𝘖𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 | JJK |

28

Heiran was in the middle of her skin-care routine when the knocking came on her bedroom door. Even before she opened the door, she could guess who it was. After all, there was only one person currently occupying her apartment who would knock in such rhythmic beats, a little hesitation mixed with a certain determination. Heiran could sense it all in that knock. Peeling off her face mask, she discarded it into the trashcan and opened the door only to be greeted with a burst of red petals in her face. She took a step back from the smothering fragrance of the red tulip flowers he was holding up for her.

"I picked up something for you."

It was hard not to smile. The man was putting in quite some effort. She had to hand it to him. She gracefully accepted the bouquet of tulips. "Where did you even get these from? All flower shops should be closed at this hour."

It must have been raining outside. Jungkook shook the water droplets off his hair. "I know, right? But do you know the one across from this apartment called Snapdragon? That one was still surprisingly open. Thankfully they had just the ones I was looking for. Do you remember these?"

"Red Tulips. Aren't these the exact same flowers you gave me when you confessed?"

He looked delighted that she remembered that detail. It was dumb of him to think that she wouldn't recall. How could she forget? After all, it just coincidentally happened to be one of her most cherished memories.

"I realized what I was missing from my apology so I thought I should make it up. Better late than never, am I right?" He posed, awkwardly.

Heiran shrugged, "Sure. Now if that's all..." She began to close the door and he quickly inserted his leg in between the gap to block the door.

"Wait. You know I was thinking maybe I should spend the night here. It's too late to drive." He said lamely, desperate for an excuse.

Again her only answer was an unbothered shrug, "Fine. You can have the couch."

He looked offended, "The couch?!" She raised an eyebrow and he cleared his throat. "I mean, it's cold."

"I'll get you a spare blanket." Heiran graciously offered, turning to close the door to get the sheets when he called out, "Wait! Wait! Ran, please. You know how I feel about couches."

Heiran turned and crossed her arms, "No, I don't."

"I can't sleep on couches. It hurts my back. I have back pain from my bad posture. It will get worse!" He complained.

She narrowed her eyes, "I have never heard you complain about back pains before."

"Well, now you have."

She rolled her eyes. Opening her door, she brushed past him into the living room. Jungkook stared suspiciously and she began to say, "Good news for you. My couch is multifunctional." She walked closer to it and bent down to a pull lever on its side. "Just pull that and you can turn this into a bed. Genius. So classy, isn't it?" She turned to him with pride. "I paid a good price for this baby. Had to refrain from updating my wardrobe for a whole summer just to pay off the installments on it but it was so worth it."

Heiran noted the way his expression dimmed as an unimpressed frown lit up on his lips. She held back a giggle and informed him with finality. "I'll get you the sheets. No more back problems, right?"

"Wait."

It was one singular word uttered but something about it had changed. The tone of it, the air it created was too ominous. Suddenly, there was a certain chill in the atmosphere. Wait a minute.

"You must think that I have an abundance of patience." He mused, his voice deep, the look in his eyes bone-chilling.

Heiran held back a gasp. Is he using his courtroom voice with me?! She couldn't believe her ears. The audacity of him! Not that she was that affected by it or anything. Certainly not. She was Ahn Heiran after all.