It Just Happened That Way || JEONGIN from skz!

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A/N Hello everyone! I'm in the middle of a two week move to a new house, and because of that, I don't have as much time this weekend and next weekend to write a lot :'( But I will be uploading regardless!! Just a little less than usual. Please enjoy, either way :) Thank you for your patience!! 

Yeona's POV

Tomorrow is the start of the comeback. The first couple weeks, Jeongin will be in Seoul, but not have even a free Wednesday to spend with me or even by himself. They really booked every show on every day, and have shoots for other non-live shows on other days. They're interviewing whenever they get the chance, and rehearsing for their tour on top of all of this.

It's nearly 11 at night, and he's home with me. His apartment is empty now — all of his belongings were packed neatly into 3 big boxes, and the rest of his furniture was already inside of a storage unit. I wasn't moving into the new apartment (which, by the way, was in the rich neighborhood of Hannam?? Jesus Christ, what has my life come to?) for about 3 weeks, so I didn't start packing yet. For now, I just wanted to be relaxed, laying on Jeongin's chest, my head moving up and down with each of his breaths. In this moment, I can tell that he's a little bit worried and nervous to be performing again after so long.

"You doin' okay?"

He looks down at me, and lifts his hand from my back to stroke my cheek. He shrugs. His fingers comb slowly through my hair as he says, "a little bit nervous. I'm mostly just not looking forward to being sleepy all the time."

I chuckle. My hand lays against his abs, fingers moving in small circles. "What are you excited for?"

He thinks for a second. "I'm excited to see Stays again. It's kinda cheesy, and I know I don't actually know any of them, and they can be such an inconvenience to normal life, BUT—"

I laugh and swat his abs, scolding him. "Is there anything you like about them, like damn!"

"You didn't let me finish!"

"Okay, okay. Go ahead." I roll my eyes. 

"But, seeing how happy we make them, with our performances and our fan signs and fan meets, it honestly makes it all worth it. I can't believe how many people we make happy. It's kinda overwhelming to know what kind of impact we have on so many people."

"Is it scary?"

"A little. Like, if I mess up, or step out of line, someone will get hurt. Whether I know them or not. You know fans — everything is personal."

"Tell me about it. Twitter Stays scare the SHIT out of me," I admit, as he bursts out in laughter.

We finally decide to turn the lights off after talking some more, and get comfortable in bed, with him spooning me as usual. He nestles his face into my shoulder and loosely wraps his arm around my torso. I still don't know what the man does with the other arm, but that's for him to deal with, I guess.

"What time do you have to be up tomorrow?" I mumble to Jeongin, with my eyes closed as I slowly fall asleep. My bottom hand's fingers interlace with his, with my thumb rubbing against his.

"6:30. Not too bad. Will you get up, too?"

I yawn and reply, "Yeah, make sure I get up, okay?"

He gives me a kiss as he sighs, "Mhmm."

We both drift into our last sleep before comeback season.

The next morning...

"Yeona, wake up." Jeongin nudges me a little. It's still pretty dark, but I force my eyes open. I see him sitting on the ground next to the bed, cross legged, facing me. I frown a little. Why's he just...sitting there.

"Is something wrong?" I ask him, as I stretch my arms over my head, still horizontal in bed. I rub my eyes as I wait for him to reply. He doesn't, so I look at him and poke his cheek.

"Jeongin-a, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong! I just wanted to give you something before all of this chaos began."

He picks up a jewelry box off the ground, and opens it. There are two simple silver rings inside, one with a delicate chain.

"This isn't a marriage proposal so don't get ahead of yourself," he jokes, as he pulls out the ring on the chain.

My hearts beating fast, regardless, looking at the rings. "Are these...promise rings?"

"Yes. But you climb, so I got you a chain to wear yours."

My heart melts at his thoughtfulness. (an aside: it is dangerous to wear rings while climbing, as you could get pinched, or worse, have your skin rip off :) ) 

I push myself up into a sitting position, and cross my legs. He gets up onto his knees so that he can put the necklace around my neck. As he fastens the clasp, I look at the ring and notice the engraving on it.
Forever, it read, in Korean.

I say it quietly. "Forever."

Jeongin hesitantly asks me, "Forever, right?"

I give him a small, sad smile. "Yes. Forever."

The next couple weeks pass in a whirlwind. Sometimes Jeongin never even came home to sleep — he would just stay at the company and pass out on the couches with the rest of the guys. I continued to go to work, to train, and to gain more and more followers on my instagram for climbing. It was as if I had three lives that I was living: the Yeona who worked a corporate job, the Yeona who trained for hours to prevent injuries and to stay strong, and the Yeona who was waiting for Jeongin.

Waiting was hard when everything that the boys did was available to watch from a fan's perspective. It was the first time that I felt possessive over Jeongin, to be honest. It's hard to see all of these girls lusting over guys they didn't even know personally, but believed that they did. I knew what it felt like — I had been in their shoes.

I decided that staying off of social media would be the best thing for me. I knew their schedule anyway, so I could watch the broadcasts on TV without the comments of fans bothering me.

And then, just like that, the boys finally left to go on tour. It happened right as their comeback performances on TV ended — literally the following day. We barely had time to say goodbye, but I will admit that we both shed tears.

Now, I was actually alone. Jeongin wasn't coming home to sleep anymore; he was sleeping in hotels far away. I moved into the new apartment, and tried my best to put it together well, so that when Jeongin returned, he would be coming back to a comfortable home.

Days started passing by quickly, but slowly at the same time. As I lived each day with a strict routine, the hours passed slowly, but the days went quickly. Does that make sense? It was like I was back living in quarantine days due to the pandemic. Time felt still as the days rushed by.

Jeongin and I tried to call every couple of days, just for a couple minutes when he could talk. I would quickly catch him up on my life, and he would quickly tell me a quick story about something the boys did while in the different cities. We would say our "I love you"s and "I miss you"s hastily, because he would inevitably have to hang up for the next scheduled event. Then, texts became infrequent. I tried not to let any of that get to me. I know he's busy. I know that he still loves me.

I just...wished for more of him.