Just Talking

People Leave

There was a comfortable silence while they ate and then he asked,

"So, what did you do while I was gone?" She shrugged and took a sip of water.

"I'm a nerd. So I read. Taught school. My normal stuff."

"Um.....what book did you read?"

"I'm trying to make my Korean reading better so I read some books the school librarian recommended."

"Oh, cool." He racked his brain for something else to say. He'd talked and talked, it seemed kind of rude to not ask her questions. "Do you like teaching?" It was just a polite question but she gave him the biggest, most breathtaking smile he'd ever seen. He stopped breathing for a second.

"Yes, I love my kids." She dropped her eyes, thinking about some of the good experiences she'd had lately. Then she laughed and looked back up at him. "Wanna hear something funny?"

"Sure." She kept grinning and scooted her bowl forward so she could move her hands while she spoke.

"Okay, so if my kids are good I let them pick a short video to watch at the end of class. So one of my first-year classes..."

"First year?" He knew it was rude to interrupt but he wanted to get an idea of the age they were talking about.

"Yeah, I teach middle school." He blinked, looking her up and down.

"You can handle middle schoolers? Jinja?" It was probably a stupid question considering their experience several months ago but...she just....he knew how middle school classes could be. It took a lot of strength to be able to handle some of those kids. She frowned at him.

"Just because I look like I'm 19 doesn't mean I can't be scary." Her eyes narrowed and he gulped slightly. Okay, maybe he was starting to see how she did it...

"You don't look 19." The words were out of his mouth before he could think about them and then he blushed furiously. Nope, she didn't look 19, she didn't look too young, she looked like a full-grown woman to him. Y/N observed his face for a moment then decided to just let the comment go. She didn't see anything good coming from pursuing this line of conversation.

"Okay, well I let them pick a video. And the girls picked your band. But they took so long deciding that the bell rang before we could finish." She grinned again and laughed. "Oh my god, I thought they were going to murder me, they screamed so loudly! They get loud but even on their worst days they've never been that loud." She chuckled to herself and went back to her food. Jungkook laughed a little too. He liked hearing stories about their fans, even the little ones.

"Can we....is it weird if I ask you to take a selfie with me?" He asked when they were done. Sometimes it didn't feel real, their situation, and he hoped maybe a picture would make it real.

"Um....sure. Okay." He turned in his seat and angled the camera up and she leaned forward, making a victory sign with her hand. "We should probably leave separately, it wouldn't be good if the media caught wind of this." She said when they were done, leaving him with a feeling of disappointment. He'd planned on walking her back to the subway. But she was right. Now that they'd talked for a bit he felt more comfortable around her and he didn't want this to end.

"Is it..." He took a deep breath, racking his brain. "Is it...okay....can I see you again? Can I text you?" He blurted out, more loudly then he'd intended. But she worked with middle schoolers so she wasn't fazed. She looked at him and blinked, not because he was loud but because she hadn't expected that.

"Um...yeah...sure? I guess?" She didn't sound thrilled which made Jungkook's heart sink a little but he ignored it and held out his phone, motioning for her to input her Kakao ID. He texted her a "hi" and heard her phone ding in response.

"Have a goodnight, Jungkook. Thank you for the meal." She left quietly.

Did I say something wrong? Do I come off as overeager? Wait, what's wrong with just getting to know her? He'd felt like things had ended up going well but for some reason she'd turned to ice when he'd asked to keep in touch. He ran through the night mentally, wondering what he'd done wrong.

For her part, Y/N walked back to the subway exit deep in thought. She wasn't sure how she felt about Jungkook wanting to get to know her better. It was flattering but....people never stayed. People left. Especially men. She knew she was a different kind of person than most people were used to. Jungkook was nice but...it seemed rather pointless to expend all this effort and energy with him when he'd probably get tired too and leave.

God, why had she agreed to marry him?