Escape - Part 1

Reader x Jungkook

Summary: Everyone has a number over their heads that says how useful they are to society from 0-100. You have a number ‘4’. You leave the city for some peace but you meet your cocky neighbour who seems to get on your nerves.

Genre: Fluff

Y/L/N refers to your last name/family name

You were considered a miracle child. The umbilical cord was still wrapped around your neck hours before delivery but you had entered the world safe and sound. Your parents were extremely excited. Your parents’ numbers were in the high eighties and considering the fact that your brother’s and sister’s numbers were 94 and 96 respectively, they were hoping you’d be a 98. With you being a high ninety, they’d be eligible for the high-potential stipend, allowing your family to live like royalty. For the duration of 9 months, all your parents did was plan ahead. Their dreams were about to become reality and it was all because of you.

Their dreams came crashing down a month later as they saw the small number buzzing above your head; a meager 4. They got a DNA test done (multiple times actually) but no matter what they did, they were forced to face the truth; you were undeniably theirs. The number 4 in Mandarin had a phonetic sound similar to that of the character that represented death and that’s what you represented. You represented the death of your parents’ dreams. You were a beautiful baby but every time your parents looked at you, all they could think about was what could have been.

For the past 20 years, you felt like you were the black sheep of the family. Well, obviously you were but you couldn’t understand how the people you shared the same blood with could treat you so coldly. You were often the scapegoat for your siblings and the reason for embarrassment for your parents. It was so painful to live in that house. It was difficult to watch your siblings go on to prestigious academic institutions while you were sent to the local vocational school. You loved knowledge just as much as they did and if you were given the chance, you felt like you’d be able to be just as successful. You had spent many nights in your family’s study room, reading all the materials that your siblings had brought home from school but you knew no matter how much you tried, everyone would see you as nothing but a 4.

At the vocational school, everyone’s number was below a 10 and they didn’t even bother teaching you more than the basic math and science. Instead, you were all taught skills such as woodwork, plumbing and etc. Of course you were disappointed about the fact that you wouldn’t be able to excel in the educational sense but being able to learn those practical skills weren’t too bad after all. You’d channel all your feelings of hurt and anger towards your wood shop class, often creating masterpieces that even your instructors marveled at.

Your siblings were extremely successful and although they slightly mistreated you throughout your childhood, you were happy for them. Your sister was an acclaimed doctor who had contributed to many medical research studies that eventually led to breakthroughs in the medical field. Your brother was a highly successful businessman, the owner of one of the top logistics company in the world; he was raking in hundreds of dollars by the minute. You… well, you did well enough for yourself by doing a few odd jobs here and there. You’d always set aside a portion of your salary for your parents. You knew they didn’t exactly need it because your siblings were capable of giving them so much more but you felt like you still had to, no, you wanted to.

Every time you found the time, you would drive about an hour away from the city to a small sleepy town near the forest. You had saved up enough to buy a small plot of land to build a comfortable cabin for yourself. It was a bit further away from the sleepy town so that meant you didn’t have a lot of neighbours which you didn’t mind anyway. The plot of land you occupied was the cheapest and it probably had to do with the fact that this huge mansion was blocking the view of the lake. It was a relatively large house but despite its size, it looked quite homey from the outside. Whoever it was that lived opposite you was your only neighbour and out of all the times you’ve come up to monitor the construction of your cozy cabin, you’ve never once saw the owner of the house.

Finally, after almost half a year, it was time for you to move-in. You grabbed the last of your belongings in your family’s home and your dog; Buster and drove off in your beat up pick-up truck towards a new life. You were hoping to finally leave behind the hurt in that house you used to call home.

You absolutely loved every nook and cranny of your little cabin and you couldn’t wait to fill it with the things you loved, to fill it with life. The builders were kind enough to offer to help you move-in as every time you came to monitor the building you often helped out too due to your woodwork skills you had obtained in school. You enjoyed doing it anyway so, they felt it was at least a small token of gratitude they could offer from one carpenter to another. |

You sat down on one of the chairs on your front porch and shared a few bottles of beers with the builders after a long day of unpacking boxes and setting up furniture. Buster, your adorable year old golden retriever makes himself comfortable right next to you. You pat him as you look out to the lake and the massive mansion that stood in front of it.

