Jungkook looked a little surprised seeing him and flicked his eyes between Taehyung and her. “Jaehwa, is this…?”

She could already tell what was going on through that head of his, and she was quite sure that he was almost about to blurt out that Taehyung was the guy who mass bought the origami paper and called her sweetheart. But Jungkook didn’t say anything, he just kept looking to and fro between Taehyung and Jaehwa. Taehyung. Jaehwa. Taehyung. Jaehwa.

Just as she was about to introduce them briefly to each other, Taehyung spoke first and held a hand out to Jungkook. “I’m Kim Taehyung. Jaehwa’s neighbour.”  

Jungkook put the box down and stood close to Jaehwa. “Jeon Jungkook. I’m her ex boyfr – ouch!” Jaehwa had hit his back without Taehyung noticing to stop him from finishing his sentence. Jungkook rubbed his backbone and looked at her, then back at Taehyung. “I’m her friend.”

“You’re her ex?” Taehyung had obviously heard what he had said before.

Jungkook’s eyes glanced momentarily at Jaehwa, and his lips parted with an abortive attempt at a laugh. “Did I say ex? I meant best. I’m her best friend.” While Taehyung wasn’t looking he whispered to her, “I have my slip-ups, okay?”

Jaehwa sighed. Jungkook was often outspoken and usually didn’t bother thinking whether what he would say would accidentally offend anyone or cause trouble. In the past it was always her who would save his whenever that did happen.

“What’s this for?” Taehyung asked while eyeing the box on the floor which Jungkook had brought.

Jaehwa thought she should at least be the one to explain. “I promised Jungkook we’d watch films together today.” She uttered this quietly, having some hope that Taehyung wouldn’t have heard and perhaps let it slide.

But he heard every word. “But you said you’d go with me for a walk.” She dared to look up at him properly and saw his glabella crease. If he didn’t appear so let-down, she wouldn’t have felt half as bad. She diverted her eyes elsewhere; she already felt guilty that she forgot about Jungkook, she didn’t need anything else to make her feel even worse.

There was a tincture of disappointment in Taehyung’s tone, “So we can’t go today?”

Jungkook raised a brow after he looked out of the window to check the weather. “A walk? But it’s raining?” He looked confusedly between them.

“I agreed to go on a walk with Taehyung to familiarize ourselves with each other since we’re now neighbours,” Jaehwa said. “And the rain seems to the least of his worries.”

Jungkook pondered for a while and she wondered what was on his mind; for as long as she had met him he always had this certain expression on his face while he was thinking; the usual enthusiasm in his eyes would be replaced by a blankness and the upper left corner of his lip would point a little further up than the other so that his mouth was almost lopsided. Jaehwa had long already visualised it by heart. “Hey, maybe we can spend the morning and afternoon watching movies, and then spend the evening on a walk. I think Seoul at night is so much better,” he suggested.

“We?” she emphasized. “Are you by chance inviting yourself to come along?”

Jungkook grinned brazenly. “So what if I am? I’d like to know a bit more about Taehyung. This guy won’t mind, right?” Although Jaehwa was by now accustomed to him dropping formalities, she still almost rolled her eyes at how casually he addressed Taehyung as if they were already way past the acquaintance stage. She doubted he was even aware that Taehyung was older than him.

Taehyung however, didn’t seem to mind and saw no problem with one additional person and shrugged in acceptance. “The more the merrier.”

“I guess that settles it then, I’m going with you.”

Jaehwa folded her arms at Jungkook. “Shouldn’t you be studying in the evening or something?”

“Ha, are you kidding me? I’ve practically been studying around-the-clock for weeks now, taking a break tonight won’t be a problem.”

“Fine, fine!” Jaehwa picked up the box of DVDs with a huff and plodded over to her laptop and turned it on. She brought it over to the sofa and placed it on the small table in front of it along with the box.

“You don’t have a television?” Taehyung asked when he and Jungkook followed her.

“I’m not paying ₩30,000 a year to pay for a T.V licence when I already have a laptop.”

“Fair enough.” He asked no more questions and took a seat on the couch, ensuring there was plenty of room for the three of them; there was more than enough. Although Jaehwa was sat in the middle, she found it weird to be at a close proximity to Jungkook while Taehyung was sat at the further end. Perhaps it was because he was still unfamiliar with her despite what happened the previous night, compared to Jungkook who was her classmate since elementary and was so used to each other’s company.

