“Lee Hyekyung?” Hoseok looks at me suspiciously. “Do I know a Lee Hyekyung? Oh my, it’s so bright.” He shades his eyes with his hand. “What is this place?”

 

“You don’t know me,” I tell him, “but I kind of know you. Also, we’re in Daegu.”

 

Hoseok frowns and moulds his lips into an upside-down ‘v’ shape. “Daegu? Yoongi hyung? Eh?!” His eyes widen for a moment before he hurriedly fishes around his pockets for Yoongi’s phone.

 

“Lee Hyekyung-ssi?”

 

“Yes?” I don’t think he was actually calling for me but I answer anyway.

 

“What is your relationship with us—I mean, with Yoongi hyung?”

 

I raise an eyebrow. “What exactly did Yoongi oppa document on the journal? We’re living together.”

 

“EH? But I… he… we…”

 

I smile apologetically. “I know about you.”

 

“You’ve met the others?”

 

I nod. “I’ve met everyone now.”

 

“Ah…” A distant look clouds his eyes.

 

“It’s only about mid-afternoon now,” I say, reading my watch. “Do you have anything to do back in Seoul?”

 

“I don’t know… It’s not often I come out in the middle of a day and the timing’s pretty awkward, don’t you think?”

 

I shrug. “Taehyung says you’re a dance teacher. You don’t take classes in the evening?”

 

“Wow, you really know quite a bit about us, huh?”

 

“Well…”

 

Standing, Hoseok dusts sand off his pants. “Let’s go back to the apartment first. Where’s the car?”

 

Turns out, Hoseok is a more careful driver than Yoongi is. Keeping within speed limits even without police cameras around, we take a much longer time to reach Seoul than we took to get to Daegu.

 

“The passcode is 2369,” I say as I punch in the code.

 

“Is that some kind of special number? A date, perhaps?” Hoseok asks.

 

I laugh. “We changed it so it would be easier for everyone to remember. It’s the number ‘7’ on the side, see?”

 

“That’s cool. Which room is ours?”

 

“On the left.”

 

As he opens the door, I steal a peek in too. Yoongi had made a small corner of the room into a studio where he set up his computer and music devices. There seems to be a special plot of the room for each one of them and it’s pretty obvious now which spot belongs to who.

 

Hoseok sighs. “What kind of weird organisation is this?”

 

Feeling apologetic again for taking up space in this house, I quietly slip into my room. Lying on my bed, I pull out my phone.

 

“Hello? Yes, I just saw your posting on the app, you have an apartment for lease?” I call the number on the advertisement. “The deposit? Oh, yes, I’ll be able to go down tomorrow… evening? Yes, thank you.”

 

A knock on the door brings my attention back to Hoseok.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I’m going to the dance studio for practice,” he tells me.

 

I nod.

 

He stares at me. “Would you like to come with me?”

 

“Won’t I be disrupting your practice?”

 

“I was just asking in case you’d be bored alone at home or something…”

 

Ah… “Sure. Are we leaving now?”

 

Hoseok nods, smiling. “Come out when you’re ready.”

 

As he leaves the room, I sigh. The deepest part of my soul is judging my decision to go out. I just want to rest in the comfort of my bed but… It’s not like I can reject Hoseok when his intention was in consideration of me, right? Sighing again, I roll off the bed.

 

Sitting on the sofa, Hoseok has changed out of Yoongi’s clothes into more a comfortable and loose-fitting outfit. I hadn’t thought to change, but I don’t suppose there’s a need for me to do so anyway.

 

“I’m ready.”

 

Hoseok nods. “The studio’s just in the vicinity,” he says. “Don’t mind if we walk?”

 

“Of course not,” I smile.

 

The walk to the studio takes longer than it took to get to their store. Following Hoseok’s lead, we take the lift up to the fifth floor where the dance studio is. With my back leaning against the mirror wall, I take a seat. Hoseok drops his bag in a corner before switching on the notebook and speakers on the side. After connecting his phone to the devices, he moves to the middle of the floor for warm up.

