[edited]

"Hyung, the case is still going on. And he'll do anything to get back at her, erase her from the scene."

"I know Jungkook-ah. That's why I asked you for it. It's for this purpose only. It's for her safety." Jin replied, balancing the phone between his shoulder and his right ear, while preparing the dishes for the dinner.

The clunking of spoons and vessels could be heard in the background over the phone.

"Hyung, so sweet of you."

"Uh-what?"

"Oh please, I can hear you cooking for me." Answered Jungkook.

"Oh, well then, you heard right, but obviously thought wrong. This is not for you. It's for Aera."

Silence.

"Oh, well, you mean I can join too, right?"

"Uh, no. It's exclusively for Aera. But yeah, you can come get leftovers tomorrow."

Silence again.

Jungkook scoffed.
"Yeah, yeah Hyung. I'm helping you and this is exactly how you should treat me."

Jin broke out laughing. He couldn't keep it anymore.
"I'm sorry Kook-ah baby. I was just kidding with you. I'll treat you tomorrow, I promise."

"Ha ha, very funny Hyung. You better treat me tomorrow."

Jin could hear some chatting in the background.
"Okay. Gotta go Hyung, bye!"

"Alright. Bye Kook-ah!" He smiled. Jungkook was like a younger brother he never had. He continued his cooking and preparing everything for the night. He had specially taken an off from work for this purpose. Well, not exactly. Aera was still his patient.

-

Aera was seated on one of the chairs of the dining table, gazing at SeokJin, who was in the kitchen getting all the dishes to the table.

She loved how caring he was. She loved how he would always comfort her when she would have a breakdown. It was kind of his job, yet at the same time his actions showed so much more. She loved how he held her in her arms until she would drift away to dreamland peacefully. And above all, she loved how he would selflessly give her his time, his energy, his everything, just to heal her.

There was a bonding between the two, and only they could understand it, and their relationship.

Of course their relationship was more than just what a regular patient and a regular doctor would have.
But none of them were willing to take a step forward.
Or it was that they were too scared to take it.

Aera had had trust issues from the beginning, given her past experiences. But thus was the first time she had given her trust to someone so easily. It was almost as if she wanted to do it. Trust him. Be with him. Be more than just a patient.

She had developed a need, for him. And now, she very well understood that.

Aera sighed.

"Hey, you okay?" A sweet melodic voice brought her back. She realised that she had been staring at him this whole time.

Aera offered him a smile, nodding.

"You sure? D'you want something?" Jin asked again. He had noticed that she had been staring at him earlier. And he was trying so hard to not blush.

Aera nodded again slowly.

Jin smiled at her and stepped towards her. He crouched down at her level and asked,
"Well, what do you want?"

Aera extended her hands towards him and pouted.

SeokJin grinned.
"You want a hug?"

She nodded.

He chuckled and stood up. He then gently pulled her towards him and stood her up. He took her hand and guided her to the couch.
He sat down with her and embraced her, running his hand through her hair, and caressing her head.

He rested his chin on her head, while she wrapped her arms around him tightly, burying herself under him. A familiar warm current ran through her body and she instantly felt safe and protected.

A few moments later, Jin broke the silence and said,
"Aera?"

She hummed in response.

"I want to give to you something."

Aera moved back to look into his eyes.
"What?"

Jin smiled and caressed her cheek,
"You'll see."

He then stood up and walked to his bedroom, Aera's eyes following his figure.

A few seconds later, he came back with a black-ish rectangular box in his hand. He sat down in front of her, smiling, and handed the box to her.

Aera's eyes lingered on the box in her hands, then she looked at him for some kind of an explanation.

Jin just shrugged and motioned for her to open it.
Aera carefully opened the box, and was stunned.

Inside the box was a necklace, so beautiful. It looked too beautiful to be real.

She took the necklace in her fingers and gently twirled it around. It sparkled like stars.

She stared at it without any expression which got Jin nervous if she liked it or not. He either expected her to burst out with happiness, or get super emotional, but not at all this.

"Aera-"
He was suddenly cut-off by Aera hugging him abruptly and tightly. It almost felt as if she was scared of letting him go. As if she did not want to let him go.

Jin wrapped his arms around her, mirroring her actions and grinned from ear to ear. His fingers caressed her head lovingly.

"Aera..."

She looked up from his chest into his eyes, upon hearing him call out her name.

"I...I think that...that I-"

"What?" Asked Aera in her tiny but gentle voice.

SeokJin sighed, but smiled,

"I'll protect you. Always. I promise that."

It was as if he was wanting to say something else but couldn't, didn't.
And Aera felt a bit disappointed at that, but still she was ecstatic with the gift and the fact that she now considered Jin more than just a friend.

Their gazes met each other ever so lovingly and tingling sensations they never experienced before, ran through their nerves.

Jin brought his hand up to caress the skin of her cheek.
"Let me put this on you."

He took the piece of jewellery in his hand, and leaned forward towards her. He placed it around her neck, still maintaining the eye contact. He took both the ends of the chain of the necklace and linked them, so that it doesn't fall.

He gazed at the jewellery, which now adorned Aera's neck. It really did suit her.

He smiled at her, which she returned. He could see how her eyes shone with contentment.

He took her cheeks in his palms, leaned forward to place a long, heartfelt kiss on the forehead, and then placed his own against her's. He intertwined his fingers with her's and celebrated the moment with her.

A few moments later, he pulled away and stood up.
He offered her his hand.
"Let's have dinner now. We wouldn't want the dinner cold now, do we? Also, I've spent so much time on making it and I'm very, very hungry. So, shall we?"

He pouted jokingly.

Aera grinned and took his hand, nodding.

The night was successful and the air of his house was packed with laughter and jokes being cracked here and there.

--

"I'd like to remember my life as the lovely moments I spent with you..."

---