My face was on fire, my heart pounding dangerously fast, and I was keenly aware of every nerve in my skin. I took a few long, slow, deliberate breaths as I leaned against the bathroom door, having just closed it behind me, leaving Yoongi to finish his work. It was a battle inside my brain, a dilemma on whether or not to think about what had just happened. It would have been easier to just pretend that what happened behind that door was nothing at all, but I didn’t have that much emotional control. All at once, my chest was overwhelmed with feelings of joy, hope, embarrassment, fear, and doubt. I was getting ahead of myself- nothing had actually happened. But what if Namjoon hadn’t shattered the moment? Would anything have happened? There was no way of knowing. I needed to push the hypotheticals out of my mind. There was only one thing I knew for sure: I would not be able to survive my ordeal without Yoongi’s trust and friendship. So maybe it was for the best that nothing happened. Not to even mention how complicated it would make my situation, considering my continued physical relationship with Jungkook. But why, then, did my heart want nothing more than to tell Namjoon to off and return to the dusty bathroom at my back. My time to think and recover was cut short, however, when Namjoon spotted me. He looked a little bit frazzled, and it was certainly early for him to be home by his usual standards. In only a few very long strides on those unnaturally long legs of his, he approached me, his wide, expressive face full of confusion and surprise. Namjoon brought a large hand up to my neck, his skin feeling alarmingly cool against my blush. “You feeling okay? Your face is a little red.”

“Uh, yeah,” I stammered, trying to calm my head, shaking it slightly as I managed to speak, “We were just, um, finishing up that wall repair,” I explained slowly, choosing my words as if I were trying to cover up a murder. Well, I was certainly trying to cover up something, it was just unclear exactly what that something was.

“Right, right, whatever,” Namjoon brushed me off, clearly unconcerned with my unease. Taking his hand off of my neck, he tugged me by the sleeve towards the center of the room, where the rest of the boys were still sorting through our new stash of supplies like it was Christmas morning. I thought he was going to stop there, but instead he pulled me all the way across the room to Jin’s cot in the corner by the door, with Jin sitting up in it against the wall. “Zoey,” Namjoon dropped his voice to a low whisper, clearly intending to keep the conversation between the three of us.

Jin’s full, but petite smile was reassuring. “Just assume I know everything he knows,” he murmured, nudging Namjoon gently in the side once he was seated on the cot.

I lowered myself slowly to sit on the edge, unsure of what this was about. In search of answers, I looked expectantly at Namjoon, raising my eyebrows. “Zoey, there’s a construction crew on its way. Jae told me to ask you about it,” he spoke quickly, his wide eyes searching my face, his voice quick and urgent.

“Oh,” I instinctively responded, sitting up a little straighter when I was hit with the words. “He didn’t tell you about the radiator?” It was honestly surprising that the subject didn’t come up in the morning meeting at the government headquarters. Then again, maybe Jae had wanted to keep it mostly quiet. I silently thanked the man.

“Radiator?” It was Jin who parroted the word, scooting slightly closer to me, leaning his arms against his knees. “Like a heater?”

I hummed and nodded, a smile creeping up on my face once I realized what the whole thing was about. The shenanigans with Yoongi were finally out of my mind, and instead I was able to deliver some good news. “Yeah, I convinced Jae that Jungkook and I might be more cooperative if we weren’t freezing to death in here,” I might have sounded just a touch more smug than I needed to be, but I was certainly proud of myself.

Namjoon didn’t smile. Instead, he just stared at me for a long moment. “Does Jungkook know about this?” he asked, not nearly as enthused as I would have hoped or expected.

“Ah,” I stalled for a moment, “I figured I’d wait until he was all warm and cozy to spring it on him.”

Jin gave Namjoon another jab to the side, causing him to squirm violently. Jin simply laughed, “See Namjoon? She’s got this under control.” Jin’s almond eyes met mine, and his face relaxed into that incredibly kind smile that always set me at ease. It was always particularly calming to know Jin was in my corner. And this time was particularly poignant since apparently Namjoon had been anxious about this. Not that I could blame him- I wasn’t expecting to be the one to spring the news of the radiator installation on him. I had mostly avoided bringing it up in case it didn’t happen. The last thing I wanted to do was to get the boys’ hopes up just to have them be dashed if the deal fell through.

“And all this stuff,” Namjoon gestured past me to the supplies in the middle of the floor, still being picked through by Hobie, Taehyung, and Jungkook. “How did you swing that one?” He was certainly less pleased than I had expected. His questioning almost sounded accusatory.

I recoiled slightly at the question, totally taken aback by his surprising attitude, “I just told the new warehouse manager who I was,” I explained carefully, looking to Jin for help, but he just gave me a tiny shrug.

“You know whose jurisdiction supply lines is?” Namjoon shot right back at me. Still, he was pressuring me, and I wasn’t sure why. His eyes were dark and intense, as if he were willing me to have all of the answers as he leaned forward slightly towards me.

I thought for a moment, trying to recall something- anything relating to his question. And then it hit me. My heart sank. “Mr. Shin,” I breathed the name more than spoke it, my pride and joy rushing out of my body like the wind had been knocked out of me. Mr. Shin was not a fan of me, nor was he a fan of what I was trying to do. He was a suspicious man, despite his outward boisterous and extroverted demeanor. Telling him that I scared the out of his newest manager was not going to be particularly easy or pleasant.

Namjoon’s face finally relaxed, falling into a pitiable little smile. “I’m glad you’re doing all of this for us,” his voice was gentle, “but be careful. I promised I’d be with you every step of the way, but you’ve kind of gone rogue here.” He gave a little, hollow laugh with his words, his flexible brows inclining just slightly to emphasize his point.

A sigh escaped my lips as I looked down at my hands, “Yeah, I know,” I admitted quietly. Desperate to change the subject, I looked back up at him, “You said the crew is on its way already?”

“Oh, yeah,” he was visibly caught off guard by my abrupt subject change. “Do you mind getting Yoongi? I’m sure he’ll want to observe the construction,” he leaned forward, scooting forward on the cot in order to swing his long legs over the frame.

I opened my mouth to protest, but I had no legitimate reason to. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, I nodded stiffly, “Yeah, sure.” I glanced over to Jin again, not exactly sure what I was searching for, but his soft smile was reassuring anyway.

Hauling himself up onto his feet, Namjoon turned to look down at Jin and me, smiling sadly, “I have to get back. Make sure Yoongi doesn’t micromanage the poor guys.” He reached out, letting a large, warm hand rest on the top of my head for a moment. “I’ll try to run interference with Shin, but I’m sure he’ll have words for you,” he murmured before giving my head a playful little shake, messing up my hair.

Indignantly, I reached up to fix it as Namjoon walked away laughing, but it brought a smile to my face. “He’s just worried about you, you know,” Jin’s voice startled me, breaking through the moment, my face falling. When I turned to look at him, he was beaming, extending an arm out to me. With a little shake of my head, I scooted back into h