#thebtsficarchive

You loved living in the city when you were kid, but when your parents suddenly died in an accident, you had no choice but to live with your grandparents. It’s not that you hated them. You do love your grandparents. But to move to a place completely different when you’re just a ten year old was very hard. You missed the sound of cars and the loud noises of the city. You missed the bright lamplights in the night. You missed walking only five minutes to get your favorite ice cream from the convenience store.

So when you dropped your luggage in your new apartment, the first thing you did was to open your window widely, letting the noises fill your dusty room. You’re happy to finally live in the city again, happy to start something new. Happy that you can do whatever you want.

And now, you’re in your third year of your university, still struggling to live by eating instant food.

You open your fridge to check on your stock of food and decide that chicken rice will be your dinner tonight. It’s been four days that you’ve eaten the same stuff. You’re sick of it, but you won’t complain about it anyway. You can’t.

As you push your food into the microwave, your phone vibrates in your pocket. After you push the start button, you walk to your desk while fishing your phone from the pocket and put it on your ear. “Hey granny! How are you?”

“I’m fine! How about you? Are you eating well?” Your grandmother yells from the other end, it means that she puts it in the speaker again, while she is doing something.

You giggle and take a glance at your microwave on the countertop. “Yes. I’m good too. I eat so much every day that I don’t even want to take a look at my scale. What are you doing anyway?”

“Really? Good then. I’m making lasagna for your grandfather. He’s a little upset that the tractor broke yesterday and he even slipped in front of the Baek family.” she laughs a little.

“Oh my God, is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine, just a low back pain. And shame. Oh, I should send you some too! You love my lasagna, after all.”

You smile as you open your laptop. “I’m fine, just eat it with grandpa. I’ll send you some money for the tractor, okay? And take him to the hospital if he’s still in pain.”

DUAR

You turn immediately to the source of the sound, eyes widen as you see smoke coming from your microwave. “Granny, I have to go. Talk to you later. I love you. Please send kisses to grandpa as well!” you hurriedly speak and hang up the phone.

You walk quickly to the kitchen and unplug the cord from the socket, then open your door and windows to let the smoke out. Luckily you see no fire or anything, but you just wasted money on your burnt dinner.

You sigh, and lightly stroke the microwave. “You know, when I adopted you from a thrift store, I expected more. But well, maybe three years is more than enough.” You hug the machine tightly. It’s one of your most prized possessions in your apartment, and your first thing you bought when you move to the city. It has sentimental meaning to you. “Thank you for the three years. You’re the best-”

“What are you doing?”

You jerk with the sudden voice coming from the door. Your eyes fall to the pale man with messy hair leaning on your doorframe with an amused smile on his face. You immediately release the machine with red cheeks, feeling embarrassed to be exposed. “Nothing.” You smile awkwardly. You scan the man from the head to toe, trying to remember who he is. “I’m sorry, I don’t recognize you. You are?”

“Oh right, I’m sorry. I’m your new neighbor. I just moved today. 3C.” He reaches his hand out to you. “I’m Min Yoongi, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you too.” You accept the hand politely. “Do you need something?”

He scratches his head lightly. “Not really, I just heard a big sound and I was wondering what it was. It looks like it came from your room.”

You fiddle with your shirt nervously. “Yes, my microwave seems to be broken. Don’t worry though, it didn’t catch fire and I believe the fire alarm will work well.”

He nods and walks away from the door, slightly eyeing the microwave you hugged earlier. “If you want, I can try to fix it. Just let me know.”

You smile. “Thanks. I’ll let you know.”

Cute.

You shake your head quickly and close your door. You sit again in front of your desk, hands reach for your phone, deciding to transfer some money to your grandparents.

You sigh after reading the amount of money in your account. This semester cost more than the last semester. That means: today is another cup noodles day.

A month later

When you grew up in the countryside, you always knew your neighbors. It’s kinda rude if you just stay at your home without mingling with the others. But life in the city is different. After almost three years living in this apartment, you only know your landlady, who’s living on the first floor. That’s it.

Oh, except you knew a man on the same floor as yours, who you met a month ago.

Min Yoongi left an impression on you. Like how his hair is always messy and he looks so tired. How his skin is so fair that it’s almost white, hidden in his long sleeves. He actually looks so cold and unfriendly compared to your neighbors in the countryside, but in this city, especially in this apartment, he is more friendly than any of your neighbors.

Well, you don’t practically know why. You only met him twice or maybe thrice after he snuck to your door in your smoking the microwave incident. And it’s a shame how he always met you in such unfortunate events, like when your keys fell from your ripped pocket, or your bag of groceries just exploded, or even when you slipped in the hallway.

It’s also annoying how you’re supposed to help him since he’s the new one, but instead he’s the one who helps you. It just makes you lose the opportunity to befriend him. You’re almost sure that he’ll think of you as an unlucky woman and will avoid you for the rest of his life.

But you were wrong.

It is Tuesday evening at six o’clock, when you hear a knock on your door. When you open it, you’re surprised and a little delighted to see Yoongi standing before you. You smile. “Hey, neighbor! Can I help you?”

Yoongi scratches the back of his neck. “Hi, do you mind if I borrow a pot?”

“Sure. Let me-” your hand pauses before the cabinet. As your microwave is broken, you’ve had to cook instant noodles for the past few weeks, so you actually need it. But this man seems to need it too and you have to reply to his kindness from before. But you don’t have any other pot or pan and you don’t really want to go to the convenience store. Wait, what day is it? Tuesday? Then he shouldn’t be working tonight. It should be okay then.

“If you need to use it, it’s okay.”

You open the cabinet and pull out your pink pot. “Don’t worry. You can use it. I’m not cooking for tonight.”

Yoongi receives it with a wide smile. “Thank you, I’ll return it as soon as possible. Have a good night!”

You wave to him vigorously with a smile, feeling happy that at least you can help him once.

You look at your watch and immediately grab your purse. You have a little time to shop before seven. Well, you already know what you’ll buy since you need to save as much money as possible. With that kimbap in your thoughts, you run outside to go to the convenience store.

At least tonight, you won’t eat some cup noodles.

At least for tonight, you won’t think about your savings.

You open the store with your elbow and head directly to the food section. You look into the various types of kimbap, frowning a little after seeing the empty tray of your favorite tuna mayonnaise. Just when your hand reaches the salmon, another hand sweeps in and grabs the last salmon kimbap. “Ah,” you whine quietly.

“Oh, sorry, do you want this?”

A little perplexed, you wave your hands vigorously. “It’s fine. I can take anything. You should take it.” You look at the man before you; his small face is covered with a black mask and a black baseball hat. “Ohh, Yoongi-ssi?”

“Hey, Y/N. I didn’t realize that this would be your dinner. Then you should take this. I borrowed your pot, it’s just inappropriate for me to ruin your dinner plan again.” His eyes narrow to crescents and he places the kimbap in your hand.

You laugh awkwardly. “Thank you. I.. appreciate this, I guess.”

“Y/N?”

A sudden call of your name makes you freeze in the spot. You’re familiar with the voice and you’ve been avoiding him so hard for two years. It’s just so unlucky for you to suddenly meet him.

The man walks closer to you. “Right? You’re Y/N?”

You try to ignore him and unconsciously hide your body behind your neighbor. Your hands tremble as you hold your kimbap for dear life and your mind goes blank.

Yoongi looks at you with a raised eyebrow and turns his head slightly to look at the man who is approaching you. Yoongi then lightly pats your trembling hand and takes the kimbap from you, placing it in his basket. “You only want this? You really need to eat more, you know.” He picks another type of kimbap and puts them in the basket again. “You need to eat at least three of these.”

You look at him confusedly and nod. “Okay.”

“Good girl.” He smiles again. Even though his mouth is hidden in his mask, his eyes crinkle cutely. He holds your hand all the way to the cashier. “You sure you don’t want the ice cream? You know, the fish-shaped thing you always love?”

“No. Ibst guess...” you answer as you follow Yoongi, leaving the other man standing confused in the aisle. Still he looks at you weirdly from afar, sending shivers through your spine.

Yoongi puts the basket on the checkout counter and shrugs. “Fine, don’t steal mine,” he giggles and ruffles your hair. He gives his credit card to the cashier and leans toward your ear. “My treat.”

You look at Yoongi again, who is now holding a bag of groceries in his hand, but this time in amazement. He seems bigger, like a knight in shining armor. Well, a knight in an all-black outfit from head to toe.

Wait a minute, Yoongi is a stranger. Why are you letting a random man hold your hand?

But still, you let him. You let his big hand wrap yours. You let the warmth from his hand seep into your skin.

And you feel more relaxed than ever. You feel safe with him beside you.

Just as both of you step outside the store, Yoongi leans toward you again. “That man is still looking at us. Actually he seems like glaring? Do you want to walk around for a little bit to lose him?”

You turn to face him, to sneak a glance at the man behind you and you see him still looking at you. “Can we? I don’t want to trouble you.”

“Not a problem.” Yoongi walks again, dragging you with him in the opposite direction of your apartment.

You walk in the neighborhood casually side by side. It’s a little past six in the evening, but the wind still feels cold on your skin. You cross your arms to wrap your body, trying to keep you a little warmer.

“You want to head back?” Yoongi asks softly.

You shake your head and smile. “No, it’s fine. It’s been a while since I walked around the neighborhood. This is nice.” You turn to him with concern on your face. “I’m sorry. But we can head back, if you want. I’m sure you have something to do.”

He shrugs. “Nah. This is nice.” He lets out a little yawn. “Makes me a little sleepy, but it’s alright.”

“Yes. it’s kind of comforting.”

“Let me guess. An obsessive ex-boyfriend?”

You scoff. “Kinda. How did you tell?”

“He’s still following behind us, hiding behind the brown building. And as for the boyfriend, I just guessed.”

“Wow, you’re an observant guy, aren’t you?”

He giggles. “Well, it’s either I’m observant or that man just plainly sucks at following you.”

“Thank you anyway. I appreciate it.”

"No worries." He stops at the nearby park. Taking up a seat on the bench, he opens the grocery bag. He removes his mask and puts it in his pocket. "So what do you do?"

You accept the kimbap he hands you with a small nod. "I'm in my third year in university. Also work part-time at some places. You?"

Yoongi opens a salmon kimbap and bites into it. "I work in technical stuff."

"Oh that's why you told me you can save my Mickey." You nod again in understanding as you chew quickly.

"Mickey?" He raises an eyebrow as he hands you another kimbap.

You laugh awkwardly. "I mean, my microwave. Sorry that was super weird."

Yoongi lets out a laugh. "Not at all. I think it's cute. Well, a little weird actually, but that's acceptable."

Heat rushes to your cheeks and you try to ignore it by munching your second kimbap.

Yoongi watches you eat with a smile in his face. He always loves to watch the others eat, and seeing you tear into those kimbaps so deliciously just makes him full of contentment. He looks around the perimeter to search for the questionable man but he can't find him anymore. "You want to head back? I think he’s gone."

You nod with your full mouth. Gathering your trash, you throw it into the nearby bin.

The walk back to your apartment is actually quite fun as both of you try to get to know each other. It’s been a tiring month as you worked your ass off, so actually talking to people really means something to you. You learned that he moved here from Hawaii as a relocation, while he learned that you are in a scholarship program and live alone. The last part was his guess as he takes you to your door and picks your spare keys under a potted plant in front of your door. “You really should find a new place for that spare key. You live alone, right? It’s dangerous.”

You take your key from his hand and smile sheepishly. “Right. Thank you.”

“Or maybe you should install a security lock, you know, that kind with a passcode, it’s easier and you don’t need to bring a key with you,” Yoongi says. He gives you another kimbap before you walk inside your living room.

You look at your feet, lost in thought. You’ve been thinking about it since a year ago, but since you’re too busy at your work and have to save money, you never were able to do it. “How much does it usually cost?”

“It depends, but actually I have a ‘buy one get one’ free promo after I installed mine. Don’t ask, I also don’t know why they had that promo. If you want, I can contact them for you.”

“Really? I’ll be thankful. So I pay you half price then?”

He smiles widely and you actually can see his gums. “You don’t need to. It’s just free stuff. But don’t worry, I know the owner so I assure you that it’s the good one.”

Your eyes widen. “But... I don’t really want to bother you...”

He pats your shoulder and turns away. “Just take it, okay? Just think of it as my welcome gift!”

You reach out your hand to grab his sleeves. “Why-why are you helping me?” It’s just what you’ve been taught when you’re a kid: you should never receive help from strangers, who know what they’d want. It might be a trap or fraud. It won't hurt to have a little suspicion, right? Sure, this is maybe not the best way to address your suspicion so explicitly.

“Because I know it’s hard for you to live in this city, study, and make money at the same time. Besides, we are friends and also neighbors. We should help each other.” He smiles again and ruffles your hair. “I had a great time talking with you, neighbor. Just remember to close your door and windows. Oh and here.” He picks a yellowish bottle from his paper bag and hands it to you, a banana milk, and walks away.

You see him walk to his door, and when he wants to close the door, he mouths, Go inside already.

And it makes your heart skip a beat.

You lean on your door after you close it tight. Your face is getting hotter and you feel weird as you look at the banana milk in your hands.

Jesus, he might be a serial killer or human trafficker.

And yet, you decided to trust him for now. Sure, maybe you’re just too naive, but you literally don’t have anyone in this city, let alone a friend. So, the thought of having a new hot friend who happily helps you just makes you elated. This is maybe your happiest moment in three years, even beating the moment when you got a bonus from your work.

Yoongi hums as he enters his apartment. He always does it when he’s in a happy mood and seeing him in that condition makes another man on the other side of the apartment annoyed.

“Where the heck did you go, hyung? I thought you just went to the nearby store?” Jungkook yells, never moving his eyes from his phone.

Yoongi puts the bag on his counter and starts unloading it. “I just met my neighbor and walked around a little.” He takes a good glance at Jungkook and sighs. “Seriously, what happened last night? You just disappeared when I paid for the drinks and came back in the middle of the night looking this miserable.”

Jungkook bites his lips, refusing to answer. He just looks at his phone silently.

“Fine, if you don’t want to tell me.” Yoongi’s eyes fall on a pink pot in his sink. “Glad that you didn’t skip a meal.” Yoongi picks up a kimbap and throws it to Jungkook. He looks at the fish-shaped ice cream bar on his counter, pouting a little when he finds it has already melted.

“Where is my banana milk?” Jungkook asks around a mouth full of food.

Yoongi throws his melted ice cream into the trash. “Oh, right. I’m sorry I forgot about it.”

Jungkook looks at Yoongi with a pout on his face, not only does his woman not want to talk to him, he can’t even have his favorite drink. Well, Jungkook can’t be mad at Yoongi, as he is the guest: living and eating as he likes in Yoongi’s apartment. He’s actually pretty lucky that Yoongi doesn’t kick his butt out of his place.

“I’m going to work in my room, so please don’t disturb me.” Yoongi walks to his room full of computer screens with a bottle of americano in his hand. “And turn off the lights when you go.”

With a small slam of his door, Yoongi sits at his desk. He’s still investigating the incident in the hall and forensic office a few days ago. It shouldn’t be hard, since not many people came to the Company on the day of the incident, but unlucky for him, the culprit was doing a great job to hide his body and face from the CCTV. It makes his job harder. The way the culprit moves the CCTV cameras to hide his figure seems like a professional job. Maybe, hopefully not, that incident is connected with the Black.

Yoongi lets out a sigh and runs his hand through his hair, the bright screens lighting his pale face. He feels bad for all of his team. He was the one who handled the Black Case in Hawaii, and he did it poorly. If only he went into the field more and wasn’t stuck in front of his computers, maybe he wouldn’t have lost Jiseok two years ago. If only he had looked for the Black a little more back then, maybe he could have found Jiseok and maybe that incident in Hawaii a month ago wouldn't have happened.

He feels that it’s partly his fault.

Sure, his team never blames him. He couldn’t do anything anyway two years ago, since it was a secret mission. But still, the fact that he couldn’t do anything was killing him, and soon enough it turned into regrets, which sometimes sneak into his sleep, pestering him as a nightmare.

That’s why he asked the Boss personally to be relocated here even if he hates working in an office. He doesn’t want to miss anything about this mission. He needs to stop the Black, even if it means that he needs to wake up in the morning --so cruel!-- just to go to the office. This mission is his priority right now. He has to do something.

His fingers move quickly over the keyboard, changing the view countless times. This is going to be a long night, but luckily he had a great dinner before and he’s sure that he can make it through the night. And hopefully he can get some leads.

Yoongi walks lazily to his kitchen in the morning, only to find that his living room is too bright. He looks around and his eyes fall on Jungkook who is still in the same spot as yesterday. “Man, you didn’t go home?”

Jungkook turns his head to meet Yoongi’s eyes. “Is it morning already?”

Yoongi sighs and opens his fridge to pull out a carton of milk. “Let’s have breakfast.”

“I’m not starving.” Jungkook looks at his phone again and slides it into his pocket. He stands and walks to the bathroom. “I’m just going to wash up for a bit.”

Yoongi looks at his younger friend with a sad smile. He doesn’t know what happened to Jungkook, but it is surely serious and bad. He takes his phone from the counter and texts Taehyung about Jungkook. He knows that it isn’t his place to meddle in other people’s business, but he’s worried about Jungkook; everyone does.

Jungkook is like his little brother. He basically raised him along with other agents. Jungkook is like a fused version of the older ones. And even though Jungkook is a grown-up right now, Yoongi sometimes still sees him as a shy kid who laughed with hands covering his mouth. Jungkook laughs freely now, but he is still a little shy, especially with that girl in forensics.

Yoongi scoffs, who would even think that Jungkook would be this mad about that girl?

Thirty minutes later, both Yoongi and Jungkook are both ready to go to work. It’s as they are walking down the hallway, that you open your door.

You wear a grey hoodie and black pants. You sling your blue backpack clumsily with your hands full, a big water bottle in your right hand and a banana milk in your left. Your hair is tied into a low ponytail, your usual hairstyle. “Hey, neighbor!” you call out to them.

Yoongi replies with a nod, as he drags Jungkook with him. “Morning, Y/N. This is my friend, Jungkook.”

You look at Jungkook, who keeps silent in confusion. The way the taller man’s eyes show sadness and fatigue actually makes you curious. “Not a morning person, I assume?” you laugh a little as you hand the banana milk to Jungkook.

“You don’t have to. Isn’t this your breakfast?” Yoongi asks as he pushes Jungkook’s hand away from the milk.

“That’s fine. It seems he needs it more.” You grab Jungkook’s hand and put the milk in his grip. “Nice to meet you, Jungkook.”

Jungkook nods weakly. “Nice to meet you too. Thank you for the milk.”

You smile at both of the men and walk to the stairs. “I see you later, I guess.”

“Oh right, when do you want to change the key? I called the shop and they can do it today.”

You stop walking and turn to see Yoongi. “Today? I don’t think I can. I have a job until the evening.” You tap your finger on your chin, thinking. “Do I have to be here when they install it?”

