💫
"remember when you swore to God
I was the only person who ever got you?"
•••

A day passed by like a blur. He co-members went back to their own places to do their own thing which is why she's left all alone inside her apartment.

But it was fine, really. She with her darling cats with a cup of chamomile tea with her favorite drama on the screen. It kind of makes her think that she'd be a full blown cat lady when time comes. Or maybe she'd just travel the world and make a living out of photo diaries and whatnot since dating is such a taboo in the industry. How else could she land herself a decent husband in the future? Soulmates don't just grow on trees, you know.

Lisa sipped her warm tea as she flipped the pages of the new book Irene had just loaned her. It was quite interesting but she ain't the reading type. She'd either fall asleep halfway in or get really confused about what she has read.

As she was close to dozing off, she heard someone knocking on the door. Who even does that these days? There's a door bell for a reason.

"Can I cash in that deal?" Jungkook—who is currently wearing a pair of board shorts with a white shirt to match, said as he stood there in front of her. He holding a small cooler, a big-ass speaker and a foldable chair.

"Uh... Did your hyungs forget to bring you with them to the beach or something?"

"I need a tan," he simply said and went inside her house making a beeline straight to the balcony.

"A what?!" She blurted out in shock as she closed the door. She slowly turned to face the guy busy setting up his spot by the balcony. "Jeon, are high or something?"

"Come on, Manoban. A deal's a deal. You get to use my hot tub and I get this wonderful view right here," he simply said as he laid down the foldable chair which happens to look like a chaise lounge.

"I have my own tub and you have your own balcony, Jeon," Lisa said with her arms folded. "I don't get why you need to disrupt my peace just so you could get a... a tan. What the actual fuck?"

"Hey, girls shouldn't cuss. That's bad," the guy—now wearing sunglasses, scolded her. "You kiss your mom with that mouth, Manoban?"

"No. Maybe you dad," she sassed while rolling her eyes. "Why the hell are you even getting a tan?"

"Because I want to," he simple answered. The guy looked so relaxed in his position.

"Then why are you wearing a shirt?" She asked with an eyebrow raised. "Who gets a tan with a shirt on?"

Jungkook chuckled before removing his sunglasses and turning towards her.

"Just say you want to see my body, Manoban," the guy said with a smirk. "You don't need to make some elaborate excuse just to see the good stuff."

"Oh please," Lisa scoffed. "I'm sure I've seen far better bodies that yours."

"Really now?" he challenged her as he was about to pull the hem of his shirt up. "Careful, Manoban. You might just eat your words—"

"Whatever!" Lisa immediately turned around. "Do whatever you want! Just don't come crying to me when your color get uneven. We don't want that bon voyage trip to Hawaii to repeat itself..."

"In my defense, Hawaii was a whole different level of hot," Jungkook voice grew louder as he defended himself.

Lisa just shook her head before returning to her usual spot in the living room and resumed reading her book. But not even a minute has passed, she got bored and turned her attention back at the lounging intruder. It was only then she realized that Jeon Jungkook was already topless.

Now she gets why girls go crazy during that Fake Love era. Damn those abs. And that line that goes down—

"Take a picture, Manoban," Jungkook suddenly said startling her. The the guy turns towards her. "It lasts longer."

"Excuse me, I was looking at the view," she rebutted. This made the guy's smirk even wider.

"Still not clear if that's the river or me." Jeon Jungkook was starting to get annoying. "Why don't you join me here? It's a nice sunny day."

"No, thank you," she muttered and resumed what she was doing.

"Suit yourself," the guy answered. After that, a familiar tune blasted from the guy's speaker.

"Wonder what I'll do when the cops come through And the whiskey's run out..."

"You listen to Niki?"

"I have taste," Jungkook answered almost immediately. "Of course I do."

"I always thought you were the heavy rock type of guy," she shrugged.

"Well, you thought wrong," the guy said smugly. "Let me guess. You think I do drugs too? 'Coz of the tattoos?"

"What? No!" she immediately corrected. "Hey, tattoos are art. I don't judge people that easily, Jeon."

"But you judge easily when it comes to me," he countered.

Lisa did not know how to argue her way out of it because partly it was true. She did judge him easily because of what he did to Chaeyoung. But can anyone really blame her? He hurt her best friend. She has all the right to judge and hate him.

"Are you just gonna stand there or join? I have an extra chair here," Jungkook said while pointing at the folded seat similar to what the guy was already using.

"Did you bring that over on purpose?" She questioned. "Are you flirting with me?"

"I just so happen have two of these chairs, Manoban. Don't be conceited," he simply said. "Plus, my mother always taught me to be a gentleman. Do you prefer to sunbathe on the floor? Or maybe you prefer to share this chair with me?"

