"Nia it's 7:30 now, you're gonna be late!" Nia's mother called from down stairs.

The girl grunted before putting down her phone and getting up from her bed.

"I'm awake." She yelled back as she got out of her room, heading to the bathroom.

After quickly washing her face and brushing her teeth, Nia put on her school uniform and went downstairs.

"Mhmm, smells good down here." The girl smiled and peeked up from her phone, looking for the source of the delicious scent that had reached her nose.

"I took a day off, so I made American pancakes for breakfast. Mostly for your dad, but there's a few freshly made left for you." She smiled, the sides of her mouth reaching high and her voice sweet. She was in an unusual good mood.

"Not kimchi pancakes?" Nia questioned, trying to hide the hint of disappointment in her voice. To that, her mother gently shook her head, granted her yet another smile and a sweet "Not today."

"What's up with your voice? Did dad propose again?" The girl questioned, for a moment forgetting about the delicious smell of pancakes on the kitchen counter.

"You forgot your parents wedding day?" Nia's mother pointed the palette knife at her threateningly.

Well the guess wasn't far off the mark

"Oh that, of course not... are you planning to take dad to America?" The girl joked.

Mr Kim's, Nia's father, family moved to Chicago when he was a kid and he's basically more American than Korean, considering he doesn't act at all like an ordinary Korean husband or father.  Although when he was in his twenties, he decided to study abroad in South Korea,  both to spend more time with his cousins, with whom he was very close, and to visit his homeland. During his time in Korea, he met Nia's mother, and he enjoyed reminding his daughter that by the second he saw her mother, he knew he wanted to stay. Not long after he moved to Busan with the girl's mother, creating their own family.

Nia always gagged when she was told the story, but secretly the girl loved it and wished that something as romantic as that would happen to her one day.

"Not exactly, but-"

"Wait, so you are gonna stay home all day? Like in the evening too?" Nia interrupted her mother, reminded that Jungkook invited himself over and that she would not want her parents to know that she liked a boy. She wasn't sure whether they were gonna accept it or not. Her father was pretty chill about stuff like that, as said he grew up in America where he dated loads of girls, which made him less strict about his daughter's dating life.

But her mother was another case. The girl did not know how her mother would react. Either she'd be too excited, thinking her daughter was gonna be married soon... or she would not like the idea of her daughter liking someone at this age.

The only boy Nia ever invited over was Hoseok, whom she had known almost since she was born. Both her father and mother expected that the two of them would get together one day, especially her mother.

"Let me finish Nia, I'm home all day because I plan to pick your father up from work a little early and then we're going to get massages, then we'll meet up with his friends and mine and shoot porcelain and play laser tag, and lastly I'll take him to an American restaurant. You know how much he misses the-"

"Food in America." They both said in unison, "I know." Nia chuckled.

"Will you be staying at a hotel?" The girl asked curiously, sitting on one of the bar stools.

"No, we'll be home tonight, we're not rich." She simply answered.

"Oh, okay... When?"

"Probably around 10 pm, why? Planning on throwing a party, cause that's a no-go." She turned around, facing Nia.

"I'm not... just asking." The girl replied.

"Fine, now eat your pancakes and go before you'll be late!" Mrs Kim put up her strict face which made Nia laugh a little before quickly devouring two pancakes topped with syrup. Although the girl preferred kimchi pancakes,  these were also quite tasty.

"Thanks for the breakfast mom, I'll see you bye!" The girl said and went out the door.

Glancing at her wristwatch she sped up her pace, realizing someone was most likely waiting for her.

"Well well well, I was about to think you were gonna ditch me again." Hoseok spoke with raised eyebrows and crossed arms as Nia arrived at the corner of the convenient store out of breath.

"Shut up, it's my parents wedding day." The girl spoke through pauses in breathing

"That's your excuse?"

"Okay, I'm sorry." She rolled her eyes.

The two high school students usually walked the last ten minutes to school together in the morning. They met at a corner, which they both had to pass to get to school.

"Normally, I would be mad you ditched me the other day but... it's hard to be mad at you when your entire face is red and puffy." Hoseok said and pulling the girl close as they started walking.

Nia huffed, but rested her head on his shoulder and took the opportunity to rest her heavy head.

"I'd still like to know why though? It's not like you to stand me up like that." He spoke.

The girl lifted her head, but his arms stayed around her shoulders keeping her close. Nia felt her heart beat a little faster when she was reminded of Jungkook's hand in hers the other day.

"I just..."

