Please Love Me | JJK

Part 9

"You're getting married in 7 months?" Jimin shouts at Jungkook over the noise that Taeuhyung is making as the latter plays a VR game. "I thought you guys weren't in a rush," he says, approaching Jungkook who's engrossed in his own computer game.

"There's no rush but we thought better to get it over with soon," he responds after a smash on the key. "Less chance to back out and stuff," he shrugs.

"But you still can, right? I mean, it's still just an engagement..." Teahyung says, the two other men surprised that he's listening and could even hear them talking over his own shrieks.

"Give it up, Tae. You'll never have a chance with her," Jimin laughs.

This prompts Jungkook to pause his game and turn to his friend. "You like ___?" This is clearly news to him.

"I admire her with all my heart," Taehyung says, still immersed in his own world.

Jungkook pulls the headset off of his friend, earning him a loud groan. "What does that mean? I didn't even know you know her well. Don't tell me you're some crazy and delusional guy who thinks you have a chance with her?"

Taehyung crosses his arms. "Okay first of all, rude. Just because you get to marry the Kim ___, doesn't mean you get to be an asshole. Secondly, we are friends! The art world isn't that big, Jungkook. She's just so...." he trails, eyes sparkling at the thought of you, and this oddly worries Jungkook.

"Yah! I'm not gonna steal her away from you," he laughs, slightly comforting Jungkook after he sees the scowl forming on his friend's face. "Like we told you, she's smart and talented and like, really nice. Plus, she's so easy and warm to be around."

Jungkook crinkles his eyebrows at how much his friends know about you.

"And you have functional eyes, right? You see how beautiful she is, right?" Jungkook purses his lips, of course he does . "But really, she's just my art crush," Taehyung finishes and takes the headset back from his friend.

"It's harmless, don't worry. And ___ knows. We all laugh about it," Jimin clarifies, seeing the uneasy look on Jungkook's face. "We'd hang out during that time Nari and I were fooling around," Jimin adds. "Don't know why you never liked ___."

"Exactly!" Taehyung says, pulling the headset off himself this time. "You were always so petty around her."

Jungkook smacks his friend's head. "Yah! I wasn't petty."

His friends laugh at him as they reminisce about their elementary and high school days when they all studied in the same school. Your respective friends never really hung out together, too focused on your surface-level  differences to even strike a conversation. But Jungkook always rolled his eyes when you were around, always had a snide remark when the topic of conversation involved you, always compared you to the other girls whom he thought were way cooler and prettier.

You were always smiling even when some of them were mocking your softness and saying you felt you were too superior to hang out with other people outside your circle of friends (the guys claim, though, that those girls were only jealous of you because of how much time you and Jungkook spent together outside of school).

Jungkook knows there's truth to all this even if he disagrees. He didn't like that you were so happy all the time, like nothing bad ever happens to you. Aside from those mean girls, everyone else adored you, even those who barely knew you. You never let other people get to you. You knew your worth and what you had to offer to the world. He'd realized later on that he was jealous of that, too.

**

It feels weird to be sitting on the couch in one of your parents' mansion's many living rooms, with you and Jungkook surrounded by both your parents, having a meeting with the wedding planners who had been sworn to secrecy about your nuptials.

Your parents had informed them of your desire for a simple and intimate wedding, but clearly they'd underestimated you and Jungkook. Mostly you. From the number of guests you want, to the simplicity of the décor, to the request for locally-sourced items as party favors, and to your rejection of the high-fashion designers they were suggesting. "My best friend will do my dress," you say.

Jungkook, on the other hand, is more excited about the food and booze, stating that those were the two things you'd both rather spend money on.

"And desserts!" you excitedly say, earning a laugh from your parents. "A dessert bar would be lovely," you muse, a twinkle in your eyes.

The wedding planners, who had also organized the other Jeon and Kim weddings, look at both of you and your parents in shock, not expecting your requests to be that simple - by your families' standards, at least. But you and Jungkook surprisingly agree on everything though, from the venue and theme, down to the menu, cake flavor, and centerpieces, which makes their job easier.

After a few hours of laying out the plan and timeline for the next couple of months, the meeting finally ends.

"It's either you both are really compatible, or you care for each other so much that whatever the other wants makes you happy too," one of them says, smiling. "Thank you for letting us do your wedding. We're truly excited for this."

You and Jungkook smile until they leave. An air of awkwardness suddenly surrounds the both of you, much to the delight of your parents who try to act like they didn't hear what the planners just said. That team is sworn to secrecy about the wedding, but are unaware of the nature of your relationship. If strangers not privy to the truth could see something in the both of you, maybe that could convince you and Jungkook that there could be something more to this arranged marriage, something more genuine that could blossom to real love.

**

Jungkook, to your surprise, holds his end of the deal. Not that you thought he wouldn't - you suppose he'd just do the bare minimum - but he truly is trying. You both decide on seeing each other at least once a week for dinner, aside from the mandatory Sundays of wedding planning, which is really just you and Jungkook agreeing to the least fancy thing of all the options presented to you.

You'd chosen a floor-to-ceiling window-filled venue overlooking a lake an hour away from the city. On your visit, you'd dragged Seokjin and his wife, Mina to join you and Jungkook, which was filled with a battle of jokes, constant munching of chips, and debates on who was the better soccer player, better singer, and who really earned the title of the most desirable bachelor of Seoul.

You're used to your brother's antics and much like in the past several months, you've been enjoying this side of Jungkook, too - the side that's not hostile, distant, and uninterested. You grew up almost like a spectator to his life, a mere observer who'd picked up his likes and dislikes and his mannerisms and quirks along the way, but he rarely engaged you. You played side-by-side but never together; you grew up together but not with each other.

He's learning more things about you, too, like the fact that you're actually good at playing Street Fighter but he never knew because you were always shy to play when he was around, knowing how competitive and emotional he gets. You're not the type to cry in drama and romance movies but you'd sob over an eliminated contestant on a cooking show. You and Yeji got lost one time on a train ride in Belgium and ended up sleeping in one of the parks, your parents panicking at your laughter over the phone when you'd told them what happened. You also had a partying phase in college, something you're not proud of, but that "yes, Jungkook, I did have a normal college life."   

You're not a couple, though; the line is drawn there. While he invites you to dinner and drinks with his friends (which you'd gone to about 1 out of 4 times) and texts you when he's going on a business trip for a few days, you don't spend time alone outside of your once-a-week dinners and you don't text everyday, sometimes going on days without hearing from the other.

You accompany him to some work-related events, with some nights seeing you two end up in either a fast food joint or a convenience store, but you never invite him to yours. He'd brought you home but you never asked him in. Touches are limited to his hand lightly pressing on your back to guide you amongst a crowd or fingertips gently brushing each other when you walk, or gentle smacks on his arm when he teases you or a slight nudge from him when you bring up something embarrassing from his childhood.

Almost three months engaged and things are going well - Jungkook's warmed up to the idea, as he doesn't seem to dislike you anymore, and no one outside of your families and closest friends have had a whiff of the impending wedding. But leave it to your parents to throw another bomb at you because of course they would.