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24. SLIDESHOW スライドショー
THE GLARE FROM the laptop screen reflected off both lia and jungkook's faces. they were seated on his bed while the repairmen worked on the window in the living room. "oh, this one's pretty." she rested her chin on her palms, a small smile on her face.
"that one was from last spring. went to japan with my parents for a week. it was our last night. the stars were out and the cherry blossoms were falling." his voice came out oneirically. "that sounds lovely."
"it is." he smiled, turning to glance at her. "you should go sometime." he told her. "sure. if you take me." she replied, still staring at the picture, a playful note in her voice. "okay. next spring, i'll take you with me." he answered seriously, nodding his head.
she whipped her head in his direction, eyes wide with shock. "what? i was kidding." an awkward laugh left her lips. "i wasn't. i think it'd be fun. i always go with my parents because it's the only time we can all spend together but it usually ends up being a bit boring after a while."
she cast her gaze downwards, eyes blinking. "oh," she mumbled, feeling his eyes on her. "that's kind of sad." she commented softly. "do you want to know a secret?" he whispered close to her ear, making her glance up at him.
"i envy your big family." pushing his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose, he smiled. "you might find it a bit annoying and chaotic but i think it's nice. even though i prefer a quiet life, it gets too quiet. especially being an only child with busy parents."
her lips pressed in a line, eyes distant as her mind wandered. "i'm sorry, that was too much." he apologised when she said nothing. "no! no!" she shook her head, hands held up. "it wasn't." she assured him.
"i'm thinking of something sweet to say but i'm stuck." she admitted, not looking at him. "wow, i'm really bad at helping people." she muttered to herself. he chuckled, nudging her lightly. "you're not. and that was sweet." he told her. "i beg to differ." she countered, swiping over the touchpad of his laptop to move to the next picture in the slideshow.
his smile was slow, staring at the side of her face and how the tip of her ear had gone red. he tried not to grin too wide as he watched her. her hand came up to stifle a yawn and his brows drew together.
he was about to ask if she was tired when the voice of one of the repairmen distracted him. "mr jeon?" he called. "yes!" jungkook glanced up. "we're done fixing the glass."
"alright, i'll be out in a minute." he replied, getting off the bed. "give me a sec, yaya. i need to go pay the repairmen." he excused himself. "mhm," she nodded, gaze on his laptop screen. smiling at her, he left the bedroom.
he shut the door carefully behind him and moved to the living room. a breath of relief left his mouth at the sight of his fixed window. "it looks great." he stared at the new window pane. "ah, that's our job." the older repairman smiled with satisfaction.
"yes. how much do i owe you?" jungkook questioned. he pressed his lips together at the mention of the price, feeling slight annoyance at his friends and the dent they were making in his pocket with their carelessness. namjoon was definitely reimbursing him for the costs of getting the window fixed.
"okay," he pulled his wallet out of his pocket. opening it, he counted out the notes, feeling a slight smarting in his chest when he pulled out the money. he almost didn't let go when he handed the notes over to the man.
he had always been money conscious inspite of never being short of cash. he just didn't like the idea of spending money on things that he ordinarily wouldn't have to.
"thank you." the man smiled. the two men began to pack up their tools, jungkook offering to help them. he walked them to the door, opening it wide so they could walk out easily with the things they had to lug out. "get home safely." he called out after them. "thank you!"
shutting the door and walking back inside, he paused in the living room to stare at the now newspaper free window showed the swirling palette of sunset. smiling happily, he made his way back to the bedroom.
he stopped in his tracks when he saw her lying in foetal position, the laptop in front of her. "yaya?" he called out softly, taking quiet steps towards her. he stopped at the side of the bed to see that her eyes were shut, chest rising and falling with every steady breath she took. she had fallen asleep.
a breathy chuckle left his lips. leaning over, he shut the laptop and placed it on his desk. he reached for the covers, pulling them over her body. she let out a soft groan, moving around on the bed.
the mattress dipped as he took a seat on the bed, foot tucked under his knee. "must be nice." he mumbled softly, watching her with a fond gaze. she looked peaceful in her sleep, her cheeks all puffed up from being pressed up against her hand. strands of her hair fell over her face, hiding some of her features.
reaching out, he brushed her hair back with his fingers. he lingered, running his thumb over her hairline. he blinked, gaze not leaving her face. "sleep well, yaya." he whispered, starting to draw back. until she reached out in her sleep and threw her arm over his shoulder, taking him by surprise.
widened soft brown eyes stared at her sleeping face. "ted..." she mumbled in her sleep. "w-who?" his brows furrowed at the mention of the unfamiliar name. she'd never told him about a ted and he started to wonder if she had a boyfriend.
reaching up, he tried to pry her arm off but she only held on tighter. "teddy..." she whined, eyes still shut. "teddy," she repeated, moving closer and snuggling into his chest.
jungkook completely froze at the intimate action. he felt particularly uncomfortable because she thought he was someone else. "yaya, i'm not t–" he didn't finish the statement as a sudden memory flashed in his mind.
she'd told him she liked to hug things when she slept and asked if he had a plushy. teddy. she'd named her teddy bear teddy. something about the adorableness of that caused a wide smile to tug at his lips.
"can you be my plushy?"
her teasing question from the first time he'd asked her to lunch popped to mind. he glanced down at her before lying next to her. she buried her face into his t-shirt and he put an arm around her, still smiling.
"sure, since you're being mine too."
☀️☀️☀️
*squeals into the middle of next week* how many times did i rewrite this? it's so annoying when you know how you want a chapter to go but it just doesn't turn out right when you write it. anywho, i'm pretty satisfied with this uwu fest. i've been looking forward to writing this interaction for a while now lmao. this is for you gukphoria my constant inspiration for the quirky but cute lia. happy birthday bubba!!
