"What are you keeping from me?" He asked, his breathing staggered.

"W-What..." My voice trailed off. That must've been the wrong move because the next thing I knew, he threw his gaze towards me, his eyes searching.

"What. Are. You. Keeping. From. Me?" He repeated, spacing each word.

'Don't tell him.'

"Why does it matter to you?" My voice barely a whisper. 

"Because believe it or not I want to get closer with you, and you pushing me away doesn't help it." 

It felt as if the air within me had been away, never planning on returning. The look in his eyes were sincere, his voice never faltering. 

"It's a long story." I said, my head hanging. I felt a warm hand place itself onto the top of my head, gently patting me.

"I have a lot of time on my hands." Fluffy assured, his other hand falling to his side.

*

The room felt even more warm than before. At least I felt it was, having Fluffy's eyes directed towards me.

"I came to Seoul for a fresh start," I started, carefully choosing my words, "Back home was... It wasn't a good place to be in."

"How so?" Jungkook asked, sitting crisscross in front of me. He looked completely focused, willing to believe every detail.

I took a deep breath, slowing my heart rate, "No one was really home, and when we were together... Things became horrendous. All my parents did was argue, curse, shout. I had to wake up in the middle of the night to quiet them down. It wasn't like there were secrets between my parents thoughts of each other.The walls were so thin.."

I clenched my fists, looking at my reflection in one of the mirrored walls. Had I always looked this way? Flushed cheeks, sad eyes, a quiet exterior.

Of course not. Once I remembered seeing a high spirited, bold, and happy girl.

But things change.

"My parents weren't always fighting, at least I think they weren't. My dad got caught up in doing some things, and one day we got sick of it. He left and left us alone. I couldn't stand being surrounded with such bad energy, so when my aunt gave me the ticket out, I gladly took it." I cut the story short, not willing to share any more.

Jungkook was silent for a while. He occasionally looked my way, looking into my eyes and gradually turning away.

"A fresh start. Is that why you seem like you have duel personalities?"

I was shocked to hear those words. I'd tried to have a different look on things: keeping my mouth shut, thinking before I spoke, even keeping a low profile. Apparently my efforts were for nothing.

"I was planning on going to school without interruptions," I began, fumbling with my fingers, "I suppose I'm really troublesome then."

Jungkook surprised me with a light hearted chuckle. Looking up, I saw he'd gotten much closer towards me, his legs brushing against mine. I wasn't bothered by them though, instead I felt comforted. 

Strange.

"You're not too troublesome." Fluffy assured. He gently placed his hand onto my shoulder. Smiling, he added, "Maybe a bit, but not as much as some others."

A smile crept up onto my lips, a smirk appearing, "Glad to hear that."

Getting up, I couldn't help but feel doubtful. What will he think if he ever heard the full story? That was too much of a risk for now. Instead, I saved him the trouble, telling him on snippets of what'd happen.

Noting else.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt Fluffy's hand on my head once more.

"You really enjoy doing this, don't you?" I asked as his patted my hair. He turned a bit red, "I guess so."

***

"Soo-In Ah!" Jimin sang aloud behind me. I stopped what I was doing, feeling myself get lifted off the ground almost immediately.

"Y-Yah!" I yelled out, kicking the air.

I heard the sounds of laughter coming from everyone around. The people still hanging around in the coffee shop stifled a laugh as well. 

"Enough." I heard Mark say. The next thing I knew, I was in someone else's arms.

Mark's own, actually.

"W-What are-e you doing?!" I stammered, wiggling about. His grip became tighter, securing me in place.

"Saving you. What does it look like?" His voice had a slight tinge of humor in it as he slipped a smirk onto his lips. 

My face was probably a crimson red.

When Mark slowly put back on the ground, I grabbed my ordering board and hugged it tight, praying I wouldn't endure that kind of surprise again. 

'Being picked up by surprise. Doesn't that ring a bell?'

The faint smell of vanilla alerted my senses, making me look around. No one held that scent here, and I was glad for it.

"Jimin you're so foreword in your actions. It looked like Soo-In almost died of a heart attack." Jin said breathlessly. He'd been laughing for almost five minutes now.

Glaring at Jin, I spoke towards Jimin, "What was that about? You guise came in an hour ago and here you are attacking me out of nowhere!"

Jimin gave a mysterious smile as he answered back, "You were gone a while and I missed you, what else is the reason?"

"You could've just told me you missed me, not startle me."

"What's the fun in that?" Jimin started to pout. Out of a natural response, I threw a napkin ball at him, hitting him on the forehead.

V started to laugh, clutching his sides. Jungkook and Jin did the same, throwing napkin balls and aiming for his head.

"Yah!" Jimin called out, covering his face.

I couldn't help but giggle at his childishness. He looked like he could've been my age. Mark nudged my side a bit, his face going back to an unamused look.

"Shifts done in a few minutes." He said, pointing at the clock. 

"Okay, I'll go tell Mrs. Kim I'm leaving." Nodding my head, I untied my apron and walked into the kitchen. 

Ring ring.

I looked at my phone in my pocket, shocked by who texted me.

Eonnie, are you well? Tan is fine, though he's still upset you left. Have fun in Korea, and if you're not too upset anymore, come home and visit soon.
~Eunji

I read the text over and over again. How did she get my number? Who told her? What if they find out too?

Taking deep breaths, I turned off my phone and cleaned the rest of my things. Once I put my stuff away, I headed to the main office room.

