When Piyoon arrived home, her parents greeted her like normal and the Sapphires greeted her with a smile. Why? Because the abandoned Sapphire was nowhere to be seen. She pulled Riley to the side. "Where's Jungkook?"

"He didn't come back." That was all it took for her to go running out the house. She ran around the perimeter to see if he was loitering anywhere but he wasn’t there. She didn’t feel his presence at all so she ran towards the city. She had an idea where he would go so sprinting this time, she took a sharp turn into the large alley and stopped. The only sound that echoed in that alley was her heavy breathing. For the first time, she ran ten minutes straight which was a record. During Phys. Ed she couldn't even run a full track twice and that barely takes five minutes.

Piyoon took out her phone and let it light her view. Stopping at a specific alley she shone her light there but to her disappointment, he wasn't there. "You really know me." She jumped at the voice behind her and whirled around to see him two feet away from her. This Sapphire was smiling. Seeing that Jungkook was perfectly fine, her body felt lighter and her legs gave out. Before she could touch the ground, Jungkook caught her by the arms. "Are you okay?" he asked in frantic concern. 

"Can you please let go? I don't think I have the energy to stand."

He looked at the wet ground and bit his lip in contemplation. He didn't want her to get her clothes dirtied so he gently pushed her against the wall and said, "Hold on to the wall for a couple seconds." Before she could even ask why, he let go and knelt down in front of her. "Get on."

She stared at his back, confused as to why he even offered. His head turned to face her. "I'll carry you home." She shook her head. "I'll get home myself. You should worry about getting back without being seen."

"I don't care about what they think. No Napper can't take me when I'm with you. If I'm anywhere with you, I'm safe." She immediately softened. He must think really highly of her to say that. Abandoned Sapphires usually fend for themselves and avoid the eyes of the public but this Sapphire was risking his life basically just to walk her home. She didn't like it. She didn't like his carelessness. If Nappers were to notice him, they wouldn't hesitate. Sure, the law will protect her but it won't protect him if anything happens.

She walked in front of him and jumped up and down. "There's no need. See? I'm better." Her legs ached as she jumped but she tried to keep a poker face on. She is going to have a long hot bath once she gets home.

He stood back up and asked, "Are you sure? I can give you a ride back."

She shook her head. "You head back first. I'll watch you from behind." He looked unsure. He was sure her legs were dead tired because from what he's observing, she ran all the way there. He took a step towards her and wiped the sweat off her face with his sleeve. Piyoon's heart pounded against her chest and it rang in her ears. She never had a boy that close to her. Although he's a Sapphire, he’s a boy and a handsome boy at that. "Don't stay too far away. I'll be checking you." He looked at her one last time before exiting the alley.

She let out a loud sigh and held on the wall for support. Her legs felt like jelly and her heart ached. She didn't know if she was able to make it home. Taking a deep breathe, she exited the alley and followed Jungkook from behind.

He wasn't that far. He was trying to blend in with the public to the point where she almost lost view of him and panicked before his head popped up a second after. He kept looking back to check up on her and noticed she was walking at a really slow pace. The sun was going to set down soon and if they were going at that pace, they wouldn't arrive home any time before dinner.

So, he disobeyed her orders and rushed towards her. Her feet stopped once she saw him heading back. Jungkook stopped right in front of her and said, "Get on when I count to three, okay? Or I'll force you. One. Two. Three." He spun around and knelt down in front of her. Her brain hadn't process what happened so she stood there like a statue. Like he promised, he forced her on his back by grabbing her legs and pulling them forward so she could fall on his back.

Piyoon gasped as she fell on top his back. Her arms automatically wrapped around his neck when he got up and ran down the street. "Jungkook!" she hissed. She tried to cover the sides of his face with her hands but it was no use because her arms kept flailing around like a crazy person. She gave up and wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight.

They arrived back in less than ten minutes. He set her down gently in front of the door. It didn't seem like he ran a marathon because he wasn't breathing heavily or at all but because his hair was messily parted in half from the wind, she laughed. He looked at her, confused so she reached up and tousled his bangs to give it that careless young boy look that he approached her with. He didn't know what was funny but laughed along. 

"What time is it?" she asked.

The Sapphire looked up at the sky and said, "Fifteen minutes after 6."

She cursed inwardly about being late for dinner. She was never late for dinner without notice. Hopefully, she could just sneak in and pretend she was in her office or something. That would have worked if Jimin didn't holler out "Piyoon's home!" when she opened the door. She cursed him, too and headed to the kitchen where the family and the Sapphires were around the dinner table.

Her mom stared at her with a frown. "Where did you run off to? We were waiting."

