Hello! How are you? :) Yes, I would actually like to request a JungKook reaction to y/n using a lip balm with his favourite flavor, please.
genre: slice of life; fluff; comfort; established relationship.
characters: jeon jungkook x gn!reader | no supporting character.
w.c: 1.7K
author’s note: because it’s close to winter, i’m myself obsessed with putting my favourite lip balm on my lips, constantly, 24x7, so this was such a cute coincidental request, lovely anon! i hope you stay safe, wherever you are, happy readings!
[03:23 PM] [don’t just stand there, a thousand unbearable steps away. i would like you to keep me safe.]
―with ghostly footsteps, you stepped inside the familiar residence of your next-door neighbour, jungkook and as it seemed like usual today, the smell of paint welcomed you in his place. after all, the highly anticipated art exhibition of his in the big city was right around the corner but of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean, a man has to be cooped up in his painting room hours after hours. he needs to have something other than the smudge and smell of paint all over him.
in regards to that thought, wrapped in your left arm, you held three tupperware boxes in which your mother had packed some late lunch for, according to her, “that child” next door.
although you knew where to find the boy for whom these lunch boxes were, you decided that it would be better to lay back low and put them into the refrigerator for now. jungkook might be too engrossed in the piece he was working and at the end of the day, you didn’t want to be that one person to break his waves of inspiration.
so you thought, he can have them for dinner tonight and who knows, he might find himself to be happily surprised discovering the dishes of his delight.
the afternoon sun was enough to light up the open kitchen and you padded across the span of the living room to open the fridge, all in absolute silence. there was nothing really to catch your eyes inside it except for the countless bottles of banana milk but because you were already used to it by then, you paid no heed to it and securely placed the three tupperware boxes before gently closing the fridge.
and, as you did so, you heard a very familiar voice inside the confinement of these very familiar walls.
“_______,” it seemed he hadn’t talked for a while because when he called your name, it sounded hoarse and of course, you were surprised as you were sure in your heart that you were not planning for such turn of events.
“jungkook!” you gasped as your eyes widened and you quickly turned on your heels to face his standing figure on the other side of the kitchen aisle. you hadn’t even realized he was there behind you. you felt terribly embarrassed as you realized he might have seen you placing foods inside his fridge in the mildly lit kitchen like a ghost.
but jungkook’s eyes were drowsy and he looked like he was bathing under the sun. in his hand you noticed, was an empty bottle of mango juice.
“when did you come?” he asked you casually as he switched on the kitchen lights and walked up close to you before disposing the empty bottle of mango juice in the trashcan.
“oh sorry i didn’t mean to disturb you. i was just here to deliver the food maa made for lunch. there was some extra…so she thought, why not you have the rest of them?” you explained, “they’re your favourites too.”
“hmmmm,” jungkook hummed as he looked down. it seemed like he was trying to pick out words to give shape to his thoughts but his brows were furrowed and being concerned if he was feeling well or not, considering these days because of the upcoming art exhibition, jungkook has been nothing but busy with his paintings, you extended your arm and wrapped your palm upon his tense shoulders and felt the muscles spasm as he lifted his head up instantly.
“are you okay? do you want to lie down a bit or…?”
jungkook shook his head and without saying anything, raised his arm to press his right thumb upon your lips. you pulled your head back slightly but the deed was done. he had rubbed out some of the cherry lip balm you were previously wearing.
“hey! what are you-?” you were about to ask him the cause of his action when you found him smelling the trace of your lip balm upon his thumb.
“i knew it,” he said calmly.
“you knew what?” you asked him flabbergasted.
“you are wearing my favourite lip balm. i could smell it from the other side of the room.”
“hold on, wait. first of all, what do you mean your favourite lip balm and second of all, you could smell my lip balm from across the room?”
this time jungkook smiled and stood right next to you. he was almost a head taller than you so when he wrapped one of his arm around your waist to feel your warmth against him, he could easily rest his chin upon your head and as if on reflex, you wrapped one of yours around him too. jungkook closed his eyes and the smile was still glowing on his face.
“anything cherry flavored is my favourite so naturally, it is my favourite lip balm of all time.”
“i had literally no idea if i’m being real honest with you,” you gaped at the new knowledge.
