jjfic

Sagittarius/ENFP/20

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The Most Beautiful Moment In Life - A Short Story

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life - A Short Story

HYYH Series

Chapter 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11.1 11.2 Epilogue

Photographer!Jungkook x femOC

Art College AU

Friends > Lovers, a crap load of fluff, lil bit of angst

‘Real love isn’t some epic saga that movies make it out to be, real love is just finding someone you are happy with. It’s not a sudden epiphany, I think you just wake up one day and you realise - you just realise that you’re in love.’

Hauling the last box of belongings up the stairs, Yuna collapsed onto the tiled floor of the hallway in heavy pants. She scowled at the entire scenario around her – three overflowing boxes of university materials and two large suitcases lay scattered around her under the harsh fluorescent light of the dingy apartment block. She was also sweating profusely underneath the ridiculous items of clothing she was wearing that didn’t fit into the suitcases – two fluffy jumpers, three oversized sweaters, and one winter jacket. It was four weeks into her final year at university and she definitely did not want to be doing this. But it wasn’t her choice to be made – her flatmate had become completely infatuated with a boy she met at the library exactly two weeks ago and decided to pursue a whirlwind romance that made her life literal hell.

This boy, Taehyung, was understandably charming. As an art history student, he was intelligent, full of wit, and most importantly, smoulderingly handsome. Her flatmate, Soo-ji, had really hit the jackpot when she met him. But what Yuna did not anticipate was the spiral into madness that Soo-ji insisted was love. They became one single inseparable entity – where Soo-ji was, Taehyung materialised and where Taehyung went, Soo-ji followed. It blew her mind that two separate human beings could so easily morph into one – what happened to independency and individualism? Or perhaps she was one of those crazy girls who didn’t believe in love – perhaps.

Anyway, their separation anxiety was not a problem to begin with – it only became a problem when Taehyung frequented her apartment more than he did his. Every night when she came back from university, the pair were giggling loudly on the couch with their hands and mouths all over each other. Every morning Yuna woke up, she was confronted by Taehyung chowing through her breakfast cereals and snacks. Even when Yuna did the laundry, she’d have to grimace as she fished out his dirty boxers and shirts. What only made it worse was his poor justification for his intrusion:

‘I love being with you guys, you don’t know how sad it is to be by myself. My flatmate never comes home and I have no one to talk to or cuddle with.’

Every time he said that, Yuna relented slightly – kicking a puppy would be less cruel than ignoring his downturned mouth and large, teary eyes. But the final straw was when she went home two nights ago, exhausted and tired from working all day. As she opened the door into her apartment, she was greeted with the sight of the two love doves naked and writhing on the kitchen counter. She was absolutely mortified that they were shamelessly rubbing their bare behinds all over the same surface she prepared breakfast and dinner on.

‘Oh for fuck’s sake, are you guys serious right now?!’

Both figures froze when they heard her angry voice echo through the apartment. Soo-ji’s face turned a deep shade of red as she let out an embarrassed yelp and Taehyung’s jaw dropped at her ceremonious entrance.

‘Oh my God, Yuna! I didn’t know you were coming back this early!’ Soo-ji had cried. She grabbed the nearest tea towel – the one Yuna dried clean dishes with – and attempted to cover herself up. Taehyung remained unmoved despite the fact his arrogant manhood was on display, with a mischievous glint in his eye as he watched the horror unfold.

‘You guys act like I don’t fucking live here – you know what? I’m leaving. Fuck you guys.’

You see, Yuna didn’t really mean it when she said that. The words came out her mouth in a spew of anger – she didn’t really want to move out. But neither Taehyung nor Soo-ij seemed to stop her. In fact, Taehyung was charitable enough to offer a trade – he would move in with Soo-ji here while Yuna could move in with his flatmate.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the abridged version of how Yuna ended up with her life packed up and on the other side of town. She stood in front of the new apartment, staring glumly at the peeling paint on the door. Knocking twice out of courtesy, she jammed the key into the lock and swung it open. By now, she was unaffected by anything which may wait for her behind closed doors and the sight before her did not surprise her one bit. Remnants of clothing lay scattered around the entire apartment – a stray sock on the back of the couch, an abandoned hoodie on the kitchen floor, a discarded jacket in the hallway. A myriad of misplaced objects also littered the place – odd books in random kitchen shelves, empty film cannisters underneath the coffee table, a selection of tripods and lighting equipment across the couch. To top it off, literally, everything was decorated with either a fine layer of dust or a delicate dusting of food crumbs. Lovely.

Without hesitation, Yuna immediately began cleaning and tidying. She didn’t care what her new flatmate was going to say – she couldn’t spend her days in filth even if someone paid her. She had scoured the bathroom and kitchen, rearranged all of the odd pieces of her new flatmate’s life in a neat corner in the living room, and swept the floors so that she no longer felt the prick of stale breadcrumbs on the bottom of her socks with every step she took.

