Jungkook felt miserable. He'd spent the night tossing and turning, constantly cursing himself for the idiot that he was. He barely even slept, thinking about Lisa's embarrassed eyes from the almost-kiss all the way to when she left his room. He tried making small talks and jokes around with her, but they always ended up being awkward again and she'd constantly look down to her knotted fingers. And the fool that he was didn't even know how to fix it!

He knew he needed to recover back the sparks between them. He just doesn't know how. The girl made him nervous as hell! Even during breakfast this morning, she'd been unusually quiet. Perhaps it's best if I explain it to her – let her see it from my point of view? He looks down to his watch. Where is she? It's already an hour, is she okay?

Lisa had asked him to wait at the restaurant to visit a nearby shop she saw on their way here earlier. She wanted to buy some things for Jisoo, Jennie and Chaeyoung. He offered to come along but she insisted that it's 'girl-stuff' and he wouldn't like it. He knew it's her way of saying 'I need some space' and he couldn't object. It was his fault anyways, so what could he have said?

I should probably go look for her. Right on cue, his girlfriend came back with two small paperbags in her hand.

"Sorry, there are so many nice things I couldn't decide!" She sighed.

"It's okay. It wasn't that long," He lied.

"Ready to go?" She smiled warmly, it hurts him. He nodded and make their way out.

"So um, what do you wanna do today?" He took the paperbags from her hands voluntarily.

"Well...I don't have anything in mind," She looks down to her feet for a second. "I thought of spending the day with Jisoo unnie...if that's okay with you,"

"Oh..." Fuck, now she wants to stay away – well done you jerk!

"Just that...she hadn't actually gone out. I felt bad, you know...that she's here to accompany us and all she does is just watching tv all the time,"

"Yeah, of course," He laughed nervously. "Yeah, you should bring her out. We can have dinner later?"

...

"What time should we head back?" Jisoo looked up to the violet sky. It felt like they've already walked half a mile from the hotel and her feet is killing her.

"Anytime. Oh, should we get dinner first? I thought I saw a barbecue or grilled-something place just now,"

"But we already ate an hour ago. I'm still full. Can't we just go back now? You can have dinner with Jungkook later," Jisoo whined.

"Oh...okay..." Lisa's face fell.

Okay, something's definitely wrong! Jisoo had noticed how her maknae had been acting weird since this morning. She had always been excited about starting the day with her boyfriend but today Lisa actually whined about going out. She kept asking Jisoo to join them for breakfast earlier. Jisoo didn't think much about it at first, as Lisa kept insisting she should get her lazy-ass out of the room and enjoy the fact that they're in L.A. But then since they've gone out, Lisa kept dodging off questions about Jungkook – pretending not to hear her or just humming about her 'yes' and 'no'. Come to think about it, she'd been weird since she came back from dinner last night...

"Lali," She stopped walking and turned to Lisa. "Did something happen last night?"

"Uh...no..." Jisoo knew her all too well to notice when she's lying.

"Yahh! What happened? Did he do something to you? You better tell me –"

"He didn't, I swear!" Lisa stomped her foot, her frustration is apparent. "He didn't do anything," She looked down embarrassingly. "That's the problem,"

"Huh?" Jisoo's eyes blinked in confusion. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing – it's nothing, okay? Let's go!" Lisa forced a big smile and continued walking.

"Yahh Lali!" Jisoo ran in small steps to catch up with her. Damn this maknae and her long legs!

...

Jungkook paces around from the sliding door of his bedroom to the living room again. Lisa haven't returned his text messages since evening and it's already 8pm. Where is she?

'Baby, are you okay? You're worrying me' He pressed Send.

Maybe I should call Jisoo? He immediately searched for her number and dialled.

'Jungkook-ssi,' He heard Jisoo's vioce on the line.

'Hi noona. Sorry to bother you. Is Lisa there? I tried messaging her –'

'Hang on,'

He waited patiently.

'Hi,' Her soft voice is heard and he sighed in relief.

'Hi. I tried calling...where are you?' He can hear the busy sounds at the background.

'I'm still outside. Sorry, I didn't check my phone,'

She didn't check her – really?!

'Uh...okay..so are you nearby? You wanna have dinner?' He scratched his non-itchy head, trying to calm his nerves.

'Um, I'm gonna have dinner with Jisoo unnie. Is that okay?'

