She was awoken by a harsh sound that morning. At first she'd thought it was her phone, but when she reached sleepily for said object, it wasn't vibrating. She groaned when she realised it was in fact the bell for her front door. She sighed in defeat and got up.

She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she walked down the hallway towards the entrance of her home; she'd hardly gotten any sleep that night and she could definitely feel the effects of that now.

However, her tiredness seemed to evaporate almost instantly as she opened the door and spotted an all-too-familiar figure on her doorstep.

"Jungkook." She gulped as she took in the part of his face that wasn't covered by the mask and those beautiful eyes that held such a lie behind them. She hid her pyjama-clad body behind the door. "What are you doing here?"

He blinked stupidly at her. "We wanted to record a song together, right?"

She slapped her hand to her forehead in realisation as she realised the events from the previous night had led to her completely forgetting about that. "Oh, of course!" She looked down at herself then. "Um... You might have to wait for me to get ready first."

"That's fine, but... Can I at least wait inside while you do?" Jungkook said, shivering as though trying to make a point. "It's a little cold out here."

"Oh, sure. Just... Keep your eyes closed until I've left your line of sight."

Jungkook chuckled. "I will." He closed his eyes then and she quickly pulled him in before she locked the door behind him and she sped off down the hallway. However, he couldn't resist sneaking a peek at her hurrying away in her pyjamas and a chuckle almost escaped his lips, though he couldn't hold back the smile that graced them.

Although he had to wait a while, Jungkook didn't mind; in fact, he rather enjoyed snooping around her house. He browsed through her family photos and even found the room where they would probably be recording. He was just walking away from that room when she reappeared – now clean, showered and presentable.

"There. Sorry about that. Shall we get started?"

Jungkook had smiled at her return but then proceeded to frown at her words. Sure, he didn't have a large amount of time to get this done today, but he couldn't recall having told her that. Why did she seem to want to get it over with so quickly?

"What's the matter?" he asked. His voice had an underlying tone of sadness despite the prevailing curiosity, which made her feel guilty when she noticed it. "You're acting strange, like you can't wait for me to leave."

"It's... Nothing," she said hesitantly as she turned back to continue working with the equipment. "I'm just tired, that's all. You surprised me." Her own words just made her feel even guiltier because even though they were true, they weren't the main reason she was acting the way she was. "Are you sure it's alright for us to record a song together?"

Jungkook was confused at her words. "Of course. Why shouldn't it be?" He couldn't help but wonder what was making her hesitate all of a sudden.

She chuckled nervously as she turned around to face him. "Just thought you might want to go sightseeing or something instead, that's all. Do you want to sit in this seat?" she asked as she pointed at the seat furthest from her laptop.

He nodded. "Sure."

They talked for a while as they tried to find a song that they both knew well enough to sing and after it seemed like they wouldn't have no luck they finally managed to settle on one. Once they'd decided who was singing which parts, they got to work. It took them a few hours, but eventually they were happy with the results.

"Is everything alright?" Jungkook asked after they decided that they had done enough takes; she had gotten up to check out their results on the laptop when Jungkook asked the question.

She shot him a quick look before she went back to what she was doing. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

He frowned at her response as he got up and went over to her. "You've been weird this whole time though. Tell me... Is it because you... Noticed? Yesterday?"

"Noticed what?" she asked hurriedly as she kept her eyes fixed on the screen in front of her.

Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows. "So you didn't?"

"Noticed what?" she repeated.

For the first time ever, she witnessed Jungkook fidgeting and seeming unsure of himself as he shifted from one foot to the other out of the corner of her eyes. She straightened up and gave him her attention as he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well... The fact that I couldn't keep my eyes off you. And..." Jungkook trailed off and now it was he who couldn't look at her.

"But... Why would you be looking at me? I mean, did I have something on my face? Or...?" Her eyes widened. Why could people not take their eyes off someone? Surely he didn't like her?

The blush slowly appearing on his face was answer enough for her. His mouth was about to open to say something when her mouth blurted out words before she could stop herself. "But you can't like me! The industry doesn't—" She stopped talking immediately and just stared at him with round eyes when she realised what she'd said; Jungkook's reaction mirrored her own.

"W—What?" He suddenly seemed lost.

Her heart dropped when she saw the expression on his face. Although she'd been a bit mad at him for hiding it, he did have a good reason for it. When she saw the sadness etched on his face, she realised that she was the last person he apparently wanted to know about his true identity.

"I'm... I'm sorry... After you left yesterday I had to get some milk and I happened to see you." Her words were laced with guilt even though she didn't really have to feel guilty about having seen him. "Couldn't you come in yesterday because of that photoshoot?"

