Enhanced || JJK

XXXVIII. Darwin and Rosalind

After that dinner with my parents, I was set on telling Jungkook the truth, I just had to find the right moment, but sometimes we don't find them, they find us.

The next day, I woke up early and got ready to start my third week at the ALF Lab. It was Monday, so we had the meeting with Dr. Kim, who entered the meeting room right on time.
"So, what's new this week, guys?" He asked, he seemed way more comfortable than the first times we interacted, so I began to think that maybe he didn't have a cold personality, he just needed time to get comfortable around new people and I was glad he had already warmed up to us.
"Oh, Namjoon, the guys are making great steps forward, I feel like a proud dad! Right, Yoongi?" Dr. Jung answered before we could and called their boss by his name. I had never seen them outside of work, but they must've been good friends despite the hierarchy. After that interaction, I could picture them on a weekend, going camping altogether and that image made me smile.
"Yes, I've checked on Jungkook's work and I think he has a very good understanding of the steps that are necessary to move forward", Dr. Min replied stoically.
"Well, not to brag, but Luna has alredy shown me an outline she has put together for all the possible paths we can take from here and the respective possible outcomes!" Dr. Jung took my defenses and I felt absolutely embarassed, just like when your dad brags to his friends about you getting good grades.
Luckily, Dr. Kim seemed to be used to this type of behaviour between his two juniors, so he just smiled and then invited Jungkook and me to show him the presentations we had put together.

At 5 p.m. sharp, everyone headed towards the exit and Jungkook and I did the same. We had learned that it was a rule of the Lab, no one could work after 5. Dr. Kim had always promoted the "work smarter, not harder" policy, he was convinced that working more doesn't mean working better and that the time off work, dedicated to the things we enjoy, is what makes us be productive the next day.

While we were walking home, I was very quiet, I was in my head too much, thinking about how to tell him.
"Everything okay?" He asked when we were halfway there.
"Oh yeah, yeah, it's.. fine", I answered awkwardly, because I'm terrible at lying.
He stayed silent for a minute, the spoke up again. "It's... it's not about yesterday, is it? Did you have second thoughts about... about what I told you?"
I turned my head to look him in the eyes, he seemed worried so I rushedly tried to reassure him. "No! Of course not! Are you kidding?! What you told me did not change my opinion of you or my feeelings for you! It just made me understand you more, which is good..."
He smiled back at me and then held my hand, interlocking his fingers with mine. "Okay, then..."

We turned quiet again, I was thinking about how to bring up the topic, but he also seemed to be thinking about something and struggling to maybe find the words.
We arrived near his house and usually he doesn't stop there, he keeps walking with me until we get to my house and then goes back to his. This time, he halted, so I thought he just wanted to split ways, but then he said something.
"Why don't you come inside?"
I was surprised by that question but didn't really think much of it. I also realised that it would give me a chance to talk to him privately and tell him the truth, so I nodded and he led me in.

"I'm home!" He shouted once we got through the door and right after, Lia answered from upstairs.
We followed her voice and found her in her room, she was busy studying.
"Oh hi Luna!" She said as soon as she saw I was there too.
"Hi! Sorry for the intrusion! Are you studying?" I asked.
"Yeah, for the admission test! It's harder than you think!" She whined, pouting cutely.
"I never thought it was easy, believe me! And I think your determination is admirable, it reminds me of your brother", I answered, turning my gaze towards my boyfriend and smiling at him, thingking about his drive in his work.
"Okay, thank you, Luna, really, I love you and everything, but can you two get a room? You're being too lovey-dovey right under my nose and it's annoying!" She complained and I bursted out laughing, while Jungkook seemed absolutely outraged by his sister's comment.
"Hey! What kind of language is that?! Who teaches you this stuff?"
"I'm not twelve, Bunny!" She would still call him by his nickname, even when she was mad at him, which sounded really funny.
"Okay, whatever, keep studying, we'll be in my room", he cut the conversation short, then grabbed my hand to lead me to his room.
"So you will be getting a room, see!" We heard her say, while we were already going, and Jungkook huffed and shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't know what got into her, I'm sorry", he said after closing the door of his room behind us.
I was still laughing, to me it was just funny, I didn't really think it was inappropriate like he did.
"It's fine, you don't need to apologize... I think she's just annoyed 'cause she can't do the same with Tae... yet!" I pointed out.
"Gross! Absolutely gross, Moon! Don't ever say that again! I'm already not so fond of the idea of them two together", he replied, with a disgusted look, which made me laugh.
"Well, you have still two weeks to get adjusted to it... 'cause I don't think they'll go much longer without getting together", I commented, purposely trying to get on his nerves.

He just plopped himself down on the bed, face first, in defeat, and I went to sit next to him, while laughing at him. A few moments later, his phone made the notification sound. With his face still buried in the sheets, he spoke up, his voice was muffled.
"Hey Darwin, what is it?"
"You have a text message from Lia. Do you want me to read it?" The metallic voice said and after he said yes, it started reading. "Lia says: 'Just please don't make too much noise or I'll be scarred for life!'. Do you want to reply to-"
Jungkook immediatly stood up and ran to his desk, where he had left the phone, to try and stop the voice from reading more. I laughed at the way he got embarassed even though I was a little embarassed myself.
"What the hell is wrong with her!" He was about to leave the room, probably to scold his little sister, but I caught up with him and stopped him from opening the door.
"Come on, let her be, she's just teasing you", I said, before noticing that by putting myself in between Jungkook and the door I was now trapped with my back against the door and my face inches from his.

I suddently felt extremely self-aware and my cheeks felt really hot. His gaze was intense and never diverted from my eyes. Then I remembered what went down the night of our first date and my thoughts about taking that next step, so I immediatly moved out of the way and tried to change the subject.

"Sooo... your- your AI's name is Darwin, uh? How come?" I just blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.
"Uhmm... Yeah, it's... You know, after Charles Darwin", he stuttered.
"Oh, yeah, well, I had guessed... It just seemed weird at the beginning... No GM kid would be a fan of Darwin... But after what you told me, it makes sense..." The conversation distracted me from what had just happened.
"Yeah, I'm a hardcore Darwinian, if you couldn't tell!" He laughed and it seemed like he wasn't flustered anymore. "What about your AI? I always wondered what name you could've possibly given it, but I don't think I can guess", he added.

In that moment, I also got a notification, so I decided to take that chance, forgetting about everything else. I probably shouldn't have.

"Hey Rosalind, what is it?"