Is it Him?

The day went on and Jungkook couldn't even find a trace of his friend. He was wondering where he went, why he couldn't see him. He texted his friend asking about his whereabouts, but there were no replies. He sighed at the thought.

Finally, the university bell rang, and Jungkook started his way towards the gate, having slight expectations that he would see his friend again, that he would wait for him.

"Jungkook?"

He turned expectantly upon hearing his name. Well, deep in his thoughts, he didn't recognize the voice. He turned to see, Sara's cousin? What is he doing here? Jungkook frowned, looking at him.

"You didn't go home? Sara went early," the man said.

"Yeah, I had evening class," Jungkook said, and he got a hum in return. The man noticed Jungkook looking worried; he was not the same as he looked in the morning.

"You okay? Did something happen? Where is your friend?" the man asked. Jungkook just smiled, shrugging his head.

"Ah, he? He said he had some work. And I'm ok, leave me. What are you doing here?" Jungkook asked, trying to change the topic. Well, to the man, he couldn't accept those lies; he knew there was something wrong, but he chose not to question. How would he, after all, they are strangers.

"Going home, right? Let's talk while walking," the man said, to which Jungkook nodded.

"I actually had some work here. Mr. Ken, he is my mentor. I still ask his suggestions if I have any problems or anything happening at my startup," the man said, chuckling to himself. Jungkook just "oh"-ed, then he remembered.

"Actually, I thought I could get help from you only if you are willing to. I have this idea in my mind. I want to start a startup too, but you know what, my parents, even him, they said it's not that easy and I should drop that idea and start trying for some other job. But it is my dream," Jungkook pouted, to which the man smiled.

"You know, if I could pitch my idea to you and get insights from you, I would be grateful," Jungkook asked with sparkling eyes. He really needed a mentor for his work, and something in him told him that the man here would be a good mentor for him. The man chuckled.

"Jungkook," he called. Now they both were standing at the bus stand; they had walked till here while talking.

"You know what, whatever you do, people will judge. They will cheer their favourite actors but say, 'You want to become one?' They will say it's not possible, forgetting even the actor might have had the same dream.

Tell them you want to be a singer; they will say it won't suit you, as if every singer out there jumped directly from clouds. Same goes for everything. So at the end, they are definitely going to judge.

If it's someone close to you, tell them, make them understand. Remember, if they love you, trust you, they will understand you no matter what, ok?

And as for the help thing, I'm going to the States for a month, so when I'm back, I'll contact you through Sara. Let's meet and have a discussion. I guess you all will be graduated by then, right? It will be perfect, so let's meet then,"

the man said and smiled, that charming smile that comforts you, that tells you everything will be ok.

Jungkook smiled back, nodding his head, feeling relieved right now. He was feeling stressed from morning, but this man's words made him feel warm, protected, and more than that, they felt comforting.

"And Jungkook, another thing," he started. Jungkook frowned at that.

"I don't know what happened to you, but after all the things that happened today, I want to tell you — just confess to your friend already, ok? That boy, he looked like he would kill me or something. I think he might feel the same way too, but instead of assuming, just talk with him and confess how you will. It will be good for you. I'm wishing you the best of luck," the man said, ruffling Jungkook's hair.

"And don't forget to tell me after your confession, ok?" he smiled.

Now Jungkook was hella shy. He had been waiting for this day, and he felt now he should tell his friend soon. The wait was over. He smiled genuinely at the man and bowed to him, thanking him.

"Ok then, let me take my leave. Go home safely." Saying this, the man turned back and walked away. Jungkook looked at him, wondering.

We all might have met someone who had a cameo in our life — a total stranger, yet they taught us more than even our close ones did. They might have felt comforting. Even if we didn't know about each other, their presence might have felt relaxing, comforting, and they might have taught us a lesson that could help us. Jungkook mentally thanked that stranger and smiled, looking at the walking figure.

Jungkook reached his home. He tried contacting his friend but in vain. Then he got a message.

"Sorry Kooks, got really stuck with that work. I'll explain everything tomorrow."

Jungkook sighed. He should talk, that too, in person.

The next day came. Jungkook met his friend at university, who was quite silent. He always looked silent, but this was a different silence, even with him? he wondered.

"Hyungie, are you ok? What happened? Is something bothering you? Tell me, na?" Jungkook asked expectantly.

He got a reassuring smile in return.

"Nothing, Kooks, I'm totally fine." Jungkook pouted at that.

"You're not even telling what happened yesterday?" Jungkook asked, and the other sighed.

"I told you, right? My mother asked me to do her a help. I went to my aunt's house, and I got stuck there, that's it. Don't stress your lil brain," he said and laughed, but Jungkook knew this was not his actual smile — the one that comes from his heart.

Like this, days passed, but Jungkook felt a little distance toward his friend. Each time he told this to his friend, he shrugged it off, saying, "You are just overthinking, Kook." But Jungkook couldn't put this together. He knew something was wrong. He knew it very well.

Jungkook could see the changes in his friend; he looked happy, really happy. So he knew there might not be any problem, but why did he feel like there was some distance? Each time he thought about this, he might get a headache. He stopped himself, saying he should just stop overthinking, like his friend told him.

But he couldn't keep it, so he decided to confront his friend.

"Hyung, let's talk," Jungkook said to his friend, who was sitting in the canteen, talking with their other friends, laughing without caring about the world. His friend turned to look at him, frowning.

"What happened, Kooks? Are you ok?" But Jungkook didn't reply, just nodded his head and pulled his friend's hand outside with him.

"Kooks, wait! What are you doing? Why are you dragging me? What if someone sees us?" Jungkook stopped at the word.

"What do you mean by 'someone sees us'?" Jungkook asked, frowning. He could see his friend getting tense.

"Ah—I, I mean the teacher might catch us and scold us. We have class now, we should leave," he said, looking elsewhere but not at Jungkook. Jungkook sighed.

"Hyungie, are we ok?" he asked.

"What do you mean, Kooks?"

"Stop acting, hyung. Nothing feels normal. Why are you distant from that day? Is there any problem? Oh wait, about that friend thing, he is not—"

"Shut up, Jungkook. This is your problem, you're assuming things yourself. I told you I'm ok, right? And what friends? I know about you, and you know about me, then what's the issue?"

The tone was harsh, which made Jungkook shiver. This was the first time his friend talked to him like this. He couldn't form words.

Well, seeing his reaction, his friend might have understood, it seems. He sighed. He came near Jungkook, ruffling his hair.

"Kook, I'm ok. Let's not talk about this again, ok? We only have a few weeks till graduation. Let's enjoy our uni life till then, ok?" he said, to which Jungkook just nodded.

But Jungkook was not ok. How could he be, after seeing this side of his friend? He didn't even know what went wrong. When he came home, he got a call from Sara.

"Kooks, what happened? Did you talk with him? What happened?" She was questioning nonstop. Jungkook sighed.

"Calm down, Sara. I don't know. He's telling everything is fine, but I can't brush my thoughts off." He could hear Sara sighing.

"Calm down, Kooks. There's only one thing left,  just confess to him. Let's find out what he's holding up, ok? Think about it," Sara said calmly. Jungkook always felt a sister's love from her, and he hummed.

That night, Jungkook wondered. He couldn't sleep properly. He was rolling on his bed, a lot of thoughts running in his head that he couldn't quite decipher. But out of all, only one thing kept repeating.

Is it Him?

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