new york city.

Jin was going to pick her up via car to get to the building V worked in. Nari wanted him to come before ten, but she wasn't sure if she'd be ready in time.

She swiped some deodorant on because she felt like she was perspiring.

She shook her head to cast out her distracting thoughts, and slipped on casual flats for shoes. Nari eyed her small feet, quite veiny and scarred from walking barefoot all the time around the house, the same house her two-year-old son was in. And Jihoon liked to break stuff at times. Alice hardly kept track of those things (she couldn't help it).

It felt like a while before Nari carefully put on some makeup, overthinking it many times. She was going to a modeling company's building, so that played a big part in her insecurities. She'd probably walk past gorgeous models with flawless bodies and skin, flaunting everything they had, while she looked like an American tourist model wannabe with thick thighs and awkward curves.

She checked on the antique clock, sitting comfortably on the wall. 9:52.

There was moment of relief, before she remembered. Jihoon.

Nari heard some voices in the living room, so she headed over there, only to see Jin sitting comfortably on one of the chairs, talking to Alice. She forgot how to breathe for a second.

Jin's eyes were wide in surprise. "Jihoonie is Nari-ah's—?"

"Nephew," Nari coughed out, entering the room unceremoniously.

Jin, startled, swiveled his head over to her. "Oh, Nari-ah... I'm sorry about my intrusion, but your mom insisted I come in."

Nari tried to let it go quickly, and sighed. "It's fine. Alice— ahem," she corrected herself, "my mother is like that because we don't have guests often."

Jin glanced around and smiled. "You have a beautiful house. It's like a Japanese wooden house on the hills," he remarked. "With a lot of plants."

"Yeah," she agreed. Nari was actually a little bit happy that she was able to behave more like a normal person with Jin. It was pretty trivial, but it was very heartwarming to her.

"By the way," Jin said, "Alice-nim said something about Jihoon coming with us. Is that true? I mean, I'm asking this because I don't have a carseat for him..."

Nari eyed him scratching his head a bit, and she quietly sighed again. "I don't drive, so I never bought one for him," she confessed. "I'm sorry, but I must bring him. I can't leave him with... eomma for too long."

Jin seemed to ponder for a minute, before snapping his fingers and smiling. "Can I call someone to watch over him?"

Nari froze, clearly uncomfortable. His smile became uneasy. He was ready to take his words back before she nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"Is it... a guy? Wait, that sounded weird—"

"Yes, he's a very nice guy!"

I don't know. Nari averted her eyes. I want to trust Jin-ssi about this, I really do.

"What's his name?" she finally asked.

Jin blinked profusely, and stammered, "Park Jimin. He's younger than me, the same age as V. He's trustworthy, I promise you."

"You can call him and he'll be here? Just like that?"

He nodded. "His work is very flexible."

"Pardon me, but... what does he do?"

"Enough of this talk," Alice interrupted, standing up and making swatting movements with her shaky, veiny hands. "Just go already. Seokjinie, be a dear and call this Park Jimin."

Nari closed her eyes and told herself to let it happen, just this once. If something were to happen, she trusted that Alice would call her about it.

Settling in the car, the first thing Jin asked was, "Where are Jihoonie's parents, since he's with you so often?"

Nari jerked. "In New York," she forced out, strapping her seatbelt on. "It's a long business trip."

"When are they coming back?"

"I honestly don't know," she muttered, thinking of her absent, useless parents as she said it.

---

Jin began to call Jimin, and they waited for about twenty minutes (making them horribly late for their meeting with V) before Nari spotted a car approaching her house. She lived in the country parts of Daegu, and her house was the only one around. It was pretty large and easy to spot, but the road wasn't one many cars drove past, so it was mostly peaceful and undisturbed.

She apparently used to have a neighbor, but she never met them and never will, as they moved out years ago.

Jimin and another man stepped out of the car, and they both walked over to Jin, who stepped out of his car as well. Nari just sat inside, feeling choked, but gripping the edges of the passenger seat to calm herself down.

They're nice people, she thought repeatedly. They're nice people, they're nice people, they're nice men. Nice, young men. Men.

They're men.

Her head was getting dizzy, and she unlocked the car door and tried to breathe in fresh air.

Jin turned around and panicked at her state, rushing to her side. "Nari-ah, are you okay?" he questioned worriedly, unsure if he should pat her back or touch her anywhere for that matter.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry," she let out. "It's just that— with men, I—"

She swallowed, glancing over. One of the strangers looked edgy about the situation, while the other just stood there without much of an expression.

"It's okay, Nari-ah," Jin assured, hesitant to touch her shoulder in the most gentlest way he could manage. "Are you worried about the other guy who tagged along with Jimin-ah? That's Min Yoongi, another friend of mine. He's just here to drop him off, since JM can't drive. He's nice too."

Nari tried taking this in and breathed more normally. She wasn't attentive to what happened after, as her glazed eyes eyed Jimin entering her house and Yoongi driving off. She didn't even notice Jimin's silvery hair, his handsome face and cheeks, and his rather toned stature, or Yoongi's thin figure, his dark hair contrasting his pale skin, and his expensive camera hanging from his neck.

