⊱Qui court deux lievres a la fois, n'en prend aucun⊰

Who runs after two hares at the same time, catches none

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Human senses had their perks.

The sweet relish of pure bliss that's ice cream melting on my tastebuds was the ultimate perk of all. The delicacy of chocolate, vanilla, fruit, and all things heavenly made me burst with ecstasy.

The more I ate ice cream, the less I bothered myself with my physique, but every ounce of the fat was worth it. As Gluttony always preached, if it's delicious, it's zero calories.

Unfortunately, my alone time of pampering myself with my favorite ice cream cake at my favorite ice cream shop got woefully interrupted by an unwanted guest who had no understanding of privacy.

Taking a deep breath and clenching my eyes shut, I slammed my tiny spoon on the table before even having the chance of scooping the cake with it. "What the heck, are you stalking me now?"

The green haired man before me snickered through his usual lazy yet vexing smirk. "I have way more interesting entertainments to occupy myself with, Miss Wrath."

"Whatever," I mumbled and grabbed my spoon before scooping a huge chunk off the dessert and shoving it into my mouth. The taste had me squealing in joy and wriggling in my seat.

"I thought you and lover boy were glued together 24/7."

Gosh darned-

"Ugh. That's impractical and impossible, now shoo," I grumbled, flicking my wrist at him to leave already. Couldn't a woman spend some quality time with her sweets on a Saturday morning without some green roach pestering her?

"Heard you have a date today," Envy chirped, laying his head on his arms crossed over the table, flashing a mischievous grin. I was sure they all had surveillance cameras following me around. Privacy who?

"None of your diddly darn business," I barked but it was obviously in vain.

Envy was relentless, the damned man. "Where's lover boy?"

It took all the fibers in my body to refrain from punching his chiseled face. It wasn't worth it anyways, he wasn't going to feel pain.

"Ugh, just go away please," I grumbled, disappointed at how the ice cream flavor was dulled in his presence.

"Come on."

Envy grabbed my arm, pulling me up with one tug, and in an instant, our surroundings shifted to a deserted street near a two story building.

"What the-" I was at a loss for words for a split second. "You did not just teleport us from a freaking ice cream shop that had dozens of living and breathing people!"

"I was aware of where we were," he simply stated, unbothered, and leaned down beside my ear to whisper, "My sentence about having way more interesting entertainments to occupy myself with?"

I crossed my arms and expected to see something inane behind the window of the building before us when he pointed at it.

"I was lying. This is more interesting."

My brows drew together. "What is?"

And that was when a familiar man came in view, making my breath hitch.

Springy, soft bangs tousled over his forehead, doe eyes smiled in crescent shapes, and pouty lips split into the most radiant grin. Just one look at his jovial expression, the sheer happiness he exuded when the children raced towards him to jump on his back and legs and immediately tackled him to the ground had me breaking into a small smile.

It was just too endearing.

"Did you know he teaches art as a volunteer at this orphanage during his free time?"

Jungkook ruffled one of the boys' hair with a hearty laugh as if it was a usual thing for him. His gaze was so soft as he watched the children showing him their paintings and clapped for them.

Unable to take my eyes off them, I slowly shook my head. "No... he never told me..."

"What? You expect him to be like, "Hey, girl, I'm so attractive, I volunteer at an orphanage, let's bang" or what?" Envy rumbled with deep laughter, and I just gave into my urges and slapped his back with all my might.

As expected, he wasn't affected, just continuing to laugh at me.

"Oh, shut up, you ugly seaweed," I grumbled, slapping his arm. "Go pester Kindness or something."

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"Eunsook!"

Yugyeom called for me, waving from the ice cream booth, as he stood in a long line with Jungkook and Bambam. Dressed in flannels and jeans, they all smiled when I jogged towards them.

Jungkook was still wearing the same outfit he wore to the orphanage this morning.

"Sorry for being late," I sheepishly said, batting my eyelashes, but I wasn't feeling apologetic at all.

"No worries. We just got here, too," Jungkook assured with the usual tender smile, making warmth surge through my body. It was somehow hard to breathe beside him.

Together with Jungkook and his friends, I spent the whole day riding park attractions, eating booth snacks, and chatting with them.

It would have been enjoyable if I paid no attention to the others and wasn't so antsy next to Jungkook. The whole time, he was trying his best to make Yugyeom and I sit together. Pointing out how we were so compatible when we shared a small interest or emphasizing his friend's 'appealing' qualities, Jungkook was being way too obvious with his wingman acts.

As I expected and feared, this hangout was just a chance for his infatuated friend to get with me.

I flinched when a warm fabric was wrapped around my bare arms. Turning around to see who put his shirt on me, I sighed internally when Yugyeom was only in his t-shirt.