“Hoping to catch a glimpse of your future husband, are ya?” says Joe, the head builder of your cabin as he nudges you.

“W-what?”

“Your neighbour… I heard he’s a real handsome dude, a high-ninety guy and also a millionaire apparently. At least that’s what the ladies in town tell me.”

“Mmm, that’s good for him I guess…”

His front garden was fully lit but the house looked dark and empty. It still looked amazing though as the shimmering lake complemented the house. You only wonder how one person could occupy a house so big.

That night you slept in a foreign place for the first time but everything about your new cabin felt like home. From the way your favourite books were stacked on your bookshelf to the way your woodcarving equipment occupied half of the living room, everything felt like it was right where it was supposed to be; yourself included.

All you’ve been doing for the past few months was exploring your backyard that was the jungle, walking your dog and then carving wood or making wooden furniture pieces. Your routine was simple but you were so content. Every weekend you would drive down to the next biggest town with all your hand carved pieces/furniture pieces and sold it at the farmer’s market. You didn’t exactly make much but you made more than enough to sustain your simple lifestyle. 

You had become known as the adorable woodcarver who lived opposite Mr. rich and handsome. It was honestly baffling to you that people in the surrounding towns seemed so interested in your neighbour. People would stop by your store just to ask if you’ve seen your mysterious neighbor. You would always shake your head no but truthfully you’ve seen him once. You were cycling home from your short trip to the local grocer in town when you saw him exit his sleek sedan.

“Hi!” You called out while waving.

He scoffed, smirked at you, turned around and walked straight into his house.

You’ve heard all about your mysterious neighbour from the friendly ladies at the farmer’s market. He’s handsome, smart, rich, blah blah blah but what they neglected to mention was he was a douchebag because honestly what the heck was that? He didn’t even bother waving at you or saying hi. You were actually pretty excited that you had finally got to see him but if he was going to be this way, you wouldn’t mind not having to see him again.

The next time you see him, you were completely caught off guard. It was an unusually hot day so after your walk with Buster, you changed into your swimming suit and jumped into the lake with Buster. You played fetch for a while and then just lazed around as Buster splashed around at the shallow end of the lake. Then, the both of you sat on the dock and watched as the sun set across the lake. It was a perfect ending to the perfect day… that is until you saw him.

You realized you left the towels on your porch but it didn’t really matter since you just had to cross the narrow street to get back to your house. You stand up to finally make your way back home but you stop in your tracks when you see your neighbour standing a few steps away from you.

“Man, if only someone told me sooner that I’d be able to see a cutie swim around in the lake all evening, I would definitely spend more time up here.” He says while looking you up and down. You cross your arms around your chest and sincerely regret leaving the towels on the porch.

“A douchebag and a pervert for a neighbour, how wonderful,” You scoff.

“Hmm, feisty… I like it.” He says before crouching down to pat your dog. “Your owner’s adorable isn’t she? She thought I was talking about her but you’re the only cutie I see here.”

You’re blushing bright red but you finally gather yourself and move forward to lightly push Buster behind you.

“Sorry, Buster here’s not really good with strangers.”

Buster squeezes between your legs to move towards your neighbour to sniff him curiously and soon enough he’s full on licking your neighbour on the face.

“Buster! Stop that!” You quickly pull him off your neighbour and whisper a quiet sorry.

“Looks like Buster here’s finally glad to meet someone other than you,” He says slyly

You roll your eyes at him and begin walking forward towards your house. He moves faster and stands in front of you.

“I’m Jungkook by the way. Jeon Jungkook. It’s nice to meet you.” He says with an outstretched hand.

“I’m Y/N. Ah I wish I could say the same but yeah, no.” You say while shaking his outstretched hand.

While you both shake hands, both of you quickly glance upwards at each other’s numbers. He’s a 98. Of course he is. You know he sees your number and you expect him to pull away his hand any second now and give you a look of disgust but he only laughs at how it seemed like you weren’t interested in meeting him at all.

