It’s not long before Jimin starts buying groceries for Bambam on Mondays. The dinner he cooked last week was sad, to say the least. The boy’s a good cook, but his supply is limited. She never realized how hard it is to make Ramen when he literally didn’t have enough water. Enough is enough, she’d decided that it’s time she takes charge here. Bambam had asked, why do you feel the need to do that, to which Jimin shook her head. If the guest room belongs to her now, Jimin decides, so should the refrigerator.

Bambam saw her passion, and decided to leave the kitchen to her. Jimin would come home with five bags full of groceries for tonight’s dinner. When Bambam nearly fainted at the thought of having to organize all this food, Jimin just raised her eyebrows at how overdramatic he was.

Alas, he left the kitchen to Jimin.

You know, in their ten years of friendship, they’ve gone out to eat a lot. Bambam has cooked for her, she’s invited him out to restaurants, and they’ve gone to friends’ houses together to eat. But never has Jimin cooked for him. Bambam realized this halfway through her cooking process, and something in his gut didn’t trust her to finish it.

You’re so mean to doubt her, Bam had thought, and let Jimin finish making her spaghetti. Just because there’s never been an instance where she’s cooked for you doesn’t mean she’ll burn the place down.

And she didn’t. She didn’t burn his apartment. In fact, the meal looked quite good. She draws for fun, after all, so it was visually exciting. Something in his gut still doubted her skills, but seeing the meal in front of him, he wiped that feeling off and ate happily.

Maybe he shouldn’t have.

The next morning Bambam wakes up under a new bad gut feeling. And it’s not an intuition—his stomach literally hurts. Looking at the clock, he sees that he’s slept longer than usual. , his stomach hurts.

After struggling his way out of bed, he stumbles down the hall. What in the world… his thoughts are interrupted by the sound of groaning in the next room. The guest room. Jimin’s room. When he peeks in, he sees her cradled up on the floor in what looks like actual agony. The same stomach pain, he assumes.

“Jimin, Jimin…” he mumbles as he goes down to shake her awake. “You’re late… for your radio schedule.”

Unlike the slow movements they’ve been making this whole time, Jimin’s head turns to him quickly. She squints at him. “Do I look like I’m going to work today?”

“…Fair enough.”

Her tight glare softens, and she sighs heavily. “Sorry, did my meal up your stomach too?”

Ah, that’s what it was. Bambam nods, then collapses next to her. “Why are you so bad at cooking?”

“Shut up.”

They both suffer the stomachs in silence. Eventually Bambam feels itchy in the legs and forces himself to stand up. “I can muscle past the pain. Can you?”

She shakes her head. “Definitely not. I already have cramps because of my period, this is just extra torture.”

A month ago, Bambam would flinch and become bashful at the sound of that. But he’s become used to her being painfully honest in his home now. He just grabs her blanket and tosses it on top of her. “Just stay in bed today. I’ll run to the pharmacy.”

_____________________________

The studio lights glare on Yerin’s eyes and she somehow feels the need to hold her breath. It’s been a long time since she’s been on a variety show. Jimin was supposed to come appear with her, but overlapping schedules (and, apparently, now she’s sick) got in the way. Which is a shame for Yerin, who normally relies on Jimin for comic relief on these kind of shows. Yerin’s funny herself, she believes, but too shy to show it on camera.

The other guests include Twice and BTS. Looks like Yerin is the only one flying solo in this episode, which only adds to her anxiety. There are people all around, but only she’s alone. Well, not completely—she sees the director approach her with a script.

“Baek Yerin-ssi,” the director starts, “Look, change of plans. Slightly.”

I don’t have to do this show? “What is it?” she asks.

“Well, Twice’s Mina is absent from filming today because of visa issues. That makes Twice an eight-member team today. Because your groupmate Park Jimin-ssi is absent, too, we thought it would make things equal if you teamed up with Bangtan this episode so that you make an eight-member team, too..”

“S-sorry?”

“Well, originally the show’s theme today was gonna be Twice versus Bangtan, as judged by 15&. But with the absences, we’re switching the concept up to Twice versus Bangtan and Baek Yerin. Got it? Got it.”

The director waits not for a reaction and hops off to tell the camera crew. All he leaves behind him is the script, which Yerin picks up and tosses back on the floor as she squats down and sits on the steps to the set stage. Great.

“How rude,” she hears a voice behind her say, then burst into laughter.

She doesn’t need to see his face to know where the cheeky comment came from. “So much energy so early in the morning, Jeon Jungkook-ssi.”

The mentioned Bangtan member takes the sarcastic comment as a compliment. He sits next to her on the narrow stairs. ”And such low energy from you, Baek Yerin-ssi.”

“What do you expect? Jimin’s absent today, I have to fend for myself,” after his face shows confusion, she explains, “My Jimin, not your Jimin.”

“Ah, gotcha. But you’re not fending for yourself, you’re on the BTS team today.”

“All the more reason to fend for myself. No offence, but your fans…