They say it's dangerous to play with fire,

and they are correct.

But doesn't playing with fire have a strange attraction to it?

 The more they warn us against it,

the more we crave it.

-Milli, 'Playing with fire'

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Noelle was sure that what she and her two friends were about to do was a really bad idea.

So, she voiced that thought aloud, for the umpteenth time that evening,

"Guys, I still think this is a bad idea. What if–"

This statement of hers earned her an eye roll from the said boy standing next to her as he cut her off mid sentence. 

Jimin must've learnt a thing or two from a certain boy in their class who had the same habit of doing so. 

The moment the errant thought popped up in Noelle's head, she shook it off. She had been trying, unsuccessfully but trying all the same; to not even spare one second of thought on the boy whose name she refused to utter even in her mind, especially after their last conversation.

More like confrontation.

Anyways, she tried to focus on the present because she had to deal with enough in the present as it is.

It was no use to remember a sour two-week old memory, one she wished to erase forever from her noncompliant mind which refused to listen to her demands; finding excuses to somehow spring him up again.

"Stop being such a scaredy cat Ells." Jimin clicked her tongue at her, "Where is the goody-two-shoes Lee Noelle I know and love huh?"

"My point exactly!" Noelle didn't hide the exasperation in her voice, "Going to a club while being underage isn't exactly goody-two-shoes behaviour, don't you see?"

"But busting me brother is!" Jimin insisted, making the duo next to him, i.e. Noelle and Taehyung sigh out loud as he continued his rant, 

"My dear Jae hyung who is the apple of my parents' eyes, the very older brother they brag so much about and ask me to copy, he is in there clubbing while he should be in his study dorm like any other civil service exam aspirant! He is blowing up my parents money and fooling them, so shouldn't they at least know?

Jimin scoffed as he said, "And they won't believe it if I just tell them because in their eyes, he is the perfect son. Naturally, I should bust my hyung while he is in there and provide my parents with proof."

He shook his phone in front of Noelle's face and pointed at the club entrance in front of us. 

"All that is fine, but Jimin, why do we have to get dragged into the Park brothers' quarrel?"

 Jimin being jealous of his older brother and trying to snitch about his misdeeds to his parents like a preschooler was nothing new to his friends. They had grown up together and were by now used to his antics.

 Thus, Noelle couldn't believe it that she and Taehyung had been roped in by the sly-tongued guy named Jimin for this.

"Because it's a Saturday and you two nerds have nothing better to do now that the midterms are over and done with? Because today is the one day when our parents wouldn't mind us skipping tuitions because they are hammered, their reunion party in full swing?"

 Jimin shrugged, trying to act innocent and cute but she didn't buy it one bit.

"Precisely. Midterms are done, not the whole senior year. And need I remind you about the college entrance tests?" Noelle arched a patronising eyebrow at Jimin who rolled his eyes yet again.

After all, Park Jimin was nothing if not overly-dramatic.

"The dreaded CSATs? Oh, I am aware dear Elle, very much so. So much that my parents remind me everyday that I need to score good and make them proud like Jae-hyuk."

 Jimin tried to imitate his mom when he said his brother's name, making Taehyung try to muffle his chuckle by a cough. Noelle turned to him and said, 

"Tae, you are reasonable. Please tell Jimin that his so called plan to bust his brother is terribly flawed."

Taehyung shrugged a defeated shrug as he said, "You know nothing can stop him once he gets into this mode." It made Noelle mutter an angry 'hmph', feeling totally betrayed by the one person she knew can drill some sense and reason into the erratic Park Jimin.

"But Jimin, Elle is right. We can't just barge into the club. We are underage and it's a fact. You can just call your brother outside and confront him or whatever and get this done with." 

"Ah yes finally, the voice of reason! Thank you Tae." Noelle grinned with relief.

"Oh no no no, absolutely not!" Jimin shook his head, "That brat who I sadly call my hyung will know the whole sting operation then. You guys are sure stupid for first rankers of Seobeom High."

