i m p e r i o

- 

He’s completely and utterly lost in New York City when he meets her.

Jungkook had just hopped off a subway, vaguely aware of Namjoon’s and Jimin’s shouts at him to get back in - that this wasn’t their stop - until the last second. 

Until it’s too late.

Until the doors have closed and all he can see are Namjoon’s panicked eyes and Jimins’ disapproving shake of his head through the glass window of the subway. 

The realization of his mistake doesn’t even hit him quite yet.

He watches animatedly as the train lurches forward and watches as Namjoon runs towards the closest window to him. He’s shoving his elbows into anyone that gets into his way (he gets a particularly nasty look from an older woman he had just pushed aside - not that he cares in this moment), and when he finally reaches the smudged glass, he frantically points at his cellphone, mouthing the words call us. 

Jungkook raises an eyebrow at him; not that he’s confused about what he’s trying to say per se - more so because he’s treating him as if he’s a dumb child. As if he can’t handle himself out in a city he’s been visiting since he was a boy. 

But that’s Namjoon, he reasons with himself. Always worried about him and the rest of the guys.

Jungkook looks over at Jimin and he watches as Jimin shrugs his shoulders in nonchalance - it’s the last thing Jungkook sees before the train accelerates and rolls into the darkened tunnel and out of view.

It’s then when he doesn’t see his friends anymore, does he realize what kinds of situation he’s in.

He curses himself under his breath, stepping further away from the platform, trying to discern where exactly he has jumped off at. 

Jungkook looks at the hanging station signs and realizes one thing. While he may be familiar with New York City, he doesn’t know the city. But more so, he doesn’t know where he is. 

He’s lost.

Dammit.

He’s lost, but he’s not hopeless.

Jungkook begins to walk around, finding the steps that lead out of the underground and into the streets of New York. 

He’s halfway up the stairs when he fishes his phone from his back pocket. 

His phone is a little bit battered - the screen cracked, and the corners dented (“There’s a reason phone cases were invented!” Namjoon would say). He doesn’t pay attention to any of the spider web fractures across his phone as he rapidly presses the home button. (Another thing that Namjoon scolds him for)

Because the black screen tells him one thing.

It’s fucking dead.

He curses even more.

And then he sees her.

She’s slowly making her way down the stairs, with the most evidently confused facial expression he has ever seen. She’s scrunching her nose, her eyebrows furrowed. Her lips press in a straight line. He doesn’t realize it, but Jungkook stops making his way up the stairs in complete captivation by her.

She’s halfway down the stairs when she stops as well, reading the hanging signs, when her eyebrows furrow further. She mumbles something, and he isn’t quite sure he has heard her right, but he thinks she said something along the lines of where the fuck am I?

And it’s with that, that he realizes she’s just as lost as him.

He doesn’t realize he’s been staring at her for a while. He doesn’t even realize that he’s been standing there for some time. Not until she turns to him, and he feels his breath getting knocked out of his lungs. 

Jungkook doesn’t know her. All he knows is that he’s lost, and she’s lost, and they’re both standing on some New York City subway stairs, and she’s fucking beautiful.

“You lost too?” She says.