Chapter 24.

Ephemeral
Here is chapter 24 :3 btw anime, manga (not manhwa I refuse) and game references up ahead, so sorry not sorry >//< and I am so sorry this took me so long to write, I have been lacking the drive and I've practically had to push myself to write it.

"So what do you kids want for breakfast?" Mrs. Kim glanced back at Yoongi and Junghwa as she tied an apron around her waist. "I can make you some kimbap, but my princess is very insistent on having an English breakfast this morning."
"That suits us just fine, Mrs. Kim. We're very adaptable." Yoongi smiled kindly. 
"Of course, so is your belly." Mrs. Kim laughed as she mock-punched Yoongi in the stomach, and he backed away with an 'Oof!', making Jin roll his eyes exasperatedly. 

"Ah, Mom, come on. Let's just eat." He helped Junghwa into one of the chairs, before sitting down on the chair in front of her. Yoongi took his seat next to Jin, giving her a reassuring grin as she glanced at him worriedly. 

"Coffee, anyone?" Mrs. Kim looked back at them, kettle in hand. "I made extra, but Jin's father was in a hurry and he didn't have any. Shall I heat it up?"
"No thanks, Mrs. Kim." Yoongi spoke up. "We had some before we got here."
"We? Jungkook told me you hated coffee." Jin raised his brow at the girl curiously; she merely shrugged, responding with, "First time for everything."
"That's right, Jin." His mother walked up to the table, placing plates in front of the children before glaring at him disapprovingly. "Like how this might be the first time you help me out in the kitchen?"
"Mom, I always help out in the kitchen." Jin quickly faked a cough, before looking up at her with a pout. "Plus, I'm feeling a little under the weather-"
"And you'll be in for an arse-whooping if you don't come here and help me now. Get up!" She shrilled, making Jin immediately jump out of his seat and rush after his mother. 

"That's Mrs. Kim for you." Yoongi laughed at Junghwa's shocked face. "Always speaking her mind."
"She's a lot like you, Yoongi." Jin said dryly. "Sassy in every way possible."
"Pity you aren't like that, Princess." Yoongi cooed, before sticking his tongue out at the older male cheekily. 
"Oh, leave him alone, Yoongi." Junghwa laughed. "We pick on Princess enough in school anyway."

Mrs. Kim soon had placed a bowl of scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, a plate of boiled sausages and a basket of assorted breads on the table, making Junghwa's eyes widen with delight as she murmured, "It's been a while since I had food like this." 
"That's my mother for you!" Jin beamed at her proudly, before grinning back at Junghwa again. "She recently went to England, so this kind of food has become more common here." 
"This is amazing." Yoongi sighed happily as he munched on a spoonful of his breakfast, before giving Mrs. Kim the thumbs up. 

"I really miss my mother's cooking now." He grinned. "I'm going to have to call her and ask her to come to Seoul as soon as possible." 
"I miss Mom's cooking a lot too." Junghwa suddenly piped up, giving everyone a tentative smile. "Especially this batch of muffins she used to make." 
"Ah..." Mrs. Kim nodded slowly, giving her an apologetic smile. 
"There was a secret ingredient she'd put in 'em, and no one knew what it was... but she told Jungkook." Junghwa smiled sadly. "He made them for me for our eighteenth birthday. Funny she told him, because he usually doesn't bake much." 
"He'd come here for training, saying he'd want to bake your mother a cake. Her birthday was in July... wasn't it?" Jin spoke up hesitantly. 
"He managed to do it too, last year. She was really surprised he managed to bake her something." Junghwa sighed. "He would have done it this year too, but-"

Junghwa sighed again, looking up at Mrs. Kim sadly. "But I messed that up pretty bad before he even had a chance to."

Mrs. Kim looked at her curiously, opening to ask her how she had done that, but a warning glance from her son told her it would be best not to. She swallowed whatever question had popped up to her tongue, before giving her a small smile.

