Jin’s timing was atrocious. The following day, Taehyung and Jimin were both up, alert, and incredibly enthusiastic about the idea of going outside to get new clothes. Namjoon really tried to have a touching reunion, but the pair of younger boys were incessant in their need to go shopping. Eventually, Namjoon relented, agreeing to take them himself, leaving me behind to tend to the still unconscious Jin. For me, it was sort of like pet-sitting a turtle. Every once in a while, I poked my head into Namjoon and Jin’s shared room to make sure the guy hadn’t rolled out of bed or stopped breathing. Other than that, though, I spent the majority of my day trying to organize our apartment and prepare for the inevitable mess our three additions would cause. It had been easy with just Namjoon and I- despite offers from Mira and our giant list of neighbors to help us out, I was able to take care of everything myself. Thankfully, Namjoon was almost completely mobile again, Taehyung and Jimin seemed fine, so that only left Jin that really needed intensive care. Still, I now had four mouths to feed instead of just one. As much as I had talked a big game with Namjoon about the kitchen totally being my domain, I did look forward to the prospect of Jin’s return to help in that department.

A noise- faint and distant- caused me to pause as I stared absently into the mostly empty cabinets of the kitchen. I held my breath, staying silent to listen for something, anything that might clue me into what it was. When the sound reached me again, I moved quickly, leaving the room and striding down the hall. Very gently I pushed open the door, peeking into the dim room. “Jin?” I kept my voice quiet, which I quickly realized was pretty dumb to begin with. Either he was still unconscious, in which case it didn’t really matter, or he was awake, in which case I needed to move quickly. When a faint groan came in reply, I practically jumped into action, throwing the door open and flicking on the light. He just had to wake up while Namjoon was gone. An even angrier sounding groan came from Jin, who was very slightly beginning to move. “Woah, woah,” I intercepted him as he attempted to sit up, “Jin, you’ve been unconscious for several days,” I spoke quickly reaching out to touch his arm, careful to avoid the patches of bandages.

“What?” his voice came as a breathy whisper, as if the wind had been knocked out of his lungs. His eyes squinted at me, shielding himself from the sudden influx of light in the room. He was clearly disoriented as he coughed before speaking again, “Zoey?” Slowly, I watched as his eyes relaxed, growing wider as he looked at me. I did my best to share a calming smile, but I could only wait as his mouth hung open. “Zoey!” he finally exclaimed, sitting upright before I could stop him, but he didn’t even wince, his gaze intense as he watched me through the brown fringe of his hair, matted and damp with sweat. “Zoey,” he repeated again, this time more to himself than to me, “Namjoon?” he asked me, his voice rising in desperation.

I could tell his emotions were about to get out of hand, so I moved to sit at the edge of his bed, our legs touching as I reached out to grab his hand, “Namjoon’s fine,” I cooed quietly, doing what I could to sound reassuring, “He’s out with Jimin and Taehyung. They’ll be back soon.”

“Tae, Jimin,” Jin’s face skewed as he processed what I had said. “Where are we?” he finally asked, causing me to involuntarily sigh.

I was getting tired of explaining about Mira and the tower. I felt bad leaving him in the dark, but I was going to delegate the task this this time, “I’ll let Namjoon explain everything later,” I assured him, giving him another gentle pat on the arm. “You got pretty hurt out there,” I desperately changed the subject, “so you need to rest, okay?”

“Okay,” he repeated, his broad shoulders slouching slightly as he continued to relax, comprehending that he was safe, and so were his friends. “Could you get me some water?” he asked meekly as he reached up to rub his face with his oddly double-jointed fingers.

With a little chuckle, I stood, letting my hand linger on his shoulder for a brief moment, “Of course.” As I went returned to the kitchen, a soft knock came at the door. Setting the glass down on the counter, I moved quickly to answer it. It seemed strange, considering Namjoon should have known the door was unlocked and, even if it wasn’t, he had one of the several copies of the key. Still, I beamed as I moved to open the door, anticipating the return of my housemates.

My smile faded when the people on the other side of the doorway were not, in fact, Namjoon, Jimin, and Taehyung. It was Ellen, dressed down in plain civilian clothing, her raven hair tied loosely back at the base of her neck, with just a few stray ringlets hanging loosely around her face. She seemed much smaller out of uniform, though still quite a bit taller than me, though her posture was decidedly more uneasy and timid. Behind her, like a shadow, loomed a particularly serious-looking Kyuhyun, his usual smirk and witty greeting absent as he watched the woman in front of him. “Hey, kid,” Ellen finally greeted me with a little smile, “Is everybody here?”

I blinked, still startled at the sudden appearance, “Uh,” I stalled, glancing past her at the stoic Kyuhyun, then back again. “Namjoon, Tae, and Jimin are out, so it’s just Jin. He actually just woke up,” I explained before stepping aside, gesturing for them to come in if they wanted. Ellen obliged, stepping over the threshold and wandering into the apartment. “He’s in the room first on the left if you want to see him,” I called to her as she hesitated at the hallway intersection. Once she was out of sight, I turned back to Kyuhyun, blocking his way as he stepped to follow her. “Is she okay?”

“What?” he furrowed his brows down at me, looking pointedly at my arm across the doorway, “Ellen? She’s fine, she just wanted to check up on the boys,” he explained indignantly, gingerly pinching my sleeve between his long fingers to move my limb out of his way, his signature smirk finally pulling at his lips. I was relieved to see it. Serious did not particularly suit him, and it caused me to worry.

Sighing heavily, I conceded, letting him enter the family room before closing the door behind us, “That’s not what I meant.” When he turned to raise one dark eyebrow, disappearing into his auburn hair, I continued my explanation, “I mean, she seems a bit,” I hesitated, trying to come up with the best adjective I could find, “Anxious?”

His smile faded as he glanced past me to the empty hallway, ensuring the subject of our conversation was really out of sight before meeting my gaze again. “The first time you met Ellen, she was in uniform, right?” he suddenly asked me.

“Yes,” I answered hesitantly, drawing the word out to about four times as long as it needed to be.

It was his turn to sigh as he gently led me towards one of the couches, his hand gently nudging my back. Once we were seated, he shifted slightly to look at me. “Did you know those super hero stories, where the alter ego is shy and quiet, but once that suit is on, they’re super confident and bold?” he asked, as if it were a totally normal question to ask. I simply nodded, prompting him to continue, “Ellen isn’t so good around strangers or in strange places,” he explained, keeping his low voi