⠀⠇2E

@huh yunjin his breath hadn't been robbed from his lungs upon the first time the two met in upper manhattan, but it had been as the smaller framed female brushed passed him and into his apartment. suddenly, yunjin had consumed him like the warmth of a blanket. her scent infiltrated his nostrils, urging his to quickly whir from the tip of his head and down to the tips of his toes. oh, jungkook thinks to himself, he'd forgotten how good she smelled and how it pulled him in like a magnet.

though he's saved by his ever-tightening grip on the metal doorknob, knuckles painted a pastel white. it's sim-like the way that he hovers at the entryway even minutes following his own invitation into his residential area. finally he releases the poor door knob from his fingers, nudging the door with the tips to allow for the door to gently close. it's secured with the weight of his palm as he turns to face her, tiers mirroring the faint smile painted upon her visage.

"thank you for coming," his voice rumbles from the depths of his chest, steady unlike his drumming heart. "can i get you anything? water, juice... wine? beer?"

his eyes shift from her to his fridge, only to return a swift moment later. his body reacts quicker than his brain allows for him to, perhaps in an attempt to protect him, and guides him to the center of his kitchen. his palms briefly run over the front of the wife-beater that the upper half of his form sports, and beneath thickened lashes, jungkook glances over to steal a look as if it were prohibited. she looked... different. in a good way, though, like she's experienced more of the crazy thing called "life" since they'd last seen each other. her frame is even smaller than it was when they walked the streets of the city that never sleeps, and he has to shake the image of her swimming in his clothes as he extends an arm up to grab two wine glasses from a cabinet.

"i thought it would be better to chat this way, y'know," facing her once more and awaiting her drink request, a hip presses into the countertops with tattooed arms crossed over his chest. "it's hard to interpret feelings and emotions over text. although, i think it was pretty clear what your wishes and intentions are." i think, he mentally ads, with a growing simper. nudging himself away from the counter, his body stands before yunjin's smaller one once more with his right hand elevating to collect a few dampened strands of her hair between his fingers. the closeness has his breath in his throat, but he's steady in front of her.

"try again, huh?" he whispers, dragging his gaze from the locks of hair that glided through his fingers with ease to meet her own. he overlooks her visage, lingering, before collecting his lower lip between his teeth as the corners of his tiers etch upward. "i think we could do that."

@jeon jungkook It felt like minutes before Jungkook answered the door, and Yunjin was not entirely sure if it was her own mind or if time had truly passed since she knocked. She had held her breath throughout while her thoughts circled and entertained different possibilities that may come of this interaction, half of which nearly encouraged her to turn around herself and head back to her own apartment, leaving that door of opportunity ajar to give Jungkook the choice to close on his own.

If time truly had passed since she made her presence aware to the latter, she would have understood why he hadn't opened it so quickly. She would not fault him for hesitating, for mulling over the decision to open that door and let her enter his life like before. He was probably afraid. He probably regretted inviting her in the first place. Perhaps he even wished that he hadn't answered her message and pretended to have changed his number. He could have played along.

He could have.

However, in the short time she had gotten to know him, Yunjin understood that Jungkook was an honest man with a pure soul. He would not have lied for his benefit. So that left him with the option of turning her away right there, at his doorstep.

When her eyes met his, Yunjin held her breath. Worry dimmed her gaze and she nearly averted it out of shame. She wanted to apologize again. But somehow she's held in place, unmoving, unable to speak. Completely frozen, while his eyes roamed over her features, as if committing them to memory. She wondered if he had forgotten how she looked like, or if he was surprised by the woman that stood before him.

She changed, since they'd seen each other last. She had shorter hair before, cut straight just above her shoulders, and bleached platinum blonde. Her hair was much darker now and hung just above her chest in damp waves. Her face rounded out a bit, she was a little thinner before, and she certainly looked a lot healthier. Her posture stood a little more tall, shoulders a little more relaxed, and there was a gentleness to her aura that combated the wild, carefree girl Jungkook met back in New York. She had, for all intents and purposes, changed for the better since the last time they spoke.

