attraction.

Fake Love. 7/10

Park Chaeyoung learns that despite his external demeanour, Jeon Jungkook is a soft and clingy patient. Filled with guilt, she decides to come over each morning to his apartment to cook him some home-made soup and every time she'd come, he'd simply watched as she cooked. Sometimes he'd watch from the chair by the kitchen island, while on days where he was particularly tired, he'd stare on the couch from the living room before slowly dozing off to sleep. According to the doctors, it'll take up to a week for him to recover and he learns from the others, that he hates hospitals. On the days where he would doze off to sleep, she would tap him gently and let him know that she's leaving and amid his half consciousness, she'll feel his pulling against her shirt telling her "don't go." She has to admit, that it was hard. Her friends were quite hesitant in letting her spend so much time in his apartment (especially alone) but in the end gave in.

"Chaeyoung, as much as he doesn't deserve it, we know it's in your nature to be kind and generous to others. But please be careful," Kim Jisoo reminds her every morning before she ventures to his place.

On the sixth day, Jeon Jungkook is fully recovered. In fact, when she comes into his apartment she's met with the aroma of kimchi-jjigae.

"Good morning," his voice is soft as he prepares the table, "... I cooked breakfast today, you don't need to come anymore after today. Thank you for looking after me."

She takes a seat before trying his food and perhaps, hates how good it actually tastes.

"Hmm, had I known you cooked this well, I should've made you cook rather than go out to all those fancy restaurants," she comments, "... it's good."

They eat for the next few minutes, before he suddenly clears his throat, "... so, have you thought about what you want to do? I've been thinking about it too, and I think that if you really do want to get out of the deal, it's okay. I know I've said some things, done some things I can't take back. But I don't want the money, as I said from the beginning, if its for your studies I want you to accept it freely."

To be frank, she was quite confused too.

On one hand, red alarm bells were ringing in every cell in her system.

On the other hand, she had a lot of questions and quite frankly, December was only a month away.

"I'm not sure," she tells him honestly, "... I'm still considering it."

He nods.

Truthfully, she was surprise that he didn't pressure her into making a decision. He abruptly gets up before disappearing into his bedroom, remerging with a gift bag in his hand.

"Irene told me that you two really enjoyed high tea in Jeju," he informs her as he places the gift bag on the table, "... I saw a really nice teapot online and thought it'll be a good separation gift for you. Though—we're not sure if we're separating yet, but I hope you can receive it."

"Thank you, Jungkook," she takes the bag, her eyes wide with wonder at the intricate patterns on the ceramic teapot and glass set, "... it's really beautiful."

"Don't you have class now? Should I drop you off?" He offers.

She shakes her head, "... I'm off on Thursdays."

As he begins to clear the table (which also surprised her), he suddenly feels her behind him.

"Jungkook?"

He jumps, almost dropping the plates on the sink.

"Jesus Chaeyoung you scared me!" He exclaims, making her giggle in response, "... what is it?"

"When you were hospitalised, everyone was worried. The boys said you have bad memories in the hospital. Is there something that happened?" She questions, "... I'm sorry if its intruding."

She watches as he is frozen for a moment, as though he were wondering whether he should answer her or not but ultimately, decides to turn off the tap and bring her to the living room. Her eyes are careful to follow his fingers, reaching out for a photo album that she didn't know was stacked away in the drawer of the coffee table as he points to a photo of his mother, father and him as a child.

"That's my mother," he tells her, "... she left me when I was six."

"I'm so sorry, Jungkook," her voice is soft as she holds her hand to his, squeezing it.

"The night that she left, she was screaming in the living room. She was fighting with my father, she always fought with him—swearing at him, hitting him and I often heard her throwing things at him. Sometimes it was just cushions, but other times it was vases and plates," he pauses and takes a deep breath, and she can see the way he tries to hold back his tears, "... I remember hearing her last words before she stormed off. Something along the lines of "Fuck you, you are nothing without your money."

She wonders, how it would've been for someone so young to hear.

"The next day, I watched as my father tried to tell everyone that things were okay. But my mother wasn't coming back. Days passed. And then weeks. Then months. But even then, he never spoke a bad word, until he found out that she drained his entire savings. All of it. My father was hospitalised from the shock, he had a heart attack, he was a good man Chaeyoung, he cared so much for her, how could he possibly go through all that pain? I just wondered, how could you trust anyone after this," this time, he pauses and bites his lip, wondering whether it was really okay, to tell her all these things, "... and I just remember being almost seven and thinking—that there's no one that I can trust, that it's just me and my father against the world."

At this point, Park Chaeyoung doesn't speak. She simply wraps her arms around him tight.

He cries.

-

She told the other girls the story and to her surprise, Kim Jisoo said something that felt almost unlike her.

"I might be really really wrong, but maybe you were sent to his life to show him that there are good people in this world, Chaeyoung."

Park Chaeyoung cannot stop thinking about him.

It's 2am in the morning and she's in bed, wondering what it's like to experience such a burden. She can't hold it in anymore.

[I can't sleep. Do you want to go for ramen?]

Moments later, she feels the vibration from her phone.

[I'll leave in a minute, should be there in fifteen.]

They're sitting in the convenience store slurping on their noodles before she finally speaks.

"I'll stay until December."