The tall lampposts lit up the night streets and strolling underneath them was Jungkook with his black duffel bag. He had been walking all afternoon, stopping by random stores to pick up a few items and some food but now that the night was upon him, he needed to think about finding a place to stay. His options were extremely limited and not at all desirable. For the past few weeks, his strategy was to sneak into clubs and charm a girl into letting him stay at her place for the night or until she kicks him out. However, after his last encounter with the girlfriend of a gangster, he wasn’t quite sure he was willing to risk it. Some light rain started coming down again as if it wanted to hasten Jungkook’s decision making for him. Oh yeah.... Jungkook rummaged through his duffel bag and got out the umbrella Chorim had thrown at him earlier on. It was still damp from when it was raining before but it was still better than not having one at all. Jungkook opened the umbrella up and continued on his way. I’ll settle for a cheap hostel somewhere...it should be okay for one night.

Jungkook carelessly tried to cross a street without looking and was startled by the screech of the car which had to brake abruptly. The window came down and the driver poked their head out.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” The driver raged at him. Jungkook shielded out the glaring headlights with his arm but then made eye contact with the driver which just so happened to be Namjoon.
“SH*T!” Jungkook bolted off down the street. Namjoon quickly parked right on the curb, slammed the door behind him and madly chased after Jungkook.
“YAH! JUNGKOOK!” Namjoon yelled, “STOP RIGHT THERE!”
Jungkook looked over his shoulder to take a look at how close Namjoon was before turning the corner and then making another sharp turn to throw his chaser off. He could hear Namjoon cursing between heavy breaths whilst he walked past the unlit little street.
“Jin, you won’t ing believe who I nearly ran over…” Namjoon’s voice trailed off as he jogged back down the street on his phone, most likely to where his car was. Jungkook waited for a few minutes before creeping out of the darkness and then cautiously looked around to make sure it was safe. The rain seemed to be getting heavier and Jungkook was quick to open up his umbrella only to find out it was somehow broken. It must have been from when he was frantically running and trying to pull it down in order to go faster. As he jogged through the unfamiliar streets desperately trying to find some shelter, he came across a small housing complex which he knew he had been to before.

Jungkook hurried up the stairs to escape from the suddenly violent rain and stood in front of Chorim’s door. He looked over his shoulder, paranoid that Namjoon was somehow still lurking around and frantically knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” He heard Chorim’s voice call out. As soon as the door opened slightly, Jungkook grabbed the edge and swung it open.
“Nuna, let me stay with you.” He said very seriously. He wasn’t sure she would let him in because they were barely acquaintances but he had to give it a go. She seemed like a decent person and it was his last resort. Chorim calmly went outside and closed the door behind her.
“Yeah, let me think about it...no.” Chorim replied very bluntly. He wasn’t particularly surprised.
“Why not? Are you just going to let me sleep on the streets?” He leaned forward with a mischievous grin on his face, “I know your passcode, I’m going to enter anyway.”
Chorim chuckled and pretended to jokingly ruffle his wet hair but then aggressively pulled his head in close to hers, “Kid, I’ll ing murder you.” She pushed his head away and crossed her arms, “Look, I don’t what you’re up to but I’m sure your friend Mingyu can help you out.”
Jungkook’s expression darkened, “He can’t.”

“And why is that?”

“Look, are you going to let me stay or not?”

“No.” Chorim’s firm answer got Jungkook to pick up his duffel bag off the ground and walk away.
“Where are you going now?” She asked him out of curiosity.
“Next door.”
Chorim smirked at Jungkook’s stupidity. Yeah, as if Yoongi will let you stay at his royal crib… She leaned against the wall and watched on for pure amusement. As Chorim predicted, Jungkook was met with hostility as soon as Yoongi opened the door for him.
“No, off. I don’t give out free accommodation for teen boys.” Yoongi sneered at him. He was about to shut the door on Jungkook's face until Jungkook zipped open his duffel bag and revealed what was inside to him. There were a few items of clothing inside and a few valuables but it was mostly filled with cash. Stacks and stacks of cold hard cash. With a sudden change of heart, Yoongi widened his door and welcomed Jungkook inside with a teethy smile on his face.
“Kid, let me get you a blanket and a spare key.” Yoongi patted Jungkook on the back and beckoned him inside. Baffled, Chorim watched on as Jungkook cheekily poked his tongue out at her before entering inside with ease.

“What the heck was in the bag?” Chorim muttered to herself. She wanted to keep her cool but curiosity got the better of her, “HEY! WHAT WAS IN THE BAG?”
 

