chapter sixteen
Of Bullets and Red Converse
Special Chapter
« starring Shin Yoomi and Min Yoongi »
The supermarket wasn’t any different despite it being a school holiday. There were always the elder women doing their regular grocery shopping and kids that go running up and down the aisle like it were a playground, screaming their heads off. Nothing fun or unusual. Today was an ordinary Tuesday where Mr. Shin wanted to have something special for lunch and Yoomi being the only available being in the house was sent out to go ingredient shopping. Now looking up and down the racks with a list of items on paper in between her fingers, Shin Yoomi was really up for a headache.
With her trolley parked before her, she reached out to scratch the crown of her head as she scanned the list. Her mother’s scribbles were not hard to read but what made her hesitate were the things she needed. Now Yoomi may be very independent due to her two working parents leaving her to settling a handful of things on her own, but grocery shopping isn’t one of them. So, initially her mother had wanted to go out and get the ingredients but then some of her university students came knocking on the door to ‘discuss’ some coursework. Therefore, with words of encouragement, Mrs. Shin has sent Yoomi out to fetch everything needed to make Chicken s with Herb Basting Sauce.
“What in the world is a dried majoram?”
Yoomi’s face crinkled in the most confused look as she raised the list against the bright lights in the store, thinking it could reveal some hidden code and the saviour to her confusion. If only it were written in Korean then maybe it’ll have been easier since she could ask the ahjummas around for help. Her mother had gotten the recipe from an English site and in a hurry scribbled in the language instead of translating it. Yoomi’s English was fairly well but then again, English named ingredient were not things she had learned and so the girl could only sigh as she wandered aimlessly around the store. Just then her phone vibrated in her back pocket and as she pulled it out, she saw it was a Kakao message from Chaekyung. She tapped on the picture attachment and smiled at a beautiful Busan scenery snapped from inside of a car. ‘I wish you guys were here. Talk to you tonight!’ The corners of the girl’s lips curled into a small smile. And it hit her!
“I’m one stupid person. I could have just Googled the words to know what it was.” Yoomi mumbled to herself, tapping on the Google icon on her phone and searched the first word on the list. With a winning lottery smile, she navigated well around the store and picking on the first item for today’s lunch.
“Hyung, remind me again why I’m to tag along on this miserable grocery shopping of yours?”
“Because you’re living with me for the weekend and I don’t want to snooping around my house so there’s that.”
Yoongi let out an annoyed gruff, stuffing the earbuds into his ears and immersed himself in the world of hip hop tracks. Jin rolled his eyes and continued pushing the cart into the store, AC air blasting into their faces as they entered. So the Mins decided to head out for a mini vacation but Yoongi had no plans on being his sister’s personal shopping bag carrier so he had opted out of the trip. His mother wasn’t too pleased as she had initially wanted it to be a family trip but his father was supportive of his decision, having faced first hand himself his daughter’s crazy shopping obsession and the load needing to be carried around as she did more shopping, allowed him to stay back. Min Nara was the sour brat as always, furious that no one was to help her carry her bags later on when she shops had then decided to get him out of the house too. So Yoongi rang up him best hyung to take care of him for the time being. Seokjin who was living alone agreed to only until the weekend available for this babysitting duty had caught him one fine afternoon rummaging through his cabinets searching for any hidden away ‘treasures’ to entertain himself. “What guy does not own any y magazines or video games?” Yoongi had questioned, frustrated that the house he was to spend a couple of days in was entertainment-free. Jin smacked the back of the latter’s head and replied in a monotone voice. “A guy who has a part time job and future college plans, thank you very much.” For a few moments, Yoongi had not tried digging through the house out of boredom but then not until hours later, Jin caught the male in his bedroom on the floor, tapping against the wood for any hidden compartments where he could have stored away any ‘valuables’.
So that was when Jin had vowed not to keep Yoongi out of his sight and had insisted he tag along to buy groceries for their days ahead as housemates. Jin had made a list on his phone of what there was absent in the house and was already up and about the store, getting things loaded into the trolley, no help from Yoongi of course. The boy was busy humming and softly rapping to whatever was blasting in his ears and successfully getting away from Jin as he headed to the free food sample booths. He greeted the ladies on promoting duty with his gummy smile, getting a whole armful of tasty stuff he had tried and loved. He was just walking up to Jin’s unattended trolley―the other boy was busy comparing two almost identical detergent, when he saw a familiar being around the opposite aisle. He backtracked a couple of steps and took coverage behind a mountain of toilet papers as he squinted at the female a few metres away from him.
