"I can't get used to it."
Lisa's eyebrow slowly raised, an action that made her head throb a little more.
"It's so short now." A finger ran through her hair, easily slipping through the strands ending at her chin. It kept repeating this and Lisa was too fatigued to put an end to it.
"Jungkook..." she stated, her patience wearing thin, although her voice was nasally and his name came out more of a whine.
"Sorry, sorry, I'll stop touching it," he apologised with a grin, retracting his hand away quickly.
Lisa had come down with a bad cold, likely from her busy schedule, having just finished her mentor duties on Youth With You and having to go straight into comeback preparations. Now that How You Like That had been released and she had completed most of the promotions that went along with it, her body had finally given up at the first sign of a break.
She was half sitting up in bed whilst Jungkook had dragged a chair over to sit by her bedside. He happened to have a day free and came over quickly when he had heard she had fallen ill. He had even brought her some warming soup from a restaurant they both loved and was watching dutifully as she slowly fed herself. She hadn't had much of an appetite but she couldn't say no to Jungkook when he worried like this. It was actually really adorable to witness and be on the receiving end of.
He sighed again and leaned back in his chair, his arms crossing over his chest. "I knew you were working too hard. When we don't get a chance to meet up and you don't have time to text or call me, I should know that you're overworking yourself."
Lisa smiled. It was true that she had been too busy to talk much. "But work's important," she reminded him.
"Your health is more important, dummy," he chided.
She could barely even fight back after he called her a dummy, her body feeling too weak to react. Even lifting the spoon to her mouth was hard work.
Jungkook, feeling a little restless, got up to stretch his legs and wander around her bedroom for a bit. He inspected her record player and hummed in approval at some of her records.
"This looks familiar," he said, spinning around with something he had found in his hand. It was a plush toy of a cat in an ice cream cone, namely her cat Leo.
She perked up at the toy, and chuckled rather weakly. "It's a prototype prop for our new MV."
Jungkook dug around in his jeans pocket, finally finding what he was looking for. In the other hand that wasn't holding her toy, he held out his keys, with the keychain that he had won from the karaoke bar all those years ago. At the time, Lisa had desperately tried to win it herself, but had run out of coins, and so Jungkook had won it instead but kept it for himself.
That's where the plushie was familiar - the key chain was a cat in an ice cream cone too.
She grinned, seeing the keychain again. "You still have that!" It looked a little worn and discoloured now, but her heart swelled at the knowledge that he had kept it so close to him for so many years.
"You're not still bitter that I didn't win it for you, are you?" he asked, coming to sit back in his seat.
"A little," she laughed honestly but then shook her head. "It's okay though, I've got these plushies now."
"If it's any comfort, it's always made me think of you. Whenever I come home and unlock my door, or leave the house for a schedule, or I'm out drinking and need my keys for the bottle opener - I always see the keychain and think of you."
Her face already felt flushed from her fever and she hadn't realised it could feel any hotter, but he had managed it.
"You're such a sweet talker," she grumbled, trying to hide her glowing face subtly behind her soup bowl.
He laughed and held onto her wrists to lower her hands so he could see her face properly. "It's true! It's one of my most prized possessions."
She smiled shyly at him, their gazes glued like magnets. Until she sneezed and had to break his weak hold on her wrists.
Jungkook sighed, taking her empty bowl out of her hands and placing it on the table. "You should get some more rest. I'll stick around if you need anything though."
Lisa shook her head in objection. "Don't be silly. You shouldn't be spending your free day hanging around a sick person." She sneezed again as if to hammer in her point.
"I don't mind," he said simply. He stood up to lean over her lying form, bringing up the duvet right to her chin and tucking in the sides. "Are you warm enough?"
With his face hovering right above hers, Lisa could only bring herself to nod once.
He straightened up again and made to leave the room, switching off her light. It was still quite early in the evening, but thankfully her black-out blinds made it look like night time.
Just as he was about to leave the room, shutting the door behind him, she muttered quietly, "Thanks Jungkook-ah." Her only sign that he had heard her was his slight hesitation on exiting the room.

-&-

When Lisa woke up, she realised she had slept for a full 14 hours. She already felt a lot better though, her headache gone and her nasal passages feeling a lot clearer. She downed a cup of water left by her bedside and decided she desperately needed a shower and a toothbrush.
After taking her time in the bathroom and changing from her pyjamas into actual clothes, albeit comfortable lounge wear, she cracked open her bedroom door, almost ready to see Jungkook still asleep on her couch or something. However, the rest of the apartment was empty. Just her cats who looked like they had already been fed and were content lounging around in the sun dappled room.
She called his name cautiously just to make sure, but no reply greeted her. Her lounge and kitchen were as spotless as ever - it looked like he had even washed her dishes for her while she slept. But there was no other sign that he had been there.
The front door suddenly unlocked and opened from the outside, startling Lisa and making her jump.
"Oh good, you're awake," Jungkook said from the entryway.
Lisa's hand came to her chest to try to steady her heart beat, but it still beat relentlessly. "God, you scared the crap out of me!"
He grinned roguishly. "Sorry. I helped myself to your key so I could pop out to get us some breakfast." On cue, he held up two cups of coffee in a cupholder in one hand, and a paper bag, out of which wafted a delicious scent of baked pastry and sweetness.
"You're instantly forgiven," she quickly backtracked, already reaching for the paper bag that promised a buttery carb overload in the form of croissants and cinnamon swirls.