"Sting operation? What are we, anchors of KBS? The police?" Noelle couldn't help but sneer.

"Apparently." Taehyung chimed in with a dry chuckle.

 "Fine!" Jimin sighed, a defeated look washing over his face as he said, "So you guys don't want to help your friend? One who has been through thick and thin with you, one who has always had your back? Fine then!" He threw up his hands in the air dramatically, his lower lip jutting out in a sullen pout.

"Always had our backs? What nonsense! You are someone who loves to snitch the first chance he gets." Noelle muttered under her breath, too low for him or Taehyung to hear.

"Fine then if that is what you want but..." He trailed off, looking pointedly at Taehyung and Noelle, a familiar gleam in his eyes which she recognized all-too well,

"But then I will have no choice but to tell your mom that you once arrived to school late, Lee Noelle." Jimin narrowed his eyes at her and Noelle groaned loudly at that, wondering for how long was he going to keep bringing that up and blackmailing her with it.

Knowing Park Jimin like she did, she was sure he was never going to let her live that down.

Noelle knew that her mom wouldn't really scold her much if she told her mother that she had managed to dodge getting demerits for it but still, you never know.

 If Jimin told Lawyer Seo about it when her mom was in a bad mood, and Noelle was sure that that was exactly what that conniving brat was going to do; she was going to get scolded for sure.

"Really? You, the Lee Noelle was tardy? When was this?" Taehyung's eyes were wide as he asked his friends, probably wondering why he was the one left out of the loop.

"It was the same day that irritating guy, Jungk–" Jimin began but Noelle quickly cut him off. 

She didn't want to think of him, for god's sake! 

Yet everyone and everything was hell bent on making her do just that, even her traitorous mind and heart.

"How long are you going to keep blackmailing me for Jimin?" She complained with a loud groan. 

"Last time I swear. Do me this favor today and this is the last time I'll mention it." He insisted, making her sigh out loud, but it was a sigh of defeat and compliance for Noelle knew that no matter how much of a backstabber her friend was, he was a man of his word.

"And TaeTae," Jimin turned to Taehyung now that he had been successful in convincing Noelle, "I will tell her that you li–"

For the first time, Noelle saw Taehyung's eyes panicky as he clamped a hand over Jimin's mouth to muffle out his words and grin at him awkwardly, his voice an octave or so higher than usual as he interrupted the boy,

"Okay, okay, I am in too!"

"Just what does Jimin have over you Tae?" Noelle whispered the words to Taehyung but Jimin overheard her and simply smirked smugly,

"You don't need to know Ells. Well, you'll get to know later so all in good time my friend." He winked at a befuddled Noelle, who simply shrugged and brushed the curiosity away.

"Okay then, let's go!" Jimin beamed and started to walk ahead but Noelle tugged his eager self back by the arm,

"Jimin, don't you think we need to have a plan as to how we will sneak in? How will we get past that big bouncer?"

"Don't worry Ells. " Jimin flashed her a wicked grin, "Just follow my lead, will you?"

A few minutes later Noelle knew that 'following his lead' meant Jimin charming his way in. The confident boy wasn't even stopped by the bouncer for an ID, he just waltzed right in as if he owned the place. 

Then again, the bouncer didn't stop them because Taehyung had the presence of mind to slip in a few wons into the bouncer's beefy hand but Noelle and Taehyung let naive Jimin believe that it was all because of his acting skills, silently snickering behind his back as the stepped in inside the club.

It was obviously Noelle's first time in a place like that and the immediate thought which popped up in her mind as soon as she stepped in was that it was quite loud. EDM beats reverberated through the violet colored walls (at least that's the color they looked but just after a second it changed to an electric blue and then an emerald haze then violet again.)

The dance floor was smack dab in the middle of it all, lights pulsating as the huge speakers boomed with upbeat dance music, sweat-clad horde of bodies moving along with the beats. 