Is that okay?! I haven't seen you since noon – I miss your God-freakin cute face – I'm supposed to see you tonight and you're asking me this?!

'Oh, yeah sure – of course it's okay,'

There's an awkward silence between them on the line and Jungkook waited. When it's obvious she doesn't have anything to say, he continued.

'Um, call me when you get back?'

'Okay. Bye,' She hangs up. That's it?! God-damn it this is all your fault Kook!

He groaned in frustration, letting his body fall on the sofa. Can it be any more awkward than this?! If only he wasn't such a coward last night – this wouldn't have happened! The guilt continues to roam around in the pit of his stomach. He needs help. He needs to talk to someone about this. In a swift, he searched for Jimin's number and pressed dial. It rang for a a while and he heard a groan from his hyung.

'Hyung, are you sleeping?'

'What do you think Kook? What do you want? Is everything okay?'

'Yeah, um...sorry. I need to talk to someone or I'll go crazy,'

'Why, what happened?' Jimin's voice are much clearer now. He's probably worried if Jungkook had gotten into an accident or something.

'No, I just...how do I say it...' Without coming off as a perverted freak?!

'Oh my God, did you get caught by fans or media?!' Jimin shouts on the line.

'No, no! Nothing like that,'

'Then? If it's not then it better be life or death related cus you got me worried now,'

Shit, now he feels bad. He didn't even glance at what time it is now in Korea.

'Um...sort of...it's just –' Fuck it – if there's anyone he could trust on this matter with, it's Jimin! 'So last night, Lisa was with me to celebrate my birthday right. We had dinner. Everything went well. Then something happened,'

He waited for Jimin's response but he wasn't saying anything so he continued.

'She sort of came on to me...and I sort of pushed her away,'

Immediately he heard Jimin's laughter burst through the line. 'What the hell?!'

'I know!! I panicked okay?!'

'Why the hell would you even panic?!'

'I don't know! I mean – I know...but I just,' He groaned loudly. 'And now she's avoiding me – I don't know what to do,'

'Seriously? You called me in the middle of the morning for this?'

'I don't know what to do – tell me how to fix this,'

He heard Jimin's sigh. 'Okay, okay. So she initiated, but you rejected her,' Ugh, it sounded so bad now that Jimin put it that way. 'Why though?'

'Well I wouldn't say she initiated it...I think I gave her the impression –'

'Only to reject her afterwards – wow Kook –'

...

It's their last night here in L.A and Jungkook is getting more agitated by the minute. Lisa's still acting nonchalant towards him. They had breakfast at the hotel, together with Jisoo earlier. Of course, she's as cheerful as usual but he knew it was because Jisoo was there. He wasn't completely oblivious to the weird looks Jisoo had been giving him the entire time either.

He wondered briefly if Lisa had said anything to her but his most concern was on his girlfriend – avoiding eye-contact with him as much as possible. He did get to spend the noon with her - going on a walk and shop a little for about 2 hours, but she said she had a lot to pack and didn't want to spend the night rushing as their flight is early in the morning. She did promise to have dinner with him, so here he is – pacing around again, waiting for her at his door.

She should be here five minutes ago, but Jungkook are already used to her not being on time. He never minded it before but the anxiety had trippled tonight. He thought of bringing her out to a fancy place but figured it might make her uncomfortable. Certainly not a suitable place to be explaining his previous behaviour! So he ordered in instead. He hoped the private dinner would give him more time and room to think – in case he forgets what he was going to say.

The doorbell rang and he opens it with a rush. Lisa stood awkwardly in a hoodie and sweatpants. Good thing it's not a fancy dinner then! She gave a small smile, but big enough to make his heart drops. They've been spending so much time together for the past week that the 24 hours of not seeing her made it felt longer for him. Briefly he wondered if she misses him too.

"Um, are we ready to go?" There's something about the way she peeks up to him through her long lashes. Is she scared to look him in the eye now? Does she hate me now - nooo!!

"We're not going anywhere," He grabbed her wrist in a swift and pulls her into an embrace. She smells fruity – sweet, like strawberries. He couldn't recall her answering his question a few nights ago on what brand of shampoo she's using. He makes a mental note to ask her again later. "I miss you,"

"Hmm?" Is all he could hear from her, probably because her face is squished on his chest. He slowly lets go of her back but maintained his hand on her wirst, pulling her into the suite.

