"Headcount!"

You grabbed your bag and hurried toward the group.

"One, two, three, four, five, and me makes six. Where- oh, there's Jimin, late as usual."

"Hey!"

"Anyway, I think we're all... wait, where's Y/N?"

"Here," you mumbled, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, sorry." Namjoon shot you an apologetic smile. "Couldn't see you over Jin's shoulders. Everybody here, I think. So let's go!" (cuz ah-ah-i'm in the stars tonight 🧨)

"So, why do we have to wake up at ungodly hours to do anything in public?" you asked once you'd all gotten into the car.

"You know, fans," Jimin sighed, whipping out a pair of sunglasses and sliding them on. "We're so hot, they can feel the heat from a mile away and come running like Jin hyung to steak."

"Uh-huh. Is that why we have to dress like ninjas and go out for breakfast at a quarter past 4 in the morning?"

"Basically, yeah."

"You guys must be really big, then. aH N-NO I DON'T NO AH NONONOO-" You covered your face with your hands to shield yourself from your brother's stares. "I-I didn't mean it like that!"

"Choco Pie, have you been reading fanfiction again?" Jimin asked, concern lacing his voice.

"N-no!"

He narrowed his eyes. "Hmm..."

"Ohlookwe'reherelet'sgo!"

And you scrambled out of the car before he could say anything else.

Smoothing down your clothes and glancing back at the car, you let out your breath and turned to the café.

It was an absolutely charming little place, from what you could see. Brightly lit and with that cozy café aesthetic, it was immediately attractive. Warm light flooded through the windows and grazed the tips of your shoes, beckoning you to come closer.

Basically, it gave you the same vibes as the worn-out rug in front of the fireplace after you'd been playing in the snow, if that made any sense.

The warmth washed over you when the glass doors opened, making you shiver at the sudden change in temperature. It felt so nice compared to the biting nighttime air you'd just been in. You could hear Han All's "Let's Meet in Spring" playing softly from hidden speakers.

You glanced around, marveling at the incredibly aesthetic café. Absolutely adorable lil bulb lights hung from the ceiling and covered everything in a golden glow, making everything 10000x cozier. Shelves lined the wooden-paneled walls, laden with packaged goods. Nestled amongst the aesthetic chaos like a glittering crown jewel was the display bar, all sorts of pastries sitting inside the glass case, waiting to be devoured. Woah.

"Um, excuse me?" You turned to see the girl standing behind the counter looking at you expectantly. "Can I get you anything?"

The rest of Bangtan was looking at you as well, making you blush in embarrassment. You didn't realize that everyone had already ordered. Not wanting to cause any further delay, you grabbed the first pasty you touched and set it on the counter.

"This, please?"

"Okay. Will that be all?"

"Yes, thank you."

"I'll pay," Namjoon said, sliding over his card.

You felt bad for not offering to pay for yourself, but you were too lazy to protest.

"Hey, over here!" Taehyung called. He was sitting at a large round table and motioning for everyone to join him. The group walked over and sat down, but you lingered to check out a few yummy-looking snacks that you really wanted but didn't get because you didn't want to cause any trouble for the girl by making her do another order and this is a run on sentence but the author doesn't care :)

After the mini torture session, (they all looked so good and you couldn't have them) you went over to the table to find the only seat next to...

Sigh.

Jungkook. Of course it was Jungkook. How could any main character NOT sit next to the love interest? But at this point, you were too tired to put up a fight, so you just sat down and buried your head in your arms.

"Why must you always make life so miserable for me?" you mumbled into your hoodie sleeve.

A pause.

"Who, me?"

"Yes you, Jungkook." You rolled your eyes even though you knew he couldn't see it. "Who else could I be talking about?"

"Oh, I don't know, one of the other six members at the table?"

"The ones who aren't pains in the butt? I think not."

"I'm not sure about that. Jin hyung is pretty- ow!"

You looked up to see Jungkook rubbing his shoulder and Seokjin glaring at him with a murderous expression on his face.

"What were you going to say? Huh, Jungkook-ah? What were you going to say about me??"

"I-I was just saying that you were pretty! That's it!" Jungkook exclaimed, holding up his hands.

"Hmm. Well, I am pretty. But if I catch you one more time..." Seokjin narrowed his eyes at the younger and resumed his conversation with Hoseok about strawberry hand soap.

You burst out laughing.

"What?" Jungkook asked, confused.

"Your... your face!" you choked out.

"What about it?"

"It... ah... I... you look so... so stupid!"

"I am offended by that statement," he said, crossing his arms.

"But you know I'm right," you grinned.

"Ugh, I guess." He rolled his eyes but grinned back.

And it felt so perfect, so right, sitting there in the café and staring into each other's eyes with stupid grins on your faces. Time slowed down, but your heartbeat sped up, and nobody existed but you and him.

And then you blinked, dropped your smile, and looked away.

"Wha... what's wrong?" he asked.

"..."

"Y/N?"

"It's you," you whispered finally.

"...?"

"This isn't right, Jungkook," you said, looking at the floor. "We can't. I can't. Not with you. If you were somebody else, it would be easy, but... it's you, a-and I don't want..."

"Y/N..." He reached out to touch your shoulder, but you sharply sucked in a breath, stood up, and speed-walked over to the display bar. The girl smiled at you when you arrived, noticed your expression and slid the finished tray to you wordlessly. You nodded a silent thanks and took the tray, bringing it over to the table.

"Yes! I'm absolutely starving."

"Ah, it smells great!"