 

“How long has it been?” Hoseok asks suddenly in the middle of a stretch.

 

“Since what?”

 

“Since you met us. Who did you meet first?”

 

I count the days in my head. “Slightly longer than a week. I met Jin-ssi on a blind date.”

 

Hoseok loses his balance and almost falls over. “Blind date?”

 

“Did Jin-ssi not say anything? It was an introduction by a friend of a friend of a friend.”

 

“A blind date, huh…”

 

Pushing myself up, I fish around my pocket for small change. “Was that a vending machine I saw outside? I’m going to get a drink, you want anything?”

 

Hoseok shakes his head.

 

“I’ll be right back—” As I’d been walking with my head down counting coins, I bump into someone at the door. “Sorry.” I look up.

 

“You…”

 

I scrunch up my nose in disgust. “You again.”

 

“Hyekyung-ssi?” Hoseok calls my name. He notices the newcomer. “Who are you?”

 

“Who are you?” Jaehoon answers with the same question.

 

Hoseok steps up. “I asked you first. This place is out of bounds to outsiders.”

 

“Yeah, I guess I came to the wrong place.” Jaehoon turns his attention back to me. “What are you doing here, at a dance studio? You can’t even dance to save your life.”

 

“It’s none of your business.” I take a step back but he grabs my arm.

 

“Does your boyfriend know you’re here with another guy?”

 

Hoseok approaches us slowly. “What are you talking about? Let go of her first.”

 

“I’m only telling you this as a fellow man, but don’t trust this woman,” Jaehoon says. “She has a boyfriend and apparently, they’re living together.”

 

I roll my eyes. “Is this your way of begging for forgiveness?” I shake his hand off me.

 

Hoseok pulls me back gently with his hands on my shoulders and holds me beside him protectively. “What’s going on?” He whispers into my ear.

 

I look up and lower my voice as well. “Jungkook. Get rid of him first, I’ll tell you later.”

 

His face suddenly changes and locking gazes with Jaehoon, Hoseok smiles. “I see you’ve met my brother.”

 

“What?” Jaehoon’s smirk falls.

 

“Hyekyung’s boyfriend? Ah, this kid. What trouble has he been going around causing? I’m going to have teach him a lesson when he comes by later.” Hoseok makes a show of sighing and shaking his head.

 

“Don’t blame him,” I say, feigning sadness in my voice. “He was just trying to protect me from this pathetic excuse of an ex-boyfriend.”

 

The surprise on Hoseok’s face seems genuine. “This is your ex-boyfriend?”

 

I nod.

 

“Wow,” he scrunches his face. “As a fellow man, I’m so disappointed in you. You don’t look like the clingy ex-boyfriend type.”

 

Fuming with rage in his eyes, Jaehoon says nothing more and stomps off. As his shadow disappears, my legs turn into jelly and I fall onto the floor. Staring at my arm, I rub and scratch roughly at red finger marks Jaehoon had left.

 

“Stop that,” Hoseok says, taking my hand in his. He frowns at the patch of skin turning redder than before.

 

I don’t lift my gaze. “He was waiting for me in the neighbourhood that other day. Jungkook came down in time and told that jerk he was my boyfriend to chase him off.” I close my eyes. “He shouldn’t have done that.”

 

“No, I probably would have done the same.” He places his hand over my red skin and blocks my view from the pain. “You don’t have to worry about him anymore, Hyekyung. We’ll protect you from now on.”

 

I sniff, and choke on a laugh. “You’re just using this chance to drop honorifics, aren’t you?”

 

Hoseok laughs too. “We’re the same age anyway.” His mouth forms a little heart as his laugh fades into a pretty smile. “Friends?”

 

There are no lies in his eyes. I nod. “Friends.”

 

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