"Wait a minute, that's why you left?!" Jia asked, her mouth wide open in incredulity. "That was your emergency?!"

'Jungkook, you fool, this is exactly why you should've just kept your mouth shut.' He thought to himself as he wearily met her expression of disbelief. "You promised you wouldn't judge!" He said, feeling betrayed.

"I know I did, but I thought you had some weird family emergency that you couldn't talk about. This is not an emergency; this is you being stupid." She declared.

"Rude." He gasped. "I'm not telling you anything anymore." He turned around and sat facing away from her.

If he was being honest with himself, he knew he deserved that. Even if it was straightforward and blunt, he wanted someone to plunge him out of his delusion and help him face reality; and this proved to be an effective trick. For months now, he'd been hiding this embarrassing secret to himself. But after that particular night, he wanted someone to slap him right across his face and shake him until he woke up from this illogical fantasy.

Jungkook had hung up the call with full confidence that he wouldn't budge to Arden's desperate call. If she was lonely after a fight with her boyfriend, why should he, her ex, care? If she had no one to talk to, it only served her right. Afterall, she broke his heart to be with Seju, so why should he of all people feel obliged to console her over their fight? How dare she? Who does she take him to be? If she really cared about him as a friend, shouldn't she know better? Shouldn't she be giving him space for him to move on? He had kept these thoughts to himself and had folded his arms in defiance for a solid 30 seconds. Next thing he knew, he was whispering about a family emergency and flying out the auditorium to get to his car.

And all of that for what? He'd found her sitting by a lonely corner in a café. Seeing her like that broke him and he had gently approached her to comfort her. He was elated to see how relieved she looked upon seeing him. Within no time, she was crying into his shoulders, ranting about her big fight with Seju. A few minutes into comforting her, she'd gotten a call from her boyfriend (he had to painfully remind himself that it was no longer him). She had hung up on the call, smiling at him cheerfully in complete contrast to her emotion merely seconds ago. She informed him that Seju apologised and that he wanted to meet up with her. And just like that, she'd left him standing like an absolute fool in that café. After that, he just didn't have the will to go back to the play. He'd gone back home, preparing himself for a long night of self-hate and fury.

So, when Jia looked at him all critically, he wasn't happy, but deep down, he wanted it. He knew that it burdened him and he knew that the whole affair made him upset. Afterall, why else would he blurt out everything on a random Monday evening?

"Jungkook, come on. Turn back around." She poked him from behind, their notebooks now abandoned on the floor.

"I don't want to, you'll judge me again." He replied stubbornly.

"I'm not judging, Jungkook. I'm just...okay, maybe I'm judging a little bit." He heard her say.

He turned around and narrowed his eyes on her. "I hate you."

"Okay, I'm sorry." She smiled, raising her hands in defeat. "But why in the world would you agree to go to all that trouble for Arden after all that she did to you?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Because I'm her friend?"

"If you're her friend, she'd know better than to trouble you when you're clearly still struggling to move on. That's not friendship. She's taking advantage of your feelings for her." Jia said concerned.

"You think I haven't thought about all of this? Believe me, I have. I think about this all the damn time." He sighed.

"Then why do you keep doing it?" Jia said, crossing her arms. "Jungkook, look. She has moved on, and so should you. Being her chauffeur and acting as her boyfriend in front of her mom so that she can hook up with another guy? That's the opposite of moving on. If it's bothering you, stop. You don't owe anything to anyone."

He nodded his head. He needed this. He had to hear someone else say it to him so that it would make more sense. But despite all the talk, he knew himself too well. He knew that once he got the call, it would kill him to not go to her. Because he still had hope. And right then, hope seemed like the deadliest thing. For each time she called him, he had hopes that perhaps this time, things would go back to the way they were. But for now, he satisfied himself by acknowledging that he at least took the first step by letting it all off his chest. He nodded again and slowly started laughing.

"What? Why are you laughing at me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing, I'm just surprised." He chuckled again. "You seem so good at being logical when it comes to others' problems but act clueless when it's your own."

She shot daggers with her eyes. "If you're referring to Yoongi, that's totally different." She said gritting her teeth. "It's like how Arden forgave Seju in no time. It's different because we're dating and stuff like this happens in every relationship. We simply make up and move on."

"If you say so." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, and by the way, come up with some really serious excuse for why you left that night. If Tae asks, it should sound as though you had no choice but to leave because he was really looking forward to having both of us there. He was a little hurt when I told him you left early, but I told him you had a good reason to leave." She told him.

Jungkook nodded. "I don't think I missed out much of the play though." He observed.