Immediately taking it off, I handed his flannel back to him with a forced grin, surprising him greatly. "I'm fine. I don't actually like wearing someone else's clothes. Thank you anyways."

Scratching his head and giving me a lopsided, unsure smile, the hazel haired man took it, his gentle features softening. "I see."

Honestly, I wanted to ditch this whole thing and go back to the dorm. I couldn't make advances with Jungkook since I was constantly being bugged by him making small talks every five minutes.

The sun was already setting, painting the whole sky an alluring shade of marigold with azure streaks.

"Kook, when's Jia coming anyway?" His other friend, Bambam asked, his tone higher than both of theirs. The only one enjoying this 'hangout' was him to me, paying no attention to anything other than the park attractions, screaming and cheering like an excited little kid during the rides.

The heck? His girlfriend is coming?

The brawnier man whipped out his phone to check the screen. "We have about ten minutes?"

If Jia came, there was no doubt Jungkook would follow her and leave us behind which meant that I would be left alone with Yugyeom in the end. That thought just made me want to dash towards the exit already.

But first...

"Jungkook," I exclaimed, grabbing his arm, surprising all three of them, and pulled him away from the other two, giving them apologetic smiles. "Sorry, I have an urgent favor from him. You two go ahead, I don't want to trouble you."

Ignoring their calls, I marched towards anywhere that caught my eyes, and that just happened to be the ferris wheel.

"Wait," Jungkook demanded, pulling back, making me jerk backwards due to the force, and raised an eyebrow at me. "Why are we going to the ferris wheel? First off, what's this favor you're asking me? You just left the guys with no explanation, Sook."

Rolling my eyes, I groaned, "I just need some time to clear my head and get inspiration for my artworks. And I also want to talk to you. Alone."

After that, he took a moment to think and gave in, getting inside a cabin and sitting across me in silence. It was sort of small as our knees were practically touching. His presence was filling the cabin. He waited for me to speak and I waited for my heart to even its pace.

We were ten feet above the ground when I started, "I know you've been trying to hook me up with Gyeomie..." He stopped playing with his fingers and bit his lips. "I'm sorry, I'm looking at someone else so this won't work. You should stop, it's uncomfortable."

Chuckling awkwardly, he brushed his hair, tucking it behind his ears. "But Yugyeom is a nice guy. Why don't you just consider him just this once?"

I clenched my jaw. "Consider him for what?"

His doe eyes darted around the place in confusion. "What do you mean 'for what'? For boyfriend, of course."

"I like someone else. Why would I do that?" I snapped, frowning at him. "Or do you want him to get laid by me? You want me to take advantage of this situation? Is that it?"

He was baffled. "To what? What are you talking about, Sook?"

Leaning towards him, our faces only inches apart, I slammed my hands on either side of him and scowled at him defiantly, shocking him for a split second.

"Just answer this. Would it be a nice opportunity to sleep with a girl who likes you?" I sneered contemptuously. "Would you do it when she's throwing herself at you?"

Regaining his composure, he challenged my gaze with his firm one and calmly stated, "I don't understand what you're trying to say but no. That's not something I'd do, taking advantage of a situation like that... I didn't mean it that way, Sook."

"And I'm telling you I like someone else," I grunted, gripping the seat leather. "If you're in my place, would you do it?"

"The whole thing is meaningless, alright. What can I get out of it? Pleasure?" He frowned. "Nothing else."

"Then stop doing unnecessary things and saying unnecessary stuff," I fumed, falling back on my own seat with my arms and legs crossed. I didn't understand why I was so riled up over this matter.

"But I'm full of TMI," he chuckled, trying to lighten up the dampened, heavy atmosphere and looked out the window. "Like kissing while you're at the top of the ferris wheel connects couples for a lifetime."

My throat went dry and heart plummeted at his words.

"Did you know? Kissing at the top of the ferris wheel makes couples last forever and connect their hearts for a lifetime."

My cheeks flushed and I couldn't hold his intense gaze, focusing on the material of my skirt instead. "R-Really?"

"I want our love to last forever, Eunsook," he confessed and his hands gently held my face.

I scoffed and scornfully hissed, "You believe that bullshit?"

His eyes went round, clearly bewildered and stung by my derision. "It's... just a TMI."

Turning to focus on the orange streaks in the horizon, I mocked, "Sure it was. Why don't you try that out with your girlfriend when she arrives? I assure you, it's complete BS."

For the rest of the silent ride, no matter how desperately I tried to teleport out of the cramped cabin where I was suffocating in his presence, I had to sit there like the human I was supposed to be.

And no matter how absurd it was to suddenly tear up and how hard I tried to hold them back, one or two of them escaped my eyes at some point, but he never noticed.

We were both looking outside to window, unable to face each other.

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'Tis been a difficult chapter to write (maybe bc of author's block 🤪)

Stay safe!