before you love me | jjk

chapter twenty-eight

━━━༻ ˚✩‧₊ may 2020₊‧✩˚༺━━━

Narae has a problem. And that problem's name is Jeon Jungkook.

Ever since they had started the choreography for their song, it was like he'd been messing with her head purposefully. Taehyung was also on the song, and therefore also part of the choreography, but he had somehow managed not to drive her up the wall.

Narae knew what she was getting into when she was told about the album concept, she knew what the song was about when she had recorded her vocals and she was no stranger to dancing with men. However, nothing could have prepared her for what it meant to do the same with Jungkook.

The concept that they had decided for this song was that she was a swindler caught between two men, one being her long-time partner-in-crime and the other being the host of the establishment she was set to rob. Essentially it was supposed to be a push and pull between what was familiar and what was new and exciting. Ignoring the fact that the whole thing was a bit too on the nose for her liking, the choreography was also quite... racy.

Tianna had definitely done the damn thing with it, but that meant there were a lot of waist touches, body rolls and close moments where Narae would end up glued to someone's body. It also didn't help that Jungkook seemed completely at ease. It was as if all his previous nervousness with her had been completely forgotten and his flirtatious side had been switched on. He was all too comfortable sliding his hand up her leg, dipping her low and invading more of her personal space. Narae was the ultimate professional but it seemed like even she couldn't resist his charms.

It was embarrassing to Narae the way she couldn't control her hormones around him and always ended up being flustered in his presence. She'd always known he was hot and extremely good-looking, but lately she'd been finding it harder and harder to deny her attraction towards him. This dance wasn't helping in the slightest.

And it wasn't just the dance.

It was the way he'd make her coffee each morning without her having to ask, the way he would scrunch his nose at he laughed at something ridiculous that she'd said, the way he'd unconsciously pull her close when they sat next to each other on the couch. If it was just his overt sexiness then she could have handled it. If it was just his caring friendly side that would have been fine too. But the two in combination? It made matters a lot more difficult for Narae, and was forcing her to acknowledge certain feelings that she wasn't sure that she was ready for just yet.

"5! 6! 7! 8!" Tianna's voice cut into her thoughts, signalling to her that they were supposed to run through it again. She hastily gathered her wits about her and moved into her first position as the music started.

They didn't even get to finish the whole routine before Tianna turned the music off, brows furrowed in disappointment. Hoseok stood next to her, a similar look of displeasure on his face, though his was definitely the scarier one of the two. 

"What was that?" Tianna asked, though she received no response. "I understand that you're probably tired, but I still would like it if you gave this a bit more effort. It's like you've got the moves down but you're not really performing, I need to be able to feel the passion from this – I'm not getting any of that right now. I know you can do better."

Narae couldn't even look Tianna in the eye. She knew that it was directed at her. She was fine for her solo parts and parts with Taehyung, but as soon as it got to where she was dancing with Jungkook, it was like she clammed up on the spot and moved on auto-pilot, going through the moves robotically rather than with emotion so as not to get caught up in her chaotic feelings.