"Well, we've all done something we've regretted in the past... or experienced stuff we'd rather not ever want to..." Mrs. Kim shrugged. "So believe me when I say that it will all be alright in the end. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in a few years, even. But it gets better, yeah?"

Junghwa nodded, looking up at Mrs. Kim with a small smile. "Yes it does. It really does."

And soon, with breakfast finished, Yoongi and Junghwa decided to go up to Jin's room for a while, but not before profusely thanking his mother for a wonderful breakfast. 

"It was nothing, dears!" She waved them off, a wide grin across her face. "I'm glad you liked my cooking."
"Like is an understatement, Mrs. Kim." Yoongi laughed. 
"We luuuuuuuuuuuuurv it." Junghwa smiled cheekily, earning herself a glance from Jin. 

"You sound like Himchan." 
"That was the idea, Jin." Junghwa laughed, before nodding at Mrs. Kim. "Well, we'll be off to Jin's room then~"
"Have fun." Mrs. Kim grinned as the three friends made their way upstairs, making their way to Jin's bedroom. 

"For someone's who's usually organised, you have a messy bedroom." Junghwa's eyes widened slightly as she walked into Jin's room, which was even messier than hers, and Junghwa wasn't exactly the most organised person in her family. 

"Sorry, haven't gotten around to cleaning it. Been busy lately." Jin sniffled as he picked up his uniform off his chair, before nodding at Junghwa. "Have a seat."
"Thanks. And I thought I was messy..." She giggled as she looked around playfully, her eyes scanning the many collection of Japanese manga on his shelves. 

"He's a huge manga fan." Yoongi took a comic book from one of the shelves, glancing down at the cover as he murmured, "Ah, these are in English." 
"I shipped them from England." Jin grinned, before sheepishly adding, "Well, I ordered them and Mom shipped them back." 
"Ah, could I borrow some?" Junghwa asked curiously as she looked down at the Corpse Party comic she had taken in her hand. 
"You can take Corpse Party, I just finished reading that." Jin nodded. 
"Isn't it a game?" Yoongi looked at him curiously. 
"Yeah, it is. Speaking of games..." Jin suddenly jumped up, walking to his shelf. His fingers quickly brushed through a few CDs, before pulling out a game. 

"Check this out." Jin smirked as he held out the game towards Yoongi, whose eyes widened as he grabbed it from Jin. 

"Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare?! Dude, when did you get this?!" He gasped. 
"Pre-ordered it. It came earlier than planned. I got it on the 3rd. I didn't play it until two nights ago, though." Jin grinned. "Wanna play? Some other people might be online right now."

Soon, Junghwa and Yoongi found themselves joining Jin in playing multiple rounds of Call of Duty, getting so into the game that they didn't notice how quickly time had flown. Yoongi would often comment on how much better the graphics were as opposed to the previous Call of Duty game, which had left him utterly disappointed. 

"Kill streak! Kill streak!" He laughed triumphantly as his character raced through the many buildings; Junghwa let out an amused chuckle as she watched Yoongi edge closer to the screen, his lips pursing together as he furiously shot at the players from the other team. Jin shook his head, before glancing over at Junghwa. 

"You know, we used to make fun of him saying he'd only speak whenever the guys came over to game." He said quietly, his lips curving up into a small smile. "He really has changed a lot this year. Him trying out for basketball was the last thing any of us had ever expected."
"Well... he almost didn't, but I managed to push him into it." Junghwa smiled. 
"I heard about that from Namjoon... actually, you've done a lot for Yoongi probably without even realising it." Jin smiled back wistfully. "I guess... I want to say thanks, on behalf of all of us, I guess. You've nearly done what we've been trying to do for the last two years."

Jin's thankfulness, however, was met with a heavy sigh, as she looked up at the ceiling with a wry smile. 

"We're too alike..." She mumbled slowly. "We've experienced pain of the same kind, Jin. Losing people we've both loved dearly, having them cruelly taken away from us... to be honest, I don't even go out of my own way to help him with what happened a near three years ago. It's all... him. I haven't done anything, really. He's been the one helping me."
"But by helping you, he's helped himself. I haven't ever seen him like this, Junghwa. I think Namjoon and Taehyung would probably notice the change more, they've known him since they were in middle school." Jin sighed. "But yeah... our gratitude still stands." 

