I try to be a good student and get my summer homework done early. There’s nothing more satisfying than having nothing to do the night before classes resume. Not to mention the smug feeling of watching your classmates suffer the cramming. It’s like a sense of karmic retribution. The power is mine, for a change. Who’re you laughing at now?

Naturally, it’s easier said than done. Even more so now because like the rest of my summer, my homework schedule is integrated around a carefully calculated time table of activities with my absentee best friends. So imagine my surprise when my newest study buddy made himself available. Or, rather, study buddies in the plural.

“This is a most interesting development indeed.”

For the love of all that is holy and sane, someone shove a sock down Kim Seokjin’s throat, please. The Prince sat across me, his chin perched upon at the back of a graceful wrist. I knew beforehand that he would be here, but Namjoon has also told me that everyone has been pre-warned and briefed before the actual Thing. This, this whole staring at me, insinuating insinuations that should not be insinuated at all is not what I signed up for.

Jungkook sits next to Seokjin and stares at me, too.

I wonder if it’s too late to back out.

Namjoon smacks the back of Jungkook’s shoulder with a math workbook. “Don’t stare at her like that!” He plops the workbook in front of the kid. “Do your homework.”

Of all places I would have expected the Bangtan Boys to hang out in, the Fourth Ave Flower Shop was not one of them. We’re in the anteroom before the walk-in coolers, settled on the work tables. The flowers and arrangements were all relocated to the white tiled counter attached to the wall, to be worked on later in the afternoon. Hoseok, Yoongi, and Taehyung were all upstairs using the practice room. Jimin wasn’t allowed up there until he did two chapters of math today.

“Can’t I just copy her homework?”

I stick my tongue out at Jimin and pull my workbook closer to me and use my arm as a wall around it. I still haven’t completely ruled out that this isn’t a dream. Or a nightmare. Or a waking nightmare.

I cut a glance at Seokjin and he’s still looking at me with that ambiguous Mona Lisa smile thing. I’d ask what his problem was, but I think I already have an idea what he’s so happy about. I go back to the same question I’ve been working on since last night. Without Youngjae to tutor me, I was hopeless at remembering problem solving techniques.

Until Namjoon sneaks a peek and starts coaching me step by step.

My reaction is the same as all my reactions towards him lately: incredulous.

I’m only half listening as he continues his elegant line by line solution to the numbers and letters on my worksheet. I wonder who has the elegant line by line solution to the xs and ys running inside my head now.

“Did you get that or do you want to go through it again?”

“I think I got it, thanks.”

I barely hold myself together and not flip the table over Seokjin’s stupid, happy, celebratory face.

Once Jimin’s two chapters are done (with help from Seokjin), he all but flies off to the second floor where the other guys are practicing a showcase for the indie music festival Blue Rush. Jaebeom and Jinyoung mentioned something of the sort as well, and I can’t shake off that weird feeling that something big is going to happen this weekend. I have to be there. To make sure nothing spirals out of control.

But first, “You’re good at Math.”

Namjoon just shrugs, deprecatingly.

“He’s good at more than just Math,” Seokjin adds. “He’s pretty decent at Science and English, too.”

“Shut up,” Namjoon mutters. To me, he says, “I just, you know, don’t know what I’m gonna do after school so my dad says, just do good at everything just in case.”

“And Catharsis is just…?”

He shrugs again, picking up his phone. “I don’t know, gotta be prepared.”

Gotta be prepared. It’s a line that haunts me the rest of the day. After the day’s homework has been done I leave Namjoon and the other guys to practice on their own. I messaged Youngjae, but he’s busy with recital things and can’t come see me this afternoon. Khunfections is void of anyone I know, and when I asked, this guy Woohyun said Jaebeom and Jinyoung asked for the day off. They’re probably at Unplugged and I don’t want to overstep my bounds and just randomly show up. My sister won’t be arriving home until later tonight and our dinner has been postponed to a late diner. With nowhere else to go, I walk into True Beauty.

“I was wondering when you’d show up.” This might be the first time ever that Hoya is actually welcoming me to the store. Even if it’s because there’s the Charity Sale I volunteered to help out with.

“I happen to have a life,” I answer, lamely. “And I was here last weekend.”

The store is in the middle of its Summer Sale preparations. In the middle of the room, where the lounge couches used to be, is a pile of clothes awaiting segregation into their appropriate sale bins. There are more in the back, last season’s fashion and last year’s summer collection waiting for a revival.

