I narrow my eyes at Jungkook the moment he closes the door.

 

“Is this because I called you by name just now?” He owns up before I even say anything.

 

“I didn’t say anything.” Taking the containers out of the plastic bag, I set the table. “Thanks.”

 

Jungkook reaches out for a dumpling but his hand stops mid-air. “You’re welcome.”

 

No one says anything for a while and we eat in a peaceful silence.

 

“Noona,” Jungkook calls me suddenly.

 

“Hmm?”

 

He puts down his chopsticks. “Let’s go eat lamb skewers tomorrow night.”

 

“What time are you ending work?” I ask.

 

“6-ish.” Jungkook blinks at me. “Well, that was fast.”

 

I smile. “Is it that restaurant in town? I’ll treat.”

 

Once we’re done eating, Jungkook volunteers to clean up so I take the time to shower instead. He’s already back in his room when I come out. I knock on his door.

 

“You look like you might need some help,” I say, letting myself in.

 

Jungkook pouts cutely. “I don’t think I’ve ever realized this but we have a lot of clothes,” he complains, placing a very exaggerated emphasis on the words ‘a lot’.

 

From one of the boxes, something colourful catches my eye. “Are those ties Taehyung’s?” I pick one up and the brand on it makes my mouth drop.

 

“Taehyung hyung is a Gucci enthusiast,” he explains. “Noona, if you help me put these clothes up on hangers, I’ll fold the rest.”

 

I nod.

 

Sometime earlier that the afternoon, Jungkook had installed an open clothes storage system. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was setting up a clothes store in here. The rods sit from wall-to-wall on two levels and Jungkook already has his own clothes hung up on the upper corner portion.

 

“How many white t-shirts are these…?” I ask to myself. “Wow, you’re not even going to notice if I swipe a couple of them from here.”

 

Jungkook laughs. “Jin hyung has the comfiest sweaters to borrow,” he shares.

 

From behind him, Jungkook reveals a large Bluetooth speaker to which he connects to his phone and starts playing music. Every time I hold up a clothing piece, he will tell me which part of the rack it goes on. I realise after a while that he’d allocated a specific section for each one of them. Working side by side, we finish in no time. For the folded clothes, we arrange them on the floor and against the wall below the rack.

 

Jungkook yawns as he stretches his back, and I raise an eyebrow at him.

 

“It’s been a long day,” I say.

 

He takes a seat on the bed and sighs. “One day I’m going to have to dismantle this bedframe to make more room. It’s late, noona. You should get some rest. I’m going to make coffee.”

 

“I’ll do it. Black?”

 

He nods.

 

In the kitchen, I add water to the kettle and turn it on. Checking my phone while waiting for the water to boil, I look through advertisements of apartments for lease online. The kettle whistles.

 

I push the ajar door open with my foot. “Jungkook-ah, your coffee—” He’s already asleep.

 

Setting the cup down on the table as noiselessly as possible, I pick the fallen blanket off the ground and tuck Jungkook into it. Then, with the coffee, I leave the room, turning off the lights as I close the door. I leave the mug on the dining table before preparing to go to bed myself.

 

I wake up almost half an hour before my alarm is set to ring.

 

“You’re awake?” A new face greets me as I walk into the kitchen.

 

“Hello, I’m Lee Hyekyung,” I introduce myself as formally as I can in pyjamas and a bedhead. I feel like I’m already accustomed to seeing a new different every morning.

 

“I’m Jimin!” He smiles a pretty smile, his chubby cheeks tinted a natural shade of pink. “Nice to meet you.”

 

I nod and shuffle into the bathroom to wash up. I take a cold shower to wake myself up but I emerge with a bit of sleep still left in my system.

 

“How do you like your coffee?” Jimin asks when I sit at the dining table, all dressed and ready to leave but mentally unprepared for work.

 

I rest my head on the table. “Unsweetened milk and sugar, thank you. Also, Jungkook says to cut down on shopping for clothes.”

 

Jimin laughs. “I have the least clothes out of the seven of us,” he says, “but I’ll keep it in mind.”

 

As I take another sip of coffee, my phone rings. “Hello?”

 

“Kyung!” Hani’s voice blares into my ears. “Trade shifts with me for today? I have a party to attend tonight.”

 

“Yeah, okay.” I hang up and let my head fall onto the table again.

 

Jimin looks at me worriedly. “Did something happen?”

 

I shake my head. “I’m going to be working night shift instead today.”

