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❝ ᴊᴇᴀʟᴏᴜsʏ ❞
"Tell me," Seokjin hums, leaning forward until his face is only inches apart from Seowoo's, "what do you like most about yourself?"
The way his minty breath fans across Seowoo's face has the girl flustered and even more insecure. She quickly covers her face, afraid he'd be able to see her large pores and pimples; and even worse, smell her breath. She knows it doesn't smell bad, considering the fact that she brushes her teeth twice every morning, but she still believes it's much better to be safe than sorry in this situation.
"W-what..." She stammers, face flushed pink as she pulls away, "what does that have to do with learning how to gain confidence?"
"Well, my take on confidence is that one is happy with themself. If we can enhance what you're most proud of and tweak what you're still uncertain about, then you'll be less insecure about yourself and maybe start gaining the confidence you need," Seokjin says, pulling away as well.
Enhance..? Tweak..?
"So I'm undergoing surgery?" Seowoo blurts out, "I-I don't like the idea of going under the knife. I mean- I fully support it but just the thought of me doing that makes me all squeamish and uncomfortable and-"
"No!" Seokjin quickly butts in, "that's not what I mean." "By enhancing, I meant bringing something out by focusing on it. And tweaking refers to adjustments, which don't necessarily mean, you know, surgery."
"But you're saying it's an option..."
Seokjin slowly nods. As Seowoo's expressions droops, he quickly regrets his words, "I-I didn't mean to sound rude or offend you or anything! I just-"
"No! No, I'm alright," Seowoo cuts him off. She awkwardly glances around her practice room, "Let's talk about this later? I think I should get my vocal lesson over and done with before anything else."
"Yeah, sure, let's do that."
•••
"Ah, hyung," Jungkook whines, pulling at Sejin's buff arm. Jungkook may be gifted with strength and muscles, but next to Sejin, he isn't all that great.
"For the last time, Jungkook — no, I am not letting you sneak into Seowoo's company," Sejin deadpans, pushing the idol away with a single finger until Jungkook stumbles backwards.
Feeling dejected, Jungkook whines even more, "but why? I've been nothing but good since that stupid scandal! I'm even willing to hire a special effects artist to turn me into someone else, at my own expenses!"
Sejin pauses for awhile then stresses his final response, "no."
Jungkook pouts and mumbles under his breath, "I just wanna know how noona's doing..."
•••
"I think I'm most proud of... My voice and, uh, personality, maybe?"
Seokjin shakes his head, "you shouldn't think. You should be sure." He repeats his question, "what are you most proud of?"
"I am most proud of my... Voice and... Personality..?" Seowoo's words come out more like a question rather than a sincere statement but Seokjin believes it's a good attempt and accepts it anyway.
"Great!" Seokjin cheers. "I like your voice and personality too," he adds in the sweetest tone.
Seowoo feels her heart skip at the praise, unsure if it's because the compliment is coming from the professional Kim Seokjin or the attractive Kim Seokjin.
"All we have to do now is bring attention to your voice and personality," the coach lightheartedly lets out, nudging Seowoo in an encouraging manner, "and don't worry too much about the aspects you're uncomfortable about, because with me by your side, you'll feel nothing but pure confidence in your own skin."
Seowoo grins, excited to see what's coming ahead of her. She can think of thousands of ways Seokjin can egg her on in attaining a sort of self-esteem and pride. Maybe he'll send her cute messages in the morning, telling her she's great in every way, to instil that mindset in her daily life — that'd be cute, she thinks.
But what she's doing right now... Is so not cute.
The corners of her lips are stiffly pointed upwards and outwards. She seems as though she's forcing a smile, with how awkward and uncomfortable her supposed grin looks. Her expression falls when she sees Seokjin staring at her weirdly.
"What's wrong?" She worriedly asks, taking a step back while rubbing at her arms out of habit.
"Your smile," Seokjin says, "let's work on that, shall we?"
My... Smile..?
Jungkook has never raised his concerns regarding her smile. He's mentioned before that hers is the nicest he's seen, that hers is the only smile that could lift his mood and make the grey clouds in his life go away.
Ah... Why am I thinking of him now...
Seowoo doesn't feel a tear slip out of her left eye, doesn't realise until Seokjin swipes a thumb over her left cheek. She jumps, startled and flustered.
"Why are you crying?" Seokjin asks, flaunting the kindest smile he's ever flaunted. He softly cradles Seowoo's round face with carefully moisturised hands.
"I..." Seowoo parts her lips to reply, "I... Don't know..?" What was meant to be a confident response comes out as a question. She doesn't know if she's crying because Seokjin's words actually hurt her, if she misses Jungkook, or if it's simply both.
Seokjin pouts and pulls Seowoo into a warm hug. His arms snugly wrap around her plush waist while hers flail and float in the air like a pair of helium balloons.
"Noona!"
The door to the practice room slams open, introducing an idol far too popular to be unrecognisable.
The bubbly grin on Jungkook's face bursts and deflated into a disappointed frown. He doesn't know what to think, say or do. Not when the person he likes is being cradled and caressed by an equally famous and good looking celebrity.
Seowoo stutters, wanting to wiggle out of Seokjin's strong hold but instead gets held onto tighter than before. Her eyebrows furrow at Seokjin's actions as she continues pulling away from him.
"Kook-" Seowoo tries reaching out.
And as if three wasn't enough company, Sejin comes rushing in; forehead and neck glistening with sweat from running all over in search of his responsibility. "Jeon Jungkook! Don't- Oh," Sejin spots the suggestive position Seowoo and Seokjin are in, then glances at Jungkook, expression immediately softening when he senses the idol growing green with jealousy.
