Time Difference

20. /20

"Perfect," Jungkook said, standing up after plugging in the mood lamp projector. He'd found one at the mall earlier that was programmable, and purple.

The lamp projected shooting stars and nebulae and crescent moons onto my ceiling in rainbow colors. He handed me the remote and sat down on the new puffy purple blanket on my bed and scooted back against the wall. I don't know how he looked so cool sitting atop a big purple ocean.

"Press the top button on the, no, the left. That changes the film under the bulb. You can set it to just one color if you like, or cycle through and leave on rainbow and it rotates through them. And the bottom button, hit that."

Some music started playing that I recognized. "Wait, is this one of your songs? It sounds, no, why does it sound weird?"

"Weird? I'll pretend I didn't hear that," he huffed in false pique.

"You know what I mean."

"New version. Just now in the car," he laughed. "I used the instrumental file and recorded myself singing a quiet version to it in the car on my phone while I was waiting."

"So is this the lullaby remix? I love it." I turned up the volume, his voice was so soft and soothing. "This is like a miniature version of the light and music show you have in the walkway to the stadium, isn't it? How cool. My own personal Jungkook performance. Lamp."

"And it matches the blanket."

"It does." I sat down on the bed as well, we were on opposite sides from how we'd always slept before. The two new firm pillows, in bright purple pillowcases, rested at the top of the bed. "And now you don't have to be my pillow any longer."

"If I had known that I'd get demoted when you got new pillows I would have tried to talk you out of getting them."

"Aren't you glad to have your arm back after I've held it hostage the last few weeks?"

Jungkook reached over and pulled me next to him so that I was a hair's breadth away, I attempted to wiggle back an inch but he held me still. "Maybe I like being your prisoner."

"I'm not sure I agree on which one of us is captivating and which of us is the captive." He tucked his arm under my head and pushed the new pillow onto the floor. "I could have used the pillow too," I fussed into his bicep.

Jungkook lay still and I watched his wide eyes. The projector had been left on purple and the light was reflecting in his irises. "Tomorrow morning, bus or car?" His voice was soft but was that the question he was really asking me about, vehicles?

"I'm already grounded. Car?"

His responding smile made my heart ache.

"Thank you, Jungkook, for helping me test out my new blanket," I said with a hint of blush betraying me.

His voice dropped lower and came out scratchy. "You're welcome, Aria."

I was confused when he was still in bed with me when my alarm went off in the morning.

"Forget something?" I said quietly.

"Did I? I don't think so. Let me see, what could I have forgotten. Nope. Nothing."

I pushed back up and off of him, my head had been on his chest, not his arm. I rolled my neck around to loosen the stiffness, I must not have moved after migrating from his arm to his chest.

"Well, I am going to go shower. Because I am getting ready for school." My eyes narrowed.

"Well it's not like I was going to skip school. I brought clothes. I didn't think you'd mind if I change here while you're in the bathroom. I can skip a shower once in a while."