Junghwa smiled back, before her eyes shifted back to the screen, and a calm silence fell across the pair that watched Yoongi play. 

"By the way... about what my mother said earlier-"
"I'm already over it, Jin. it's fine." Junghwa shrugged. "Plus, she's right. We're all two different people in the end. Just seven billion people, but fourteen billion faces."

"And besides, I should stop letting everything get to me so much. It's like my brother said. Let go of the past, and it'll let go of you."

Jin gave her a reassuring smile, patting her head gently. Yoongi glanced at them, catching the gesture out the corner of his eye. He slowly began to smile; he had no clue of what they were talking about, but he was sure that Junghwa was feeling much better right now.

Soon, it was well past one in the afternoon, and Jin gasped as he looked at the clock, shouting out, "Time for lunch!"
", is that the time?" Junghwa stood up, looking at Yoongi. "We should probably get going, huh?"
"Yeah, let's." Yoongi nodded as he jumped to his feet. "Jin, you wanna join us for lunch?" 
"I'm good. Mom's getting me some food- Hey, you guys wanna stay for lunch?" He suddenly asked, but Junghwa shook her head, giving him a kind smile.

"Thanks Jin. We're good." She grinned. "Thanks for the offer though."
"Ah well. Have fun, you both." Jin shrugged as he walked his friends to the door, before seeing them off with a wide grin. 

"Come over some more. You're welcome any time you like." Jin winked at Junghwa. "Especially if you get into a fight with Jungkook and Yoongi." 
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Jinnie. Thanks for having us over."

Saying quick good byes to each other, Yoongi and Junghwa soon left Jin's house, strolling down the sidewalk as their eyes began to hunt for a restaurant. However, Yoongi was soon tired (and feeling very lazy) from all the walking, and he nudged her with his elbow when they walked past a supermarket. 

"Let's just buy some ramen and make some at my place." He mumbled. 
"Isn't it easier finding a place to eat out?" Junghwa raised her brow at him incredulously. 
"Come on, I have my mother's special ramen sauce I really want to have." Yoongi pouted, before carefully adding, "Plus, I have a good feeling about this place." 
"Yoongi, the only thing you are feeling is laziness." She rolled her eyes, before shrugging nonchalantly. "Well, I'm not complaining... for now."
"That sauce is worth the wait, Hwa." He grinned as they stepped into the supermarket, walking for a while until they found the noodle section. Yoongi grinned triumphantly as they took three large packets of uncooked ramen, before moving to find other things to add. 

"Jungkook and Tae finish early today. They'll be back by the time we get home." Yoongi nodded at her, before the pair began to make their way to the next aisle. 

As soon as they reached the aisle where the sauces were, they heard faint sniffling, and Junghwa immediately looked for the source of the noise. She gasped when she saw a young boy, not even four years old probably, standing in the middle of the aisle, crying loudly. 

"Hwa-?" Yoongi raised his brow as she began to make her way to the small boy, who didn't seem to notice Junghwa make her way towards him. It was only when she knelt down next to him did he look up, his eyes slightly widening when he saw Junghwa. 

"Hey, you lost?" She asked quietly. The young boy slowly nodded, forcibly wiping his tears away as he said, "I can't find Mommy." 
"You wanna go look for her, then?" Junghwa stood up, smiling kindly. He immediately nodded, stifling his sob with a sniffle. 

Junghwa began to walk towards the far end of the aisle, turning slightly to see if the boy was still following her; she blinked with surprsise when she saw him standing in the exact spot he was before, only now Yoongi was standing next to him as well. 

"You want me to hold your hand?" Yoongi asked hesitantly, and the younger child shook his head, as he looked up at Junghwa expectantly, almost as if was waiting for her to-

"Carry him?" Yoongi looked at his friend bewilderedly as she picked the young boy off his feet; he immediately rested his head against her shoulder, his sniffles ceasing to exist. 