 

“Oh.”

 

I down the rest of the drink. “Should I just go back to sleep…?”

 

I end up following Jimin to the store.

 

“Isn’t there a bus we can take?” I groan, regretting my decision.

 

Jimin pauses to wait for me to catch up. Despite the hot sun, he’d chosen to walk all the way instead. “It’s only two bus stops away,” he reassures me. “If we take the shortcut we’ll be there in no time.

 

I pick up my pace to match his speed. “Are you always so enthusiastic about life?”

 

“What is that supposed to mean?” He looks at me, confused.

 

“It’s early in the morning and it’s scorching hot out but here you are, skipping your way to work.” I shake my head. “I’d say that’s a whole new level of optimism.”

 

“Well, that’s something I’ve never heard about myself before.” Jimin smiles. “By the way, you can just speak casually with me. You’re Namjoon hyung’s age, right?”

 

I raise my eyebrows, impressed. “It’s like you all share the same internal database or something.”

 

“I even know about how Namjoon hyung almost got a heart attack seeing you drunk that night,” he teases.

 

I roll my eyes. “I was drunk. Haven’t you ever done weird things drunk before?”

 

“Oh, we’re here!” He swiftly changes the subject. Fishing out the keys, he unlocks the door and turns on all the lights inside.

 

“Don’t you have someone working here fulltime?” I ask.

 

Jimin nods. “But the lady quit last month. As of now, only Jin hyung and I are managing this place.”

 

I give myself a tour of the place. I haven’t really the time or sense to do so the last time I was here but looking around now, the store is minimally decorated with a touch of vintage vibes. As to what is it exactly that they’re selling here…

 

“Jin hyung takes the stuff that we don’t use often and puts them up for sale here,” Jimin explains, as if reading my mind.

 

Well, that explains why there are so many random things here. Along one wall are racks with past season clothes that still look quite new. There’s also a reading corner where the books are tagged with different prices you can buy them at. And another table with a mix-and-match variety of electronics…

 

I think for a moment. “What happens if someone wants to buy something but no one’s here to open the store?”

 

“There’s an online store where we upload all these things. Everyone has a part in managing it.” Jimin busies himself by picking out a couple of shirts off the rack and folding them into a neat pile. From the bookcase, he scans the shelves for a title to add to the top of the clothes.

 

I walk up to him. “Is there anything I can help with?”

 

“Uh, I have a few more orders to pack. They’re on the computer if you could print them out for me.”

 

“Sure thing.” In the back room, I boot up the computer. “Jimin, what’s the login password?”

 

“0-0-0-0-0-0-0,” he answers simply.

 

I resist the urge to roll my eyes as I key the seven numbers in. While the desktop loads, a suspicious looking window pops up.

 

I stick my head out and call for Jimin. He waddles over with his hands full.

 

“Are you all, by any chance, sharing this computer to watch weird stuff?”

 

Jimin flushes bright red. “I swear that’s all Namjoon hyung’s doing!”

 

“If you say so,” I pipe. “I just hope you do regular virus checks on the computer. Because from the look of all these applications installed…”

 

He drops the clothes in his hands and rushes over to push me out of the way. Still seated on the office chair, I slide all the way to the other end of the room.

 

“I—I’ll do this, noona,” he stutters. “You go pack those into a box for me.”

 

“Okay,” I chirp, the corners of my lips rising as Jimin fumbles with the mouse to close the pop-up windows. The blush spreading across his pale cheeks makes him look like a small strawberry mochi.

 

I can’t help but laugh. “You don’t have to be so flustered,” I tell him. “I totally understand.”

 

“This… really isn’t me,” he mumbles softly.

 

Picking up the clothes from the floor, I bring them to where Jimin has boxes laid out and fold them nicely again before packing them in.

 

“Jimin-ah.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Let’s go to the supermarket later for groceries.”

 

“Why, are you cooking tonight?”

 

I look up. “I’m on night shift tonight,” I remind him. “Oh right. I’m on night shift.”

 

Jimin squats down beside me and tapes up the filled boxes. “Is there something you want to eat?”

 

I shake my head. “I just felt like I haven’t eaten stir-fried zucchini in a while. I used to like this a lot.”

 

“I might have seen Jin hyung make it a few times before. I can try cooking that if you like,” he suggests.

 

“I’ll be late, but thanks for the thought. I’ll buy supper back instead.” I look at the time. “Speaking of food, let’s go get lunch.”

 

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