Even though she stood away from the dance floor, Noelle's claustrophobia kicked in from just watching.

To her right was the bar, metallic and lined with barstools and colorful drinks and people sipping them while chatting with the bartenders. The floor above had seats and couches lined up for groups of people partying, living out their youth.

Noelle felt out of place as she stood there in her denim skater skirt and tucked-in white strappy top over which her light blue denim jacket ensured that she didn't catch a cold for the girl was quite sensitive to cold autumn winds which blew through Seoul in the evening.

"Ah, Itaewon clubs sure don't disappoint." Jimin remarked and Noelle agreed. 

There was a reason South Korea's Itaewon Street was famous among tourists and it was the nightlife.

The clubs were a place where people could feel alive more than ever before as they danced the night away, a place where one could go and forget their daily lives for a brief moment, a place to let loose. 

"Focus on the task at hand Jimin. We'll split and search for Jae-hyuk hyung, okay?" Taehyung proposed, slightly wide eyes taking it all in, "The one who finds him, call the others and then we can get the hell out of here."

"Hey, if you guys find him before me, call me or text me as soon as possible! I want to be the one to bust him." Jimin chimed in, making the others roll their eyes. 

Park Jimin sure had a one-track mind.

"But will splitting up be a good option?" Noelle voiced her concerns, making Jimin cocked a taunting eyebrow at her,

"Are you scared Ells? We are almost legal adults. Still if you want..." He trailed off, making her sigh and throw up her hands in the air,

"No, let's just get this over and done with and then get the hell out of here, as Tae so eloquently said." She threw him a wry grin which he returned.

It was wordlessly decided that Jimin would go look for his brother on the dance floor, Taehyung would go to the bar and Noelle would go upstairs and near the sitting area. They all knew her fear of enclosed spaces and her hate for alcohol after all.

Her eyes searched for the familiar tall brunette that was Park Jae-hyuk. The older boy was three and a half years older than her.

She had always liked Jae-hyuk Oppa who had such a charming smile and a friendly attitude, no matter how much Jimin claimed that his brother wasn't how he appeared to be.

Noelle muttered curses under her breath as she looked at people all around her having the time of their lives while she had been dragged into this mess by Jimin when she could've been reading a novel back home on one of the rare days when her mom allowed her a brief break from studies.

"I hate stairs." she grumbled as she climbed the stairs to check the first floor. People here were hanging out in groups, drinking and chatting together and bobbing their heads to the music beats emanating from the floor below.

Many of them loitered around the railing overlooking the dance floor and she had to push through them as her eyes kept searching for Park Jae-hyuk.

"So much for trying to stay away from crowds." Noelle sighed.

Just as she accidentally bumped into a couple while on her quest to find Jae-hyuk, her eyes landed on a familiar figure while she slightly bowed her head and mumbled an apology.

She didn't find Jae-hyuk, but she sure knew the lean, ripped jeans clad boy standing with his arms resting on the railing, a green beer bottle in his hand as he sipped it diligently; his silver ear piercings dangling from his ears and reflecting the technicolor lights in the club. 

Noelle could recognize him anywhere, even if she didn't want to acknowledge the fact, acknowledge his presence on her mind and the effect he had on her. 

She blinked several times to confirm that he was indeed there and not conjured up by her irritating mind yet the sight in front of her eyes refused to vanish.

He was really there, and not a figment of her imagination.

Well, to be honest, her imagination could never really do the boy justice but it sure loved to try and Noelle couldn't decide whether she hated or loved the effort.

As if her feet had a mind of their own, and partly because her mind had decided to forgo all thought and reason but the fact that she had spotted Jeon Jungkook; they carried her towards him.

She didn't know what she would say to him, especially after their last conversation which hadn't gone that great and that was one way to sugarcoat the fact that their confrontation had left her a mess, had truly shaken her up.

 Noelle had somehow managed to focus on her midterms and push the whole thing to the back of her mind, in a dark corner where thoughts didn't lurk. 