“it’s alright. i don’t mind really. i’m glad you wore it though.”
“but,” you pulled your head back and looked up at him, “how the hell can you smell anything other than paints in this house?”
“maybe our noses are built different,” jungkook stated, quite gleefully as if he was enjoying the confusion reflecting upon your face.
you hummed back in agreement. yes, it might have faded from your memory but you were known of this fact that he does have a very cautious nose. he can really detect what and from where certain smell might come from. also, jungkook has always been sensitive to perfumes. he has never really liked anything heavy. so now that you could think about it, his choice of lip balm doesn’t seem to baffle you anymore.
“you look like you have more questions,” jungkook proposed by giving a soft squeeze to the side of your waist his palm rested.
“yes,” you stared at his sleepy eyes.
“ask away,” he asked gingerly.
“why did you check the flavor of my lip balm like that?”
“by putting my thumb on your lips?” his eyes roamed a little bit upon your face before he continued, “my hands are clean, i promise, ______,” at this point, you two were only whispering. the sound of your voices in enough decibel for the only person for whom the words were.
“no, that’s, i don’t mean that, do you do that to others too?”
“you know i don’t really have a social life, right?”
“well, yeah, i know that,”
“then? do you want me to check in some other way next time?”
“why do you even need to check again? i wear this all the time nowadays,” you snickered half-heartedly.
“i mean i don’t know, it might become my comfort smell for the rest of my life, like you have petrichor for yourself,” this time he put out his other arm and had then completely wrapped you in this awkward position of a hug – your side pressed to his front, “you’re to me what the smell of rain is to you, ______, my favourite thing in the world no matter where i am.”
“jungkook,” you laughed in disbelief as you said his name, “if you have so much time cheesing around with me, maybe give this little guy some attention, okay? your lunch is in the fridge. i have to go. maa will kill me if i’m late, alright?” you gave his toned stomach some light caress before gently getting yourself out of his warm embrace.
“won’t you stay till i finish my lunch?” jungkook reached out to hold the end of your fingers, like a child who doesn’t want to be left alone.
“jungkook…i wish i could. we are meeting some relatives in the evening so i really have to go. i have to run some errands on behalf of maa.”
jungkook grimaced. he stepped forward and engulfed your palm in his before leaning in to press a delicate kiss upon your lips. you took the moment’s intention to go up on your tippy toes to give him a smooch on his plump cheek and as you pulled away from his face, the smile was back at the corner of his mouth. you, in return, mirrored the beam on his face.
“when are you coming back after this dinner with your relatives?” jungkook inquired with a plan in his head.
“probably 10 PM, but i’m not sure. my mother always gets into a chatty mood whenever she’s with a close family member. why do you ask?”
“i was hoping if i can see you before i go to bed tonight,”
“you will come to my place? when my mother’s there?” surprised you questioned the boy in front of you.
“i have to return those tupperwares, right?” there was a glint in his eyes and you knew what he meant.
“oh, so you’ll use that excuse to catch a glimpse of me, huh?” you grinned.
jungkook sighed loudly. he was trying not to break out in a big toothy grin as he squeezed his eyes shut and faced the ceiling.
“ah, i’m caught.”
“yes, you are. of course, you are. now go and eat.”
you walked out of the kitchen and headed for the door. jungkook followed you behind, holding the door for you as you stepped outside. his face looked so much more better than some minutes ago when he had discovered you in his kitchen, putting foods inside his fridge like something opposite of a thief.
“see you,” you told him as you turned around facing the neighbourhood but before you took a sharp turn towards your place next door, you looked back at jungkook and chuckled.
―loving you is like loving the sun. something people don`t do often. they more often run towards the moon, those silly night-blooming water lilies. but my feelings are like sunflowers, it only blooms when you are around. you don`t notice me, i`m aware, among all the other sunflowers in the vast field but i know someday you will. my love is strong, it`s faithful. this pain, i know, will not remain forever. someday when my roots are all dried up and i`ll have nowhere to go, i know you`ll be the last thing to touch my ashes.
