Jeon Jungkook has worn many mantles in the time you've known him.
He's been a colleague. A friend. A confidant. A headfuck and respite all wrapped into one pretty bow. He wears these mantles with pride. Displays them like name badges; this is who I am, and it's all dictated by you.
It's strange, in a way. He's always been so certain of himself and his identity, but these days he prefers just simply being 'yours'. He'll take your ownership in whichever capacity you'll give it.
And right now, you're giving him a look that he doesn't quite understand.
Then again, he hasn't really understood much about the last few months between the pair of you. He doesn't understand why his heart feels all tight when he walks past you in the hallways at work, nor why he constantly has hypothetical conversations with you whenever he walks Bam.
As if he can sense being thought of, Bam echoes a bark into the room, reminding you both that a reality exists outside of the bubble you're engulfed in.
You pull back from Jungkook, letting your hands slowly drop from his chest.
Too caught up in the moment for your own good, you're thankful to have a little room to breathe, now. Awkwardly folding your arms over your chest, you smile. Shrug. Say, "He's missed you."
Not wanting to be the person making things weird, Jungkook gives you an equally shy smile. Turns his focus to Bam, whose tail is rapid, zoomies imminent. Grabbing just beneath Bam's ears, Jungkook roughly (but also incredibly gently) begins to tussle with his best four-legged friend.
"Oh, I've missed you too, boy," he growls, so often choosing to communicate with Bam in funny little voices just for the hell of it.
It's an announcement more than it is an acknowledgement. He always misses Bam. It's a known fact.
He always misses you, too, and he assumes you know that.
See, that's the trouble with Jungkook. He gives you too much credit. Believes you're far smarter than him; that you automatically read between lines he insists on super glueing together.
How anyone could figure out his intentions is beyond you.
Instead, the glue fumes have been sending you loopy for weeks, now. Months. Mingyu could testify to this—but that would only make Jungkook tailspin even more.
It's as he's fluffing Bam's ears that Jungkook finds the courage—or merely the curiosity—to ask about him again.
"Anyways, thought you'd been hanging out again?" He asks, flipping the conversation back a few pages, eyes trained on Bam rather than you. He doesn't dare look. Fears understanding the look in your eyes better than he understands his own damn brain these days. The follow-up is effortless. Practised. Recited a few dozen times over in the bathroom mirror of a plane. "You and whatshisface?"
Your response has been just as heavily played out. Different each time. Favourable and unfavourable; good, bad, ugly. Jungkook already beat around the bush earlier, but he's asking properly, now.
Or at least, he thinks he is.
He's refused to mention Mingyu by name, as if he's scared of speaking him into existence.
You don't share that same fear, for Mingyu does exist and he doesn't impact how you feel towards Jungkook in any capacity. Being reminded of him won't sever the searing hot invisible tie you have to Jungkook. Very little will. In fact, the only thing that could would be the cold shoulder he's been so insistent on giving you lately.
Here, with him, it's hard to deny the heat. It melts away the ice you've grown used to.
"Are you talking about Mingyu?" You deadpan, arms still folded as you raise a brow.
