Book 1: The Magic Shop | A Jeon Jeongguk BTS Fan Fiction (Completed)

Falling Slowly

He had brushed Jimin off when he had asked.

It had been several weeks and several visits since. He felt very different at present. He thought more about what makes him go back to The Magic Shop. There was something about the place itself that draws him back. He felt that it was a safe place where he could be himself without any camera capturing any mistakes he might make. It was also warm and embracing and it was welcoming to him.

More importantly, Nira was there. 

Jeongguk picked up his camera and scrolled the video back to the stolen close-ups of Nira's face. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the screen. He had convinced her to teach him how she creates her roses on the creamy froth atop a freshly brewed cup of coffee. For documentation, he said, he would film her doing it. He was glad she said yes.

She was a tough teacher, he thought to himself and smiled. She swatted his hand so many times that day. He liked it when she was up close and guiding his hand, her little hands over his. In the video, he said, "I like your perfume." She turned to look at him and said, "Hmm? You're smelling the coffee on me." He laughed. It wasn't that. He was smelling vanilla on her skin.

He scrolled to another scene - it was the day Nira was dusting the top shelf of the bookcase. She was standing on a chair and suddenly stood on her toes making the chair wobbly. He stood up and reached out his hand. She smiled at the camera and took it while she used her other hand to finish dusting. "My hero," she said. Jeongguk's heart swelled when she said that. He found himself smiling again as he watched her turn back to dusting, her hand in his.

Eventually, she got used to the camera, and Jeongguk was able to capture even more of her. He scrolled again to the part where she was dancing to the music on the radio while she was washing dishes. She looked absolutely adorable. In the video, Nira turned and caught him and his camera filming her... "Yah!" she said, "You're dead!" Jeongguk laughed, seeing this moment again. 

He scrolled again, to another day. It was the day he started singing while he mopped the floor for Nira. She came rushing out from the back room and looked at him with an astonished expression on her face. "Was that you singing?" she asked. He laughed and said yes. "I thought it was the radio. Hey, you can sing!" He loved how she had no idea who he was at all. Later she asked him to sing some more, and he happily obliged. 

He scrolled to the afternoon he sang to her until the sun went down. She was sitting on the other side of the bay window at the back of the cafe. He sat on the opposite end with the camera zoomed in on her face.

There's nothing like us, there's nothing like you and me, together through the storm
There's nothing like us, there's nothing like you and me... Together.

She was hugging a pillow and leaning on the window. She had her chin resting on her hand as she watched him sing, her brows furrowed, eyes slightly teary.

"I'm sorry..." he said in the video, "Are you okay?"

She smiled, "Yeah..." she said with a sigh. "Sing some more. It's nice." She wiped her eyes and smiled.

He paused the video to gaze at a close-up of Nira. Sunlight was cast on half her face. It gleamed on the loose strands of hair softly fallen on the side of her slender neck. There was a coffee-colored sunset glint that sparkled in her eyes, especially when they caught the sun streaming through the window. 

His favorite moment was not on video. It was the day they were both on the sofa watching a movie on her laptop.  Each of them shared the earphones because the speakers were busted. He could have offered the ones in his bag, but he chose not to. She suddenly leaned and rested her head on his shoulder. He turned his head a little to look at her, but she didn't notice. It was the final battle scene. She sniffed. He watched a tear pool on the side of her eye at the moment when the Iron Giant, yet again, sacrificed itself near the end of Ready Player One.

"Are you crying?" he smiled. She looked up and laughed. "No, you're crying!" she said and slapped him on the arm. Yes, he was also crying and they both laughed. "Aah... so cute." Jeongguk chuckled as he thought about it. He handed her his handkerchief. She took it and wiped her tears, but then she wiped his tears next before handing it back to him. They had a moment there where they just looked at each other. She broke the spell by giving him his handkerchief back, and they finished the movie.

Jeongguk leaned his head back. He also started thinking about that day that he fell asleep while they were watching a movie called Once, her choice. He was so tired from practice that his eyes started closing involuntarily. He felt her move a little, but she didn't wake him up. Then he felt his coat being gently put over him. He shifted slightly, pulling the jacket up to his chin. She stopped moving and let him sleep with his head on her shoulder. She finished the movie on her own. When he woke up and asked to play it again, she frowned at him. "Watch it on your own time." she said haughtily. Jeongguk laughed and apologized. 

They had both been wearing masks every time he visited. He shouldn't be so attracted to someone whose face he had not seen, but he was.

It was the little things... the scenes. They cut to cut and made up a movie where they were the only two characters. It was nothing specific he could say that he found attractive. It's the way she looks at him when she is listening to him sing... the way she gets pensive when he shows her his videos... the way she can easily laugh at herself... There were so many little things. Each visit to the shop was like a ticket to be a part of an alternate life he never thought he could have.

Jeongguk sat forward and ran his fingers through his hair. His eyes roamed over every detail of Nira's face that was showing on the screen. Then they rested on the space where her lips should be.

He imagined the rest of her face behind the mask. He admitted to himself then that even without knowing, it was enough to call it for what it is. He has feelings for Nira and he was wondering how it would be like to kiss her lips. He would very much like to.

For a while longer, he thought he could pull off being Jake, but Jimin was right. It was also not fair to present himself as someone he was not. He had to come clean and accept what came of it. 

Jeongguk got up to look at the mirror and practiced how he was going to say it. "You can do this," he said to himself. He nodded reassuringly at his reflection. 

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Nira.

Jimin was still awake. He was looking at the ceiling thinking about Nira, a person he never thought he would see again. Becoming an idol pulled each one of them away from life as they knew it before. Meeting her again made him think about how life outside is still moving, still happening. It was not a life he and any of the boys were a part of. Theirs were on display for the world to see, like in a snow globe. Those few moments they had to themselves were very much isolated from the world outside too, but at least their hard work was paying off - they are protected, loved, and adored. Life, he thought, is cruel. He was fortunate to be living his dream, while others had theirs shattered even before they could take flight.

And Jeongguk .

Poor Jeongguk came of age in the snow globe. He knew Jeongguk had been thinking about this a lot lately. He'd been involved in several intrigues being stanned with other celebrities. He even attempted to date a few, but none of it amounted to anything. It was superficial, exhausting, and felt fabricated. Then suddenly, there was one person from the outside world that had caught Jeongguk's eye and was changing all that. He had never seen Jeongguk take this much interest in or be connected to anyone as much as he has with Nira. Yet, he was not surprised by that at all.

Jeongguk was drawn to Nira as he himself was many years ago... like a moth to the flame. She is self-assured, and comfortable in her own skin. She was charming, witty, genuine, and has this way about her that instantly sets you at ease. She made you want to be a better person, worthy of how special she was. Still, she didn't seem to be aware at all that she had this effect on Jimin - and now Jeongguk. 

On the days he was at the cafe and he watched Nira and Jeongguk get close, he felt like he was starting to intrude so he started joining them less and less.

Some weeks prior,  he asked Jeongguk directly if he was interested in Nira. As expected, Jeongguk brushed him off, but Jimin knew him well enough to know that meeting Nira was going to be as meaningful for Jeongguk as it had been for him. 

What he didn't expect was that when their youngest said no, Jimin felt relieved.

Old feelings were precariously coming back. Jimin thumped his chest hard. No, he thought to himself. He lost his chance long ago. This is Jeongguk's time. 

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I always go back to reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. :-)