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❝ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ❞
"If you were planning to have a meal with us-"
"No. Not with you," Jungkook innocently blinks at the older male, "just noona."
Seokjin clicks his tongue, "as I was saying... If you were planning to have a meal with Seowoo, I'm sorry but she'll have to pass up on your little date."
"What?" Seowoo gasps, taken aback upon hearing Seokjin answer a question directed at her without her knowledge or approval.
"Yeah, what?" Jungkook scoffs despite himself, "who are you to speak on behalf of noona?"
Before Seowoo could utter her own response, Seokjin steps between them. "Your noona and I are following an awfully strict diet. She can't take fried foods or carbonated drinks so turn around and go back to where you came from, yeah?"
"Oppa!" Seowoo blurts out, "that was rude and you said today was our cheat day!"
"Not anymore. I changed my mind. We're skipping lunch and going straight to practice," the coach audibly mutters in a single breath. He might as well have debuted as a rapper at the rate he was going.
Seowoo feels her heart shatter. Partially because she couldn't enjoy the delicious fried chicken the idol had personally brought over and partially because she couldn't enjoy her time with the idol who brought the fried chicken.
"I'm sorry," she pouts, waddling over to Jungkook who sharply inhales at the incoming contact.
Her hands twitched by her sides and just the thought of her wanting to touch him has his heart beating like wildfire. He swears everyone in the room could hear the rhythmic drumming of the muscle, especially Seowoo who stands only a mere foot apart from him.
"I..." She mumbles, "really missed having you around me. Things aren't the same without you, Kookie."
She gulps, "when that dies down a little more and this is over, promise we'll hang out again?"
That? This?
Jungkook gets that the scandal he's wrapped himself in will take more than just a few months to settle down, but what he doesn't understand is why 'this' is happening.
He believes that Seokjin's main motive should be to aid the backstage singer in her daily vocal training, just as he is paid and tasked to do. So, why is Seokjin going out of his way to spark confidence in her by changing everything Jungkook loves about her? And-
"Why are you allowing this?", Jungkook asks Seowoo with glossy eyes, "why are you okay with all this?"
Seowoo is taken aback by his sudden emotional outburst. "Oppa's changing me for the better. I asked to be a more confident person and he's helping me achieve that," she replies so softly and slowly, it sounded almost as if she was (ironically) unconfident in her answer.
"It's a tough process," Seokjin butts in, "sort of synonymous with your idol life, Jungkook-ssi."
"If your first music show win had you celebrating for a whole week, can you imagine how happy Seowoo was when she felt less insecure about wearing sleeveless shirts?" He adds.
Seowoo recalls spending hours in front on her mirror, admiring her much slimmer figure that could now fit into a size way smaller than her previous one. That day, she cried as she called Seokjin to thank him for his work.
"It's true," she sighs out, "but oppa, don't you think you're being too much?"
She doesn't understand why the older is acting so unpleasantly in front of the idol, or why the atmosphere feels suffocating when the two men look at each other with flames in their eyes.
Seokjin's the first to break their little staring contest to sympathise with the girl, "I'm sorry you feel that way, but I'm sure you know I only want what's best for you."
"I do, and I feel the same way. That's why I've been listening to you and your advice with little to no complaints," Seowoo emphasises, voice raised slightly higher than usual.
"You know how much Jungkook means to me and yet, you're always trying to pull me away from him. That's-"
"Selfish," Seokjin nods in understanding, "that's selfish of me, isn't it? To want you for myself. To want you by my side at all times. To want to be the reason for your smile." He looks at the girl in question and with the saddest tone, he says, "I get it now. I'll mind my own business. See you later for vocal training."
Then, he leaves.
•••
Hours later, Seokjin returns to the practice room, dark and cold from its lack of use. He's no longer rocking his usual cute smile, instead flaunting a professional look showcasing indifference.
He approaches the recording booth, wanting to test the sound system out before Seowoo arrives but she's already there, sound asleep on the floor of the little room.
A soft knock is all it takes to stir the girl awake. "Oh, sorry... I didn't mean to doze off like this," she groggily apologises.
"Looks like you had a great lunch."
"I didn't have lunch," she huffs.
Seokjin stares in confusion, "what?"
Seowoo heartlessly laughs, "I couldn't bring myself to eat. Abstinence from fried food for a long time made me not fancy it as much."
"But I assure you I have enough energy to last through today's training," she exclaims with certainty, "I had a good breakfast."
After watching Jungkook devour his meal as though he hadn't eaten in days, she sent him off, but not without promising him a home-cooked dinner.
"Let's get straight into it then."
The two spend the next four hours singing and vocalising at the top of their lungs, which isn't any different from their usual routine, aside from the lack of giggling and happy noises.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Seokjin breathes out as they leave the company building.
Before he could go any further, Seowoo yelps out an apology. "I didn't know you felt that way," she says, feet shuffling in anxiety.
"I didn't know either."
———
i deeply apologise for the lack of updates :( unfortunately, i can't promise quick and consistent updates (or any, actually) for the rest of the year as well, due to academic reasons
