[A/N: that's the K-drama Dear M in the photo... this chapter is gonna be long btw...]

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A year and seven months had passed. Jiah was relieved to return sooner than everyone had predicted.

It was amusing to recall that Taehyung had been calling her once a week to discuss the happenings in Bejiwoo. He was also the one who updated her on Hoseok's well-being. Taehyung even jokingly mentioned that he called her more often than he did his own mother.

Jiah returned to Korea accompanied by Seokjin and Maru. Meanwhile, Amber had informed them that she would be back three days before Namjoon's graduation. She intended to attend and celebrate the event with them.

Summer had brought a smile to Jiah's face, and her fists trembled with excitement as she faced Seokjin, causing him to laugh. She eagerly anticipated meeting her beloved friends.

Sunlight bathed the airport through the windows, casting long shadows as visitors walked by or stood near the tall glass panes. Laughter and chatter from both locals and foreigners merged with the hum of rolling luggage and the distant rattle of carts. Seokjin and Maru conversed behind her.

Despite the summer heat, a cool chill lingered in the airport, causing Jiah's fingers to grow cold. The inviting aroma of coffee and pastries from cafes and bakeries created a sense of warmth, making her feel welcomed.

As the door to the arrival hall slid open, Jiah walked beside Seokjin, pushing the luggage-laden trolley. She looked at him and offered a smile, which he returned.

"Jiah!" Two familiar female voices called out. Spotting them, she saw her friends waving enthusiastically with wide grins.

"My sister, tsk," Seokjin scoffed. Beside her, he muttered, "She's looking at Jiah the moment she arrives. I feel unwelcome." He made an exaggerated, mocking face at his sister, and Jisoo mimicked the expression before glaring.

Jiah playfully slapped Seokjin's arm and laughed. "Don't be like that," she said, grinning.

Upon reaching the women, her friends grabbed her hands and jumped in excitement. "Jiah!" they squealed. "We've missed you!"

"I've missed you too!" Jiah replied, her eyes forming crescent moons as she smiled.

"You've cut your hair short!" Jisoo chimed, furrowing her eyebrows, widening her eyes, and parting her lips. "It suits you. You've become even more beautiful!"

Jiah touched her now shoulder-length hair. "Ah," she let out an exasperated breath, realizing she had forgotten about her haircut. Still smiling, she said, "Thank you." Her lips fell slightly, and her eyebrows raised as she asked, "Is it just the two of you?"

Wheein's dark blue lips curved upward. Wiggling her index finger, she emitted a long, deep hum and tiptoed closer to Jiah. "You wished Hoseok was here, didn't you?"

A silent gasp escaped Jiah's lips as she waved her hands from side to side. "That's not what I meant!"

"Aish!" Wheein playfully hissed, waving her hand down. "Don't worry, he's nearby!"

Jiah's eyes widened. "Where?" she asked, looking around.

Laughing, Wheein covered her mouth and said, "Did you see that, Jisoo? I was right!"

Grinning, Jisoo told Jiah, "She wasn't kidding that Hoseok was nearby. He went to take a phone call."

Jiah mouthed an "ah" in response.

Seokjin had been listening to their conversation, appearing bored with his hands shoved into his jeans pockets. He seemed to recognize a familiar presence and glanced twice at the figure, maintaining his bored expression. He muttered, "Speaking of the devil."

Hoseok appeared in long sleeve, collared, plain white, buttoned shirt; the first three buttons were unbuttoned. Black jeans fit his slender legs, tucking in the shirt. A pair of Chelsea boots as his footwear. His hair was dyed in caramel brown.

A wide grin lit up Hoseok's face as he waved at Seokjin, who responded by raising his hand. However, as Hoseok's eyes met Jiah's smiling gaze, his smile gradually faded, his eyes lost in a daze as his mouth let out a silent "woah."

Jiah shoved her backpack to Seokjin, forcing him to hold it. Seokjin muttered, "What the-" as she ran to Hoseok and hopped on one spot to stop. "Hi," she chirped softly, tilting her head to one side.

Hoseok's cheeks turned a rosy pink as he gazed at her.

"Hoseok," Jiah called. "Are you okay?"

Hoseok remained frozen, his cheeks flushing deeper.

"Hoseok!" Jiah shook both of his arms.

Hoseok blinked, shaking his head to snap out of his trance. "Uh..." He ran his hand through his hair and averted his gaze. Glancing at Jiah from the corner of his eye, he stammered, "You are... you cut your hair short."

