level 23 / btsvelvet

episode thirteen

warning for a sensitive topic! rape is mentioned once (as a word only, not described, and not as a joke). this chapter is still okay for non-mature audiences.

seulgi meets joy's boyfriend for the first time the next morning, when she's headed off to work at the coffee shop. she'd went out late the last night and come back home to an unusually empty apartment-yerim had presumably stayed the night at jungkook's, and seungwan had been gone lately anyways.

"hello," the conversation begins when the two of them are waiting for the elevator doors to close.

(seulgi had been the first of the five to overcome their shared elevator trauma, having decided climbing twenty-two flights of stairs was too much exercise for her liking, especially when she was always carrying home various appliances and coffee bags from work to post to the website when she had extra time. she was working hard for that seasonal bonus on her paycheck, after all.)

23.

seulgi replies to his greeting with a polite bow and a sleepy "good morning."

she adjusts her choppy bangs just the slightest, the rest of her hair having been gathered in a messy bun atop her head.

22.

"you're joy's boyfriend, aren't you?" she piques innocently in her usual friendly nature.

the man nods with a sheepish grin. he's dressed in a button-up shirt and a comfortable cardigan, and he's overall relatively well-groomed save for a slight lipstick stain on his cheek in an oh-so familiar shade of vibrant red.

"i'm kim seokjin, nice to meet you."

kim seokjin is beautiful in a way that is autumn leaves and playing the piano and ocean breezes, seulgi thinks to herself.

"kang seulgi. joy's neighbor." she introduces with a chirp to her voice. "nice to meet you too."

20.

19.

after a moment, seulgi lets out an apologetic laugh. "you and joy sound like an interesting pair." she says, and it's quite true.

at a glance, a filthy rich, spoiled heiress and a quiet pulmonary surgeon seemed like two puzzle pieces which would never fit together.

"yeah." seokjin chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "if someone had told me two months ago that we would get together, i don't think i'd believe it either."

"i guess she can be scary sometimes, but she's a good person." seulgi offers.

"actually, i thought she was annoying at first." seokjin admits, pink tongue reaching out to wet his lips. "she was-and still is-entirely without a sense of shame."

"but," he counters, "i admire her fearlessness, you know? she has a strong will to make her life the way she wants it to be."

he's talking to seulgi, yes, but his eyes are full of calm waters which foam gently in the sway of the breeze, and that's how seulgi knows he's far enamored in the ghost of a certain park sooyoung to realize he's still in a conversation with his girlfriend's neighbor.

"and sure, sometimes she seems rude, and a lot of the time it's like she's too mischievous for her own good. it's almost like she doesn't have the most basic human kindness and sympathy." he continues, his voice filling with awe as he speaks, on the verge of rambling, because kim seokjin is truly, truly in love. "but she cares on the inside, you know. i hope you'll forgive her when she's in one of her moods."