Afternoon had quickly withered into early evening when Yuna finally threw herself onto the sofa and basked in the afterglow of the sunset as it filtered through the gaps in the blinds. Now that everything was cleaner and tidier, she figured that the apartment wasn’t so bad – it was a little cosier than the one she had shared with Soo-ji and a little further from campus but at least the rent was cheaper and her bedroom window was orientated easterly to capture the sunrise over the city. She relished the quiet hum of the traffic below as she traced the moving rays of sunlight across the ceiling above her. It was so rare that she could have a moment alone in the peace of her thoughts – she was always either bombarded by the chattering of Soo-ji and Taehyung or barraged by the bickering and anxious muttering of the studio. It felt so good to just enjoy life in her own company. She barely closed her eyes for a minute before the buzz of her phone cut through the quiet of the apartment.

Soo-ji – hey boo, how’s the new apartment?

Yuna – it’s fine no thanks to you assholes.

Soo-ji – aw I’m sorry boo, I’ll take you out for lunch tmr, ok? Have you met Jungkook yet?

Yuna – no, he hasn’t come home yet. Btw tell Tae he’s a bastard for making me trade you in for a slob of a new flatmate.

Soo-ji – lol will do. He says don’t wait up for JK, he’s always working at studio.

Yuna – no probs. Gonna have an early night tonight. See you in the AM x

With that, Yuna returned to her horizontal sprawl on the couch. She found her mind wandering to Soo-ji’s mention of Jungkook. He was Taehyung’s flatmate – the one who was notorious for his absence which had caused Taehyung to develop an unhealthy attachment to Soo-ji like an abandoned puppy. Although she had never met the boy, she had deduced a few key points from the apartment – the scatter of photography equipment and books revealed that he was a photography student with an avid love for ramen judging by the sheer number of empty packets in the trash. Every art student had a vice – his was ramen, hers were the supermarket cookies that came in boxes of ten. It was a relief to know he was as preoccupied with studio as she was – as a fashion student, she also spent most of her waking hours slaving away in her studio too. Whether or not they got on was not a problem at all if they would always be in their own respective studios.

Holding up a faded Polaroid she had taken from the fridge, Yuna examined it with curiosity. The photo captured a group of seven grinning young men against the backdrop of a sun-drenched beach. She recognised one of them to be Taehyung with longer hair in a lighter shade of brown. She wondered if one of the other boys was Jungkook – if he was, then she’d be lucky that her new flatmate definitely wasn’t an eyesore. But it didn’t matter anyway – she didn’t care much for pretty boys and she didn’t have time to mess around with them either. The final year of her university degree was looming closely and she had to pick up the pace and work even harder to achieve her goals. With a sigh, she gathered up her belongings and returned the Polaroid to the fridge. Tomorrow was another long day of studio work and she figured she should get a good night’s sleep in the blissful quiet of the apartment while she could still enjoy it.

…

The first rays of the morning light tickled the tip of Yuna’s eyelashes and she pressed her eyelids closer together, shuffling further into the warm sheets. Her movement elicited a small murmur from somewhere next to her and she felt her frame being enveloped in a radiant warmth and soft breaths.

‘Tae, stop moving.’ A deep raspy voice murmured right by her ear and she froze. Why was there someone else in her bed? Slowly, she began to edge away from the stranger but the single bed only allowed her to move so far. A heavy arm was still languidly resting across her waist and she could feel the searing heat of a rising chest against her back. She caught her panicked breaths and craned her neck around hesitatingly to glance at the intruder and –

Oh god.

Oh, good gracious god, he was breath-takingly beautiful. The soft beams of sunlight basked across the golden skin of his cheekbones and cast magnificent shadows beneath his jawline. His lush eyelashes rested daintily atop his cheeks and his mouth was open slightly as he sighed against her shoulder. Suddenly, he let out a loud snore that startled both of them as he shifted in his slumber, throwing an arm lazily over his eyes as he nuzzled against her shoulder.

‘I fucking hate your curtains. When are you going to get blackout ones?’ he murmured. His body relaxed again against her momentarily before he dropped his arm back onto the curve of her hip and that was when he stiffened in shock. Taehyung definitely did not have protruding curves like those. Flinging his arm away to the side, he scrambled out of the covers so hurriedly that his leg got caught and his tall frame summersaulted onto the floor, head first.

‘What the fuck? You’re not Tae!’ Before Yuna could even register what had happened, he had raced out of her room in a blur of white t-shirt, black boxers, and dishevelled hair into the other bedroom and slammed the door shut. Five minutes of silence went by before her phone began to ring on her bedside table.

‘Hello?’

‘Yuna, it’s Taehyung! Are you okay?’

‘Um… Yeah, I guess.’

‘Jungkook just told me there was a burglar in your flat, you’re not hurt, are you?’

‘Taehyung… I think the burglar was me.’

‘… what do you mean?’

‘I woke up with him in my bed saying your name in his sleep.’

‘Oh… Oh my God, that’s hilarious!’

‘Yeah… Is it normal that you both share a single bed like that?’

‘Totally! I hate sleeping alone and I used to bother him in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep so now it’s like a tradition we usually sleep in the same bed. Don’t make it weird, we’re like brothers!’

‘Uh-huh… You tell that to Soo-ji.’

‘I’ll call him back and remind him you’ve moved in.’

‘Okay, thanks.’

