✨

Miss Manoban's lips tastes like a mixture of strawberries and cherries. Sweet—too much that he can't help but get caught in some sort of sugar rush. And that rush gave him the courage to even further deepen the kiss they were currently sharing.

She welcomed every movement with equal intensity. So much that he had no idea how they managed to go back inside her office. Only the soft 'thud' of Miss Manoban's back on the couch made him realize where they were.

His hands trailed from her waist down to her hips. It was perfect. She was perfect.

He had to lean back to get some much needed air. But that did not mean he would stop. It only gave him another chance to check whether she wants this too or not.

His fingers gently brushed away some stray hair strands along her face—which was perfectly illuminated by the moonlight coming from the glass windows.

She stared at him the same way he did. Her breaths ragged the same way his were. They stayed like that—until he decided to lean back in which she welcomed wholeheartedly.

He felt her hands on his chest. But she wasn't pushing him away. She was actually clutching on his dress shirt, pulling him in closer. And yes, he came in closer intensifying their shared kiss to a full on make-out.

"Jungkook..." The way she moaned his name awakened something in him. Not that it wasn't already fully awake.

"Yes, Miss Manoban?" he responded—his voice a bit hoarse from the whole...thing.

"You're not allowed to go on dates," she ordered as his lips travelled down her neck.

"Uh-hmm," He hummed while placing butterfly kissed along the way.

"Good," she whispered back—arching her back involuntarily. "You're only mine, Secretary Jeon. Understood?"

A smile crept on his face.

"Yes, Miss Manoban."

✨

"She'll love these," Jimin said smiling at the bouquet of red and pink roses as he made his way into the apartment complex.

It's been a while since they've had a decent break so Jin's situation had been a blessing in disguise. Now he can go and have that date he promised Rosé weeks ago.

"Ros—"

He stopped on his tracks—just by the end of the hallway when someone other than Rosé stepped out of her apartment. He immediately hid himself but still peaked a bit.

He clearly saw how his girlfriend tiptoed and kissed the stranger on the cheek affectionately. And judging by the way the guy smiled, the affection was well received.

Leaning on the wall—well hidden from his girlfriend's view, he felt his ears heat up. Anger. Rage. He can't make out the right emotion for it. Frustrated. Humiliated. Still nothing.

The guy passed by him in smiles and all. Guess he thought he's got a chance. Maybe he does. But firstly, he had to confront the cheater.

"Oppa! Did you forget some—Jimin?" Roseanne looked genuinely shocked as he entered her apartment.

"Why? Were you expecting someone else?" His voice laced with poisonous venom. "You thought I wasn't coming over so you had another guy warming up the couch, huh?"

Rosé's forehead creased. What is he talking about? She thought.

"What the hell, Jimin?" she spat back. She was just in such a good mood but here he is, ruining it. "Another guy warming up the couch?"

"Or bed," he accused. "Whichever applies since what I saw just now seemed like it's more than just the f**king couch."

"What?" she was genuinely confused. "What you saw earlier?"

And then it sunk in. Chanyeol.

"You mean, Changeol oppa?" She asked.

"Don't bother denying it," Jimin exclaimed. "I saw it with my own two eyes!"

"Saw what exactly?" she asked on gritted teeth. This better be good, Park Jimin.

"You kissed him!" he yelled. "You kissed him—"

"On the cheek," she continued for him as she folded her arms.

"Yes!" he roared. "And you're not even denying it. You kissed another guy while you're in a relationship. You cheated on me!"

Rosé's mouth flew open but not in a shocked manner. She was appalled.

"Pipe down, you drama queen. Chanyeol's my brother!" she lashed out rendering him speechless. "If you had just been listening to me—as how a normal boyfriend should, you'd know I have a big brother. How could you even think I'd cheat on you? After everything I sacrificed for you? Everything I had to endure just to be with you? The audacity, Park Jimin! How could you?!"

Jimin grew pale as he heard his girlfriend's explanation. It took him a few seconds of silence to react and start begging for forgiveness—completely forgetting how hurtful his words were.

"Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't—I... I'm really sorry baby. I was just stressed and I couldn't rhink clearly—"

He tried to reach for her hand but she violently brushed it away. She was angry. She was enraged. But ultimately, she felt so frustrated.

"Baby, I—"

"Leave," she said with finality pointing at the door. "Leave and never talk to me again. We're through, Park Jimin. I can't take this anymore. I've sacrifice a lot for this relationship just as much as you do so I don't deserve this treatment. I put aside my own feelings just to make you happy and I'm done. I can't do this anymore."

Jimin felt as if his soul was drained out of his body.