Her blonde hair was of course no longer visible, only long brown locks curled into a messy bun above her head as she picked and choose bottles from the seasoning section. Even without her Alice costume, he knew it was her. The girl had introduced herself as Shin Yoomi during the Halloween Night at Nara’s school, he thought to himself as he continued staring like a creeper. Yoomi was dressed rather casually, denim shirt and shorts that made her legs look longer and flip flops. The boy caught himself smiling from ear to ear as he watched her catch a loose curl and pushed it behind her ear. Just then, the girl turned and his heart leaped and in time to avoid being caught staring when he pulled back fast enough the toilet papers behind him wobbled. Yoongi held the structure firmly, praying it not started raining toilet papers upon him and expose him to not only the girl he had his eyes on and the entire supermarket.
Jin rounded the corner and halted the trolley to a stop. He eyed the boy in hiding, thinking to himself how such a grown boy was playing hide and seek in a mart like a 3-year-old. “Please give a reasonable explanation as to why you’re hiding behind toilet papers, Min Yoongi?” Yoongi held a finger to his lips, shushing the elder and waved him to come closer. Jin followed the boy’s finger that pointed to a girl still picking around the rack for spices. Yoongi could almost hear the wheels in Jin’s brain spinning as he tried to figure out why the girl was so familiar.
Yoongi rolled his eyes, seeing how long Jin was taking to know who it was. “It’s―,”
“Yoomi-ssi!”
Min Yoongi didn’t wait any longer than a second and grabbed onto the trolley Jin was pushing and raced over to the opposite aisle, away from Yoomi who had now raised her head and stared right at Jin who had called her name out loud. Yoongi ran off, heart racing and breaking into cold sweat. “Damn, Jin hyung!” He hissed, a hand trying to steady his heart beating in his ribcage. He looked around the aisle and saw some ahjummas giving him weird looking expressions. With a sheepish grin, he dipped his head and made sure his hair fell over most of his face as he pushed the trolley along.
Yoomi saw a head of dark grey hair disappear away just as a tall male with broad shoulders stepped up to her way. Her eyebrows creased as she took in the oddly familiar face. Instead of waiting for Yoomi to recognize him, Jin took matters into his own hands and dipped into a bow, introducing himself. “I’m Seokjin, the pirate. You know, from the Halloween party the other night at your school.” Then it hit her and Yoomi was full smiles and a bundle of sunshine. She was greeting him animatedly, apologizing for not recognizing a sunbae since he was so in character the other night that she couldn’t tell his true face without the costume now. No wonder Yoongi likes her, she’s too cute.
“So, you’re shopping for a fancy meal I see.” Jin gave a pointed look into the items in her cart, making the girl chuckle slightly. “Well, apparently I was, just a few seconds ago. Till my stupid phone died on me and now I’m clueless as to what should I even be getting.” Yoomi showed her phone, screen black, and gave it a violent shake as if by doing so the battery fluid might flow through her powerless phone. A light laugh escaped Jin’s lips upon the girl’s grumbling and more scratching of her temple as she scanned her list she had in her hand. “I’d gladly help you with it, but actually I left my phone at home and Yoongi took off running with my groceries. He is the one with the phone, I’m sure he’ll be able to help.”
“Yoongi? Who’s that?”
Liar. Yoomi knew exactly who Jin was talking about. She knew him even before her friend Chaekyung got into that fight with the Queen of Jaguars, Min Nara. Nara’s brother was unlike the ‘female dog’ everyone in school disliked. He had on stone cold eyes when he was around waiting for Nara in the parking lot, music blasting through his headphones every time. That might sound scary but whenever Yoomi would pass by the parking lot despite her dad’s car being on the opposite direction, she’d manage to catch him with a relaxed expression with his eyes closed, feeling the breeze brush against his milky pale skin. She’d never seen him smile before after all this time stalking him because whenever Nara appears, the face of boredom and clear disinterest just washes on his face and then the siblings were in the car and off on the road home. But that was all till Yoomi saw him on the night of Halloween. He took her by surprise with the choice of costume, being Chucky which clearly was not the style Yoomi had pictured him at all.