Jaehwa didn’t protest against Jungkook’s movie choice, but if he chose Iron Man again next time she swore that she’d steal it off him and toss it into Han River so they could never watch it again. That boy watched it way too many times with her that she began to say the lines of the actors just before they’d say it on screen.

The film started, but in the first two minutes it was already lagging and the dialogue was scratchy. Jaehwa sighed, taking the CD out of the disk drive and tried cleaning the back with the bottom of her shirt. She couldn’t see why he still kept it, that disk was almost as old as their former relationship.

“Why do you even still have this? It’s all scratched at the back and has finger marks. You could just buy a new one, you know. They sell loads at that DVD shop uptown.” She already reminded him many times before for him to buy a new one, but every time he’d just laugh it off and say he would whenever he had time - he never did.

“I can’t do that.” Jungkook took the disk from her hand and used his own shirt to clean it instead. There was no evidence of the confident expression he had earlier; he was looking down and kept his eyes fixed on the dull shine of the surface of the CD. His voice was barely audible, but Jaehwa still heard what he said, “This was the same disk we watched that film when I first kissed you.”

Despite everything, she couldn’t conceal the revelation of his reason for keeping that old DVD she had been persuading him for ages to throw away. How could she forget something like that?

“You still remember?” she asked suddenly, and felt some guilt for being unthoughtful. She felt like a douche.

The corners of his lips upturned slightly. “You don’t?” Although it appeared a small smile, she knew it wasn’t either out of happiness or sadness, it was more like that action someone does subconsciously when they try to reminisce something.

“Jungkook, of course I do... It’s just…” He looked up at her and was left open while she tried to stutter out what she was going to say. Instead she shifted her gaze to her hands which were clasped in her lap. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know how much value that DVD had to you.”

Shortly after they heard an abrupt cough. It was neither Jungkook nor Jaehwa. They slowly turned their heads to Taehyung who they temporarily forgot was with them. Jaehwa tried to cover, even if she already knew it was too late since he heard everything. “Just now, we weren’t –”

Taehyung cut her short. “You two used to date, didn’t you? You don’t have to hide something like that to me. And I understand how inanimate objects can sometimes hold significance to some people.” He didn’t say any more and looked back at the laptop screen. Jaehwa and Jungkook did the same and quickly put the CD in the disk drive again. They wanted to say something in return but it would’ve been better if no more words were said on the subject. Their silence confirmed what Taehyung needed to know. The film started. Jaehwa no longer complained, regardless how lagged it was.

*  *  *  

Jungkook yawned. They were watching the film again for the nth time in a row, and during that time their original positions on the sofa seemed to have changed. Jungkook’s head ended up resting on Jaehwa’s shoulder with her head resting on the top of his, and he shifted his position so that he could see her face – he almost chortled when he saw her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily with gaping open; it was a sleeping habit of hers he knew of for years, but it still didn’t fail to make him laugh whenever he saw her like that. He looked back at the dim screen of her laptop, he was surprised it didn’t run out of battery yet, but he guessed that it probably would anytime soon. With caution he sat up so that he wouldn’t wake her up. He did it with success and turned off the power of her laptop.

He turned his head to the sound of the quiet rustling of paper. Taehyung had already gotten bored after forty minutes the first time they watched the film and had spent the rest of the afternoon with a pile of Jaehwa’s old magazines by his side.

“So Taehyung, is origami folding a hobby of yours?” Jungkook asked. He was genuinely curious, ever since he saw him the first time at the store when he bought all that origami paper.

Taehyung shrugged but didn’t stop what he was doing. “I guess so. It was actually taught to me by someone.”

“A girlfriend?” Jungkook teased – not in a bad way, but what he failed to notice was how Taehyung had suddenly tensed and stopped folding.

Taehyung quickly resumed before he could notice. “You could say that.”

“Jungkook.” Before Jungkook could respond, he was surprised Jaehwa’s voice had stopped him. She rubbed her eyes with her hands before she exchanged a look that he knew too well; her eyebrows almost conjoined which made the skin of her forehead crinkle conspicuously; it was the same expression she had to stop him whenever he was about to say something that he was unaware would unintentionally offend or hurt the person he was talking to. Jungkook understood. He didn’t say anymore.

Jaehwa stretched her limbs. “Is it six o’clock?” she asked to no one in particular.