"We're having dinner here. I ordered," He closed the door behind her.

"Um...here?" She seemed awkward – nervous even, as she looks around to the living room. "Maybe it's best if –"

"Come on, food is getting cold and I'm hungry!" Jungkook ignored her resistance and began walking to the kitchen area, pulling her to follow behind him. Once they reached the island counter, he pulled the stool for her to sit.

She hesitated at first but Jungkook gave his best boyish grin with the gesture, so she abided. He then hopped cheerfully to the other side of the counter, sitting and facing her. Step 1, act as casual as you can to make her forget about what happened and be comfortable with you again. The words of Jimin replayed itself in his head. He reached down to the plastic bags on the seat next to him and place it in front of them.

"Burgers?" Her eyes litted up when he took out the wraps out. He nods with a big smile, partly proud at himself that he remembered one of her favourite comfort food.

"We have a steak burger and a lobster burger. Which one do you want?"

Lisa thought hard and he could see the frown underneath her bangs.

"Or we can share so we can try both!" Jungkook knew that if he were to wait for her decision, they'd be sitting here for at least an hour. Not that he would've mind, but he doesn't want her to get cranky. Lisa nodded with an impatient smile. There's my baby!

"So...why are you scared of sleeping alone?" He asked with a smirk when they started eating, teasing her.

"Eh? I never said I was scared," She rolled her eyes.

"Okay...why don't you like sleeping alone then?" He chuckled.

"It's not that I don't like it. I'm just uncomfortable sleeping alone at a foreign place,"

"Just foreign places? Do you sleep alone in your 'dorm'?" She nodded. "So why?"

"I don't know. I always feel weird about it. Like the room felt too big for only me. Plus it reminded me of trainee days," There's something about the way she answered him. Jungkook noticed how she sounded nonchalant, but her gaze fell down somewhere mid-air.

"What do you mean?"

She paused for while, then shrugged.

"Tell me,"

"Well, when I first got here – I mean, when I first moved to Korea, and to YG, we were all designated to a dorm. There were around thirty plus trainees, and one dorm had around ten-ish people. It was crowded but I didn't mind much about that. I didn't know how to speak Korean, and no one was allowed to speak to me in English. It's sort of to help me learn Korean quicker and better. So most of the time, even when I'm in a room full of people, I couldn't talk to anyone. And because I couldn't understand much, most of the other trainees avoided talking to me as well. It was...how do I say it...quiet,"

"Lonely?"

"I guess...and I didn't wanna bother anyone as well cus everyone was having such a hard time, everyone's tired all the time. So I'd just sit at the corner with my pocket dictionary and a little book – eavesdropping and finding the meaning, practicing the pronunciation. It was like that for a while and I got used to hearing sounds or noises after a while. Of course, it got better. The group got smaller and smaller each month, so we basically had to talk to each other. My unnies helped me a lot too. But it felt like that when I'm alone at foreign places. I didn't like the feeling,"

Jungkook felt his heart fell listening to her story. He knew the feeling of being alone and far from home. But he was only away for a few months. It's probably nothing compared to what she had gone through, being away from home and everyone she knew for years.

"I was sent here for six months when I was fourteen, to learn and brush up my skill for dance. The first month was the hardest for me," He laughed, reminiscing back on the younger version of himself. "I was homesick, and I miss Korean food so much that I cried,"

Lisa stared warmly at him with a small smile.

"I was tired all the time too. The beginner's classes was easy, but it got harder and harder each time. I was always cranky and moody and I kept whining to the manager who brought me there and was supposed to take care of me. I still remember that one day, I got so upset at myself for not being able to keep up with the routine and classes. I lashed out at him and I was ready to pack my bags and go home, you know. Then he decided to give me some time off, so he brought me to Disneyland. I was so happy when we got there – I played all the games and went on all the rides, it kinda made me forget where I was for a bit. It got better after that, cus I kinda felt bad for him as well that he had to look out for me – always asking and checking if I'm okay. It kinda motivated me to pull through. I don't know what I'd do or where I'll be now if I didn't have him as a support system. I can't imagine what you had to go through – being far from your family and friends for that long."

"It wasn't so bad. I was fine," Lisa chuckled, and he knew it was her way of dodging any sympathetic feelings over her situation. It's still a wonder to him how she could easily do that – undermining her own hardships or concerns.

...