Helen walked into the noisy nightclub after paying and tipping her ride share driver, squinting against the harsh lights. Spotting the bar, she headed over and ordered a shot of tequila. Downing it straight, she let the alcohol burn her throat as she remembered the events of today that brought her here.

She had just gotten off work and decided on a whim to get some ice cream. She drove by the place where she usually got her ice cream, a quaint little family-owned shop with the best ice cream cake she'd ever had. She got out of the car and walked up to the storefront, opening the door. Immediately, she was welcomed with the smell of sweetness. Smiling at Leo, the middle aged man who owned the store, she was just about to walk up to the register.

"Helen?"

She turned around. She wished she hadn't, even wished she'd never shown up here.

"Nick," she said tonelessly, her smile dropping immediately.

Nick de la Rosa, her ex boyfriend, walked up to her. Holding his hand was the woman he had dumped her for, Aisha Venkat. He at least had the decency to look awkward, but Helen barely noticed, silently wishing she could disappear from this situation.

Helen turned away, heading up to the register where Leo was waiting with a sympathetic smile. She'd been coming to this shop since she was a child, and Leo was like an uncle to her, so he easily pieced together what must have happened. Helen didn't want to walk away without ordering something, but she had suddenly lost her appetite so she opted for something small and easy to eat.

"I'll have the single vanilla scoop in a cup please," she told Leo.

Getting her ice cream and paying, she barely gave the couple a glance as she started to walk out of the store.

"Helen wait-"

"What, Nick?" she asked, exasperated.

"Just...I just wanted to know if you're okay."

Helen frowned before turning to face the couple. "You have some nerve asking me that, and it makes me almost feel bad for Aisha. You have your girlfriend, focus on her and leave me alone. I won't tell you to stop coming here just because I showed you the place, but if we ever run into each other again, don't talk to me. Walang hiya ka."

With that, she swung the door open and walked into the sunny June air, cooled by a tiny breeze. She mentally congratulated herself on resisting the urge to say something worse than just "you're shameless" in Tagalog, nearly pulling out an actual curse word from the reservoir Nick and his family had jokingly taught her over the past year.

Snapping out of her reverie, Helen ordered and downed another shot bitterly. It had been a rough month since Nick had dumped her, but she had been slowly piecing herself back together. Instead of getting a marriage proposal, she was dumped for Nick's beautiful coworker Aisha, Nick's reason being that Helen was just plain boring.

"You would make a great wife to someone, but you and I just aren't compatible," Nick had said after a full year of dating where they had already talked extensively about getting married someday. "I need someone who is more extroverted, and someone who gets me a little more. I really like your culture and Ghanaian traditions, but we're too different, and our work is too different to talk much about it either, with you being an accountant and me being an aerospace engineer."

"Getting dumped for being boring," Helen thought bitterly. "I can't even get mad either because Aisha is an actual sweetheart and a smart engineer like him."

She turned around to listlessly watch the dance floor. Everyone was having a great time, dancing to today's hits. She scanned the floor, figuring she might as well go home when she caught the figure of a man dancing.

He stood out in the crowd because he was actually dancing instead of just jumping to the beat. He wore a fitted black satin button-down shirt with sleeves that were rolled up to his elbows, showcasing his tattoo sleeve and tanned olive skin. The top three buttons were undone, showing his collarbone and the middle of his chiseled chest. His silky black hair styled in a curly mullet swayed with his body, framing a ridiculously handsome face. As he turned around, she could see his sharp eyes turned up into crescents as he grinned widely at something one of his friends had said. A glint made her realize he had both a lip and eyebrow piercing, and he had a row of small matte black stud earrings that climbed halfway up his ears. He was sexy, and generally the opposite of her ex, who had a cute boy next door vibe. This man looked like bad news, yet Helen couldn't help but watch him as he danced easily to the music, body swaying under the pulsing neon lights.

As Helen nursed her empty shot glass, she noticed he was surrounded by a couple of his male friends and a gaggle of women who were trying to dance with him. Somehow, he easily sidestepped every one of them, his lithe body continuing to dance as if it was part of a hidden choreography. Helen kept watching, transfixed by this mysterious man.