Yoongi looks at you weirdly, not knowing where the conversation is headed. "Not really, why?”

Your face beams as you continue to talk and hand the key. “Then would you tell them that I put the key in the potted plant?”

Yoongi eyes widen. “What?”

You tilt your head in confusion. “What? I’m sorry I don’t want to bother you again, but would you please tell-”

“Are you crazy? Why’d you give the key to strangers?”

“I don’t really have a choice! You’re right I really should install it since I’ve lost like twenty keys since I lived here. But I don’t really have the time. I work every single day till evening,” you pout as you fiddle with the hem of your hoodie.

Yoongi runs his fingers through his hair in exasperation. “What about the weekend? Or any other day?”

You shake your head weakly. “I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t change the lock. Sorry that I bothered you with this kind of thing.”

He sighs and reaches out his hand. “Fine. I’ll be there when they change it.”

“What? No-no. You have a job, I don’t want to disturb you.”

Yoongi quickly grabs the keys from your hand and puts it in his pants. “That’s okay. I’ll check it at lunchtime. The faster the key changes is the better for my sanity.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Nothing.” He sighs again as he hands you his phone. “Just at least keep your phone with you, okay? I’m gonna update you by text.”

Your eyes beam in admiration and you quickly tap in your numbers. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” You look at your watch and your eyes widen. “Oh my God, I have to go now. Just call or text me if you need something.”

Yoongi watches you running down the stairs and shakes his head in disbelief. He actually wants to offer his car to drive you to your university, but you run so fast that you’re gone before he can even say anything.

“Wow, she is really gullible, isn’t she? She’ll get hurt someday.” Jungkook scoffs and stabs the straw on the lid of the banana milk. It’s when he sips the milk, he smiles a little. “Or maybe she’s just stupid?”

“She literally just gave her breakfast to you, don’t be such a jackass. But yeah, I think so too.” Yoongi looks at the screen of his phone, your phone number, and then to your door. Why do I keep wanting to help her?

TAGLIST OPEN!!

The silence of campus is made even more apparent with the thick blanket of snow on the ground. The walk to your dorm from the building that houses the laundry room is a near lonely one, but you don't mind. You don’t get snow back home, so being able to see the way the snowflakes glisten around you is almost magical, even if it is the aftermath of a blizzard.

The sound of your boots crunching as you walk echoes around you as you adjust the laundry basket on your hip. Most students on campus have gone home for the week in preparation for the holidays, which leaves just you and a handful of others, which also means you didn’t have to fight over any of the machines.

Your phone rings in your pocket, cutting through the calming atmosphere, and you fumble to answer it.

“Hey, babe!” Your boyfriend’s voice rings through the speaker before you even greet him.

“Hey, Kook. On your way back?”

“Yeah…” he trails off, and you know he has more to say.

“Yeah, what?”

“Well, the trains stopped running because of the snow. Whenever they can clear the tracks, they'll be moving again, but no telling when that’ll be, especially since it’s supposed to snow more later. This means Tae’s coming back with me.” You’re frowning so hard at his words you wonder if he can feel it over the line.

“Babe,” his tone tells you that he already knows what you’re thinking.

“You promised we’d play Among Us when you got back!”

“We can still do that! Tae plays too.”

“No, now I don’t wanna play anymore,” you pout.

“Come on, don’t be like that, Y/n.”

Knowing how much Jungkook strives to keep the peace when you complain about Taehyung, you drop it. “Fine. I’ll be in my room when you get here. Drive safe.” You hang up before he can respond and stomp to your building, your serenity having been ripped away from you.

Taehyung is Jungkook’s best friend and, simultaneously, your least favorite person. You and Jungkook have been dating for two years since you both started college. He and Taehyung became best friends a year into your relationship when he was assigned as his new roommate, and never once have the two of you got along.

It started with small things. You and Taehyung have a couple of the same classes together, and he always seems to try and one-up you. If you answer an equation in front of everyone in math class, he makes sure to correct you on a part you may have missed or could’ve done better. If he is chosen to give a presentation after you in your shared public speaking class, he goes above and beyond what you did before him.

From there, it was trivial things such as cutting in front of you in lines or taking the last of something in the cafeteria. He always speaks with an air of arrogance that burrows under your skin, and you’re always one snide remark away from punching him in his chiseled jaw.

Jungkook laughs it off anytime you mention it, assuring you that Taehyung likes you a lot and isn’t your sworn enemy. You’re not sure what conversations they have when you aren’t around, but you’re not convinced that Taehyung isn’t just a colossal asshole. You already know today is going to be rough.

By the time Jungkook and Taehyung get to your dorm room, your laundry is folded and put away. You’re sprawled on your bed, more than halfway through The Nightmare Before Christmas, and on your first spiked hot cocoa. You’d need a little something if you were going to deal with Taehyung for the rest of the day.

Jungkook sets the plastic bags in his hands on your desk and leans over to kiss you. He smells the kahlua in your cup and takes it from your hands, taking a sip. “Aw, babe, you got started without us.”

“You know where my stash is,” you shrug, trying not to show your aggravation while Taehyung inspects your small bookshelf. You can practically feel him judging your reading taste without him saying anything.

Jungkook, oblivious to the vibe you’re giving off, moves to open the bags he brought, unpacking various snacks, then making himself a drink and offering Taehyung one, which he accepts.

“Does this even count as a Christmas movie?” Taehyung muses, taking a seat on one side of you.

“What?” You frown at him, and he shrugs, clearly unbothered by the dirty look you’re shooting him.

“I mean, isn’t it more of a Halloween movie? Jack only spends time in Christmas town for a bit, and he has that song about the town, but it isn’t very Christmas-y.”

“It can be for both holidays,” you deadpan.

“Eh, I disagree. It's not even-”

“I don’t care what you think. The Nightmare Before Christmas works for Christmas and Halloween!” The tone of your voice is shrill and laced with irritation. Taehyung blinks at you in response, caught off guard by your outburst.

Jungkook cuts the tension with a loud clearing of his throat and calls Taehyung’s name to hand him his hot cocoa. “I think we should just finish the movie, and then we can do something else. Does that work?” Your boyfriend suggests, doing his best to play the peacemaker.

“No, you know what, I want to know what your deal is,” you start, glaring at Taehyung with all of the fire you can muster.

“Y/n, why don’t we just-”

“No, Jungkook. I want him to tell me right now what his issue with me is. It’s been like a year, and all he does is antagonize me, and I’m sick of it! I thought I’d get to enjoy Christmas break spending time with only my boyfriend, but you’re here in my room being the usual thorn in my goddamn side! I deserve to know why you spend so much time pissing me off!” You finish your rant, huffing, and looking as intimidating as possible at Taehyung.

His jaw clenches as his mind is working, presumably coming up with an excuse for his behavior. He shares a look with Jungkook behind you, and you whip around and see your boyfriend nod.

Taehyung lets out a sigh. “I just like messing with you and getting you riled up. It’s fun.” He says simply.

“What?!”

“You’re sexy when you’re mad.”

It was your turn to stare at him blankly, your brain trying to make sense of his words. He’s been fucking with you for an entire year just for fun?

“Is this a joke?” You finally question, and he shakes his head. Remembering the nod Jungkook gave him earlier, you turn to him. “And you knew?”

Looking sheepish, Jungkook nods. “I mean, I told you he liked you and that he didn’t mean any harm by it.”

Frowning, you look between the two men, still at a loss. “I don’t know what to say. You embarrass me in class and talk over me and make fun of shit I like because you think I’m sexy? What is this, elementary school? Gonna put dirt in my hair next?”

Taehyung’s honeyed skin flushes a dark shade of red, and you think it’s the first time you’ve seen him anything other than confident and cocky. “Well, when you say it like that, yeah, it sounds really dumb.”

Deflated, you plop back onto your bed. You had gotten so heated in your earlier outburst that you ended up kneeling on the mattress, poised and ready to fight.

“Unbelievable,” you murmur. You pick up your mug that you at least thought to hand to Jungkook beforehand and down the rest of it in one gulp.

The three of you watch the remainder of the movie in silence, with Jungkook nursing his hot cocoa and Taehyung barely paying attention, scrolling through his phone instead. You keep going back to the idea that Taehyung thought it was a good idea to be a dick to you simply to get you mad for his own pleasure. Knowing it wasn’t done with ill intent does make you feel a little better, and the more you ruminate on it, you shift from being pissed off to oddly flattered.

Once the credits roll on the movie, you grab your laptop in search of another holiday movie. Jungkook speaks first, his words sounding loud in the otherwise silent room. “So, are we going to do anything with this information?”

Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, you look over at him. “What do you mean? What would we do?”

“Well...I mean, Taehyung admitted that he thinks you're attractive, and he and I have talked before about the three of us, uh, you know.”

You turn to face him fully. “Are you telling me you’ve discussed us having a threesome with him?”

“Yes?” Jungkook rubs the back of his neck nervously, eyes darting between you and Taehyung.

“I wouldn’t be opposed,” Taehyung offers up, his usual arrogance back in his tone.

“And to be fair, babe, there was that time like a month ago when we were drinking, and you admitted to wanting to cross a threesome off of your bucket list.” Jungkook points out. “I even asked if you had anyone in mind, and Taehyung was on your list.”

“I was?” Taehyung perks up even more interested in the current conversation.

“I-I was just-I…” You don’t know what to say. Both men are looking at you expectantly, and you don’t have a rebuttal ready. Yes, you remember that drunken conversation you and Jungkook had, and yes, Taehyung is on your list because, as terrible as he previously behaved, he’s still insanely good-looking. The possibility of a threesome was very realistic in college, so it was just a matter of time before the opportunity arose, but nowhere in this life or any other did you think it’d actually be Taehyung that offered.

Jungkook’s gaze softens, his hand reaching for yours to rub circles over your knuckles. “I don’t want you to feel pressured. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, babe.”

You offer your boyfriend a smile and grip his hand. “I don’t feel pressured, Koo. I’m just really surprised by all of this. Today took a complete turn than what I anticipated.”

“I can leave if you want, Y/n.” Taehyung’s hand covers your knee, and he sounds genuinely considerate. His coffee-colored orbs are soft as they scan your face, and his hand is warm through your denim. It takes less than a minute before you decide that you’ve nothing to lose. It’s nearly Christmas, it’s a blizzard outside, the dorms are virtually deserted, and the three of you have little to do, so why not?

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Both men question simultaneously.

“Okay, let’s do it.”

Jungkook’s eyes go wide as he comprehends your consent and shares a look with Taehyung. They communicate telepathically in front of you, stirring up annoyance in you again.

Before either of them make a move, you grab Taehyung’s face and pull him into a kiss. He goes rigid only momentarily, and then his hands are on you, pulling you to straddle his lap. His lips are different from Jungkook’s as the hunger behind them is much more frantic. His large hands squeeze your waist forcing a moan out. He uses the opportunity to slide his tongue into your mouth, immediately taking control. Taehyung is kissing you so hard it feels as though he’ll devour you, and it’s only serving to make you wetter.

Nearly forgetting your boyfriend was in the room, he reminds you of his presence when you feel his familiar lips on your neck, going straight for the sensitive spot under your ear and sucking harshly. You let out a whimper, and Taehyung breaks the kiss, immediately going to the other side of your neck and biting down.

“Fuck!” You shout at the sensation, then melt into both of their holds. Having two pairs of lips on either side of you drives you crazy, and you haven’t even gotten to the best part.

Without warning, both men pull away, and Taehyung is flipping you onto your back, your body bouncing on the mattress. His long, slender fingers work on the button of your jeans while Jungkook’s hands pull your shirt over your head.

“You don’t know how badly I’ve wanted to taste you,” Taehyung speaks into your thigh as he kisses each part of your skin he exposes. “Jungkook always talks about how sweet you are, and I need to find out for myself.” You think you should chastise Jungkook for so openly talking about your sex life, but you can only focus on Taehyung's soft lips that are now kissing your mound through your panties.

"This is what you wanted, wasn't it, baby?" Jungkook's voice is heavy in your ear, fingers tugging on both of your nipples.

“Yes,” you whimper as Taehyung finally peels your panties off and begins blowing on your core.

"How many times have you thought about this? Me letting someone else eat you out while I watch?" Jungkook’s tone is teasing as he ducks down and sucks a nipple into his mouth.

At the same time, Taehyung's lips attach to your clit. He wastes no time sucking on the sensitive bud, sending a spark through your entire body. The suckling sounds he and Jungkook are making have your thighs shaking as you let out a moan loud enough for anyone walking by to hear.

“Fuck, you sound just as sexy as I knew you would.” Taehyung groans as his mouth moves lower, his tongue plunging inside of you. He fucks you with his tongue a few times before he replaces it with his fingers. His mouth goes back to your clit while he fingers you, his fingertips brushing your g-spot every so often.

"Fuck, Taehyung!" His eyes, half-lidded, meet your unfocused ones. He locks onto your gaze as his fingers press deeper, and his mouth sucks harder. Jungkook’s teeth bite harshly on one of your tits, bringing your attention to him. Your eyes meet next as you watch him suck a bright red mark onto your skin, and he offers you a smirk.

Noticing he is still fully dressed when you reach to touch him, you frown. “Off.” You demand, pulling on the fabric of his top. Wordlessly, Jungkook obeys and pulls his hoodie over his head. You marvel at his body as he pulls his jeans off next and your mouth nearly waters at the familiar sight of his hard cock poking out the top of his boxers.

Taehyung pulls your concentration back to him with a particularly hard suck that has your thighs quivering. In a matter of seconds, you’re cumming with one of your hands reaching down to tangle in Taehyung's dark hair and the other clutching Jungkook's strong, bare thigh.

You let out a few more cries as Taehyung cleans up the mess between your thighs. When he pulls away, he shoots you the most sinfully sweet smile as his chin glistens with your juices.

“Holy shit, you taste so fucking good.” He groans. He licks his lips repeatedly, savoring your flavor.

The sight of him has you rubbing your thighs together, already feeling more wetness pool between your legs, yearning to cum again. As if reading your mind, Jungkook grabs your legs to open them back up and moves so that he’s next to Taehyung and between your legs.

"I need to fuck you so bad, baby." Jungkook’s eyes are wild as he scans your still panting form. The sight of his best friend making you cum sent him into a craze, and he was painfully hard.

"Make her use her words, Jungkookie. She has to tell us what she wants." Taehyung demands as he shimmies out of his pants and sweater.

"You know what I want," you beg. You bite your lip and spread your legs further, giving both men a view of your dripping pussy. Jungkook inhales sharply, looking as though he’ll bite his lip so hard he’ll break the skin. Taehyung’s still persistent, his face remaining stoic as he takes in the state of you.

"I wanna hear you say it. Tell us what you want, princess." Taehyung is already out of his underwear and stroking himself. Your eyes follow every flick of his wrist and twist of his hand, aching to touch him too. He’s thicker than Jungkook but just as impressive in length. You can almost feel every visible vein and ridge as you squirm in anticipation, watching him open and roll a condom on.

"Please, please fuck me. I need your cocks so bad!" You know you sound needy and desperate, but you don’t care. Jungkook looks over his shoulder at Taehyung, who gives him a nod.

"I’ll be the one fucking you first." Taehyung begins, grabbing hold of your hips and flipping you over onto your stomach. Jungkook scurries off of the bed and walks around to the other side to stand in front of you. "While I do that, you're gonna suck Jungkookie’s dick. Can you do that, princess?"

“Yes, yes, fuck, yes.” You chant, wiggling your hips for him. Jungkook rubs the head of his cock against your willing lips before slipping as far as he can fit into your mouth. His head falls back, and a throaty groan escapes him, resonating throughout the room.

Taehyung's hand strikes each of your cheeks twice, sending jolts of pleasure up your spine. With each smack, you let out squeals that send vibrations throughout Jungkook's body. While you’re no stranger to being spanked, the feeling of a warm hand other than Jungkook's colliding with your soft skin was different and exciting.

"Tae, you need to hurry up. I can't hold it much longer." Jungkook says to this best friend through gritted teeth. He’s embarrassingly close, but having watched you cum once already, he can barely contain himself.

The older man quickly obliges, running his fingers down your back as he rams inside of you. The obscene squelching sound your pussy makes when Taehyung begins fucking into you is embarrassing yet still manages to turn you even more. The stretch from Taehyung’s girth is nearly painful, but the amount of pleasure outweighs this, so you welcome it, pushing yourself back to allow Taehyung to shove himself deeper.

Finding a rhythm that pleases all of you is difficult at first. Taehyung keeps thrusting forward at the same time as Jungkook, which throws them both off. You are the one to take charge, keeping one arm on the bed to balance yourself while using the other hand to grasp Jungkook's thigh. Every time you push yourself back against Taehyung, you pull Jungkook forward, instantly making the movements more fluid.

Once moving in tandem, they pick up the pace at which they’re fucking into you, being spurred on by the increasing pitch and volume of your wails. You hardly have any coherent thoughts other than the blissful feeling of both of these men on you like this.

Taehyung's blunt nails dug into your ass as his hips snap impossibly faster, and you struggle to keep your mouth around Jungkook, who is nearing his climax. Your mouth is too warm, and your tongue is doing too many things for him to hold it any longer.

"Baby, p-please, can I cum on your face?" You nod, letting his cock fall from your lips and keeping your mouth open while he desperately jerks himself off over your face. Taehyung takes this opportunity to reach around and let his fingers toy with your clit as he fucks you sloppier than before.

“Cum with me, princess,” he practically growls, the pad of his finger working your clit rougher.

Jungkook cums first into your open mouth, some of it spurting onto your cheeks and chin. When you take his softening cock into your mouth to milk the rest of his orgasm from him, he nearly screams, his fingers digging into your shoulders to keep himself from toppling over.

“Y/n, shit, I’m going to cum,” is all Taehyung says before filling the condom inside you, bruising your hips with the iron grip he has on you.

Your whole body feels as if it’s on fire and trembles uncontrollably as you cum last, shrieking the names of both men as you claw at the bedsheets under you.

The only sound heard once you calm down is the heavy breathing of all three of you. Jungkook crawls onto your bed, collapsing first. After Taehyung pulls out of you and steps away to throw the condom away, you join Jungkook in a heap. He pulls you into his arms and places a kiss on your sweaty forehead.

"How was that? Did it fulfill your wildest fantasies? Good enough to cross off your bucket list?"

"It was better than anything I could've imagined. Neither of you disappointed." You give him a lazy smile before turning over completely to look at Taehyung, seeing him standing by the trash can, unsure of where to be. "You can come over here if you want. You don’t have to stand over there like a creep.” Taehyung lets out a nervous laugh and squishes himself onto the twin bed with the two of you, his long leg draping over both you and Jungkook. “How was that for you?" You ask once he’s settled.

"Eh, it was pretty good. I could offer you a few pointers.” He shrugs, brushing his bangs out of his face.

“Are you shitting me right now?” You scoff at him, your usual irritability creeping in.

