By now, you're each other's extended family, and this makes sense considering how far and deep your families' relationship goes. Your great-grandfathers had been good friends, built their respective companies side-by-side from nothing; your grandfathers expanded them, your fathers turned them into empires, and now the eldest of both families are being trained to eventually take on the companies' leadership. The kinship is intergenerational, for the most part at least.
While it was expected for the 3 boys to get along, the surprise was that you and Jungkook never did. It would have been ideal for the same-age Jeon and Kim kids to get along (date) but that wasn't the case.
You've always been fond of him. You always said your first memory of him was him inviting you to play in the playground during Recess, tiny hands stretched out with excited doe eyes waiting for you to accept his offer, but you said no and instead opted to stay in the bench to watch all the other kids play. It took another couple of years before he invited you to play again in the park, yet the answer was the same.
"Yeah, it took Seokjin hyung getting married to get my ass back home," he laughs, breaking you out of your trip down memory lane.
"And it took me guilt-tripping him that his niece and nephew would never know how fun their uncle is if he doesn't stay," Junghyun adds.
Your ears perk up. He's back for good?
"You're back for good?" you ask.
"Unfortunately, yes," he chuckles.
Funny how he detested leaving the country for university then and now, he doesn't seem to want to stay. His absence the past 5 years should've been a hint.
"Not like I have a choice; not like I ever did." You don't miss the bitterness in his voice. "Dad said the 2 and half-year work experience in the New York office was enough and now I'm ready for the big league," he explains, saying the last bit with a mocking tone. Your eyebrows shoot up, as if asking what happened to the other half year that was missing. "I went backpacking for 6 months in South America. It pissed him to death and that was the most fun part," he expounds.
Junghyun merely laughs, already used to his little brother's antics when it comes to their father. "What he means to say is yes, he's home for good and will be starting work in a week. I'd say I'm glad I get to boss him around but I'm just really happy I get to see his face again," he says, with a twinkle in his eyes when he turns to you.
You smile at the older man, trying to digest the information. "Glad you're back, then," you say, turning to Jungkook.
He smiles, and then nods as you excuse yourself when your dad calls you to see another person he wants you to meet.
Jungkook watches as you exchange pleasantries with a man he can tell is roughly your age and definitely wealthy, if his Brioni Bespoke suit is anything to go by. You flash the man and his parents, Jungkook supposes, your signature smile and he feels betrayed by how his heart twists a little at the sight.
You've gotten even more beautiful since the last time he saw you, but he would never tell you that. He'd never tell you that he now thinks you're the more beautiful Kim sister, and that your crinkled smile is currently his favorite part about you; it used to be your pigtails and perpetually rosy cheeks. He'd never tell you these because he's not supposed to think of you this way because he doesn't want to. He'd deny it has anything to do with you crushing his 4-year old heart when he asked you to play with him at the playground and you'd said no; he'd deny it's linked to you missing his 13th birthday celebration or that you wouldn't attend the parties he'd (indirectly) invited you to; it's definitely not because you never watched any of his soccer games in high school. He'd always say that aside from your social standing, it's because you two are nothing alike.
Your lives are intertwined because of the deep connection your families have with each other, but the connection ends there, he always says. You are the epitome of perfection to many – rich, beautiful, and intelligent. You are warm, kind, and easily likeable. You always say the right things – to the teachers, the parents, even to strangers. He knows you're quiet and introverted, though, that much he could tell growing up because you always stood peeking behind your brother or sister whenever there were others around and because you had hung out with the same 3 people your entire life, barely saying much and often looking away when he or his friends were nearby.
But you've grown up and when it comes to these social events, you always know how to act. Your smiles are measured, enough to ensure you can sustain them for the rest of the night, your greetings well-practiced, and your responses calculated – you say enough and always what is needed, smiling through any comment that undermines your abilities and praises how you would make the perfect (trophy) wife for any "respectable" man who would be lucky enough to marry into the Kim family.
He'd seen that when you were in high school, 5 years ago, and tonight. You're even more beautiful now, but you will always be the same girl who didn't want to play in the playground, who didn't want to enjoy her teenage years by going to parties and getting drunk with friends; you will always be the girl in her floral dresses who didn't want to get sweaty or get dirty, who was so princess-like and had everybody attend to her every need, who always had to live by the rules, who always had to appease the adults he thinks have always controlled your lives.
How you two were constantly teased by strangers growing up was understandable to him, but by the people who know both of you best – your siblings – it was bizarre; in the past 5 years, his brother never failed to update him about you and your love life and his ex-girlfriends were always being compared to you.
Jungkook likes fun and spontaneous, he likes emotional and assertive, and he likes a bit of that rebelliousness that he has, one that doesn't want to live up to the expectations put on kids like him - to live and act a certain way, to study Business or Finance, work in the company, marry someone of the same social standing, make a perfect little family, and live in the bubble of their perfect little lives. It's all strategic, that much he knows. Both of your siblings are lucky enough to actually love their spouses, as they'd gone to the same university and hung out in the same circles (a strategy he always thought that your parents employed to ensure they'd marry in the same ranks). It was easier that way.
Jungkook always thought you'd follow that same path. You somehow did and he shakes his head at how predictable you are, except for your college degree, which is Fine Arts. It wasn't out of rebellion though, because your family fully supported you, always supported your interest in the arts, in fact. He would never admit it, but that's why he doesn't want to like you. It's unfair you got to pursue your dreams but he never could.
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Please Love Me | JJK
FanfictionAs the only unmarried Jeon and Kim children, your families propose a union to symbolize your unbreakable bond that spans generations. But despite developing an affection for Jungkook growing up, he never returned it; he never seemed to like you, act...
Part 1
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