ᴄʜᴏᴋᴇʀ ☑

23 : All the way here for this?

Jungkook walked into a bar, wearing his black cap and baggy clothes. A backpack was positioned on his back which he put down on the chair beside the bar counter. In his hand was his phone, which he unlocked and clicked a selfie while imitating with his fingers a V sign. His lips puckered and his eyes widened before the click sound of the camera shuttered.

Three weeks and four countries later, he was in Cyprus. Not only he didn't check any e-mails, but he also avoided social media entirely, except for uploading his pictures on Instagram occasionally. Or rather, he didn't have time to gawk at his TikTok when he was busy exploring the culture, food, and people of new cities. Traveling was never on his priority list, but he realized that he loved doing this and he decided to visit at least two countries in a year. "What do you need, sir?" The bartender asked and Jungkook put his phone down after quickly uploading the picture on his Instagram.

"Irish whiskey?"

"Sure thing."

The bartender started making the drink. Jungkook could see that the boy was young, perhaps younger than him, but his body was more muscular, and his voice heavier and manlier. Nonetheless, he silently waited for his drink. It was going to be his first day drinking and he was excited. He missed Jimin and smiled absentmindedly. The actor somehow managed to drink at any time of the day.

"Here you go, sir. Enjoy."

Jungkook's dreamy smile turned a gracious one as he accepted the glass and twirled his stool around to see the football game playing on the TV screens.

A few couples sat in the darker corners of the pub, and the group of yelling men sat by the door. The place was quite an old one with a pastoral aesthetic to it. It even smelled like dampness and cigarettes. If he was in Korea, he never would have thought to go to a place like this, but seeing the open roadside cafe culture and women and men sitting with cigarettes tucked between their fingers as they conversed in humidity, made him question a lot of things. These people knew how to be hedonistic, and he liked to think that he was too.

He took a sip of the strong and very bitter whiskey and frowned at the revolting taste when a hand on his knee made him look up. "J-" Seeing the actor, he choked and began to cough up a storm.

The bartender looked at Jungkook briefly, but seeing another man beside him, tapping his back, he ignored him and went back to cleaning the counter.

"Don't talk and follow me outside," Jimin whispered after leaning in the assistant's ear and Jungkook jumped from the high stool to land on his feet.

Jimin paused and stared at the barely drunk glass of whiskey. "Aren't you going to finish that?" He asked, pointing his finger at the glass.

"I don't think I can." Jungkook shook his head, shuddering at how it tasted.

Jimin took out cash and placed it on the counter for the bartender and started to walk. Jungkook was about to follow when the former padded back and glugged down the drink. Pausing to commend the taste, his face crossed with an impressed look and he took out one more bill to tip the bartender. "Never leave a good drink in the glass, Jungkook. It is offending to the drinking community."

Jungkook only stared at Jimin. Show off.

The man led the way and had the assistant sitting on the driving seat in a few moments while he sat beside him. "What are you doing here?" The younger asked now. "And what did you do to your hair?" His hand reached to touch the yellow tresses.

"Extensions..." Jimin looked around and signaled to someone that Jungkook couldn't see from the driver's seat. He retreated his hands and put them on the steering wheel. "These are extensions, but yeah... I don't have blue hair anymore. They are purple now."