Bells, Bills and Bubbles of Blues

Chapter 17

Chaeyoung has been sitting in front of the mirror, combing her hair for a while now. She glances at her phone, quiet and still. It has stopped singing, has stopped dinging and Chaeyoung thinks that Jungkook is probably fed up. She's read all of his texts, watched his name on the screen of her phone when he called but she hasn't responded to any.

Obviously, the motivational talk Jisoo and Jennie gave her should have been the wakeup call. Obviously, she understands and acknowledges her feelings for Jungkook even more clearly now. Obviously, Jungkook's own feelings and intentions are as real as his existence.

But she doesn't know how to discuss her feelings. She doesn't know how to talk about it to him. It's even harder to face him after the series of ignoring him on purpose that she did. She wishes she's like him, so that when it feels slightly weird, she can talk about other things to him.

She should call him, talk to him about their mission for tomorrow, the wedding day. They can go over everything once again, finalize all the nitty-gritty details of their fake relationship to make it believable to anyone interested to know, nosy to observe.

But Chaeyoung is not him. She doesn't have Jungkook's special ability of switching lanes to talk about something else without any warning.

The word Jennie uses on the situation repeats in her head. Realistic. Maybe everything that's happening between her and Jungkook is indeed realistic. But she's known Jungkook for less than a month. Is it realistic to fall this fast? Is it realistic to even call it a relationship?

Then again, the relationship she shared with Chanyeol shattered after a year and a half of her thinking that the relationship was like a firm and strong building that could never crumble. As she thinks of what caused it to shatter in just a blink of an eye, even that didn't look or sound realistic to her. But it happened.

And maybe that's just how life is. Sometimes not everything that we believe to be real turns out real. Sometimes reality does reside in the things that we least expect to be real.

Chaeyoung settles on her bed with her laptop, deciding to watch 500 Days of Summer with a few snacks. As she munches, she thinks of Jungkook. She's acutely aware that this so-called fake relationship she's in has more flavor. It's richer and the texture is just beyond interesting. It's more than just 'tasty'. It's an unpredictable taste, a taste that piques curiosity, something that gives a new flavor the longer it's consumed.

She thinks of the time they discussed movies, she thinks back of the word destiny, how destiny works for them. It takes her a while to realize that she's not really watching the movie and only realizing that fact when one of her favorite line resonates through the quiet atmosphere.

"Someday, someone will walk into your life and make you realize why it never worked out with anyone else."

Chaeyoung inhales deeply like a greedy human trying to take in all the oxygen for herself. Swallowing nervously, she closes her laptop and grabs her phone and she feels her thumb tremble as if it's freezing in the cold when she's typing.

      - See u at the wedding.

She cringes, thinks that the message sounds cold but she's still hopeful for him to reply something, to make her feel less awkward like how he always did so that she can send him more texts that's less cold.

But when she sees the word 'online' appearing beneath his name, Chaeyoung panics and erases her message quickly. Gradually, regret begins to fill her lungs.

*

Chaeyoung arrives at the wedding venue earlier than she planned to. The hotel itself is grand, a five-star hotel, which suits Chanyeol's status very much. Everything inside looks expensive. She had a phone call with Jimin just a few moments before stepping into the venue, and the older male reminded her to pig out. Just as she's about to get herself a drink, her gasp escapes her mouth when she is dragged out of the hall by her arm.