Jungkook cursed under his breath upon losing another parking spot. He's been circling around the street for close to half an hour now but to no avail, he's always one car behind. It's close to 6pm now and it's making him nervous. He's late!

His initial plan to cut the meeting short had failed when Lee Hi kept going about the sounds and notes she had in mind. Her excitement was palpable and he couldn't simply say no when he knew he had been postponing the submission. 

To be honest, he was a little excited as well! He shared what he wrote a few days ago - admitting that it's not fully done yet - and she already loved it. He played the tune on the piano and they exchanged ideas on the continuation. 

It was a really productive and inspiring meeting and he would've been more excited to work on it for longer if it wasn't because of Lisa, constantly being on his mind! By the time he left the building, the traffic's already building up. And now that he's finally in Bukchon Hanok Village, all the parking spots are full! 

He made another turn close around the first gallery and just then, a car drove out. Yes! He speeds up and secured his car. Jungkook leaps out and jogs to the place, about a hundred metres away.

He huffs out when he reached, clutching his knees in front of the lot. He could see some paintings hanged and sculptures stood around, but the lights are off. Is it closed? He tried pushing on the glass door but it's locked. Fuck - I'm too late!!

Okay...okay - it's okay! There's another one...

His feet took over fast, doubling its pace while he focused on the direction displaying on the screen of his phone. He almost ran into a couple of people and muttered 'sorry' while they gave him weird looks but he couldn't care. The chant in his mind is loud as it kept repeating 'please be open' over and over again.

He got to the place just in time! The much older man was just about to lock the door  from inside when Jungkook stopped him in heavy breaths. 

"I - I'm sorry! I know you're closing - but I need to ask - do you happen to - give painting lessons?" He asked in between breaths.

The man scanned him from top to toe before nodding. "We have two sessions - one in the morning, and one at noon. Would you like to book for a slot?"

"I um..." He stretched his neck a little, to glimpse into the gallery. It doesn't look anything like the first one...in fact, it doesn't look like a gallery at all! "I'm actually trying to find someone. I think she may have visited your um...your gallery. She has long hair and she's about this height - she has big, round eyes -" He gestured animatedly with his hands.

The man looked a bit surprised. "Today?"

"I don't know,"

"Oh...I uh..." The man scratches his head a little. He looks older than Jungkook's father - is he the fine artiste Lisa was talking about? "I have a lot of visitors every day...I don't know if I can help you,"

Jungkook takes in a big gulp of air, still feeling a little dazed and out of breath from his earlier rush and nerves. The old man's right - damn, what was he thinking?? How could he tell by just the short and unhelpful description??

He took out his wallet and pulls out Lisa's picture. "This is her. Have you seen her?"

The man took it from his hand and stares at it closely. After a second, he smiled. "Ahh...I remember her! Really hard to forget her face!"

Jungkook froze. He's not sure if it's just his luck or if the universe is really on his side that he ended up at the right place, at just the right time, with just the right person at this moment! She was here! She really came here! She didn't lie when she said he's already close to finding her!

"But it's a while - probably a month ago. And her hair's not this long, but I remember her face - come in," He pulls the door open, gesturing for him to walk inside. Jungkook smiled nervously and bowed his head a little as a way of thanks to the man.

"I remember her - here, come -" He starts walking in front of him and Jungkook follows suit. "She has such a unique face and - and so much personality - that I can't help but paint her," 

He what? Jungkook's not sure how to feel about it, but convinced himself that the old man probably meant well. The place smells of old dirt and paint. The cement walls are covered with paintings - some abstracts and some heavy strokes portraying sceneries and people. The composition of the way they're being displayed looks amazing. The hues of color are nicely arranged from one section to another, making it look like a harmonious combination of ombre altogether. 

In the middle sat a long table with an equally long bench. Jungkook guessed it's where the lessons are given, looking at the drops and small splashes of paints splaying unevenly on it. There's also a stack of easels and a bunch of canvases leaning on one section at the end. Overall, it looked more like an old artiste studio than a gallery. 

He was led into a smaller room at the back - and Jungkook wondered what the old man has in mind. It's answered immediately when he switches the lights - revealing an enclosed studio. There are a lot of canvases around on the floor - all are painted. The man went straight to a table and took one medium-sized canvas - holding it up in front of him.

Jungkook's heart fell at the sight. It's her...with much shorter, black hair. The man actually painted her - and it looks like an actual photograph! She's smiling and her eyes squints, almost looking like she's staring down onto something. Her puffed out cheeks have tints of pinks in them. It's only a painting but she looks so beautiful!

"You um...are you selling it?" He can't help but ask. 

The man looks at it and back at him. "I didn't plan on selling it. I like to paint whatever catches my eyes. Not everyone can understand it. The ones outside - those are for sale. It's what most people like to buy -"

"If I wanna buy this from you, how much would it be?"

