Lifetime

Style

Taehyung left me to have a shower once we returned, the door to the apartment slamming as I made my way from my bedroom to the bathroom. I peeked up the hallway in confusion, but found the space empty.

Two hours later, after washing, texting Faye about the fiasco, and arranging everything I bought so that my room felt more like me, I headed to the front of the apartment. Jungkook stood over the sink, soap lathered onto his forearms as he rinsed away the mix of purple and blue paint that spotted his skin.

"Seline," he looked up at the sound of my footsteps, pausing to search for the right words, "we changed our minds about dinner and decided on takeout. Taehyung should be back soon." He nodded, turning his attention back to scrubbing his hands.

"Okay." I replied tersely, reaching into the cabinet for a glass to fill with water.

While I sat at the island, giving a final scroll through my work schedule for the next day, Jungkook let out a sigh so loud that it could have called the attention of our neighbors. I peered up at him as he tossed the paper towel he'd been using to dry his hands into the trash with more aggression than necessary.

"Bad day?" I wondered, a hint of sarcasm in the question.

"I upset Taehyung so yeah." He replied, continuing after I scoffed. "And you. I'm sorry I should have done more to make sure you were okay. I was going to give you my number but you left."

I let out a sardonic laugh. "I didn't leave. You were distracted trying to give someone else your number." I recalled.

Where Taehyung's more forefront enticement came through in his dialogue and touch, Jungkook's physicality was enchanting. I wasn't sure if it was conscious but it worked and I took in the line from his wide shoulders down to his narrow waist as he leaned against the counter in front of me.

"I didn't–" He started, cut off by the door being kicked open.

Taehyung balanced two cardboard boxes on one palm and held a bouquet of sunflowers in the other. "I got pizza!" He exclaimed, Jungkook backing away from me as Taehyung set the boxes on the counter, placing the flowers in front of me. "For you. The first time I got lost in the city made me want to move back home the next day." He smiled, moving to a cabinet in the living room to retrieve a vase.

"For the record, Taehyung has gotten lost in the city six times since we moved here. He's always too busy talking to pay any attention to where he's walking." Jungkook said while grabbing plates from the kitchen, setting them at the small dinner table in a nook between the kitchen and living room.

We talked about the nerves I felt about starting work and the commissioned art Jungkook was working on over dinner, and I decided to put the challenge of my first full day in Milan behind me with hope for a fresh start tomorrow.

The anxious flutter in my stomach woke me before my alarm clock and I put together a basic outfit from the few clothes I had, a plain mock neck top and dress pants. I packed more than I would probably need in my work bag, slinging it over my shoulder and leaving my bedroom at the exact same time that Jungkook and Taehyung emerged from theirs.

We chatted briefly about dinner plans on the way to the coffee bar, the two of them insisting that we eat out to celebrate my first day of work. They double checked that I had everything I needed, their phone numbers and our address before we departed, Taehyung giving me a double cheeked peck for good luck.

Margo was much different on the job than the past few months of working remotely, and even more from the first night I met her. I realized that she wore her every emotion on her sleeve, and that included stress. We barely made it through our initial greeting before she was apologizing for the intense schedule while simultaneously expressing her gratitude that I had arrived.