Only For You | J.JK

fifty-one

A couple weeks go by and it's a day before Jungkook's birthday. He's leaning against a kitchen counter, listening to his mom ramble about tomorrow.

"I also have to pick up the cake and make sure the invitations got to everyone." she says in Korean.

"Mom, stop worrying. It's not that big of a deal." he chuckles, walking over to the refrigerator.

Minju gasps, "Of course it's a big deal. You're going to be an adult."

Jungkook shrugs his shoulders, "So? Only thing that's different is that I'm able to vote now."

"Whatever. Go tell your sister to come here." he nods and leaves the kitchen, biting into a red apple.

For most of his life, he's been excited to turn the big one eight, but now that the time's nearing, it just feels like any other birthday.

Besides the fact that he's now legal, there's nothing to really look forward to.

He's already independent and mostly financially responsible for himself. Soon, he'll be looking for apartments to move into, so maybe that's something to look forward to.

Layla sighs as she finishes packing Jungkook's gift. She bought him his favorite candy, a Nike tech outfit, a silver chain, and a Prada perfume.

She's completely broke now, not even a single dollar to her name, but it's worth it. She feels nice being able to buy something nice for her boyfriend, especially since he's always buying stuff for her.

She places the few bags in the corner of her room before going to sit on her bed. She stares blankly at the floor as she thinks.

Her lip quivers and her breathing becomes heavy. A few drops of tears soon turn into a full downpour as she breakdowns.

She muffles her sobs with her hands, not wanting her mother to possibly hear her cry.

Layla's supposed to be happy right now, awaiting the celebration of her boyfriend's birthday. But she soon realized that her dad's birthday is only a couple days after his, and it'll be the first birthday without him here to celebrate it.

She barely talks about her dad, being too hard for her to do so. She hasn't fully gotten through the grievance stage, not fully accepting his loss.

She can't help but feel sad. Layla misses her dad dearly, there's so much she wishes she can tell him.

Tomorrow she has to attend this seemingly extravagant party and act like everything's okay for Jungkook's sake.

Layla takes deep breaths in hopes of calming herself down, wiping her tears aggressively.

"You're fine, Layla." she talks to herself, forcing a smile on her face to trick herself into thinking she's happy.

It doesn't work, she still feels heartbroken, but at least she's not crying anymore.

Her phone starts to ring, and it's no other than Jungkook himself.

She takes a deep breath before answering, "Hello?"

"Hey, did I wake you up?" he questions, hearing the raspiness in her voice.

"Uh, yeah. I took a nap." she lies, not wanting him to know that she just balled her eyes out.

"My bad bae, I just wanted to know if you wanted to spend the night. I would prefer to have you here with me during my last hours of being 17."

Layla chuckles, "Sure, lemme know when you're outside."

"Alright, see you later." she nods even though he can't see and hangs up the phone.

She sniffles as she begins to pack a bag, only consisting of clothes since Jungkook has whatever necessities she needs at his place already.