Smiling with her eyes forming crescent moons, Jiah nodded. She asked, "Do you like it?" Noticing Hoseok's ears turning bright red, she couldn't help but smile even wider.

Hoseok stuttered, his eyes still locked on hers. "Y-you... you look... it- it suits you."

Whining playfully, Jiah furrowed her eyebrows and pouted slightly. "You're stuttering!"

"No, no, no. Don't get me wrong!" Hoseok rushed. "The moment I saw you, I forgot how to breathe. You... you make my heart flutter."

A gentle smile spread across Jiah's face, followed by a giggle. Then, a thought struck her. "Oh right!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands and raising her eyebrows. "There's something I want to do with you."

Hoseok's eyebrows raised as well, his lips curving downward slightly. "What do you want to do?" he asked.

Taking a few steps backward, she instructed, "Open your arms, please!"

As if Hoseok got a hunch about what she was planning, a grin adorned his face, opening his arms for her.

When Jiah felt the distance was right, she stopped and bent her body slightly, swinging her arms back and forth with narrowed eyes fixed on the smiling man. With a playful coo, she announced, "Incoming!"

Swiftly swinging her legs, she wrapped her arms around Hoseok's neck. Hoseok reciprocated by embracing her waist, lifting her as they spun around. Giggling, Jiah buried her face in Hoseok's neck before he gently set her back down.

Both of them maintained their positions, their arms still around each other as they exchanged grins and held each other's gaze.

"I've missed you," Jiah said softly.

"I've missed you too," Hoseok replied, his smile warm as he leaned in to plant a tender peck on her forehead, causing Jiah to giggle in response.

**********

Jiah wasn't going to lie; she felt bad about leaving Maru alone. When she searched for him, Seokjin informed her that Maru had already left. She had been eager to help Maru feel included with the Bejiwoo team and show everyone that Maru wasn't as bad as his father.

They had no choice, but to head home. In the meantime, Jisoo and Wheein returned to work.

As Hoseok helped her to carry her bags, he told her that he would like to bring her to his new apartment in Hongdae, and that surprised Jiah. Jiah had no problem with that as she had notified her father that she would visit Shinhye first. But at the moment, it seemed that she had to put her plan aside.

"Don't you live with your parents anymore?" she inquired, feeling the gentle caress of Hoseok's thumb against the side of her index finger.

Displaying a bitter smile, he said, "Nope." His free hand remained on the steering wheel as he looked at her. And then, he returned to look at the road and exhale a soft sigh.

As Jiah remembered every detail that he had shared, she held back from asking. Seeing how far Hoseok had put effort to improve, she did not want to trigger him. She could not tell if the mention of his sister or family would give him a light or heavy reaction.

Finally, after a few minutes of driving, Hoseok parked his car in the basement parking lot and led her to his apartment next.

They rode an elevator. Once the elevator stopped at the desired floor, they hopped off with their hands attached.

Upon arriving in front of a door, Hoseok unlocked it with a keypad at the doorknob. The beeps chimed through the corridor. Meanwhile, Jiah looked elsewhere, trying not to look at the pressed numbers.

Hoseok seemed to have noticed her action. A grin curved his lips as he said, "You should've looked."

Jiah's doe eyes ran to him. She asked, "What do you mean?"

"The password. You should have looked," Hoseok said as he pulled the door. "You're someone who knows everything about me. Why not my apartment's password?"

As they entered, Jiah joked, "What are you going to do if I come in and rob your house?"

Shuffling noises echoed through the entrance as they took off their footwear. "I don't mind," Hoseok said. "You've robbed my heart anyway."

Jiah tried to suck her lips, but a sealed-lips smile widened adorning her face. Hoseok took her hand, guiding her into the narrow space as Jiah said, "You're cheesy."

Lips puckered and eyebrows raised, Hoseok said, "Well, only for you."

Laughing at the face Hoseok made, Jiah threw her head back with a hand over her mouth. Then, she realized she had stepped onto a spread of brown laminate floor. On her left was a tiny kitchen, two white chairs by the white counter table. The space to the stove and kitchen was narrow but as Hoseok lived alone, she didn't think he minded that.

Just after the entrance, on the same side as the kitchen, there was the door to the bathroom.

On her right there, was a small shelf, storing a couple of books and framed photos. Extending her head, there was a narrow staircase leading to the bedroom. Across her was a wide view of the city. A plasma television above a long, black drawer. In the open drawer, two remote controls are beside each other.

