BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 124: matching paces

<OST: It's You - Chungha>

Jieun listened to Jungkook's song that night... and she was absolutely mind-blown.

"What on earth, Jeon Jungkook..." Jieun exclaimed as she finally removed her headphones at the end of the song. "How do you keep getting even cooler and cooler by the day...?"

Jungkook smiled bashfully as he took the headphones from Jieun and set it down on his desk, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Really? Was it that good...? Did you like it?"

"I freaking loved it!" Jieun exclaimed. "The whole song was just so... how should I put it... magical? And your vocals really shone through. The lyrics too... they were, so... sweet."

"Well, they were for you after all, so-"

"Wait, you wrote this song for me?" Jieun's eyes widened. "Like... for real?"

"Mmhmm, didn't you realise?" Jungkook chuckled as he handed his notebook with the lyrics scribbled in ink to Jieun. "'You are the sunlight that rose again in my life', 'A reincarnation of my childhood dreams', 'I don't know what these emotions are', 'Am I still dreaming?' and then... 'You are the cause of my euphoria'... Who else could I be writing those lyrics for?"

Jieun's jaw dropped as she read the lyrics.

"No, I just-" Jieun looked up at Jungkook with surprise written all over her face. "I just- No one has ever written a song about me before, so I just- This is so- I don't know how to describe this feeling- Touched? No, it's way more than that, I just-"

"Jieun-ah," Jungkook said with a little smile as he took the notebook from Jieun's hands and placed it on the table, before holding her hands in his. "You don't have to say anything, I know how you feel. In our relationship, you have always been the one who tells me 'I love you', but not once have I ever said it to you... and it isn't because I don't love you. I just- I'm just not so much of an expressive person, so saying things like that doesn't feel... natural. Instead, I hope that through this song 'Euphoria' and the lyrics I wrote, you can see how much your presence means to me, and how that whenever I'm with you... I really feel like I'm in utopia."

"Jeon Jungkook, you-" Jieun pursed her lips, trying to fight back her tears as she gently rubbed her thumb in circular motions on Jungkook's cheek. "You know how much I love you, right? I'm not able to write songs like you do, so all I can do is to say it. I'm grateful that you wrote a song like this for me, but even without it... I know how much you love me. You don't have to say it in order for me to know. Your touch, your gaze, the air you bring... always told me that you loved me."

Jungkook raised his hand to stroke Jieun's face gently, as he stared deeply into her eyes.

"And what I said earlier about Jennie, I'm sorry-" Jieun continued. "I don't mean it. You choosing me over anyone else, even when choosing me may have been the toughest decision in your life... I'm already grateful enough for that. And whether the public knows about us or not... it doesn't even matter to me anymore. Because the bond that two of us share... you know, and I know. And that's good enough for me."

Jungkook didn't utter a word in reply, but his eyes told the story that not even words could have expressed. In Jungkook's dimly lit room, with only the both of them present, the tension between them grew and grew, the longer their eyes met. And finally, Jungkook leaned in for a kiss. This time, by no surprise, with more passion, as the two leaned in more and more, the kiss getting more and more passionate by the second.