“Y/n, I’m kidding. It was fucking mind-blowing.” He explains when he sees your expression. “There goes that frown I like to see.” Taehyung gives you the first genuine smile you think you’ve ever received from him.

The three of you lie in silence before Jungkook is once again, the first to speak. “So...I was thinking.”

“That’s a first.” Taehyung mumbles. You can’t help the giggle that slips out at the jab.

“Anyway,” Jungkook continues, choosing to ignore the comment. “I thought that since it’s still early afternoon and we have nothing but time, why not try to cross off some other fantasies on our lists together?”

“What exactly did you have in mind?” You’re suspicious but want to hear it anyway.

“Well, that time we were talking about threesomes, remember when I said double penetration could be super hot?” He flashes you his big, round doe eyes, and you cave almost immediately.

“Fine. Grab the lube.” You wave him to your bedside table, and he nearly falls off the bed in the process. Taehyung’s fingers begin trailing up your thigh as he presses into your side, already half-hard and kissing the shell of your ear.

“Coming!” you cheerfully called, footsteps approaching the door.

Jungkook’s heart would probably feel like it was jumping out of his chest, were it still beating.

You opened the door with a big smile on your face. “Welcome!” you happily greeted your brother’s friends, stepping aside for them to enter.

Taehyung nudged Jungkook from behind when he didn’t move, still feeling all too nervous about spending the holiday break here. But he quickly gathered himself and finally walked through the door.

Christmas was just a few days away so your house was already littered with holiday-themed decorations, which Jungkook happily noted included extremely few religious items. You could blame mostly your mom and brother for that—they went crazy every year, super excited for the holiday. The only thing that was left to do was decorate the tree, which was purposefully held off until everyone had arrived so you could do it together. "I know Jimin is around here some-" you started before said boy came running down the stairs.

"Taetae! Kookie!" he exclaimed, throwing himself into their arms. "I'm so happy you guys are here!" The way he acted, you would have thought it had been years since they last saw each other.

It had literally only been two days.

Taehyung's deep voice rumbled in a chuckle. "Of course we're here, Chim! How could I pass up the chance to spend Christmas with the family who knows how to celebrate it right?"

Jungkook was much less enthusiastic in his response, which was of no shock to you. You knew (because of how often Jimin would complain to you about it) that it took a lot of convincing to get him to come. But even so, he didn't look miserable. From what you gathered, he just wasn't nearly as excited about the holidays as your family tended to be.

"Come on, let me show you guys to the room!" Jimin said, practically dragging them toward the stairs.

They barely had enough time to react, let alone grab their suitcases, so you took them instead, following behind the three boys. You knew your brother, and you had seen the antics the trio had gotten up to together, so you could only expect that this holiday break was going to be one of the most interesting ones you'd had yet.

"I still don't get why you were so adamant about not wanting to come," Taehyung said to Jungkook when it was just the two of them in the guest room, going through their suitcases.

Jungkook looked at him blankly. "Seriously? You should know why."

"What?" Taehyung pouted in confusion.

"Well, I don't exactly want anyone to know about what I am, do I?" Jungkook whispered.

"Spending a few days at Jimin's isn't going to get you caught," Taehyung said, shrugging. "Unless you think it'll be harder to control or something when you're around Y/n."

"I don't know, it might be." Jungkook sighed. "You know how flustered I tend to get around her. And I guess it's probably instinct or something that sometimes I just have an urge to-" he cut himself off and took a steadying breath, trying to not already get himself worked up when he had been here for barely ten minutes. "And besides, remember how quickly you found out about me? We were roommates for only a few days before I slipped up."

"Yeah, but you have me to come to if you have any problems. I'll keep you in check, don't worry!"

Jungkook eyed the other suspiciously, unconvinced.

"What? I will. Promise. If your fangs pop out or something and you don't notice I'll tell you."

"Don't say that so loud!" Jungkook whisper-shouted.

Taehyung chuckled. "Hey, stop stressing out so bad, huh? It'll be harder to keep it under control if you stress."

Jungkook closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right. I'll try."

Silence fell between the two for a few moments before a thought occurred to Taehyung. "Oh! Did you bring some with you, by the way?"

"Some what?" Jungkook asked, more than used to Taehyung's vagueness and random questions, but still confused nonetheless.

"Blood," Taehyung specified, making sure to keep his voice low this time.

"Of course I did." Jungkook even pulled out the small bag where he was keeping his stock to show him. "I wouldn't be dumb enough to go on a vacation somewhere without bringing enough with me."

"Just wanted to check. You know I can always help if you need it."

"We've talked about this, Tae. I'm not drinking from you."

"I just mean that it's an option if you ever need it is all. I trust you not to hurt me."

"Well, that won't be necessary. But thanks, I guess."

"Anytime," Taehyung said, and Jungkook would almost think he was naïve with that big smile of his and what he had just suggested, if he didn't know any better.

The first time Jungkook should have noticed Jimin was up to something was when the four of you were decorating the Christmas tree together. Apparently it was family tradition for the "kids" to be the ones to do it, something Jimin was more than ecstatic about but you seemed to be doing more or less to make your brother happy.

Not that you hated it by any means. No, Jungkook may have been Jimin's friend first, but he knew you well enough to be able to tell you were enjoying yourself. You just weren't as enthusiastic about the holidays as the rest of your family it seemed, merely riding the flow that they set for you.

Jimin was basically instructing you on where to place each ornament, where he felt they would fit the best with the array that had already been placed. It was of no surprise to Jungkook that you followed along with his directions with no complaints. You not only were more than used to Jimin's personality, but also found your own enjoyment by making sure your brother was happy.

He wouldn't have paid it any mind normally, if it wasn't for the fact that everywhere Jimin pointed out for you to place one of the decorations seemed to be dangerously close to Jungkook. The amount of times your arms brushed together, or you bumped into each other during the time spent adding ornaments to the tree was probably more physical contact than he had ever had with you before.

And that was absolutely not doing Jungkook any favors. He was already nervous enough coming here as it was, being this close in proximity to you for so long and in a much more personal setting than usual.

But maybe he was imagining it. Maybe, it really was just a coincidence.

One look at Jimin and the triumphant smirk on his face proved otherwise.

The second time was the next day when you and Jimin were supposed to be baking cookies together. It was your mom's homemade recipe that she had taught to both of you years ago when you became old enough to make them without her help.

Jungkook recalled Jimin mentioning before that it was one of the things both of you loved doing together this time of year. So he found it rather odd when Jimin ushered Jungkook into the kitchen and insisted that he be the one to bake with you.

"But isn't this your thing?" Jungkook asked.

"I have something I need to take care of today, so I thought you could take my place this year," Jimin said. He wasn't a very good liar.

Jungkook turned to look at you, silently checking if you seemed okay with this. When you smiled at him and lightly shrugged, he relaxed. While he was starting to feel suspicious that Jimin was up to something—although he couldn't quite place exactly what just yet—he knew it was pointless to fight it. Even if being alone in your kitchen, baking gingerbread and sugar cookies with you made him feel extra nervous.

You really knew what you were doing, easily instructing Jungkook on each step. There was a reason this was your favorite holiday tradition, and it was because you really enjoyed baking. Doing it with your older brother was an added bonus, but there was just something about all the ingredients coming together to make something delicious and sweet that was so fun and satisfying.

So you focused on that instead of how much you wanted to strangle Jimin. He just had to overhear you telling your friend about how frustrating it was to be crushing on your brother's best friend a month ago. And now he was doing everything in his power to get the two of you close, trying to play matchmaker.

Which to be honest was completely the opposite of what you expected to happen. You thought he'd be mad, tell you that Jungkook was bad for you and you should just forget about it. But instead he was thrilled. Not only did he get more material to tease you with, but he also decided he was going to try to set the two of you up.

He felt like he was doing you a favor, and you felt like he was making you suffer.

Although, you had to appreciate that Jungkook was a complete gentleman. Even though working together to bake required staying in close proximity with each other a lot, he was being very careful about keeping a comfortable distance between the two of you. And if you were being honest with yourself, you couldn't deny that this was actually really nice.

"This stuff smells so weird," Jungkook said as he measured the molasses. You had already put the sugar cookies in the oven after cutting and chilling them so they'd keep their shape, and now you were preparing the gingerbread mixture.

"Yeah, it does," you chuckled. "But gingerbread cookies wouldn't taste the same without it. I promise it'll all come together."

"If you say so," he said before his nose scrunched in displeasure when he got a particularly strong whiff of the sickly sweet yet sour smell.

You laughed at his reaction, taking just a moment to admire Jungkook's handsome looks while he was distracted with scraping as much of the thick liquid from the measuring cup as possible.

For a moment you let yourself think that maybe, just maybe, the reason Jimin was trying to push you two together was perhaps because Jungkook felt the same? But then again, would he have even told him that? You were sure that any conversation that included, "by the way, I have a crush on your sister" would have been just about as awkward as if you admitted to your brother that you had been crushing on his best friend.

Maybe you should just ride the flow of whatever your brother had planned. If something came of it, then that would be great. And if not, you could put this crush behind you and move on.

You decided at that moment that you would just trust your brother this time around, even if his track record wasn't that great.

The third time was so painfully obvious that Jungkook could no longer mistake what it was Jimin was up to.

Jungkook was sitting in the living room on Christmas day. It was the afternoon, having already opened all the gifts that morning. Which was a rather interesting ordeal. Despite knowing their personalities, seeing Taehyung and Jimin act like literal five-year-olds on Christmas morning who were overly excited when opening their presents was still incredibly amusing. Now that it was the afternoon, things had calmed down to a pleasant buzz and Jungkook was actually feeling really happy that Jimin had convinced him to come.

It had been a long time since he had last spent time with other people like this. The Parks were nothing if not welcoming, and he could almost fool himself into believing that this was normal, that he belonged somewhere—with people.

But he had to reel in that thought and remind himself of who he really was. The fact of the matter was that he didn't belong with people. He was a monster, and people were his food source. He couldn't let himself believe anything other than that, even if it was something that he wished were untrue with all his being.

So when Jimin came into the room, dragging you behind him and getting you to sit on the couch right next to Jungkook and then sitting next to you, he kept that reminder ringing through his head. He had to ignore that light feeling you just naturally gave him. He couldn't let his non-beating heart run away with fantasies.

And then Jimin was up to his tricks again, keeping you distracted from what he was doing by chatting up a storm about his thought process behind why he bought you the gift you received from him today. But Jungkook saw it plain as day.

Jimin was attempting to discretely place mistletoe that he must have stolen from another room's decorations on the wall behind the couch, right between you and Jungkook.

That was when Jungkook realized what Jimin had been doing the past few days. Making you constantly bump into each other when decorating the tree, baking cookies together when it was usually something Jimin did with you, and now putting mistletoe above you?

Park Jimin was trying to set you up with Jungkook.

And it almost made him want to smack him upside the head because Jimin was being an absolute idiot if he thought trying to set Jungkook up with his sister was a good idea. It wasn't. it was a stupid, stupid idea.

But then again, he couldn't blame him all too much when Jimin was clueless to Jungkook's true nature.

He realized, that was something he was going to have to amend—right now.

"Jimin, can we talk for a minute please?" Jungkook asked, completely interrupting Jimin's spiel.

"What?" he asked, eyes going wide when he looked over and realized Jungkook noticed what he was doing. "I mean, yeah, of course. What's up?"

"In private," Jungkook emphasized, trying to sound as stern as he possibly could.

"Why would you need to talk to me in priva-" Jimin was cut off when Jungkook quickly got up, yanking him off the couch and dragging him upstairs to the guest bedroom, leaving you behind on the couch and very confused.

After shutting the door behind him, Jungkook firmly stared down Jimin. "What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Jimin asked, his heartrate increasing—whether out of fear or nervousness Jungkook couldn't tell. "W-what do you mean?"

"Are you trying to set me up with Y/n?" Jungkook asked more directly.

It was then that Jungkook realized it wasn't just the two of them in the room, when he heard a very surprised Taehyung almost comically scream, "What?!"

He took a quick look around to make sure there was no one else in the room who couldn't hear what Jungkook was about to admit, what he thought he would never purposefully tell anyone. Once confirming that it was just the three of them in the room, Jungkook continued.

"Is that what's going on?" he pressed. "You're trying to push us together, aren't you?"

"Wh- I mean," Jimin started, clearly very flustered. "What's so wrong about that, huh? I could have sworn that you were into Y/n by the way that you look at her with those googly doe eyes of yours."

Jungkook sighed. He didn't realize he had been that obvious, and especially in front of Jimin of all people. "Jimin, I can't. You don't want me to date your sister."

"Well it's not up to me, is it?" Jimin asked, starting to get defensive. "I don't get to dictate what she does and who she dates. So what if I'm trying to help her out? And what's wrong with dating my sister? What, is she not good enough for you or something?"

"No! That's not what I mean." Jungkook ran a hand down his face, pacing for a moment while he gathered the courage he needed to tell Jimin who—what—he was. "Jimin, you don't understand. I'm the problem. I can't date your sister, even if I wanted to. I'm-"

Jungkook was cut off when Taehyung leapt off the bed and stood next to Jungkook, firmly digging a hand into his shoulder. "Kook, what are you doing?" he harshly whispered.

"I'm telling Jimin what I really am," Jungkook replied, voice still at normal volume. "I can't exactly let him think that I'm a good idea for Y/n."

"Are you sure you want to do that? You don't know how he'll react."

"What is going on?" Jimin asked, getting more confused by the second. "What do you mean, Jungkook?"

Pushing Taehyung's hand off his shoulder, Jungkook braced himself to potentially lose one of his best friends. "I'm not human, Jimin." When Jimin very rightfully just stared at him confused, Jungkook added, "Well, I mean I used to be. But I'm not anymore."

"What the heck are you talking about? That doesn’t even make sense,” Jimin said, taking a step back from him. “You sound crazy right now, Jungkook.”

“I know how it sounds. But I can prove it to you. And if you don’t want anything to do with me afterwards, I understand. That’s a risk I’m willing to take. But I just can’t- I need you to understand that your sister shouldn’t be with me, or even interested in me. No one should be.”

While Jimin still couldn’t understand what his friend was talking about, he had enough respect for him to hear him out so he remained silent while Jungkook grabbed a small bag from his suitcase.

“I used to be human,” Jungkook repeated, voice small. “But sixteen years ago my life ended, in more ways than one.” He unzipped the bag, pulling out an even smaller pouch of what Jimin could have sworn looked like blood.

"I had been on my way home alone late at night after going out with some friends," Jungkook continued. "I was dragged into an alleyway, and it was so dark I couldn't see anything. Except for a pair of bright red eyes. Next thing I knew, there was a sharp pain in my neck and I could feel my body going cold as he drained all the blood from my body."

When Jungkook paused, Jimin couldn't help but interject. "Wait. Are you telling me that you got attacked by like, a vampire? Vampires don't exist, Jungkook."

"I didn't think they did either, until I was left for dead by one." The sadness in Jungkook's eyes over recalling the memory felt like it was piercing into Jimin's soul. "I had to piece this part together later since I obviously don't remember it, but I was found the next morning. Buried just a few days later. Before they had covered my coffin though, I had woken up. But I wasn't human anymore."

By this point, Jungkook looked on the verge of tears. Taehyung was still next to him, now comforting Jungkook with a gentle hand on his lower back. "I don't remember much about my first moments as a vampire. All I know is that I was so hungry and I just went wherever my feet took me. I don't think I ended up hurting anyone, at least. When I started to come to, I was in the woods near the cemetery with a deer lying beside me and blood dripping from my mouth."

Jungkook paused, letting Jimin absorb the information.

"Wha-" Jimin stumbled over his words. "But you were dead? I thought- I mean- in stories or whatever, people don't die before they become vampires, right?"

"In some, I guess," Jungkook shrugged. "I've met other vampires since and have asked about how that worked. And from what I've been told, if a vampire feeds off of a human but doesn't drain too much blood, the human will be fine. When the human is completely drained, then obviously they die. But sometimes, the vampire doesn't completely kill them. They think they've drained all their blood and leave them, but there's actually still a little bit of life left in them. That's what happened to me.

"I was so close to death that everyone thought I was dead. But there was still barely that tiny sliver of life left in me. That's how a human becomes a vampire. Kind of messed up if you ask me, that it's usually unintentional."

"So, what you're saying is that you're a vampire," Jimin very smartly summed up. "And you're telling me because I was trying to set you up with Y/n and you think that's a bad idea because you're a vampire."

Jungkook nodded. "Yes, exactly."

"And you knew about this, Tae?" Jimin asked. When Taehyung nodded, he further asked, "How long have you known?"

"I found out the first week we were roommates at school," he responded. “Jungkook hadn’t fed in too long and I saw it.”

Jimin’s gaze snapped back to Jungkook. “Show me.”

Jungkook’s eyes widened, a bit taken aback at the sudden command. He expected Jimin to want proof, but to be asked so suddenly was unexpected. Once he gathered himself, Jungkook nodded. He opened his mouth just enough before letting his fangs extend, making sure Jimin saw it happen. Once they were fully extended, his eyes turned an unnatural bright red—a warning of danger.

Jungkook could sense Jimin's heartrate speed up once more, a natural reaction to being so close to a monster like him. But in true Jimin nature, he was quick to control himself, forcing his heart to calm down.

"You really are..." Jimin marveled as he slowly stepped toward Jungkook. The latter stood as still as possible, not wanting to make any moves that would scare him off. "I can't believe vampires exist."

"We do," Jungkook said, sounding almost solemn. "I don't belong with your sister. I don't belong with anyone. I haven't for sixteen years and I never will ever again."

"Aren't there, like, vampire communities?" Jimin asked, remaining a lot calmer than Jungkook expected.

"There are," he confirmed. "But I haven't found one that I'm willing to be a part of. The ones I've come across all enable each other to be violent and not fight their instincts. I don't want that. I've been told I'll grow out of it, that most vampires are like that at first but they all give in at some point."

"And how long do they say it takes other vampires to do that?"

Jungkook shrugged. "Usually by ten years or so."

"But you still don't want that," Jimin clarified.

"Not at all. I can't even imagine hurting someone. And I have met one other vampire who is like me. Seokjin-hyung has been around far longer than me and he has a way of getting blood safely, without hurting people. He's how I get these." Jungkook lifted the packet in his hand, which Jimin could no longer question what was contained in it. "Others say it's unnatural, that there's nothing like getting food from the source, but this satisfies me perfectly fine."

"And Tae, you've never been scared of him?" Jimin asked.

"I mean, at first I was a bit sure," Taehyung answered. "I didn't know what was going on and I kind of freaked out. But I've never once thought he would hurt me. I trust him."

Jimin locked eyes with Jungkook. a serious expression on his face. "Then I trust you," he said.

Jungkook's eyes widened in surprise, a tentative smile growing on his face. "Really? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Jimin assured him. "And I know what you mean about Y/n, I understand why you wanted me to stop trying to set the two of you up. But you do like her, don't you?"

