inseparable︱𝐉𝐉𝐊 ✓

❥ 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬

꧁‿︵‿︵♥‿︵‿︵꧂

LJ - 19

"Jieun..."

I wasn't ready for this.

The second I stepped out of my room I hadn't expected to see him standing there, it felt like someone had yanked the air out of my lungs.

Jungkook, after a year of absolute silence, was right there in front of me again. My heart pounded in a way that I hadn't experienced in so long, and I had to grip the doorframe to keep my knees from buckling.

He hadn't changed that much. Still tall, still with that handsomeness that used to cause my face to heat up, but there was something else now. Something different. I hated that I noticed. I hated that I cared.

But I wouldn't let him see that. 

I had spent too long rebuilding myself, putting the pieces back together, to fall apart now.

So, I put on a natural face, the one I had mastered over the past year. I made sure my voice was calm, collected, even if it felt like my throat was closing up. "You just got here?"

I couldn't be sure what I was seeing in his eyes at that moment, and I didn't trust myself to interpret it right anyway. All I knew was that I had to hold it together.

"Yeah," he answered. His voice was the same, yet it sent a jolt of something I didn't want to name through me. The way he looked at me, like he was desperate to say more, only made it worse. I swallowed, keeping my face blank, not daring to let him see even a hint of how much this moment was shaking me to my core.

"I see," I mumbled, praying he didn't hear the waver in my voice. "Welcome back... We've missed you."

Jungkook's mouth opened, like he wanted to respond, but whatever he wanted to say never came out because I didn't let him. 

"I have to study," I blurted out. It was abrupt, clipped, and sounded colder than I meant it to. 

I couldn't do this. I couldn't stand there, staring at him, feeling my heart shatter all over again.

Without waiting for his reply, I turned away, closing the door behind me. I didn't slam it; I wouldn't give myself—or him—that satisfaction. The second it clicked shut, though, the world came crashing back down around me.

I sank onto the floor, numb, every part of me still vibrating with shock. Seeing him again hurt more than I had ever prepared for, and no amount of poker faces or practiced indifference could change that.

I didn't leave my room after that and didn't even think about leaving soon. My parents were used to me keeping to myself, but today was different. I knew they were aware of what seeing him again would do to me, and I also knew that's why they never came upstairs to check on me.