―love, love, love - what really is it? is it sharing lunch on a single plate? is it knowing that you can finally cry in front of someone without them having any second thoughts about you, something you`ve never done even in front of your own mother? is it standing in the kitchen at two in the morning making late-night snacks while your shoulders collide against each other because you`re huddled too close? is it softly bumping your head against them when no one is looking, knowing you can`t kiss them on their lips in front of their parents? is it sharing a single straw to drink cool lemon juice under the hot sun? is it learning for the first time how they smell like when they wake up in the morning? is it causally laying your head on their lap while reading a book? is love like the shape of water? why does it have so many forms and why don`t we live long to have them all? why do we only remember it for one lifetime and not the other seven of them? why does love never leave? why does love stay? why does love become everything we ever wanted? love, love...and love, i guess, no, i`m sure. i think i know now ― in my bones, that this will always be us, with all of the above.
―oh i think i found a place on earth; finally, the day has come. as you hold me still with your eyes, i exhale years and years of ice-cold air before pushing the door open. i meet eye to eye with the warmth within your walls, seems like now my time has come. this time i`ll tell winter to last long, 'cause i`ve finally found a home on earth. because i don`t want to leave, not yet, until i`ve been filled with nothing but you and yours truly.
[00:00 AM] [it was madness & your eyes are where i found my home]
―24 springs and more to come and i wish for the days to be less counted and more slow because staying with you is all i ever wanted.
you`ve come a long way, my dear one. you`ve seen so many things. you`ve been to countries i can`t count the numbers with my fingers and you`ve stood on countless stages for hours. you`ve seen the sea and you`ve seen the fireworks. you`ve witnessed smiles upon smiles and tears rolling down the cheeks. you`ve grown up watching things moving like a movie on fast forward mode and maybe, some things went over your head and some stayed behind in that beautiful mind of yours.
but you grew up wonderfully. the best way to ever possible. your innocence never staggered and stayed glued to the smiles you give out for free. your curious eyes which carries stars of all the galaxies and the sounds you make when you`re fascinated by new things. everything has its own mirth and your presence is one of them.
you`ve walked through 24 summers, monsoon, autumn, winter and lastly, the wonderful spring. and you`ll walk more, i`m sure, till the day the world stops moving for you.
i know it`s inevitable that one day we will all leave this world and i know it`s not proper for me to speak of such stuff on this precious day of yours but i can`t help but think of how dull must be that world to live in where you don`t exist. it must be so different, right?
the happiness you provide us with is not measurable in economy. it`s priceless, the smile that you bring to our face.
i know time is hard and you must be having so many things running inside your head but i hope we get through this together. i hope the spring come soon this time. i hope nothing holds us back from seeing the new flowers from blooming.
i hope when that spring comes, you get to be on that stage again with your voice being our lullaby, bringing tears and smiles to our face, altogether. i hope together, we stay longer.
so spend your day with a good meaning, have faith in us, we promised to see each other again, right?
―telling people all the time of how enough they are but when it comes to yourself, why don`t you say the same thing? why is it that you`re always so unfair when it comes to yourself? or does it have to be me who tells you that you`re enough as you are? because if it is what you want, i`ll tell you how more than enough you are to me, to all of us who loves you in every possible way. i`ll tell you that whatever you do, looks good on you. when you rise, you`re enough and even when you fall, you`ll always be more than enough. so stay exactly how you are. don`t change for the sake of anyone, not even for me and make sure to smile once in a while to yourself. don`t just give those free smiles of yours to others. keep some for yourself too.
characters—jungkook x reader | no supporting character.
w.c—2.8K
warnings—nothing major but there`s a tiny mention of death (?)
author`s note—so i was listening to this & got inspired this afternoon, wrote it in like 3 hours & here we are. this was supposed to be <1K but my words were flowing like a river whose dam just broke today. maybe finally my creative juices are coming out. anyway, this is a feel good drabble, i hope you enjoy :) + take this as a token of warm hug after last night`s grammys experience.
synopsis: a new guy at the local bar has been making some noise with his charming voice, capturing hearts every friday nights & you thought why not hit the bar for the first time in your life & just see what`s all this about. but what you weren`t prepared for is what went down when you finally get to meet the charmer himself & wind up an unexpected conversation.
[08:15 PM] [if he knew that they will meet, what would`ve he sung then?]
