Holding Me Back

Chapter 28

Narrator's POV

The night fell too quickly. Somin was quickly asleep in the car as Jongkook was sending her back home. He glanced at her and chuckled softly as her mouth was slightly opened with her eyes closed. He tried to drive as stable as possible so that her head won't move around too much. The road was close to empty as it was almost midnight and everyone was rushing home.

After the long drive, he reached her house. "Somin-ah," He grabbed her shoulder and shook it gently. No response. He carefully unbuckled his seatbelt and reached out to her face. Jongkook moved her hair that was covering her face. He smiled. He turned on the interior light in the car and Somin squirmed under the light, rubbing her eyes.

"Somin," He called out to her. "Hm?" She mumbled, moving around the seat with her eyes closed. "Don't you want to get back home?" He asked. She slowly fluttered her eyes open and sat up straight, stretching her arms. She yawned and nodded. Jongkook laughed. "Exhausted, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but I had fun," She looked at him with tired eyes and gave him a smile. Jongkook returned a smile. "Alright, I'll get going now. See you when I see you, oppa. Thank you for today. Goodbye," She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned in to give a kiss on his cheek. He beamed as he watched her head inside the building apartment.

He drove off to his house and the night went on worriedly for him as he thought about the man taking photos of them.

Somin's POV

Morning came and I was awake at 10am. I had a photoshoot at 5pm later on. I put on a shirt and short pants as I head towards the kitchen to make a smoothie. While blending the ingredients together, my phone buzzed.

I looked at the caller ID, only to see Donghae's name on it. I raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was calling me in the morning. "Hello?" I called out. "Hi, Somin-ssi. It's Donghae," He answered in a polite tone. "Yes, I'm aware. Why are you calling me at this time?" I asked. "Well...." He trailed off.

"I apologise if I am disturbing you but if you're available, would you like to hang out today?" He boldly asked but seemed nervous. "Only you and me?" I felt hesitant about being alone with him as we are not close. "Are you not comfortable? I can bring Eunhyuk too since you're closer to him and we can hang out comfortably," Donghae suggested.

"Are you sure it's fine? Because I thought you wanted to hang out, just to get to know each other as friends," I said, trying to let him know the main reason of the hang out and letting him know of my intentions. Only to be friends. "Don't worry. Maybe, next time when you and I are closer. I'll bring Eunhyuk only for the first hang out," He reassured me. I shrugged nonchalantly and nodded.

"Alright then. I have a shoot at 5pm later on so I can't hang out in the afternoon. Let's meet near Seven Karaoke in Incheon at 12pm. See you later, Donghae-ssi," I stated politely and hung up the call after he said goodbye. I sighed. I was kind of excited to be friends with the one and only Donghae. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to tell Jongkook about this.

I mean, he's my boyfriend and all but was it a need to tell him about things like this? I put the thoughts away and continued to blend the smoothie.

Jongkook's POV

I rolled off my bed and checked the time. 11am? I groaned. I woke up quite late today. I quickly wash up and ate a banana bread. I filled up my water bottle and grabbed my phone and housekeys before heading to a nearby gym.

I pumped my muscles with a lightweight of 10kg dumbbells. It was a routine for me when I am free of schedule or bored at home. After minutes of pumping my muscles, I sat down and checked my phone before continuing.

I smiled as it seemed like I got a message from Somin.

The Text

Contact Name:

Somin My Frog

Good morning,oppa~~

Are you still sleeping?

Seems like you are!! What a heavy sleeper  ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Call me when you see this ^____^

Narrator's POV

Jongkook chuckled at her messages. It was nothing funny but it made him smile. Instead of replying, he called her as she had asked him to. "Oppa?" Somin's smile widened as she saw his caller ID and quickly answered it. "Oh, Somin-ah," Jongkook replied while wiping off his sweat. "You sound tired. What are you doing?" She asked, noticing the way he talked as he was breathing profusely.

"Nothing much. I'm at the gym," He answered, surprised that Somin could pick up someone's way of breathing. "I see. Am I disturbing you?"

"No, I'm actually resting right now," Jongkook assured her, leaning onto the wall. Suddenly, yesterday's memories came into his head as he remembered the suspicious man with a camera.

"Somin, i really do not want to make you worry but I think you should know about it, just in case. Yesterday, when we were at Sorae Park, I think I saw someone taking pictures of us. He ran away before I could catch him," He confessed as he pictured Somin's reaction.

There was a few seconds of silence before Somin replied. "Really?" She whispered. Somin, on the other end of the call, had a worried expression on her. For some reason, she was afraid. Nervous too.

"Are you okay?" Jongkook asked. "I'm fine. Just a bit shocked. It's only been weeks since we've dated so I don't know how fast can a relationship be revealed," She chuckled sadly. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine even if our relationship is revealed. I will be by your side, alright?" He sweetly comforted her, worried that she might be scared of the possibilities of people coming on to her.

"Alright, oppa. I'm really fine, it's okay," She tried to put the negative thoughts away and cheerfully answered. "Jongkook! What a pleasant surprise," A voice suddenly interrupted their conversation as a man called out to Jongkook from afar.

"I'll get going now. I miss you though, weirdo. Will see you soon. Bye," He hung up the call as a friend of his approached him at the gym. Somin smiled at his statement as he ended the call. 

Somin's POV

I looked at the time. 11.45am. 15 more minutes until I meet Donghae. Thankfully, my house is near Seven Karaoke so I can literally take my time. I wore a white shirt tucked in the flared denim jeans. I took a beige blazer and casually put it on. It was a casual outfit as I didn't really need to dress up so nicely.

I put on a light makeup before heading out to Seven Karaoke. Surprisingly, I saw Donghae waiting for me. From afar, I can see he was wearing a brown sweater and denim jeans. His hair was a new color. Ash grey, which I thought,  looked amazing on him. His bangs covering his eyebrows. He even wore a black mask. Oh, a life of a kpop idol. Must be fun and exhausting.

Instead of running up to him, I walked with the same pace as I saw him looking around. As his eyes landed on me, I gave him a small smile and slightly bowed politely.

I finally reached infront of him and I can see his eyes smiling with the mask covering half of his face. "Hi, Donghae-ssi," I greeted him awkwardly.

He then charmingly took off his mask, revealing his handsome face. He arched an eyebrow as he smiled. "Good to see you, Somin," Donghae suddenly talked casually to me. I raised my eyebrows as I was surprised with his casual talk.

"Now, shall we get going?" He gestured his hands towards a car with a pretty smile.