That was their thing.

So, when that particular day, Jungkook left her a message saying he couldn't accompany her back, Moon was slightly concerned but she brushed it off.

Jungkook was still a kid, but of course, he didn't require supervision all the time, that too during broad daylight. She repeated that to herself throughout the day and during her walk back to the company.

But as soon as she reached the company and saw the boys sans Jungkook, her heart dropped. She was worried but at the same time, didn't want to be overbearing, so she resigned to working a hole through the practice room. The boys who noticed her pacing, simply chalked it up as her being aloof as usual.

This wasn't unusual for her, Moon walked anytime she was stressed and with the new routines coming up, they understood why she'd be stressed. They resumed to work on their own until everyone gathered for group practices.

When the call was finally made for a group practice nearly an hour later, Moon looked around again as if she'd have missed Jungkook's presence in the room.

"Guys," She called out, making the boys look at her. "Where's Jungkook?"

"He isn't here yet?" Namjoon asked, looking around. She shook her head, stomach bubbling anxiously. "He said he'd be here around this time," He added thoughtfully.

"Did he tell you where he went?" J-Hope asked, looking at Namjoon who shook his head.

"No, he said he had to meet some of his friends and that he'll be back in time for group practice," He added, remembering the boy stuttering away his reason that morning.

Moon who was quietly listening so far, spoke up, "What friends? He doesn't have any friends here!" She glared at the other boys, her protectiveness kicking in. "Why the hell would you let him go alone? He's been freaking stressed about the routines and you guys just freaking let him go alone?!"

"Why are you guys so irresponsible when it comes to him? He doesn't even know this place all that well!" She was breathing heavy, having yelled at all the boys surrounding her. "And none of you are even bothered about him not being here? Is this how you are going to treat your teammate?"

She was going off on them, and while in the back of her head she knew she was overreacting, she didn't loosen her glare on the boys around.

"Hyeon, you are overreacting," Namjoon told her, trying to calm her down. "He'll be back here soon."

"He's a big boy, Hyeon." J-Hope tried, "He can take care of himself."

"He's fourteen for fuck's sake! We should be looking after him."

Moon scoffed at the boys' audacity to make it seem like Jungkook was all grown up, when all of them clearly knew and understood that the kid was young, constantly worried and feared being thrown out of the group.

But, look at his Hyungs! Not even giving a single fuck over where he might be!

She was understandably angry, face and eyes red and her rage coming out as tears in her eyes. The place was quiet for a minute, the boys not knowing how to react to Moon's tears and Jungkook's sudden disappearance, but mostly to the tears. They knew Jungkook was a strong kid who just needs time alone to gather his thoughts and that he'd be back soon.

But Moon's tears were a whole new territory. They knew Moon was protective over their youngest, doting and coddling him in the most overbearing motherly way but she was crying, right now.

How do they handle her tears?

"Moon, calm down," Suga tried to calm her, placing his palm on her shoulder.

Moon shook him away, "He'll be here soon. Don't worry."

"I'm going to find him!" She said, picking up her things, putting on her jacket and running out.

The moment she stepped out, the cold winter air hit her. Her watered eyes and nose stinging painfully, as she wiped them harshly. She sniffled, walking away from the company towards the school where she thought Jungkook might've taken refuge.

The walk to school usually would've been short, but Moon went to every park there was on her way to check for Jungkook. She couldn't find him anywhere and Moon's anxiety was really tiring her out; she's been searching for him for quite some time now.

Where was he? Was he kidnapped? Did something bad happen to him? Was he okay? Did he run away? Did he quit? Worrying questions ran through her mind, stopping abruptly when her phone rang. It was Namjoon.

"Is Jungkook there?" Moon asked, breathing heavy, not bothering with a greeting, "Is he okay?"

"He's not with you?" He asked her back, not sure if he heard her right. "You haven't found him yet?"

"Namjoon," Moon scoffed, "Would I ask you if I found him? No, I haven't found him. I don't know where he'll be. It's late. He doesn't know the way around this place. He's all alone now." Her tone was flat, like she was blaming him for all that was happening.

"Moon, calm down." Jin was on line now. Moon rolled her eyes, telling him that she'll calm down when she finds Jungkook. "He's all alone in a new city at night!" She repeated.

