Anyone But Him | JJK ✔️ (Completed)

Chapter 46

Jungkook unrolled the mat he was carrying on the rocky terrain of the mountain. I helped him hold the picnic basket as he spread the mat.

"Alright, settle down," he said, sitting onto the mat, then drew back. "It's so cold."

I laughed, sitting down beside him too. "Yep, it is, but bear with it."

We watched the orange ball of light hanging in the sky gradually sink beneath the horizon. The sun bathed the mountain in a romantic, dark apricot sort of light. Clouds the color of dark blue concealed the darkening sky. Patches of dense greenery covered the front part of the mountain. If you peered over the edge of the mountain, you could see the white clouds drifting lazily through the sky. It gave the whole place a heavenly feeling, almost like we were in a magical realm.

Jungkook lounged on the mat like how one would on a beach chair, fingering for the picnic basket. I flipped the lid open for him.

"Drinks?" he said, bringing two cans of soda out. "Now you can't decline me, huh?"

I fumed at him and elbowed his ribs before lying down beside him. Of course, that did nothing, because Jungkook had a buff body. He merely gave me a wry smile before pulling a face.

Jungkook handed me a can of soda, which I took reluctantly. I wasn't in the mood for drinks, but I figured this was a symbol of goodwill, and it was my duty to accept it. If it were for that case, I was willing to have one. I mean, even if the gesture wasn't for the case, I wouldn't hurt Jungkook's feelings.

"It's not that I didn't want to drink anything," I said as we both opened our cans. "It's just that I don't really like soda, to be honest." I gave him a forlorn smile.

Jungkook slammed down his soda from which he was sipping on, speaking in a raging voice only when he finished swallowing the drink, "You should have told me! I wouldn't have bought soda instead. Maybe juice or normal drinks would be fine. I— I didn't know that..."

Patting his back in a friendly way, I said, shaking my head, "Aniyo, it's fine. I don't have that much of a dislike for soda, anyways, so we can still drink at peace."

Jungkook nodded with that troubled expression still on his face. I didn't like it, but I kept quiet.

It was only when I took a glance at my watch that I realized just how fast time had been passing. It wasn't just the time of the day, but time in months, too. The image when I'd just entered my junior year in high school almost a year ago still stayed sharp and true to life in my mind, almost like it hadn't already been a year since it happened. In the blink of an eye, it was already December. The year was already ending.

Everyone is so busy with work or school, hustling along with the fast pace of work or school, that no one really acknowledges that time was slipping away every second of their lives. On the seldom occasions that one actually looks at time, it would probably be to check the deadline of their assignment or project. Everyone has been evolved into some kind of workaholic, obsessed with work and busyness.

Time had been passing so fast, I was struggling to keep up with it. It was as if we were in a race, both us barely neck-to-neck. One second of hesitation or slowing down, and time would triumph. Then, time would take a toll on me, and I'd just be living for the sake of completing assignments, getting ready for school. Not a single moment spent on things outside of school.

I didn't want to admit it, but as I reflected on the past year, I thought secretly to myself that, Yes, maybe the rush for time had indeed influenced me into a self-absorbed person, oblivious to the world around me, only focusing solely on my own endeavours. I'd been doing what I enjoyed lesser and lesser recently. No, I wasn't losing in interest in them, but more like... I didn't have the motivation to start on them anymore.