Thus, now she didn't know what to say or do around him, so much so that it had prompted to avoid him at all costs while in school.

 However, who would've thought that they would run into each other in a nightclub in Itaewon, of all places?

Her steps faltered, doubt and second thoughts creeping in her mind. Maybe it was better to keep avoiding him after all, no matter how much she was burning with curiosity as to why he was there.

But, Noelle's luck was shitty as usual because the moment she decided to back away and focus on the task at hand, he somehow turned his head a little and his eyes met hers, as if sensing them on him.

Noelle wasn't sure but she thought his eyes widened when they fell on her, rapidly blinking just as she had when she first laid eyes on him, to confirm if she was real or not. 

He recovered quickly though, much quicker than her and schooled in his expression, his eyes still staying on her as he brought the bottle in his hands to his lips and sipped it.

His gaze somehow felt as if it was burning a hole in her. It made her heart thump at such a loud pace that she was half sure that people all around her would be able to hear it.

Jeon Jungkook's dark gaze was hooded yet magnetic and Noelle didn't realise it before her feet closed a few more steps between them.

They now stood around four feet apart, eyes still glued to each other like helpless moths getting drawn to a flame, or a bright tube light.

Jungkook broke the tension-filled silence between them first for a change,

"What are you doing here?"

 His warm honey-like voice always made Noelle slightly shiver, something unknown unfurl deep inside her. 

He had lost his initial thick Busan accent after just staying in Seoul for a couple of months and while this had astonished her a bit, she admitted it was a very commendable talent- Adaptability that is. 

Traces of that Busan accent did linger in his speech but it somehow made his voice all the more appealing to her.

  "What are you doing here?" Noelle threw back the question at him, eyes narrowing to break the spell between them.

He didn't answer, just kept staring at her unabashedly, drinking her in with his eyes from head to toe, making red tint Noelle's cheeks under his gaze.
His heated gaze, for the pupils in his eyes were dilated to the point that his eyes seemed onyx rather than brown.

The fact that he was drunk could be a plausible reason, and the evidence in his hand in the form of alcohol pointed to it too but some small part of her wanted to believe otherwise, wanted to think that him being buzzed wasn't the reason for his pupils dilating.

It was a very silly and dangerous thought and if Noelle had been in her right mind, which she was sure she wasn't the moment their gazes locked, she would've slapped some sense into herself. 

He was trouble, his every body cell screamed the fact but that didn't deter Noelle from being attracted to trouble. 

After all, we all need a little bit of trouble in our lives, do we not?

Suddenly, he grabbed her wrist, dragging her along with him, away to a secluded corner where they wouldn't be interrupted by anyone. Noelle did try to twist out of his grasp but it was tight and she soon realised she didn't want to.

"Really, what the fuck do you think you are doing here?" Jungkook demanded, leaning a little into her to whisper the words in her ear. His breath smelled like liquor but also had a unique minty flavor.

They were standing so close, her with her back against the club wall and him just in front of her, leaning in a little to be heard over the din. Only mere centimeters separated them and Noelle was painfully aware of the fact; her heart reminding her about it every damn second.

"None of your business. You are obviously here to drink yourself away to oblivion and get your stomach pumped at an ER by the end of tonight, but I can't say I expected anything else from you."

 Noelle knew her words were harsh, but then again, she couldn't control it when they rolled off her tongue. 

What could she do when her mind was clouded by their close proximity? 

The sparks in her eyes sure mirrored his and she was sure she had never seen prettier sparks in her entire life.

"You assume a lot of things you shouldn't. You don't even properly know me, yet you look down on me with those judgy eyes of yours."

His words weren't slurred like a drunk person, they were crystal clear. As if he heard her thoughts, he explained,

"This is my first drink and I only drank a little." 

"Oh."

"Yes, stop jumping to conclusions." If she didn't know better, she would say his lips had curled themselves upward in an almost grin, a slight dimple appearing at his cheek.