Both looked nothing like the muscular, intimidating , but that didn't push away the fact that they were still men to her.

Now, if they didn't have baby-makers in the nether, or simply put, balls— maybe it could've worked out better.

Maybe Nari wouldn't even think much about staying put to meet them before she left and had Jin drive off already.

Back in the car, there was a deafening silence between her and Jin for about seven minutes, before Nari (surprisingly) spoke, "Your friends are handsome."

Jin felt like spitting out the drink he never sipped, his foot accidentally pressing on the gas pedal and accelerating the two. He then had to brake in order to not crash into the car in front.

Nari felt a cold rush of fear course through her, only to rack her body like a death tease. When the two situated again, she apologized.

"It's okay," Jin hastily shrugged off. "I was just surprised."

"It came out of nowhere for me too," she whispered, but Jin didn't catch it.

"What about me?"

"What?"

"Am I not handsome?" Jin was only joking, but Nari actually started to consider it.

His hair was recently dyed pink to further show off his love for the color, and his shoulders were broader than the average man she'd encounter. His skin was clear and radiant, even up close. His eyes were dark and puffy, as if he cried or slept often. His lips were full and pinkish, and his smile was quite breathtaking.

His laugh was a pleasure to hear, and he always joked around and laughed at his own jokes. They were lame, mostly puns or uncle jokes, but they always made Nari laugh.

She was silent for a moment, taking in the scent of his car. It smelled like ramyeon.

"No, you're handsome too," Nari finally responded. "And silly."

"Silly?" he repeated, laughing a little.

"And considerate."

Jin smiled at her, and decided it was safe to say it then.

"Nari."

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, waiting. Trying not to wonder what he was going to say.

"I know Jihoonie's your son," he disclosed, making Nari stiff.

"Jin-ssi—"

"Now, don't freak out. I figured this a while ago, actually, and I know that you're just trying not to let me know so that I don't change my opinion of you. But you don't need to worry about that. I know that there's more story to all that— that which I'm willing to hear."

Nari didn't cry. She honestly wasn't shocked. She was numb.

Hearing those words come out of Jin's mouth wasn't the cure to her fear of men, but it was a temporary relief medicine.

"You're not judging me?" she finally said, smiling down at her lap.

"Others might, I'll admit. But I can imagine you have it so hard."

"So you feel bad for me?"

"It's not that, but I'll support you."

She sighed, falling silent for a moment, before asking, "Was it his face?"

"A little bit. He looks just like you, just with black... no, dark brown hair. And very beautiful."

"Thank you."

"I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you."

---

The two reached the building, lanyards around their necks. Jin was already familiar with the place and the people who worked there, and guided Nari to where Taehyung usually was. He opened his phone to see V's spam of text messages asking where they were.

They entered the lounge, and a staff member informed them that Taehyung was getting ready for a photoshoot (they were an hour late and missed his free time) and they could wait until she could show them to the photoshoot room. In the meantime, Nari excused herself to use the restroom, phoned Alice to check up on her, and heard her chuckling and complimenting Jimin the entire call.

She decided to ask if Alice could hand the phone to Jimin.

There was an almost feminine laugh on the other line, one Nari could only assume was Jimin's and then a, "Hello?"

This was the first time Nari really heard his voice, and it was rather higher than she expected. Actually, she didn't know what to expect.

It was undeniably cute though.

"Hi," she said, still not over the fact that she was calling a stranger in her house. "This is Nari, Alice's daughter. I just wanted to know if everything's okay so far."

"Yeah, yeah! Everything's fine," she heard him say. "Don't worry!"

I can't help but worry. You may be Jin-ssi's friend, but you're a stranger to me.

"Did you feed Jihoon?" she asked.

"Yep. I fed him leftovers from the fridge. Alice-nim gave me permission to handle the kitchen and um," he paused for a second, "Jihoon's just playing right now."

Everything seems fine, Nari thought. Why am I so uneasy?

"Okay. Thank you for watching over him and my eomma at such short notice, by the way."

"Oh, it's no problem!"

"Would you like me to pay you for your troubles?"

The receiver let out another bell-like laugh. "Only if you insist. Otherwise, consider my service free of charge."

Is it weird how much I'm wondering what he's laughing about? Is Jihoon acting funny? Is Alice?

Nari was unintentionally irritated by his response, because this left her with either seeming rude by not giving him anything or giving him money when she really needed every penny. And the fact that his laugh threw her off every time was worth mentioning.

"Okay, thanks again. Bye."

She ended the call more abruptly than she would've liked, and exited the bathroom— only to run into a male model wearing a coat branded NYC, evidently prepared for a photoshoot.

He looked so young, maybe just a little bit older than her, with brown hair and piercing eyes with the contacts he wore. His skin was pale and powdered, with a sheen at just the right angles under the light. His sheepish smile revealed indescribably familiar bunny teeth.

At first glance, he was just a flower boy with a beautiful face.

But after mutual staring and half-done apologizing, Jeon Jungkook was the first to gasp, "Nari-ah?"

---

written on 17.05.27.

MY BTS BIAS HAS COME. WHAT'S GOOD JEON FREKIN JUNGDOG COOKIE RAP MONSTA X