Jungkook broke their eye contact, too embarrassed to admit something like that while looking at her brother. "I mean, I do," he whispered. "I couldn't help it. But, you don't have to worry about that! I won't try to pursue her or anything, I swear."

Jimin walked toward the door as he said, “I did mean what I said earlier. I don’t have any say in what she does or who she dates, even if I am her big brother and want her to be safe. So as long as I trust that she’d be okay, I wouldn’t stop her from doing anything.”

Your eyes widened when your brother opened the door in front of you.

“Why don’t you come in here instead of eavesdropping from the hallway, yeah?” he asked.

You looked at the ground as you stepped forward, embarrassed that you had been caught. You really hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but when you had passed by the door on the way to your own room, you heard them talking about you so you stopped. And then Jungkook started talking about not being human and... Well, before you realized it you were listening in.

Your thoughts were all over the place after hearing Jungkook's story. You were overwhelmed with the idea that vampires existed, angry at that man—vampire, you corrected yourself—for what he had done to Jungkook, and sad for Jungkook and what he had gone through. You could only imagine how lonely he must have felt. How lonely he was still feeling.

One thing that he said kept repeating itself in your head. 'I don't belong with anyone. I haven't for sixteen years and I never will ever again.'

Once you were inside the room and Jimin closed the door, you lifted your head and met Jungkook's gaze.

His fangs were visible and you could see a red hue to his eyes, but only for a moment before Jungkook seemed to realize that he hadn't hidden them yet and quickly retracted them. In a split second he once again looked like the Jungkook you were familiar with.

But should you have been worried that seeing his other nature didn't scare you one bit?

"Y-Y/n," Jungkook stumbled out. "I didn't know you were listening... How much did you hear?"

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping," you said. "I didn't mean to, I just- when I passed by you guys were talking about me and then you started talking about your story and I just-" you bowed your head in shame. "I shouldn't have listened in. I'm sorry."

"So you heard everything then?" Jungkook quietly asked.

"I think so," you admitted.

"I can leave tomorrow," Jungkook suddenly said, making your head snap back up.

"What? Why?" you asked.

Jungkook's brows furrowed. "Why would you want something like me here? Knowing what I am now, why would you want me staying in your house?"

"Jungkook," Taehyung whined, a frown on his face.

You saw Jimin glance at you out of the corner of your eye. "We never said we wanted you to leave," he said. "It'd probably be best not to tell our parents, but there's no reason you should have to go."

Jungkook looked even more confused. "But, I-"

"Deserve to enjoy the holidays with people who care about you," you finished for him. He looked at you, clearly shocked. "It sounded like you've felt so lonely. I could only imagine how you feel. Not fitting in with others like you and feeling like you shouldn't belong with people like us. But there's no reason you shouldn't be here. When was the last time you spent a holiday with someone before today?"

Jungkook was speechless for a minute before his expression softened. "Not since I died. I couldn't exactly go back to my family after that. I haven't seen them since and have always reminded myself since then that I don't belong."

"But you do," you insisted, taking a step toward him. "Just because you're different than us doesn't mean you can't belong."

"I could hurt you! Why aren't you afraid of me?”

“Because we know you wouldn’t hurt us,” Taehyung said. “If you wanted to, you would have a long time ago. And you wouldn’t have been so hesitant in coming here.”

“And you wouldn’t have admitted a secret that could have ruined our friendship just because you were concerned about my sister’s safety,” Jimin said. “Out of everything you’ve said today, there’s one main thing that I understand—you’re still the same exact Jungkook I’ve known for the past few years. None of this changes that.”

Tears brimmed at the corners of Jungkook’s eyes. “It should," he almost whispered.

“I can’t understand how you feel,” you said. "I couldn't even begin to try. But I think you're scared because you've been telling yourself that you don't belong anywhere for so long. You could belong here if you wanted to. Do you want to?"

His eyes met yours, tears now falling down his face. He took a moment to think before softly nodding. "I do," he admitted.

"Then you do," Jimin said, stepping up next to you to place a hand on Jungkook's shoulder. "You don't have to leave. Not now, and not in the future."

"If I haven't abandoned you yet, you can expect I'm not ever going to," Taehyung added.

After a moment of silence between the four of you, Jimin gave Jungkook's shoulder another squeeze. "Tae, I think you and I should probably leave so these two can talk," he said.

Taehyung nodded. "Good idea." He gave you a knowing smile as he followed your brother out.

When the door closed once more, Jungkook was the first to talk. "You don't have to-"

"I like you too, Jungkook," you said.

He looked at you in surprise for a moment before saying, "Y/n, you know what I am now. You really shouldn't."

"I don't care." There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in your voice, and Jungkook didn't sense any change in your heartrate, assuring him that you were telling the truth. "When I heard you talking, I felt a lot of things. But fear wasn't one of them. Even when I saw your fangs and your eyes, I wasn't scared. Not one little bit. You're still Jungkook, my brother's best friend who I've had a crush on for an embarrassingly long time," you chuckled.

Jungkook's gaze on you had softened to something much more tender, a sparkle in his eyes that you were now realizing you were strangely familiar with. "Do you realize what that means though?" he asked. "A crush is one thing, but what if it becomes something more, Y/n? I'm not going to age with you. We couldn't stay together because before long, I'm going to look more like your son than a friend or boyfriend. And I'm for sure going to outlive you, unless someone does me in before then. Is that really something you want?"

"I think that's something that we should have the chance to decide together," you said. "If this continues to something more and we want to keep going with this then we can decide what we want to do from there. If we care about each other enough to make it worth it, or not. All I know is that right now, I really like you, Jungkook. And if you like me the same then I want to give this a shot. I trust you."

Jungkook felt like he was about to cry again. He had hope at one point soon after his death that he might get lucky to find people like Jimin and Taehyung, maybe even possibly someone like you, but he had quickly lost that hope. That feeling coming back, even in the smallest amount, was overwhelming and it made him want to go along with what you were saying.

Before he could let himself think too hard and talk himself out of it, he carefully nodded. "Okay," he whispered. "If you think you can handle being okay with making a decision like that in the future, then I trust you too."

The smile you graced him with was blinding, and it made all of his insecurities about the situation fade away. He managed to smile back at you, but only for just barely a moment before you placed your lips against his.

It was the first of many kisses that the two of you would share for many, many years to come.

You were hunched over and quiet and zoning out too easily. The happy, cheerful, boisterous drunk in you had disappeared and instead been replaced by this. Whatever this was.

He briefly worried that his frown lines would permanently etch themselves to his young face.

Jungkook had been having relationship problems. That had been the sole reason why he had invited you out tonight. Though he and Jieun had only been dating for roughly three and half months, they had fought one too many times already. He loved her, he really did. But the two of them were so different in personality, that when they clashed, it didn’t end up pretty.

Another more selfish reason had drawn him to pulling out his phone and dialing your number that night. He hadn’t seen you in weeks. He had been texting you, calling you, and trying to catch up with you around campus, but every time he was brushed off in a hurried manner. He wondered whether he had done something to piss you off. But then he pushed the thought away because no, you always talked out your disagreements.

Maybe something was bothering you that you couldn’t tell him about. What it was made him frustratingly curious, especially considering that most of the times, you could always tell him about it. He’d understand. He knew you better than anyone, after all.

Or maybe it was just exactly as you said: “Sorry Kook, I’ve been trying to study for finals,”

Even though for the last few years you had always studied with him.

Maybe it was Jungkook himself. He knew that getting into a relationship had significantly reduced the time he had for you. Was he himself being distant? Perhaps you had grown so detached because he hadn’t even put in the effort to keep you close to him.

Whatever the reason was, Jungkook wished it was fixed soon. It was bad enough fighting with the girl he was dating. He didn’t want to feel your absence so deeply, either.

He thought that maybe your behavior in the past few weeks was being reflected in your drinking habits, too. Because now as he watched you gloomily take another chug of beer, he felt as though he was drinking with a different person.

He was tipsy himself, but felt as though he was seeing things much more clearly than usual. There were dark circles under your eyes that were not there before and he realized that you hadn’t once smiled fully since you arrived. You were different.

“(Name),” he nudged your shoulder, a bit surprised at how clear his own voice sounded. Your eyes lethargically moved to settle on him and he felt a bit hurt at the way you moved your body away, as though he had tainted you by the one touch.

“Yes Jungkook?” you drawled.

“What’s wrong with you?”

You snorted and chuckled. “What are you talking about?”

“Well for one you’re not standing on the table trying to imitate Jimin hyung’s dancing like usual, so what the fuck is wrong?”

“Maybe I’m just tired, Jungkook. You ever think of that?” you laughed quietly as you tipped your drink past your lips. Once again, he frowned.

“I guess…” he muttered, deciding not to push you too actively. He hoped the drinks he was paying for would help loosen your tongue. Help you spill your worries to him just as he had done to you a million times before.

“So…” you spoke up after another long gulp. “What’s with the sudden call?”

“We haven’t talked in weeks, Peanut,”

He didn’t notice how the nickname made you cringe.

“So I wanted to see you. Check in, you know?” he asked, looking down at his glass and traced the rim, feeling uncharacteristically shy. “If you were…doing okay,”

You smiled at him ruefully. He was so blissfully unaware of how everything he did made your heart swell and break at the same time.

“Kook,” you muttered, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m seriously fine. I swear, I really had to study for finals and that’s why I haven’t been hanging with you as much. I’m sorry if I worried you,”

Jungkook released a breath, an unknown weight lifting from his chest. “Ah okay. Gotcha,”

You analyzed him for a solid second before leaning back a bit. “But that’s not the only reason you called me out tonight, is it Kook?”

He winced at your uncanny ability to pick his facade apart. “No…” he responded, a miserable tone overtaking his voice. “I just…Jieun and I have been fighting,”

He missed the way your shoulders sagged with utter disappointment. Though you knew deep down that his worry for you was genuine, the fact that he wanted to meet you for help with her stung in more ways than you cared to admit. You would never say that to him though.

Instead you raise your brows in surprise and show interest. “Oh? About what?”

“I’m…not really sure,” he replies, shrugging in defeat. “We just have petty fights. I don’t know where they come from but…they don’t end well at all,”

You hummed thoughtfully, finishing your drink and motioning to the bartender for another. “Did you two, have a conversation recently that ended…badly?”

Jungkook thought back to the previous week when she had casually brought up marriage and winced to himself. He hadn’t thought about the outcome of the conversation since it had happened, but with the way you were looking at him, worry swirling in your hazy eyes, he had the urge to spill.

“She was talking about the future,” he mumbled. “And I guess I couldn’t handle it,”

Your lips made an ‘O’ shape as you took in this piece of information. “What do you mean by ‘couldn’t handle it’?”

“I…” it seemed that despite you being much more drunk than he was, he was the one who was struggling to form words. “I just…couldn’t listen to it. And when I asked her to drop it…”

You hummed once again. “Well, I guess I understand why. You aren’t ready for that yet. But she’s started thinking about it, right?”

“Yeah exactly,” Jungkook nodded. “And like we’ve only been dating for a few months now. I didn’t even consider marriage when I started dating her,”

A stagnant pause took over the conversation and Jungkook quickly wondered whether he had said something unreasonable.

“Jungkook…” you asked quietly. “Do you…see yourself getting married to her in the future?”

He balked at the question, opening his mouth to respond but finding no answer. He stopped to think about it. Did he see a future with Jieun? Sure, he was crazy about her. Heck, he was pretty sure he was in love with her. But a future?

Could he see himself, years down the line, slipping a wedding ring onto her finger? Could he see himself, years down the line, holding their children by the arms and tossing them up to the sky, tiny giggles echoing in his ears?

He hadn’t even realized that he had shut his eyes, but when he had opened them, he saw you staring at him. God, why did you look so drained?

What happened to you?

Instead of posing these questions, Jungkook tried to give you an answer. “I…don’t know. I want to see a future with her. But right now…”

You nodded. You understood. Jungkook was younger than Jieun was. She had already lived through these few years that Jungkook still hadn’t reached. So perhaps he wanted to, just not yet.

“Tell her that then,” you replied with a soft smile.

“Tell her what?” he asked, confusion lacing his tone as he looked at you. You gave him a knowing look.

“Exactly what you feel. That you want to, but not yet,”

Your voice was tired, but not because of the drinks. Something was horribly wrong and Jungkook hated not knowing what it was. More than tired you sounded…broken.

“I…” he trailed off, looking at you with shiny doe eyes. You chuckled, patting him on the shoulder before placing cash on the table.

“Trust me. You guys will get over this. You need to tell her what you’re feeling though. Don’t just drop the conversation, you know?” you grinned. “Good luck, Kookie. I’m rooting for you two,”

You pulled your jacket off the barstool and slipped your arms through the sleeves. There was a pink flush in your cheeks and Jungkook watched the way your dim eyes sparkled with something new.

It wasn’t something good. It looked painful.

“I’m gonna go,” you sighed, pulling your hair out and over your shoulders. Jungkook was standing in a second, gripping your arm quickly, but gently. The touch made you stiffen.

“By yourself?” he frowned. “You’re drunk as hell, Peanut,”

“If you’re asking if I’m driving myself home, then no,” you snorted. “I’ll call a cab,”

“I’ll drive you,”

“Psh, if you think you’re in a place to drive, Kook, you’ve got another thing coming,” you giggled. “Just take a cab or call someone,”

“At least let me walk you there,” he said hurriedly. He slammed some cash down next to yours that roughly covered his expenses. Something was wrong. It was itching at his gut and bothering him to no end that you weren’t sharing your worries with him. You didn’t even remember that he had promised you he’d pay tonight. You opened your mouth to protest but he gave you a stern glare that had you sighing in defeat. You nodded mutely and turned to shakily walk out of the bar which had suddenly become far too loud for you. Your head was pounding as Jungkook’s heavy footsteps echoed in your ears when he hurried after you. He was at your side by the time you stepped out, taking a mouthful of the cold air to quell the familiar dizziness in your head.

You could faintly make out his sweet voice on the phone, calling you a nearby cab and giving the details of your location. You smiled weakly to yourself.  

You found it harder than you expected to take proper steps and kicked yourself for drinking so much. Jungkook chuckled at you and felt his heart lift when you turned to smack him. He had the conscience to hold his arm out for you and the two of you walked down the street in relative silence. You mentally thanked Jungkook for letting you walk a bit before getting into a car. The nighttime air was doing wonders for your headache.

Jungkook glanced down at you, his teeth worrying his bottom lip as he struggled to find a way to speak. How was he supposed to ask if you were okay yet again and expect a different answer?

“(Name)…” he asked.

“Hm?”

You weren’t looking at him. Lights shone in your eyes and for a second he believed that they were the ones he knew, but the bright buildings around him quickly diminished his hope.

“Are you okay?”

You grinned. “You’ve been asking me that, Jeon. And I keep telling you I’m fine,”

He watched your gaze travel around the city and he was hit with this unfounded feeling of longing.

I missed you.

“But you’re not fine,” he stressed, feeling frustrated in you and himself. “There’s something else bothering you and you’re not telling me,”

Your shoulders sagged and Jungkook mentally celebrated his victory. “I…” you started. “I promise, Kook. I’m really fine. I’ve just been studying so much and sleeping late…”

You sounded genuine. But he wasn’t sure. He used to be able to tell whether you were lying in a second. What happened?

“And…” you trailed off.

“And?” he urged, leaning closer to you.

“I’ve…been getting sick,”

He frowned at that. He never considered that it would be your health that was causing your avoidances.

“Sick?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “I guess it has something to do with all the stress I’ve been putting on myself lately. But I’ve gotten sick a lot in the past few months so…”

He bit his bottom lip in concern. “Are you…feeling better now?”

You shut your eyes and took a deep breath in. “Now…I’m okay,”

“But…?” he asked.

“But it might come back. I don’t know, it’s all really random,”

He rubbed your shoulder softly. “I’m sorry Peanut,” he felt guilty. “I haven’t even been checking up on you,”

“No,” you chuckled. “Not your fault, Kook. I’ve been keeping to myself. I didn’t want you to see me like that,”

The words confused him. You both had stumbled into each other’s houses countless number of times, no matter how sick you both were. The other one had always made chicken soup. It was a norm.

He worried.

“(Name)…”

You turned to look at him. He felt so empty when he looked into your dull eyes.

“Please take care of yourself,”

You grinned a bit and nodded. “I will,”

He barely believed that. Something was wrong. There was something else you were hiding.

You staggered a bit and Jungkook’s grip on your arms tightened. He was about to start scolding you for drinking past your limit but stopped himself. You laughed. The real laugh. Your eyes shut, pink flushed cheeks, and windswept hair, and yet, you looked so unreal. How long had he been away from you? Did you really have such a strong hold on him that in just a few weeks of being away from you, he had forgotten the way you laughed? He felt a surge of disappointment in himself.

“You’re crazy,” he said, shaking his head as a chuckle escaped his lips. “So fucking crazy,”

“Yeah yeah,” you brushed off, slurring a bit. “Which makes me much more entertaining than you are,”

He had it in him to chuckle. He saw the cab pull up and held his hand up to catch the driver’s attention.

“The cab’s across the street. Think you can make it without kissing the road?” he teased and you laughed once again. His heart swelled with pride and relief.

“I’ve got it,”

That was a lie. You paused a bit and blinked quickly, as though trying to get your eyes to focus.

Then you stumbled forward and Jungkook scrambled to hold you against him. Though he wasn’t prepared for the harsh cough to tumble past your lips. You wheezed in pain, clutching at your chest and his heart thudded with worry. The worry disappeared completely when he saw the petals. You hacked into your hands, repetitive coughs that sounded so painful, he felt it in his own chest. They continued to fall, bright orange against your skin. Petals turned into whole flowers.

When the coughs ceased, Jungkook was looking to your palms in shock. His heart shattered when his eyes darted to your face. You refused to look at him, instead staring at your shaking hands with one expression.

Caught.

His breath hitched, and then an influx of emotions filled his chest. Shock, then pity, sadness, and finally anger.

“What the fuck, (Name),” he uttered in a low voice. “What the fuck is this?”

He knew what it was. He knew what it meant. And the only thought running through his mind was killing the person who was causing this.

“It’s…” you started and he missed the way your voice shook.

“Is this what you meant by getting sick?”

“Listen-”

“Just how long have you been hiding this from me?!” he couldn’t control the volume of his voice. “Who is it?”

“Jungkook-”

“Who is it?!”

“Fuck,” you swore, shutting your eyes and gripping your hair. “I can’t,”

He was livid. Red hot anger burned in his throat.

“You’re protecting him?! After you’ve been suffering through all of this?! What the hell is wrong with you?!”  

There was no way you actually believed you could keep this from him. You bit your lip to prevent a sob from escaping. You didn’t want it to happen this way.

“Get the surgery,” he ordered lowly and you remained quiet.

“Kook-”

“(NAME)!!” he yelled, holding your shoulders. “GET THE FUCKING SURGERY!!”

