barrier // jjk [completed]

j

After the incident that happened on our day off, the weeks seemed to move by quicker.

The boys' English slowly but surely began to improve incredibly, and both Namjoon and I could easily hear just much better they'd gotten.

Of course, there was always room for improvement, and the boys still had a long way to go. Namjoon obviously breezed through my lessons, and usually just used my sessions to talk to me, or help the boys.

Speaking of Namjoon, things began... to change in our relationship.

From the day we had met, he hadn't always been the most subtle about his flirtatious ways.

I noticed it. And I'm sure the boys did too. When he thought I wasn't looking, I would see Hoseok or Taehyung playfully nudge him in my direction, or whenever I would walk by them they would all fall silent, like they were talking about me. It was obvious something was going on. It honestly was amazing having someone who knew your language and understood you, especially in a country where that would be rare.

But I just couldn't bring myself to like him romantically.

I didn't know what it was. There was just something about him that spoke trouble.

Unlike the private lessons with Jungkook, the lessons with the boys seemed to be productive, and I was decently proud of myself.

The private lessons with Jungkook were doing well for him, but most of the time we just ended up making very unattractive faces into different Snapchat filters whilst crying on the floor from laughter, or dancing ridiculously to any song that was on the radio.

I felt like with everyone else, I had to pretend who I was. That I was some high class girl with high standards because I spoke English.

With him, I didn't have to worry about being Brinley the geeky nerd who has a specialty in teaching and moved across the world because of it.

I could just be Brinley.

And I really liked that.

So, there I sat, in my apartment, on a Sunday afternoon, reminiscing what Jungkook and I had together, just the two of us.

And I didn't know why I did that, but I do know that I was the happiest person on earth for the rest of that day.

--

It was now time for the private lesson, my favourite part of the day.

Why is that?

"Brinleyyyyy!" Jungkook called to me, and I blushed at the way he said my name.

He seemed to notice this, because he strode over to me and pinched my cheeks.

"So pretty.." He said, almost inaudible under his breath.

But I heard.

I hear everything he says.

"Alright, let's get started." I tell him, still smiling like a maniac at his subtle comment.

After we reviewed sentence structure, and how to formulate verbs with nouns, it was like something in Jungkooks brain clicked. It was like everything finally fell into place for him, and I could practically see the lightbulb go off in his head. He suddenly began scribbling down words like mad, and I paused my session out of curiosity.

"What are you doing..?" I strained my neck and body forward to see his notebook.

He immediately snatched his notebook away from me, as his cheeks turned crimson.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him, as he now began to run his fingers through his hair anxiously.  

"Yeah. I'm fine." He told me, his speech quick and quiet.

I didn't believe it for a second.

Our lesson had ended, and I still was still wondering what had Jungkook acting so strange earlier in our lesson. To be quite frank, I was itching to know. For some reason, it was driving me crazy.

He had already packed his things and was standing by the doorway, anticipating something by the way he was slightly pacing back and forth.

"Well," I sighed, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow night..?" I said, standing in front of him, still having my curiosity at the back of my head and begging to be set free.

He nodded slightly, before turning away and walking out.

Just before I closed the door completely, Jungkooks hand was there blocking it.

My eyebrows furrowed in perplexity as I opened the door once again, to find a now desperate looking Jungkook. Something was clearly tearing him up on the inside.

"Brinley," he breathed.

"Yes?" My stomach felt like it was about to come out of my mouth.

"I need help with...English something." He explained, his forehead creasing.

I heavily released air that I didn't even realize I was holding in.

"God, you scared me. Come in." I instructed him.

He sat down on my bed, his body looking as stiff as a stick. He inhaled a shaky breath, then started to talk.

"I want to ask out girl. What do I say? I think I know what to say, but I not sure." His English was still broken in some parts, I thought.

"Well, it's pretty simple actually. All you do is sit her down, look into her eyes, and ask her, 'Will you go out with me?'" I crossed my arms and smiled, but for some reason, the smile didn't feel real at all.

I suddenly felt my chest ache at the thought of Jungkook with someone else other than me. It sounds so cliche, but I felt that we were destined to know each other, from the day he held the sign at the airport, until now.

Did I have feelings for Jungkook?

No. I can't.

"Who is the girl, by the way?" I tried to ask nonchalantly.

"Oh. You don't know her." He said simply.

My whole body went limp, and I started to feel ill to my stomach. I had never felt this way before, and it was really starting to scare me.

"You should go. Now." I pointed to the door.

He looked at my state, and immediately walked over to me.

"Brinley, what is wrong? You no look good. You look sick." He said, and tried to touch my shoulder. I flinched and lightly pushed his hand away.

"I'm fine. Go." I said, as I could feel the lump in my throat grow bigger and my voice grow more hoarse.

"No." He said, and planted his feet, signalling he was going to stay.

"Jungkook. Go." I said, my voice slightly raised and my voice almost cracking.

"I don't want to leave." He murmured.

"Well, I want you to leave. And don't come back until I tell you that you can." I said, my hands clenching.

Jungkook didn't want to protest any longer, as his body fell defeated under my now authority like presence.

He sulked back to the doorway, and I didn't look at him once as he exited.