[Prologue•1]
Raina walks around the house, picking up cups and empty wrappers of all kinds as the party rages on around her. This was supposed to be an intimate get-together. A small house warming celebration for her and Damien.
They just moved into a new apartment and it's significantly better than their last. Raina worked hard for the last few years to get her credit to an acceptable enough number to move into a place that had amenities that she wanted. It's also convenient for her because it's closer to where she needs to be for a potential job.... If she ever chooses to work.
Damien always tells her that she doesn't need to. He takes care of everything and she's grateful for it. He pays the bills and takes care of all of the financial aspects of things. All that she is expected to do is keep up with the house and cook the meals. They are things that she doesn't mind doing usually. Unless it's a night like this.
What started as a few of Damien's friends over has turned into a house party. There are almost fifty people spread throughout the house and backyard.
Rather than engage in conversation with anybody, Raina has decided to clean the mess as it progresses to keep herself occupied. She throws out the red solo cups and the wrappers from chips and candy. She's been at it for thirty minutes after seeing how trashed the house was getting.
"Aye, baby!" Damien calls for her and she looks in his general direction until she finds him. He waves her over and she puts her head down as she snakes through the crowd of partygoers. When she gets over to him, she sees that he's not standing alone. He never is but these people are ones that she's never seen before.
"These are our neighbors. They live right next door." Damien has a smile on his face as he introduces them. "This is my girlfriend, Raina. Baby, this is Jimin. He's a model and influencer."
She looks at the man as he points to him. He's taller than she is by about three inches. His hair is black with burgundy highlights throughout. He smiles warmly at her and she gives him an awkward smile, waving.
"And this is Jungkook."
Raina recognizes his face. The brown almond eyes, his nicely shaped eyebrows and the piercings in his lip and eyebrow that she refuses to imagine how much pain they put him in.
"He's the dude I watch for the Overwatch and Apex streams."
"Nice to meet you." Jungkook says and she nods and offers a quiet 'likewise'. She doesn't give anyone a chance to say anything else before she's scurrying away from them. She picks up an empty cup from the floor as she walks.
"Sorry for her. She's socially awkward. I don't know why she hasn't grown out of that yet." Damien apologizes.
"Some people are just shy. I'm sure she'd be better if there weren't so many people. Maybe she doesn't like parties." Jimin shrugs. Damien takes a sip of his beer and shakes his head.
"Nah. I'm telling you. We've only been together a year and some change but I've known her for like four years. She's always been like this. It's only gotten worse. It's kind of annoying."
Jungkook listens to Damien talk as he watches Raina throw more trash away. She opens the fridge and her shoulders drop. She pulls out a carton of chocolate milk with not even a swig in it and turns to throw it away.
Raina stands there with a sad look on her face for a few moments before walking out the side door. She sits on the bench swing and kicks to get it moving.
"Especially around my homeboys. They think she's so weird. I have to tell them all the time that it's just how she is. If she was going to change, she would have by now, you know."
Jimin opens his mouth to tell him that, no, he doesn't know but one of Damien's friends interrupts him.
"Aye Dame, come hit this." His friend holds up a blunt and the man excuses himself. Jimin looks at Jungkook and curls his lip up.
"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to think of him."
"I stopped listening after he called his girlfriend annoying. I'll be right back then we can go." Jungkook leaves Jimin standing by himself to go through the side door. Raina's head turns at the sound of the door closing.
Jungkook reaches into the pocket of his black cargo pants and pulls out a bottle of chocolate milk. He holds it out for her and she looks at him skeptically.
"It's not as cold as it was ten minutes ago when I took it out of my fridge but it's still cool."
She takes it out of his hand and feels the temperature of the bottle. She shakes it up when she feels the chill of it.
"Thank you." She says quietly, cracking the bottle open.
"No problem. I have drawer full of them in my fridge if you ever run out again." He tells her with a smile. She gives a closed mouth smile back, unsure of how to respond. Jungkook saves her the awkward feeling and bids her good night.
She returns it as he walks back into the house.
Raina swings on the bench with her legs crossed. She sips on the chocolate milk and looks at the stars.
Her thoughts of the night consist of dreading having to clean the house and the man that pulled chocolate milk from his pocket.
⚠️ Serenity contains mature|sensitive content including
•social anxiety|anxiety attacks•
•verbal degradation•
(not the fun kind)
•sexual content•
•protective|possessive Jungkook•
•alcohol consumption•
No bad deed goes unpunished :)
Join Raina on her journey of self discovery🤎