    “Chorim, don’t do it…” Seulgi’s voice sounded through the phone speaker.
“No Seulgi, you don’t understand. I can’t keep avoiding him, we have some subjects together!” And I miss seeing his handsome godly face so much... Chorim closed an eye and fixed up the false eyelash which was not staying in place. “You don’t know how painful it is for me to not reply to his texts. I’ll stay cool around him, promise.”
    “Yup, sure.” Seulgi just knew that as soon as Chorim sees Jin again, she’ll turn into a love-sick mess and all her efforts of trying to be ‘cold’ to him would go to waste.
Chorim picked up the phone off the ground and switched to handset mode, “Come on, trust me a little. Cool as a cucumber, I swear.” She could hear Seulgi groan on the other end, “Alright, I have to head off now. I’ll talk to you later.” Chorim hung up and stood up away from the mirror to check herself out. Alright, good to go. Chorim slipped on her heels, grabbed her handbag and was finally on her way to the lecture after spending the entired morning just getting ready as usual. She was stopped by Jungkook who seemed to be just loitering around outside in his black cropped tracksuits and white T-shirt. It was the first time they had encountered each other in the morning since he started staying with Yoongi a few days ago. As soon as he saw her, Jungkook started circling her. He took a step back to observe her as if she was a statue at a museum.
“What?” Chorim pulled the strap of her bag closer to her, weirded out by being examined so closely. She then realised it was the first time he had seen her 'transformation'. Here we go, he's gonna be all 'hahaha, who are you? Chorim's sister? Chorim's friend?Where's Chorim?'.
“Hrm, ugly.” Jungkook shook his head with disappointment.
“Excuse me!?” Chorim exclaimed, quite offended by his rude but also odd comment. It wasn't quite playing out as it usually would for her.

“I don't know where you're going but you're overdoing it. Those circle lens, the fluffy fake eyelashes...doesn't look good at all.” Jungkook shrugged. It was so shocking for Chorim to hear someone outrightly criticise her 'after' look that she didn't know how to respond. She decided to ignore him and haughtily walked off, knowing that she looked absolutely gorgeous as usual.

~

It was quiet in the small neighbourhood art and craft supply store. Taehyung kept to himself the whole time as he examined a set of fineliner pens. As you’d expect, Taehyung couldn’t care less about how he looked and had left the house in a pair of rather daggy boardshorts, a plain T-shirt and thongs with serious bed-hair to finish off his look. Taehyung’s concentration was interrupted when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up and was greeted by Nayeon with a shy wave and a warm smile on her face. It was a bit odd for him to see her out of uniform. She had her long hair in a cute loose braid and wore a white blouse with a navy skirt. He greeted her back with a slight nod but his expression remained the same.
“Taehyung right?” Nayeon beamed at him. Taehyung recognised her after having met her so many times every time he went to the convenience store late at night but he couldn’t recall ever mentioning his name to her.
“How do you know my name?”
“I overheard Chorim calling your name once when you guys popped by together.” Nayeon sweetly laughed, “I’m not a stalker, I swear. You know my name too, don’t you?” She tapped on the side of her white blouse, reminding him of the name tag she always wears.
Well, she’s not wrong… “You’re right, sorry.”
“Ah, it’s alright!” Nayeon smiled, “So what are you here for?”
Taehyung felt inclined to answer her even though he prefered to go back to minding his own business.
“Fineliners.” He bluntly answered. It was unintentional that it came across rather cold but despite that, Nayeon kept a smile on her face and seemed unfazed.
“And yourself?” Taehyung politely asked back. He was trying his best to hold a conversation, something he wouldn’t have bothered doing in the past. Being as observant as he was, he had already noticed the new sketchbook she was holding in her hands.
“Oh, I just need a new sketchbook, my old one is falling apart!” Nayeon dug into her bag and got out a battered and worn out book to show him, “I didn’t know there were so many different brands though, it's a bit hard to choose.”
“Don’t get that one.” Taehyung said curtly.
“Sorry?”
“The sketchbook you’re holding at right now. The pages tear easily.” Taehyung paused and looked at the selection in front of them. He bent over and grabbed a sketchbook from another brand to hand over to Nayeon.
“This one...” Taehyung averted his eyes from Nayeon, “this one is good.”
Nayeon was entranced by Taehyung for a second but snapped out of it and gratefully accepted his advice. She hugged the sketchbook in her arms and smiled with a slight blush in her cheeks, “I’ll take your word for it then, Taehyung.”