"Nope, but you missed something much bigger than that." She giggled.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I'm not telling you. It's his secret to tell, not mine. But oh boy, was it a huge surprise. You really, really missed it."

"Okay stop building up suspense if you're not going to tell me." He frowned. But nevertheless, he was curious and he tried a couple of tactics to get it out of her but she seemed determined to not let him in. "Did Taehyung admit he has a crush on you or something?"

Jia looked at him wearily. "Please fuck off."

"Come on! It's a possibility! Not many people hang out with him and from the way he acts all touchy around you, I'd say he has a crush. He even specially invited you to his play!"

"He invited you too!" Jia argued.

"As a cover. Duh. It'd look suspicious if he invited you alone. Believe me, I'm sure he was more than happy that I took off." He said smugly.

"Oh my god, what is wrong with you?!" Jia said exasperatedly. He was glad to know that he was successfully getting on her nerves. He just had to push her until she had no choice but to reveal the big 'secret'. "Not everyone that hangs together is crushing on each other! You and I hangout all the time, but are we madly in love with each other? Absolutely not! So, stop bullshitting and get back to electromagnetism." She said, pointing to her textbook.

"Just because you're smitten by the piano jerk, doesn't mean other guys don't catch feelings for you. I'm telling you; Taehyung has a crush on you." He nodded firmly.

"If you're trying to annoy me into telling you the secret, I can assure you it's not working at all." She deadpanned.

"Worth a shot though." He mumbled picking up his physics textbook with a sigh.

***

"Have you seen him yet?" Jia asked the couple as she scanned the enclosed stadium ground for a familiar face.

"Nope. We just got here a few minutes ago." Namjoon said, shaking his head. Mina climbed on top of the seat for a better view but soon gave up.

Jia, Namjoon and Mina were standing in the bleachers of their city sports stadium. They had arrived a little early to wish their resident sprinter good luck before his grand race but he seemed nowhere in sight. Jungkook had been tirelessly practising for this and the three were determined to show their maximum support. All three had colourful banners with encouraging slogans written just for their friend. By the time they'd settled in, the stadium got progressively filled in with more people.

"There he is! There's our to-be gold medallist." Namjoon yelled a few minutes later. The three hollered at the top of their lungs and waved their banners as a shy Jungkook approached them.

"Okay you can stop now." He said, covering his face with his hands. He wore their school's official jersey paired with his new cool shoes.

"No way." Mina replied stubbornly. "We're here to make sure that you get the loudest cheers."

"Look! We even made bright signs so that you can see us from afar." Jia said, propping up her cardboard banner. Just then, a loud shriek erupted from not so far away and the four turned their heads to see a lean girl with long caramel brown hair jumping onto a buffy broad-chested boy. They watched as Seju lifted up Arden in his arms.

Jia bit her nails and looked back at Jungkook. He frowned for a few seconds but snapped out of it soon enough. He looked back at them and to her surprise, smiled widely. "Thanks, guys. I really appreciate you cheering for me." He chuckled and read the words handwritten on Namjoon's banner. "Well, since you guys put a lot of effort into this, I guess I have no choice but to win this race." He shrugged.

"Hell yeah!" The three of them cheered back. "Okay then, I better get back to the coach." He nodded. They watched as he jogged away, joining the other boys in same-coloured jerseys.

"I am gonna go get Yoongi from the entrance. Save our seats, kay?" She whispered to Mina. She showed a thumbs up and Jia made her way out of the shaded bleachers. A few distance away, she spotted him and ran up next to him.

"Hi." He waved at her.

"Hey you." She smiled at Yoongi. "Thank you for agreeing to come here."

"I don't think I had much of a choice." He chuckled wearily.

"Did you have breakfast?" She asked and pulled him away from the gate through which a few people still rushed in, anxious to not miss the races. They moved over to a less crowded place with a couple of large trees. Jia had always found February a grey month; a middle time that stood too early to anticipate summer and too late to enjoy the wintry magic. And this was also the time when the New Year charm wore off, leaving behind a boring coldness. Despite still being a little too cold for athletic competitions, the schools had insisted that they hold it early in order to prepare the winning athletes for the bigger events.

"...but the pancakes weren't as good as I expected, so I chopped up a few apples and-" He was still talking about his choice of breakfast when Jia swiftly pecked his lips.

As she pulled away, he smiled at her mischievously. "PDA, wow Yun Jia. You've come a long way."

"That's a thank you for coming here even though I know you'd rather be sleeping comfortably at home." She smiled, genuinely happy.

"I'll need a lot more than that for waking me up before afternoon on a weekend." He smirked.

"Have patience, milord." She replied cheekily. "It's your birthday next Saturday, right?"