“I CAN’T!!” you shouted back, tears falling now. He stepped back a bit, though now he was even angrier.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! YOU WOULD RATHER DIE FOR THIS BITCH THAN GET THE SURGERY-”

“IT’S YOU JUNGKOOK!!”

It took him a second to process what you said. He was so focused on his anger, on your tears, and on how stupid he had been for not seeing this earlier. When he repeated it once more in his head, fear swallowed him whole. His hands dropped as he looked down at you, lips parted, heart racing.

“What?”

“It’s you,” you sniffled noisily. “I’m in love with you. The petals came because you didn’t feel the same,”

What does one say to that? How does one respond to that?

I’m helpless.

For the first time in his life, Jungkook is speechless. He has no response to your words. No response that seems appropriate enough.

“I’m not getting the surgery for this, Jungkook. Anyone else, maybe. But you,” you cleared your throat and wiped your eyes. The dullness in them suddenly made sense, and Jungkook’s throat tightened. “I would never. Goodnight, Kook,”

You turn to cross the street and Jungkook is desperate to chase after you. But an unknown force keeps him rooted to the spot. His legs are heavier than any weights he has ever lifted before. And the image of your back getting further and further away from him paints itself into his mind. Petals fall from the sky and he cries.

Hundreds of texts and plenty of calls were ignored until he couldn’t take it anymore. He had always respected your privacy. He decided he was past that. His knuckles were stinging and he was sure they’d bruise with the force of his knocks. He knew you were in your apartment. There was no way you had left since the cab had dropped you off, as Jungkook arrived only minutes later.

Jungkook made a promise to wait there until you opened the door. And both of you knew exactly how stubborn he was. He was counting on it tonight.

“Open the door, (Name),” his voice was already shaking and he cursed himself. He wanted to be strong. He wanted to force you to think rationally.

His knocks were desperate. He wished you’d just give up and open the door, but he knew you were just as stubborn as he was. Memories of competitions and play fights flashed behind his eyes and his throat tightened. He swallowed thickly and knocked harder.

“What the fuck, Jungkook-”

He himself was surprised at the way you wrenched the door open but he got over it quickly and pushed his way inside. You were still dressed in the clothes you had worn to the bar, but you looked much more tired. He wondered how many more flowers you had coughed up since you left. The thought made him sick.

“Jungkook, please,” you sighed. “I’m tired I just want to-”

“How long?” he asked quietly and you sighed again.

“Kook-”

“How long?” he repeated. He already knew, but he needed to hear it from you.

“Too long,” you answered and he shut his eyes tightly. “Years, Kook,”

“Fuck,” he cursed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“What good would it have done?” you turned away to walk to your couch. Memories of the two of you curled up on that couch made him wince.

“It…” he started but he had no answer. You smiled knowingly.

“Exactly. You would’ve just felt guilty for years and we probably wouldn’t have such a great friendship,”

“You should’ve told me,” he repeated, even though he knew you were right. You just shook your head to yourself as he took a seat next to you carefully, as though you’d break right then and there.

“It was my struggle. I have to deal with it,”

He took a shaky breath in, his hands clammy. “Have you told anyone else yet?”

“My parents know,” you sighed before chuckling at the pamphlets littering your center table. “As you can see they’ve been trying to persuade me to get the surgery-”

“And you should!” he shouted, though you barely flinched.

“Jungkook,” you said sternly, turning to face him. “You know what the side effects are, don’t you?”

He remained quiet, though yes, he did know.

“I’ll lose my memories. Of you. Of us. I can’t do that, Kookie,”

“Why not?” he asked, his eyes glazing over as tears pooled at his waterline. “Why can’t you?”

“Because,” you smiled ruefully. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you. I can’t lose that,”

He put his face in his hands and sniffled shakily. He could barely look at you. He hated that you’d given up.

“B-But I do love you,” he tried. His fingers were grasping thin air, but all they were catching were the petals of the tiger flower.

“No, Kookie,” you shook your head. “You know that’s not enough,”

Strong friendship was not enough. His friendship was not enough. He’d never be enough.

“I fell in love with you but you don’t love me in the same way,” you smiled up at him and he felt his heart break. “It’s okay,”

How could you say that? How could you pretend like everything was okay? Nothing is okay about this. He felt so useless. So upset. So angry. So helpless.

I fell in love with you but you don’t love me in the same way.

“No no,” he was crying. “No I do love you. I do,”

You shook your head sadly and he cursed you for being able to smile at him like that. Light he once knew, light that comforted him any time he needed, had completely disappeared from your eyes.

He’s helpless. He needed to do something. Anything, you persuade you. He had to show you.

I love you, I do. I’m enough, I swear. I love you, that’s enough.

When he kissed you, your heart shattered for the final time. You could taste the salt of tears but you weren’t sure whether they came from him or you. One kiss. One final kiss.

You had spent years of your life waiting for this one moment. But yet when it came, you wished it hadn’t. You wanted nothing more than for this moment to be yet another one of your wishful dreams.

Because you and he both knew that it meant nothing. It meant nothing that could save you. He was trying so hard to pull you back to him. To prove that he was being sincere. But whether he was convincing you or himself was lost in the sound of hearts breaking.

He pulled away, hands still holding your face, knowing that once he let go, he’d lose you forever. Your hair tickled his skin like the whispers of childish secrets once did, and he reveled in the feeling. He was sobbing. You had never seen him sob like this before.

“How could you do this to me?” you shut your eyes to avoid looking at him, his crumbling expression brewing yet more guilt inside of you. “How could you let me do this to you?”

“It wasn’t your fault, Kookie,” you chuckled weakly. “It was mine,”

“Stop it,” tears were dripping down his soft cheeks fast as he pushed his forehead against yours. “You’re hurting so much because of me. Stop it,”

What he was telling you to stop, even he didn’t know. A part of him wanted to shout and scream. To scold you for ever having feelings for an idiot like him. Just stop it. Stop loving me, please.

But even he knew it was easier said than done. It had happened. The damage had already been done.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered through cries. “I’m so sorry,”

“It’s not your fault,” you repeated, smiling. He loved that smile, but in that moment, he hated it more than anything. He prayed to the heavens that you would stop pretending like everything was okay. It was not okay. Nothing would ever be okay again.

“Get the surgery,” he pleaded. “Please (Name), get the surgery. I can’t…”

He choked on a sob but you knew what he wanted to say. I can’t lose you.

“Kook,” you mumbled, putting a hand on his cheek. “I never want to forget us,”

He broke then and there, legs going weak and he sobbed. He fell to his knees and cried into his hands. He knew that you had made up your mind. There was nothing he could do to change your mind.

He hated you. God, he hated you more than anything.

He hated the way you bent down to hug him the same way you had been hugging him for years. He hated the way you were the one comforting him when he should’ve been the one holding you. He hated how you were okay. You weren’t supposed to be okay. You were supposed to scream and cry and curse him for breaking your heart like this. You were supposed to hate him. Hate him so that he could feel the pain he had caused you all these years.

He quietly wished that he was the one coughing up petals instead.

Why were you so understanding?

How could you still love him after he had reduced you to this? How could you even bring yourself to hold him when every touch was killing you on the inside?

That’s when he realized that he would never be as good as you. All the playful competitions over the years that he had taken the prize for paled in comparison to this one moment. You won against him, but you lost everything, and his heart ached for you.

You were going. You were leaving him and there was nothing he could do to keep you with him. All his life, Jungkook had despised feeling helpless. But he had never known that it could feel like this. That helplessness could feel like utter destruction. He cursed fate. He cursed the universe. He cursed everything he knew because why? Why did fate have to do this to him, to you? Why did the universe create such a path for people? Why did the people who suffer meet such heartbreaking ends? Why you? Why did you fall for him? Why wouldn’t you let him go? Why you?

His arms felt like lead when they moved to wrap around you, but he held you tighter than he had ever done before. Your body was warm, and images of play fights, spontaneous knocks, and fortresses made of blankets and pillows filled his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears leaking from them. Childish laughter echoed in his ears, melding with sweet whispers, and heartfelt secrets. Somewhere in the distance, something shattered. He felt soft petals brush against his skin. They tickled his subconscious, and he choked on a sob. He opened his eyes and looked down at his arms, cursing the lies and false hope he had tried to give you earlier. He praised you for being able to see through him, just as you had always been able to. He felt bile rise up in his throat as his glossy eyes danced over his own tattoos.

He hated Tiger Flowers.

.

.

.

You looked over the edge of the large and smooth rock carefully holding onto the cold and strange logs on the edge. They were as cold as water and chilled every part of your body that touched it. Below you was a sudden drop off and you could see roaring beasts below. This spot was a dead-end. This whole world the humans lived in was strange and scary. Everything was larger than you. For all you know, something could attack you at any minute and you'd have almost no way of protecting yourself. You felt some solace in the few plants you could hide in, not only did they offer you cover but they also reminded you of the village… somewhat. They were strange plants, all of them in individual pods of dirt that were too small for them. Their energies felt weak as if they were barely holding on and it made your heart ache. They would do so much better with more space. They were practically begging for more space. You took no joy out of eating the bitter leaves of one of the tree-like plants but you ate it nonetheless because you needed the energy. The leaves left a sour aftertaste in your mouth and left your stomach churning for at least a few hours. They were some sort of food though. Maybe the human who wrapped your wings could get you good food at some point so that you didn’t have to rely on such food. You didn’t know if you trusted him though. 

He saved you from the frogs but that didn’t mean that he was some sort of saint that wanted to help you. What if he only saved you to do experiments on you? 

You shuddered and spared a glance to where the two humans were in the building. You were safe out here… even with the cavern and roaring beasts below. The human didn’t seem to be able to find you when you moved deeper in the plants so you could hide from him if need be. Turning around, you crawled onto the ledge of one of the plant pods not yet trusting your wings to carry you. There wasn’t a place you could burrow into on any of the plants but you figured you could crawl under one of the plants that covered the floor of its pod and hide there for the time being. With that in plan, you hopped around the pods until you came to the proper plant, its leaves sagging and shading all of the nutrient-lacking soil beneath. It smelled like lavender back at the village but it didn’t grow similar to the trees of lavender back home. This one was less of a large tree and more like a bush or grass and as you carefully crawled under the lavender you were able to notice how all of it still came from one common stem. 

Under the strange lavender plant you curled up, pressing your abused wings deep into the moist and cool ground in hopes of soothing them. The cold dirt, though almost completely void of nutrients did feel good on your wings and for a little, you simply sat and paid attention to how your wings started to feel less painful. Maybe you could bounce around the pods and steal some energy from all of them to help your wings. It would take a long time to fully heal even if you did take some energy from the soil. What was worse though was that as long as your wings were hurt, you couldn't escape. This... home for humans was too high up and you were too weak. It might serve you best to act friendly to the human in the mean time... Even if you get scared witless. If they think you are friendly and grateful then they may not harm you. Maybe you could cast a charm on them… or make another human potion and take them on as a human.

You sighed and wiggled deeper into the dirt. The plant was trapping warmth in and you found yourself slowly drifting. It had been a long unknown amount of time since you last slept and at least for now, you were somewhat safe from harm. It was ok to sleep. It should be. 

With the warmth gently caressing and surrounding you under the plant, your eyes fell closed and you started to drift into a deep sleep. Unlike last time you fell asleep, you felt comfortable and warm, dreams slowly drifting in and out of your mind. At one point, you woke up and just laid in the dirt. While asleep, you somehow maneuvered yourself to be much deeper in the dirt but you didn't mind because you felt even more safe and comfortable in your current position. It wasn’t your bed back home in your apartment but it was comfortable. Your whole body ached and the dirt was soothing it. It was giving u energy similar to how it was giving energy to the strange lavender plant and you felt your body slowly start to feel less pained. Distantly you could hear the metal beasts in the cavern below roar with anger and hunger but you didn’t care as much this time. 

Under the strange lavender you were safe. 

You heard the human who helped you earlier come closer, cooing and saying something that you couldn’t understand. You got up some and looked over at him, carefully eyeing him as he came closer and cooed again, his hands out as if to cup something. Was he looking for you?

The human sighed and came even closer before looking around some of the plants. He was definitely looking for you. Did you want to reveal yourself? Was it safe to?

He seemed trustworthy... for now. Plus you had decided to act as if you liked the human so it would probably be best to come out. 

At that thought, you carefully got up and fluttered your wings slightly. They were feeling better that was for sure, but they weren’t yet at a point where you could fly. Not even just a light fly. Cautiously, you hopped between pods until you were standing in front of the human on the pod he originally dropped you in. A smile grew on the man’s face when he saw you, his hands slowly lowering closer to the floor of the pod and he started speaking again. You carefully stepped onto his hands and sat down before looking up at his face. It was still talking, a guilty look slowly growing on its face as it spoke. You tilted your head in confusion as it kept talking, watching as it carefully got up. There was some sort of forcefield that he had to turn off to enter the sheltered area and it fascinated you. Even as cold air that shocked you started to blast once inside, you turned around and focused on the forcefield that protected the inside of the house. From what? You didn't know.

Sadly, there was a point when the human went into a different room and closed the door, thus cutting you off from the strange forcefield. You didn’t know that humans had figured out how to harness magic but now that you knew they did, you wanted to examine it. There wasn’t much time to dwell on your possibly lost opportunity to learn about human magic though because the human had set his hands down near something and so you got off carefully. The room that he'd taken you to was messy and as you looked around, you didn't quite know what to think of the large space. What could possibly be used for? 

In front of you sat some strange box with a tiny hole cut out of the front. Strange writing graced the front of the black box but the writing didn't look like any magical runes you'd seen in the past. There was no way that you would be able to enter that thing without crouching and you didn't even know if you wanted to. What type of horrible things could lie inside the box just out of view?

You took a small step forward and looked back at the human and watched as he nodded happily. He must want you to interact with the box. Was it supposed to be your home for the time being? 

Stealing all your confidence that you wouldn’t be walking into some sort of death trap, you slowly walked closer to the box. It didn’t smell of anything poisonous. Although you were versed in stuff that fae and other creatures of the forest used, not humans... but it wasn't poisonous. Hopefully. Turning around once again, you saw how the human smiled happily and sighed. You should enter it. Who knew what it would do if you didn’t enter. 

Much to your surprise, the inside of the box was softly lit with a few holes in the top and inside it were multiple… containers... or furniture-esque things. One set of containers and surfaces were grouped together in a group of three and another stood on its own in the corner. You didn’t know what you were supposed to do in here but you didn’t feel comfortable leaving while the human was still outside and moving. Moving around the parameter, you tried to see if there were any holes that you could look out of and keep track of what the human did and where the human went. 

The only hole was the one you entered by though. Did you feel safe looking out that hole and keeping track of what the human did? 

You sighed and sat on the floor. It was some sort of woody material but you couldn’t figure out what wood it was. There was something waxy on top of it and there was no… natural smell you could pick out from it. This box you in is also made of some sort of wood but it didn’t feel like wood and it didn’t act like wood. It was as if it wasn't even wood but you didn't want to believe that. It had to be or all that you previously thought about so much would be wrong. Your home back in the village felt so different than this box and you felt a pang of sadness at the thought. You wanted to go home. To sleep in your bed. To talk to Jin and Jimin. Would you ever be able to return home? To work with Sen? To feed the squirrels? To sleep in your own bed? 

Something cold hit your chest and you looked down in shock to see that you were crying. Once you noticed though, you couldn’t stop. More tears falling as you felt your whole body start to ache. Your ears were pulsating in a dull pain as your chest heaved forcefully, lungs screaming for a rest. Soon enough, your mind was reeling, almost all thoughts gone as you started to hyperventilate, lungs heaving and eyes squeezing shut. 

Everything was closing in on you.

It was too much.

Your clothes were too tight. 

Frantically, you started clawing at the clothes in an attempt to give yourself some space. They came off easily, barely being held together after what happened with the frogs. 

But it wasn’t enough. 

Everything was coming down on you and there didn’t seem to be an escape.

You sat there crying and hyperventilating for an unknown amount of time, eventually calming down enough to even out your breaths. You needed to be prepared to face the human tomorrow. Anything you could do to be ready, you needed to do. Stealing a glance at your dirty and torn rags, you couldn’t use those anymore and you couldn’t just wander around naked. Even if the human didn’t mind, you did. 

Slowly moving to look out the opening, you saw some magical box illuminating the human who looked to be asleep. There was no way to be sure though. Especially with the numerous human voices that you heard coming from the box. What if they were having some sort of meeting? What if it was about you?

There wasn't a way for you to know though... you don't know human. It would probably be useful to learn it though.

You needed something to wear. There wasn’t time to wait. The cold of the space was already getting to you and you didn’t want to be naked around this human. 

Stealing all of your confidence, you snuck out of the box, carefully eying the human to make sure that it wasn’t moving. As soon as you exited though, you were faced with a new challenge: 

You were on some sort of island type thing. A straight drop down on all sides. It wouldn’t be a big deal if your wings were fully healed but, they could barely support your weight. Plus, you were too high up to just jump. How you were possibly going to get down? 

A strange sound left the human as he jerked and you ran as quickly as possible to hide in the box again. Hopefully he didn’t see you out. Being as careful as possible, you looked out the hole from one of the sides and watched as he walked towards you before doing something with the island. It vibrated as he kept moving stuff. You watched as he performed some sort of magic with the island and summoned clothes. He took his shirt off and you looked away, a hot blush rising on your face.

He was so… fae looking. 

Anatomically... he looked almost the same... but bigger.

The human wasn’t a fae though. That was obvious by just how large he was. Fae didn’t naturally grow that much. He could easily kill you if he wanted. Any of his body parts was a lethal weapon against you. You shuddered at that thought. Hopefully it never came down to that. He seemed intent on helping you for now. Carefully, you watched as he sniffed his hand, scratched his back, and crawled into the box.

It looked like a bed but with different things used to make it.

Humans used beds?

Jin would love this information.

You sighed and shook your head. Now wasn’t the time to think of people back home. You needed to adapt to your situation. To survive.

You turned your head to him and pouted, “why? I want to share this with you.”

He sighed. “Fine, what is it?”

“It’s my granny’s special lasagna!” You smiled widely, eyes twinkled in excitement. It’s been a while since your grandmother sent you some food, and you just missed it so much. “Just look at that cheese layer, it looks so good!”

Yoongi hummed, “and you need my microwave, don’t you?”

“Well, you can eat it too!” you yelled out, eyes avoiding his gaze, “ and I don’t think my microwave can be used anymore.” You sighed as your hands took the lasagna from the box. The lasagna itself is pretty big. And with your usual eating portion sizes, you can save money for almost a month. But now your lasagna will be consumed by Yoongi and you, so maybe you can last with it for around one or two weeks. But still, free food, right?

He opened the microwave’s door and let you put the lasagna inside. “Aren’t you full? We just had dinner.” He looked at you in worry. Sure, both of you just had dinner around one hour ago, and you were not gonna lie that fried chicken was still residing in your stomach.

“A little, but I just want to take a bite. Besides, there’s always a room in my stomach for my granny’s special lasagna!” Your eyes were on the buttons on the microwave, pressing some of it and letting it run. You had gotten used to it by now, since you had been borrowing his microwave for almost a month. “This microwave is easier to use than mine.”

