Before you disappear

Chapter 81

Just by looking at her, Jungkook knew she was anxious. Her eyes kept darting from one member to the other, then she looked outside and back down at her hands again.

With four members in one van, and himself disguised as her, the van was full of chatter. Place Hobi in the same van as Jin and Jimin, and the outcome would be lots of laughter and banter among friends.

Jungkook glanced at Sehun who sat in the passenger seat up front, then back at her again. She was fidgeting her hands between her knees. Leaning forward, he touched her knee which startled her.

With widened eyes, she looked at him. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

She glanced sideways at the other members. None seemed to notice their conversation. She looked back at him. "I'm nervous," she confessed.

"Why?"

"For you. For me." She bit her lip. "For us."

He shook his head and smiled softly. "It'll be okay."

She leaned forward, taking his hand in her own. "I wish you could come with us and we didn't need to separate at the airport."

"We'll meet up in the VIP lounge, and I'll have Sehun with me. It'll be fine."

She took a deep, shaky breath. "You think this is the best thing to do?"

Jungkook frowned, but before he could ask what she meant by that, she continued.

"I mean, we could just meet up in the bathroom again, just like that first time and maybe there we can find a way to switch back. It worked the last time, right?"

He smiled, remembering their first kiss in the bathroom stall. This exhilarating, beautiful, out of nowhere kiss that had shattered the world as he knew it and had let her in. It was the first day of a completely new world which Jungkook was still trying to discover and merge with his own world. The world of a K-pop idol.

"Let's stick to our plan," he said, looking up in her eyes. "Go inside separately, act cool, keep your face hidden just like I always do with hat and facemask and go with the other members to the VIP lounge. There, we'll meet again soon."

The van stopped and Jungkook could see the fear in her eyes. He squeezed softly in her hand. "You've got this," he whispered, before letting her hand go. "And I'll be fine, too."

She nodded, just as the door slid open and Sehun looked at Jungkook.

"Let's go."

Jungkook nodded, gave a quick head nod to the other members who'd fallen silent and then left the van.

The door slid closed before Jungkook could look back at her, and the van drove off, leaving him and Sehun behind.

"Come," Sehun said, as he tapped against his shoulder.

Jungkook turned around, curious as to where they were dropped off. This didn't look like any entrance to the airport. There were no taxi stands or signs anywhere pointing to a specific check in or departure gate.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Just a kilometer from the airport," Sehun said, just as a taxi drove towards them and stopped at Sehun's hand gesture. "We'll have to pretend you're just a regular person who happens to fly on the same day as BTS."

"But what if they recognize you as BTS' bodyguard? I mean, you've been with the guys for quite some time, right?"

Sehun shrugged. "I'm sure with BTS arriving before us, we can sneak in without anyone noticing me or you. It'll be fine." He opened the door to the taxi and gestured for Jungkook to get in. "Departure gate 3, please," he then said to the taxi driver.

"Got off on the wrong bus stop, right?" the taxi driver replied with a smile. "It happens here all the time. I keep telling the company they need to build a taxi platform here. The busses are so unclear for first timers who come here." He eyed them in his rearview mirror. "You're married? Friends? Colleagues?"

Sehun expertly avoided the question by asking a question about the bus stops. The drive was only a few minutes and by the time Sehun and the taxi driver had gone through the bus stop dilemma, they had arrived at departure gate number 3.

As Sehun paid the fee, Jungkook stepped out of the taxi and looked at the entrance to the airport. Whenever he arrived at the airport, the entrance was blocked with reporters and fans. He'd be half blinded by the flashes of all the cameras going off and he would pull down his bucket hat a little further over his eyes to avoid getting those little stars in front of his eyes.

But this time there were no reporters. There were no fans. No flashing photo cameras. Though he did hear noise coming from inside the departure gate. The members must've all gone inside, followed by the reporters and the fans.

Sehun's hand touched his shoulder, startling him. "Sorry," he said, instantly raising his hands. "Habit of a bodyguard."

Jungkook waved dismissively. "It's okay."

They went inside, walking swiftly towards the check in desks, where Sehun handled the reservation and then moved through customs where they both had to present their passport before being able to enter the main departure area.

Several people glanced their way as they made their way to the VIP area, but none seemed particularly interested in them. Jungkook was half expecting some fans or reporters here, as it wasn't that uncommon for them to fly on the same day to the same destination, in the hopes of getting a glimpse of him or the other members.

But since they went from flying commercial to private, and their staff arranged specific routes at the airport to try and avoid those run ins with fans or reporters, things had definitely settled down. Still, having only one bodyguard felt a little weird to Jungkook. He had to keep reminding himself he didn't look like himself right now, and no one would recognize him.

Sehun kept a close eye on him and on the people around them. Having him around gave Jungkook a sense of peace. Sehun was not only someone great at his job of keeping him and the other members safe, he was also a very trustworthy person. Even though Jungkook – as the person he was right now - wasn't the person he was hired to keep safe, Sehun still did everything by the book.

"I'm pretty amazed by you," he blurted out.

Sehun looked at him, frowning, but his lips twitched into a small smile. "How come?"

"Well, I'm not the person you're hired to keep safe."

"You're important to the person I was hired to keep safe."

It was said with such ease and confidence, that it kind of startled Jungkook. Sehun was right of course. She was important to him. But somehow he hadn't let it sink in that the staff would see her that way as well. Perhaps Sehun was an exception, seeing as he was the first person to know about her.

"We're here."

Sehun walked up to a desk where a man stood, and handed him our tickets. The man proceeded to open the door behind the desk, letting Sehun and Jungkook inside.

The VIP area was narrow, yet long. Three numbers were lit above doors that led outside, but only one of them had a plane parked there. It was a familiar sight. A plane capable of holding all the staff members, tour equipment and of course the BTS members themselves.

Sehun's hand touched Jungkook's shoulder again, as he guided her towards where the band and the staff was seated.

Jungkook spotted her, sitting with her back towards them. He noticed Jimin tapping on her knee, then pointing behind her where Jungkook stood. She turned around swiftly, her doe eyes blinking as she locked eyes with him.

He smiled at her, seeing the anxiety seep from her posture as she returned a smile and then stood up to meet him there.