BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 112: celebrate the small successes

<OST: Sleepless Night - Crush ft. Punch>

"I'm outside your apartment building, come down."

Jungkook did not need to be told twice. He hurriedly put on his hat and mask, grabbed his phone and hurried down to the ground floor. The moment he came out of the building, he saw a red car pull up in front of him. The window rolled down and Jungkook instantly caught sight of Jieun's familiar smile.

"Hop on."

With an excited smile on his face, he pulled the door open and hopped on. Jieun zoomed off and parked her car somewhere where it was dark, and she was sure that no one would be able to see them. Finally, she pulled the handbrake and turned to face Jungkook.

It was silent in the car, as the newly-made couple finally faced each other for the very first time.

"H-Hi."

"Are you really sitting next to me..." Jungkook asked as he reached a hand out. "Or are you just an illusion?"

"I'm real, Jungkook-ah," Jieun said with a small smile as she grabbed Jungkook's hand in hers. "And I'm here."

Jungkook shook his head. "This doesn't feel real at all."

Jieun reached over and pinched him on the arm.

"Ya!" Jungkook winced as he rubbed his arm. "What was that for?"

Jieun laughed. "Do you believe that this is reality now?"

Jungkook's exaggeratedly pained expression slowly turned into a small smile, as he let go of Jieun's hand briefly, only to interlock his fingers with hers when he held onto it once more.

"There we go," he said as he glanced up at Jieun, observing her expression carefully.

Jungkook eventually turned to face the front with a gleeful smile on his face, as Jieun stared at him for a while in silence, completely unable to take her eyes off him.

"Stop looking at me..." Jungkook looked out of the window. "I'm gonna start blushing soon."

Jieun let go of Jungkook's hand at once, reaching her two little hands up to Jungkook's face and cupping it gently, before turning it to face her. Jungkook's eyes widened a little in surprise, as Jieun looked into her eyes.

"I'm not gonna stop though...?" Jieun scrunched her nose as she admired Jungkook's face. "I'm gonna sit here and stare at it all night..."

Jungkook's expression softened. "Be my guest."

Silence fell over the car as the two stared deeply into each other's eyes, not needing to say anything to know how much they meant to the other person whose eyes they were peering into.

"What made you change your mind?"

"Hm?" Jungkook hummed, caught off guard by Jieun's sudden question. "Well... it's a combination of a few factors."

Jieun tilted her head to a side, finally letting go of Jungkook's face as she leaned back in her seat once more, turning her entire body to face him. She waited in silence for him to carry on.

"Firstly... I read your diary."

"You did...?" Jieun sat up abruptly. "I thought you wouldn't."

"I didn't intend to, at the beginning," Jungkook admitted. "Because I was scared. I was scared of many things - that I would either get hurt beyond repair, or that the opposite would happen and I'd want to come running back into your arms. Both of which, were undesirable outcomes in my head back then."