling with the doorknob and he's only met with darkness on the other side of the door.

His eyes land upon the curled up figure under the pearl white duvets, her gown she wore before already thrown on the floor. An unconscious grin creeps upon his face with a wave of heat passing through him. Jaemin should be apologising but at that moment, he only felt like slipping under the duvets with her on the other side of her bed, his arms wrapped around her with her face buried into his chest. Areum looked very strangely cuddable and heartwarming just there and there, it makes him forget the main reason why he's in her bedroom instead of heading home to wash up.

Gingerly slipping under the duvets, he has his arms over her petite figure, and the other hand on the back of her head, gently pushing it towards his chest, assuming she's asleep. She's just a friend he says, but he surely doesn't act like she's just a friend to him. He's in love, in love with the warmth he receives whenever she's so close to him with her body against his, but not in love with the person of course. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have controlled and pry into your love life."

He mumbles into her strands, nose sniffing at the mint shampoo she uses, one of his favourite scents on her he'd gladly say. There's only a hum in response with a rather broken voice, she stirs in her spot. "I don't know what got over me earlier, I'm sorry." Jaemin apologises as if she knows what's going on and is awake enough to hear his apologies. "It's fine I'm sorry too, you're just concerned, I don't blame you for that." And it warms his heart at how she's always understanding where he's coming from and apologising although she hasn't done anything wrong.

Jaemin caresses her hair, combing through them, a grin unable to be washed off from where it was as if it was tattooed permanently. And there's a question lingering in his mind, thinking whether he should let it out. It's a question that makes completely no sense after whatever they were arguing for, and it'd make it seem like he's a complete jealous and desperate dumbass for that. "To be honest, what do you think of me?" He lets the question escape, thinking it was an inner thought but it never was. Swallowing thickly at the saliva caught up in his mouth, almost like he was hoping for an answer he hoped to receive.

"The best friend to ever exists."

"Oh I see, that's great, I think?"