A grey, soft sofa across the television. In front of the sofa, there was a small, round, glass-surfaced table; rattan as its frame.

Smiling, she turned to face him and said, "Your apartment is pretty."

He smiled at her back. "Thanks!" he said.

"Aren't you going to show me your bedroom?" she asked.

"N-now?"

Jiah nodded her head.

"Uh..." Hoseok buzzed, his eyebrows furrowed. "My bedroom is quite messy right now. I don't think you want to see that."

"It's fine. I don't mind!" Jiah said. "My room could be worse."

Droning, Hoseok pursed his lips into a thin line. Then, he said, "Don't be surprised when you see something weird."

"Okay," Jiah said, nodding her head up and down.

Hoseok held her hand and guided her through the narrow staircase. She walked behind him. As they reached the bedroom, Hoseok cleared the path to let her see.

A plain white, disheveled queen-sized bed by the small, grey chiffon curtain and window. In front of the staircase was his small work table. A cushion underneath for him to sit. A couple of design papers are stuck on a whiteboard, with 'to be true' written on black ink on the white surface.

Just below the board were three completed sketches of her. One depicted her during the In-Kang event, another captured her smiling at someone or something. Based on the subtle background, she recognized it as being taken in Singapore, at the Garden by the Bay. Another one looked like her zoning out, the subtle background was at their office.

There was an incomplete sketch of her as well on an opened sketchbook. That was her smiling as if she had taken a selfie.

She walked to the table and squatted down, landing the tip of her fingers on the sketches on the wall. "When did you draw these?" she questioned.

"When you weren't around," Hoseok answered, his intonation came out like a question. Then, he stuttered, "D-d-don't get me wrong. I was -"

"You missed me that much?" Jiah interjected, holding back a smile.

"W-well..."

The long silence prompted Jiah to raise her eyebrows at Hoseok. "Well? Is there anything you'd like to share?" she asked.

Hoseok sauntered toward the table and sat beside her. Tilting to one side with a hand stuffed into his jeans pocket, he fished out his phone. Just a moment after he unlocked it, he showed her a blurry photo of her. It was similar to the sketch of her in Singapore.

Throwing her head back as she laughed, she then asked, "Why is this blurry?"

"Joohee took that," Hoseok replied.

Chuckles on between her word. "Joohee?"

"Yeah. She stole my phone while I was busy with Taehyun. And then, she returned to Seokjin and acted like nothing happen."

"That silly girl." Giggling with a wide grin at the photo, she then jokingly made a serious look at Hoseok. She said, "I acknowledge your skills, Mister Hoseok."

Hoseok suppressed a smile at her. Noticing the opened sketchbook, he asked her, pointing at the sketchbook, "Do you want to know where I got this from?"

Jiah's eyebrows jumped. "Of course! Where did you get this from?"

"I got it from Seokjin hyung."

Suppressing her lips from curving up, she then said, "I see. Since it's Seokjin, I'm assuming you had a hard time convincing."

"No, I hadn't," Hoseok said. "I got demotivated with drawing one time, so I played around with the CCTV past footage. I found several parts of him yawning. I used that to threaten him."

Jiah scrunched her nose as she giggled and said, "You are an idiot."

"For you," Hoseok drawled, his elbow resting on the table while his chin was on his palm.

Then, Jiah pointed at the other sketches on the board as she asked, "And this one?"

Looking at the sketch, Hoseok mumbled, "Oh that. Uhm." He paused. "Two of the sketches are... it's you in my memory."

Jiah's wide grin slowly fell. Instead, her eyes softened with her subtle sigh released from her nose. She softly scolded, "You should've called me when you missed me. Even Taehyung-ie got the time to talk to me and update me about you. What were you thinking?"

"Well, you know," Hoseok paused, allowing a brief stillness. "Remember when you told me, we both need time to heal and to grow?" Jiah nodded her head. Hoseok mirrored her before he continued, "I was thinking. I don't want our process to heal and to grow to be interrupted by one call and message. I also learned that missing you benefits me somehow. The eagerness while waiting for you to come back motivated me to change."

"One call or message wouldn't interrupt anything," Jiah groaned, still with a softened gaze.

"I knew you'd say that. But I know me," Hoseok said.

Squinting her eyes at Hoseok while tapping her index finger on the opened sketchbook, Jiah asked, "How about this one? You asked Seokjin oppa for a photo of me. Isn't that what you call a cheat?"