"Baby—I... Don't do this baby. I'm sorry. It's my fault. I... Baby please—"

"I've had enough of this, Jimin," she said softening her tone. But she was still angry. "I've had enough of the hiding and all the fighting! You always say you don't mean it but you still do. Enough is enough. I'm ending this before it eventually ruins the both of us."

A life without Park Chaeyoung for him isn't a life at all. Even just thinking about losing her send him into a pit of desperation.

Just as she was about to turn away from him, he wrapped his arms around her slim figure.

"Please, Chae..." he begged, squeezing her tight. "Don't leave me..."

"My decision is final, Jimin," she said—voice cracking a bit. "A-And there's nothing you can do about it."

Park Roseanne—Chaeyoung in Korean, couldn't take seeing the man she loved begging like this. It breaks her, to be honest. But what about her? What about her feelings? She's hurting too and hearing Jimin himself say those words like he doesn't even trust her...

She's hurting as much as he is. She deserves to be able to save herself from all this pain.

Chaeyoung removed his arms which had wrapped around her tiny waist as he begged for her not to leave him. But of course, Jimin wouldn't let her. He's not gonna let her go.

"Baby. Please. Please... Don't you love me anymore?"

"You have no idea how much I do, Jimin," she said softly—her walls slowly breaking as she watch him desperately clinging on her.

"Then please, Chae," he begged. "Please don't leave me. I... I don't know what will happen to me if you'll leave me. You're my life. You're everything to me—"

"Stop!" She screamed. "Just stop it, okay? This is getting too toxic, Jimin. I can't take this anymore!"

Silence fell as Jimin suddenly stopped begging. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

And he just had to open his mouth.

"You've been seeing someone else, have you?"

✨

It was a lot like deja vu. Jungkook was forced to open his eyes due to the blinding sunlight coming from the window. But unlike before, he was alone lying on the couch. Shirtless.

He sat up and grabbed his phone from the coffee table to check the time. Seven. Fifteen.

"Oh great. You're awake."

His head turned towards the desk—Miss Manoban's desk, where she was currently sitting behind of while scanning some documents. She was wearing what seems to be his white dress shirt and her hair was tied in a messy bun that made her look a thousand folds delectable. Like a full ten-course meal. And those specs did not help his case.

"Close that mouth of yours, Secretary Jeon. Flies might get in."

He thought of a good comeback. But he wasn't sure if he should say it or not. They were at the office and it was almost time for work.

But then again, they did it in the office a little some time after work so...

"Why don't you close it for me then, Miss Manoban?"

He saw how Miss Manoban suddenly stopped from flipping through the contracts and then turning towards him. He tensed a bit thinking he might lose his job after that crude comment.

But the sly smirk slowly forming on her lips says otherwise. She stood up, walked over to him, and took her eyeglasses off sexily. Well, everything she does at this point looks sexy as his shirt barely hiding her long toned legs—the cheeks of her bum peaking.

"I honestly don't know which one I like more," she said placing her arms on both his shoulders. She positioned herself in between his legs. "The shy and timid Secretary Jeon or the bold and straightforward Jungkook."

"You can have both," he answered placing his hands on her waist—pulling her even closer. "I'm Secretary Jeon Jungkook, at your service."

A smirk formed on Miss Manoban's lips as she slowly leaned forward. But all of a sudden, the door to her office bursted open.

"Hey Lisa—what the hell?"

The two did froze in their positions as Jennie Kim came inside the office.

"Looks like someone doesn't know how to knock," Miss Manoban murmured under her breath before turning towards the shocked director. "Jennie. What a pleasant surprise."

Jennie looked both surprised and confused—brows furrowed and all. Behind her was Taehyung trying his best to stop himself from smiling.

"I thought..." Jennie then turned to Jungkook—hand pointed at him. "I thought you said you two weren't actually dating!"

"We weren't," he answered truthfully.

"Then how would you explain this?" She motioned her hand from Lisa then back towards him. "It's obvious you two just... just—"

"We really weren't together," Miss Manoban answered for him and propped on arm on her hip. "But now we are. So stop making him go on blind dates. I don't like sharing."

"But he said—"

"We'll be going now," Taehyung immediately cut his girlfriend off as she was starting to go all hysterical. His hand was on her mouth. "But um... it's close to eight and I think Miss Han and the other staff are already in the building."

"Duly noted, Mr. Kim," Miss Manoban said before the couple went out of the room.

If Jungkook did not see the smirk slowly forming on Lisa's mouth, he wouldn't have noticed the burning sensation on his cheeks. Also, she was still standing in between his legs and looked fairly comfortable.