Suddenly, the man happened to look up, catching Helen staring. She looked away immediately, ashamed at being caught practically drooling at him. She turned back to the bar, ordering her third shot of tequila and downing it quickly with salt and lime this time before turning back around to look at the dance floor. He was still looking directly at Helen, still dancing, this time with an easy smile that sent a heated spike through her body. Feeling the effects of the alcohol, Helen lifted her chin and stared back at him, almost not noticing that the song had changed to a slower paced one. He stood still for a moment before dancing again, slower and more fluid this time, not taking his eyes off her even when another woman tried to dance with him.

Helen's breath hitched in her throat and she swallowed hard, his gaze sending shivers through her body. Struck with a crazy idea, she slid off the bar stool, eyes trained on the man. He lifted his pierced eyebrow, intrigued as Helen walked slowly toward him while the opening notes of "Like Crazy" by some famous foreign pop star named Jimin surrounded them. Other guys tried to dance with her, but she walked right past them without a glance, making a beeline for the handsome stranger. When she got close, she noticed a woman edging close to the man, persistently trying to dance with him and put her hands on his body.

Helen briefly side eyed her, noting that the woman was glaring at her in annoyance. Helen edged her out of the way with a gentle hip bump, ignoring her protests as she focused solely on the stranger, who was now wearing an amused grin as he looked down at her. Allowing the alcohol to boost her courage, Helen boldly hooked a finger into one of his front belt loops and quickly pulled him flush against her. The contact made her stomach flip and her face burn as her mind yelled at her in panic.

Pleasantly surprised at Helen's move, his smile widened as he lifted his hands to grip her hips tightly, keeping her against him.

"And another hapless victim falls for his charisma," one of his friends said to the other, teasing the man.

"Looks like she's a bold one, this is gonna be good," his other friend teased.

Neither Helen nor the handsome stranger paid them any attention as he began to dance again, his hidden muscles rippling against her this time. She followed suit, losing herself in the song and placing her arms around his neck to keep him close despite her frantically beating heart.

"So does this sultry lady have a name?" he asked her after a moment.

"Helen," she answered.

"Ah. Like the calamitous Trojan beauty." He looked her up and down, hands skimming her curves in a fiery trail as he appreciated how her black satin dress clung to her body tightly. "You sure look the part of the beauty at least."

"I hope I never become that kind of Helen, I was named for the meaning of light," she felt compelled to add, despite her brain shouting at her to not ruin the moment.

He raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Hmmm. I can see that. You do stand out in a crowd."

"Do I get the same privilege of knowing your name, handsome stranger?"

He chuckled. "It's Jungkook, very roughly meaning something about being a pillar of a nation."

"Wow, now that's an ambitious name!" Helen couldn't help but say in surprise.

"I try to forget about it, it can become suffocating at times," Jungkook said frankly. "Like now, when I'd rather focus on the beautiful light in front of me," he said with a cheesy grin as he drew her closer.

Helen was silent for a moment, her courage fading as her cheeks burned. "That was surprisingly sweet for a pick up line," she mumbled to herself.

"Would you rather I turn up the heat?" He asked in Helen's ear.

She quirked an eyebrow as the effects of the alcohol hit her hard. "Who says you get to turn it up? I believe it's my turn."

"How do you plan to do that?" Jungkook asked, a lazy grin on his face.

"Like this."

Helen turned around slowly, and backed into him. She heard his breath hitch and felt his quickened heartbeat against her back. He once again gripped her hips tightly, inching his way until he'd snaked one arm around her waist. His other hand roamed her hips and thighs as she danced against him.

Helen turned her head slightly. "Well?"

He leaned in and brushed her hair over one shoulder to expose her ear. "Works for me, Helen."

His deep voice vibrated in her ear and traveled all the way through her body in a delicious shiver, making her curse lightly. Knees weak, Helen boldly slung an arm behind her to hold on to his neck, her other arm holding his hand around her waist. "You're good, Jungkook."

"And I can be better," he said, leaning in to lightly nip the spot just behind her ear.

"Ah!" Caught off guard, Helen let out a soft gasp. Jungkook held her up as she nearly buckled under the strong desire. "That's...that's cheating," she said breathily, still lost in the sensation of his kiss and the feeling of his strong chest warming her back.

As the song came to a close, he chuckled in her ear. "Just making sure you didn't come all the way over here in vain."

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