"Okay, is it just me, or does that look really, really good?"

"Yoongi hyung, can I have some of that? It looks so yummy!"

"Hey, where are the napkins? I spilled something..."

"Is it illegal to marry a muffin? Like, I'm seriously in love with this thing."

"..."

You sighed and sat down, taking your pasty and picking at the plastic packaging. All the while avoiding eye contact with him.

Ooh. It was sweet, but not over-the-top, and crumbly with tiny bits of fruit. You inhaled the rest in two bites. It did little to fill the bottomless pit that was your stomach, but it took the edge off your hunger and you had to be satisfied with that.

You leaned back in your seat and licked the crumbs off the edge of your lips. Hm. Something was missing. You licked your lips again.

Ah. A drink. Something to wash it all down.

A drink that you didn't have.

Your eyes traveled around the table. Jimin had a weird taste in drinks. A wad of wet napkins was all that remained of Namjoon's. Seokjin's drink was down to the dregs. Yoongi didn't order a drink. Hoseok's two sprite cans were empty. Taehyung's was a weird green concoction that you weren't really sure was safe to ingest. Which left...

Jungkook had an untouched bottle of banana milk sitting tantalizingly close by. It basically had your name scrawled all over it in thick, black permanent marker. You glanced at him. He was scrolling through his phone, seemingly unaware of anything else. Perfect.

You slid closer to your target, inch by inch, until you felt that you were close enough. Jungkook hadn't even looked up once. This might be easier than you thought. You held your breath and, very slowly, reached up with your left arm. Closer... closer... so close... almost there...

But just as your fingers wrapped around the cool body of the bottle, a hand slammed on top of yours, trapping your hand underneath it. (👀)

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

"J-Jungkook!"

His eyes went to your trapped hand, then back to you. He quirked a flawless brow.

"Ah, we've resorted to stealing, haven't we?"

Your cheeks burned. "W-why are you saying 'we?'"

"Well, why didn't you order a drink?"

"Th-that wasn't an a-a-answer."

"That wasn't an answer, either."

You glared at him. "Hey."

"Huh?"

You rolled your eyes, blowing a stray of hair out of your face. "I'm th-thir... thirsty, okay?"

"You could've just asked, you know."

"Yeah, but I know that you aren't going to give it to me if I... if I asked, y-you know."

"I don't think that you know that I know that you didn't know that I was going to give it to you, you know."

You blinked. "What?"

"What what?"

"Ugh, y-you're so frustrating," you groaned.

He smirked. "I know, you know."

"Unngghhh. My brain hurts."

"I know."

"aAAH-"

"Do you want it?"

"... wh... what?"

"Do you want my banana milk?"

You ripped your hand out of his grasp and narrowed your eyes at him. "Did you poison it or something?"

"For the last time, cupcake, I'm not trying to kill you."

"Well, you are, whether you're trying or not! Because I am currently dying a slow and painful death from your annoyingness." And of his perfectness, but you weren't about to say that aloud.

"Oh nooo! Forgive me, my lady, for I meant no harm. Please accept my humble offering as a token of my apology," Jungkook said, bowing low and holding out the bottle of banana milk.

Woah, déjà vu.

"Oh, no!" he exclaimed, making a comically surprised face. "A thousand apologies, your greatness, for I did not mean to sog your cereal." He bowed so low his nose almost touched the carpet, making you bite your lip to stop from smiling.

It had seemed like an eternity ago, although you were sure it couldn't have been over a few weeks. Your opinion about him had changed so much over such a short period of time, although you were afraid to show it. And you still had several months to go. What's going to happen? What's going to happen to you? Will you-

"Y/N? Hey, Y/N?"

You blinked your way back to reality. "Huh? What?"

"You were staring at my nose for, like, the longest time." Jungkook grinned and you swore he was a freaking rabbit. "What's so interesting about it?"

"N-no. Sorry, I was just spacing out," you said, looking away.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked, putting his chin in his hands and fixing his doe-like eyes on you. Dang. His skin practically glowed, his smile was so dazzling you were tempted to steal Jimin's unnecessary sunglasses and slip them on, and the golden café lights reflected off his dark irises like a million suns.

"Sparkly," you breathed.

"What was that?" he asked, still smiling.

"Y-your... ah! N-no, it's nothi- no- I-I... c-can I have your banana milk?"

"Wh- oh. Of course. I've been trying to give it to you this whole time!" he chuckled, holding out the bottle.

Ah, yes! You had somehow forgotten your thirst, but now that you remembered it, it was almost unbearable. You grinned and reached for the drink.

"Actually..."

He pulled it away at the last second, and you lost your balance and fell.

Face-first onto his lap.

Oop Y/N 👀
Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed!
This chapter is kinda chaotic, veryyyy messy, and slightly shorter than I'd like it to be. Sorry about that. I actually wrote this one some time back, when writer's block was really hitting hard, so that's why it seems off haha. (it's late bcuz i was feeling too sick to edit, stop pointing T^T)

Anyway, "Let's Meet in Spring" is one of the most amazing songs out there! I think it really sums up the vibe I was trying to give the café. If you haven't listened to it yet, I'll link it ^^

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

This author's note is getting abnormally long, but one last thing before you go...

Can we... uhm... writearaincheckforthisweek'schapter?
I'm sorry!! 😭 I'm just not feeling the best right now, and I really don't want to give y'all a crappy chapter (or any crappier than it already is, ig). Please be patient with me!! 😭🙏
i 💜 and appreciate y'all