♠︎ bonus 2: moving day

just a short, fluffy one <3

BONUS CHAPTER 2

'MOVING DAY'

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♠︎ YOU

"It's today, it's today, it's today!" you squealed, admiring the object of your affections on the screen of your phone. In only 12 hours, you were going to be reunited with him, and you couldn't wait. 

It had been so long since you'd seen him last, and had a chance to pet his tiny head.

Jungkook huffed, somewhere off camera. "Should I be offended that you're more excited to see Snoop than you are to see me?"

You grinned, admiring Snoop's croaks as Jungkook zoomed in on his adorable little face. "Yes, definitely," you cooed, heart squeezing at the sight of his tiny webbed feet. "You should be jealous as hell."

Jungkook just laughed, turning the camera back around until it showed his face.

"Glad to see you're finally over your fear of bugs," he said triumphantly. "You're gonna have to put up with them now that you'll be living with Snoop."

"Oh, I'm not putting up with them," you informed him. "You're still feeding him."

"Is that right?" Jungkook asked, one eyebrow raised in bemusement. 

"Mm," you nodded seriously. "But I'll put up with the bugs in the house, because it means I get to live with you."

Jungkook seemed taken aback by your sudden honesty, a crinkling smile dawning over his face as he met your eye once more. It made your heart sing, to see him so happy about you moving in together.

Deep down, you knew this was a stage you had reached far later than Jungkook. You had been the one to suggest moving in, around nine months into your relationship. Now, eleven months in, it was finally happening. When you had suggested it, Jungkook had lit up with relief, as if he'd been waiting an age for you to say it.

Something about that - about Jungkook being so certain this was the right move - was extremely comforting.

"So I'll meet you there? At the apartment?" you said now, blushing a little at how honest you had just been. Jungkook nodded.

"Yeah, I'm filming until five, and then I'll head over," he grinned. "I'll be there around six?"

A flood of excitement filled you. It hadn't really felt real these last few months, when you had been in Daegu, simply planning it all. 

But now, on the day of the move, the reality was finally dawning on you. You were going to live with Jungkook in Seoul. You would get to see him every day, touch him every day, kiss him every day. Whenever you wanted to.

It felt too good to be true.

You gazed at him through your phone. After today, you wouldn't have to just look at him through a screen.

You grinned, heart fuller than it had felt in a long time. "I can't wait."   

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You should have known that if it felt too good to be true, it probably was. 

You spent the rest of that morning frantically packing and making sure everything was in place, trying not to forget anything. The apartment you were moving into was new; Jungkook was moving out of his place too, so you could have a totally fresh start together. It did mean, however, that there would be no furniture whatsoever when you arrived, and you and Jungkook were going to have to assemble it all when it arrived that evening. 

Weirdly, you were looking forward to it.

That is, until you got the dreaded phone call at lunch time, as you were loading the last of your boxes into the moving van.

"Kookie?" you answered happily. "I thought you were filming all day? I'm just about to leave Daegu."

"Baby," already his voice was sullen and regretful. "I'm sorry."

You froze. Somehow, you knew what was coming next. "Sorry for what?"

"They want to re-shoot everything. It's going to take all evening," he groaned, his voice filled with apology. "I'm so sorry, I tried to explain but they-"

"All evening?" you repeated, feeling the bubble of excitement in your chest begin to deflate. "How long is all evening?"

"Til midnight," he offered miserably, not even bothering to sugar coat it. 

It wasn't Jungkook's fault. You knew that in his line of work, things like this happened all the time. But that didn't really soften the blow of how devastating it was. Shouldn't Jungkook be allowed a break for important things like this?

Or maybe... he hadn't considered this important enough to ask for a break?

Don't be stupid, you told yourself, able to recognise now when your self-doubts were getting ahead of you after nearly a year of being with him. Jungkook's not like that.

"Okay," you said now, trying to keep your voice even as you replied. "Okay. It's fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Baby," he said soothingly. "I get it if you're mad at me-"

"I'm not mad at you, Kookie, I just-" you cut yourself off before you could get too emotional, swallowing the feelings down. "I was really looking forward to tonight."

The last part of your sentence was barely a mumble. Jungkook audibly winced.

"Me too," he admitted. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," you tried to force a smile that he might potentially believe. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Mm," he hummed sadly. He started to say something else, but you had already hung up the phone.

A single tear fell, but you wiped it away. You weren't going to cry over something as silly as Jungkook's schedule - something you were well used to now, nearly a year into dating him. You were not going to cry over that. 

But you were going to be pissed off at HYBE, and at how lonely this evening was going to be, your first night alone in Seoul.

