A Ripple in the Routine

[Jungkook’s POV]

I shouldn’t have looked back.

As I walked away with Ryan and Jake, my feet moving automatically through the throng of festival-goers, I risked a glance over my shoulder. Taehyung was still standing there, his eyes lingering on me like he couldn’t believe I was real.

Something about the way he looked at me—like I was someone worth noticing—made my chest tighten. I clenched my fists and turned away, forcing myself to focus on the conversation my friends were having.

“Earth to Jungkook,” Jake said, waving a hand in front of my face.

“Hmm?”

Jake grinned. “Who’s the guy?”

“What guy?” I said, a little too quickly.

“The one you were staring at,” Ryan chimed in, smirking. “You’re not as subtle as you think.”

“I wasn’t staring,” I muttered, shoving my hands into my pockets.

Jake laughed. “Yeah, sure. You’ve been weird ever since we left that booth. Admit it—you’re interested.”

“Drop it,” I snapped, my voice sharper than I intended.

The smile faded from Jake’s face, and he held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Relax.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “Sorry. I just… I don’t know him, alright? It’s nothing.”

But even as I said the words, I couldn’t shake the image of Taehyung’s soft brown eyes, the way his voice had trembled slightly when he said his name.

Nothing, I told myself firmly. It had to be nothing.

[Taehyung’s POV]

I couldn’t stop replaying our brief conversation in my head.

Even as Soyeon and I wandered through the festival, my thoughts kept drifting back to Jungkook. There was something about him—something enigmatic and magnetic—that made it impossible to forget him.

“You’re quiet,” Soyeon said, nudging me with her elbow. “Still thinking about him?”

I hesitated, then nodded. “There’s just… something about him, Soyeon. He feels different.”

“Different how?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, struggling to find the words. “It’s like he has this wall around him, but I can’t help wanting to know what’s behind it.”

She gave me a thoughtful look. “You always were a sucker for mysteries.”

I smiled faintly but didn’t respond.

As the festival wound down and the sun dipped below the horizon, I found myself standing at the edge of the crowd, staring at the glowing lights that lined the path back to the dorms.

“Taehyung!”

I turned to see Soyeon waving at me from a food stall. “You coming or what?”

“Yeah,” I called back, forcing myself to shake off the lingering thoughts of Jungkook.

But even as I joined her, laughing at her attempts to balance two bowls of noodles in her hands, I couldn’t ignore the small spark of hope burning quietly in my chest.

Maybe this wasn’t the last time I’d see him.

[Jungkook’s POV]

Back in my dorm, I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling as Ryan and Jake argued over what movie to watch.

I should’ve been focusing on them, on anything but the memory of Taehyung’s voice saying, “Nice to meet you.”

What was it about him that unsettled me so much? I’d met plenty of people before—some loud, some shy, some annoying—but none of them had ever lingered in my thoughts the way he did.

“Hey, Jungkook,” Ryan called. “You cool with an action flick?”

“Yeah, whatever,” I said absently, rolling onto my side.

As their voices faded into the background, I closed my eyes, letting the memory of Taehyung’s face drift to the surface of my mind.

For a moment, I let myself wonder what it would be like to see him again.

And for the first time in a long while, I felt the faintest flicker of curiosity—a ripple in the routine I’d grown so used to.

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