—you weren`t familiar with the drinking community and you weren`t exactly a regular at the local bar of your area or anywhere else in general but surely amongst the giggles and whisperings of your college mates, you heard about this new guy who turns up every friday at the local bar to jazz up things during his late night gigs.
so this friday you decided that whatever, maybe it`s time to venture into a new hobby where stress isn`t a stubborn element and you can just, simply, be yourself.
after dragging yourself back at your shared rented apartment, you washed up and wore some clean casual clothes to let the air pass through them. the smell of fabric softener was still evident when you sniffed at your collar before pulling the t-shirt over your head.
taking your phone and rooms keys, you walked out of your place. your roommate was apparently out of town to visit their hometown so the place was all yours for now.
you already had the location of the local bar saved on your google maps so finding it while walking through the city wasn`t that hard, considering this city isn`t a stranger to your late night ventures.
after almost walking for eight minutes, you found yourself standing in front of the bar.
from outside it looked like any other restaurant with wooden doorframes, countless climbers and twigs with flowers here and there adorning the whole entrance. a warm yellow light was passing through the transparent glass and when you stood in front of the door, your eyes squinted automatically at the light falling over your face.
somewhere around the nooks and corners of your memory, you had a feeling that you`ve walked by this place once or twice but the image of this place is still very blurry in your head.
brushing off another thought that might walk onto the stage, you pushed the door open and walked inside the place.
tonight you didn`t want to have another doubt and just enjoy this time with yourself. yes, half of the reason you`re in this new place is because you want to see this hot shot but also to feel the ambience of how the bar works amongst the people.
walking through the scarce crowd, you sat down at an empty seat at the corner. one of the middle-aged female employee watched you from the corner of her eyes and after placing the ordered drink of a customer, she walked towards you with a bright, professional smile.
you didn`t quite catch her coming over to you as you were busy looking through the menu and the countless varieties of drinks neatly placed in the shelves.
“hello, darling, would you like to order something?” the woman`s soft tone pulled you away from your own world and you looked up at her with a curve at the corner of your mouth.
the word ‘darling’ took you a bit by surprise but nevertheless you went with it considering the woman looked quite older than you anyway.
“i don`t know much about drinks,” you said, “can you suggest something non-alcoholic?”
“oh don`t worry, i`ll bring you something of my favorites.” her facial expression was very animated and when she smiled with her teeth, she looked very bright. you weren`t quite used to such bright personalities but not to break down her enthusiasm you gave her a smile in return.
“that would be wonderful.” you replied back to her.
as the woman moved across the counter to bring in her equipments and pours what seemed like unknown ingredients to you, to prepare your drink, you suddenly hear the most anticipated voice filling up the whole bar.
the sweetness of the voice draws you in and you turn around in your seat and catch a guy around your age in a black leather jacket over a simple white t-shirt and baggy dark pants, singing his heart out loud with his eyes closed. his rolled up sleeves let you adore the inklings on his skin. his face, although soft complimented well with his beautiful voice and his outfit. his hair looked like he had permed them while they grew in a length that cross half of his cheeks.
your eyes roamed around the room to find most of the young girls and some boys looking at him with a smile on their face. their expressions reflected their feelings right then and as you, very unconsciously joined the club, heard the woman push the drink towards you.
“darling, here you go.”
you jerked away from staring blankly at the handsome singer basking his way away to throw a soft laugh at the woman and pulled the drink towards yourself.
“are you new here?” the woman asks you as you wrap your lips around the straw.
you sip some of the tangy drink while your eyes moves up to look at her.
“no, it`s just i have never been to a bar,” you replied.
“ah, i see,” the woman cups her face as she rests her elbows on the counter top, “there`s been a new flock of youngsters these days, especially on the fridays.”
you followed her eye gaze and found that she was directly looking at the boy who, what looked like, was singing the bridge of the song, “i would say it`s thanks to him. our jungkook really grew up well, especially with that pretty voice of his.”
jungkook—learning his name right then you agreed with the words of the woman. although you didn`t know what she meant by ‘our jungkook’ but nevertheless it wasn`t a matter to you.
you loved how his voice drew you in and clasped at your heart like as if someone is holding you in their warm embrace, their hand snaking around you and holds you in place while you lay your cheek against their warm chest to listen to their heartbeats as the background score of this moment.
not much seconds passed by when the woman interrupted your thoughts yet again, “jungkook is my best friend`s son. sadly, she passed away one year ago and being his godmother, i would say i`m very proud of whatever he does.”
at the sudden revelations, you tear your attention away from jungkook and look at the woman on the opposite side of the counter. right then, what you saw in her eyes was nothing but a motherly gaze. you let her continue without interrupting.