He scoffed, “yeah, because yours is like hundred years old.” He walked to the fridge and grabbed two cans of beer and handed one to you. “You should just throw it away. Why do you keep holding onto it?”

You sighed and opened the beer, sipping it a little to let the coldness and the bitterness hit you. “I know.”

Yoongi grabbed the oven mittens and opened the microwave just as the timer went off. “No good things will happen if you keep holding the past, and hey, it’s just a kitchen tool. You can just buy a new one when you get enough money.” He put the hot lasagna on the counter and grabbed a plate from underneath.

You saw Yoongi skillfully cut and serve the lasagna in front of you, “I wish… it’s just hard to give it away, let alone throw it out.” With the spoon, you scooped up a bite and blew on it to cool it down. After a moment, you ate it slowly, savoring your comfort food since childhood. “Damn, that’s good.”

“Well, just try harder. Or give it to me, I’d love to hit it with a bat. It’ll be a nice experience.” He took a bite and chewed it slowly. He looked at the slice of lasagna and bit his lips, thinking.

“What is it? Does it taste bad?” You frowned in concern, worrying that Yoongi didn’t like it.

“Damn.” He sighed and looked at the can of beer in his hand. “We should eat this with wine, not with this cheap beer.”

After that incident on Friday, you come to realize Yoongi can be even more protective than he usually is. He knocked on your door the next morning, letting you know that he was planning to drop you off at your work. He called you fifteen minutes before your clock out time, letting you know that he was waiting in front of your workplace. And he checked in a couple of times a day, for a few days.

You rejected his offer at first, deciding you would bother his work, especially on weekdays, but he was persistent and you just couldn’t dare deny him. Besides, you do feel safer around him. You love how he always asks you about your day. You love how he tells you about his day. You love how he curses with you whenever you tell him about an annoying customer you had at the store. You love how he casually picks a blanket from the back seat (which he keeps in his car for you but he always denies it) and drapes it over your lap when you wear a skirt. You love how he strokes your head when you’re drowsy until you fall asleep. You love how his car smelled, a musky scent with a hint of tobacco, a smell that whispers Yoongi whenever you take a breath.

Yes, Yoongi does smoke an occasional cigarette. You never noticed it until you found a pack of cigarettes in the glovebox and you asked him about it. He never smokes in front of you, or even in front of his friends. He only smokes when he’s alone or when he’s stressed about work. He’s been trying to stop completely for a few months now, so one day, when you jokingly said to him that you want to try a cigarette just once, he glared at you and snatched the cigarettes away from your sight.

You’ve never been a fan of smokers, but when you imagine a cigarette tucked between his long fingers, you begin to sway. He’ll look good, hell, he’ll look hot as fuck.

Of course you’d love it more if his fingers tucked in your own, intertwined with your fingers, but that’s a different story.

It’s Wednesday and again you’re back inside his car. You watch the passing street scene as you listen to Yoongi ramble about his brother. The weather is nice; it’s cloudy but you still see sunshine seeping through the clouds, but it’s still too chilly for short sleeves. You snuggle into your black cardigan to stay warm. Well, technically once upon a time, it belonged to him. He loaned it to you one day and you refuse to return it.

“Are you okay?” he asks as he looks at you worriedly.

You turn to him and give him a smile. “I’m fine, I just feel cold.”

He turns the temperature up and looks at the rearview mirror. “I don’t know if you do it just so you mess with me, I told you to bring a thicker jacket, didn’t I?” he sighs. “Just take my jacket then-”

“I’m fine, geez.” You giggle as you hit his shoulder lightly. “You should worry about yourself, Yoon.”

“Fine.” He pulls to the curb in front of the campus main quad and sets the car’s parking brake. “I’ll pick you up at four?”

You nod as you unbuckle your seatbelt. “I can go home by myself you know.”

“No can do, my lady,” he grins and ruffles your hair.

You get out from the car before he can even see your reddening face. “I’m going. Thank you for the ride.”

And he drives away, leaving you with a heavy heart. Truthfully, you don’t have class today and you feel bad for lying to him. Today you’re going to do the job Rosé got for you last week, but you don’t want Yoongi to know about it. You’re sure he will give you an earful or maybe try to give you his money to stop you from working. And you don’t want that.

After you wait for a few minutes, making sure that Yoongi is long gone, you walk to the nearest bus stop, heading to an antique shop uptown. Last night, someone sent you a message by the name Jiho and told you everything you should know about the job. Basically, the task is simply to pick up a package of antique jewelry from the shop and deliver it to him on time. That’s it.

Of course you’re suspicious about it, but again, you check the shop and it does seem to be a genuine shop. So for now, you decided that it’s safe.

It doesn’t take too long for the bus to arrive at your destination stop, and the shop is just around the corner. The shop is small. The front door is just some old wood painted brown and the windows are full of antique stickers and pictures. Through some clear spots in the windows, you see some furniture lining the walls and decorations arranged nicely on tables. You push the door open, causing the bell to ring. The air inside the shop is dusty; the owner hasn’t turned the lights on, so you can clearly see the dust flying on the sunbeams.

A grayed-hair man pops out from a door in the back. He studies you from head to toe skeptically. “May I help you?” His tone is cold and you can’t help but feel a little intimidated.

You clear your throat, then manage, “yes, I’m Y/N, I’m here to pick a package for Jiho.”

His expression relaxes as he smiles. “Oh, you’re here for Jiho. Wait a minute.” The man returns to the back room, and comes back again with a velvet box that would fit in the palm of your hand. He opens the box and turns it to show you. “So this is the locket. Pretty, right?”

You look carefully at the green locket in front of you. It’s pretty big for a usual locket, more like the size of a pocket-watch. The locket is shaped like an egg, with  a tosca green paint on the base, and gold patterns encircling the locket above. The pattern is indeed beautiful and intricate, it’s like you usually see in a Chinese museum. You want to touch it but it looks so fragile that you’re afraid to break it. Maybe it’s better for you to just leave it in the box. “Right. So I’ll just be on my way then.” You close the box carefully and put it inside your backpack.

“Wait, did you say your name is Y/N?” the man calls out to you, stopping you just before you exit the door.

You tilt your head in confusion, “yes, I’m Y/N. Is there something wrong?”

He walks closer to you, eyes scanning you closely, thinking. “Are-are you Hyun’s daughter?”

With the mention of your father’s name, you freeze. “Do you know my father?”

The man smiles. “Of course! He was my friend. That’s why you look so familiar, you look just like your mother! Your mother’s name is Yeri, right?” The smile fades as he sighs. “I just can’t believe what happened with them. It’s just so unfortunate.”

You bite your lips nervously, the accident that took your parents isn’t something you’d want to remember. It was just tragic and unpredictable, and you were too young to accept the fact that you’d never see your parents ever again. “Yes. It was so sudden.”

“You know, your father’s stuff is still here, I’ll get it for you if you want.”

You tilt your head in confusion, what stuff? “I’d love to. But I need to deliver this first. Maybe next time I’ll visit you again?”

“Oh right, of course. You should go. It’ll take me awhile for me to find it anyway. I’ll make sure to find it before you come back again.” He waves you away and smiles.

Why is my father’s stuff in that antique store?

You walk to the bus station, arriving just at the right moment when the bus pulls up. Luckily the bus is almost empty, so you take an empty seat near the window and your mind begins to wander. It’s been a long time since you talked about your parents, not that you ever want to talk about them. And to be honest, you’d rather forget about them, if possible.

They were too busy for you when you were a kid. You spent almost all of your time alone, eating leftovers or buying takeout with any money they left for you on the refrigerator. You barely saw them each day, either they worked late or went to work so early. So it’s fair to say that you didn’t have a nice childhood.

That doesn’t mean you hate them. You knew they loved you. You knew they always snuck into your room in the middle of the night to watch you sleep and kiss you. You knew how they saved your letters and drawings you made in school, hanging them in their room and or in the kitchen. But still, you were just a child and the only thing you wanted was their attention.

So when they came home in the afternoon on the day before your tenth birthday, you were ecstatic. When they promised you that they would take you on a trip the next day, you were over the moon. Only to be woken up the next day by your grandparents, who said that your parents died in a car accident. At that time, the concept of death was very vague for you. You thought that your parents broke their promise and ran away, leaving you alone. You were more disappointed than sad. What they did so early on that morning is still a mystery for you. But the only thing you knew was you’d never see your parents ever again.

And everything went in a flash. You followed your grandparents to the countryside, leaving your childhood house. Leaving all of your memories with your parents. Leaving every bit of evidence that your parents loved you.

Your grandparents fit in your life immediately. They showered you with love and attention that you’d never had. They fed you homemade meals that you’d never eaten. They still can’t fill the empty spot in your heart, but at least, you feel loved. They always make sure that you don’t feel lonely and sad, especially on your birthday.

You tap your vibrating phone and put it to your ear. “Hello, granny!”

“Happy birthday, sweetie. How are you?” You hear a rustle on the other end. “Hey, come here and speak with Y/N!”

You smile as you hear your grandfather grunt. “Hey grandpa! I’m fine and healthy. How are you both? How’s grandpa’s back?”

“He’s fine. We finally hired a part-timer to help us. You know that kid Beomgyu from the red house around the corner? He has been a great help.”

“I remember him. I’m glad that you can take some breaks. Grandpa, please don’t scold him much, okay?” You giggle, remembering the little boy you used to babysit back then.

Grandfather snorts. “He works well, even better than you! So don’t you worry about us. Are you eating well? How’s your studying?”

“I’m fine!! Everything is going well here, so I’d say the same to you: don’t worry about me. And of course he works well, he is getting paid after all!”

He laughs, “yes that might be true. Hear that? She’s fine! Your grandma here is so worried about you.”

“Of course I’d worry, she’s a little girl living alone in a big city, how couldn’t I be worried?” she whines. “I’m so glad that you’re fine, Y/N. Just please come home for holidays or anything, we miss you and we’re not getting younger. I want to see you again at least once before I die…”

“Granny!” you let a loud cry, and clear your throat immediately after realizing that you’re still in a bus. “You’ll live until a hundred years, but yes, I’ll try to find  time to come home. I’m still on the bus now, can I talk to you later?”

“Ah right, take care sweetie! Come home soon!”

“Love you!” You hang up the phone and put it inside your pocket.

You look at the window beside you and see your reflection. “You look just like your mother!”

You do look like your mother; the differences are that you have messy hair, dark bags under your eyes, some pimples on your cheeks, rather than a grown, elegant woman like your mother. Even if she was not using any makeup, she still glowed. She was the woman that you’d wanted to be as when you grow up. Instead, you grew up without caring about your appearance that much. The only thing that you use is just a lip tint and maybe a compact for some occasions.

You take a deep breath, hoping the thought of your parents would vanish into the air, as you rise from the seat and walk to the door. There’s no need for you to be sad about them, they won’t come back.

Just as you step your foot onto the sidewalk, suddenly a rush of wind flows right to you, making you pull your cardigan a little tighter, a reminder that you’re not alone.

And maybe, just for today, you’ll let them wander in your thoughts for a little longer. Today is a special day, after all.

Yoongi throws his head back and sighs. His eyes fall again on the screen in front of him. The footage has been playing for a couple of days, sabotaging his work output on a weekday. It’s not that he doesn’t have anything to do at work, but you just keep appearing inside his head. That’s why at least, he needs to finish this first.

He found that the man who harassed you before has followed you for almost a year, he suspects. The man, whose name he finally knew after investigating it further, Jaebum, also works in the store near your apartment that you usually visit. A year… how come you didn’t realize his presence?

“So you have found the man, Hyung?” Jimin asks as he pops his head in Yoongi’s cubicle.

“Yes, I have. But I still don’t know why he did it.” Yoongi runs his fingers through his hair in exasperation.

Hoseok rises from his seat and lets out a loud noise as he stretches. “Isn’t obsession the usual motive?”

Yoongi shrugs and closes the footage on his screen. “Yes, maybe? I just have a bad feeling about him.”

“Aren’t all stalkers worth bad feelings?” Jimin raises one of his eyebrows. “What are you going to do with the footage though?”

Yoongi unplugs the USB from his computer. “I’ll give it to Y/N, I think?”

Hoseok walks over to him, crooking one eyebrow at him. “Who-whoa. Wouldn’t it make Y/N terrified?” When Yoongi doesn’t answer further, Hoseok’s eyes widen. “Yo-You want her to be afraid! But why?”

Yoongi bites his lips and looks at the USB in his hand, then curls his fingers around it, gripping it tightly. “She is so careless! I just want her to be more careful!”

Hoseok eyes Yoongi in silence, thinking. After a bit, he opens his mouth. “You want her to run to you… you want her to ask for your help, don’t you?”

Yoongi again doesn’t answer, only turns his head to face Hoseok.

That makes a smile fall on Hoseok’s face immediately. “You’ve changed, Hyung.”

The sudden charge makes Yoongi’s cheeks turn red and he turns his gaze away. “Shut up. And you should stop doing this psychological-thing to me, dumbass.”

“I’d never stop, besides, I’m studying you, Hyung. I ju-”

“Hyung! Yoongi-Hyung!!” Jungkook opens the door harshly and yells, interrupting the talk. He rushes up to Yoongi and takes a deep breath. “Remember your neighbor? Y/N?”

Jimin hits the younger man’s shoulder lightly. “Of course, he does! We just talked about her earlier! You should see Yoongi-hyung’s face! He just-”

“She’s here! She’s in The Company!”

“What? What do you mean she’s here?” Jimin tilts his head in bewilderment.

Hoseok squints in confusion. “I know you have something special with this girl, but isn’t it too much if you tell her where you work?”

Yoongi frowns. “Are you crazy? I never told her where I work!”

“How do you think she knows, then?” Jimin’s eyes widen. “Don’t tell me she’s a spy! That all those gullible things she did were all an act. Oh my God, she’s damn good, isn’t she? I ca-”

“That’s not what I meant!” Jungkook pouts and looks at Yoongi’s face with a serious face. “Y/N.. She’s in the investigation room right now.”

Yoongi yanks open the door to the observation room and rushes in, followed by his three friends behind him. His eyes fall immediately on the big glass window giving a view to the investigation room, where you sit.

“What the hell?” Taemin screws up his face at the men. “What are you guys doing here?”

Jimin steps in and smiles sheepishly. “Eh... We got some information that you got Y/N, so here we are.”

Taemin folds his hands over his chest. “What? How do you know her?”

“She is Yoongi-hyung’s girlfri- no, I mean friend.” Jimin whispers.

“What? I didn’t know you have a girlfriend! I tho-”

“Why is she here?” Yoongi interrupts, his eyes are still on you, eyebrows frowning in worry. You look so terrified and confused looking at the man in the suit sitting in front of you, and all that Yoongi can think about is how to drag you out from there.

Taemin clears his throat. “Well, our team has been following some guys who stole museum things and sold them in the black market. And that pretty lady over there somehow had a Chinese locket that was stolen in Beijing a month ago. Apparently, she was told to pick it up and deliver it to another buyer.”

Yoongi turns to look at him in disbelief. “That can’t be true! She would never do something like that. Y/N... She’s just a normal girl...”

“Of course we know.” Taemin smiles. “She didn’t even know about the value of the locket, just casually putting the two hundred million won locket in her backpack. The man we suspected before paid her some money and she thought that it’s just a freelance-part-time job. Don’t worry. We’re only talking to her as a witness in this case.”

Yoongi sighs in relief. His mind is in chaos right now. Why does she keep looking for more money? How much does she need anyway? What does she do with the money?

The man inside the investigation room rises and walks to the door. When he enters the command room he is confused by the sudden crowd. “Why are you guys here?”

Jungkook tugs Minho aside and whispers in his ear. “She is Yoongi’s girlfriend…”

Minho’s eyes widen and he chuckles. “Seriously guys, your team’s got some troublesome women.”

Jungkook pouts and his cheeks flush. Jimin looks away from Minho, hiding his expression and Hoseok just shrugs casually. No one wants to complain or explain any further when all of them know that they are always involved in weird women.

“Oh, and by the way, Jungkook, do you never have any plan to take the forensic girl on a date? We’ve kinda got a bet going here with Taemin and Sehun about when you’ll date her. I thought highly of you and I’m going to lose some money!” Minho grunts, “so, please. Take her on a date soon.…”

Taemin looks at Minho immediately, “Hyung! That’s like cheating!”

“Is she done? Can I take her home?” Yoongi asks as he walks closer to Minho.

“Yeah. You can take her.” Minho points to a basket with all of your stuff. “Oh, I think it’s best for her not to use the money. She shouldn’t be an accomplice.”

Yoongi nods and silently gathers your bag and phone. As he stands in front of the door, he sighs again. With his hand tightly gripping your bag, he closes his eyes, regaining his composure.

Finally, his free hand finds the doorknob and opens it slowly. And his eyes met with your confused eyes immediately.

“Yoongi? Wh-why are you here?” you stutter.

“I work here. Let’s just go home.” He looks at you coldly and leaves the room, before making sure you follow along with him.

He doesn’t know what to do. He wants to be mad at you, he wants to know what the hell happened and why. He wants to know everything about you.

It’s maddening.

And it’s hurting him.

All this time, the only thing he wanted is just to know you better, and by better he means everything. Like your lunch menu, or your childhood, and even your dreams. He tries hard to make it happen, but he doesn’t understand why you keep it all to yourself.

You make him confused.

He doesn’t even know what’s wrong with him, the only thing he knows is that his heart skipped a beat when he saw you for the first time, hugging your deceased microwave. The only thing he knows is that his eyes have been drawn to you ever since that day. The only thing he knows is that he wants to be with you, for as long as he can.

And just like Hoseok said before: yes, Yoongi wants you to ask for his help, to run into him, to take his hands, and to open your heart. And maybe that footage was a stupid and selfish move of him. Or maybe he’s just that desperate.

He wants to be the one to make you happy, he wants to be the one who makes you smile widely. If people want to label it as selfish, doesn’t that mean that every love is also selfish itself?

“---Yoongi… please say something…” You call out to him after both of you enter his apartment. Yoongi hasn’t talked at all on the drive home from the big building where he works. And it makes you uneasy. Even if Yoongi talked so much before, you still can’t understand him completely. And now he is silent? It doesn’t make it any easier.

Yoongi slams your backpack on his couch. Your keys jangle in some pocket. “What do you want me to say?”

You gulp at his cold remark, stepping back away from him. “I- I’m sorry. I jus-” you stutter.

“You’re lucky that you were just taken as a witness. But what if they take you to prison?” he hisses.

“I-I know.. I--”

But Yoongi has lost all his patience. He’s tired of this situation. He is tired of guessing your thoughts and your actions. “What were you going to do with the money?”

