a/n: did i just reuse a taylor swift lyric for this chapter's title? yes, i did. stan a queen<333

anyways, i've been really busy this week, which is why I didn't get to upload this chap two days ago, but i've finally had time to rest, so here it is. it's not rlly edited, so it's a bit choppy and rough, but i just wanted to get it out and actually follow my schedule:) nonetheless, i hope yall enjoy!

Once upon a time, Jungkook was Yerim's icon.

The entire industry's icon, if she was being honest.

A titan in the architecture world, Jungkook secured buildings after buildings, each with their unique and personal designs, a task that many architects struggled with but he accomplished with ease and perfection. Sure, his parents helped him, but anybody with two working eyes could see that he also worked super hard. He had a sly mouth when it came to negotiating, and when it came to making sure that his design got the best contract, he could weed out lies and loopholes from miles away.

Besides his talent, though, he also had a social conscience. In all his interviews, he constantly emphasized the benefits of designing buildings for the environment, the homeless population, and lower-income families who didn't have the resources to flee during a disaster. Every architect also had a personal style to their design, and Jungkook stepped outside the box by combining the lightness of Baroque style and grandness of Art Deco style. By a young age of twenty-two, he was on the way to becoming one of the best architects of this generation.

While Jungkook was building his empire, Yerim was seeking to start her empire. Fresh out of graduate school with a degree in architecture, she dreamed to be as great as Jungkook, to have a few buildings under her name decorating the skyline, to maybe even meet him one day. With that determination, she worked. Days turned into weeks turned into months. Sometimes, she would go days without seeing the sunlight, cooped up in her apartment and surviving off of fried rice.

Although Yerim rarely had the time to hang with friends, her hard work paid off. Before long, she had companies begging her to design their new headquarters, offices, or more, instead of the other way around. One of her designs even went on to become part of New York City's breathtaking skyline, accomplishments that she held very close to her heart. Eventually, she was accepted into Jeon's Skyline.

It wasn't enough, though. She wanted to climb the ranks, go higher and higher. And, falling deeper and deeper into the hole, she secluded herself from the outside world, drowning herself in her work and ambitions.

Then, on a sunny Monday morning, while Yerim was eating a blueberry muffin and checking her email, a new message dinged and showed up in her inbox. When she saw the subject and the user, she shrieked, scaring the employees working around her. Jeon Jungkook, the god of architecture himself, had asked her to meet with him, vaguely saying that he was willing to collaborate with her if she bought a portfolio that he liked.

Oh, how excited and naive Yerim was!

But at that moment, all her dreams had come true. The walk to his office was a magical experience, a stroll through a forest filled with dancing fairies and laughing goblins. Looking back, she should've seen and heard the warnings his closet employees had given to her, but she had been wearing rose-tinted glasses. She couldn't pay attention to anybody except for the portfolio in her briefcase and the email in her inbox. One more hour until the collaboration that she had dreamt about since she was a baby in her mother's womb became reality. She had worked hard, and came a long way from her immature teenage days, so she was confident in her abilities.

That was, until Jungkook did one thorough read of her portfolio, shook his head, and said, completely shattering her heart to pieces, "This is the worst design I've ever seen."

Oh, how excited, hopeful Yerim was reduced to a puddle of confusion and self-doubt!

Especially when Jungkook spent the next ten minutes pointing out every single error, every single line that could've been drawn differently, every single angle that could've been reduced or expanded. He even went as far as berating the shape of her foundation, the one thing that, in his words, "could make or break the building".

In other words, it was harsh, ten minutes of him dishing out criticisms with no remorse, as if Yerim was a nervous newbie in the industry. He was basically telling her that nobody would buy her crappy design.

She couldn't remember exactly how he gave back her portfolio. Knowing him, he probably tossed it onto the ground, just so she could shamefully scramble around and pick up the scattered paper. Whatever it was, she wasn't fully registering his words, until the door to his office clicked close, and she was left standing humiliated.