"Aw, bless him." Junghwa smiled as she patted his head gently. "Let's go to the help desk, maybe they can make an announcement."
"Alright." Yoongi chuckled bemusedly as he followed Junghwa past the many shelves to the entrance of the supermarket. 


May stretched her arms up to the ceiling as the bell rang for the end of the day. Letting out a content sigh, she brought her hands up to fix her wine-red hair up in a messy bun, before putting her stationary away into her book bag. 

"Yo, May." Jungkook propped himself up on her table, looking down at her with a wide smile. May smiled back shyly, as she meekly responded with a quiet "Hello."

"Hey, since Junghwa's probably out with Yoongi, you wanna come over?" He grinned, looking at her rather hopefully.
"Well, since my shift's not until late, why not?" May smiled back, slinging her book bag across her shoulder. Jungkook grinned, before nodding vigorously. 

"Taehyung's got something to do for his club, so it'll just be you and me." He chuckled. "Shall we?"

May nodded, her cheeks turning slightly pink as she fell into step with Jungkook; her face flushed at the thought of walking home alone with him, especially after she had embarrassed herself in front of him many a time. By now, she had come to terms with it herself, that she was smitten by Jeon Jungkook. And she knew full well that he felt the same way, having accidentally overheard Jungkook ask Taehyung about her, in such a way, she later realised, that he was interested in the possibilty of them being more than friends. That time they went to the beach only made them both even more sure of their feelings for each other. The way his hand was around her waist when he guided her through a crowd, and the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention. They both knew that they wanted to be more than just friends.

But May needed time. She needed time for that to fully sink in, the realisation that she really did see Jungkook as more than a good friend. And she also knew that he needed time after everything that he had been going through since summer had started, and even more so recently-

Junghwa. She blinked rapidly, as she remembered what Jungkook and Taehyung had told her in full confidence. It was with much pain that May realised that she hadn't been as good of a friend to Junghwa as she had to Jungkook, despite having spoken to his sister first. 

"Hey-" May began hesitantly, glancing up at him unsurely. Jungkook hummed in response, looking towards her with a small smile. "I was wondering, if Junghwa makes it home before I have to leave for my shift... could I see her? She hasn't been to school for a while."
"She'll be back soon. But yeah, if she's home, of course you can see her."

May gave him a thankful smile as they reached the gates, and just as they were about to walk outside, they heard a familiar voice shout Jungkook's name.

"Hey! Stop!" Taehyung yelled as he ran up to the pair, nearly bumping into May in the process. She gave him a furious glare as he managed to steady himself, obviously not amused with him nearly colliding into her. Taehyung smiled at the both of them sheepishly as he murmured, "Club's cancelled. I guess I can come back home with you, after all, Jungkookie. Hope that's alright."

It was with much disgruntlement that Jungkook consented to let him join them on the bus back home.


"Don't worry, Minwoo-yah." Junghwa pinched the young boy's before wiping the trail of tears from his cheeks. "Your mother will come here really soon." 
"Okay, noona." Minwoo sniffled, giving Junghwa a small smile of his own. 

"Hey, Minwoo." Yoongi suddenly walked over, after having disappeared for a while (much to Junghwa's surprise). Minwoo looked up, and blinked as Yoongi held out a large, colourful lollipop in front of his face, before murrmuring, "Surprise."
"For me?" Minwoo's eyes literally shone as he looked at the older male like he was his saviour. Yoongi nodded, chuckling as Minwoo took the lollipop from him with an excited shout. After Yoongi helped him take the wrapper off, Minwoo brought it to his mouth, his small mouth only managing to take a small bit of it between his lips. 

"What do you say to hyung, Minwoo-yah?" Junghwa looked at him reprimandingly, and Minwoo smiled sheepishly as he murmured, "Thank you, hyung." 
"Anytime, little man." Yoongi ruffled his hair. "I went to pay for the rest of the stuff."
"Ah, makes sense." Junghwa nodded, before looking back at the aisles. "Wonder what's taking his mother so long?"

