Stirring The Soul

Chapter 24

Lying on the sofa starts to feel uncomfortable, so you ease Jungkook away from you, help him sit up on the sofa and then put your blouse back on. After he puts on his own clothing, you ask, "What were you doing, by the way, before you abandoned everything to run over here?"

He replies, a bit embarrassed, "I was still at the Academy practising my piece. Actually, Mr Brown has asked me to help the school's senior choir group so I spent my free time with them. Now I'm worried that I won't have enough time to get ready for the Autumnal Performance," Jungkook replies, brows knitted.

"JK, you are more than ready for it, you have nothing to worry about, trust me. This is me telling you this as your tutor!" You try to reassure him, but can see that it still won't stop him from putting in the extra time to keep practising.

"I know you will still want to work hard to give a faultless performance, but remember to take a break occasionally. You've already practised so much that once you're on stage, your fingers will automatically know what to do. Your subconsciousness won't let you down," you say, basing it on your own experience and knowing how hard Jungkook has worked so far.

"Thank you, Noona. I guess you're right, and I'm kinda tired now. For some reason, all my energy has disappeared," he winks at you, cheekily.

"Yes, you always fully commit to the task at hand, I'll give you that," you reply, hugging him and then getting up. Stroking his hair, you ask, "Do you want to spend the night here, it's quite late." It's not like you are desperate to move onto Act Two of the preceding event, but it would be unfair to expect Jungkook to leave after he came all the way here for you. However, he replies, "I would love to, but I kinda promised my housemates that I'd join them for a hike this weekend and we leave early tomorrow, or rather this morning. And all my gear's at home."

"But that's great, you're going out with your mates!" you say encouragingly. "You absolutely should spend time with them, it'll be good for you!"

Narrowing his eyes in pretend suspicion, he says, "Anyone would think you're trying to get rid of me, but I know better. Your world gets shook when you're with Jungkook," he says, winking and pointing at you in the cheesiest way possible.

Staring at him in disbelief, you advise, "No way, you didn't just.....good grief, please don't say that out loud again, I beg you JK. Trust me, it will definitely kill any street cred you have. But seriously though, I'm going to miss you like crazy, but I think it's good to be outdoors with people your own, I mean, your peers. You'll have a blast," you say, scolding yourself for the slip of the tongue.

He's smart enough to ignore any slips and hesitantly makes to leave. You kiss him goodnight and instruct him to call you when he reaches home. After he's gone, you run over to the window and look outside. In a few moments you see him walking away from your building, hood up, hands in his pockets. You almost call out to him, but decide against it. You watch him until he's out of sight and then retreat back into the room, noting that it could do with a minor tidy-up before you go to bed. It would have been so nice to have Jungkook under the covers with you, but there'll be another chance for that. You think about the Academy performance which is just over a week away and wonder if there's anything more you can do help Jungkook build his confidence. Maybe taking him out a couple of times to distract him might work, you think. You put together a mental checklist of places Jungkook would enjoy visiting that include two of his favourite things; eating and shopping.

Soho could be fun, Camden market will be different. Afternoon tea? Nah, that's too girlie.....ooh I should ask Mia and Layla if they're free to go tomorrow or Sunday. You text them straight away to find out. Until now, the girls have been texting you intermittently in the group chat to see how you are and whether things are "back on with your toy boy". You decide that you will tell them more about Jungkook when you see them. You can't keep this from your best friends and besides, you want to share with them how happy you are right now.

Layla texts back immediately after you've sent your invite:
/// omg yes to afternoon tea! How about Le Meridien at Piccadilly? Shall I book it for tomorrow? Mia hurry up and reply. ///

Ten seconds later:
/// Girls, I'm there! Layla, just text us the time xx ///

You finish with:
/// Yay afternoon tea, delicious scones here I come!! See y'all both tomorrow!!! xxx ///

Just as you click 'send', you see a notification about a message from Jungkook.

// I got home safe Noona. I can't believe we just did what we did only like an hr ago, hehe. omg it's too dangerous to think about it now lol.
Imma sleep soon, gotta get ready in 4 h. Hope I don't sleep thru my alarm, but I'm sure I won't - it's a recording of Jin Hyung yelling at me for putting choc balls in his noodles 😂
Omg I nvr text this much, actually I rarely txt anyone - you're the exception 😉
Sleep well Noona. I heard that if you a pic of your beloved under ur pillow you'll dream of them. So here's a clean pic of me (for now).......happy dreaming! xxxx //

There's a lot of information for you to digest from his text which makes you smile. You make a mental note to ask him about the chocolate balls next time you see him. You look at the picture he's sent; it's an adorable one of him lying down looking at you. You obligingly put your phone your pillow and fall into blissful sleep. At some point you dream of Jungkook holding your hand as you walk through a lavender field......except Jungkook seems to have morphed into a bulked-up pink rabbit holding a glass of milk...