The hallway to the office was covered in more pictures, festive ones with Mr. and Mrs. Kim in outfits. They were huddled together, looking into each others eyes. The only thing off was that Mark wasn't in those pictures.

Huh.

Reaching the end of the hall, I opened the door, almost swept off my feet by the sight of everything. 

The room full of books and pictures changed in a way. Instead, everything was decorated to the holiday spirit. There were dozens of books on the tables, like last time. But these books were ones like, 'The Secret to a Perfect Gingerbread Boy' or 'What Not to Cool for the Holidays'. The list of books went on. The walls were of Christmas lights, fake snow also spread along the ground. The smell of frosted cranberry candles filled my nostrils as I explored more. The place was magical.

But not only that. All over the walls were Christmas pictures. Ones with Mark.

There were dozens of pictures of Mark in sweaters, jackets, cardigans. He had on a charming smile, one I'd never seen him wear. He looked relatively the same in every photo, with only a three to four year difference in the pictures.

There were some photos of him that made me want to burst out in giggles, ones like him hugging Santa, or riding a reindeer, even playing with Elves.

My jaw literally fell open as I came across another photo of him blushing. Had he ever blushed so red before? I went up towards the photo for a better view, but before I could take a step, the door swung open.

"Soo-In!" Mark's voice shouted. There was a sense of panic in his voice. I turned around, only to bump head first into his torso.

"Ah-" I said, bouncing off of his chest. I was sent falling backwards, tripping over magazines of Christmas trees placed on the floor. Mark grabbed my waist, keeping me balanced. As soon as I caught my standing, I looked up at him, turning a bit red. 

If someone were to walk by, they'd see a boy and a girl embracing one another.

Mark quickly let go, his arms tied behind his back.

"My mom went towards the storage room downstairs and told me she just redecorated.."

He was as red as the picture. Looking around, his eyes became wider. The next thing I knew, he was grabbing my hand and leading me out the door.

"Wai-"

"T-There's n-nothing to see the-ere." He stuttered, covering his face. I let out a giggle, only making him even more red.

When we reached the shop, Jungkook was playing a Rock Paper Scissors match with V.

"I win!" V sang, jumping up and down.

"One more game!"

"No, I won fair and square."

"Mark, what's wrong?" Jin asked, looking quite amused. Mark let out a cough, turning away from me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, trying hard not to laugh.

"I'm... Fine..."

Jungkook looked towards Mark and I, a bit confused. Ignoring his look of questioning, I asked, "What was that all about?"

Fluffy then had a look of defeat, his shoulders lowered and his head resting on the battle table. In a tired voice he replied back, "I lost."

"Lost at what?"

He got up from his chair with a sigh, "I'll tell you while we walk."

Shrugging, I joined his side, waving towards everyone as we walked out if the doors.

Half way towards my house, I asked him, "So what did you loose?"

He looked up, an embarrassed look in his eyes, "I have to audition for the ML."

"What's so bad about auditioning?" I questioned, arching a brow. Jungkook shrugged and replied back, "Auditioning isn't really my thing. And even if I did audition I wouldn't know what to do."

I thought for a moment, "Why not piano?"

"Piano?"

I turned towards him,"Why not? You seem more experienced then me."

He was silent, contemplating about the subject, "I don't know."

"You never know unless you try. It seems fun too, competing, performing, becoming famous."

All of a sudden, Jungkook stopped walking, making me pause as well.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking at him. He had a look of mischief in his eyes.

"Do you want to audition?"

"What?"

He took a step towards me, "Do you want to audition?"

I took a step back, "It sounds interesting."

Fluffy advanced towards me again, em this time taking four more steps, "Audition."

"W-what?"

Jungkook was in front of me now, his eye shining, "Audition."

"W-why? I only said it was interesting.."

"So audition, you have interest in it and your really talented."

"I'm n-not really-" 

"Someone who plays three instruments isn't talented?" He challenged, making me blush.

"I guess I am talented in a way," I agreed, "but I never said I wanted to do it."

Jungkook frowned, a childish plea on his face, "If you audition, so will I."

"You've already lost a bet, so you're auditioning either way." I countered.

"Come on~ please?" 

I sighed, looking into his eyes, "I'll think about it. There's no promise that I'll do it though."

We stopped at the front of my aunts house. The dewey grass glimmered off of the moon's light, giving off a elegant feel. 

"Think about auditioning, okay?" Fluffy said, patting my head. I nodded in response, waving him off as he walked away.

*** 

I looked up at the sign up sheet for the Honors High Music League. Ms Bae had just informed the students that the ML sign up sheet had been posted, making everyone run out the door to find it. I decided to wait for the signing to become less busy, but that meant waiting until the end of the day.

'Should I really?'

I trailed down the list, reading the names of those who were auditioning. Everyone had written down their name and their talent, listing tons of musical instruments and more. Hundreds of names flew by, taking up the ten papers given to sign up. Scrolling down, I found Jungkook's name towards the end. He'd erased his name once, seeing the marks of his previous name.

Jeon Jungkook : Piano 

"He's finally going to go through it.." I murmured.

Taking one deep breath, I grabbed a pencil from my bag and signed my name: 

Jung Soo-In : Piano

-------------------------•••-------------------------

Hope you guise enjoyed the extra chapters! I posted them to make up the lost time, so pls stay tuned! The story is kinda slow right now, but that's the point, so that you can see the characters change of heart ;3 hope you like this chapter with some more BTS boys and Mark <3

{Neauchia}