"Jerk," the girl muttered.

"So, is that a yes?"

Lisa rolled her eyes first before marching inside the balcony—particularly towards the folded chair resting by the wall.

"I'm not sharing with you," she said while unfolding the chair. "Never in a million years."

"Remember what Justin Bieber said," Jungkook smirked. "Never say never."

Lisa ignored that last comment of his. She knew better than start another word fight with this immature brat.

Though he was right about the nice sun. Only problem was, the rays hurt her eyes.

"You better get your own pair of sunglasses," Jungkook said. "I only have one pair and I won't sacrifice my eyesight for you."

"I wasn't asking for it," she spat back. "You can shove those glasses up your fucking ass—"

"Tsk tsk. Again with the cussing," Jungkook tutted. "What a potty mouth you are, Manoban. Maybe I should call you Manobutt from now on."

"Then you're Jerkook from now on," she mumbled as she folded her arms. The sunlight still hurt her eyes but her pride was on the line so she had to suck it up. 

But the jerk wasn't a complete jerk after all. 

Jungkook placed his sunglasses on her before standing up to get something from the cooler he placed by the kitchen counter. Lisa turned to see what he was getting only to see the guy holding two bottles of banana milk. 

"You know you'll get a stomachache if you drink that before lunch," she warned him. But the guy did not listen to her and instead handed her one. 

"If we do get a stomachache then you can say you told me so."

There's no getting in between this guy and his banana milk, really.

"Hey Manobutt," the jerk called. Of course she shot him a glare. 

"What?"

"Does your ribs still hurt?" he asked before sipping through his straw. 

"Uhh..." Lisa was genuinely surprised at his question. "My ribs are still a bit sore but it's fine."

"That's good to hear..."

And then the silence. It wasn't the good kind, though. 

"O...kay." Lisa shot up and gave the banana milk back to Jungkook. "Enough of this awkward shi--whatever. Why are you really here, Jeon? And don't say you want a tan because I'll really throw myself off this fu--reakin' balcony!"

"What are you talking about?" Jungkook said innocently. But it wasn't convincing enough making Lisa raise an eyebrow. "I really just wanted to ta--"

"I. Swear. Jeon. Jungkook," she warned with gritted teeth. "If you don't tell me the truth, you'll be the one thrown off this balcony!"

Jungkook was about to open his mouth but decided that he loved his life and adored being alive. But can he really tell her the truth?

"What, Jeon? Ready to spill it?"

"Err... I uh... I just wanted to check how you've been holding up," Jungkook answered honestly. He even averted his gaze and rubbed the back of his neck. "With the accident and the whole Sehun thing."

For the second time around, Lisa was genuinely surprised. Jeon Jungkook--the guy who most of her friends' heart got broken by, was worried about her. Wow. That's too much information to absorb in one day. 

"Uh, Manoban? You still here?"

Lisa shook her head and blinked. Then she slowly returned to her seat and laid on the chaise lounge. 

"I mean, why? Why would he even a tad bit concerned if I'm fine or not? We're not even friends or anything. So... why? Is he planning to buy my apartment? Or abduct my cats? No! Not my cats! I'll kill him first--"

"Ya. You're scaring me. Are you malfunctioning or something? What are you mumbling about?"

Still, she didn't answer. She kept on analyzing shit on why the hell was this guy even concerned about her well-being.

"Ya. I just came to check whether you threw yourself off the building. I'm scared of ghosts and since you hate me so much you might haunt me or something."

Jungkook kept poking her shoulder making her snap out of him and at him.

"Stop that!" she spat. "And for the record, you won't be the first person I'd haunt if ever I die. We're not that close."

The guy immediately leaned back and closed his mouth looking like a dejected puppy. Guilt from all sides punctured her making her sigh. 

"Thanks for your concern but I'm really fine," she just said before turning to her side to face the guy. "Sorry if I made you worried or something. It's just... it came as a shock to me that day. I thought things wouldn't get any worse but I was wrong."

Jungkook--who was already lying on his side facing her, heaved a sigh.

"You don't need to say sorry, you know," he said. "Things can really get messed up so it's okay to cry once in a while. What's important is that after you break down, you get up and fight again."

"Yeah," she said smiling. "But I seldom cry. Between the four of us--my members and I, Chaeng is the crybaby. I only cry once I see her or Jennie eonnie cries. Jisoo eonnie never cry, though."

"I think she did once," Jungkook interjected. "When Namjoon hyung asked her to be his girlfriend. We were all there."