“Is Miss Hwayoung at the back?” Ryu Aerin offered to pay me for my services the whole summer, but I declined. I liked helping out. Besides, it felt wrong when in the past week I have received a new skirt, a cute top, and this dress that’s just all the things dainty and sweet and I have no idea where to wear it to.

“No. She and Aerin had to go to the warehouse to collect more stuff for the charity sale. She said they’ll be back before closing and to just continue operations as usual.”

“So, business as usual.”

Hoya folds his arms over his chest. “Did you guys have a fight, or something?”

I walk over to the nearest stall and go through the hangers. “No. It’s not like that. It’s just like last summer, you know? Youngjae at Woollim, Nari off to see her grandparents…”

“Yeah but I still saw you three on a daily basis. What’s up.”

If Hoya were any less sincere, I would have just waved the issue away and pretended all was well and good, but Hoya has always been sincere in his own strange way. It felt wrong to lie to him, even worse to reject his concern.

“I don’t know. Nari and I had a fight before the summer break started and now she’s at her grandmother’s for the summer and not talking to me.” To be fair, I left her a message once, but she didn’t respond so that’s the end of that. “Youngjae found his people at music school and I know Jaebeom and Jinyoung from Khunfections has recruited him to their dance crew.” Which is all find and dandy and I’m happy for Youngjae but where does that leave me? “And I don’t know…it’s like they’ve moved on and I wasn’t even given a memo…”

“And you don’t have any other friends?”

“I never needed other friends before.”

I like to pretend this day would never come. When Nari and Youngjae would break out on their own and me, who still has no idea what to do about life, will be left behind. I thought that we would always have summer, but I guess I’m no longer part of that “we”.

“You know Nari and Youngjae were here before she left for her grandma’s.”

I smell a conspiracy. “If you knew, why did you ask?”

He laughs. “Because it’s weird, is why. I asked her the same thing and she said you’re spending too much time with your boy toys. I didn’t even know you had the capacity for boy toys.”

I groan into my palms. “I don’t. I don’t even know how that happened because I wasn’t even there. One day, I’m in the middle of some crazy— what? Nari said what?”

Hoya shrugs.

“She didn’t actually say that, did she? Because that’s not even my fault!”

“Don’t get mad at me! I’m just a curious bystander.”

I have my doubts about that but I keep them to myself. “I don’t have boy toys.” Is that what all these people are saying now?

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You? Boy toys? That’s a laugh.”

“Wow. Nice to know you think so highly of me.”

“Don’t forget about Saturday. The charity sale starts at 9 so be here at 6. There’s more stuff for inventory at the back so you should start on that.”

I step away from the rack and head towards the stock room. “I’m really gonna miss you bossing me around, you know.”

Before the inner room door closes behind me, I hear Hoya call out, “You’re not rid of me yet!”

It’s dark out by the time my “shift” is over. I should have clocked off an hour ago, but m sister’s arrival was pushed back another hour. Hoya closes shop and I wait for him to finish before walking off. Seems like the decent thing to do. I couldn’t just walk away. Not even Aerin did that, and she’s the Big Boss.

“What time do you think the sale will end?” I ask.

“I don’t know. You going to Blue Rush?”

I nod.

“Yeah. Me, too. We can go together after. The real party doesn’t start until sunset anyway.”

I’m about to seal our plan when I spy across the street the last person I expect to see today. Mark tosses his head at me, acknowledging my presence like it’s something he’s done on a normal basis. Like he hasn’t ignored me and treated me with scepticism this entire time.

“That’s not your boy toy, is he?”

“No.” I still haven’t acknowledged Mark back, but it’s too late to ignore him because he’s already seen me see him. “But he is part of the problem.”

“Good luck,” Hoya says, stepping away from me. “I’d stick around, but I have a date.” And then he’s off and I’m on my own. I didn’t even know Hoya was dating anyone.

Mark crosses the street and when he’s close enough, I smell Khunfections all over him. He lifts his eyes to the signage behind me. “You work here?”

“I’m just helping out for the charity sale thing. It’s on Saturday.” Why did I say that?

“You’re not going to Blue Rush?”

I answer slowly. “Are you?”

He shrugs and leans so far the side he’d fall over himself if he didn’t start walking. I follow him, because that’s what I think he’s saying. “Yeah. Probably. You have a thing Saturday?”

I just said so but I nod anyway. “But I’ll make it to Blue Rush by sunset maybe. That’s when the real party begins.”