"You know -" He paused, scooting closer to her. "I've been working out with Namjoon these days. I learned there's a thing called 'cheat day.' I'm putting a cheat day on this matter too. Does that make sense?" Hoseok uttered and Jiah snorted.

"Idiot," she muttered.

"You love me," Hoseok uttered, smiling with his eyesmile.

Playfully, Jiah glared at him.

"Oh! How's your father?" Hoseok asked.

"My father. Well," she drawled. "Wait -" Narrowing her eyes at him, she asked, "Were you the one settling his debts?"

"Huh?" Hoseok lifted his eyebrows before running a nervous glance elsewhere. Shaking his head, he whispered, "No." A hard smack landed on his calf, resulting in a yelp. He rubbed his throbbing calf with a grimace.

"Why did you do that?" Jiah inquired, eyebrows frowned as she recognized one of Hoseok's habits. "How are you going to pay the staff's salary?"

"You don't have to worry," Hoseok said, pulling her into his arm, her head on his chest. Mischievous Jiah poked his stomach with a playful angry look and before she could poke more, he caught her wrist while laughing. Looking down at her, he added, "Listen to what I have to say."

Jiah slowly lifted her head to look at him. In a harsh tone, she asked, "What is it?"

"Investors are investing in Hope World," he uttered.

A big question mark bubbled in Jiah's brain. Blinking her eyes multiple times, she pushed herself up and stared at Hoseok with a blank look. She asked, "What do you mean?"

"We don't have any ties with the In-Kang now. The investors heard a lot about us and I showed them my apparel designs. So they're investing in us now," Hoseok said.

"No, no, no, no. Wait, wait," Jiah said, lifting a palm. "Hope World?"

A soft smile popped on Hoseok's face. He said, "I changed the boutique's name."

"Mind if I ask why?"

A soft sigh was released and Hoseok said, "I think it's time for something new. I'm trying to lead us to move on. But that doesn't mean I discredit Bejiwoo with its growth."

A soft beam grew slowly on Jiah's lips. When silence lingered, she stood on her knees, stroking Hoseok's caramel brown head with both of her palms next. And then, she said, "You've been progressing great, I see. That's good."

Hoseok wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. "It's because of you," he said.

Jiah rested her hands on his shoulders and said, "You, alone, have done a good job. I'm very –" closing her eyes with eyebrows furrowed, she pressed, "–very proud of you."

Smiling at Jiah, Hoseok then rested her head on her chest and said, "Thank you." Stroking her back, he looked up at her and asked, "Is there another way to express that I love you?"

Grinning, she lightly smacked his shoulder. "Are you serious? You haven't answered my question. Were you the one who settled my father's debt?"

Without hesitation, Hoseok replied, "Yeah, I was the one." He lifted a finger. "And that's because... I feel bad."

"Why? You should've told me," Jiah drawled.

"I remember all the stories you shared with me. Firing you for a ridiculous reason was my biggest mistake. I still regret it to this day. I settled your father's debt without telling you because I know you would stop me. Helping to settle the debt, at least, lessen the guilt inside," Hoseok explained. "And that makes me happy."

Jiah stared at him, forcing a long silence to linger. What else she could do with this knowledge? Nonetheless, she let out a defeated sigh and said, "Fine. I'll let this slide."

"Oh, before I forget. We'll go to Jeju Island the day after tomorrow. Do you want to come with us?"

"We?" Jiah's eyebrows jumped. "With the staff?" The man nodded his head. Then, she said, "But I'm not your P.A anymore."

"It's okay. You can come as the boss's girlfriend," Hoseok said, smiling and Jiah smiled at him back.

**********

During that day, Jiah decided to cancel her plan of visiting her friend, opting instead to spend the night at Hoseok's apartment. Throughout the day and night, they engaged in lengthy conversations, catching up on all that they had missed.

Jiah informed him that Wendy was getting married and expressed her desire for both of them to attend the wedding. Hoseok's reaction to the news confirmed that he was making progress in moving forward. Witnessing his response filled Jiah with a sense of pride and relief. Meanwhile, her father's barbershop had been thriving. With Hoseok's assistance, Mr. Lee renovated the shop and hired a team of trained men and women.

Hoseok reciprocated by sharing his own experiences. He revealed that his parents had been undergoing therapy, with his father showing swift improvement and returning to work. However, his mother required more time to heal, and the healthcare professionals recommended admitting her for monitoring.

