Warning! What some might call a violent/trigger scene is in this chapter so take notice! (It’s not that violent but just putting a warning just in case)

 

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Pushing open the door of the local mart, Yoongi ignored the part-timer’s greeting and headed straight to the drink section where the green of the alcohol bottles were waiting. Since this place was just a small shop situated in an alleyway, it wasn’t strict about checking for IDs when buying alcohol, and Yoongi was thankful for that. After paying for a few bottles, he headed out, clinking noises coming from inside the black plastic bag he carried in his hand.   As he walked down the dark street mindlessly, he found he was heading toward the workshop he had been working in just a few months ago and stopped in his tracks. The day he quit wasn’t such a nice memory so Yoongi shook his head violently and turned around. But before he could take a step, a voice called his name.   “Yoongi-ssi!”   Turning back around cautiously, Yoongi was caught off guard to see Hyeil running across the road towards him, waving her hand above her head.   “Yoongi-ssi!” she repeated when she reached him, breathing deeply to catch her breath, “I thought it was you but I wasn’t too sure,” she gave him a small smile, and Yoongi smelled the faintest scent of alcohol on her breath, “Why aren’t you coming out to the workshop nowadays? I looked for you every time I went.”   He didn’t know how to answer that and so resorted to try and change the subject. “Have you been drinking?”   Hyeil blinked at him a few times before breaking into a grin. “Is it obvious?” she giggled, “I only had a little. Just one bottle.” She held up a finger as if to prove her point.   Yoongi averted his eyes to the ground and shifted his weight onto his left side, making the bottles inside the plastic bag he was carrying clink. At the sound, Hyeil bent down to see inside the bag and before he could hide it behind his back, she discovered the alcohol.   “Oh! You were going to drink too, Yoongi-ssi? Let’s drink together! I was feeling lonely by myself,” she pouted and looked up at him.   Does she not know how old I am? He thought as he stared down at her.   Unable to say no, he reluctantly agreed to which Hyeil clapped her hands in joy. “Let’s go over there!” she pointed to somewhere behind him, so Yoongi turned around to see what it was.   He almost dropped the plastic bag. It was a bright red neon sign of a motel.   “Come on!” Hyeil grabbed his other hand and started running to where she had pointed.   ~~   Namjoon bowed to the back of a car leaving the gas station and headed toward the small office building. Thankfully there had been no demanding customers today, so he was in a pretty good mood. Also it was his salary day. Finally he could give his brothers money for the school books they needed. And maybe he could spare a few dollars to buy some ddukbokki on the way home.   Smiling at the thought, Namjoon knocked on the door to his boss’s office and entered upon consent. His boss was watching TV when he came in, and the said man nonchalantly gestured toward a white envelope sitting at the corner of his desk. Namjoon silently took it and bowed to his boss before exiting. Closing the door behind him, he immediately opened the envelope and counted the money inside.   It was ten dollars short of what he was required to receive. Thinking he had counted wrong, Namjoon counted again but still came up ten short. Surely his boss had made a mistake.   Knocking on the office door again, he was greeted with a grumpy ‘what’ and carefully opened the door to see his boss looking at him with unhappy eyes.   “Sir, I think you miscounted how much you put in here. I counted two times and I kept coming up ten dollars short,” Namjoon said as politely as possible.   His boss raised an eyebrow intimidatingly. “And I think you just counted wrong. Now get out.” He turned in his chair toward the TV and waved his hand to the door lazily.   “No, sir, I’m pretty sure it’s ten short. Do you want to count it yourself?” Namjoon stood his ground and stared at the back of his boss’s head, trying not to grit his teeth. He didn’t understand why his boss was being like this. He had never given him less than his well-deserved wages before.   “What did I just tell you?” The voice of the older man was cold as he continued to sit with his back to Namjoon, “Get out. Or I’ll fire you.”   Wanting to argue but unable to with his job on the line, Namjoon left the room, almost slamming the door behind him. Sighing, he looked inside the envelope again and decided to try talking to him again tomorrow. Hopefully he would be in a better mood.   After getting his stuff from the employee room, Namjoon stepped out into the night and headed home. It looked like he wouldn’t be able to get that ddukbokki after all.   ~~   “Go and study now.”   The voice of Hoseok’s mother was cold as she stood up from the table without a single glimpse at him. Hoseok looked down at his barely-touched dinner plate and sighed.   Back in his room, Hoseok took out workbooks from his shelf and placed them with a thud on top of his desk. He had gotten two questions wrong on a math test two days ago, and his mother was still giving him the cold shoulder. Sighing again, Hoseok reluctantly opened a workbook and grabb