Lalisa felt slightly overwhelmed as she took in her workload for the day, eyes scanning the paper in front of her before she let out a groan. A miserable feeling sunk into her gut, and the stress shook her out of her sleep deprived state.

She had spent the last couple of days worrying her head off about her studies, particularly since her partner was taking up her thoughts. And so, she grabbed her materials needed — textbooks, pencils, highlighters, etc.

Lisa moved her supplies to her small desk residing in the corner of the bedroom she shared with Jungkook, pushing the items out and beginning her work.

As her wrist moved to jot down notes about something she wasn't remotely interested in, her mind drifted to her cousin. Bambam had messaged her the day before, telling her that he was planning to propose to Mina. She had openly encouraged his statement, replying that she was sure Mina was going to say yes. The two cousins had made plans that they were to meet the next day, to discuss Bambam's possible engagement.

Then there was Mingyu. She hadn't been necessarily avoiding him, but she hadn't been very involved in their conversations either. Lisa felt bad but the uncomfortable tension between them made it awkward and difficult for her to function.

Her thoughts swayed to Jungkook, and Lalisa fumbled with her pen once she realized she had no idea where he was. It was 8 PM, so Lisa expected him home soon. He had been surprisingly sweet the past couple of days, and she suspected something good must've happened for him to shower her with this type of love.

Lisa grabbed her phone, which was laying beside her open book, and quickly typed out a small message for her boyfriend.

hi!! have you ate yet?? :D if u haven't go eat now >:((
take care of urself ily!! <33 come home soon btw 🥺
delivered

Lalisa stared at her phone for a moment longer, hoping for a text back to receive none. Disappointed at the result, she slightly slumped, sighing as she put the phone back down on her desk.

Lisa reprimanded herself, telling herself to get a grip and focus on her studies. Turning her gaze away from the device, she quietly flipped through a couple of pages in the book she was assigned to read, her eyes trailing back and forth from her notes to the book in hand.

Time passed by agonizingly slow as Lisa did her work, scowling whenever her wrist hurt. But she was determined to finish the assignment in one sitting and the ache in her bones did nothing to deter that.

After what felt like hours (but was actually one hour), Lalisa heard the opening of the front door. She assumed Jungkook was home, and even though she had initially wanted this, a slight irritation bubbled up within her at his ignorance toward her messages.

Lisa ignored the disturbance of her partner, shifting in her seat before she sighed. She needed to finish her work, but her eyelids were drooping and her vision was blurring slightly. Her hand raced across the sheet, protesting in pain but Lisa worked anyways. It was her fault after all, she had left the task for last minute and now she was paying the consequences she could've avoided.

After a couple of minutes, she heard a knock on the door. Steadily turning her head so that she didn't drop and collapse on the table in sheer exhaustion, she murmured, "Come in."

The door creaked open and groaned slightly, and Lalisa could see the silhouette of Jungkook as he came in, a concerned and smiling expression on his face. He shuffled near her, and she could see his eyes that were staring at her intently. The room was quite dark and the only lit up area was Lisa's desk.

"Are you studying?"

Lisa nodded to his question, turning back to her desk. Expecting Jungkook to leave, she picked up the pencil she had just dropped, but could see from the corner of her eye that he simply acknowledged her behavior with a smile, walking out of the room.

Lalisa felt a mixture of relief and exasperation at how easily he swiveled around and left to do whatever he had to do. She hadn't bothered asking, since he didn't seem keen on a conversation with her.

Suddenly, she could hear the stumbling of feet as she whirled around, surprised to find a cup in front of her. Holding the cup was Jungkook, who held a serene smile on his face as he motioned for her to take it.

"Uh —"

Lisa's eyes widened into saucers as she realized the aroma from the cup: coffee. Jungkook had left the room to get her a cup of much needed caffeine while she was on the verge of falling asleep.

"I know caffeine isn't good for you, but I think you need it since you look like you're going to fall asleep at any given moment," Jungkook's voice had broken her out of her reverie, her slightly shocked gaze landing on him.

He looked like he had no other ulterior motive besides giving her a drink to boost up her energy. Jungkook looked much too calm than she normally dealt with.

With narrowed eyes and pursued lips, she nodded, hesitantly reaching for the cup. He gave it to her, immediately accompanying his action with a broad grin.

Taking a sip out of it, she could detect that she was still alive and breathing, so it was not poisoned.

Maybe he's changing for the better? a hopeful part of her spoke up, but she was quick to shut it down.

No one changes that fast, she grumbled to herself.

When she glanced up again, Jungkook was gone, off into the bathroom to change his attire. Lalisa smiled into her mug, a fuzzy feeling blossoming in her chest.

While she didn't want to get her own hopes up again only to get them crushed, Lisa couldn't help but feel a little better. He had definitely been treating her better for the past week or so.

Her bright smile turned into a frown as she thought about the whole situation. Why was he being so confusing? She pouted, thinking of this as another reason.

Reason #20: He's too confusing for me to understand.

a/n: i'm not done with the story yet but here's a chapter for valentine's day!! i hope all of u have a great day 🥺