However that night was the night he was smiling and laughing with the other boys. She saw how his eyes would sparkle at the mention of music and producing. She even overheard the vampire whose name was Namjoon talking about collaborating on a ‘tape’ of some sort with the latter. Then when he performed with the others, that was the moment when Yoomi knew her crush was nothing to regret about. Even though he wasn’t the best dancer (since Hoseok, Jimin and that junior named Jungkook stole the spotlight with flashy moves) but he was equally talented and he used his moments being centre well to capture the hearts of hundreds in the room. Yoomi did not want to assume anything but if she were being a little too confident, she would say that Yoongi did steal a few glances towards her direction while performing and offstage. But I’m not as stunning as the other girls. I was Alice, not some y femme fatale or Annabelle where he would notice me or like me, even. Without her knowing it, her cheeks were in a deep flush of pink.
Jin noticed that and was wise enough to not acknowledge it if it were not to definitely make the female even shy that she already was. The boy looked around and saw a small head peeking out of the corner far from them. He shoots Yoongi a sharp glare before sending a telepathy message that hopefully transmitted through to get his here and see this girl who clearly would return his feelings. ”I’ll expose you if you don’t get here right now, Min Yoongi.” Jin’s message was visible through his stern eyes at Yoongi and with trembling limbs and a fluttery stomach, Yoongi wheels the cart towards them.
“There he is!” Jin reached out to smack the boy on the back, Yoongi holding in his snark from the pain. Yoomi looked at Yoongi, eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights. Her own heart was thumping so loud she thought the entire supermarket could hear. Her tongue darted out to wet her suddenly dry lips and hands stuffed away into her pockets to keep from showing how she was shaking slightly. He is still as good looking as ever, she sighed dreamily. And he even had a new hair color, tempting Yoomi to reach out and run her fingers through them. Yoongi tried to contain his happy grin as he compiled himself well enough to squeak a hello. His voice came out a little off-key, making the girl burst in giggles and him a bright red tomato. Even Jin couldn’t resist to make funny faces at his 180 degree changed friend. To break the blooming awkwardness, Jin spoke. “Hey, Yoongs, Yoomi here needs to use your phone. Hand it over.” He placed his palms out facing the boy, demanding the gadget over.
Yoomi shook her head vigorously, stepping a little closer towards them. “No no, please. That won’t be necessary. I’m sure someone would help me find the spices I’d be needing.”
Yoongi looked at the girl and his hands shot out to reach for his phone and slapped it onto the other boy’s hand. “Oh it’s fine. I’d be glad to help you out!” And he flashed that gummy sweet like sugar smile at her. There goes my knees. Yoomi held onto her trolley handle till her knuckles turned white, waiting for Jin to help her with her list of items she planned on getting. As Yoomi and Jin were busy comparing and basically with him mostly going on and on about his ‘amazing’ cooking skills (no lie, Jin hyung does make awesome stuff once every blue moon), Yoongi just laid back and looked at the two. From the back, they looked like such a picture perfect couple, shopping for groceries and bickering here and there about the best option she should get and then smiling and laughing. Whenever Jin tries to say something funny, Yoongi ends up faking a barf or mocking him behind his back. What annoyed him most was how Yoomi was actually enjoying herself and how she still kept encouraging him to talk and even chirp in her own silly jokes which were way funnier than Jin’s. If it weren’t for her singsong laughter, Yoongi would have long stuffed his ears with earbuds and let his music take over his world.
In the middle of letting Yoomi decide which was the best bottle of spice she should get, Jin toss a casual glance over his shoulder and found a sour faced Yoongi with his arms crossed over his chest. Knowing that was his cue to take a step back and give the latter a chance to get closer to the girl, he looked at his watch and tapped against the glass. “Oops, got to go and get some more stuff for the house. Yoongi, help Yoomi with anything she needs okay? I’ll meet you both at the cashier.” Yoomi did not catch the secretive wink shot by Jin towards Yoongi as he pushed the cart to the instant noodles section.
Yoomi chewed on her lower lip as she followed Jin’s back till he disappeared with his trolley. Okay, deep breaths Shin Yoomi. It’s just Yoongi, don’t need to panic. The girl did her meditation breathing as she slowly turned to face the other boy. Yoongi stared at her before something sparked in his eyes and he smiled. Yoomi’s heart leapt as she gestured him to step up next to her, needing help to get the best pick.