"Young man, I told you - it's not for -"

"Please," He's desperate. Partly because the thought of her picture laying in this small closet-like studio with an old man - who although seems decent enough, still raised questionable motives - and partly because the portrait looked so real that Jungkook really wanted to have it. 

"Who is she to you and why are you looking for her?"

"She's..." His eyes went back to the portrait. "She's the love of my life,"

The man continues to frown, regarding him intently.

"I...I lost her. And I'm trying to find her. She gave me clues - I swear I'm not stalking her or anything! She always wanted me to bring her here - she said we'll do the paintings together but -"

"She told me about a boy who said she shines like the moon - brighter than any stars...is that boy you?"

Jungkook looks up to the now-smiling man.

...

He lets her walk in first - leading him into the ice-cream parlor. She saw it while on their way to dinner and made him promise that they'll drop by before they head back home. The interior is cute - just like she said. Lisa's eyes are shining bright with delight as she lets go of his hand and fixed them on the display freezer.

Jungkook scans around the place to find an empty table. Oh, there's one...underneath a neon sign that says 'lick me good'. He's already smiling to himself - his perverted mind already planning the ways to tease his girl later!

"What are you getting?" He asked when he reached her side.

"Cookies 'n Cream!" She squeaked out her little high note as she points to a bucket in the freezer. God - so cute! - stop!! 

"Hi! What flavour would you like?" A girl asked from behind the counter, smiling at him.

"Uh..." He scans around quick, feeling pressured as the girl waited. 

"Choco Mint," Lisa pointed for him - to which he sighed with relief. He always have a problem choosing when someone's there, waiting for his decision. He almost always makes the wrong choice when it happens! Thankfully, his girl knows what he likes!

He looks up and puts on a wide smile to the girl - nodding to Lisa's selection. She blushed and smile down shyly. "You must be really good friends to know what he likes huh?" 

Lisa and him looked at each other. She seemed to be weirded out by the sudden question as well as him! 

"The bestest!" Lisa answered and pursed her lips.

"Aww...you're so lucky to have a cute best friend like him!" Uh...okay, that's awkward...and so uncalled for too! Do all the staff here butts into other people's business?!

"I know...he kept telling me that -" Lisa rolled her eyes but flinched when she felt a tickle on her waist. Yeah...stop fooling around like that!

The ice-cream girl laughed - oblivious to his tease on his girlfriend. 

"Yahh...why do you do that?" His annoyance was clear when they got to the table. 

This is not the first time it happened. Since they moved to Seoul, they're both aware of all the new looks from strangers. He'd notice men staring at her while they shop for groceries together, and she can see how girls are smiling at him - just like how the ice-cream girl did a few minutes ago. It's new to them, as everyone in his small town in Busan knew they were together so no one paid much attention - or they just didn't dare to pull of something like that! Jungkook can't help but be reminded of last week when they went drinking at a bar.

Guys kept on coming up to her, asking to buy her drinks as if he wasn't even there beside her! And how could he forget - that one girl who suddenly wrapped an arm around his neck, asking him for a dance. The first look on Lisa's face almost brought him to tears, begging for forgiveness on behalf of the stranger - but she ended up laughing about it so no, he didn't cry then. But he did shed a tear on his way back when she told him that she gave her number to a guy! A fake number - she later joked. He swore he almost dragged her back to the apartment and fuck her senseless for that - just to remind her who she belongs to! 

They did make such sweet love that night - another memorable one to add among their many passionate nights together - and Jungkook did mutter softly that she belongs to him. Safe to say that they both agreed to drink at home by themselves moving forward!

"Do what?"

"Why do you say I'm your best friend?"

"Are you not?" Then she gasped. "Am I not your bestest friend? Do you have someone else as your best friend??"

Jungkook squints his eyes as the girl mocked him. She then went back to savouring her ice-cream, as if nothing ever happened.

...

"Baby," He halts on her hand, forcing her to stop and turn to him. "Can I ask you something?"

Her eyes are as kind as always, inviting his every concerns with a determination to solve them.

"Why do you like to pretend it doesn't bother you when girls stare at me or - or come up to me?" He finally asked. It's been on his mind for while now because unlike her - he is so ready for a fight with any men who dares to do the same to her. 

Lisa frowned a little but her little smile is still there when she shrugs.

"I know...you kept looking across my shoulder just now," He rolls his eyes.

"I wasn't -"

"Since when do we lie to each other?"

She sighs and looks down to their intertwined fingers. Jungkook grazed them - a way to somehow show her that she can be honest with him.

"I just feel like...there's a reason why they ignored my existence. Like I was there - but they didn't think that we're a couple if we're not holding hands. As if it's hard to imagine a guy like you would be with a girl like me -"

"A guy like me?"

"Yeah...you know you're so good-looking, I mean - isn't that what attracted them to look in the first place?"

