Third person POV

Jongup stared at Sohee, a slight bit of fright mixed in with the surprise in his eyes. “Uh,” he started. His eyes flickered to Jisu for help.

“Yeah, in a way,” Jisu shrugged, easily admitting the truth. Jongup sighed in relief but Sohee, still frozen, gawked at the other two.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, quite softly as if she was afraid to break the ice.

Jisu looked to Jongup who was still at some loss for words. “J-Jisu,” he stuttered, “the crew’s down stairs.”

“Who?” Jisu chirped. Sohee frowned, they had avoided the question entirely.

“Hey!” Sohee interjected, pouting at the newly acknowledged siblings.

Jongup began to list the members. “Yongguk, Himchan, Youngjae, Daehyun—”

Jisu perked up, a smile slowly brightening up her face. She enthusiastically patted Jongup’s arm. “Sohee, let’s go!” she said as she began steering Sohee down stairs and into the living room.

The rest of B.A.P stood huddled over the piano, Daehyun squeezed in between Youngjae and Himchan. Jisu snuck behind them and tipped her head to the side.

“Yah, don’t touch other people’s stuff without permission,” she grumbled. The boys jolted and shuffled away from the piano.

Daehyun smiled at Jisu as he took a nearby seat, “Is it yours?”

Jisu blushed softly and nodded. “W-why are you here?” she stuttered.

“We’re going to practice.” Jongup replied as he trotted into the lounge. 

Sohee hung behind Jisu, cautiously peering around the room until someone’s blonde head caught her eye. Choi Junhong. His shocked eyes widened then blinked multiple times before they returned to their typically cold, blank expression. Jisu turned to Sohee. Her face had grown dim and she was at her endless fidgeting habit.

“Hey, you okay?” Jisu muttered softly. Sohee looked back up and nodded, the light between the laced curtains streamed past her then dimmed back down.

“I’ll go wait upstairs,” Sohee said awkwardly. She passed by Jongup, his eyes trailed along with her as she tip toed upstairs.

Jongup frowned and looked at Jisu, she pouted then shrugged.

The garage was heavy with the smell of body odour and car petrol. There were no windows, but the little chink of light under the garage door had disappeared. The only thing lighting up the place was a little old light bulb dangling over the boys’ heads and one of the member's iPod faintly playing the monstrous song on repeat. Both light sources were going to burn out in any moment. The six boys breathed heavily, sweat dripped off every limb and their feet had begun to scrape across the floor. The ground was dotted with sweat like rain. Dim, draining yet diligently they went on until the bulb above them had popped. 

“You’ve worked hard.” Yongguk breathed. “Good job.” There was a weary smile on the leader’s face but it was undoubtedly genuine even though he struggled to keep it on. The members nodded and clapped their damp palms together as they dragged their feet inside and upstairs to Jongup’s room.

Youngjae and Zelo sat with their feet up on Jongup’s bed. The room was refreshing and surprisingly innocent—but cold. The windows were always kept open, white curtains fluttered in and out like ghosts. The bed sheets were a baby blue and the history on his computer was guiltless. Himchan strolled around, fresh and clean after a quick shower. He looked up and down the walls. There were several pencil drawings, though no one knew what the subjects for any of them were.

Daehyun pulled off his sneakers and rubbed his toes, his face still glistening with sweat. Daehyun was the last up for a shower after losing the game of paper scissors rock and knew he’d be left with cold water. It didn’t bother him. Daehyun stared emptily at his socks, they were slightly damp. He slipped them off and tucked them into his shoes. He scrunched up his toes. Several calluses had formed under both his feet. A towel suddenly landed on his lap. He looked up at Jongup who stood by the door, his hair damp, but not of sweat. Jongup was wearing a pair of patterned pyjama pants and a white shirt was hung lousily around his neck.

“You can go take a shower now.” Jongup told him.