"You get used to it," Jimin, another prolific architect working under Jungkook, offered when she numbly walked out of the department and clicked on the elevator button to take her back to her floor, offering her a sympathetic pat. He probably saw the tear stains that had formed on the walk out of the hallway where Jungkook's office sat at the end.

From that day onwards, Yerim hated Jeon Jungkook with every single fiber of her body, even more when she got moved to work directly under him. Hated that he rejected so many designs despite imposing strict deadlines, destroyed the dreams of so many hopeful architects, and selfishly gave out criticisms that helped no one. She couldn't even count how many times an employee would have another horror story about him, maybe hundreds, maybe thousands. Only the rare .001% of the population got his compliment.

He was talented, but he was also a monster. 

So, if a few years ago, someone told Yerim that Jungkook would kiss her, she probably would've fainted. After all, he was not only known for his talent in the industry, but also for his charisma. And Yerim, who had a massive crush on him, couldn't help but notice how his body hugged his suit, how his jawline could cut through glass, and how his hand engulfed every item he held.

That was before he turned out to be an asshole, though. She felt robbed, defiled, especially since the last time she kissed someone, it was about two years ago.

Which was why Yerim was standing in front of Jungkook's desk at this exact moment, a hand on her hip and a glare aimed directly at his head. The least he could do was provide an explanation for his actions yesterday. Maybe also approve her designs without acting like a grump.

"We have our meeting soon," he said, leaning back into his office chair and crossing his arms.

God, if Yerim didn't hate him as much as she did, she would've been fangirling over the way his arms bulged in his dress shirt.

"How much longer?"

He glanced at the bottom of his computer. "In fifteen minutes."

"Perfect." Yerim stalked to his desk and slammed a palm against the wooden surface. "Explain what happened yesterday."

Jungkook only stared at her palm, not at all providing an explanation.

Even though she hated him, after years of working with and for him, she was reluctant to admit that she knew him pretty well. Knew what triggered him and what set him off into one of those criticisms-and-harsh-words mood. Before coming here, she knew he wouldn't easily give an explanation, so she had prepared a counterargument.

"I'll file a Title IX case for sexual assault."

That got his attention.

She smirked. Bingo.

"You wouldn't."

One of her eyebrows flew up. He sounded so confident for someone who had forced a kiss on her. "Actually, I would."

"No, you wouldn't."

Yerim opened her iPad, pulling up the website that was already sitting in her Safari. She shoved the screen towards Jungkook's face. "Look. All filled in and everything. Now, all I need to do is sign it and click the submit button."

Jungkook's eyes rapidly darted across the screen before he sighed. It was a very heavy sigh, indicating that he knew he was screwed. Yerim smiled. Oh, she got him so good.

"I'll tell you, but delete that page first."

Yerim tsked, shaking her head and locking her iPad, bringing the device back underneath her armpit. "That's not how negotiating works. You give me a plausible explanation first, and then I'll delete this."

He sighed again. Loudly and heavily. He even brought a hand to the bridge of his nose, squeezing and rubbing. She almost laughed at this whole spectacle because the monster was capable of emotions more than judgment and disgust.

"When Marie and I were five, my parents arranged our marriage because they were worried about the company's future." He paused. "The company wasn't big, yet, at that time."

Wow.

That was not what Yerim was expecting. For some reason, in her eyes, Jungkook was just a demon, so she had no idea that he had a life outside of this.

"However, now that our company has grown big enough to sustain itself, I figured that we wouldn't need the marriage anymore. Unfortunately, my parents didn't agree with my sentiments. Marie, on the other hand, just blindly follows whatever her parents say."

"And you needed to kiss me because..."

He sighed again. "I've been thinking about ways to fully break this marriage arrangement, and you were conveniently there when Marie showed up."

Yerim frowned. She wasn't in love with him, didn't want his attention, but to tell a girl that she was used for her body and for another external motive, it was a pretty big ouch. Even bigger considering that Yeri had worshiped this man for almost half of her existence in this world.

