Behind the Scenes

The Truth

- Taehyung POV -

Jungkook continued to stare at me with wide hopeful eyes. Being the only source of light entering the room, the street lamps reflected on his bright eyes made them even glassier than they already were, adding a hint of desperation to his already pouty expression.

The way his voice slightly wavered when he told me to stay sent a wave of warmth to my chest but at the same time it made me feel a little nervous.

I parted my lips, then closed them again, unsure of what to say.

So I just nodded.

I kneeled back down to a comfortable position, with my legs tucked underneath me and my head levelled with Jungkook's.

I saw his body relax when I didn't even realize how tense he was in the first place. His chest just dropped suddenly and a noticeable sigh left his mouth.

We stayed like that for a while, studying each other in silence and in the dark. I didn't mind it but eventually he spoke, "I'm sorry."

I blinked, startled by his sudden apology. "For what?"

"About the things I said to you. I really didn't mean them."

I furrowed by brows at this. Then I remembered last night's fried chicken dinner and his unexpected outburst of attitude towards me along with his IU ringtone.

I couldn't help but chuckle, realizing how ridiculous our little 'fight' was.

We've fought occasionally and have had our share of friendly break ups and make ups but never had we avoided each other for two whole days over petty things like these.

"It's okay Jungkookie. But what's wrong with me joining the others for ddaeng? You got so worked up," I laughed again at the memory of our silly quarrel.

Jungkook looked away. "Dunno," he murmured.

My laughing ceased and he continued, now looking at the ceiling instead of me. "I guess it's because you sort of brushed me off."

"What do you mean?"

He raised a hand up to his face and took a few strands of his fringe between two fingers, then began fidgeting with it. "You tell me to delete edited photos of IU and me on my phone then you go ahead and act like nothing happened."

"W-what else did you expect me to do?" I stammered, now feeling embarrassed after being reminded of that whole 'delete them' incident.

He restlessly retracted his hand from his hair and covered his face. "I don't know. I just... I just thought it was unfair how you looked completely fine when I barely got any sleep because I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Butterflies.

Butterflies fluttered about in my stomach.

I couldn't tell if it was my imagination or not because of how dark it was but I thought I saw his ears redden. He cleared his throat and corrected himself, "About us. I couldn't stop thinking about... us."

I shook my head. "Yea, um, right. U-us."

I leaned closer and tilted my head to get a better view of his face covered by his hand. "Jungkookie, I couldn't get much sleep either. Heck I was probably more affected by what happened than you were."

I lowered my voice to a soft murmur, "I was the one who told you to delete those photos out of nowhere."

"I deleted them."

...huh?

He withdrew his hand from his face and rested it on his chest. Slowly, he turned to look at me.

"I deleted the photos."

.

.

I mentally slapped myself for almost squealing at this and went on to playfully slap Jungkook on the stomach.

"You shouldn't have!" I forced a laugh through my gritted teeth while my stomach went haywire and my brain malfunctioned.

He deleted the photos of him and IU

because I told him to

he deLETED THE PHOTOS

THERE WAS AN ENTIRE ALBUM OF THEM

AND HE

HE JUST—

My thoughts were interrupted when Jungkook rolled over to his side so that his body was facing mine and our eyes met.

"Well, they're gone now." he hummed.

"But you really like her."

"I like you more though."

HE—

Okay that's enough Jeon Jungkook this is too much, too much

too many blows for one night.

I think I may have chewed off an entire chunk of flesh from the inside of my cheek. The fluttering and churning in my stomach had reached its peak.

Jungkook on the other hand looked way too calm. His eyes continued to glisten and the corners of his lips tugged up into a smile.

He raised his hand from his chest and brought it up to my face, very gently caressing my cheek as if I was the most fragile thing he had laid hands on. I gave in to the soft strokes and closed my eyes, his touch calming and nursing my now bruised stomach.

"You're like family to me."

My heart dropped.

My eyes flit open. He wore the exact same expression; one that screams absolute adoration for me. But my expression couldn't help but darken over the sad fact that,

he probably only adored me because he saw me as family.

It was painful, but I forced a smile. "So are you."

I held his wrist and placed his hand back on top of his chest.

I feel like crying.

"Anyway, that's done. Go to sleep. I'm going to go now," I said trying my best not to crack my voice.

"Hyung, wait—"

"Good night Jungkookie." I felt my lips tremble and decided that I had to get out of his room.

He didn't seem to take notice of this and simply nodded.

"Good night hyung," he smiled.

I waved my hand at him and left the room, closing the door behind me.

The lights in the living room were off as well and I found myself shrouded in darkness.

As if the world was mimicking the emptiness I felt that moment.

I clutched my shirt and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down until I felt a warm tear trickle down my cheek. Then I just let go and sobbed quietly to myself.

So what if he deletes the photos.

I brought my hands up to my face to stifle the low squeaks of my voice when I sobbed even harder.

Flashes of the month's happenings whizzed through my mind and a painful pang of realization hit me.

I like Jungkook.

I continued to wipe the tears that were streaming down my flushed cheeks uncontrollably.

I like him so much.