You grip your shirt tighter, eyes looking at the floor, already wet with tears. “You know my answer, rent, food, anything for living…”

“Don’t lie to me.” He steps forward, and you step backward without thinking. Your back bumps into the windowsill. You look away to avoid the intensity of his eyes. “I know approximately how much the rent is on your apartment, and have an idea of your living costs. I know that even with just one job you can survive…”

“I--”

“There’s no need for you to work to death if you just do it for a living. Why do you keep needing money to the point you work at such a suspicious job?”

Your hands tremble and with your eyes clouded with tears, you can’t think properly. You pinch your arm hard, to stop you spilling your deepest secret. “My-My grandparents are sick…”

Yoongi looks at you carefully and walks to the couch. “Is that so?” He pulls his phone out from his pocket and unlocks it. “Maybe I should just call to check on them. Also, I should thank them for the lasagna last week--”

“NO!” you yell as you grip his arm tightly. “Ple-Please don’t…”

“Then why do you keep lying to me?” His face softens as he looks at your pale face. He gently removes your hand from his arm and holds your hand. His other hand moves to your face to swipe your tears carefully. “I just want to help you Y/N. Will you let me?”

And with that last sentence, you take all of your courage to look into his eyes. His charming eyes now show sadness and disappointment. His gummy smile is now replaced with a tired smile that completed his overall look: a look that shows you how stupid you are. A look that shows how sincere he is. The look of the man that you keep pushing away unconsciously. The look that will make you regret for the rest of your life if you don’t speak up now, if you don’t tell him anything.

And it aches inside you.

The pain suffocates you each time you feel the tears roll down your cheeks.

“Y/N?” he calls you sweetly, eyebrows creased in worry.

And with that voice, you let your head fall onto his chest. You let your silent crying turn into loud sobs as your hands cling to him for dear life. “Hel-help me…” you mutter softly.

Yoongi is stunned as he sees you break apart on his chest. The way you keep your pain and problems all to yourself must be killing you by inches, and yet you are always smiling and doing your best. He puts his arms around you and hugs you tightly, letting you calm down in his embrace. He doesn’t care if he will be hugging you for hours, the only thing that is important for him is that you can at least lessen your burden by letting him carry it together with you.

The only thing he wants you to know is that when your tears dry out and your body is worn out, he will be there for you, with you, the first time you open your eyes.

After you calmed down and are seated on the couch, Yoongi hands you a cup of warm water with a little bit of honey. Well, he doesn’t have anything much in his apartment. With just one look, people who walk into this apartment will know that this apartment is just for him: full white with not a sign of hospitality or even a decoration. It’s actually better than before. After you met him and became his regular guest, slowly he began to stock the things you’d usually enjoy. He just does it subconsciously.

Honey, beer, and sausages.

The three things for your usual moods. Honey when you’re tired, beer when you’re excited, and sausages when you’re too busy to remember to eat.

He remembers how once you knocked on his door in the middle of the night with an empty cup in your hands and a tear welling on the corner of your eye, asking for a glass of warm water. You were writing your papers that were due in the morning and when you wanted to boil water, the pot was broken. (He mentally noted to buy you one.) And while both of you waited for the water to boil, your eyes searched for something in his kitchen, a bottle of honey. Which of course, he didn’t have. He has some now.

Back then, the stress was too much for you. The accumulated fatigue made you very sensitive. So, when he saw your gathered tears, Yoongi grabbed his jacket and wallet and ran outside, only to walk in five minutes later with a bottle of honey and an assortment of any food that he could find at midnight.

At the time, he questioned himself as to why he moved his body faster when it’s about you, but he found the answer right away when you looked at the stuff he bought. Your smile and his rapid heartbeat, how your smile magically sent an unknown wave to trigger his heart rate.

He realized how he was already head over heels about you.

You sip the honeyed water slowly until it’s empty. “You want more?” Yoongi asks as he takes the glass from your hand.

You shake your head. “No, thank you.”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you before.” Yoongi sits on the couch beside you, taking your hands in his, his thumbs drawing soothing circles on your skin, spreading more warmth to your body. “I know it’s hard for you, and I shouldn’t force you to talk. I’m sorry. You can tell me anytime you are ready to trust me.” He brings your hands close to his lips and plants a feathery kiss.

“I trust you, Yoongi.” You take a deep breath. “I just never tell anyone about this…”

And so you tell him.

How three years ago you met Jaebum when you were working in the convenience store. How he was so kind and thoughtful to you, helping you study and helping you to adapt in the city. How you trusted him and liked him. How he dragged you to the bar one day and forced you to drink unknown and bitter drinks. How you woke up naked in a hotel room with him. How you didn’t remember anything about that night. How he told you that he had your sextape and blackmailed you. How you have to send him two million won every month for two years.

Yoongi listens to your story carefully, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. He is furious. He wants to track that bastard and kick him in his nuts and other places too, then after a few bruises and maybe some fractures, he will send him to the police. But instead, his grips on your hands tighten and he pulls you into his chest.

“It’s okay now, I’ll take care of it.” Yoongi whispers as he strokes your back calmingly. “You don’t need to be afraid.”

Again, you shake your head and put your arms around him, feeling safer than ever. “I don’t. I have you now, don’t I?”

Yoongi smiles and kisses the top of your head lovingly. “You have had me since day one, little bug.”

You look up to see his face, his smile widens and his cheeks turn pinkish, the same shades that’s on your cheeks. “I--”

“I almost forgot...” Yoongi interrupts, his hands moving to cup your cheeks and he inches forward to kiss your forehead gently. “Happy birthday, Y/N.”

You don’t believe how relieved you are after hearing those words now. Those words were the one you longed ever since your tenth birthday. Those words were the reminder that you’re left alone in this world, how you’re not a complete person. Now, those words don’t remind you of how lonely you are, but instead, those words fill the empty spot in your heart perfectly and make you warm. Yes, Yoongi does it for you.

After you tell Yoongi about Jaebum, Yoongi calls his friend in the police immediately. Luckily after he explained to the police and gave them the footage of Jaebum following you, Jaebum will be processed. Apparently, he has a prior crime before so the process goes pretty smoothly. But the one thing that Yoongi concerns is that you are needed to be a witness. He’s worried that you’ll meet that bastard again.

“For now, I ask them so you won’t see him, but it might be difficult when it goes to trial.” Yoongi takes your cold hand in his, trying to warm it a little as both of you step inside the police office. “Are you okay?”

You have never been inside this police office before. Two years ago, when Jaebum first blackmailed you, you gathered all of your courage to report him in this exact building. Back then, you were so hesitant and didn’t have any evidence, only ended with you walking back home without even stepping into the building, but thanks to Yoongi, at least, you can sue Jaebum for stalking and blackmailing now. You take a deep breath and tighten your hand, “but then it’ll be over, right? He’ll be in prison?”

Yoongi smiles and pulls you into a hug. “Yes. You're a strong woman, I believe you’ll be okay. But promise you’ll tell me if you’re uncomfortable with this, okay?”

“What if he’s already posted it on the internet? What if the video-”

He silences you as he pinches your cheeks. “I’ll take it down. I’ll search every part on the net and delete it. Don’t worry about it.”

You raise one of your eyebrows. “You can?”

Yoongi scoffs and smiles widely. He tugs your hand to walk again behind him. “Of course. Who do you think I am? Besides, I don’t think Jaebum actually has the video, it might be just a fraud.”

“Really?”

His feet stop in front of a blue glass door, what it seems to be the police’s office, and he knocks on the door. “Yes, little bug. Either way, I’ll take care of it.” Yoongi ruffles your hair as he looks into your eyes sweetly, sending you a weird sensation on your chest.

The door suddenly opens before you reply anything, and a tall man in a blue suit walks outside to you. His sharp eyes turn to look at Yoongi and at you. “Are you Miss Y/N?” You nod, hands still clenching Yoongi’s sleeve. The man clears his throat and hides his smile immediately. “I’m Jinyoung, and I’m Yoongi’s friend. I’ll need you to answer some questions, please follow me.”

You look again at Yoongi who gives a reassuring smile, and walk with Jinyoung to the room on your left.

Yoongi on the other hand walks freely in the office to the interrogation room. His eyes dart to Jaebum who’s talking to a police officer, who shows him some footage on the laptop.

Noticing a new presence, Jaebum looks up and when he sees Yoongi, his eyebrows frowning immediately. “You…”

“Nice to see you again.” Yoongi smirks. “It’s really nice to see you handcuffed like this.”

“You jerk. Just because I touched that woman you sue me with this nonsense?” Jaebum’s face reddened as he tries to grab Yoongi. “I’ve never followed her!”

Yoongi raises one of his eyebrows and turns to Jackson, the police officer. “What the hell is he talking about?”

Jackson shrugs, “Right? He denies every charge except the fraud thing. He has already confessed about the sextape, which he lied about.” He slams the table in front of him. “Just give up! We have all of the evidence.”

Jaebum takes a deep breath and runs his fingers through his hair desperately, his eyes start to water. “I told you, I didn’t follow her! I work every night, you know that I need money!”

Yoongi steps closer, “a month ago, you followed Y/N to her floor at night, I saw you in the hall.”

“What? I only saw her in the convenience store with you. Sure I followed her for a little while that day, but I have never followed her to her apartment!”

“That’s not what I meant. The next day after you saw her, where were you?”

“Like I said, I was working! You can ask my boss and my co-worker for that matter.” He sighs, his right hand moves to the water bottle in front of him and he gulps it down. “And when I saw her at her workplace, it was just pure coincidence. Please believe me.”

Yoongi shares a look at Jackson and nods. They walk quickly outside and head to the empty room beside the interrogation room with the laptop. “I don’t think he is lying. What should we do?” Jackson asks as he scratches his head.

Yoongi looks again at the footage. “It should be him. If not, who else?” He bites his lips as he looks carefully at the screen. His eyes widen as he realizes something.

The man who followed you every day lights his cigarette with his left hand. He also uses the phone with his left hand. There’s no way… “This guy is left-handed?”

Jackson peeks to the screen. “What? But Jaebum is right-handed. Then who is he?”

This is bad. I thought it was the same man. Does this mean that another man is following her? But who is he?

His thoughts start accumulating and bothering his mind. To think that you are still in danger makes him anxious and sick. “Jackson-ah, just to make sure, please ask him again. I’ll call you later.” Yoongi leaves the room hurriedly, ignoring the call from his friend.

He has to see you.

Who is that guy? What does he want from you?

“Yoongi? Why do you look so pale?” You raise your eyebrow as you clutch a can of apple juice in front of a vending machine. “Did something happen?”

He looks at your brown eyes, the ones that look at him with such care and trust, which looks a little lost and confused. He remembers how his mission in Hawaii became, in many ways, the turning point of his life. Regrets, disappointment, sadness, fear, all because he couldn’t control everything: his mind, his mission, and his emotion. Everything was unpredictable. Everything went exactly opposite to his plan.

Just like this time.

And now it is even worse.

Why does this happen to a woman he adores the most? Why does this happen to a woman that he wants to protect? Why does this happen to a woman who has just opened her heart for him?

His hands turn into fists. This is so unfair…

“.... Yoongi?” you call softly.

And again, even in his most chaotic mind, your voice still stands out. Your warmth is his finish line, a way out from the labyrinth inside his head, a ray of sunshine that shows him the path. No matter how messy his way and how long he walks, it is you that he always seeks.

Subconsciously, his hands reach out to you and pull you into his chest. His breaths even out in your warmth. Your racing heart calms his heart. It’s like everything is falling into their right places.

Your tiny hands wrap around his back. “What’s with the sudden hug? Did you think I’m gone missing or something?” you smile and let out a small laugh.

Why can you still smile like this?

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. I can do it.” You pat his back softly. “It’s not like we can control and manipulate the process right?”

Don’t you ever feel anxious? Don’t you ever feel afraid?

“Isn’t that what you’re thinking? That trial?”

But Yoongi doesn’t answer. He just hugs you tighter, doesn’t care that both of you are still standing in the hallway of a police office. Doesn’t care that it can be seen as an inappropriate display of affection. He needs it. And you let him, even if it makes it hard for you to breathe. It’s just right.

Maybe you are just the right answer. Maybe you are the help that he always needed. Maybe you are the balm to soothe his troubled mind. Maybe it’s okay not overthinking it.

Maybe he needs you more than he knows, just as much as you need him.

And one thing he’s sure of for now. That you’re here with him, and he won’t let bad things happen to you.

TAGLIST (Send me an ask): @kb-bangtanenthusiast @w0lfqu33n @gee-nee @jaienn​ @nctssidehoe @codeinebelle​ @kali-20 @mygalaxysupernova​ @jeoncookie-bts​ @kookunot​ @1-in-abillion​ @beingbeings​ @enchantingbrowneyedgirl @yiyi4657​ @jinsalpaca​ @giadalin​ @spring2787​ @drmrastraea​ @katbonv​ @fluffyjoons​ @baebyjoonie​ @theresnoplacelike​ @gguki​ @purplewinterluv​ @safi4x​ @kpopmagics @min-yus​ @somewhereofftheglobe​ @moglen​ @yoobikook​ @loveyoongles​ @louisavuittonswrld

“Yes, it’ll maybe just be this way for a few months, before I’m busy at university again.” You giggle and reach out your hand to give him the plastic bag. “I’m bringing you sandwiches as a thank you.”

Yoongi sighs and smiles. “You don’t really need to. I just-” His smile vanishes suddenly and you can see his jaw clench. He grabs your arms and pulls you inside his apartment and immediately closes the door.

You are caged between him and the door as he hovers over you. You gulp nervously with his sudden action and his proximity. “Yoon-”

“Ssh.” He hushes you with a held-up finger as he peers through the hole on the door.

“Wh-what is it?” you whisper confusedly.

He pulls away from the door and drags you to the living room. “There’s a man following you.”

Your eyes widen. “Wh-what? Who?” Your throat immediately dries out, in contrast with your clammy hands. You didn’t sense anything or anyone in your walk home, and you’ve never been followed before. Is it a robber?

“Just wait here for a minute. I’m gonna check on him.” Yoongi grabs one of his trash bags and walks outside, ignoring the way you reach for his hand.

You follow him to the door, wanting to check it for a moment. But you walk back to the living room, after you become terrified to find someone you know lurking in the hallway. You pace back and forth with uneasy feelings as you bite your nails nervously.

And after a few minutes, Yoongi comes back and you rush immediately to him. “Ho-How is it?”

He smiles softly and pats your shoulder. “I found him wandering in the hall so I challenged him. And then he just ran away without giving me any answer. So he’s gone for now. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” You smile weakly and your knees weaken. You plop down to the floor and take a deep breath to control yourself. “Are you sure he’s following me? Maybe it’s just a mistake.” Still, even if you’re terrified, you shouldn’t accuse someone just because he walked behind you.

“I’m not really sure, but he does seem suspicious,” Yoongi replies and holds onto your arms to help you stand again. He guides you to sit on the couch and walks to the kitchen. He’s back with a glass of water, which you accept gratefully. He sits beside you and looks at you worriedly. “You don’t notice anything?”

You shake your head weakly. “What should I do?”

“We need to check if this man really followed you, and after that we can report it to the police.” He reaches for one of your hands and pats it lightly. “Don’t be afraid. I might be wrong too.”

“But what if he follows me again tomorrow?” You look back at him with teary eyes.

Yoongi releases your hand and looks at the plastic bag you brought earlier. “It’s perfect timing. I haven’t had dinner. You should eat it too, it’s too much for me anyway.” He grabs a wrap of sandwich and opens it, then offers it to you.

“Yoon,” you plead. This isn’t the time to have dinner. You almost peed yourself before and you’re sure you can’t go to sleep like this.

He again pushes the sandwich to you, forcing you to take it. “Just eat it first.”

You sigh. Sure you can’t rely on him that much. But isn’t this just rude and heartless to ignore your question? You bite into the sandwich emotionless, a part of you disappointed with him, but another part telling you that you’re just his neighbor. But you can’t avoid tears that threaten to fall from the corners of your eyes.

“Just call me if you see him,” he says lightly as he takes a bite of his sandwich. “No, actually call me when you get off work.”

You look at him with disbelief. Your heart beats fast and you can even hear it thumping through your ears. What did he say?

“You work in the sandwich shop in the main street, right? I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

“Yes.. but why?”

He turns his head to face you. He tilts in confusion. “I thought you’re afraid to walk home alone?”

“I do, but why are you helping me again?”

He stands and ruffles your hair. “Why are you keep asking that question? We’re neighbors right?” He then grabs another wrap of sandwiches and looks at you. “Seriously, you gave me too many sandwiches. Just take this one home with you.”

You look at him with your jaw slightly drop as you receive the sandwich mindlessly.

“Let me walk you home.”

You shake your head, afraid that you’d bother him again. “It’s okay, it’s just a few doors down anyway.”

Yoongi laughs, showing you his pink gums, and you’re sure that it’s the cutest laugh you’ve ever heard in your whole life. “I know, dummy. I need to teach you about the door, remember?”

“Ah. right.” You smile sheepishly. “Or you can just text me the code?”

“Why do you need to write the code? What if someone steals your phone and sees the code?” He folds his arms and looks at you weirdly. “It’s like you write your ATM pin and attach it on your ATM card, isn’t it? Who does that?”

You laugh weirdly and diverts your eyes from his gaze, remembering the piece of paper you with numbers on it that you put with your cards in your wallet. “Haha, yes. That’s totally true.”

Yoongi’s jaw drops and he frowns in concern. “Oh my God. You did it, didn’t you?” He shakes his head in exasperation. “How did you even survive for three years? Is it pure luck?” he mumbles as he walks to the door.

You pout and follow after him, holding your sandwich tightly in your hand. “I heard that!”

“Well, I said it just so you could hear it.” He chuckles and holds the door open for you. “Come on, we have some training to do.”

That night, Yoongi’s eyes and fingers are moving fast in front of his computer, and no, it’s not about The Company.

Tonight, it’s about his neighbor.

His neighbor who somehow always gets on his nerves, and not in a bad way. Or is it?

He’s never met a woman this naive and clumsy like you. Well, he doesn’t really know if naive will do justice to you because sometimes he feels that you’re a little dumb. Sure, he knows that you’re not that dumb dumb, you’re a scholarship student for godsakes. But after a series of encounters with you, he doesn’t even know anymore.

The only thing he knows is that you need to be protected at all costs.

And yes, he will volunteer at a heartbeat.

So, here he is. Hacking into the government’s CCTV recordings to investigate the man in the hallway from before. He’s absolutely sure that the man was following you-- call it an instinct-- but he didn’t want to tell you that since it’ll make you even more afraid. He would tell you if he’s sure and he has enough evidence so you can report it to the police. That was the main goal.

But the universe was doing a strange thing earlier, when somehow he blurted out that he’ll pick you up from work.

It was a little unpredictable even for himself.

He doesn’t usually behave like this.

It’s like, ever since the first time he met you, you sneaked into his head like a computer virus, making him do something he doesn’t usually do.

Why?