He watches as you make your way back to your home. It was refreshing to meet someone who didn’t look at him like he was a god. When he had initially seen you that day when he scoffed at you, he thought you were one of the girls from town who would stalk him whenever he came up here. He had sunglasses on so he couldn’t really see you properly. How was he supposed to know you were his neighbour? He noticed the little cabin opposite his mansion while he was pulling up to his house and had assumed it belonged to an old woman. He didn’t spend much time in his cabin but now he feels like he would be coming up more often just to know his adorably feisty neighbour a little better.

As you shut the front door, you turn around to look at Buster with a frown on your face

“Buster, what was that?! You betrayed me! You’re usually so shy around strangers. Do you even love me anymore?”

Buster only looks at you happily with his tongue sticking out as he wags his tail excitedly.

You sigh and pat him. “Come on buddy, it’s shower time.”

Buster’s tail stops wagging immediately and he dashes to hide under the coffee table. You spend an hour trying to coax him into taking a shower.You loved Buster, you really did but sometimes he was just such a handful. You go to bed right after fixing yourself a quick dinner. As you settle down on your bed, you think back to your interaction with Jungkook and it only gets you frustrated. Soon enough, you feel a wave of exhaustion take over and you don’t know why but you go to sleep with Jeon Jungkook still on your mind.

Every end of the month, you made your way down to the local post office to mail a short letter with some money attached to your parents. You never know if they ever receive them because they never replied to your letters but you always sent it to them anyway. You open your front door and you see a small box with a note attached on your welcome mat.

Welcome to the neighbourhood, Buster! Here’s a gift for you, ya cutie.

p.s: Y/N, you know when you’re new to the neighbourhood, you’re usually supposed to bring over a tray of brownies or something.

p.p.s: I love fudge brownies the best

Your handsome neighbour,

Jungkook

You’re in disbelief as you reach the end of his note. The douchebag has the audacity to ask you for brownies after scoffing at you when you had first saw him. Also, how cocky do you have to be to call yourself handsome? Why couldn’t your neighbour be the cute kind of guy next door type of person instead?

You open the box to reveal a chew toy and a small jar of premium peanut butter. Buster jumps up and down excitedly the moment he spots the toy. A smaller note is attached to the peanut butter.

Only the best for my best friend Buster :)

You scoff at his little note. What gives him the right to care so much about your dog? Buster was yours and you didn’t like that Jungkook has seemed to develop a strong liking towards him.

After you mailed the letter to your parents, you make your way to the grocery store. You had to stock up on a few necessities seeing that it’s about to be the beginning of a new month. You don’t know why but you keep finding yourself drawn to the baking goods section. Your hand hovers over the wide range of cocoa powder. You loved fudge brownies too… it was something you were really good at making. You’d be making the most of it for yourself and then giving the rest to Jungkook. He did buy Buster a gift after all…

You grab lunch at the diner in town and fill in the nosy ladies on how you didn’t like your neighbour at all. However, they simply disregarded whatever you had to say. They just kept focusing on how rich and handsome he was. You mentioned that he bought Buster a gift and they were all swooning over how he was such a sweetheart. It seemed like Jeon Jungkook had all the ladies in town wrapped around his finger.

You whipped up the batch of fudge brownies in a little under 2 hours. Your brownies tasted good and you knew it but you somehow felt quite nervous to go over to Jungkook and give it to him. What if he doesn’t like them? You shake your head at that thought. Who cares if he doesn’t? I do, you sheepishly admitted. 

You’re not very proud of this but last night while waiting for your pasta to boil, you did a quick google search on Jungkook. His dad owned Jeon Logistics, one of the rival companies to your brother’s very own Y/L/N Logistics. You find out that although Jungkook probably could’ve gotten an easy job at his father’s company but instead he made a fortune for himself. He was a smart tech entrepreneur and owner of several million-dollar apps. Despite his cocky attitude, you really were amazed by his success. So, as you walk over to his house with a tray of brownies in your hand, you only hope that your nervousness doesn’t show.

Buster gets visibly excited as the both of you walk over to his house. You balance the tray in one hand and ring the doorbell. You wait around for a bit and ring the bell a second time; still no answer. You were about to squat down to leave the tray of brownies on the floor when the large wooden doors suddenly swing open.

