before you love me | jjk

chapter seventeen (part one)

━━━༻ ˚✩‧₊ march 2020₊‧✩˚༺━━━

"Taehyung-ah can you grab more tape for the banner?" Namjoon called out as he held the happy birthday sign in place on the wall.

The whole of BTS minus Yoongi were currently setting up the final decorations for Narae and Yoongi's joint birthday dinner. Though the evening was more of a low-key affair, they felt the need to put in an effort to make it special. Jin, Jungkook and Jimin had spent the last hour and a bit cooking and preparing the food whilst Namjoon, Taehyung and Hobi were in charge of decorations. Yoongi and Narae had been told that under no circumstances should they enter the dining area, and were chilling in Narae's room, waiting till they were called for.

The sound of the doorbell ringing led Jungkook to answer the door, coming face to face with Asa and Tianna who had arrived within seconds of each other.

"Hey Jungkook-ssi!" Tianna called out cheerfully, waving as she placed her bags near the door. Her braids were tied up in a high ponytail and she was dressed in a tight green crop top with wide leg blue jeans and white airforces. Her bright attire served as a sharp contrast to Asa who was once again dressed in all-black, this time wearing a turtleneck, mini-skirt and tights, her usual platform boots on her feet. She'd changed her hairstyle from her faux locs and now had straight jet black hair, the front pieces dyed platinum blonde.

"Hey Jungkook-ssi." Asa said in a much calmer pitch as she leant over to untie her boots and place them on the rack.

"Welcome guys! We're finishing up and we'll be get—" Jungkook's words abruptly cut off as he took in the sight in front of him. Asa had removed her shoes as she moved further into the dorms and she was, for lack of better words, short.

Usually she stood closer to his height but now she barely reached his shoulders. He knew the platforms added to her height, but he hadn't known until that moment just how much work they were doing. It was baffling to say the least, and it was taking him some time to process the new information.

"Is everything okay? You just stopped talking suddenly?" Tianna questioned.

"Ah! No, I was just caught off guard, Asa-ssi's so—" His mouth ran before his mind could catch up.

"I'm so what?" Asa cut him off before he could dig himself a hole, shrewd eyes rimmed with eyeliner focused on him, making him rapidly reconsider his next words.

"—So cool! Did you get an eyebrow piercing? I never noticed it before!" Luckily for Jungkook, she had indeed gotten a new piercing. Nice save.

Asa reached up to run her fingers over her new jewellery, "Yes actually, I got it a few days ago. Looks cool but it hurt like a bitch, I'm not entirely sure I want to keep it in to be honest."

"Oh you should definitely keep it in! It really suits you!" Jungkook was almost overcompensating for his earlier near mishap, but he genuinely did believe what he was saying. He was considering getting one himself - that's how much he liked hers.

"Thank you. I'll see how it heals and decide from there."

Crisis averted, the trio moved to the main area where everyone had congregated, the boys moving forward to greet the girls upon their entry.