"Is this making you feel better?"

Jimin and Tae hum in response to your question, cooking the chicken together as the thick smell hits your nose. It's a bit sweet. The pasta is a nice contrast to it, making a pleasant aroma imbue the house.

"What if he doesn't like chicken alfredo?" you ask, not really expecting an answer. 

"Then you break things off with him," Jimin says with a scoff. 

"What if I don't like chicken alfredo?"

Jimin turns to you, holding his wooden spoon aggressively. "That's a war crime." 

"Uh oh, the Italian in him is coming out," Tae says. 

"Italian?" you ask, leaning back in your chair.

Jimin huffs, lowering the spoon and going back to the chicken. "Born and raised in Italy with this dumbass." 

Tae pouts. "I'm not dumb." 

"Sweetie, we're soulmates. I got the ass, you got the dumb." 

"You're in hitting distance," Tae says with narrowed eyes. 

"We're both highly trained bodyguards and I'm holding a spoon." 

"I'm holding a frying pan," Tae says, clicking his tongue and giving Jimin a sassy expression. Jimin's face falls. 

"Shit." 

"Shit is right."

You playfully roll your eyes. "Are you two men or children?" 

"A bit of both. I'd classify us as geniuses over men or children though," Jimin replies. 

"So you're Italian and Korean? Is that what's happening? I'm stuck with pasta and rice for the rest of my life?" you ask. 

"Oh wow, way to stereotype," Tae says. 

"We've eaten nothing but rice and spicy noodles this past week with the occasional breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast," you say.

The two of them share a glance, then, they sigh. "Shit," they say in-sync. 

"Oh my God, you really are soulmates," you mumble. "If you were raised in Italy, why are you part of the western witness protection program?" 

"We work all over the world," Tae explains, "we're technically stationed in Italy. Learned Italian, English, Korean, Spanish, French... you name the language, we probably at least know the basics. Not to brag, but we're the best bodyguards in Italy, arguably in the west too. That's why you're stuck with us."

You slowly nod, absorbing all that they're saying. "Since I'm so important, I have not one but two of the best?" 

"Normally we work together," Jimin says, nudging Tae. "We're better together than apart. Believe it or not, we're more focused together. We have each other's backs and yours. Always. We're dedicated to our jobs. More dedicated than the average person. Hell, even the average bodyguard." 

"And you're hot," you say. Truthfully, you didn't mean to say that out loud. 

"What does that have to do with us being the best, hm?" Jimin asks, quirking one of his brows as a smirk spreads across his plump lips. Ugh, he knows he's hot.

"It makes me more comfortable," you manage to answer, keeping a stiff smile on your face. Before Jimin can reply, the doorbell rings. "Saved by the bell," you mumble, standing and rushing over. 

Tae follows on instinct, leaving Jimin on kitchen duty. You open it, not surprised to see Jungkook standing there. "Wasn't sure how fancy this was," he says while fiddling with his fingers. 

He still looks good even for 'not too fancy'. A white t-shirt with a leather jacket, dark blue jeans, gloves covering his hands. Wait wait wait, is that a motorcycle parked out front? 

"I thought you said public transportation is good enough," you say. 

"I make exceptions for a beauty like Roci there." 

"Roci?" 

"Short for Rocinante. You know, the horse from Don Quixote?" he asks. 

"Okay, stop using your nerd language on me. I didn't study that much in school," you say with a grunt. So he's educated and hot. Great. This is going well already.

"Come on in," Tae offers. 

Jungkook agrees, stepping inside. Tae closes and locks the door behind him. You almost snort. Bodyguards always lock doors. Granted, your parents did too, but they did it for a completely different reason. You shake any thoughts of your parents away. Thinking of them reminds you of the sky, and that's the last thing you need right now. Instead, you follow Jungkook and Tae into the kitchen, where Jimin's plating the table.

"Hope you like chicken," Jimin says. 

"I love meat," Jungkook replies. 

"Me too!" you say. 

Jungkook smirks at you. "Oh yeah? I have some meat you can enjo-" 

"Okay, listen," Jimin interrupts, holding up his baby-sized index finger. "I make sex jokes more than everyone in this room combined, but flirt with her in front of my chicken alfredo and you'll wake up with four broken legs." You mentally thank him for that one. 

"I only have two le- okay, you know what? I can't tell if he's genuinely concerned or just jealous," Jungkook replies with a sigh, sitting down. "I hope this seat isn't taken?" 

"It is now," you say, sitting across from him.

Meanwhile Tae sits next to you and Jimin across from him. "Go ahead and dig in!" Jimin says with a giggle, going right for it. 

"Oh my God, he's so cute," Taehyung mutters. 

"What was that?" Jimin asks. 

"N-Nothing," Tae stutters, turning to his plate to dig in. Jungkook and you laugh in their expense. Gosh they're cute. Tae glances at you and sheepishly smiles. Oh lord, what's he thinking? Probably that Jimin's hot, hm?

"So, Amira," Jungkook starts. 

"Why am I not surprised he's talking to her?" Jimin asks. 

"Grumpy Jae," Jungkook cheekily says, nudging the boy, "as I was saying. Amira. Do you do anything other than waitress and stare dramatically out at the sky?" 

"It's not dramatically," you mutter. 

"It's pretty dramatic," Tae says. 

"You're in hitting distance," you say with a glare. 

Jimin gasps, his eyes lighting up. "You're exactly like Hans and me. I'm so proud." 

"I should've stayed home," Jungkook says.

The table laughs, you pretending to whine and groan over the idea of being stuck with Taemin forever. Jungkook and Taehyung stare at you while Jimin happily keeps eating. 