"You seem almost human tonight." She observed. He wasn't wearing all black like usual, he had a red jacket over a white shirt, hair slightly parted in the middle. She could see that while it was still long, he had surely trimmed it a little.

 Well, baby steps.

It piqued Noelle's curiosity, the reason why he decided to get a haircut. He had stubbornly refused to get one ever since he came to Seoul, but now he had.

"I was always one." He scoffed, yet that slight smile didn't disappear. 

"You got a haircut too." 

He didn't comment, simply ran a hand through his hair almost sheepishly. It was so endearing that Noelle couldn't help but grin.

She didn't expect this. It was a new side of Jeon Jungkook.

"Are you always like this when drunk?" She raised an eyebrow at him although she didn't mean it. 

"How many times should I tell you I am not drunk?" He sighed aloud, although the playful spark in his eyes proved that he was just playing along.

"Let me see..." Noelle chuckled, unable to hold it in.

"Does this answer your question?" He leaned in more suddenly, completely catching Noelle off guard and dissolving the light mood in an instant, making her eyes widen as wide as saucers.

They were almost inches apart now. 

"Do you still think I am not sober enough?"

"No." She uttered. 

After all, reason had been thrown out from every cell in her body by his fiery gaze. Maybe it was the atmosphere of the club that was making her mind cloud with an unknown yet warm haze, making it difficult to think of anything else rather than the boy in front of her.

Noelle's heart was thudding at such a fast rate that she was afraid that she would get a premature heart attack. Jungkook looked unfazed by their proximity except that his eyes betrayed him as they ventured to drown in her hazel orbs.

The sparks in their eyes threatened to ignite a fire Noelle didn't want to extinguish. She wished it would become an eternal flame even.

Playing with fire had a certain attraction to it.

"Do you think I will do this if I am drunk?" 

"I am not sure. You need a breath tester to determine if you are drunk or not." Noelle's voice was shaky. 

"You want a breath tester? Your wish is my command then."

Slowly, almost painfully so, he reduced the gap. Noelle's eyes got distracted by the mole under his lower lip just as he enveloped his warm lips with hers.

Her eyes didn't close at first, her lashes brushing his cheeks as he pressed his lips on hers. However, when they did flutter and close, his hands found her waist to close the practically nonexistent gap between them and he titled his head, deepening the kiss.

Noelle didn't know you could kiss like this.

Sure, she had seen movies and had had a kiss or two in her latter years at middle school (stupid truth dare games to be blamed, games which were mainly orchestrated by Jimin) so it wasn't her first but definitely the best.

No one had ever kissed her like he did. His lips were so soft and warm, and while the kiss wasn't gentle or innocent like a small peck on the lips in any way, her heart felt as if it was soaring when his tongue asked for permission to explore her mouth, which she granted.

She didn't know what to do with her hands initially, but a few long moments into the kiss and they naturally wove themselves around his neck, fisting the hair at his nape as she stood on her tiptoes despite wearing heeled boots.

His breath did have that sweet-yet-bitter tang of alcohol but Noelle found herself craving it, craving the taste of his lips on hers as she tugged his brown locks.

Kissing Jeon Jungkook was an euphoric feeling which couldn't be described in words, his lips an intoxicating drug and Noelle wasn't sure she wanted to come down from the high.

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A/N

Dear readers,

Okay, um...so this is the longest chapter I have ever written. Haha, took me two days to write this so that is why I couldn't update two days ago, but I did keep my promise. 

Anyways, your thoughts? Is Noelle x Jungkook's love story going too fast? Tell me, I'll put on the brakes briefly and not speed with the accelerator okay? xD

By the way, I really need to come up with a ship name for these two? A little help please? *inserts pouty Jungkook face* Comment those ideas!

(Also, sorry for any typos as I didn't have time to edit this long long chapter but I will do so in the morning.)

P.S.- Fake Love era Jeon Jungkook is just .....*swoons*

Love,

Milli