euphoria | knj √

41: come back home.

"Because we are still young, there is a decent future. So let's wipe that cold tears now and come back home."

0:00 |───────── 4:04

|◁ II ▷|

For the next two weeks, the pair kept in sparse contact with each other, more out of obligation and perhaps a need rather than a want. It felt like a Cold War between them, neither of them saying what they so desperately wanted to say.

Two years of separation had put them back in square one in terms of their relationship, with a bitter twist in the middle of it all.

However, as Rein resolved to look past the hurt, a new friendship, though fragile, bloomed in its place. Little by little, their awkwardness faded into nothing more than a whisper. Rein studied up on her Korean to converse better with Namjoon, and she could hear his English becoming more natural as the days went by. He was always vague about when he was leaving, and at one point he made it seem like they had all the time in the world.

It almost felt like they were how they used to be, free of boundaries.

She tried her hardest to forget the kiss, though her lips still burned from his warmth. It was water under the bridge as far as she was concerned. It had to be, for both of their sakes.

With all this in mind, she wasn't necessarily opposed to doing it again.

A week after their encounter, Rein texted Namjoon to meet up with him.

You're still in town, right? I wanna show you something while you're still in LA.

Minutes later, the reply came.

Name time and place.

She thought the both of them would be more comfortable in her house than anywhere public since the rumors were picking back up after the paparazzi caught news of his early discharge from the military.

My place, 6PM.

No confirmation text came to confirm whether he read it or not, making Rein jittery the whole day.

Not that I care if he comes or not, she told herself. However, she couldn't help her heart almost jumping out of her chest when the doorbell ring later in the evening. She opened the door, and was met with a bleach blond Namjoon. It was refreshing to see him so lively.

"Hey! Your hair's different now!" Rein exclaimed as she went up to hug him. He chuckled, and after a short embrace, he ran his hand through his golden locks.

"Yeah. I thought I needed a change, especially after being in LA for so long," he said. She tried to laugh along with him but failed miserably as her worry grew apparent.

It won't matter by the time you leave, she wanted to say, but held her tongue for his sake and hers. She led him into her house and into the living room, where they both sat down and engaged in polite small talk for about ten minutes (something of a routine for them at that point) before Rein disclosed what she made him come to her house for.

"Okay, so I called you here because I wanted you to take a look at something," she said. Namjoon wiggled his eyebrows.

"Take a look at what, exactly?" he inquired playfully. She rolled her eyes with the hint of a smile and brought her computer out, much to his disappointment.

"What's that for?" he asked. Rein ignored him (with effort) and pulled up the demo version of her new single, a song she recorded only a few days after "Promise" came out, but she wouldn't tell him that. Handing him a pair of headphones, she gestured for him to put them on.