From then on, the moving experience was miserable. Nia was off on some dance tour with Hwasa, and so she hadn't even been on hand to give you a Daegu send-off, although the pair of you had had one final girls' night before she'd left. But today, your exit from the city felt astoundingly normal and quiet, without your best friend making a huge fuss of it. You climbed into the car, followed the van away from your apartment, and that was that. 

Life in Daegu, over.

By the time you arrived in Seoul, it was approaching dark. You would have appreciated the beautiful skyline as you approached it, but you couldn't today. Not when there were safety procedures to go through and various codes and checks with Jungkook's security team to deem the apartment safe. You waited in the car the whole time, feeling hours drag by which would have been a million times easier to pass with Jungkook by your side. 

Finally, after darkness had fully fallen like a thick blanket over the city and it was declared safe, you were allowed to go into the apartment. You sighed, hoisting your bag up the steps, preparing yourself for the dark, empty rooms. In a little under half an hour, all of the furniture would be arriving, and you would have to find the energy to put as much of it together as you could.

Oh well, you told yourself. Just make the best of it. Jungkook will be here tomorrow, and then everything will be okay. 

You pushed open the front door, letting it shut behind you, not realising that the apartment was in fact not dark at all, until it was too late.

You froze, jaw dropped, at the sight in front of you.

In the spacious lounge, it seemed as though a thousand lights were burning at once. It took a moment for you to realise they were candles bathing the room in soft light, spread across the kitchen counter and the dining table and the cabinets - all fully formed and built perfectly. There were sofas, and a television, and even wall hangings and flowers on every surface, exactly the way you and Jungkook had designed it.

Oh - and that was the best part, of course. 

Jungkook was there too. 

He was standing in the middle of the lounge, beaming at you. He'd dressed in all black, as handsome as ever, a knowing look in his eyes.

Behind him, you could just about make out Snoop, the candlelight reflecting off his tiny green body in his vivarium.

But your focus right now was on Jungkook. Real, and here, and smiling gorgeously at you against a backdrop of candlelight.

"Welcome home," he murmured, doe eyes sparkling.

Those two words alone were enough to make you melt.

"I had all the furniture delivered a day early," he admitted sheepishly, indicating around the beautifully decorated room. "I wanted to surprise you."

"Well, consider me... surprised," you breathed, still unable to move. 

It shouldn't have been such a surprise that he had done this. Jungkook had always been one to act on his feelings rather than talk about them, and he loved to do things for the people he loved. But the shock and enormity of this gesture was too much, and suddenly, to your horror, you were crying.

"Oh, baby, I'm sorry-" he came to you then as he saw the tears fall, wrapping his arms around you. Though you were still downright pissed at him for lying, it was fading fast, because the sensation of being surrounded by his familiar warmth and his scent was so comforting it made your knees weak.

Your body betrayed you, hugging him back tightly, just grateful to have him there, in the flesh, after weeks and months of waiting. 

After nearly a year of waiting.

"You okay?" he asked you, mumbling into your hair.

"You asshole," you laughed through tears, slapping his chest lightly as you pulled back. "I was so sad when you called."

Jungkook's brow knit together with concern. "Shit, I didn't think about that-"

But you were already shaking your head, dismissing it. "It's okay, Kookie. I'm just glad you're here," you told him.  

Jungkook breathed a sigh of relief, and you took the opportunity to kiss him, long and slow. It had been a few weeks since you'd seen him properly, and you delighted in the taste of him - at having him here, in real life, at last.

"I'm so happy," he said against your lips, making your heart unfurl as he looped his arms around your waist. "I can't wait to live with you."

"Aren't you even a little bit nervous?" you asked him, playing with a strand of his hair. "To live together?"

Jungkook gazed at you for a long moment. 

You couldn't read his thoughts. But if you had been able to, you would have seen him ponder your question for only a fleeting second. 

Jungkook? Nervous?

Never.

Jungkook wasn't nervous about moving in with you, because he'd wanted it forever. He'd wanted it since you started dating. You'd been right, earlier, when you'd thought that Jungkook had reached this stage far earlier than you. Since you left that island, almost a year ago now, he'd been thinking about ways of cementing you into his future for good.

In his head, Jungkook was past the point of moving in with you. He was thinking of bigger things to come.

And, admittedly, littler things too. Like the tiny red ring box he'd hidden in one of the cabinet drawers in the bathroom, in the hope you wouldn't find it until the time was right.

A man didn't buy a box like that - or what was inside it - if he was nervous.

If anything, he'd never been more certain in his whole life.

So he just grinned down at you, brushing his nose against yours, and said - "Not nervous at all, baby. I'm just excited."

As you grinned back, kissing him again in the soft candlelight, he thought again of the ring, and knew that there were far more exciting times to come.

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