"Uh..." She didn't know what to say. Should she tell the truth or make something up? What about Jungkook? They would find out either way. She couldn't hide it from them. The problem is, will she have to lie about him? Her parents are people who don't treat Sapphires as tools like most people do. They treat them as friends - as family but the thing is, only if the Sapphire is theirs. She concluded that they would never allow an abandoned Sapphire in the house and she made it final that she wouldn't leave him out on the streets. She looked at Jungkook and he stared back. Then, he realized what she was going to say. Before he could even run towards the door, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her. She faced her family and said, "I found my Sapphire."

Her parents' face lit up while the Sapphires' were the opposite. Riley frowned in disapproval, disappointed at how accurate his prediction was and Jimin looked away, his hands clenched into fists on top the table. Jungkook stared at her in surprise. He tried to pull away from her grasp but she wouldn't let go. He didn't want that to happen. He never wanted her to claim him as her own. It was wrong, he knew. He believed he had no right to pose as her Sapphire when he was something his human threw away. He thought he would just pose as her friend that ran away but never did he think she would say that.

"Wow, that's great!" her dad exclaimed. "I heard the riddle from your mom and it seems like you found him quick!" Her dad stood up and approached him. He held out his hand and introduced himself. "My name's Yongil. I am Piyoon's father."

Jungkook immediately grabbed his hand with both of his. "My name is Jungkook." Her dad laughed and said, "He's humble." It was Piyoon's mom's turn to introduce herself. "My name is Taerin." Again, he grabbed her welcoming hand with both of his. Her parents invited him to sit with them at the dinner table. They gestured him to sit beside Jimin but instead Piyoon pushed him to the seat beside her mom. She looked at Jimim but he didn't meet her eyes. She noticed his clenched hands on the table and when she tried to grab his arm, he pulled away. Although she thinks he's annoying and a brat, he's still her friend and it saddened her. 

For some reason, Jungkook felt her pain. He felt his body tingle and his chest ache so he looked at Piyoon to see her turned to Jimin. "So, where did she find you?" Yongil asked.

He turned his attention back to her parents and added, “In an alley.”

"Piyoon," Taerin called. She looked away from Jimin and to her mom. "I told you not to go through the city when you get home. What were you even doing there are this kind of time? You could have gotten hurt!"

"But I found my Sapphire," she replied, hoping to distract her anger. "That's all that matters." It worked. Her mom smiled at Jungkook. She told the other Sapphires to introduce themselves, which they did, pretending they never met before. "My name is Riley." Again, Jungkook reached out with both his hands.

"Jimin," the other introduced without sparing a glance.

"That's no way to speak in front of a new family member!" her human chided. His hands clenched harder and he might have let out a small growl. "It's okay, mom," Piyoon interrupted. "I might have made him really angry earlier."

"What did we tell you about fighting?" her dad nagged. "Can you two please stop arguing for once?" "I'll try..." Maybe that could be a possibility since she felt he wouldn't talk to her after this. After the introductions, she and her parents ate dinner while talking to the Sapphires who sat around the table. Riley acted like nothing happened while Jimin had it stitched all over his face.

Finally, that weird dinner finished. Piyoon headed to her room with Jungkook following close behind. She jumped on her bed, face flat down on her comforter. He closed the door behind him as watched her. He waited five minutes but she didn't even move from her spot so he flipped her over to see tears falling down. "Piyoon!" he called in panic.

She quickly wiped her tears and sat up. "I need to ask my parents if you could sleep in my room from now on. Jimin won't sleep on his bed if you're there." She stood up, only to be pulled down by him.

"Why are you crying?" he asked.

"I yawned."

"Please don't lie to me. I felt it when you were looking at Jimin downstairs. You were sad."

"I really yawned. Plus, Jimin always makes me sad. He's the worst." She got up and exited her room, closing the door behind her. Another couple tears rolled down her cheeks before she headed to the washroom to clear herself of any negative emotions. Stupid Jimin.

After permission from her parents, he was able to sleep in her room. It was one in the morning but, she wasn't able to sleep. The abandoned Sapphire was sleeping soundly beside the foot of her bed. She headed downstairs to get something to eat, concluding that dinner wasn't filling enough. She stopped short when she saw a silhouette in the living room. She squinted and noticed it was Jimin on the couch. She didn't know why he decided not to sleep in his own bed and she didn't want to wake him up to tell him to go upstairs.

She the light in the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the dining table. She sat down and stared into space while she ate her snack. "Why did you do it?" She stopped eating and turned to the living room. She stayed silent for a couple seconds before realizing he was sleep talking so she continued eating. "Why did you do it?" This time, he sat up from the couch and looked at her. They had a staring contest for a few seconds. She broke it first, left her apple on the counter and tried to escape upstairs but Jimin was too fast for her. Before she could step on the stairs, he blocked her way. She refused to look at him in the eyes.

"Why did you say that? Why did you lie to your parents?" he asked again.

"...if I didn't, he would have to live outside."

