Scent (BTS) - Complete

Chapter 5 - Crystal Clear

Chapter 5

The goodbye felt anti-climatic but who was I kidding. There was nothing else it could be. The noise, the chaos, all the people around us meant it could only be what it had been and I'd known that from the beginning. It still hurt a little and as I walked to my final meeting of the day, I just wanted to leave and have a quiet drink by myself to drown my sorrows.

Thankful that the award ceremony was successfully out the way, I had fare-welled my work colleagues and made my way to a bar I liked not too far from the venue, glad I wasn't one of the staff that had to stay until early morning to pack down. It was a low-key place, like one you'd find in a small town in Southern USA and I liked it for that as that was not a common thing in Los Angeles where people wanted lights, noise and lots of people. I'd had enough of that the last few days. Now I needed a quiet drink and then bed, waving at the bartender to bring me a beer, pulling up a stool as I did and sinking into it. The other thing I liked about this bar, people came to play pool not to hit on each other so I knew I'd be left to my own thoughts for however long I stayed.

While I waited, I glanced around at the small crowd quietly going about their night. Running my hand through my hair, I was glad to let it out of it's restraint and now it fell around my shoulders. I turned back as the bartender brought over my beer, massaging the base of my neck as I thanked him. Wearing my hair up for too long meant I often got a tension headache and I'd had it up for the last two days, the pressure now having built to an unpleasant ache. Sighing as I took a sip, I breathed out the last few days of busyness and took stock of my aches and pains. I knew I had the morning off tomorrow, or actually it was today when I looked at my watch, and I'd earned that. It hadn't been unpleasant though and I was lost in thoughts of some very pretty brown eyes when I heard a familiar sounding language. Turning slightly in my seat I noticed some of BTS had walked in with staff, making their way over to a table tucked out the way. What were the chances they'd come into the same bar as me? And more importantly, why were they here and not at an after party? My breathing hitched a little as I saw Jungkook was with them.

They were dressed casually, performance outfits from earlier obviously discarded and in the dim lights of the bar, they just looked like a group wanting a quiet night. I watched for a moment, wondering if I should go over and say hello but thought better of it, turning back to the bar but not before I caught eyes with Jungkook who was tapping on the table as he chatted and looking around. His hands stopped moving as he did a double take, the corner of his lip going up into a half smile. I raised my bottle in acknowledgement and then turned back to the bar, wanting to give them some privacy.

The golden liquid slid down my throat as I drunk, thinking. I'd spent parts of the last two days with those humans but I really didn't know much about them apart from what I'd quickly read and watched on the internet and the fact they were very attractive and polite. When they weren't talking about me under their breath that was, grinning to myself at the memory.

I felt a presence behind me, alerted by the hair on my arms lifting slightly at his closeness. Leaning on the bar, he rested his leg on the stool next to him and I lifted my eyes from his boots and up, taking in the spectacle that was Jungkook in jeans and a sweatshirt. Who knew something so basic could look so attractive.

"It is you," he said simply in Korean as he leaned close to be heard over the music playing in the background. It wasn't loud like in a club but it was not the volume to make easy conversation. He leant on the bar, looking like a whole meal and the part of me that had been appreciating him from a distance the last 36 hours, was glad to see him up close like this now.

"Yes, I'm surprised to see you guys here though," I answered, hoping my Korean was good enough to talk to him in, thinking it was probably better than his English.