Even though Hoseok was one of her best friends, the girl rarely spoke about her crushes with him. Rarely as in never. She remembered  once liking Hoseok as a kid and that they had even kissed once when they were eight years old, not even knowing what it was.

"You just...?"

"I don't know, something came up, I'm sorry." The girl rushed the words, hoping her best friend would let  the topic slide.

"Something came up? Why are you smiling like that?" The annoying boy next to her questioned with a mocking tone.

"Stop prying!" Nia chuckled nervously and shrugged out of Hoseok's embrace.

"It's like you enjoy annoying me." Hoseok said, hating when his best friend kept something from him. He gently poked the girl's sides, making her jump from the tickling sensation.

"Stop it, you know I hate that!" She exclaimed, both of them fully aware that she was a very ticklish person.

"You did it on purpose didn't you?" He said and poked her sides again multiple times.

"Hoseok!" The girl warned and leaped a bit ahead of him.

When she looked back and saw he was setting off in a sprint, she started running too.

"You brat!" He yelled and ran after the secretive, "You idiot!" Se yelled back.

They both ran until they reached the school, Hoseok losing sight of his best friend in the busy school hallway.

The girl looked behind her, panting and with a victorious smile on her face.

"Darn it, watch where you're going!" Someone spoke as the girl bumped into them.

"Sorry." She said and walked quickly past, arriving safely at her locker.

Her phone buzzed, indicating a notification. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and checked the notification.

Hoseok: I got a cramp, you were lucky you got away

Me: Bummed that a girl ran from you?

Him and his excuses.

The girl put away her phone with a grin on her face as she headed to class.

Sore loser.

"What do I do? What do I say? How do I act???" The questions rushed out of the girl's mouth, overwhelming Haejin on the other side of the phone. The girl was slowly starting to panic about the thought of Jungkook and her being alone together.

Nia had been ready for an hour by now, way ahead of time and now the wait was passing so painfully slowly.

"Why are you acting like this, weren't you on a date last weekend, and didn't you tell me he held your hand on your way home from school?" Haejin spoke.

"He did... but I'm still nervous... mildly speaking, I'm shitting my pants!" She got up from her bed, pacing around her room.

"Relax Nia, I can hear your pacing through the phone. Besides, it's not like it's the exam walking through your door."

Nia sensed the eye roll by the tone in Haejin's voice.

"Incorrect, what if I say something wrong?? I might fail the second date exam!"

"Nia breathe for fucks sake, it's a boy."

"Yeah, but a funny, sweet, kind, handsome-"

"Shit, I've lost you."

"He's just so ugh." Nia sighed, letting her body fall onto her bed again.

"Ugh?"

"Ugh in a good way... you know in the 'fuck I want this guy' way..."

"More like in the 'I want this guy to fuck me way'"

"Haejin!" Nia warned and sat up again, not able to sit still due to the  swarm of butterflies in her stomach..

"I know that I'm right. Anyway when is he coming."

"I don't know, anytime by now I guess. I said 7 pm..."

"It's 7:08, that's a red flag." Haejin quickly pointed out.

"Chill, it's fucking eight minutes-"

As if summoned, the door bell rung and Nia went mute for a few seconds.

"Oh shit, I gotta go, wish me luck." She whispered.

"You've got this!" Haejin spoke just before Nia hung up and ran down stairs.

10 minutes earlier

Jungkook got out of his car parked just down the street and walked past the houses, searching for the address Nia had told him. As the young boy saw the right number on the mailbox, his heart leaped. He quickly shook his head and body, jumping and shaking his nerves off before walking to the front door.

Just before Jungkook rung the bell, he heard a squeal coming from up...

From up?

The curious boy took a few steps back and noticed an open window on the first floor.

"Incorrect, what if I say something wrong?? I might fail the second date exam!" Nia's voice sounded from the window. She sounded frustrated to Jungkook.

Whatever this was, it sounded interesting...

"Yeah, but a funny, sweet, kind, handsome-"

Is she talking about him?

Jungkook's lips curved into a smile, hearing the soft tone in Nia's voice as she spoke.

A short silence occurred, Jungkook impatiently waiting, before she again spoke, "I am... he's just ugh."

"I'm ugh?" The boy whispered to himself, perking his inquisitive ears unintentionally and ignorant of the fact that he was invading her privacy and a conversation about himself.

"Ugh in a ..." Her voice lowered a bit, making some of the words inaudible to the boy, "fuck I want this guy way..."

A smirk reached Jungkook's lips, standing below the window with his heart beating like crazy.

