Anyone But Him | JJK ✔️ (Completed)

Chapter 42

Turned out, my grades were quite exemplary.

I was one of the top scorers for social studies and science, having broken Jungkook's record from last year (Damn, why must he be good at everything? It was disturbing, and also other-worldly). The class was quite shocked, especially Jungkook's former-cronies and Dahee with her little gang.

As for my English, my rank in the class was still somewhere in the middle, which was good enough for me. My mother didn't think English was the most important subject, so I figured it would be fine.

According to Jungkook and my own observations, Dahee's crush on Jungkook had been persistent. It seemed like she wasn't someone to give up easily, but that didn't matter. Jungkook was my boyfriend, and Dahee shall never get him. She didn't deserve someone like him. At first, I'd thought they were a match since their personalities were all the same, but now...

"Ya, you okay?" Jungkook put a hand on my shoulder. I'd almost forgot that he could be soft, too, other than he's rather rough nature sometimes.

I nodded, then shook my head. "No, not really." I looked him in the eyes. "Can I talk to you about Dahee?"

Jungkook's expression hardened, and I thought that I'd hit on a sore spot, but he nodded with resolve. "Let's just clear the air, shall we? Dahee likes me, but I have absolutely no feelings for her. That you can be rest assured. I'll never like her."

He'd spoken it too quickly, I'd only caught about half of it. But I nodded. "That's good to hear. I don't want another boy to break my heart. I thought Changmin was the only person I'd ever need, but apparently, that wasn't the case."

Jungkook gave me a forlorn smile. "The past is the past, Chaewon. You shouldn't let it get to you. Just leave it all behind."

I gave him a grateful look. "Wise words. I..."

I didn't know how to continue, so I fell silent.

"Just promise me we'll stick together no matter what. I... I don't want you to leave me." I held up my pinkie.

Jungkook smiled faintly. I'd almost thought he'd be how I was last time, refusing to take him as my boyfriend, but he took it. We hooked our pinkies together, and I had to admit, it was one of the most comforting and romantic moments in my life.

                                                                               ***

I found myself tangled in a mess of bedsheets, my shoulder-length hair tousled all over my face. Opening my eyes just a tiny crack, I shifted my stiff legs to the side, and found something warm brush upon it.

Alarmed, I bolted up, now fully awake. Even the gunk in my eyes didn't seem to sting anymore.

Jungkook was lying in a sprawled-eagled position beside me, one arm under my head and the other one lying perpendicular to his body. He wasn't wearing a shirt, revealing his perfectly-toned abs and muscular arms.

We were in the first level of an unfamiliar room with a large bed and a fanciful sofa that we were lying on. The first level was wide, while the second level was somewhere over the bed. Wooden stairs led to it and lining the wall was a towering foor-to-ceiling mahogany bookshelf packed with book after book. A study desk sat lonelily beside the bookshelf. Near the stairs was an electric keyboard.

I looked own at my uniform blouse. The buttons were done all wrong, apparently having been hastily buttoned up. So we'd done that... a few times already.

Three floor-to-ceiling windows from the room overlooked a small garden with a barren plot of land, sheets of snow covering the terrain. The curtains were drawn and tied up at the end. The bare branches of small trees and bushes in the garden were the only decorations. Condensed snow ran down the top of the window in lines, rolling down like tears.

My eyes reverted to the keyboard. Fascinated, I hopped down from the bed, careful not to startle Jungkook, and crept over to it.

"I play it in my spare time," a voice at the back said.

I whirled around, losing my balance. But at the last possible second, Jungkook caught me by my waist.

I couldn't lift my head to meet his eyes. I was blushing furiously, flushing flaming red.

"Oh, right, you're awake," I mumbled, untangling myself from Jungkook's hold. He let go slowly, running a hand through his sleek brown hair.

I stretched my legs, and promptly kicked off a cushion. "Sorry," I said, wincing and bending down to pick it up, then dusting it off before leaving it on the sofa.

"This is your house?" I asked, taking in the details, then taking a curious glance at the ajar door.

Jungkook nodded. "It's quite untidy. Don't mind."

I resisted the urge to stare at his robust body. Feeling my face flush, I turned my head in the opposite direction. "It's actually pretty okay. Mine's worse."

Jungkook stopped in his process of rearranging the cushions. "Oh? You've moved into a new house already?"

I nodded. Jungkook whistled.

"That's nice. Call me for a visit when you're ready," he said with a wink.  He pulled on his uniform blouse.

Not knowing where to look, I directed my attention at the library of books on the second level of Jungkook's room. Most of them were thick and looked leather-bound, even though they were rather hard to come by these days. You don't see leather-covered books in your typical bookshop. Mostly, paperbacks and hard covers took the spotlight.

Jungkook buttoned up his blouse without so much as giving it a glance. I was more conscious of his abs peeking through the cracks of the blouse than ever. No way was I going to get caught being so curious and get teased for eternity by him.

Keeping my eyes trained on the books as if they were wild animals threatening to attack any second, I fixed my head at the position, trying to feign interest. "Ya, stop with the pretence. You can feel free to look anytime. I'm not stopping you," Jungkook said, slapping my thighs.

My heart gave an uneasy jolt. "Aniyo, I'm interested in those books. Jinjja."

Jungkook gave me a funny look, looking defeated by my insistence.

"Are those all yours?" I continued. I ought not to let my disguise waver.

Shaking his head, Jungkook pointed vaguely to the left of the bookshelf. "All those are my fathers. Oh gods, I'd seen enough of him dusting them every few hours and pulling them out to check if they were in good condition that I can remember so clearly where they're put, it's disturbing." He grimaced.

I laughed, pounding the bed with my fist. "Oh, your family is... diverting. It really tickled my fancy."

Jungkook gave me a seriously sort of look. "Hajima, you're using such big words. Also, you have no idea how my family is like. In my free time, I've made a list of the words that can be used to describe them. Petty, petulant, disturbing..." He went on listing off with his fingers until he had the sense to stop.

"Oh, yes, I can show you the list." He hopped down from the sofa and went over to his desk, where paperwork were strewn everywhere. Books held them down to prevent them from catching the wind. Opening a drawer, he harrowed through the things inside, finally procuring a crumpled up piece of paper with a torn corner.

Waving it at me as if he'd just got his graduation test results and there were excellent still, Jungkook nodded thoughtfully, darting his eyes around the paper.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "You can't be serious, Jeon Jungkook. How much free time do you even have?" But I joined him, too.

As he opened his mouth to answer, the door creaked open, and someone popped his head inside. "Oh, Jungkook?"

***

A/N: I've been uploading quite inconsistently because of school. Dang, it's killing me. My exams are finishing up tomorrow so maybe I'll have more time to write!