The night felt heavier than usual. The kind of heavy that settled in your bones after a long day of work and not enough light. Jungkook sat at the edge of his small kitchen table, a chipped mug of tea between his palms, steam rising into the soft glow of the overhead light.

The apartment was quiet—clean, but lived in. A worn denim jacket hung over the back of a chair, sketchpads stacked messily by the window, and a sleepy dog was curled at the foot of the couch.

He stared at his phone on the table for a while before finally picking it up. He thumbed open the dating app—he’d only downloaded it last week, more on a whim than anything else. His friends told him to put himself out there. That he was too much of a homebody. Too soft-spoken.

He’d never liked the idea of finding someone through a screen. But finding someone in person hadn’t exactly worked either.

He scrolled through the usual parade of profiles. Posed pictures. Blurry selfies in dim bars. People who seemed more interested in games than connection.

And then—Niko.

Jungkook stopped.

Something about his photos made Jungkook's chest feel oddly still. Not staged. Just... real. A soft, squinty-eyed smile in one. A photo of him sitting cross-legged on the floor with headphones on, surrounded by open notebooks and snacks. There was this warmth, this unspoken ease in his face that tugged at something quiet in Jungkook.

He tapped into the bio.

Plant parent. Tries to journal but mostly doodles. Looking for someone to share late-night walks, dumb jokes, and the kind of silence that feels safe.

Jungkook smiled to himself, thumb pausing for just a second before he swiped right.

It’s a match!

His heart jumped a little. Ridiculous. It was just an app. Just a person. But still.

He tapped the chat open, stared at the blinking cursor for a long time before finally typing:

"Not gonna lie—your profile kinda made my night. You look like someone who’d understand what I mean when I say I feel more at home during quiet moments than parties."

He reread it. Considered deleting it. Decided not to.

When the reply came, it was thoughtful. Kind. No small talk. No awkward pick-up lines. Niko replied like someone who wasn’t just trying to be interesting—but someone who actually was.

They talked until Jungkook’s tea went cold. About what songs they listened to when they couldn’t sleep. About how Niko made pancakes at 2 a.m. just because he was sad once. About the way Jungkook found comfort in doing laundry with music playing in the background, watching the world pass through a window.

Eventually, he typed out a new message.

"I don’t want to rush anything, but… would you want to meet up sometime? No pressure. Maybe we could talk about all this in person. You seem like someone worth getting to know without a screen in the way."

He stared at the message for a few seconds, his thumb hesitating—then he hit send.

And this time, he felt a little less alone.