When I wake up the next morning, my head threatens to split with every breath I take. I turn to bury my head into the pillow.

 

 

Come to think of it, am I even lying on my bed right now? My heart pumps faster and harder in my chest. I open my eyes and sit up.

 

Where am I? Not only am I not on my bed, I’m not even in my house. What happened last night?

 

“You’re up?” A strange voice asks.

 

As if suddenly coming to my senses, I jump up onto my feet but lose my balance from the hangover. Strong arms catch me before I hit the floor.

 

“Are you okay?” He asks again.

 

I push him away and attempt to stand on my own. “Who are you? Where is this place?”

 

“Sit down first,” the man says. He seems to be younger than me but I can’t be sure. He smiles. “Relax, I’m not going to do anything to you.”

 

“Why did you bring me here? What did you do to me?” I point an accusing finger at him.

 

“I always drink banana milk on mornings of hangover,” he says, handing me a bottle of said beverage. I refuse to take it. “I don’t know if you already know of me but I’m Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook.”

 

“I didn’t ask for your name,” I seethe. “What am I doing here?”

 

The person named Jungkook rolls his eyes. “Noona, you walked here yourself, don’t you remember?”

 

“Noona? You little—” My mind clears up a bit. “Did you say your name is Jungkook?”

 

He nods.

 

“Jungkook as in… that Jungkook?” I ask. Now that I’m looking at him closely, I’m almost sure I can see a bit of familiarity in him.

 

“I was Namjoon hyung yesterday, wasn’t I?” Jungkook smiles, revealing a set of bunny teeth.

 

I put a hand to my head as I rub my temples. “What place is this?”

 

“Jin hyung’s store,” he says. “Namjoon hyung must have been here last night because I woke up sleeping in the storefront. I almost froze my toes off out there.” He mimics the act of shivering.

 

“Why, was he doing something out there? And fell asleep?” I take a sip of cold banana milk to awaken my senses.

 

Jungkook clicks his tongue. “Namjoon hyung came to help to a stock check but he saw you crawling past so he brought you in.” He shakes his head in disapproval. “Ah, he wrote it in the diary,” he adds when he sees my questioning gaze.

 

I nod. “I should remember to thank him next time.”

 

“Me too,” Jungkook agrees. “Imagine if he slept in here, I would’ve woken up with a heart attack seeing your sleeping posture.”

 

I throw my straw at him. Taehyung was only partly right about Jungkook – Jungkook had totally skipped the shy part and went straight to being an annoying brat. Fishing my phone out from my bag, I check the time.

 

“Oh, !” I almost fall off the chair. “I’m late for work!”

 

“Noona, I’ll go look for you for lunch!” Jungkook shouts behind me as I run off.

 

I report in for work almost an hour late. Having apologised to my manager a million times, I quickly take my position behind the cash register.

 

“What happened?” Hani sneaks up to me and asks. “You went off without me.”

 

I sigh and say nothing. The ringing of the entrance bell alerts me to an incoming customer. “Welcome!” I chirp as cheerfully as I can manage.

 

“One iced americano,” Jungkook orders.

 

“I thought you were coming for lunch?” I ask as I key in his order.

 

Jungkook nods. “I’m just here to let you know I’ll be going to the apartment to unpack my stuff.”

 

“Go. You don’t have to tell me this. You know the passcode?”

 

He nods again. “See you later,” he says as he leaves the café.

 

Later that afternoon, I receive a call from Jungkook. “Noona, I’ll bring lunch over so wait for me at the café.” Twenty minutes later, he arrives with a bag of home cooked food.

 

“What’s the occasion?” I ask, eyeing the feast. We’d come to the neighbourhood park where Jungkook is opening containers after containers of food on the bench between us.

 

“Jin hyung said he wanted to cook for you to express his gratitude. Thank you for agreeing to live with us.”

 

I shake my head. “I take it that Taehyung and Namjoon cannot cook? But anyway, I should be the one thanking you. Jin-ssi was the one who agreed to let me stay. Otherwise, I’d be living on the streets.”

 

Jungkook hands me a pair of chopsticks. “It’s going to be tough,” he says suddenly. “It was like that for the hyung we used to live with.”

 

“If you don’t mind me asking… what happened?”

 

“I don’t know for sure because Yoongi hyung stayed up the whole of that week but I think that hyung was secretly trying to get rid of the rest of us.” Jungkook pauses for a while. “He was Jin hyung’s best friend.”

 

Taehyung’s outburst the day before comes to mind, and I can’t help but wonder again who the host is. Is it possible that there is no host among the seven of them? Or perhaps, could it be Yoongi since, according to the others, he stays out the longest?

 

I change the subject instead. “I heard that you’re a personal trainer at the gym. Will you be going to work later?”

 

“Maybe tomorrow,” he says. “While I’m unpacking my things, I might as well do it for everyone. It’s going to take quite a bit of time.”

 

When knock off time comes around, I punch out before Hani can catch me. I stop by the Chinese restaurant to get takeout for dinner before heading back.

 

“Hyekyung.”

 

Ignoring the call of my name, I walk right past Oh Jaehoon. He scurries after me but I increase my pace.

 

“Hyekyung, please!”

 

Frustrated, I take a step to the side and stop in my tracks. Jaehoon pulls an emergency brake right beside me.

 

“What exactly do you want from me?” I snap.

 

“I… I…” He stutters as he seems a bit taken aback by my flare-up. “You never gave me a chance to apologise.”

 

I snort. “What use is there?” Will hearing his apology lessen my pain? Will it turn time back to before the incident? I just didn’t want to have to face him anymore.

 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers nonetheless. “I know it’s not going to change anything now but… I’m sorry. I really did love you.”

 

Tears start to well up in the corner of my eyes but I hold them in. In my blurry peripheral vision, someone approaches.

 

“I don’t want to hear anymore. Leave.”

 

Jaehoon grabs my arm. “Will you forgive me?”

 

My fingers tingle and I clench a fist to stop myself from doing something I might regret.

 

“Hyekyung-ah!” A mess of white t-shirt collides into me and casually wraps an arm around my waist. “What’s taking you so long?”

 

I look up and frown. “Jungkook?”

 

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he smiles. Then, turning to Jaehoon, his gaze turns icy cold. “Who’s this?”

 

“Jungkook-ah—”

 

Jaehoon squares his shoulders, an action I know well to mean that he’s ready to fight. Beside me, Jungkook clenches his jaw.

 

“And who are you, kid?” Jaehoon taunts.

 

Jungkook grins. “I’m Hyekyung’s boyfriend,” he says matter-of-factly. “And who are you to be disturbing my girlfriend?”

 

Slightly taller and buffer than Jaehoon is, the older man takes a step back. “I was just talking to Hyekyung. Don’t need to get all riled up.”

 

“Really?” Jungkook looks down at me. “Do you still have a lot of things to talk about? I’m starving,” he says, taking the bag of takeout from me.

 

I shake my head. “We were done a long time ago. Let’s go.” Spinning on my heel, we leave Jaehoon staring at our backs as we stomp off towards our block.

 

---

---