“although he doesn`t let his emotions reflect his actions towards others, he always tries to convey them through his songs. i know that boy is sad and still not over his mother`s death. after all, she raised him all alone. all his life, all he had is his mother.”
“were you and his mother close?”
“we were best friends since school. her sudden pregnancy didn`t let her continue her studies but after having jungkook, she did her best in building her own restaurant across the street—”
you stopped her for a second and quickly asked her a question, “you mean the restaurant across the street is hers? i`ve been there so many times.”
“really? good for you! well, it used to be his mother`s, but now it`s jungkook`s but once in a while he does ask a bit of this aunt`s help,” she points at herself while letting out a small giggle.
for a second, you couldn`t believe that this woman is around 40s because of her youthful face and gestures.
“but why does he sings here?”
“oh it`s just for the sake of it. at the restaurant it isn`t quite possible to sing like this plus being the owner of the place he has a lot more to do than doing all of his enchanting-like singing. that`s why he comes over once during every week to sing out loud.”
“is he doing any major?”
“sound engineering.”
the major name felt rich in your ears for some reason so you only replied with an ‘oh’. your english major self turned around to listen to the end of the song sung in another rich voice of jungkook.
“here we go. now he`s going to come over here and ask for banana milk in a bar!” you laughed a bit at her exasperated words as she pulls herself off the counter and goes towards the refrigerator.
honestly, you`ve never had banana milk but this jungkook guy sounded like someone who can sit at the same table with you considering both of your interests overlaps a lot.
you watched him finally opening his eyes and when his broke into a smile, you could see how it lit up his whole appearance. he bowed a bit and thanked the whole audience along with the ones who played the band in the bar as claps erupted filling up the whole bar.
getting down from the stool with his smile still plastered to his face, jungkook walks towards you or more like towards the counter.
on reflex to avoid his direct attention on you— who couldn`t stop erasing that smile off of your face and that loving eyes towards him, turned around to face the shelves filled with the drinks.
but your eyes met with jungkook`s aunt and she raised her brows at your flushed face. at once, you could also feel the intoxicating presence of jungkook behind you. not knowing where to look, you put your head down and started sipping the drink previously made for you.
“here`s your drink, our singer,” jungkook`s aunt addresses him in a playful tone as she places two packs of banana milk beside your own drinks.
you heard his laughter ringing in your left ear as from the corner of your eyes you saw him occupying the empty seat next to you.
after realizing that you don`t have any more drinks left in the glass, you pulled away from the counter and unintentionally you looked up to see the man whom you only saw till now from afar with only his voice looming around you.
jungkook, being quick catches your gaze with his own. your breath hitches and your eyes move away from his face to the drink and then back to his face while you let out a soft laugh at him.
not knowing what to do in this kind of situation, you only blabbered out a compliment to cease this awkward bubble before it grows bigger, “i-i loved the song!”
you face him once while complimenting and then curtly tear your gaze away from him to stare at the empty glass in front of you now continuing, “your voice…is really nice.”
“thank you very much,” you turn your head around to look at him again and found him leaning close to you, his eyes fixated on you now, “you made my night.” and the corner of his eyes turns into crescents as his mouth curves into a smile giving you a closure look at his bunny-like teeth.
“i made your night?” you chuckled a bit at his words, definitely not believing the first words coming out of his mouth after meeting him from up close.
jungkook pulls back from you but turns around facing you now with the banana milk still in his hand. it was quite funny how the way he was holding it because it looked like he was holding a fancy glass of wine.
“most of the times, people are only talking about the song not the voice behind it.”