“Ah! It’s my favourite neighbour, Buster!” He says while petting your dog. “Oh and his eternally frowning owner, Y/N,” He continues with a slight chuckle.

You roll your eyes at him and hand over the tray of brownies. “Here’s the brownies and before you think I made them just for you, I didn’t okay, “ You pause and reach for something in your back pocket. “Also, here’s a wooden figurine of Buster, as a thank you for the gift,” You say as you place it on top of the cling-wrapped tray of brownies.

He smiles at the little wooden figurine. “Y/N Thank—“

“Buster, oh my god, no, stop!”

You watch as Buster runs into Jungkook’s home heading towards the garden as he spots a few squirrels running around.

“Jungkook, I’m so sorry! Buster is usually not so—“

“Y/N, it’s okay. I was about to invite you in anyway.” He says with a sweet smile.

You meant to run straight after Buster but you couldn’t help but to stop and admire the décor in this magnificent cabin. He had one of those chandeliers that were made out of wooden antlers and a bookcase that stretched around his living room. His house had such a nice rustic feel and although you loved your little cabin, you sure didn’t mind if your house looked like this either. Jungkook chuckles silently as he watches you look around with your mouth wide open.

“Keep your mouth open like that for a little longer and you’ll be able to catch some flies you know?”

“I… It’s just your house… It’s nice.”

Jungkook sets down your tray of brownies on his dining table before moving quickly to open the sliding door that led to his backyard. Buster barks happily while chasing the squirrels. You can’t help but laugh at the idiot that is your dog.

“So, tell me Y/N what’s a lady like you doing all the way up here in the woods?”

“I wanted a fresh start, that’s all.”

“Why? Tired of being the forgotten daughter of the Y/L/N family?”

“H-How did you…. I didn’t even tell you my full name,” You answer while looking away embarrassedly.

He just shrugs his shoulder and helps himself to a slice of your fudge brownies.

“Holy crap. This is really good!” He mumbles with his mouth still stuffed with the brownie

You smile sheepishly before saying, “Seriously though Jungkook, how did you know? I haven’t been seen publicly with my family since I turned 12.”

He swallows whatever was in his mouth before chuckling. “Y/N you know you’re pretty similar to your brother. I’d recognize that attitude anywhere. The both of you are so feisty. Your name sounded familiar so I kinda just guessed and well looks like I was right.”

You nod slowly at that and turn your attention back towards Buster. You didn’t like that Jungkook knew who you were. Everyone in town thought you were just some city girl that had come out here to have a change in pace, to get away from the bright lights. You didn’t like that someone other than yourself knew what you were actually running from.

Jungkook noticed the slight change in the atmosphere the moment he mentioned your last name. He mentally slapped himself for thinking it’d be a good idea to tell you that he knew who you were. Actually, he made that thing up about you and your brother on a whim. It was true that you had the classic Y/L/N attitude but that wasn’t how he recognized you. He recognized you the moment he saw you standing before him on the dock.

He’d seen you before at one of the galas that both your families would attend. You were both eleven then and you chased each other around the lobby area of the hotel that the gala was being held at. He had noticed your number and you had noticed his but kids being kids, none of it really mattered anyway. Later on, at the gala dinner, he finds out that you were sitting right next to him. The both of you spent the whole night snickering and whispering to each other, making fun of the odd dressing choices that some of the adults had.

Jungkook absolutely hated these mandatory galas but after that one he found that he couldn’t wait for the next one because he finally found someone that made these galas so much more bearable or dare he say, fun. The next gala was early into the next year but as he sits down next to his parents, he finds the seat next to him empty. He glances around the table and definitely recognizes the other people seated there to be your family. Jungkook tugs at his father’s sleeve and asks him if he knew why you weren’t attending the gala. His dad quickly shushes him and tells him to mind his own business.

After the 3rd gala without your presence, he gives up on waiting for you. He always wanted to ask your family where you were but his dad had mentioned that it was a sensitive issue. So from time to time he’d wonder what ever happened to his girl with the number 4. He always hoped that you were doing fine. 

As he sits opposite you now, he wonders if you recognize him. He wonders if you ever thought about him sometimes like he did with you.

******

Author : Jjkfire

All credits to the author (~♡♡)~

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