06 July 2016

The dorm, Seoul

I had just finished plating stir-fried noodles for all of us when the doorbell rang. Sowon eonnie peered through the looking glass and opened the door once she confirmed it was Jungkook.

"Thank you, noona," he stepped into the house and removed his baseball cap, mask and sunglasses. GFriend's other members greeted my boyfriend and he congratulated them on the first win.

"Let's eat," I set the bowls down and took a seat. Lunch was conversational as his bubbly personality lit up the room.

"Both of our groups should eat like this someday," he mused as he finished his third helping. The BTS member didn't lie when he told me he had finished three servings of ramyeon in one sitting.

"I'm sure we will," Yuju smiled, sipping a glass of water.

"Oh, I just remembered- I need to set up my book shelf," Umji came up with a preposterous excuse to leave us alone. "Help me," she placed her hands on Yerin and SinB's shoulders, everyone else filing after her.

"I could do that job on my own but it seems like a bonding activity for them," he smiled.

"Don't be silly, you're our guest," I slipped my hand into his. The callouses from working out no longer felt familiar on mine but maybe I was overthinking it. Even though we hadn't seen each other in months, we were fine.

"It's very cute," my boyfriend looked at the lounge. "Yes," we sat down on the couch.

"I won't be able to see you until November," he dove right into his reason for being here. "Why not?" I pouted unconsciously and he ran a finger down my puffed-out cheek.

"It's part of our goal this year, to win a Daesang at MAMA," Jungkook had this look in his doe eyes; that he wanted it really badly even though it meant sacrificing part of himself, and that he had come to peace with it. "We have this really intense choreo planned for Blood, Sweat and Tears."

"Oh, tell me about it," I wore my mask of excitement to conceal how disappointed I actually was.

"Twice, we have to do this move where we transition from a worm into a hand stand, if you know what I mean," he was adorable when he was flustered. "I wrote lyrics for my solo, BEGIN."

"Impressive," I beamed at him so hard, I felt my cheeks hurt from all the effort.

"Again, I'm sorry I missed celebrating my birthday with you," we had made that agreement earlier this year.

"That reminds me," I had just lifted my butt off the couch to get his present when my boyfriend stood behind me, no air between us. His head rested on mine, my back settled on his muscular chest.

"It feels like we're drifting apart but I don't want to," solid arms wrapped around my waist. "But I wouldn't blame you for breaking up with me since I won't be around often. It would be selfish of me to hang onto you by a thread when someone else is ready to love you with open arms."

"Let's see how it goes before we do something hasty like that," I wriggled like an eel so I could face him. I cupped his face in my hands, kissing his small mouth softly. Saline drops touched my lips- were we both crying?

"I think I should leave," the idol bear-hugged me. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Upstairs," I watched him go before going to my room and retrieving his birthday present- an Iron Man Lego set, wrapped up in blue paper. As an afterthought, I got the chocolate cake we were going to eat for dessert and placed it at the bottom of the gift bag. I didn't feel like overindulging my sweet tooth tonight but maybe he would.