He chuckled, willingly handing over the paper bag while he put down their coffee on her lounge table. "It's good to see you feeling better." As if to assure himself, he reached out to brush aside her bangs lightly and place the back of his hand to her forehead. He nodded satisfactorily. "Yup, feels a lot cooler now."
She blushed at the casual contact, not even minding that someone had touched her bangs. "Thanks to you, Doctor Jeon."
It may have been easy to make her blush, but he wasn't immune either, as Lisa found to her great amusement.
They both sat on the floor by her low coffee table, next to the window that threw glorious sunlight on the both of them. Lisa carefully took out the contents of the bag to reveal some french pastries as she had anticipated, as well as a pot of fruit and porridge. She helped herself to all the treats, feasting with an appetite that had been suppressed for the past day.
She hadn't realised Jungkook had been staring at her whilst he leisurely sipped on his coffee until she finally took a breather from scoffing down multiple bites one after the other.
"What?" she said ungracefully after swallowing the spoonful of porridge she had just eaten.
His stare was affectionate and soft, but he didn't look embarrassed that he had been caught. Instead, he smiled back. "Hey, I've been thinking..."
Uh-oh, was all Lisa could think. Her hand limply dropped the spoon she was holding.
"We should talk about what's been going on between us..."
Yep, as she thought... Was he finally going to address the kiss they had shared months ago and say they had taken a step too far? Or was he going to say the opposite and that they should go a step further? She didn't know which one she wanted to hear honestly.
"We don't have to talk about it," Lisa protested. If they talked about it, it could change things. She liked where they were right now, with no official labels but with the advantage of a few intimate kisses and secret hand holding beneath tables... "We could talk about literally anything else... How about that new kdrama that started last week? Or that dalgona coffee trend - have you-"
"Lisa," he laughed, abruptly cutting her off. "Will you listen to me for a second?"
She stopped rambling, feeling a little guilty at his sincere voice and the look of irritated fondness in his eyes.
"I keep thinking when the right time will come along for us to resume our relationship... But the longer it takes, the more I think 'fuck it'."
Lisa's eyebrows raised in surprise at his sudden cursing, but the scepticism still remained about where this could be leading. "So... What are you saying?"
"Well, what I've been thinking recently is... Marry me."
Lisa almost choked on her saliva. "W-what!? Are you crazy?" she cried incredulously. "We're both only in our early 20s."
To that, Jungkook simply shrugged. "I know I'll always want to spend the rest of my life with you, so it doesn't matter what age it happens at."
"But we aren't even officially boyfriend and girlfriend again. You want to just skip to marriage?!"
Jungkook's lips twitched upwards, finding amusement in Lisa's utter shock. "Our relationship has never been conventional. I don't care if we need to keep it a secret from the public or whatever, it just means I get to keep you all for myself. I want to love you all that I can in private."
He reached out to take her hand and placed a gentle kiss on it. The feel of his lips was like a butterfly's touch and made her insides squirm in delight.
"Of course I want to be with you too," Lisa replied, her voice and face softening. "If it means loving you only in private, that's more than I could have ever wished for."
It could have been the lingering effects of her fever but she found her hand tightening naturally around his, as she nodded her head without even thinking twice. "Yes, I'll marry you, Jeon Jungkook."
His returning smile could have lit up Seoul Tower. It stretched over his face and his cheeks flushed with joy. They both laughed a little in disbelief that they had just agreed to marry each other.
"I'm the happiest I've ever been," Jungkook said with a breathless laugh. "Shit, I didn't think you'd actually say yes. I thought you would just call me an idiot or something."
She laughed back and pushed him gently in retaliation. "Then you really are an idiot. How could I say no when you make the mushiest speeches and give me those lovesick, puppy dog eyes?"
"You mean these eyes?" He lowered his chin and made his eyes seem extra wide and twinkly. 
"Stop, you could make me commit murder with those eyes," she laughed, covering her own eyes to protect herself.
"Hey," she suddenly said when they had stopped laughing. "Where's the ring?"
Jungkook thought for a little while, before tugging on both of her hands to bring them above the table. He took her right one in his, and found what he had been looking for - the couple rings that he had gifted her months ago as a promise that they would be together one day. He twisted them off her forefinger and moved it over to her left hand's ring finger. "There. You could say I predicted this moment years ago."
She raised a sceptical eyebrow, but inspected the silver band now placed snugly on her ring finger. She would be lying if she hadn't sometimes tried to wear it on that finger before, just to feel what it would be like to be engaged. It had felt like an impossible dream back then, but suddenly it had become real. She smiled at the familiar rings on an unfamiliar placement. 
He held up his own right hand where he wore the matching rings on his forefinger. "Always matching," he winked. But then he looked a little abashed and apologetic. "Sorry, this proposal probably isn't what you had envisioned."
"Yeah, you're right," she said honestly. "As a kid, I always wanted a big romantic gesture, like the ones you see in the movies. Maybe a flash dance or writing 'Will you marry me' in the sky..." She could almost laugh at the absurdity of her ideas back then. "But I'm starting to appreciate being lowkey these days... Maybe I've just grown more selfish, but I don't want to share my special moments with anyone else anymore..."
He nodded his head in understanding. "I'll get you a proper engagement ring at least. You can even pick one out."
That was another thing she had often imagined as a child - she pictured a huge rock on her engagement ring with a band speckled with precious stones. Maybe it would even be rubies instead of diamonds to make a statement. 
However, she was almost surprised at herself when she shook her head. "No, I like this one actually. This one is perfect."