Darkness Ethereal | K.TH

Doves and Cranes

Jungkook's POV

"It'll be easier if you do it this way."

I sign as she looks at me with her large doe eyes, clearly frustrated as she holds a piece of crumpled origami in her hand.

So cute.

"Thank you, Jungkook." She says shyly as I take the unfinished crane from her, gently making the fold. "You shouldn't be this nice to me, you know— don't you not like me for taking away your time?"

"I don't mind." I sign, and a soft smile lights up her face. That smile is everything— it reminds me of the smile V hyung had shown Tzuyu when she came back.

Was it so wrong for me to wish she'd look at me the way Tzuyu looked at hyung?

"But still— you're really smart, I can tell." She mutters, pulling at her lashes again. "Y-You should be doing better things t-than to volunteer for me like this."

Lashes.

Is she nervous?

"Don't be anxious." I sign, brushing a finger over her crane. It's beautiful, just like her. "Don't stutter— you're not scared of me, are you?"

"No."

Then red tinges her cheeks as she quickly turns around, reaching behind the lamp on her nightstand.

Curiosity flicks my eyes when she pulls out something, her face blushing deeper as she holds it out for me to take.

I smile in disbelief.

It's a teal-shaded string, twisted tightly and strung with about ten cranes. They're all misshapen and some parts crumpled with frustration, but it might be the most amazing thing I've ever seen.

Biting her lip and stealing nervous glances, she adds the one I've folded on the string.

She's so red.

"F-For you." She swallows, and I can feel the same heat painting my cheeks. "You k-know... for taking care of me. It's like a thank you."

"Thank you for the cranes."

Then a soft smile appears on her lips, and I look to her in surprise as she explodes into giggles.

When she notices me looking at her with widened eyes, she wipes laughing tears from her own.

"They're supposed to be doves."

Dammit.

Now my face is on fire as I run anxious fingers through my hair, glancing rapidly at the string of birds.

They are doves— now I can see it, the way its head is smaller and its legs more short. Jeon Jungkook, you took a freaking year in ornithology and you don't know how to tell apart a damn crane or a dove?

And you call yourself a genius?

"It's okay," She laughs, and the heat spreads to the tips of my ears as she inspects one of them. "They don't look very good anyway— I don't blame you. I would've thought the same anyways."

"No!" I exclaim, almost desperate as my hands blur with signs. "I'm sorry, uh—"

I don't even know her name.

I know I've made a mistake the instant her face falls, and her fingers reach for another one of her lashes.

"I've never tried to give myself a new one." She says thoughtfully, looking at the lash she'd just pulled as it flutters to the ground. "I never thought I needed it— not after the crash, anyways. Not after I lost my memory."

"Of course you need a name."

I hold up the bird-adorned string.

"Dove."

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Jimin's POV

"I-I..."

My eyes are nearly frantic as I look back between the bored cashier and her expectant face.

How was anyone supposed to remember that?

"Come on, genius." She smiles, crossing her arms together. "I know you can do it."

I.....

My voice shakes as I swallow, finally opening my lips. My head is completely blank— where had my photographic memory gone?

"U-Uh, one Double R-Ristretto Soy Nonfat..."

I don't remember.

Then the sound of bright laughter suddenly echoes next to me, and I whip around to see her grinning widely as she slams bills down on the counter.

"I guess you didn't change at all." She giggles before turning back to the confused cashier. "The Park Jimin I know could memorize a dictionary from top to bottom and still couldn't order a coffee for me."

"One Double Ristretto Venti Half-Soy Nonfat Decaf Organic Chocolate Brownie Iced Vanilla Double-Shot Gingerbread Frappuccino with Extra Hot with Foam Whipped Cream Upside Down Double Blended One Sweet N' Low and One Nutrasweet, please."

She smiles.

"And a mocha for him."

The cashier looks completely confused as she stumbles into the kitchen, and I can't help but laugh as Mira drags me back to our table.

"You still like to order that, huh?"

She looks at me.

"It's because of you, you know." Mira says, an unreadable expression on her face. "Don't you remember? I googled the longest coffee order possible to see if you could remember it and turns out I liked it."

I smile as I tilt my head at her.

"Did you know I tried for hours to get that order in my head? I never could. It was like magic."

She blushes.

"Whatever," Mira huffs, turning her face away. "I still hate you, Park Jimin. My face is red because I'm angry."

Cute little chipmunk.

"That's why I'm here," I grin, enjoying her surprised expression as I close our distance. "I'm here to finish what I started."

Heat burns her cheeks a deeper shade.

"I'm not blushing!" She exclaims, so loud that all the customers turn to look at us. Looking mortified, her mouth drops open when I hold up the menu to cover her reddened face from the staring eyes.

She always was shy.

It was a miracle she agreed to this, after what I did.

"Y-You're so stupid." She mumbles as I hand her her drink, smiling like an idiot when she starts to suck the straw like a baby sucking a pacifier.

"Jeon Jungkook's with that deaf @&$&&, huh?"

My eyes grow wide when I glance to my right, recognizing Jungkook's name. I can feel Mira's curious stare follow mine until they land on him.

Kim Jihoon.

My body instantly freezes to the ground as I stare right into the face I'd given up everything to run away from.

I thought it'd gotten better.

But the dread in my expression deepens when he smiles hollow, his head wrapped white with bandages.

"Yeah— thanks for the call. I'm going there now— young idiots nowadays don't know to keep their place. Kicked me when I wasn't looking."

"That &$&&&$&— consider those damn legs both broken by tonight."

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A/n: Took me a while to get that right hehe