"Where are you?" He asked in a calm voice, ignoring her outburst. Moon sighed, his calm tone somehow watering her rage. She told him where she was, sniffling slightly.

"Do you have any idea where he might be?" He asked. Moon rolled her eyes; this was getting on her nerves. She could be searching for Jungkook instead of being questioned like this, but no, Father Jin has to make this a freaking quiz.

"We would have had an idea if Leader asked him about it, wouldn't we?" Her voice was getting shivery, as she walked to the final park by the school. If Jungkook wasn't here, then she has no idea where he might be. "But no, Jungkook's a big boy, isn't he? so, I have no idea where he might be!"

"Hyeon-ah, Calm down, okay?" Yoongi seemed to have taken the phone now, "Go, look at the park, if you can't find him there, we'll file a complaint, okay?" Moon agreed, "Call us once you search the park, okay? We'll try searching around here too. He'll be okay."

Moon hummed into the phone, disconnecting the call. She hoped Jungkook was okay. The boy was so young and so talented, she really hoped the stress of debut wasn't harming his health in anyway.

The park was deserted, mainly because this was kid's hangout spot and now, it was way too dark for kids and parents to hang out here. Moon walked in the area, trying to find the boy, praying he was in there somewhere. She looked around the place, eyes scanning the place for the boy. She had almost lost hope when she saw him, sitting in a secluded bench, hunched over.

In an excited haze, she ran to him calling his name loudly.

"Kookie! Jungkook!" She screamed his name, startling the poor boy who visibly shook before turning around to face her. She ran to him full force, hugging him and cradling his face to her chest.

"Kookie! You are alright! I was so worried! I was fucking scared that you quit or something! Why didn't you tell us anything? Oh my god, I'm so happy I found you!" She hugged him tighter, rubbing him as if to reassuring to herself that yes, he was okay and in her arms. She pulled away from him finding him quiet. She sniffles, looking at him and checking his face again.

"You are okay, right? You are not saying anything. Is everything alright?"

Now, that Moon was calmer and settled into her mother mode, she noticed his red, teary eyes and nose. It looked like he had been crying for long. His ears were red and he wasn't even wearing a jacket to keep out the cold.

"Why don't you have a jacket?" She pulled off her own, wrapping around him, as he sniffled. "Are you okay Kookie? You can tell me what's bothering you."

Jungkook stayed silent, eyes brimmed with tears as he tried to collect his thoughts. He was just so overwhelmed at Moon's sudden appearance that his head was practically empty as she smothered him.

What was he actually doing in this deserted park?

He had left home telling Namjoon that he had to meet up with his 'friends' so that he had some time to wallow in his worries. His original plan was to wallow for some time and return to the dance practice.

He must've lost track of time because it was darker now. He had spent the past few hours here, crying and shivering in cold but still not ready to go back home.

The future terrified him to be honest.

He was the main vocalist apparently and he can't sing all that well. He missed being home. He missed his family. He was afraid of his future, of falling short, of letting everyone down, of everything. He didn't have friends in here. He was too shy to actually speak to his team members. He felt so out of place in here that Jungkook didn't know how long he'd last in Seoul, in the idol world.

All those emotions had been too much for him and he had resorted to breaking down in this park away from prying eyes. He had forgotten his jacket, so he was cold. He had skipped lunch, so he was hungry.

He looked up at Moon, who was looking at him like he was an injured puppy, with so much care and love that Jungkook leapt into her arms, crying harder. Moon unlike he expected, wasn't all that startled at his actions.

Instead, she hugged him back, soothingly rubbing his back, petting his head and muttering assurances. She didn't know for sure, but she had an idea why Jungkook was so emotional. She let him cry into her shoulder, her heart breaking at the young boy's obvious breakdown. She might've cried a bit too, but she wasn't letting Jungkook know that.

Eventually, Jungkook calmed himself down letting her go. Moon let him go, cupping his face and wiping his tears as he sniffled.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, making the boy nod. "Wanna tell me what happened?"

He looked hesitant, but soon spoke up, tearing up as he revealed every detail of his fears and worries. Moon's heart only shattered more as she looked at how much these worries had damaged him. He was a young kid with so much hope and innocence that this industry would just ruin him.

