“I like you.”   Nari’s eyes widened. “What?” She hoped she had heard wrong.   Jimin stepped closer and gently held her by the shoulders. He stooped to look straight into her eyes, hoping she wouldn’t hear his thumping heart, and repeated, “I like you, Park Nari.”   She was left speechless. Blood coursed in her ears as she stared at him. She was undoubtedly confused, but only one thing was clear. She decided to act on that.   Jimin let go of her and straightened up. Why wasn’t she saying anything? And why did her expression seem so… conflicted? His heart trembled, not daring to think what that was telling him.   She bit her lip and stepped back, putting some distance between the two of them. He frowned.   “I-I’m really sorry, Jimin,” she stared at the ground as she said this, not having the heart to look him in the eyes, “I can’t return your feelings.”   A weighty silence settled among them. Nari couldn’t look up, truly sorry, yet sure about her words. She didn’t see Jimin’s heart shatter in his eyes.   “I see.”   Surprised at the coldness in his tone, Nari whipped her head up, but Jimin had his head turned away from her.   “Jimin,” she reached out to him, but he avoided her touch.   “Go inside.” He nodded his head toward the building and briskly walked off.   Nari didn’t try to go after him and only stared regretfully at his retreating back until it disappeared.   ~~   Taehyung covered his ears with his hands. However, it didn’t stop.   He screamed in frustration, getting up from his bed. He came out of his room to find his mother on the ground, sobbing. Her hair was messed up, her clothes ripped and torn, her body and face covered with bruises. The familiar anger rose up in Taehyung.   “Stop crying! What did you do right?! Just leave him!”   She continued sobbing, not even looking up at him.   Raking a hand through his hair, he grabbed a blanket from the couch and knelt down to drape it around her. Gently grabbing her arm, he helped her get up.   “Please.. Can’t you just leave him?” his voice broke as he supported her to her bedroom.   “Taehyung,” she sounded weary, “We’ve already talked about this. He’s the one who pays for this house. How are you going to finish school without money?” She broke free from his grip and slumped onto her bed. She looked even more vulnerable.   Raw emotions swirled inside Taehyung. “I don’t need school if it means we’re going to leech off of some jerk because of it! And why does it have to be him?! With your skills, shouldn’t you be able to seduce any other man on the street? That’s what you’ve been doing all your life before meeting him, isn’t it?!” Ignoring the hurt in his mother’s eyes, Taehyung whirled around and ran out of the house.   He was sick of this never-ending cycle.     After wandering the streets and pondering on whether to go left at the familiar crossway, Taehyung came stumbling back to his apartment. However, nothing had changed. The shouts and curses came out muffled through the door.   He sat down next to it, leaning his back on the concrete. The fights were getting more frequent by the day, and the jerk had started getting more violent. Taehyung’s blood boiled at the memory of his mother’s bruises. He didn’t understand why she stayed with that man despite it.   Sighing, he leaned his head back, looking up at the night sky. There were no stars, but the moon shone brightly, such a contrast to his situation.   ~~   Jungkook stuffed his feet into his shoes, ignoring his parents’ calls.   “Jeon Jungkook, where do you think you’re going? We’re not done talking here!”   He opened the front door and slammed it shut behind him, blocking them out. They didn’t understand him, nor did they even try to. He ran out of the building before they could come out after him.     Kicking a can as he walked down the street, Jungkook pondered on where to go. After walking for quite some time without much thought, he looked up and was surprised to see that he was on a familiar street. Yoongi’s workplace would show up soon if he continued on.   Turning the corner, he was once again surprised to see Yoongi himself come out of the store. Jungkook raised a hand and was about to shout his name, but someone following Yoongi out stopped him.   Even though it was evening, he could see the flowing hair and guessed it was a girl. The two people stood outside the store for a bit, chatting. Though he wasn’t sure, Jungkook thought he saw Yoongi smile.   When she left, Jungkook ran up to him before he could go back inside. “Hyung!”   Yoongi looked overly surprised to see him, as if he was hiding something. “Jungkook! What are you doing here?”   Smirking, Jungkook stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I saw that.”   “Saw what?” Yoongi raised an eyebrow at him.   Jungkook gestured with his eyes toward the direction the girl had went. Yoongi followed his gaze, and upon realizing what the younger was implying, he scoffed.   “Who is she, hyung? A girlfriend? Is she pretty? Ow!” Jungkook rubbed his head where Yoongi had hit him.   “She’s just a customer. Control that puberty mind of yours, punk,” even while saying this, Jungkook spotted hints of a smile on Yoongi’s face, “My shift’s over. Wait here while I get my stuff.” He jogged into the store, leaving a very suspicious Jungkook looking after him.     “Come in,” Yoongi said, turning on the light as he walked into the one-room apartment. He placed his bag on the ground and walked over to the only room, gently opening the door. “Grandma, you awake?”   Jungkook shook off his shoes and took in the ratted interior. He had been here numerous times before, but why had he never taken notice of how beat-down it was? It was kind of hard to miss; he cringed at the mildew taking over the back wall.   “Our Jungkook is here, too?” Yoongi’s grandmother came out of the room with a warm smile.   Jungkook remembered why.   He was about to bow, but it was no use as he was gathered in a hug immediately by the older woman. He smiled at the smell of fabric softener and peppermint. “Why did you become skinnier than last time?” She let go of him and held him out at arm’s length. “Should I make you something?”   Yoongi plopped down on the ground next to them and took off his socks. “Don’t, Grandma. You shouldn’t overwork yourself.”   His grandmother reached over to slap him on the shoulder, making him yelp and twist away. “What kind of talk is that to a guest?” She looked back to Jungkook with a smile. “Just sit down for a bit. I’ll make you something good.” She patted him on the shoulder and walked to the small kitchen.   “Grandma! How is he a guest? He comes here almost every week!” Yoongi shouted after her, changing into comfortable clothes, “He might as well live here!”   “Shut your trap, Min Yoongi! Who taught you to talk back to your elders like that?” Her voice came out lively among the clanking pots and pans.   Yoongi smirked and retorted, “You’re the one who raised me! Huh, I wonder who it is?” Hearty laughter responded from the kitchen.   After finishing putting away his clothes, Yoongi lumbered over to her, helping to get the plates down from the higher cabinets. Jungkook lay down comfortably on the spread-out blanket on the ground, grinning at their banter. It was a wonder why he felt happier here than at his own home.   ~~   “Good morning,” Nari said as she sat down in her seat.   Hoseok looked at her with wide eyes. Was she still going to talk to him?   Nari tilted her head at his expression. “Something wrong?” She placed her backpack down, still looking at him.   He shook his head and whipped it back to the book in front of him, trying to focus again. However, he couldn’t contain the smile on his lips and lifted a hand to hide it from her view.     “Jimin!” Nari waved her hand and ran over to him. It was the first time they had seen each other that day; normally, she met him on the way to school, but this morning, he had been nowhere in sight. Even now, he was avoiding her eyes and staring at the floor.   “You’re going to eat lunch, right?” she asked, not knowing why she was being careful in asking this.   “No. I have to practice.” Without another word, he turned and walked away, leaving a bewildered Nari behind him.   She sighed and walked to the cafeteria alone. She had hoped everything would return to normal, but of course, that was asking too much of him. His confession had only been last night after all.   As she waited in line for her food, she could only wish that their friendship wouldn’t break. Looking back to their empty table, she sighed again.   ~~   Taehyung ran out of the building, wiping the angry tears from his cheeks.   He had gone too far this time.   Unable to endure it, Taehyung had escaped from the apartment and was now running down the street, shouting curses into the wind. Ignoring his conscience, he turned left at the crossway. When he came upon the convenience store, he was calmer than before, and he pushed open the door.   Nari almost dropped the ramen she had been stacking in the shelves when she saw him enter. “T-Taehyung?”   At the sight of her in the familiar employee vest, a smile came to his lips. He sauntered over to where she was and bent down to pick up some of the ramen cups. Checking their labels, he pretended not to notice her stare and started putting them where they belonged. She still didn’t move, so he spoke, his eyes roaming the shelves as he organized, “Aren’t you going to do your job?”   She jolted awake from her trance and continued what she had been doing. However, she couldn’t help from taking peeks at him as they arranged the various ramens.   After working in silence for a few minutes, Taehyung brushed his hands off and ruffled Nari’s hair. “I’ll be in there,” he said, pointing to the employees’ room.   Nari stared after him until the door closed. Confused on why he had suddenly shown up after a year of not doing so, she fought the urge to burst in there and instead picked up the empty box to throw it away outside.     An hour