"And what does that matter to you? He's not your Sapphire. What if he's a shady character? What if he's going to kill you at night? He's not even yours. You don't even know him." He wanted to scream at her for being so stupid. He didn't only want to protect his human, he wanted to protect her, too. From the choice she made it was going to be difficult to do so.

"How did you know Mom was your human?" she asked. He didn't answer. "Did you have a tingly feeling on your skin when you noticed her? Did she stop and backtrack to see what caused her to stop? You were in hiding before you met her. You know that you had to hide yourself from the public. For Jungkook, it was the same but he had to hide twice. He wouldn't have easily shown himself to me if there wasn't something between us and you know that. What if he was really meant for me and fate decided to mix things up?" She slipped by him when she knew he had nothing else to say. She stopped on the second step and said, "I'm sorry for hurting you but I can't let him go." She headed to her room and lied back in her bed.

Jungkook felt her sadness and woke up. He sat up and called her name. "Are you okay?"

"I had a bad dream," she replied. "Go back to sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"...yeah. Goodnight, Jungkook."

When Piyoon woke up the next day, Jungkook wasn't awake yet. She got up and walked into the washroom before heading downstairs into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, she found Riley in front of the stove as always. "Good morning," he said while he flipped the omelette. "Good morning," she replied back. She sat down at the dining table and watched him cook. On the other side, she heard the TV on meaning Jimin was enjoying his morning cartoons. She would rather not think of him so she didn't look to see what he was watching. Riley placed the plate in front of her and she thanked him.

"Did he behave last night?" Riley asked suddenly. She looked up. "Who?"

"The abandoned one."

Piyoon sighed, "He's not a criminal. He hasn't done anything to hurt to anybody. I don't understand why you and Jimin don't like him. I feel an attraction to him, he feels an attraction to me and although he is not my Sapphire, he obeys. He would never harm me in any way."

"I know he will not hurt you, Piyoon, but think about it. There are people out there who hunt down abandoned Sapphires. Hunters have a sixth sense; they can sense them. Those people will take him away, use him as a slave or sell him. I know you. I know you will try to protect Jungkook and I am telling you right now, he is not worth protecting. Think about your Sapphire out there. It's waiting for you. If you decide to register the abandoned Sapphire, your Sapphire will be tracked down and get dismantled."

She winced at the word 'dismantled' and lost her appetite. Riley is speaking the truth. If someone registers a Sapphire that they're not fated to be with, the other Sapphire will die. Those who don't want to search for their Sapphire buy from the black market and once that Sapphire is registered, the Sapphire he or she was meant to be with dies.

Standing up from the chair, she grabbed a bottle of water. "I'll be in the office." As she walked up, Riley called, "Do what you think is right."

Piyoon entered her parents' office and searched for a certain book. She remembered it being on the lower shelf, out of alphabetical order. Finally, she found it. She pulled it out of the shelf and placed it down on the desk. This is the book she read so many times. It was basically her bible. Whenever she had the chance, this was the book she'd read. The book contains everything there is to know about Sapphires. The book had been passed down from generation to generation with notes on the sides of the pages, highlighted words and even doodles she drew in herself.

Every generation had written a bit about the Sapphires themselves. This time, she didn't take out her favourite pen to draw in it. This time, she was going to add a small note of her own. She checked the table of contents for 'Abandoned Sapphires.' There were already little notes on the sides relating to the topic but none of them was the information she wanted. In the available space she wrote, "An abandoned Sapphire that feels like my own. What could it mean?"

The door opened and she looked up. Piyoon almost laughed. Jungkook had just woken up and his hair was sticking up all over the place. "Good morning," she said.

He nodded and smiled sleepily. "Good morning. Can I come in?" She nodded and told him to sit at the coffee table. "How did you find me?" she asked.

His shoulders lifted up to a shrug. "I just felt it." She smiled. She continued to read through the chapter while Jungkook watched her. He smiled when she bit the inside of her lip as she was thinking about something in deep thought. She felt eyes on her so she looked up and caught him smiling. "You like to eat and you like to sleep a lot. Is there anything I'm missing?" she asked.

He looked to the ceiling like it would give him the answers. "Mm...I like the color black. I like to read. I like cold over hot. I like dark than light. Uh..." Before he could think of anything else, she spoke, "You sound really...evil."

"I'm not!" he quickly corrected with wide eyes. She was only joking but seeing how big his reaction was, she regretted saying such a thing. "I would never hurt you or your family."

She softened and held out her hand. "I know you wouldn't." His shoulders relaxed at once and let out a quick breath of relief. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. "I'll try to protect you. That's the least I can do."

Piyoon nodded and her eyes traveled down his body. "I need to get you new clothes," she said. She contemplated whether or not he was allowed to be seen in public while he was staring at his own clothes like there was nothing wrong. She was going to risk it. She's sure nothing could go wrong in a public place like the mall. "Jungkook, let's go shopping."