Jungkook sighed as he tiredly wiped a hand across his face, reprimanding himself internally for not following his gut instinct to have the shoot further away from this part of town. "Yeah... It was because of that."

"Well... You looked really good doing it?" she asked more than said in an attempt to lighten up the mood. She knew it had worked to some extent when one side of his mouth twitched.

"Thanks," he said. She shot him a small smile when Jungkook went back to the original topic after a small pause in the conversation. "You came to the right conclusion though."

His words left her momentarily confused. "Huh?" Jungkook could see the cogs turning in her head as she thought about his words. Suddenly the cogs stopped and a blush adorned her own face. "Oh."

He moved closer to her then as he looked at her with pleading eyes. "Just please don't let what I do change anything between us, okay?"

She hadn't even thought of that. "Of course not. You'll always be Jungkook to me."

He sent her the most sincere smile, with melted her heart. "Thank you."

She shot him a shy smile in return. "Come on, it's getting late. You should probably be getting back soon, right?"

His mood instantly dampened as he realised she was saying the truth and he sighed. "Yeah... You're right. Walk me to the door?"

She nodded and they walked to the door together after he had gathered up the few things that he'd brought with him. He slid his shoes on quickly and opened the door, stopping and turning back around to where she was standing in the doorway to say goodbye. Jungkook was clearly debating what to say next.

"Look... I really meant what I said earlier. I know it's not an ideal situation we're in but I really do like you. Will you..." Jungkook hesitated for a split second before he went for her hands and held them in his own. "Won't you do me the honour of being my long-distance girlfriend?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked at the man in front of her. A man who was almost too good to be true wanted her above any of the other girls in this world. What had she done to deserve this?

That was why her next words crushed her as much as they crushed him.

"Jungkook..." she said quietly. She took one of her hands out of his and placed it on top of his. "Friendships are hard enough to maintain long distance. Don't you think a romantic relationship would pull apart anything that we might have?"

She looked down at their hands between their bodies then, taking out her other hand and holding his inside hers before she looked up at him once more. The expression on his face mirrored the crushed feeling she currently felt on the inside. She couldn't bear it any longer and dropped his hands as she moved forward to give him a tight hug, making sure her mouth wasn't buried in his coat so he could still understand her.

"You have no idea how happy I was to see you when you showed up. But I need you to understand that I'm saying this for both of us. When the situation is better, we can talk about it again."

"And when will the situation be better?" Jungkook had wrapped his arms loosely around her, but holding her in his arms barely lessened the pain he felt.

"Well... When you're no longer an idol, maybe?"

Jungkook frowned as he pulled back but left his hands on her shoulders as he looked at her. "That's eight years."

She couldn't hide her surprise. "Eight years? That's a long time."

Jungkook's frown deepened. "Couldn't you just move to South Korea with me?"

She proceeded to frown too as she removed his hands from her shoulders and took a step back. "You know that's not possible. Not only do I not know the language, but I couldn't even walk around with you. If people from all over the world know what you look like, then I'm sure South Korea will be a no-go."

"I'll teach you Korean so you can get around yourself, okay?"

Jungkook's voice was filled with so much hope that she couldn't turn him down, but she was truthful with her next words. "How do you know languages are something that I can easily pick up? I might not be able to learn it."

"We'll talk in nothing but Korean." Jungkook's mood had completely changed as a determined smile appeared on his face. He pulled her in for a last quick hug before pulling back again. "We'll start tonight. I'll message you when I can, so be prepared."

She knew this was Jungkook's farewell and she couldn't help but frown knowing she probably wouldn't see him again for a while.

"Cheer up," he said. "We'll chat non-stop, just like we have the last year." Jungkook hesitated for a quick second before he quickly bent down and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. "I'll see you soon, yeah?"

She was shocked for a second but as he turned to leave, she quickly hugged him from behind. "Stay safe, okay?"

He reached an arm around behind him and rubbed her back comfortingly. "I will. You too."

She let go then and she watched him walk further and further away with sadness in her eyes and a heavy feeling in her heart. Why is it that her heart felt no better the further away from her the source of pain walked?

She only just managed to hold her pain and tears in long enough to return Jungkook's final wave with a smile on her face.

______________________________________________

I have to admit, time ran away with me a bit here. I can't believe it's been so long since I wrote an update! A day quickly turns into a week, and a week quickly turns into two weeks... Aw man, it sucks. I blame NaNoWriMo :/

I just really hope this chapter was worth the wait for you guys! It has a sad ending </3 Just imagining Jungkook sad made me feel sad myself... Buuuut the next chapter is the last chapter for Jungkook's arc! And it'll hopefully have a happy ending ;)

Any preferences on which member's arc I should work on next? :D

Thank you so much for reading! <3 It means a lot to me :') Have a great weekend guys :D