The boy next door

Chapter 31

I woke up by the ring of my alarm which I set for 9am so I could clean a little before my parents would come home and see all of the chaos.

I knew I'd hate myself for doing that, but I had to do it. I groaned and sat up in my bed to turn off the alarm.

My throat was dust-dry and my head felt like an elephant performed a step dance on it. I groaned again and trudged to the bathroom ignoring the fact that the bed I made for Eun was empty. I was too hung-over to care for the time being.

I fumbled in the bag for medicines and fished an aspirin out. I filled a cup with water and downed the small tablet along with at least half a litre of water.

I put my arms on the sides of the sink and leaned on it letting my head hang. What an exhausting party.

I pulled myself together and got dressed before I went downstairs to tidy up the ground floor and find out where the heck Eun was. I was glad that the headache pill slowly seemed to help.

I opened the door to kitchen my jaw dropped when I saw that everything was cleaned up neatly and put back in place. I peeked into the living room and there it was the same.

"What the-?", I asked confused and Eun noticed me. She was busy preparing what seemed like breakfast and now turned around to me.

"Hey", she said in a low voice and looked ashamed to the ground.

"Hi", I answered trying to process what happened here.

"In case you're wondering, I woke up early due to the residual alcohol and I thought I'd help you a bit since I troubled you so much on your birthday", she explained fidgeting with her fingers, "and I made breakfast."

"Thank you, Eun", I said smiling and pulled her into a short hug, "don't worry about it. It can happen to everybody."

She nodded shrugging and gestured towards the set table. We sat down and ate breakfast together while talking.

"I'm just glad you feel better", I said shoving a fork full of scrambled eggs into my mouth, "and guess what: Jungkook confessed to me yesterday."

"Really?", she asked almost choking on the sip of water she just took, "are you talking about the tall, handsome black haired guy?"

"Yea", I said chuckling, "I almost can't believe it myself."

"That's good, isn't it?", she said patting my hand.

"It is. I'm just still a little worried about Soojung. She disappeared from the party yesterday without any word", I said frowning and hoped she was okay. Maybe someone took her home.

"Right. Soojung", she said coldly and I thought she looked angry for a second but in the next moment she smiled at me politely.

"I think she's fine. Don't worry", she said giving me a reassuring smile. "By the way, I texted my mum and she'll pick me up in ten minutes so I won't bother you anymore", she told me sighing.

"Oh, you could have also stayed a little longer", I said but she shook her head. "I need to go home and get some rest", she said and I could see how tired she was.

"Okay", I said understanding and we spent the rest of the time in silence until her mother texted her that she had arrived.

"Thank you for coming", I told her as we walked towards the front door.

"Thank you for taking care of me", she said smiling and put on her shoes and jacket.

"Anytime", I said hugging her goodbye. She opened the door and walked outside. She waved at me before she got into the car and her mother drove off.

I sighed and was about to go back inside when I heard a familiar voice calling me from the house next door.

"Hi, gorgeous", Jungkook said loudly to draw my attention to him. He was wearing grey sweatpants and a black baggy t-shirt leaning against the door frame with crossed arms looking as handsome as always.

"Hey", I said smiling wildly before I bit down on my lower lip to stop smiling like an idiot.

Suddenly I was well aware of everything I did and wore, careful not to do anything stupid. I regretted only wearing my comfort jeans and an oversized shirt. In the morning I lazily put my hair into a bun which looked kind of messy. But from the way he smiled at me he didn't seem to care about any of that.

"I was about to come over, but why don't you come over a change?", he asked lifting his left eyebrow playfully.

"What about my parents and your mother?", I asked hesitantly, not completely sure if I was ready to show anybody what Jungkook and I had. I had the feeling that it was so precious, it could break any second.

"They went out to have breakfast together and pick up your brother afterwards", he explained to me, "and I think they said something about a short trip to somewhere to give you enough time to clean up, whatsoever."

"Oh", I said nervous about what was to come, now that the only thing holding me back from going to his place, was cleared.

I don't know why I was so nervous. I guess, I really didn't want anything to go wrong, it was just too important.

"So... are you coming?", he asked standing upright, "or do I have to come over to you and get you myself?"

"Okay, okay", I gave in laughing and pulled the door close behind me. I never thought so detailed about the way I walked as I did in the moment I was walking through our front yard to his house knowing that he was watching me.

Is this what they call being in love? Does it have to make your heart beat so fast?

I reached his front door and stood in front of him smiling. And then it happened again: I got the hiccups and immediately blushed. Damn it.

He smiled down at me and sneaked his arms around my waist to pull me into a tight hug. And for once, I didn't feel embarrassed for the way my body exposes my true feelings. Because he didn't mind and still liked me.