"Maybe it's the other way around. I catch guys staring at you all the time too -"

"No, they weren't,"

"They do - all the time! Why'd you think I always volunteer to buy groceries on my way back instead of letting you go out?"

She thought about it for a second. "...cus you know I'd buy chocolate milk instead of your banana milk?" 

God, he wants nothing more than to squeeze her soft cheeks together and kiss that full lips from here to their apartment 3 blocks away - but held in the urge instead, knowing how shy she'd get being in a public space!

"I don't like them looking at you - thinking they can have you, and so I made sure they know that you're mine. I'm so in love with you that I want everyone to know how proud I feel to walk beside you and have you holding my hands. Why do you let all these girls think that I'm available for them - are you ashamed of me?"

"No - what?! That's not even -"

"Then what?"

"I just...I just feel bad," She looks down again, pouting as she does so.

"Feel bad for who? Them? Or me?"

"Like...I know I look different and - and I'm hardly what girls would say 'oh, she's pretty' or like - 'oh, they fit so well with each other'," It made him smile when she imitates the way the locals talk. "I just felt like their imagination on you would've been better if I'm not in the picture, so I let it,"

"What imagination? You'd let other girls imagine things about me?!" Okay, now he's mad!

"No, no - that's not what I mean!" But Jungkook's already caught up in his own furious bubble that he had let her hands go - taking 3 steps forward before turning back to face her.

"You're my sun! My moon - you shine brighter than any of them - all of them! Why are you so scared of them?!" She's just too impossible for him to understand sometimes!

"I -" She seemed a little desolated, making him feel worse than before. What exactly is running through in that mind of hers?

Jungkook inhaled deeply and walks back to her. "It's late...let's go," He reached back for her hand and began walking. After a few steps, he heard her soft mutterings. "What?"

She stopped and looks up to him. "Thirty-four," His frown deepens. "Thirty-four girls had a crush on you when we were in school. There were five hundred and twenty students - two hundred and eighteen are girls, and fifty-eight in our batch. Thirty-four were only the ones I heard or seen talking about their crush on you - passing letters to your friends,"

Okay.... "So what?"

"Most of them stopped talking to me when we showed up holding hands. I had seventeen letters on my desk - containing curses...calling me a slut or - or an ungrateful immigrant...some even asked me to go back to my homeland, saying I'm stealing their golden boy -"

"What? How come you never told me this before?"

"And let you throw tantrums at them for doing so?"

"No, for me to protect what's mine,"

She sighed a small laugh. "I didn't mind it - not the curses or any of the painful words - but it did taught me a great deal of my existence here. I never thought of myself being a foreigner - I practically grew up here! But in those times...it made me realize that it's always what I'm gonna be. I'll never be someone who's good enough for anything here. When I get good grades, it's cus I begged for it. When I won the dance contest, it's cus of how my body attracts pervert minds. What else - I've heard them all. And when I get the boy...it's cus I'm a slut -"

"Stop! You know it's not true - none of it even comes close -"

"I know...but they didn't," Her small smile contains so much sadness. "They adored you...so much. They held you up on a pedestal and like - people like me shouldn't even dreamed about coming close. They already came to terms that we're good friends - but to actually date? It's too much for them, apparently. And I can't help but feel bad...maybe they're right, maybe they're not - but I got used to it, I guess. So I let them think whatever they want -"

"But I don't want you to let them think that," He says, softer this time. "I'm sorry for what you heard or been through for me and I wished you could've told me this before. Cus it hurts you. Being with me hurts you and it's not what I want for you. It doesn't matter what they think or feel - whether we'd fit or not - the only thing that matters is that I love you! No one could've denied the feelings I had for you for so long - God, I waited so long to even tell you! Now...we're here. After all these years, we're still here. I still love you - even more now - you shouldn't be afraid -"

"Oh, I'm not afraid,"

"You're not? Cus it sounds like you are,"

"No, I'm not," She smiles so genuinely. "I just got used to it, that's all. I'm fine being at the back, but I know how far I should be before I run back to you," She circled her arms around his waist, melting his heart as she tries to convince him.

"I hope it's not too far...and maybe...slowly...you can start getting unused to it? I like you beside me, not at the back,"

"Walk on ahead...I'll show you how far,"

Jungkook cocks an eyebrow but saw that she's being serious, so he did as she asked. With slow steps, he starts walking away from her. He stops after the tenth step.

"Is this far enough yet?"

Silence. Is that a no? He takes another 5 steps forward.

"What about this?" He shouts. When he didn't hear anything, Jungkook turns around. This is ridicu -

He noticed her vanilla scent first before finding her standing right behind him. Lisa is smiling sheepishly, staring up at him behind those pretty lashes of hers.

"That's cute. But I still prefer you beside me...or better yet," He pulls her in his arms. "On top of me," He can't help his cheeky smile as she giggled down shyly.