"We uhm... w-we need to get changed—"

Miss Manoban faced him and wrapped her arms around his neck as well as climb on top of his lap—making them both fall back on the couch.

"What if I don't want to?" she tested. "What are you gonna do about it, Jeon Jungkook?"

He suddenly felt a huge lump in his throat. Something slowly awakening amidst the pending dangers of being caught—yet again, in a compromising position.

"Miss Mano—" Her raised eyebrow made him stop what he was about to say. He cleared his throat. "L-Lisa."

"Huh."

Miss Manoban leaned back and sat upright on top of him. Arms folded.

"That's weird," she muttered. "Why do I find you calling me Miss Manoban a hundred times enticing? Like I'm dom or something. It's rather... kinky."

The burning of his face continued and he felt like his insides were about to explode. How in the world can someone talk about kinks that freely? Like it was a casual conversation between a woman and a heavily aroused man. Can she not feel it?!

"Where's the bold Jungkook?" She said as she leaned in closer. "Do you really want to be sub—"

Miss Manoban was cut off when he suddenly stood up and made a beeline straight towards the door.

"Ya—"

Lisa froze as she heard the click of the door's lock. It was her turn to grow nervous.

"We wouldn't want anyone else disturbing us now, would we?"

✨

"I get it that you misunderstood but really, Jimin?" Namjoon started as he paced back and forth in the practice room. "Of all people you could accuse of cheating... are you crazy?!"

"What else do you want me to think, hyung?" Jimin spat back. "She wanted to break up all of a sudden! Even after I begged and apologized—"

"You accused her of cheating," Jin interjected. "Of course she'd be pissed. Even after everything you guys went through, you had the audacity to tell her—"

"I get it!" he yelled. "I screwed up. Fine! I'll talk to her and ask for another chance—"

"That won't be necessary."

Chaeyoung's soft voice suddenly echoed inside the practice room. Jimin immediately beamed and stood up.

"Babe—"

But before he could walk over to her, she dropped a box full of trinkets. Trinkets that he gave her.

"There's more back in the apartment," she said—plainly and straightforward. "You have keys there so it won't be hard for you to access. I already took my things and moved."

"Y-You're moving?" he asked surprised. "But baby it's your apartment too—"

"I don't think it's right to stay there now that we've broken up," she answered. "And for the place, you can have it."

"B-But where are you gonna stay?"

"That's the concern of a friend or a boyfriend. Neither of which you are."

Her words sent chills down his spine. Not once did he ever see her that mad at him.

"And besides, you did say I was seeing someone else right?" she sarcastically retorted taking everyone aback.

How bad was their fight for the usually sweet and nice Park Chaeyoung to act like this?

Everyone was silent. Even Jimin can't seem to react at the coldness Rosé was showing them. Was it that bad?

"Also, don't bother contacting me," she added. "I already changed my phone number. If you need something from me—don't. The apartment and everything in there is yours. Goodbye."

As the girl pivoted towards the door, Jimin bolted to follow her. But Namjoon and Jin had other plans taking Chaeyoung by surprise.

"Ya! Let me go!" The guy exclaimed.

"Let her be, Jimin," Namjoon told him off. Rosé gave the guy a polite nod before disappearing to the hallway. It was then the two older guys let him go.

"What was that for, hyung?" Jimin yelled—pissed.

"You know her better than anyone else, Jimin," the older guy sternly said. "And that wasn't Chaeyoung. You broke her."

"What? What do you by that?!"

"Jimin, Chaeyoung's the nicest girl we know," Jin interjected. "And for years, she put up with you and sacrificed even her career. Remember?"

Jimin couldn't respond. Back then when Royal had just debuted, Rosé was set to debut in a subsidiary label as well. But before she could, they got caught in multiple dating rumors—which weren't exactly rumors, and was under public scrutiny. The company resorted to placing Rosé in the production staff roster just to explain why they hung out a lot. JHS Entertainment told everyone that Rosé was a songwriter instead of a trainee set for debut.

"But it wasn't my fault—"

"Really, Jimin? It wasn't your fault?"

He sighed. It was. Partly. It was his idea to go out in Han River together for a date. To celebrate his debut and her upcoming one. As well as eating in that ramen place. Or the one in Hongdae.

"You've been having fights lately too," Namjoon mentioned with his arms folded. "And it's not occasionally. It's almost every single day."

"And this is just one of those," he tried to make himself believe. "We'll be okay again. I just need to talk to her and apologize."

"You already did and look what it got you," Jin set him straight. "Look. We understand this break-up hurts but, maybe it's what you two need. Maybe the both of you need some time away from each other. Your relationship's getting a bit toxic."