Sohee was lying down on a mattress her and her friend had flung on the ground. Sohee had called her brother earlier to say she was staying over at Jisu’s for the night but she didn’t bring up the possibility of six boys sleeping under the same roof. Sohee hugged her pillow, it was crisp and smelt newly washed. She stared up at Jisu who sat on the foot of her bed, Chopper, her dog, was nibbling on her fingers. Shhhh. The shower was turned back on. They assumed B.A.P had finished practicing and were taking shower after shower.

“Hungry,” Sohee groaned as she tossed herself across the floor.

“Can you cook?” Jisu questioned. She smirked at Sohee’s blank face. “Help me with dinner.”

Sohee stood awkwardly leaning on the kitchen bench, watching Jisu twist the knobs on the stove. The little blue flames flickered under the metal pan. Things were boiling, being chopped and frying all at the same time. The smell of faint spices lingered around the bottom floor of the house.

Jisu looked up, her busy hands still moving as she diced some onion and slipped it into a pot. “Cut this,” she said to Sohee and passed her a cutting board, vegetables and a knife. The kettle began to whistle, steam shot out of it like a rocket. Sohee jolted back. Jisu laughed and shook her head. “Useless,” she snickered.

Sohee stared at the knife in her hand and started to cut a carrot. She looked like a pre-schooler as she struggled to get the knife all the way through the vegetable. The knife thudded onto the cutting board. Jisu spun around and inspected the carrot—well half of it, the other half had flung across the floor. Chopper had already popped up and began inspecting the adventurous vegetable. He Sohee’s ankles then began gnawing on the bottom of her pyjamas.

“I guess it wasn’t a good idea to give you a knife.” Jisu pressed her lips together and handed Sohee a fork. “Go whisk the eggs,” Jisu said taking the knife. “Make sure not to spill it,” she added. Sohee gave her an annoyed look but obediently began whisking.

“DINNER’S READY!!” Jisu yelled as she leaned her stomach against the bottom of the staircase. Sohee began placing the cutlery and plates around the table. The floor began to tremble as all six boys began stampeding down stairs. 

“Oh! It looks good!” Daehyun exclaimed with widened eyes as he walked into the dining room.

“Whoa!” A smile swept across Yongguk’s face and everyone else’s who followed after him. They took a deep breath in, inhaling the glorious thickness and delicacy of all the dishes that were lavished before them like a banquet. Most of the food was, of course, in the end, made by Jisu.

The house was full of chatter and noise thanks to the group of hungry high school boys. Zelo cautiously lifted his eyes from his plate—Sohee was eating silently opposite him. She still doesn’t talk at the dinner table. Zelo thought to himself. Jisu sat next to Sohee, glaring warnings at Zelo. He quickly dropped his gaze.

“Hey, Jongup!” Himchan spurted through a mouthful of rice. “Have you ever brought a girl home?” Jongup was gulping down water when Himchan nudged him. Jongup spurted the water back into the glass.

“Hey!” Youngjae hissed, pointing his chopsticks across the table. “Have some respect! His girlfriend’s here!” He teased, pointing his chopsticks to Sohee.

Sohee’s and Jongup’s cheeks burned red. Jisu snickered.

“W-we’re not dating,” Jongup grumbled shyly.

“Aaah…” Himchan hummed, sarcastically pretending to believe him. Jongup frowned until Himchan dropped the act.     

“When’s your parent’s coming home?” Yongguk questioned, thinking it was wise to change the subject.

Jisu swallowed. “They’re on a business trip.”

“Both of them?” Daehyun asked.

The siblings nodded. The table continued loud conversation after loud conversation without a breath for air.

“Finished?” Jongup asked as people began emptying their plates. It was about eleven o’clock already.

“Just leave them there,” Jisu instructed as the boys awkwardly picked up their plates.

Daehyun, Youngjae, Yongguk and Himchan began to stand up and head back up to Jongup’s room after they all called home and decided to stay the night. Sohee had also left to wash up. “Uh Zelo,” Jisu said as he got up. “Help me with the dishes.”

Zelo craned his head over the sink, dutifully scrubbing dishes till they returned to their original gleam. Jisu came over and slipped leftovers into the fridge. Zelo spun around.