Furthermore, Hoseok explained the reason behind his decision to move to a new apartment. The absence of his mother and sister had left their previous home feeling empty. However, this didn't imply that he neglected his father, who was now showing interest in his life. His father even inquired about Jiah and expressed a desire to meet her.

As they cuddled on the bed, Jiah couldn't help but smile at the progress they had made in their lives. As the night grew later, they eventually drifted off to sleep, with Hoseok giving her a tender 'good night' peck.

*********

Namjoon had finally graduated from university, clutching his degree in hand. The entire Hope World staff expressed their admiration for how far he had come while juggling his work. Namjoon humbly acknowledged that without the cooperative environment, he wouldn't have been able to achieve this milestone.

The day after Namjoon's graduation, they flew to Jeju Island to celebrate. Upon arriving at the hotel in the afternoon, they planned to indulge in the famous Jeju black pork for lunch. Consequently, they headed to the hotel's back area for a barbecue.

Just as Jiah was helping Jisoo with the side dishes, she spotted Hoseok standing beside Jungkook who was grilling the meat. She saw Hoseok in a short sleeves hoodie. She caught him looking around as he stole a piece of meat. And, when Hoseok caught her looking at him as well, he smirked at her and winked.

Jiah froze before awkwardly running her sight somewhere. Flustered, she murmured, "Hoseok isn't shy anymore."

As if Jisoo heard her talk, Jisoo asked, "What did you say?"

Jiah widened her eyes before blinking it fast and relaxed. "Nothing," she said.

At the same time, she heard someone call them out. "Hi, everyone!"

All of them turned their heads to see Jimin approaching them with a cuboid, white, polystyrene box. There was a sticker with a tangerine symbol stuck vertically around the box. He used to have blond hair. It felt unfamiliar that he had black hair at the moment.

Hoseok walked to him and slung his arm around the younger's shoulders. Looking around, Jiah noticed the rest hesitated to welcome him, looking at each other until Jisoo hastily took off the black rubber gloves from her hands and went to approach Jimin.

Jisoo smiled at Jimin and said, "Let me get that."

Reluctantly, Jimin passed Jisoo the box. But before the box could land in Jisoo's arm, Wheein came to snatch the box and strode away to place it on a table. Unlike Jisoo seemed to have moved on, judging by the way Wheein looked at Jimin, she seemed like she was still angry and overprotective of her girlfriend.

Despite Wheein's reaction, Jisoo expressed her gratitude to Jimin for his presence. Awkwardly, Jimin remained silent, offering a faint twitch of his lips and a slight bow.

Upon noticing Jiah, Jimin bowed at her. "Hello, noona."

Jiah bowed at him, displaying a wide smile.

"Jimin-ah, stay with Jungkook and help with the grilling!" Seokjin instructed, his attention still glued to his phone as he lounged in his chair.

"Yes, hyungnim!" Jimin chimed and then, jogged to Jungkook who was fanning the grill under the camp.

Upon witnessing the scene, Hoseok and Jiah looked at each other from a distance. He lifted his shoulders with lips pursed. Jiah mirrored him, displaying a bitter smile before releasing a sigh.

After lunch, they took a break and dispersed to different places to explore. Until the time struck at five o'clock. They prepared a congratulatory cake for Namjoon. Namjoon couldn't hide his dimples at the sight of his friend singing a 'congratulations song' for him. After blowing the candles, all the guys gave him a brotherly hug, congratulating him once again.

As Namjoon had suggested prior to the trip, they played dodgeball game at a wide space. He had brought a ball from home.

Seokjin was paired with his sister. Wheein picked Jungkook to protect her. And of course, Hoseok picked Jiah to play with. Amber as their referee. Taehyung and Jimin would sit back and watch their play.

Namjoon and Yoongi would be on each side of the edge to target the players. As Jungkook was considered to have a well-built body, everyone suggested that his group will on one side, alone, and he agreed with that.

"Ready? Start!" Amber shouted.

They played a few rounds, and Jiah and Hoseok always ended up getting ousted first. Jiah got hit in the arm in the first round, on her back in the second round, and in the third round, she got hit on her back again when she slipped and fell to the ground.

In the final round, Hoseok and Jiah were given another chance. And if she got hit by the ball again, they would have to clean after them.

Jungkook grabbed the ball in the middle first. He whispered to Wheein, "Who should I throw this to?"

