Generations Expectation's | 8th member of BTS

62

Ae Cha's POV

The city lights blurred past the Uber window, streaks of gold and red fading into the dark as I pressed my forehead against the cool glass. My heart still hadn't slowed, even hours later, even after the music had stopped, even after the kiss.

I kissed Jungkook.
He kissed me back.
It was real.

That single thought looped endlessly in my mind, a broken record I couldn't shut off. The air in the car was heavy with exhaustion and something else. Something that hummed quietly between us. Neither of us spoke. The driver hummed softly along to the radio, unaware of the storm that had settled in the back seat.

I dared a glance at Jungkook. His gaze was fixed out the opposite window, jaw tight, one hand fidgeting with the edge of his sleeve. The passing streetlights painted him in fleeting gold, and for a second, I caught the faintest flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. As if he were trying to process it all, too.

I wanted to say something. Anything.
But what could I possibly say that wouldn't ruin the fragile quiet between us?

When the Uber rolled to a stop in front of my aunt's house, neither of us moved at first. The glow from the driver's phone screen filled the car, the quiet "Trip Completed" notification breaking through the heavy silence. The driver cleared his throat softly, waiting.
Jungkook shifted beside me, reaching for his phone before I could even think to grab mine. His thumb swiped across the screen, and I saw the faint reflection of the fare in his dark eyes.

"I got it." he murmured finally, his voice low, calm, but with an edge of something shy underneath.
"Thanks." I said, my voice coming out smaller than I meant it to. My throat felt dry, my heart still racing from everything unsaid between us.

He only nodded, eyes fixed on his screen for a moment longer before sliding his phone back into his pocket. Then, without another word, he opened the door and the cold night air swept in, sharp and sobering.

I wrapped my arms around myself tighter and stepped out. The neighborhood was still, the kind of stillness that comes just before midnight when everyone's asleep and the world feels small. The gravel crunched under our shoes as we made our way up the narrow driveway.
It wasn't an ignoring kind of silence, not the cold kind, not yet. It was the kind that came from too many thoughts and not enough words. The kind that ached to be filled, but neither of us knew how to start.

My feet hurt, my throat was dry, and my head felt too full. I replayed the night over and over again. The way his laughter had mixed with mine, how his hand brushed mine, how our eyes met and lingered too long. And then the kiss.... brief, unplanned, yet burning itself into me like it had always been meant to happen.

Now here we were, walking side by side in silence, pretending to breathe normally when every inhale felt too loud. Jungkook kicked at a loose pebble, the small sound startling in the quiet night.
When we reached the steps, I turned to him, partly because I had to say something, partly because I couldn't bear for the night to end like this. His hair was still a little messy from the night, his cheeks flushed from the cold.

The night air clung to my skin, sharp and unrelenting, like it wanted to remind me that I was still here, still standing in this mess I hadn't meant to create. The faint yellow glow of the porch light flickered above us, buzzing weakly against the silence that had fallen like a shroud. The Uber's taillights vanished down the empty street, leaving only the sound of our breathing and the faint hum of the city in the distance.

Jungkook stood beside me, hands buried in his pockets, his breath visible in the cold. The plan had always been simple he'd crash here tonight, we'd laugh, maybe talk a little too late into the night like we always did. Nothing complicated. But the universe had other ideas.