"Kookie," She called him in a soft tone, cupping his face, "Do you trust me?" He nodded, "Then listen to me, okay? I'm not going to lie to you and tell you all this is going to be easy, because it's not. I can't promise you a cakewalk in this industry, but all I can promise to you is that we'll be here with you until the end. You are not alone in this. You have us. You will always have us. I'll always be here for you. We'll be here. You can always come to me. I'll be here for you, anytime anywhere for anything. Okay? Remember this." Moon petted his hair, running her fingers into his hair soothingly.

Moon wasn't all that great in talking and doing the whole communication thing but she hopes that she got through to Jungkook. She hoped that he knew, he was important and that he wasn't alone in this and that she'd be there for him. She understood where he was coming from and while she also felt the same towards herself, she knew she didn't want to be in this weird space all her life. She wanted to work hard and move forward to a better space in life.

She would work towards that.

"Okay," He nodded, smiling in what seemed like days. "I'll remember that."

"Good,-" Moon's next words were cut short when her phone rang loudly. It was the other boys. Moon rolled her eyes comically making Jungkook crack a wider smile.

"Did you find him? Is he okay? Should we file a complaint?"

"Found him," She smiled at the younger boy now looking at her, scared of the reaction of the boys. They sounded worried and Jungkook knew he really caused trouble.

"Jin and Yoongi meet us at the mart near our dorms. Let's end whatever you were doing at the company and have a meeting over dinner. There are things we need to talk about, right?" Moon asked in a measured tone, she knew she had lectured coming for her. She had just been so damn rude and had exploded on them even without any fault of theirs.

"We aren't at the company," Namjoon told her, "We were searching for Jungkook near our dorms. We'll meet you there."

Moon agreed, "Okay. I found Jungkook, he's fine. Just a little stressed, but he'll be fine." She said quietly, feeling sorry at having yelled at him earlier. He hummed and the call was done.

"Are-are they angry?" Jungkook asked.

Moon shook her head, "Worried is more like it. They were worried why their maknae didn't come." Jungkook's heart warmed at being referred as one of them, but he still wasn't convinced.

"They sound angry."

Moon laughed, "No, Kookie. They aren't angry. They are worries and tired. That's it. They will be waiting for us, now come on. Let's go. You've had a rough day. Let's get home, get you cleaned, warm and fed." She pulled him up when his stomach growled loudly.

Moon guffawed as the younger boy's face-tinged red.

"Aigoo, Kookie." She pinched his cheeks. "C'mon, I'll buy you hotteok for now. We can have dinner at home. On second thoughts, I'll buy you two." She grinned, grabbing his hands and leading him to the nearby hotteok stand.

Jungkook followed her, not complaining. Once the two had brought the pancakes, two for Jungkook who held one in his hand each. The two walked to the mart, arms linked.

There was an odd sort of comfort between as they walked. They felt more comfortable around each other. Not that they weren't before, but Jungkook was always quiet and stayed away from her, calling her 'Hyung' if he ever had to address her and spoke softly and respectfully.

This felt nice, like having a younger brother to dote on. She was happy that they were moving away from this professional relationship they had to becoming proper friends. They were nearing the mart, Jungkook stopped.

"Can I call you noona?" He asked, eyes wide and sparkling that Moon doesn't understand how he was all this cute. Like she has younger siblings, has seen a multitude of young kids but none of them come close to how cute this boy is really.

"What is this? Was two hotteoks all it took for you to finally acknowledge that I was a girl? I would've brought you five of those sooner if this was going to be the result." She told him. He laughed, pouting at her.

"Maybe, you should have bought me hotteoks earlier." He said, making Moon's eyes widen.

"That's my fault? Kid, you wouldn't look at me if I didn't call you like three times." She scoffed playfully, but smiled. "But yes, you can call me Noona. I've been calling you Kookie after all. Also, if you call me Noona, you are basically signing up for me to be your stand-in mother. Is that okay? I'll be really annoying and will be mothering you every second of your life from now on. Are you sure about that?"

"Yep, I would love that."

"Remember you said that!" Moon ruffled his hair. "But seriously, if I ever get annoying, tell me, okay?" He nodded.

"You have to tell me." She added again and Jungkook laughed louder.

"Okay, noona. I'll tell you."

"Good, my son." Moon tried and Jungkook made a face. Moon laughed, "Don't make a face at your mother, child. It's rude."

Jungkook rolled his eyes, but had to tease her back.

"Will you write me into your will, noona?"