"Why don't you just marry her?"

Jungkook looked at Yerim with the most absurd expression on his face. "Because I don't like her."

Yeirm immediately laughed, then scoffed, then laughed again. She flung a finger at where his heart was located, or where it was supposed to be located. "You don't have a heart anyways, so why does it matter?"

He frowned. "I don't know what that means, but I'm either putting everything into my marriage or not leaving. With Marie, although she's a great person, I don't think I'm ever going to be fully in."

Oh my god.

The sun must've risen in the west and set in the east.

Jungkook was acting so... human. First with the pajamas, then with the kiss, and now with the way he was talking about his feelings.

Yerim must have been dreaming or hallucinating. She pinched herself to make sure, but when she felt pain and realized she was still in the same situation, her jaw dropped.

She debated on whether he was lying or not, but then remembered the panic in his eyes when he had pleaded with her. He was talented in designing, not acting, so there was no way he could've been faking that.

Jungkook saw her reaction and sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I was going to wait until tonight to explain, but you dragged this out of me right before our meeting."

Meeting?

Who the hell cared about that meeting right now?

Yerim felt like she had just found out he was her father. It was that shocking.

Jungkook spent a few minutes gathering his materials, before stepping out from behind his desk to brush past Yerim and reach his office doors. When he noticed that she was still frozen in place, he narrowed his eyes. "Remember when you were late to the last meeting? I had to save you by practically begging our contractors to stay a bit longer. Are you going to let that happen again, or are you going to be more responsible?"

And there he was again. The evil, arrogant, selfish, inconsiderate, rude asshole who unfortunately was her boss.

She silently scolded herself for losing focus before striding to where Jungkook was standing, chin lifted high up in the air and shoulders straight as a ruler.

"Let's go."

...

"When I kissed you, I didn't think of the consequences."

Consequences, her ass. Yerim was too busy trying to figure out how she ended up sitting in front of Jungkook at a sushi restaurant, plates of rolls and raw fish between them. It was like they were old friends catching up, best friends unwinding after a stressful day, not enemies ready to rip each other's head out every time they discussed their designs.

After their joint meeting, Yerim and Jungkook had parted ways without another word. The conversation before the meeting was the most they had ever talked about their personal lifes, or even talked in general, and she was still reeling over that fact.

Thankfully, she had been busy the rest of the day, so she didn't have time to think about it. Until she checked her phone at the end of the day and noticed, nestled in between other notifications, Jungkook's six word text: meet me at Junai's after work.

"Marie is the daughter of an interior design CEO and she's close to my family, so..."

Fidgeting in her seat, Yerim looked around, noticing that everyone here was in pairs. Shit, what if they thought she and Jungkook were dating? Logically, she doubted that they cared, but just the thought made her want to vomit. She couldn't be seen frolicking with the enemy. What would her coworkers back at the company say if they knew? That she had betrayed them at the first sight of-

"Are you even listening?"

Her eyes shot to the man sitting in front of her, to the chopsticks that were hovering above the plates of sushi, as if he was in the middle of picking up a new one when he noticed that she wasn't paying attention. His perfect eyebrows were furrowed, and he was sucking on one side of his cheek.

"Yeah, of course," she lied, shoving a huge piece of sushi into her mouth.

He tilted his head. "No, you weren't."

"Yes, I was," she shot back, but her voice was muffled, so it sounded more like mhmmhm.

"Then, repeat back to me what I just said."

Shit. Instead of answering, Yerim stuffed another piece of sushi into her mouth, not even bothering to dip it in the wasabi soy sauce.

Jungkook shook his head. "You've done this before, too, when we look over design options. You never listen to me. If you did, you probably would be better than me by now."

At that, Yerim almost wrapped her hands around his neck. She desperately wanted to choke him purple, but she couldn't do that in a sushi restaurant and traumatize the poor owner. Instead, she spent the next few minutes chewing in silence and trying to rein in her anger.