“Don’t mind if I do.” Yoongi had to refrain from skipping next to the girl and get her shopping done.
“And then I was like what?! And she was just flippin’ out and then―” Yoongi was laughing along with Yoomi as she told about a funny episode between her friends after the Halloween Night. Without him realizing, he was helping the girl push her trolley to the cashier counter and Yoomi was freely punching him and making light skinship as they chattered on. Yoomi made a mental note on things that Yoongi likes and tried to pry for some information about any certain females he might be associating with, and he doesn’t! But she tried her best to hide the excitement and just casually shimmied into a different topic. Yoongi too dropped a couple of baits here and there in their conversations to find out more about her. “Oh… someone’s happy that I’m not yet taken.” Yoomi teased, reaching out to poke him on the side. , was I really smiling so obviously?!
“Got everything, Yoomi?” Jin popped up from behind them with his trolley of items. Yoomi took a quick scan at the items Jin purchased and raised her eyerbrows. “Seriously? You guys are going to live on chips for the rest of the weekend?” “I don’t want my food supply for a month to finish in a single meal since Mr. Black Hole here inhales food. So chips would do to stuff him enough that a proper proportion of a meal can satisfy him.” Yoomi cracked up at that which made Yoongi shoot a death glare towards the older male. Way to help your homie out here, hyung. I hate you. Jin lifted his shoulders in a shrug and pushed his purchases forward when Yoomi had gone forth to pay for her ingredients.
Just as she was about to dig for the amount of her items, Yoongi stopped her with a hand over hers and handed the man behind the counter a card. “I’ll get that for you.” Before Yoomi could protest, the bored man took the card and swiped it with a swift movement of his wrist before handing it back to a smiling Yoongi. Yoomi gaped at her friend, a fist playfully punching him on the arm. “I could have paid for it myself, you know? My dad gave me the cash for it. Now what am I to tell them about the untouched money?”
Yoongi tapped his chin in deep thought, before a smirk grew upon his handsome face. “You can agree to meet me again sometime? Sounds good?”
Yoomi knew she was blushing because the smirk on Min Yoongi’s face grew even wider. “I’ll take that as a yes then, Ms. Shin.” The boy then pulled out his phone and tapped the phone icon. “We can discuss the place, time and date. I’d need your number for that, if you don’t mind.” Yoomi stammered two times while reciting her number, earning a laugh from the latter as he punched in the digits. “I’ve just sent you a text message so you’ll get it as soon as you’ve charged your phone.”
The cashier guy cleared his throat, signalling that they both were holding the line and pointed at her purchases ready to go. Yoomi fumbled for the straps and scooped them in her arms. She stepped away to give way for Jin to make his payment, eyes still not leaving Yoongi.
“Uh, thank you… I mean, it really wasn’t necessary…,” she paused as a little grin of her own spread across her face. “If you had asked to see me again, I would have said yes anyways.” Bottling up her courage, she managed to toss him a playful wink before raising the goods in her arms and mumbled a small thank you. With a turn of her heels after calling out to Jin to say goodbye, she was up and off home.
Min Yoongi was at awe. He looked at Jin and asked in disbelief, “Did she just winked at me? Like flirty wink at me?! I’m not dreaming, am I?” All his happiness was gone when the latter whacked him hard behind the head, earning a painful howl from Yoongi. “The only one here who wished he were dreaming now would be me. I can’t believe you used my card without my permission and paid for Yoomi’s groceries! Do you know I had her pick the best out of the best, which were also the expensive stuff?!” Jin growled.
Yoongi wore his signature ‘I don’t give a ’ look and lifted his shoulders. “As long as my future in-laws are happy with their meal. I’m all down to do anything.”
“You’re insane, Min Yoongi. Insane, I tell you.” Jin muttered under his breath as he fought back the tears when he had to use the same card to pay for his own handful of expensive groceries. Goodbye, money. I’ll make Yoongi pay for it, I promise.
I'M BACKKKK!! okay i hope this update is alright... i'll have special chapters for each couple so next special chapter would be hoseok x sanjana's so keep the lookout for that one! i'm sorry for the wait, i'll try to get updating if i can because college prep is scary and a hell lot of stuff so please be nice with me. ENJOYYYYY !!!
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