That’s when the real party begins? What am I even saying? What is wrong with me? It’s just Mark?

“Did you hear from Jackson?”

I shake my head but Mark is walking ahead of me. “No, why?”

Another shrug. This is getting annoying.

I ask, “What were you doing at Khunfections?”

“Suzy wanted to hang out.”

Suzy wanted to hang out. Of course. Sure, whatever. I make a face at his back. I make several faces, actually. So much that I almost swallow my tongue when he turns to look at me. He doesn’t say anything, which leads to the notion that maybe he has eyes at the back of his head. He’s probably an alien.

The alien theory has to wait because Namjoon is calling. Something swirls in my gut. It’s heavy and coiled tight. Maybe Hoya was right. Maybe I am a bad girl playing around with her boy toys. I never wanted this. I still don’t want this. There isn’t a scenario where this ends well, and I know it.

The buzzing stops and I get a message.

Did you get home safe?

I type a quick reply:

On my way now.

Namjoon answers:

I’ll see you tomorrow? No Jin or Jimin. Let’s do something fun?

I don’t reply yet. I’m not sure what I want to say, not with Mark lurking in the background. If I’m being completely honest, I really want to spend time with Namjoon. I can’t even bring myself to deny it. He’s nothing like I thought he would be, and the more I get to know him, the more intrigued I am. But I hear Nari’s voice in my head saying I can’t just disregard everything else before this summer. I can’t just pretend he’s never been mean to us, or that his friends have made a hobby of making fun of us. That all this isn’t some elaborate scheme to earn my trust and then use it against me for all it’s worth.

“What’s up?”

I push my phone back into my bag and hide the stinging in my eyes. “My sister is coming home tonight so…just waiting for her to say so.”

“Oh yeah. Older sister. I saw her blog. She stalks Open Your Eyes!.”

Not exactly the reputation I want, but as I’ve learned this past year that is totally out of my control. “Yeah, I’m not related to that person.”

He laughs. Mark actually laughs. It’s less of a laugh, like not quite a normal person laugh, but it’s a Mark sort of laugh and it’s like finding a four leaf clover. It reminds me of the bell above the door to Khunfections, a sweet tinkle that makes you look, makes you want to keep that sound in a special glass bottle and turn into into a snow globe. But instead of snow or glitter, every time you shake the bottle you get this sound that could be the birth of a star in a galaxy far, far away.

“Is she gonna be at Blue Rush, too? I mean are you going together?”

“I actually don’t know. But she’ll end up stalking Kim Sunggyu and I don’t want to just watch OYE! all day, I mean they’re great, you know, but everyone else is there. Uhm. Who’re you going with?”

I hold my breath waiting for his answer.

“Just me. Jackson’s home for the weekend but he’ll have this family thing and he won’t want to go. Not like I know anyone else who’s going. Or wants to go.”

“Really?” I know too many people who are going.

“I’ll see you there?”

“Sure.” And I say this without huffing like a creeper or sounding like I need a nebulizer.

The rest of the walk is spent talking about little things one forgets the following morning. Something about dalgona, something about school, homework, something about candy, something about music. Somethings I never imagined talking about with anyone who isn’t Nari or Youngjae. It’s a strange feeling. Because it’s Mark.

He walks me all the way to our front gate. Thing is, I didn’t even notice we were already there until he stopped walking.

“Thanks. Didn’t have to.” I’m sure it was a complete, proper sentence before it left my brain, but that’s all that made it out of my mouth.

He shrugs.

“Shrugger.”

“Get inside.” He makes a move, like he was going to push me in but changed his mind at the last minute. “Go.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I take a step back. “Walking, see?”

Vaguely, I hear the front door open but I don’t realize it until I hear my sister, Jein, screaming my name. “Mom! She’s here! She brought a date!”

The realization hits too late and before it could dawn on either myself or Mark, we’re being herded inside. Jein has made the announcement and try as I did to stutter an explanation, it was all in vain. I wish I could at least get Mark out of it, but everything happened so quickly, by the time I get to my senses, we’re seated at the dining table. Oh, and Hoya is right across us, sitting next to my sister. I can hear his thoughts: Since when were you Jein’s sister? Or something like: This all makes sense now.

But no, nothing makes sense.

A/N: Hi guys, thanks for still being around despite the slow updates =) In the meantime, here's a BTS story by my friend Lucky! Read it! Please and Thank you~ 

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