Chaelin was done with everything right now. Her parents fighting all the time had been causing problems between her and her boyfriend Sangkook since she was in such a bad mood all the time, and she really did not want to deal with that. Sangkook just didn’t get how much distress she was in, how could he understand when his parents were perfectly happy, or at least had never had a fight this serious. Sangkook was trying his best but why couldn’t he wrap his mind around the fact that Chaelin just wanted to get out of the house, she didn’t actually wanna go to his place and mess around or sit through a movie that she didn’t care about. She just needed space.

   Space from my parents or space from Sangkook…? Chaelin started to wonder when she moved in with the Jungs and still felt trapped. She sighed to herself, laying in the unfamiliar bed of the spare room that had become hers. Maybe she needed a break.

   Sangkook and Chaelin sat in Sangkook’s car, after Chaelin had asked him to come get her because she needed to get out of the house. Hoseok and Yoongi seemed unsure on what the rules with boyfriends were, but Chaelin convinced them that it was okay for her to go out during a school night, as long as she was back by midnight. She knew that she’d be back long before then.

   “Hey, uh thanks for coming to get me,” she said awkwardly, glancing at Sangkook.

   “Yeah, no problem. So you wanna go somewhere or just chill out?” Chaelin shifted uncomfortably, clearing .

   “Actually, I wanted to talk to you.” Sangkook rose his eyebrows, curious and a little bit nervous. As he should be.

   “Listen, you’ve been trying really hard to help me through this whole… thing. And I really appreciate it, but for now… I think I just need to like. Be alone. Or have girls nights with my friends. Or talk to my brother some more. But I don’t think that this,” she gestured between the two of them, “ is working very well right now. Do you get what I mean?” Sangkook sat frozen for a couple of seconds, thinking about what was just said.

   “You want… to break up?” he asked. He sounded scared, or hurt, or maybe both.

   “Not exactly break up, maybe more like taking a break.” Sangkook started to look a little bit angry, and as he spoke Chaelin regretted having this conversation.

   “Those two things sound an awful lot like the same damn thing to me, Chae. What did I do wrong? You said that you know I was trying to help, so how can I help better? We don’t have to go on a break, we can fix whatever is wrong, right?”

   “You can’t help any more than you already have, Sangkook. You’ve been so great, but I just can’t deal with a relationship right now. You can understand that, right? And there’s nothing wrong with our relationship. Like I said, I just can’t deal with one now. I still love you, I’m not mad at you, I just need space from everything.”

   “Yeah, okay. Sure. Space.” Sangkook leaned way back in his seat, as far away from Chaelin as he could get, crossing his arms. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

   “Look, I’m sorry. Can you just bring me home now?” Sangkook sighed.

   “Sure.”

   The ride home was uncomfortable, and when Chaelin got out she tried to give Sangkook a hug but he didn’t let her, grimacing and moving back. She frowned and got out without a word, going straight inside. When she opened the door Yoongi looked surprised, wandering out of the living room to see why she was home so soon.

   “You’re home already?” he asked. Chaelin nodded and kicked her shoes off moodily.

   “Is everything alright?” Yoongi persisted.

   “Sangkook and I are taking a break. He’s mad about it. It’s fine,” Chaelin said curtly, moving past him and going to her room, shutting the door behind her. She dropped onto the bed and pulled her phone out, texting her friends about it immediately. A few responded and she stayed up late venting, crying, and trying to feel better again.

   In the morning, Chaelin came out of her room in yesterday’s clothes and makeup, her hair a mess and her eyes swollen from crying. She rubbed at her face tiredly. Haneul passed her and said,

   “Well you look good. What’s up?” She knew that this was his way of being concerned, so she answered. They seemed to need each other a lot more now, since they were the only people who really understood everything.

   “Sangkook and I are going on a break, but he was really mad about it. I think he might just break up with me.” Haneul gave her a cute smile.

   “If he does, I’ll kill him. Just because I’m 14 doesn’t mean I can’t take a 16 year old.” He raised his fists like a boxer and dodged some imaginary punches, making sound effects as he punched the air. Chaelin snorted and couldn’t help but smile.

   “Alright, you do that. Thanks,” she said. Haneul gave her a salute and walked away, presumably to the kitchen for breakfast. Mmmm breakfast. Chaelin washed her face and got changed before she went to eat, and Yoongi only gave her a curious glance when she sat down at the table.

   Minjoon and Haneul were bickering lightly, the latter frowning into his bowl of cereal as Minjoon spouted reasons for why his favourite book was obviously superior to Haneul’s. Hoseok was listening very subtly, making sure it didn’t escalate to anything crazy. Yoongi just ate in silence, seemingly ignoring everything. Chaelin liked it here. Even though it was new, and it wasn’t exactly home, she was glad that they had ended up here.

   “Hey Yoongi,” she said quietly. He looked up and gave her a slight nod of ‘yes, I’m listening’.

   “Thanks for taking us in.” Yoongi smiled. The sweetness of it surprised Chaelin a little, she didn’t think he cared a huge amount for her or Haneul, considering the Jungs had moved here not too long ago so they didn’t know the kids very well.

   “You guys are always welcome here. You’re basically my niece and nephew, so I’ve gotta look out for you. You know?” Chaelin nodded. She was starting to see a new side of Yoongi, and of the rest of his family. Yeah, she liked it here.