As if on cue, a fairly young woman rushed up to the front desk, her eyes widening as she spotted Junghwa and Yoongi. 

"Minwoo!" She gasped, amd Minwoo's eyes lit up with excitement as his mother rushed up to him. However, he was reluctant on leaving Junghwa when his mother held out her arms towards him. The two women blinked with surprise, before the elder woman chuckled softly. 

"He must really like you to not want to leave you." She chuckled. "Thank you so much for finding him. He's my only child, I don't know what I'd do if I had lost him today-"
"Well, he's fine now," Junghwa smiled forcefully; though a part of her wanted to reprimand the woman for not being more attentive about her child, she realised that it wouldn't be something she would want to hear right now, so she decided to keep mum as she looked at Minwoo kindly. 

"Alright, Minwoo, time to go." 
"Noona... will I see you again?" Minwoo suddenly asked, looking at Junghwa hopefully. "Because I really want to see you and hyung again." 

Junghwa gulped, before slowly nodding. "Of course we'll meet again."

Minwoo, who was satisfied with her answer, immediately rushed back into his mother's arms, laughing when she began to shower him with kisses. Watching the sight, Junghwa felt a dull pain in her chest, and she smiled when she watched mother and child reunite with one another once again. 

"I can't begin to thank you enough-" Minwoo's mother began. "Thank you for taking such good care of him. He usually doesn't remain so calm with strangers."
"Ah, well, she has this effect on people." Yoongi spoke up for Junghwa, seeing that was still in a slight daze. Junghwa slowly shrugged, giving her a small smile as she told her, "It was nothing, really."
"Well, thank you, again. By the way, I think you'd make a wonderful mother," 

Junghwa blinked rapidly, unable to process what she was hearing. Her, a wonderful mother?

"Don't you think noona would make a nice mommy?" She asked Minwoo, who nodded at Junghwa enthusiastically as he said, "Noona would be a great mommy!" 
"T-Thanks-" Junghwa managed to stammer out when Yoongi roughly nudged her with his elbow. After saying good bye, Minwoo and his mother made their way back into the supermarket, to finish up on their shopping. 

"Well, we got one thing off the list, didn't we?" Yoongi finally broke the silence with a low cough; Junghwa looked up at him curiously as she murmured, "What is it?"
"Help anyone who needs it." He grinned, before nodding at one of the shopping bags in his hand. "Can you carry this?"
"Sure..." Junghwa nodded, taking the bag from his hands. As they began to walk towards the exit doors, Yoongi glanced at Junghwa, who seemed to be deep in thought about something. 

"What's up, Hwa?" He began hesitantly. "You seem... perturbed?"
"I'm just thinking of what... of what that woman said." Junghwa mumbled quietly. "And how inaccurate it is. I'm a mess. I won't ever be like her, I really don't know why she-"
"Junghwa. Just because we've been in messed up situations, or done messed up things, doesn't make you a mess." Yoongi looked at her sternly, before sighing. "Besides, she was just saying what she thought was right, you know? Don't think too much about it." 

Junghwa shrugged, still unconvinced about what Yoongi said. And he could see that for himself, and realised that she was thinking through it a lot more than she was supposed to. He slowed his pace, so that she could catch up with him. 

"Hey, don't worry about that now. You should only worry about that when the time comes." Yoongi said quietly as they walked out the doors. "And if it's really bothering you... I think you'd make a cool mom." 

Junghwa stopped in her tracks, looking at Yoongi with shock. He had already walked on ahead for a few seconds, before realising that the space next to him felt quite empty. He turned around, chuckling when he saw her stunned expression. 

"I mean it when I say it, Junghwa. Now let's go, that ramen's not going to cook itself, and Taehyung's not exactly patient when he's hungry." Yoongi grinned, nodding towards the bus stop. It took a few moments for Junghwa to snap out of her reverie, but she managed to smile back at him once she did. She rushed after him, falling into step beside Yoongi as they walked to the bus stop. An evident grin was plastered across her face, and she didn't bother holding it back.