Wheein let out an exasperated sigh. Her hands were on her hips as her tongue rolled the lip ring in the middle of her bottom lips. She scolded, "Why are you asking me, dummy? Anyone!"

As if Jungkook got the cue, he looked at Hoseok and targeted the woman behind him.

Hoseok spun around with Jiah, stopping the ball from targeting her. The ball was in Namjoon's hand this time and he targeted Jiah too. Hoseok spun them around again, maintaining his girlfriend behind him.

However, Jungkook was known to be athletic. He managed to target Jiah by sending the ball to her face. It landed on her face with a loud bang. Everyone - except Hoseok and Jiah - let out a flustered and nervous laugh.

Hoseok had his eyes widened as he asked, "Are you okay?"

Wheein smacked Jungkook's back. Jungkook looked at Jiah with a flustered look, "noona, I'm sorry!"

Jiah let out a whining noise with her hand still on her face. She whimpered, "It hurts..."

All of a sudden, the water came to drizzle the land from the sky. Others screamed as they ran to the camp. Meanwhile, Jiah stayed in that position with Hoseok in front.

Squinting his eyes as the rain down poured after a few seconds of drizzling, as the surrounding sounds muffled, Hoseok shouted, "Jiah-yah, run to the camp!"

However, Jiah refused to budge. Her short hair flattened on her head and neck, her clothes stuck on her as if they were her second skin. She could feel her bra molded against her blouse.

Hoseok grabbed her wrist but, she pulled it away. "I'm not okay. It's painful as hell!" Jiah yelled at him, concealing the agony on her face.

Hoseok gasped, his eyes widened. "You got the ball's print on your face!" he exclaimed.

"It's painful, painful, painful!" Jiah repeated. "How could a boyfriend do a bad job protecting his girlfriend? Asking me if I'm okay? That's all that you have?"

There was silence for a while as Hoseok stared at her with a frown. He took off his hoodie, revealing his black, short sleeves undershirt, and covered her body with it.

However, Jiah slammed the hoodie to the ground.

Meanwhile, at the camp, Jungkook asked his older friends, "What's wrong with noona? Has menopause hit her early?" A loud smack on his back came from Wheein again. She hissed, "It's your fault, dummy."

Hoseok looked at Jiah with eyebrows frowning. Scanning nervously, he gripped both of her arms, turning her body left and right as he asked, "Where does it hurt?"

He took her hands, caressing them, looking at her, and asked again, "Here?" and then, he kissed its back. "No?" he asked with a light frown and shake on his head. As if he remembered the pain on her face, he cupped her cheeks, scanning them. "Here?" He pecked the tip of her nose.

Jiah looked away, sucking her lips to hold back a smile. Though, she cheekily answered, "Nope!"

"No? Then, here?" Hoseok asked, kissing her left cheek. "Or else, here?" He kissed her right cheek. However, still no response from his girlfriend. Without a question, he planted a long kiss on her forehead and then, looked down at her for confirmation.

Jiah almost let out a snort but managed to endure it. By that time, the rain drizzled again.

"In that case..." He murmured, looking down at her lips. Upon noticing her cheeks formed two rounds as a result of her holding back a grin, he mused with a grin, "Ah, are you serious now?"

Faking a sassy look, she sucked her cheeks before asking, "What's wrong? It's red here –" she circled her face with her finger before tapping her lips "– but this is where it hurts."

"Hah!" Hoseok exclaimed and then muttered, "Silly."

Still maintaining the sassy look, she asked, "Are you just going to leave me in pain?"

"No!" he declared, pulling her closer by wrapping an arm around her waist and cupping her cheek with his hand. Leaning in, he closed the distance between their faces, and finally, their lips met in a tender, deep kiss. His warm, gentle breath brushed against her lips, and with her hands placed between their chests, she felt their hearts beating in unison.

At the same time, their friends groaned and squealed from the camp. Seokjin chimed in, "Turn around, kids. Give them some privacy. Seriously, they need to get a room." The group laughed, prompting the couple to break the kiss and join in the laughter.

As the laughter subsided, Jiah and Hoseok returned their gaze to each other with softened eyes. Giggling, Hoseok rested his forehead against hers, his arms still around her waist as Jiah wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Again?" Hoseok asked. His stare softened with eyebrows slightly raised.

The wider Jiah's grin became as she said, "Again."

- THE END -

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A/N: Scene inspired from:

I'm sad that I have to let this fanfic go 😭😭😭