“I haven’t told her.” Jisu assured him before he could utter a word. Zelo sighed in relief. Jisu then began to rearrange the objects in the overfilling fridge. They both knew what they were talking about—they were referring to the ‘stalking’ incident.

“Have you told anyone?” Zelo’s face was crinkled with uncertainty after Jisu failed to answer.

“I haven’t told anyone,” she answered after a delay. “Yet.” Jisu added.

Zelo was taken aback. “What?!” He furrowed his brows, almost forgetting the non-stop gushing of water coming from the sink.

“Just do what I tell you and I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Jisu paused then added firmly, “Keep washing.” She grinned cheekily at the boy’s obedience.

The place had quietened down. The lights around the house had automatically dimmed and the hallways were readily lined with little yellow lights leading guests door to door.

“You were staring,” Jisu said frankly.

“No I wasn’t,” Zelo grumbled as he placed a plate into the dishwasher.

“I saw you staring at Sohee. You’re lucky she doesn’t notice these things, to everyone else it’s obvious…” she explained bluntly.

Zelo gave a weary laugh. He turned off the water faucent, it squeaked to a tight close.

Jisu opened . It hung open for a moment.

“What is it?” Zelo said, catching her slightly off guard.

“When did you and Sohee start fighting?” she blurted.

Zelo fell silent. The rack clattered as he crouched down to place the last plates into the dishwasher. He stood back up. Jisu stood next to him, arms crossed, patiently waiting for the answer. Zelo shrugged limply. “I don’t know.”

Sohee to her side. The blankets shuffled loudly in the silence. “Are you still awake?” Sohee whispered. The room was silent and still. The trees outside swayed the white gleam of the moon to and fro and a faint howling wind was the only thing that occasionally tore through the stillness. 

Jisu uttered something. Her voice became muffled as she turned in her bed. “Yeah,” she groaned softly, “Now I am.” She her phone to check the time, revealing a heavy-eyed face through the glare of the screen. It was past 2 o’clock in the morning.

Sohee pulled the duvets over her chin, they ruffled as she pulled the warmth away from her feet. “Jongup’s your brother?” Sohee wanted it to be confirmed again since it had been replaying in her head all day.

“Yeah,” Jisu replied after a short pause. “Kind of.” Her voice was lulled as her eyes began to flutter shut.

“Hm?” Sohee chimed. She slowly peeled herself from the mattress and rubbed her eyes until they could adjust to the dim lighting. Jisu’s hair stood up on her head and kinked above her shoulders. “What do you mean ‘kind of’? You said that last time.” Sohee muttered unsatisfactorily.

Jisu groaned and pulled herself up. She sat cross legged and looked wearily at her friend who was waiting eagerly for her reply. “Our ‘mother’ is his real mother and our ‘father’ is my real father,” Jisu explained. “They got married when we were young.”

“What happened to your real mum then?” Sohee asked after some hesitation and careful thought.

“My mum passed away when she gave birth to me. And Jongup’s dad… I don’t know. We don’t talk about it much.” Jisu pursed her lips, “Jongup— he avoids talking about family.” Jisu lifted her shoulders slightly then dropped them back down. She clutched her pillow. “What about you?” Jisu muttered into the pillow. “You haven’t ever mentioned your parents.”

Sohee paused then nodded. “Yeah, they were always fighting. My brother got sick of it and we moved out once I finished middle school.” She laughed bitterly, “If Minhyuk’s not busy or stressed, he’s pretty happy. And we have Suho now too.”

“Right,” Jisu nodded. “Are you happier now?”

“Mhm,” Sohee hummed. “I’m a lot happier but—”

“But?” Jisu pressed. She knew what it was though, she just wanted Sohee to admit it. Admit that she’s unhappy about losing her relationship with Zelo.

“Nothing.”

“Hey, would you—” Jisu stopped. There was a pause.

Sohee shuffled around. “Would I what?”

‘Would you forgive Junhong if he apologized?’ clutched onto the tip of Jisu’s tongue. “Nothing. Never mind.” She sighed. “Good night.”

School holidays ! yay... I still have homwork... yay..... I'll try update with a more exciting chapter next time :P