"Haejin!" The girl's voice suddenly rose in such a harsh tone that Jungkook got slightly startled.

"I don't know, anytime by now I guess. I said 7 pm..."

Jungkook pulled out his phone and checked the time. Noticing he was late and that he had basically been spying on her, he cursed under his breath. He then approached the door again and this time rung the bell, noticing her inaudible voice from upstairs speaking faster.

Not long after she opened the door.

"Hi." She greeted shyly and moved away, letting Jungkook in.

"Hi." The boy greeted with a smile and went inside.

It was cute, he thought. She was cute. The way he could sense her nervousness in her flushed cheeks and the way she fiddled with her necklace as she stood there looking amazing.

"So I was thinking we could order Chinese and watch a movie maybe, but if you don't want to do that I also-"

"Chinese and a movie sounds perfect." Jungkook said, stopping her from rambling on, reckoning that it was one of her nervous habits. Maybe one he would grow to know and perhaps find annoying as they spend more time together. The thought made him smile.

In a weird way, the fact that Nia was just as nervous as him, made Jungkook less nervous and more confident, realizing she might actually like him and that Taehyung maybe was right.

But it was hard to accept it, cause did he even want her to like him? He certainly did not want a relationship.

On the other hand.. if it was really true that he didn't want a relationship, why was he standing in her house? Why did he come?

"Great, I'll order right away." The girl smiled and leaped to the kitchen.

Was it really only because of his needs and hormones? Or was it because of how adorable she could be, like she was at this very moment?

About 20 minutes later and a long discussion about how Jungkook did not want to watch the Titanic, the food arrived.

Of course it ended up with the movie pick being Titanic... Jungkook didn't stand a chance, nor did he have enough will to say no to the sulking girl. He found she could be very stubborn.

Jungkook enjoyed the food much, both of them sitting on the floor leaning against the couch with the food on the couch table in front of them.

The boy had imagined that watching a romantic movie and sitting on the floor with at least three feet between them would be awkward, but it felt natural and comfortable.

The only thing he would have wanted to change was the distance between them. He wanted to pull her in, have her leaning against his chest and feeling her warmth.

The food was gone and while Nia was full, Jungkook could've sworn he could've ate another round. He chose not to complain about the small portion. Instead, he decided to move a bit closer to the younger girl, watching her tense as she noticed, but quickly adjusting to the warmth of their bodies mending with each other.

For a while they sat like that, with one inch between them. Jungkook wanted to get rid of that last inch, but he was scared.

He was still scared of falling and getting hurt. He was scared that the girl would move when he held her, but even more scared that she would let him and he would lose himself in her aura.

Jungkook's eyes widened and body tensed when the TV screen showed a hand being placed on the fogged window of a horse carriage. The teenage boy tried persistently to keep the smirk off his face, his mind going wild. Watching a sex scene with the girl you've imagined it with next to you... is dangerous.

Oh, how he would love that being them, so he could move on quickly, the boy thought and turned his head to Nia, but when he saw the girl's head was hanging low and eyes were closed, he softened and the thoughts were shoved away immediately.

Her chest was rising and falling slowly with deep breaths, probably because of the restricted breathing, as her throat was closed by her bent head.

Jungkook took a deep breath himself, squinting his eyes before putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling the tired girl into him. The girl's head landed on his shoulder, but fell a bit forward and her head lifted.

She opened her eyes slightly, looking up at Jungkook who was holding his breath, afraid that this was the moment he would be rejected. She looked at him with captivating brown eyes that, to Jungkook, seemed like they sparkled, even though all lights in the living room were off.

Shit, fuck, no, don't fall.

The girl bit her lip, hiding her smile before looking away and to Jungkook's relief letting her head rest back onto his shoulder.

But was it really relieving? Or was it more of a nervous sigh leaving Jungkook's lips?

She didn't reject him, that's good right?

But having her head resting on his shoulder, her body leaning against his and her proximity so close was like rocks against the wall he had put up.

It will always only leave to one thing.

But it was so hard for him to resist her. To resist her smile that could brighten the darkest day, to resist her beauty that was transferred onto her canvas and vice versa, to resist her charm that could melt the coldest heart and to resist her sarcasm that turned him on like a horny teenage boy was near the impossible.

God how he wanted to kiss her right now.

Jungkook shook his head, getting his thoughts out of his head before pulling her tighter to him and enjoying the moment.

He knew he was falling and he knew there was nothing to do about it.

au.n.
Remember to vote if you enjoyed this chapter :)
(not) Fun fact of the chapter: my computer is burning after editing this💀