Feeling defeated, he sighed. He admits that what came out of his mouth that night was way out of line. The stress of all the sh*t they've been through plus the comeback was taking a toll on him. And he let it out on her. Too often.

"Will we be okay, hyung?" He said softly. "I... I don't want to lose her."

Namjoon gave him a soft pat on the shoulder.

"If you truly love her, you'll give her what she needs," the guy advised. "And right now, what she needs is space. Don't make it more difficult for the both of you than it already is."

Jimin's gaze wandered towards the door Chaeyoung walked out of.

"Okay..."

✨

Jungkook was busy scanning through the piece of document while enjoying a sandwich. After what seemed to be a very good morning, he accompanied Miss Manoban back to her place before proceeding to go back to his. She opted him to stay but he wasn't the company CEO. He can't just not show up for work and get away with it.

"I'm your bloody boss, Jungkook. And I'm ordering you to stay here with me and take responsibility of my soreness!"

He felt his cheeks burn again as he recalled their conversation. As much as he wanted to stay, there were a lot of things to be done with Royal's comeback and KWIN's debut. Plus, he needed to oversee Miss Ji Eun's contract for her upcoming drama.

"Mind if I sit here, Secretary Jeon?"

His head raised to meet the new comer's line of sight. Mr. Kim Hanbin. Right. He's here for Royal's comeback.

As he was about to stand up to give him a proper greeting, Hanbin immediately stopped him. "That's not necessary, Jungkook."

The two of them sat awkwardly across each other as they both dug into their meals. It took them a few minutes to start some sort of conversation.

"I uh... I saw the new choreography," Jungkook said gaining Hanbin's attention. "You never disappoint, Mr. Kim. It really blended well with the song."

Hanbin smiled. "Call me 'Hanbin', Jungkook. And thank you. The team really worked hard on it. It took us twice the effort to match up with Lisa's concept idea."

"She does want everything to go perfectly," he added. "It's quite refreshing for the company having out-of-the-box concepts."

"Well that's Lisa. Everything she does is out of this world. You should see her perform back then..."

Jungkook saw how Hanbin started to look uneasy.

"I uh..." the guy hesitated for a bit. "I'm guessing you know about what happened three years ago?"

"Yes," he answered. "Miss Manoban mentioned a few details."

"I know you're thinking I was a sh*tty boyfriend for doing that to her and her brother."

He didn't say anything. He just sat there and listened. Maybe he might tell his side of the story. Which might help Miss Manoban overcome her trauma.

"But believe me, I had no intention abandoning them that night. I must've hit my head pretty badly that I suddenly blacked out," he continued. "I woke up in a hospital feeling the worst. Because of me, my girlfriend's injured and one of my closest friends died."

"It wasn't your fault," he said making the guy smile.

"I'd like to believe that too," Hanbin answered forcing a smile. "I know she blames me for what happened. And I went through tons of therapies because I think so too. That's why I want to gain their forgiveness. Hoseok hyung did but Lisa... she refuses to talk to me."

"You can't force people to forgive you, Hanbin."

"I know," he said with a heavy sigh. "I know I can't miraculously bring Jaewon back to life but, I want to apologize to her face to face. It's okay if she doesn't forgive me. I just want her to know that I never meant it to happen. And that I never abandoned her."

He can't help but feel a bit sympathetic towards Hanbin. He was sincere and one can really see how he genuinely cared for Miss Manoban.

"I want to talk with her so that we can both start forgiving ourselves," he said taking him by surprise. "I know Lisa well. I know she's been blaming herself too. She's the best dancer I've ever known, Jungkook. She beat out thousands of applicants for that part in New York. And she's a fighter. So even if she got injured, I'm sure it would've only taken a year for her to recover."

"So you're saying that it's all in her head?"

"She needs help, Jungkook," Hanbin stated. "She had refused everyone around her. But I have a feeling that you can help her."

✨

"Chaeng?"

Chaeyoung let out a sigh before turning towards her brother with her suitcase at tow.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked before loading to to his car.

"Yes, oppa," she answered with a heavy heart as she clutched her passport and boarding pass. "It's better this way. I don't think I'd be able to move forward if I stayed."

"What about..."

"I'll be fine, Chanyeol," she assured him. "I can get through this. I have you, mom, dad and Alice. I'm a strong girl, oppa."

"I know you're strong, Chaeng." Chanyeol held both her shoulders. "But... But the situation's different and—"

"That's why I'm doing this," she said firmly. "I'm doing this for us, Chan. It's not safe for us to be near him—"

"He has the right to know, Chaeng," the guy insisted. "He's the father."

"He might not think so, oppa."

✨