At least, that was what Yunjin wanted to believe as she uttered a soft, "Hi."

His invitation earned a small smile of gratitude barely tugging at the corners of her lips, her heart fluttering anxiously in her chest as she took a step forward and slipped in the space he allowed her. Out of respect, because she would have instructed him to do so if he was at her apartment instead, she took off her shoes, setting them off to the side. She used the time she took to do this to try to still her beating heart, but to no avail.

Her heart had always behaved this way around him. Jungkook always made her nervous, but it was the kind of nervous that one would have for a crush. The /good/ kind of nervous. However, now, she was not sure if what she experienced was the same as what she felt now.

"Hi," she repeated once she straightened up and turned to him, an anxious smile ading her features. "Thank you for inviting me over."

@huh yunjin " me sideways."

opening a door to something that should remain closed and very tightly locked was a very, very, bad idea. from the outside looking in, one would think that jungkook would have learned by now that he does not have the best of luck when it came to relationships (he had been left, twice, and when a girl did have good intentions and strong feelings for him, it was unreciprocated). it didn't help that mentally, a few parts of him remained child-like, as though his brain was attempting to protect him from the hardship of his past. part of him was still naive, and would do anything to feel love again.

even at the risk of being left behind.

he'd been pacing behind his front door, one arm crossed over his abdomen as the elbow of the other dug into the back of his wrist. although it'd only been an hour and a half (he wouldn't know) it felt like ages since he'd impulsively sent the invitation to yunjin. yunjin was a chapter of his life that he had been certain that he would be done with, wiped his hands clean of after she left him. it pained his ego more to know that he was left for another man, that he couldn't be good enough on his own for her.

the knock to his door shook him to his core, palms quickly running over the cotton of his grey sweatpants in attempt to wipe away the sweat that had built up on them. for a moment, he considers his options. he could open the door, as planned, or could pretend he wasn't there - make up an excuse. something came up! my dog got out! (he doesn't have a dog). he decides the logistical one with his lower lip stuck between his teeth, extending an arm to open the door with a five minute grace period of the debating going on in his head.

"hi," the words naturally roll off of his tongue, and jungkook takes a moment to examine her for the first time in what felt like years. she didn't look too different, but she was prettier than before. her hair was longer and the glossiness of the dried pieces made him wish he could run his fingers through it. it was hard to believe that she was here. at his door. and he'd invited her over. for what? just to answer her question with a simple yes or no? to rip her clothes off and her until she regretted leaving him behind? does he hug her?

"come in."

he'd start with that. everything else would come naturally, he was sure of it.

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@jeon jungkook The shower she took took far too long. Instead of rushing like one should while someone was waiting for them, she stood in the shower, staring at the tile wall with a heavy heart. Her head spun, vision blurring the clean, straight lines of grey grout between darker grey tiles. Guilt weighed down her chest, making it hard to take a full breath.

How could she? She had begun to hate herself for what had transpired moments before she had even stepped foot in the shower.

What Yunjin had started was not something she could come back from. She had opened the door to something she should have not opened, knowing that there was a chance she may break his heart again. She would not do it deliberately, of course. But she had done it once, and she was afraid she'd make the same mistake, one way or another. She knew the kind of person she was; the type to leave destruction in her wake.

Jungkook did not deserve that. Not when he had been nothing but good to her in the short time they spent together.

Yet, instead of putting up a wall between them, he invited her, allowing her to step into his life again knowing how much she hurt him in the past. She wondered why.

Perhaps what made her a terrible person was not the fact that she broke his heart before, but that she knew she was terrible for him, and yet instead of walking away, leaving him be to live his life without the likes of her, she was standing right in front of his apartment, raising her fist to knock on his door.

Was she selfish for it? Maybe. But he had invited her over, and she was far too weak to refuse him.