Jia watched as he did a quick mental math. "Correct, 10 points." He said impressed.

"I have rehearsals in the morning, but I have planned a pretty special evening for the birthday boy. Is that okay?" She asked, slowly touching the hem of his coat's collar.

He whistled a little and placed his hand over hers. "How special are we talking about? Are we staying indoors? Because as usual, my parents won't be home and we can have the whole place to ourselves until midnight."

Jia tippy-toed her fingers down the collar and onto his chest. "Please get your head out of the gutter, milord." She chuckled and took her hands away.

"Aw come on. I'm just suggesting great ideas for a birthday gift here." He groaned. "And it's a little harder to not let my imaginations run wild when you keep calling me that you know."

"I am aware, Milord." She giggled slyly. When he leaned in to kiss her, she didn't deny. A while later, she pulled away, a little breathless. "Gimme a second." She whispered. With her hand still clasped on his coat, she looked over his shoulders and yelled out "Hi Taehyung."

Sure enough, a little away, gaping at them with his jaws hanging down was a spectacled boy. She looked back at Yoongi and smiled apologetically. "We have to get going now. The race might start any minute."

He nodded in reply and together, they made their way to her still staring friend.

"I'm sorry I couldn't properly introduce you to each other last time. Taehyung, this is my boyfriend Yoongi; and Yoongi, this is my friend Taehyung." While Taehyung smiled brightly, Yoongi threw a weary half smile at him and turned away swiftly.

"He's not the type to mingle much." She whispered to Taehyung who nodded.

"Did you see Jungkook?" He asked as she led the two boys towards their seats.

"Yeah, he came over to say hi." She replied. "Did you make a banner?" She asked him sharply.

"Right here ma'am." He said, quickly taking out a large folded paper from his backpack.

"Good boy." She smiled at him. Content at receiving a compliment, he beamed proudly.

Mina informed her that she had missed the 60m race and that she was just in time for the 100m race. And sure enough, lined up among the other short-distance sprinters was Seju representing their school. Despite the whole Jungkook-Arden-Seju drama, they found themselves cheering for him. Afterall, he was one of the star sprinters of their school. It did not thus come out as a surprise when he bagged two medals for both 100m and 200m. And as expected, there was a second round of public display of affection by the couple as he came over to the audience to celebrate. But the four were too busy to notice as they cheered for Jungkook along with a barely interested Yoongi.

As Jungkook positioned himself at the starting line, they jumped up their seats in anticipation, wildly waving their colourful banners. The moment the race began, they watched as he set a steady pace, slowly taking over one person after the other. The medium-distance races were a little less dynamic than the shorter ones, for it required endurance as much as swiftness. As the racers neared the finish line, they watched with anticipation as he ran neck-to-neck with a boy in a blue jersey. But in the very final second, they let out the loudest cheers as he nimbly crossed the finish line first overtaking the other boy. The four jumped up and down and hugged each other in joy.

By the time he got ready for the second race, the four were fairly spent from all the screaming. Ignoring their hoarse throats, they cheered him on loudly for the next 1500m race as well. Despite the good pace that he maintained initially, he lost the gold medal but landed with a shiny silver instead.

It was only as he waited for his turn during the medal distribution that Jia noticed the absence of his parents. In contrast to the proudly screaming moms and dads who took pictures of their children, their absence suddenly seemed deafening to Jia. The thought stabbed at her icily as she watched him beaming at them in delight. Quickly, she asked Yoongi for his smartphone with the better camera and took pictures as Jungkook climbed on top of the podium to receive his medals. She made a mental note to later print them out and give it to him within fancy frames. As he jogged over to them with the two medals bouncing on his chest, they swarmed around him for a hug.

As she waited patiently for her turn, he turned to her with a smug smirk. She knew that he was teasing her usual aversion to this sweaty jersey, but regardless of it, she hugged him tightly. He must have been a little surprised, for it took him a while to warmly wrap his arms around her. "What happened to the high and mighty princess?" he asked with a low chuckle.

"Let's just say that she's too damn proud of the coconut head to care." She smiled.

"Thanks, that means a lot." He smiled back and raised his fist for a fist bump. She obliged, and the gang later moved on to celebrate his victory in peace. 

A/N: Was not planning an update but couldn't hold back from posting this cute chapter on Kookie's birthday!
Happy Birthday Jungkookie!!! Thank you for blessing us with your beautiful voice and adorableness. I hope you stay happy and healthy forever. I love you so much! 🥺😭💜
In order to celebrate his birthday, here's a tiny photo dump of the birthday boy 🤭

P.S: Beware the double bunny. Fear the double bunny. 🐰🐰