~

Chorim just stared blankly with full of food wide open as Jungkook casually entered through the front door and sat beside her on the floor in front of the TV. He even helped himself to some of the pizza on the table without asking. She was impressed by how much balls he had to be showing up after dissing her in the morning.
“Okay there better be a good reason why you are here and I’m going to give you three seconds. Three, two - ”
“Yoongi has a woman over.” Jungkook said, “Impressive, a large pizza to yourself.”
“Yoongi has a…” Chorim exhaled through her nostrils and she shot a glare at the wall which divided Yoongi’s place and hers. She kept forgetting that Yoongi and Seulgi were only in a ‘friends with benefits’ sort of relationship so it shouldn’t be surprising that Yoongi would bring the occasional woman home. That b*astard can’t keep his d*ck in his pants for more than a ing -
“Right but that doesn’t explain why you are here.” Chorim turned her head away and muttered, “I have to bloody change my passcode…”
“No, you won’t.”
“What?”
“You’re too lazy to change the passcode.” Jungkook gave her a cheeky grin and slurped up the stringy cheese from the pizza slice in his hand.
This kid really knows how to get on my nerves. Chorim gave up, too tired to seriously deal with him. She also figured it was a good time to find out more about him considering his circumstances were still a complete mystery to her. What little she knew about him didn't make all that much sense.
“So Jungkook, exactly how old are you?” She questioned him.
“18.” 18!? Even though they were only 2 years apart, Chorim couldn’t help but feel old all of a sudden.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in school then?”
“Dropped out.” He bluntly replied, clearly not interested in her prying questions.
“Right. But even so, don’t you have family? A home to go back to instead of wandering the streets?”
“Nuna.” Jungkook crawled over, getting a bit too close to her. It was hard for Chorim to ignore the fact that he was physically a lot larger than her despite his cute baby-face. He put a hand on her thigh and then leaned over to grab the can of Coke on the side table behind her. He casually chugged down the Coke and let out a gross burp. He thinks he lives here, great. I feel like I’ve juST ADOPTED A MOTHERF*CKING…
“I just need to get my passport and then I’m outta here.” He said rather calmly.
“You what?”
Jungkook bit into another slice of pizza before answering her, “Mmm, let’s just say some bad people have my passport. I just need to find a way to get it back from them and then I’m flying to the US.” His explanation raised more questions than they answered and Chorim didn’t even know where to begin. Who are these ‘bad people’? How did they get his passport in the first place? How’s he planning to get it back? Why the US?
“Also,” Jungkook grinned widely at her, “you look much better like this.”
Chorim thought he needed a serious beating for his empty flattery. She wasn't sure if he was just trying to get on her good side or not but it was not happening. She was in the most slobbish state possible and looked like a complete mess from head to toe. Yeah, the real question here is how bad is this kid's vision? Chorim suddenly felt a vibration on her leg and promptly answered her phone.
“Yo Seulgi.” Chorim turned herself away from Jungkook, “What’s up? Oh yeah that...all good...I totally kept my cool today...truuuusstt me” In fact, that could not have been further from the truth. As soon as Chorim saw Jin in the lecture hall in the morning, she dashed down the stairs in her high heels to sit right next to him. She had purposely leaned over to get closer to him every time he explained some of the lecture material to her. His super cute smile had her dying inside every time and she had completely returned to being the same old subtly flirtatious Chorim.
“Anyway, what are you up to now?” Chorim eyed Jungkook down as she listened to Seulgi’s response. “Oh, you’re with Yoongi right now are you? Yep, that's definitely his voice in the background.” She said out loud, noticing that Jungkook’s keen chewing slowed down as soon as he heard her. He guiltily turned his head with his cheeks puffed out like a squirrel and met with Chorim’s glaring eyes.
“Seulgi, I’ll call you back later.” Chorim hastily hung up on Seulgi and chased after Jungkook who was already making a run for it with his mouth still full, “YAH! COME BACK HERE YOU ING RAT!”
In a rush, Jungkook ran to the balcony and jumped over to Taehyung’s side. Luckily for him, the door was open so he ran inside and slid the door shut. He was caught off guard by the guy laying on the floor on his stomach in front of a laptop, intently staring at him. Jungkook nervously moved his eyes from side to side, not recognising the guy at all.
“Hi, I’m Jungkook. I’m temporarily staying at Yoongi’s place.” Jungkook greeted him, trying to casually shrug off the obvious intrusion. The guy remained silent for a while and all they could hear was Chorim cursing in the background from her side, 'HE ATE THREE WHOLE ING SLICES!'
“Oh cool. I’m Jimin, Taehyung’s housemate. Nice to meet you.” Jimin’s expression said otherwise. It wasn’t really nice to meet a stranger who had suspiciously climbed over the balcony railings to enter from the back. Well, Jungkook wasn't a complete stranger because Jimin recognised him as the guy Chorim and Yoongi dragged home all beaten up. The awkward air between the two of them was so excruciating that Jungkook thought it was better for him to take his leave through the front door at the risk of facing Chorim's wrath than to stay.