"Do I have broccoli in my teeth or something?" you ask. 

"There's no broccoli in your bowl, is there?" Jimin asks back, still not noticing that two out of the three men are staring at you. Tae seems worried, Jungkook seems in love. Interesting.

"No, you just look beautiful," Jungkook says, then, he realizes he said that out loud and covers his mouth with his hand. 

"Oh great, he's in love," Jimin says with a mouthful of pasta. Tae mouths 'are you okay?' to you. You nod and smile, giving his hand a squeeze under the table. He relaxes and turns back to face the other two. 

"Oh wow," Jungkook says as he smacks his lips together. "This is really good. You outdid yourself, Jae." 

"I can't take all the credit," Jimin says. "Hans helped too. Amira just sat there and watched." 

"Hey!"

"So you can't cook?" Jungkook asks. 

"I can, but dumb and dumber over there won't let me. You asked for my hobbies, baking is one of them." 

Jungkook gives you heart eyes. "You're such wife material." 

"I wish I could leave my own house," Jimin mumbles, Tae nodding in agreement. Meanwhile you laugh and shake your head. 

Looks like this is going to be a long night.

~~~

After dinner, Amira ran off. He searched for a few minutes, now, here he is. Jungkook finds her on the balcony, amazed to see that she's staring at the night sky. The sun set hours ago, before Jungkook even arrived. He figured she'd have enough of it by now. 

"You're acting like this is your first time seeing the stars," he says, heading up and stopping next to her. She leans against the white railings, not speaking. "Amira? Everything okay?"

She smiles, but it looks sad. Like a forced one. "Whenever I disobeyed my parents, they locked me in my room for a whole day with one glass of water and no food," she starts. Jungkook goes still. "You were right, I do love the sky. But I never really told you why. They're the reason why. I would sit there for hours, bored out of my mind. I read all the books in my room at least a hundred times. They'd take my electronics, and as a teen I didn't exactly have much interest in kid toys anymore, so I looked at the sky. I was alone for a full day, but I always had the sun during the day and the stars at night. At the time there was nothing more beautiful than watching the sunrise and sunset. It made me forget all about the world and my parents, even if it was only for a moment."

Jungkook takes a risk and places his hand over hers. "No parents should treat you like that." 

"They did," she replies, "which is why I live here now, away from them. I hope away from them forever." 

He frowns, moving closer. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that." 

"Don't be. I don't know why I dropped that on you. I barely know you and here I am telling you about my life problems."

He moves his hand away to instead wrap his arm around her shoulder. "Don't feel bad about it. Sometimes we trust strangers more than people we've known our whole life." 

She peeks up at him. "Speaking from experience?"

"No, but I'm getting that experience right now." They stay quiet, only gazing at each other. Jungkook waits a moment before making his decision. "How about dancing?" he asks. 

"Dancing?" 

"I asked for hobbies earlier, is dancing one of them?"

"If I said yes?" she asks, her lips spreading into a smile.

He offers her his hand. "Then I'd ask if I could have one." 

Amira seems genuinely touched. So touched that she slips her hand into his. "I don't know anything about dancing, but I don't see why not," she whispers. Jungkook returns her smile and pulls her up against his chest, holding her waist while she wraps her arms around his neck.

They peer at one another, slow dancing under the night sky. No words are exchanged. It's them appreciating being in each other's presence. Jungkook twirls her around dramatically, Amira laughing at the action. He happily twirls her for another second before bringing her back to him. He dances with her in an older style, holding one of her hands while his other rests on her waist. Together, they sway back and forth once again.

"I don't know if I told you this, but you're beautiful," he whispers.

"You said it at dinner." 

"Shit, I forgot I said that out loud," he mutters, not hiding his embarrassment. 

She laughs and gets closer, booping her nose off of his. Oh fuck, he likes her. His ears turn red from the sudden proximity. Both of their eyes are playing games right now. His are flickering all across her body while hers go from his lips to his eyes multiple times. Regardless of their eyes undressing one another, they're both smiling like children. He feels like a child around her. Like an excited teen taking on the world.

"I barely know a thing about you," he says, coming even closer, "but for some reason all I want to do is dance with you and explore the world. Go on cute adventures and see new things. Does that make me creepy?" 

"Only if you kidnap me to do it," she replies. 

He laughs, placing his forehead on hers. "Don't give me ideas, Winters. I have a pretty big basement." 

"Rope too?" 

"I have handcuffs, but I keep those in the bedroom."

She nudges his shoulder, resulting in him laughing some more. He can't stop his rapid heartbeat around her. There's something about her that's so enticing. So beautiful. 

"Can I be honest, Mr. Jeon?" she asks. He instantly nods. "You're absolutely beautiful. And every second, I like you more. Tell me something basic. How was your day?" 

He shifts his head back and forth. "Uneventful until I came here. My sister teased me relentlessly for drooling over someone for the first time in almost two years." 

"Two years? I'm honored."

Before he can reply and tell her how special she truly is, the door opens. Hans stands there, the two jumping apart with a yelp. 

"Oh, sorry to interrupt," he says while scratching the back of his neck. "I was wondering where you went Ami, glad to know you're alright. Sorry to crash the party, but it's getting late." 

"I'll get going then," Jungkook replies, almost bowing. He nods to Amira. "See you later?" 

She gives his shoulder a small squeeze. "Goodnight, Jungkook." 

"Goodnight, Miss Winters. I look forward to seeing you again." 

Jungkook heads over to Hans and says his goodbyes, departing the room. Even when he says goodbye to Jae and leaves the house, his mind is on the same thing. Her. Amira Winters. 

What the hell is she doing to him?