"Oh, right," she said remembering the only time she ever saw her eldest sister shed tears. "But those were tears of joy."

"But she still cried," he insisted making her chuckle. The guy's mouth formed a soft curve while looking straight at her. She suddenly felt a bit conscious and felt her cheeks heat up a bit. "Pretty."

"What?"

"Your smile," he simply said before lying on his back again facing the view. "You should wear it often."

She laughed at his generic attempt of flattery. Then she mimicked his action and faced the Han River too.

"Where'd you get that line, Dummies Guide on Flattery?" she sassed. 

"Yeah," Jungkook replied with a chuckle. "The book was cheap but the lines... gold."

Again, she laughed. 

It's been days... weeks even, since she last laughed like this. Yes, she does enjoy the company of her girl friends whenever they visit her or talk to her. But there was something with talking to Jeon Jungkook that's a bit different. Maybe because he was a fresh face to her or maybe because her opinion about him before was totally different. It felt warm and somewhat... refreshing. 

They talked more about their members and she found out a lot of things about the guys. Then they shifted towards the '97 liners and she laughed so hard when Jungkook told her about the time Bambam got drunk and cried because Mina wouldn't talk to him. She didn't even notice she dozed off in the middle of the story about Jaehyun gushing about Chaeng while drunk. 

"I do hope you're really fine, Lali," he said after a long pause. She felt his gaze was on her that's why she pretended to be asleep. Her heart started to beat differently. "The world needs that pretty smile of yours to function."

At that moment, Lisa had a hard time reminding herself that she shouldn't fall for this playboy's antics. 

•••

"Just put on some aloe vera on it and you'll be fine."

"Fine?" Jungkook blurted out. "I look like a freaking ripe tomato!"

Lisa needed to bite her tongue to stop her self from laughing out loud listening to Jungkook complaining about his current situation. 

"I was doing a good deed. Why am I being punished like this?!" He kept on whining while examining his reflection on her bathroom's vanity mirror. 

That did it. She couldn't contain herself anymore and just let her laughter out. He did look like a ripe tomato after falling asleep on the balcony for hours.

"Ha-Ha. Very funny." Lisa bit her lip to stop herself. "You were out there too but why am I the only one suffering here? You didn't even get tanned!"

"I lived in Thailand for 14 years, Kook," she explained. "My skin can take a beating off the sun."

"This is so unfair," he mumbled. "You're buying me dinner."

She felt bad for the guy so she just nodded. Plus, she was getting kind of hungry too.

"How does pizza sound to you?" she asked walking towards the living room to get her phone. She sat down the carpet and her cats started to walk towards her. "And some chicken?"

"Any," he simple answered as he too went out carrying a tub of soothing gel. Again, she was not able to stop herself from laughing. "I'll never go sunbathing again."

"A normal person would've asked for a cup of sugar or salt as an excuse," she reasoned out. 

"As you might know, Manobutt, I'm not normal," he boasted. "I'm--"

"Abnormal," she supplied earning a glare from the guy. 

"I'm extraordinary," he corrected. "Now help me put some aloe vera on my face since you're as to blame for this as the sun."

"Hey, I didn't ask you to come here, Jerkook," she defended herself. "I'll help after placing the order."

She added some lamb skewers to the mix because Jungkook mentioned it was one of his favorites. At least through that he'd be able to forget about the sunburn thing--still not her fault though.

"Would you please stay fucking still?" she blurted out as she applied the aloe vera on his face. She started with the cheek area as it was the most reddish part. "How the hell would I put this evenly if you keep bobbing your head like an idiot?!"

"Well, it stings. Can you blame me?!" he spat pack. 

"Ugh! Stop being a pussy and just suck it up!" 

"Stop cussing!"

"You're not the boss of me!"

"I'll tell Jisoo noona!" 

"Well she's not the boss of me either!" 

"Really? I'll call her now--ouch! Be gentle!"

"Hah! Wimp!"

"Potty mouth!"

"Big baby!"

The door warning sound echoed in the room but the two did not seem to notice.

"At least not your baby!"

"In your fucking dreams, Jerkook!"

"As if, Manobutt--"

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Both heads turn towards the door with a shocked Park Chaeyoung holding a bag of chicken from Lisa's favorite place. 

"Chaeyoung!"

•••
"...well, screw that, and screw you..."
💫

05 - 16 - 2021

what are your opinions about this fic so far?

thoughts? suggestions? violent reactions?

it's a miracle i have the drive to write this when i'm frustrated as hell with my other fics. especially my filo ones. but i am trying. also, i have a twitter account but it's on private right now since i've been very... troubled lately and i've been venting there. 

hope yall are okay tho. xx