Finally, she snapped, "What did you say?"

"I was saying that Marie is the daughter of an interior design CEO and she's close to her family, so she probably already told her mom."

"So?"

"My mom and her mom are best friends, so my mom would definitely know by now." He glanced down at his trouser pockets, where she assumed was where he kept his wallet and phone. "I'm actually surprised she hasn't called me already."

Yerim wasn't understanding him. "What does that have to do with me?"

"It means that my parents think we're dating, which if you think about it, is the perfect opportunity for me."

"To do what?"

"To end this arranged marriage."

Ah, the puzzle pieces snapped into place.

She coughed, almost choking on pieces of rice.

"What?" Yerim pounded her chest. "You want me to continue being your girlfriend? I would rather die!"

Jungkook scowled, genuinely scowled, the same expression he wore when he disapproved of someone's design and then proceeded to tear apart every detail. "That's dramatic."

"I'm being serious," she glared at him. "Why should I keep on being your fake girlfriend? Why don't you find someone else? I'm sure it wouldn't be hard."

"Because I want you." His answer was so automatic that both her eyebrows flew so high, she was sure they weren't getting any oxygen at the height they were resting at. He must've realized that his words came out wrong because he clarified, shaking his head, "You were conveniently there, so I made a rash decision."

Yerim scoffed. "Please, give me a break. Besides, why should I even help you in the first place? You have never helped me."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

Oh, dear lord, it's me again, begging for some patience, some mercy. I can't smack him in the face. I can't bash his skull in, yet. I have to wait until I've accomplished what I wanted in life before subjecting myself to jail time. So, please-

"Yerim?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and blurted out the first thing in her mind. "Stop calling me by my first name."

His frown deepened. "Why?"

"Because it's weird. You always call me 'Miss Kim', so I think you should stick to that."

Now he looked a bit confused, but he shrugged and continued. "If you really want a fair bargain, I'll give you one. I can help you with the portfolio that you showed me years ago."

Yerim froze, even her blood stopped flowing. There were actually two reasons why her first impression with Jungkook had left such a lasting impact on her, why she pulled all-nighters and skipped out on things that she liked in order to get better in her field. Working with Jungkook was one. The other was something she kept closer to her heart. It was a dream that, if fulfilled, would pay tribute to her mother who had given everything so she could succeed.

When Jungkook had attacked her designs without a second thought, she had been utterly defeated. Even though she felt weak and pathetic admitting that one person's opinion had affected her that much, when the person you inspired to be and looked forward to meeting and talking to thought your work was worthless, then you would be discouraged, too.

That night, when she went back home, she had stored the portfolio in the back of her closet and never looked at it again. Before she knew it, nine years had passed, and so focused on other projects, she was ashamed to say that she had forgotten about it.

Jungkook leaned back into his seat. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen it in a while. Have you been working on it?"

God, he was so good at pushing her lines.

"Fuck you," Yerim gritted out.

His eyes widened.

"Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you," she muttered.

After the fifteenth "fuck you", he narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand why I'm getting this hate, and I also don't appreciate it."

"Fuck you," she snapped one last time before grabbing her cup of water and splashing the content all over his white dress-shirt. It was a scene straight out of a soap opera, but it was either this or murder.

"What the hell!" He shot up, mouth flattening into a thin line. "Yerim, what the fuck are you-"

"You are the most infuriating, annoying, arrogant jerk ever."

That shut him right up. His mouth, which was previously irritated, was now a bit open, forming a small oval shape. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. His hands also twitched by his side.

Yerim swallowed thickly. She would not cry, not right now, not when she had already shed useless tears on him. "You're also the most inconsiderate person I have ever met."

There. She finally dished it out, letting everything that had been bottling up in her pour out.

Without another word, Yerim grabbed her purse and sprinted out.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was how to not get the girl.