His eyes attached to the screen as he searches for you in the footage in front of the Sandwich Shop. And at five to eleven o’clock, he sees you leaving the shop. You walked cheerfully with earphones attached to your ears and backpack on your back, not knowing or caring about the surroundings around you. It’s like you’re in your own world. And watching you almost slip into a puddle, plasters a smile on Yoongi’s face.

But the smile immediately vanishes when his eyes catch a black-hoodied man walking behind you from the corner of the street, like he’s waiting for you. Yoongi can’t see his face, but he wore the same clothes as the man he confronted a few hours ago. He watches silently as the man follows you to the apartment.

It’s weird.

And it sends shivers to Yoongi’s spine.

He can’t see his face, but the only thing he knows is that man is up to something bad. And he won’t let it happen.

“Really, Y/N? Don’t you already have too many jobs?” Rosé asks as she sweeps the floor. It’s Thursday at ten thirty PM, and you’re busy cleaning the shop after hours. She turns her face to you and ties her pink hair up in a ponytail, as she continues, “You’re gonna die of fatigue.”

You giggle. “I’m used to it. And I can’t stop looking for a job with more money, can I?” You turn the last chair upside down and put it on the table. “Just tell me if you know some job openings.”

She puts the broom in the corner and pouts. “And let you leave me in this depressing shop alone? I don’t think so.” She unties her apron and walks to the back of the shop with you following behind her.

You hang your apron on the wall beside the locker and reach for her apron to do the same. You open your locker, letting the rust smell creep into your nose as you grab your backpack. “Just move with me then.” You look yourself in the mirror on the back of the door before you close it tightly. You fish your phone from your pocket, looking at the screen as you walk to the front.

Rosé rolls her eyes, “Yeah right. Like my mom would let me.” She paces faster over to the cashier, “Mom, should I head home first?”

Rosé’s mom stops counting the money and grumbles. “Why did you disturb me? Now I’ve lost count!”

You laugh at their good-natured bickering. “Well, I should head home, then. Thank you, Mrs. Park. See you tomorrow, Ros!” You wave quickly and head outside. You stand in front of the shop, looking again at your phone screen.

Should I call him?

Won’t it bother him?

“I thought you'd call me.” A familiar voice jolts you from your own thoughts. A little smile pastes on your lips as you look at the origin of the voice.

You walk faster towards him. “Why are you doing here, Yoongi?” You can’t hide the little happiness you felt when you saw him. It’s like he’s been away for so long and you finally met him again. And the fact that you saw him last night, doesn’t change how you miss him.

Well, not that you miss him. You’re just relieved to see him again.

“I’m picking you up, just like I promised.” He leans casually on a blue SUV. Just by standing and smiling before you, he makes your heart race. You can’t deny that he looks good in suits, since you usually see him in a sweater. And the way he just loosens his tie slowly is simply breathtaking. He looks different, in a good-- sexy --way.

“Ah right, thanks.” You immediately look at your clothes. You’re like the opposite of him, hoodie-jeans-and-running shoes. Not that they’re bad. Sure, they’re all worn out, but still you feel like an under-dressed sore thumb, standing beside him.

He opens the passenger door for you. “I just took off from work, if you’re asking. This is my work uniform.”

You cough awkwardly as you slip inside the car. “You look nice.”

He enters the driver seat just seconds after and buckles his seatbelt. “Seatbelt, please,” he says softly and turns to you, “or do you want me to put it on for you?”

“I can do it by myself, thank you very much.” You feel heat rushing to your cheeks. “Stop teasing me.”

He laughs and starts the car and drives away. His eyes sneak a glance or two at you and to his rearview mirror. “Have you eaten?”

“I literally work in a restaurant.” You roll your eyes.

“So? Just answer the question.”

You sigh, “No, I haven’t. It was a busy day at work.”

He laughs again, and you believe that it actually becomes one of your favorite sounds. And you’re absolutely sure you’re gonna record it someday. “Let’s have dinner then. What do you want to eat?”

“Hmm. I never eat out…”

He steps on the brake just when the traffic light turns red and turns to you. “What? Like never never?”

You laugh awkwardly and look outside the window. “It’s a little pathetic, isn’t it? I only eat at home.”

He drives again and looks at the street. “Eating premade food at home..”

“Hey! It’s cheap and plenty easy. I’m just too busy, you know.”

“Sure,” he scoffs. “Gukbap? My treat.”

Your eyes widen and look at his pale face. “I don’t need your pity. I’m fine eating at home,” you hiss.

“That’s not what I meant. Sorry.” He sighs. “But I never pity you. It’s just I’m older and a man, it’s a common courtesy. If you don’t want to, that’s okay. We can go home.”

You bite your lips and fiddle with your hands. “Sorry, I don’t mean it like that. It’s just you’ve been too much help for me these days. I just-”

“I understand. You don’t need to feel bad about it. I’m sorry.”

The car again stops at the traffic light. The space is filled with an awkward silence. What a way to thank your savior, Y/N. It’s not that you're mad at him. You’re thankful, a lot. But it’s not the first time you received this type of kindness. It’s either out of pity, or the one who gave it wants something for you. And you don’t know which category Yoongi belongs to.

“Do you want to sleep with me?” you blurt.

Again he steps on the brake harshly, and luckily there are no cars behind you. “What the hell are you talking about?” His jaw dropped. He looked flabbergasted.

You clear your throat and continue, still avoiding his eyes. “Do you?”

Yoongi sighs and you see his cheeks redden under the streetlight. “It’s not that I don’t want to. You’re a beautiful woman. But seriously, what are you talking about?”

Your heart skips a beat with his praise, but you shake your head to knock it from your head. “In the past, I discovered that people wanted to help me because they have some ill-intended purposes..”

He blinks his eyes several times and continues his driving. “Well, that might be true. I didn’t expect you’d have some thoughts like that.” He looks at his rearview mirror one more time and then takes a U-turn suddenly, which makes you look at him quizzically. “But seriously, I just want to help you and get to know you better.”

“Where are we going?”

“Gukbap place. You drained my energy, I need to eat something.” Before you even protest, he continues, “It’s just one dinner, okay?”

You fold your arms and sigh. “Are there any noodles?”

He lets out a small laugh. “You are unbelievable, did you know that? Just try the Gukbap, it’s the tastiest one there.” You nod and look outside, resting your temple on the window in silence.

And Yoongi just can’t help but feel that the sight warms his heart. He wants to reach his hand to ruffle your hair again but he holds it back. Yet, he can’t hold the smile that keeps appearing on his face.

You’re confusing. He’s sure now that you’re not as naive as he thought before, and he doesn’t even want to call you dumb. But one thing that he does know..

That he needs to lose the man who is trailing behind  both of you.

One dinner then turns into two, and seven, and somehow you and Yoongi have dinner together for a month. He always has the way to make you agree to have dinner with him and he always skillfully pays it first. The last part always makes you pout on the way home and it always disappears every time he casually pats your head or holds your waist when you lose your balance on the stairs, replaced with blushes on your cheeks.

And each time you spend with him, your feelings for him grow. He becomes the highlight of your day, the cherry on the top of your sundae, your shelter when you’re rained on. He is one of your closest friends.

So after days of waiting for you outside the shop, he waits inside these days. Rosé and Rosé’s mom happily accept him, since he is not just sitting around. Yoongi always finds a way to help Rosé’s mom, either with her point-of-sale machine, or her phone, or just listening to her stories. And Rosé? She always teases the both of you. She flirts at him at first, but after getting to know him, she stops. Maybe she finds a thing or two when she looks the way you and Yoongi look at each other.

“So I just tap this button and they’ll deliver my food?” Mrs. Park corrects her glasses and looks closely at her phone.

“Yes, you can just input your credit card numbers here or just pay for it when they deliver it,” Yoongi explains as he points to the screen.

Mrs. Park nods and smiles. “I understand it now. You make a good teacher, Yoongi. Rosé would never teach me this.”

“I heard that!” Rosé emerges from the back and rolls her eyes. “I taught her so many times but she never understands! It’s not my fault that she’s a bad student! Back me up here, Y/N!”

“I’m not joining your feud, Rosé. You are my best friend, but she is the one who pays me, so...” You shrug, gaining laughter from Yoongi.

“See? She is not patient at all!” Mrs. Park shakes her head.

The bickering with Rosé and her mom continues, but you don’t even pay any attention to them, as your eyes fall on Yoongi. He wears a brown coat with a hoodie inside, not his usual work attire. His hair is wet, maybe because he got caught in the rain as he arrived at the shop. “I thought you were coming from work,” you say as you turn the chairs.

He rises from his seat and follows you. “I did. It's a casual Friday. What do you want to eat tonight?”

“I’m fine with anything.” Your hand stops and you turn to face him. “But at least I’ll pay for tonight?”

Yoongi folds his arms. “Hmm. Nope.”

You pout. “Come on. I saved so much money because you paid for the dinners before. Let me pay, please?”

He smiles and pats your head. “Let’s see later.”

“Okay lovebirds let’s go home,” Rosé calls from the door. “I need to close the door.”

Yoongi puts up the last chair and pushes you out the door, ignoring the fact that your cheeks reddened. And you mentally take a note to kick her ass. Can she be a little more explicit about it?

Rosé walks to your side and lets Yoongi help her mom closing the shop. “Sorry to disturb you two. I promise I’ll let you borrow the shop next time,” she whispers and winks.

You hit her shoulder lightly. “Can you stop it?”

“Oh right, that reminds me. I got a job for you.” She drags you to the side, knowing the fact that you don’t want Yoongi to know about another job you’d take. “My friend’s brother wants someone to deliver a package to his downtown office. Apparently the last time they used a courier the packages were somehow broken. The package is antique and pricey, so they want someone they can trust. He wanted me at first, but I have class that day. You’re free on Wednesday, right?”

“I think I am.” You raise one of your eyebrows. “It isn’t something weird, right?”

“I don’t think so. I searched the store, and it is really just an antique store owned by an old man. And he doesn’t do deliveries, only pick up. But my friend’s brother doesn’t have time to pick it that day. The pay is good for just that simple job; he looks desperate.”

You nod. “Fine if you’d say so. Just text me the details later.”

“Done, come on let’s go home!” Mrs. Park opens her umbrella and runs to the street. “See you kids!”

“Mom, wait for me! I’ll text you, Y/N! See you around, Yoongi!” Rosé waves and runs after her mom leaving you and Yoongi alone in front of the shop.

You remove your backpack and put it over your head, ready to run in the rain. “So where did you park your car?”

He pulls you from the street. “It’s a little far from here. I’ll get my car.” He puts up his hoodie and zips his coat.

But before he steps out, you stop him. “Why? We should just run together. It’s just a little rain.”

“That little rain is gonna make you sick afterwards.”

You squint your eyes and move closer to him. “But isn’t it more romantic? And why do you think you won’t get sick?”

He laughs and tucks your hair behind your ear. “There’s nothing romantic about it. It’s just plain stupid. And I’m just stronger than you.”

“It’s just more efficient!” you pout. “And you’re just older and taller.”

He takes a deep breath and looks at the street. “I’m just being nice here! Just stop stopping me from taking care of you.”

You can’t help the corners of your mouth twitching and you at least hide it by biting your lips. “Fine.” You step a little closer to him, your chests almost touching. “If you keep doing this, you’ll have a difficult task to lose me afterwards! I’ll stick on you like a troublesome gum under your shoes, or worse, I’ll bug you whenever I want. Do you really want that?”

Yoongi looks down to find your face is just inches away from touching. He gulps awkwardly, never having been so close with you like this before. He enjoys it, with you just a few breaths away from him. How he can count the lashes of your eyelids and how he can see his reflection on your eyes. He enjoys it so much, to the point that he wants to remove any distance as his eyes carefully focus on your pale pink lips.

But he gains his composure, still not wanting to back away from you but keeping his distance. He pinches the tip of your nose softly and smiles, displaying his pink gums to you. “I don’t think I’d want to lose you anyway. I’ll let you stick on me happily and I’ll even give you a name, little bug.”

You gasp and back away from him, jaw dropped and clench your chest, acting hurt “Like a pet?” you ask jokingly.

He laughs and squishes your cheeks. “Just wait for a minute okay?” He runs into the rain, ignoring how you call for him.

You wonder why every time you speak with him, you always lose. Not that it isn’t a bad thing. Like when you put a lot of chilies into spicy noodles and he warned you. Maybe it’s the first time you won an argument with him, even though it was barely an argument. It’s just you being so stubborn and he's just as concerned with you. He let you do what you wanted and as a result you couldn’t even finish half your noodles. He even had to run to a store to buy milk just so you could tone down the spiciness. After that, you were sure that Yoongi knows the future or maybe you’re just plainly stupid.

Therefore, you always do what he says. But that doesn’t mean you will stop disagreeing with him. You do enjoy every little bickering you have with Yoongi and somehow he lets you too. You know that he does all of those things because he genuinely cares for you. Well, at least it’s your own instincts. Both of you never speak about it out in the open.

But you notice how his eyes are drawn to your lips and you see his dilated pupils up close. You’ve never been so sure before: you do have an attraction to each other and the chemistry just falls into place.

But that doesn’t mean you want to let him pay for your dinner.

Tonight, you’ll make sure that you pay faster than him.

“Y/N?” a hoarse voice breaks into your thoughts.

The rain is still falling, raining even harder than before, clouding the surroundings and makes it harder to see who’s calling out to you. You can only see a black silhouette from the corner of your eyes as he moves closer to where you stand. The man stands before you, drenched from head to toe. You just look at him weirdly. A thought sneaks into your mind that maybe the man wasn’t calling you and you’re just hallucinating, and the man is maybe only staying out of the rain, waiting for it to stop.

But the man keeps staring at you even though you turn to look at the street. “How are you?” His voice is sharper than the harsh rain, sending shivers through your spine, not because of his tone, but because you know the owner of the voice. Your eyes widen and you step back unconsciously. Your hands tremble and the backpack falls from your hand.

The man laughs cynically. “So you do still remember me.” He steps forwards slowly. “I still think about you, you know.”

He reaches out his hand to touch your cheek and you freeze, not knowing what to do. And he realizes it too, as he grins bigger and his steps grow more confident.

Tears threaten to fall from the corner of your eyes, clouding your vision. You want to yell but every time you open your mouth you can’t find any voice coming out. You feel weak and disgusted with the way his calloused fingers touch you.

Suddenly a hand swats his arms away from you, and a figure stands in front of you. “Who the fuck are you?” You feel a huge rush of relief filling you as you realize the newcomer is Yoongi. His eyes glare at your stalker, looking ready to ambush him. Yoongi steps slowly closer to the man, his hands balled into fists. “I said, Who the fuck are you and what are you doing touching my woman with those filthy hands?”

But the man doesn’t answer, he just hisses and then runs from your sight.

Usually, as an agent, Yoongi will run after suspects and capture them. He would send the man to the police so that he’ll be processed by law and won’t bother you anymore. Usually he won’t stop until he’s sure that the man is in jail.

But he isn’t an agent right now.

He is just Min Yoongi.

He’s just a man whose heart aches when he sees your pale face before him. He’s just a man who doesn’t want to leave your side just so he can catch some criminals.

He’s just a man who immediately pulls you into his chest to hold you and let you know that you’re safe with him now.

“It’s okay now.” He strokes your back as your tears finally fall. “I’m sorry I left you alone. I’m sorry.” He repeats each sentence in a soothing tone, hoping they’ll turn into a spell that will stop your tears and your shaking body.

You sob in silence as his warmth envelops you. He holds you close to his heart and you can feel it calming you down. You gather all of your strength to open your mouth and to let out two words that you mean with all your heart. “Thank you.”

Your voice sounds weaker than ever, he notices. He cups your face gently, lifting it so he can see you clearly. Your crying has stopped, and he uses his thumb to brush the tears away. With every touch he makes, he wants you to forget what happened, he wants you to just look at him and only him.

“Can we go home now?” you ask softly; your voice cracks.

His eyebrows crease in worry. He pulls you into another hug, to brush his lips on the top of your head, so light that you don’t even notice it. “Of course, little bug. Let’s go home.”

It’s not the first time you let Yoongi come into your studio apartment. He sometimes brings over some food, wanting you to eat with him when you have no energy left to eat out. He grumbled at first, surveying your small room, compared to his two-bedroom apartment. You didn’t want him to be uncomfortable, so you suggested that both of you should just go to his room, but he somehow made himself at home by jumping on your bed and reading any books you left on your nightstand. And you just can’t stop him. Not when he was trying his best to force you to eat some food.

But tonight is different. You’re emotionally drained and Yoongi noticed it too since you don’t have any energy left to protest. So he forces you to take a warm bath. As soon as the door shuts behind you, he looks for something to eat in your small kitchen , only to find that all you have are some packs of instant noodles. He doesn’t want you to eat such unhealthy food this late, but at least you’d eat something and it’s better than nothing.

“I’m fine, Yoongi.” you smile weakly, as you finish the broth 30 minutes later.

He pushes you over to the bed after eating. “I know, but I also know that you need plenty of rest.”

“I’ll be fat if I sleep after I eat,” you gripe, but still you snuggle into your bed, moving your body to find a comfortable position.

“I don’t mind. I’ll still accept you,” he says softly as he pulls your blanket to cover you up.

You look at him with a hope in your eyes as you reach your hand to hold his hand, “can you please stay with me? At least until I am asleep?”

Yoongi actually wasn’t on casual Friday. He had been on a mission, and he’s actually pretty tired. All he wanted was just some sleep and maybe some whiskey before that to take the edge off. But with your small hand wrapped in his, his heart thumps, and he doesn’t even care about anything except you. “Sure.”

And so he’s there, sitting on the floor, your lumpy second-hand orange area rug cutting into his legs, watching you as you fall asleep, watching as your breaths even out and your grip in his hand weakens. He carefully removes your hand from his and tucks it inside your blanket. He should close the curtains so your room is darker, but the way the moon shines brightly and accentuates every part of your face just makes him crazy for you. And knowing that bastard was there to touch your beautiful face only angers him even more.

He knows the man. It’s the same stalker who followed you a month ago in the store. It’s the one whom you described as an obsessive ex-boyfriend. But actually, he doesn’t feel like it. Yoongi thinks that the man is way more complicated than an ex-boyfriend who wants to get back together. Call it an instinct.

He needs to know more about it so he can protect you. It’s the only thing he wants: to keep you safe at all costs.

He knows that you’ve finally accepted his help for small things but at the same time he also notices that there’s still an invisible wall between the two of you, whether you know it or not. A wall that prevents him from helping you any further, a wall that conceals all of your problems away from others, keeping them for yourself. He knows that you do it because you are an independent woman, even though by doing so you’re worrisome, and he loves that trait in you. But he wants you to understand that it’s okay to ask help from people and he’ll be there when you need it.

He tucks your hair away from your peaceful face and sighs. If only you looked like this every time I see you. I don’t want anything anymore. He leans in and kisses your forehead softly, afraid of waking you up.

Maybe it’s just a matter of time until you finally fully open your heart to him. Maybe it’s just a matter of time when you can lean on him completely.

If only you’d let me

Read more about The Company here

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