Because though she would never admit it to him, she really did like it when he said that. 

THE ENDING THOUGH I'M CRYING I CAN'T
And there we have this incredibly crappy chapter ._. I am so bad at fillers, I'm so sorry T.T but I hope you liked this chapter anyway, and thanks for 174 subs, you guys are amazing :'3 Don't forget to leave a comment, I love comments! <3 

Assumingly retarded things Jeon Junghwa will do to forget (not necessarily in the same order):
Mentor: Min Yoongi :D

  1. Randomly hug any person you meet.
  2. Get superbly drunk with someone when you’re eighteen (?)
  3. Cover someone’s car in post-it notes.
  4. Jump into a pool fully clothed.
  5. Eat samgyeopsal at 3AM.
  6. Replace cream in doughnuts with mayonnaise
  7. Replace cream in an Oreo biscuit with toothpaste.
  8. Hide in a cupboard in an Ikea store and yell ‘FOR NARNIA’ before making a run for it.
  9. Baking soda + ketchup = explosion!
  10. Onions dipped in caramel – Apples dipped in caramel prank
  11. Help anyone who needs it.
  12. Scare the out of Hoseok and Jimin (ghost in elevator prank?)
  13. Place a dummy in Jungkook's bed :3
  14. Scare Seokjin with a Sadako cosplay
  15. "Kidnap" Taehyung on his birthday
  16. Fill Namjoon's room with filled water cups.
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yongharu21
#ephemeral chapter 32 is out IT GOT REAL

Comments

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4dcutie20
#1
Chapter 38: thank u for the story....take care!! luv ya! hugs* when bad times end,thr will be guud days soon... hwaiting!!
Yonghyunism #2
Chapter 38: Thanks for taking it as far as you could :)
exolovesme_xoxo #3
Chapter 38: Aweee thank u for this wonderful story thoughTT and goodluck in your uni life n future! I am struggling with self confidence too rn and it's really funny how i use to be extremely extroverted back when i was 10-12 and since i started high school i started to become afraid of ppl and lose confidence and could not do what i want to do and here i am struggling in my last year of high school SORRY FOR THE SUDDEN RANT btw i love how the story has plenty of medical terms which i learn a lot from tq again!
hoinseok
#4
Chapter 37: I HATE YOU OH MY GOD <3
ljexolove
#5
Oh my god oh my god. I have so much to read! asdfghjkl. I think I did start reading this but don't know where I left. Guess I'll start over. >~<
chuppoppo #6
Chapter 37: i just gonna agree with you, and your readers
ING FINALLYYYYYYYY *fireworks*
omg i need a blanket too ughhhh
hamsterboo
#7
Chapter 37: FINA-ING-LY
THERE YA GO
GOSH THAT ONLY TOOK 40 CHAPTERS
4evrINSPIRIT #8
Chapter 36: KKKKKK NOOOOOO DUDE THAT'S YOUR SISTER'S BOY LIKE YOU DON'T GO LIKING SOMEONE YOUR SISTER ALREADY JAS FEELINGS FORRRR GHAWD
chuppoppo #9
Chapter 36: owwwww
i'm glad now hoseok has got one more shoulder to cry on but jungah coing out to hwa about yoongi? mannnn hwa didn't need any more of this , she is depressed enough with her own turmoils with yoongs
hwa don't relapse! hang in there!!!
chuppoppo #10
Chapter 35: authornim! i just found out this fic!
and i made a huuuuuge mistake reading it in one go (it is 3am here lol), because of the emotional roller coaster throughout the chap! i even cried (no ) twice! wait, maybe even more than that. i lost count ughh
but ity this fic is so ing good authornim!
but what's with jungah omg don't be an jungah ughhh
yoongi, you deserve something good as anyone else! min yoongi you get back in that elevator right now!
you've made me soooooooooooooo emo with this story! and you a/n's too! authornim fighting!!