“that`s unusual. shouldn`t a song depend completely on who`s singing it?”
jungkook`s doe-like eyes grow big at your words and he points at you quickly, “right?! but i don`t know what`s with people. although,” he shrugs as he sits back now, relaxed in his seat, his hand which pointed at you few seconds ago retreated back and now resting on his legs, “i`m happy at least they love my songs.”
“you write your own songs?”
“most of the times. sometimes it`s a cover and sometimes when days are looking good for me, i wind up one of my own collection too.”
“so you`ve more in your this collection?”
“i do—although i`m not fairly comfortable with all of them. typically i like edm sounds or slow r&b`s like tonight`s one but fifty percent of them are just junk files on my computer.”
“i don`t know much about making songs—,” pausing a bit, you measured your next words, “i heard from your aunt that you`re a sound engineering major,” you watched jungkook`s eyes move from the counter to you, his eyes growing larger and eyebrows rising up as you proceeded, “i`m sorry, we were talking a bit and your aunt told me about it, i hope i`m not offending you,”
he closes his eyes, shaking his head.
“i think your voice is nice. it`s soft and mellow. i`m sure there are people who finds comfort in your voice too.”
“thank you for saying that. i`ll work hard to make more good songs and sing them to you,” jungkook puts down the now empty bottle of banana milk on the counter, “ and of course, everyone who visits this place.”
the pause between him saying how he wants to sing songs to you and to everyone almost caught you sitting at edge. it wasn`t like you were expecting anything from him. he`s still practically a stranger whom you met at the first visit to a bar in your whole life. but you realized, you got a tad bit comfortable with him. his glances were gentle and his way of making you comfortable under his gaze was also charming.
his aunt`s words rang in your ears when she said that jungkook grew up well. surely, he does look like a man who grew up well. his voice is just the cherry on top among all these.
“what about you?”
“what about me?”
jungkook chuckles, “i mean your major.”
“english,” you replied, smiling down at your crossed legs.
“english…so do you like writing?”
“i do write but it`s just a casual hobby. i`m not good with longer pieces though. i love writing short paragraphs or short-stories,”
“what about poems?”
“not really good at it but i`m working on them,”
“i`m not that good at writing too,” jungkook turns around, facing the counter. he proceeds to fold his hands over the counter and put his head down on them while facing sideways to you, “that`s the place i struggle a bit.”
“but the song you played tonight—didn`t you write it on your own?”
jungkook hums in reply.
“the lyrics were beautiful.”
“it took me almost a two months to finish that one song,” if anyone would close their eyes right when he said this, they could clearly hear the pout in his voice.
“that`s quite short. i think you`re underestimating yourself. there`re some big artists who collabs with so many songwriters to write a single song for one year or months. you did all the things on your own. you should be applauding yourself for it, jungkook,”
you pronouncing his name took both of you by surprise at the same time but you didn`t look at him this time. actually, you wanted to hide yourself away from him but you couldn`t and it was painful.
on top of that, jungkook smiled as if he was impressed by the way you got so defensive for him. a warm feeling gathered around your neck as you tried staying as normal as possible.
jungkook moves a little close to your side and looks up at you while his chin rested on top of his folded arms on the counter, “then, would you like to collab with me?” his voice turned a little heavy with a dark undertone.
eyes wide, you whipped your head back at him, “huh? but i don`t know how to make—,”
“i meant writing songs with me,” jungkook said turning on his playful tone.
“i don`t know if i`m capable of doing that,” you voice fades out as you crane your neck a bit rubbing the back of it.
“i believe in this good feeling of mine that we can both do it,”
“well, if you say so,” you lean forward, placing your chin on top of your palm as you watch the semi-dim yellow light that illuminates this particular corner of the bar. you can also hear the light hearted laughter across the bar, the heavy ones too, the giggles and all type of glass clinking against each other in the background.
your eyes roam around a bit and slowly you feel a kind set of eyes staring up at you. when you move your eyes down to look at the source, you find jungkook watching you as if he`s watching the night sky.
feeling as doubtful as always, you turned around your head to look up to see if he`s actually looking at something else rather than your face. when you turned your head around, you asked him if there`s something in the ceiling that he`s looking at.
jungkook shakes his head and replies, “no, i`m actually looking at you.”
the bluntness caught you off guard and you break into a laughter as jungkook joins you in within seconds.