Yuna ended the call and sat up in her bed, pressing her palms against her tired eyes. It was barely seven o’clock in the morning and she couldn’t believe her first morning in the new flat was just a cacophony of confused screaming. A sheepish knock sounded at the door and she let out a tired grunt.

‘Yuna?’

Letting her hands drop onto the duvet, she looked up groggily at the face poking around the corner of her doorway. His eyes were round with indiscernible fear and his cheeks blushed in embarrassment. But God, he was still so handsome.

‘I’m really sorry about earlier, I completely forgot Taehyung had moved out,’ he mumbled. He was staring bashfully down at the floor as he wrung his hands nervously like a child. Even though he was at least a head taller than her and impressively built, he exuded a boyish innocence which tugged at Yuna’s heart.

‘It’s cool, let’s just forget about it. I’m going to get up and make breakfast, you want any?’ Yuna rubbed her bleary eyes one last time before shuffling out of the warm duvet. She almost tripped when she saw Jungkook nod enthusiastically, his round eyes sparkling in delight. How could a grown man be this adorable? He followed her like a puppy – a really tall adorable puppy – down the hall into the kitchen and sat himself down obediently at the dining table while Yuna put the kettle on and rummaged the cupboards for pancake batter ingredients. She wondered if she should make polite conversation with Jungkook but decided against it – it was far too early in the morning for that. Mixing up a small batch of batter, she poured dollops of it into a heated pan and waited for them to brown while she brewed two cups of coffee. By the time she was finished plating up the pancakes with a generous drizzle of honey, she turned around to find that Jungkook’s upper body had sprawled across half of the table. He was snoring lightly and she swore there was a tiny glimmer of drool making its way out of the corner of his mouth as he rested his cheek on the cool surface.

‘Jungkook, wake up,’ she patted him lightly on the shoulder, causing him to flinch and snort loudly in surprise by the sudden disturbance.

‘I’m awake,’ he mumbled as he sloppily wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and rubbed his sleepy eyes carelessly. His eyes widened like a doe when he saw the pile of pancakes in front of him and he barely hesitated to attack it with a fork. When Jungkook eats, he doesn’t eat – he inhales. His plate was clean within a few minutes and he sat back on his chair contently caressing his tummy like a child.

‘I’m telling Tae you make better pancakes than him, he’s going to be so jealous,’ he smiled. ‘Tae said you go to art school too, what’s your subject?’

‘Fashion,’ Yuna mumbled between mouthfuls of pancake. ‘Yours is photography, isn’t it?’ Jungkook nodded at the question and took a sip of coffee while Yuna swallowed her pancake to allow room for proper conversation. ‘What kind of things do you photograph?’

‘Hm… Mainly landscapes and scenery, but our projects are always heavily focused on photographing people,’ Jungkook said slowly, as if he were musing on the kind of information he should disclose. After all, they were just two strangers living together. ‘Photographing people is a good skill to have but I don’t really like taking photos of staged things, you know?’

This time, it was Yuna’s turn to nod. She understood that he was a spontaneous character – which also explained why his flat was so haphazardly arranged prior to her arrival. Her eyes followed his tall, masculine figure as he stood up from the table and walked over to the fridge, unpinning some of the photographs before returning to his chair.

‘These are my favourite photos,’ he explained, laying them out neatly on the table. There was an old 6x4 photograph of two toddlers and a woman, caught in a moment of laughter at a playpark. It was dated 1999. The other photos were a collection of sceneries and faded Polaroids capturing more of the same people as well as the group of boys Yuna had noticed before. ‘My dad took these photos of us, that’s me,’ Jungkook pointed to one of toddlers sporting a round bowl cut and large familiar eyes. ‘He got me into photography when I was a kid – he made me really want to capture these special moments. I took these ones,’ he pointed to the photographs of scenery and the group of young boys in various locations – the beach, a restaurant, an arcade – but always laughing or smiling brightly. ‘My mum told me I’m a really nostalgic person like my dad, always wanting to keep memories. But it’s not really like that, I just want to capture these special moments because they’re so beautiful and I want to be able to show other people what I’ve seen.’

Yuna found herself immersed in his words as she listened to him speak about his passions. She knew some people who were also photographers and they always spun the same old story about wanting to capture people’s entire lives in a single photo when in fact it was quite the impossible feat. There was a simple honesty to Jungkook’s aspirations – it was endearing the way he just wanted to share the beauty of the world with other people. He didn’t pretend to replay people’s stories – he just captured a single moment of happiness in their life and that was beautiful enough.

‘So what’s the most beautiful moment in life?’ she wondered. It was really just a rhetoric question because it was a personal musing she had accidently voiced out loud. She didn’t expect the answer to exist but if it did, she believed that perhaps he had the heart to see the answer.

‘I haven’t found it yet.’ The lack of hesitation in his answer made her heart stammer. Here she sat across from a boy who was confident he would find the most beautiful moment in life and she believed him.

A/N: Let me know what you guys thought about the first chapter! I have most of the rest written, each chapter is going to be like a short story chronicling their moments together and it’s just a shit ton of fluff because I can’t really write angst for my life lmao

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