“Eight.” Even from where Jungkook was sat, he could see that the sky was a dark navy outside the window. It was still raining. It wasn’t even monsoon season but the skies don’t lie.

“Shall we go then?” Jaehwa said.

Taehyung stood up and cleared away some of the paper he had used. “I’ll go back to my apartment to get a jacket.”

“Okay, we’ll meet you outside of the building.”

“Sure.”

Jaehwa rose from the sofa and walked over to the door and opened it for Taehyung. He thanked her on his way out before she shut it. She sighed. “You really need to watch what you say.” Although her back was facing Jungkook, that was obviously directed at him and he blinked in response.

“Huh? What did I say?” He really had no clue.

She dodged his question. “Do you have a coat with you?”

“Yeah.” He was going to ask again what exactly it was he said that would’ve potentially hurt or offended Taehyung, but knowing Jaehwa, she had her reasons to keep some things to herself.

“I’ll go change my clothes now.”

He laid back down on the sofa with a limp hand over his eyes. “Alright.” He used the time to ponder what it was that made Jaehwa interrupt him, but he soon gave up. Maybe someday he’d find out, but at that moment it just didn’t seem that important to him.

Jungkook held his hand out and droplets splattered onto his outstretched fingers. In truth, instead of walking out in the rain he would’ve rather have done something else, but since Jaehwa was going, he was going. And he wasn’t lying when he said that Seoul at night was better. But the crowds that night was strangely bigger than it usually was. He suspected there was some kind of event or festival going on nearby.

The three of them walked side by side, starting a short conversation from time to time. If the main streets weren’t so crammed with people, they would’ve stopped to buy street food, but they were pushed along by the crowd; whenever they moved there was nothing else for it but to move also. At night the city was no less busy than it was during the day, even if it was raining. There was noise everywhere; phones ringing, a child wailing and K-Pop music blaring.

Jaehwa clutched onto her umbrella handle tighter with both hands as they tried to find some way to meander out of the eye of the crowd. She apologised after accidentally bumping into an older man, but she doubted he heard her among the amalgam of other voices. Jungkook saw how uncomfortable she was and from then on held onto her wrist so that she wouldn’t get lost. Everyone was so close together that they could smell the unholy agglomeration of perfumes, body odour and over-applied cologne mingled with the musty smell of the rain. With his free hand Jungkook tugged his coat hood and beanie tighter over his head as the rain continued to fall down with no relent.

“Over there!” The voice was Taehyung’s and what he was trying to do was to lead them to an area where there were less people. It obviously seemed he was more familiar with these crowds than the other two. It was a struggle but they eventually succeeded to retreat away from the seething mass to their desired destination.

“Are you alright?” Taehyung asked when he noticed the way Jaehwa’s grip on the umbrella handle tightened then loosened in turn.

“I’m fine,” she reassured, straining him a half smile.

Jungkook pointed to a small, brightly lit coffee shop nearby. “Shall we go there?” It was busy, but at least it would keep them dry and away from the crowd.

Jaehwa nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. It’s so cold.”

Taehyung looked to where Jungkook was pointing to and also agreed. “Alright, let’s go.”

They walked on. Kissed by the rain and glistening, the wet ground was still cold under the feet whether you wore shoes or not. There were still a lot of people where they were headed, but it wasn’t to the same extent as the crowd they were in earlier. Jungkook hadn’t realised how fast he and Jaehwa were walking in order to match up to Taehyung’s stride, until Taehyung collided with another person who was in front of him.

It was a woman. She almost slipped over until Taehyung caught her, but she dropped her shopping bags onto the ground and some of its contents had fallen out. Jungkook and Jaehwa crouched down to help her pick them up.

“I’m so sorry,” Taehyung apologised. “Did I hurt you?”

“It’s alright,” the woman said, and she looked up. Only half her face was visible as she was wearing a black ear loop face mask. Jungkook scrutinised her; she was quite a petite woman, at least a head smaller than Taehyung compared to Jaehwa who was only maybe three or four centimetres shorter then himself. He noticed Taehyung staring at the woman, his expression was indecipherable.

Her voice was soft when she spoke. “Thank you so much for helping me.” Her sentence was a little muffled due to the mask but her words were still comprehendible.

Jaehwa smiled. “No problem.”

The woman clasped her hands in front of her in such a graceful manner that Jungkook could feel Jaehwa’s stare on her. He remembered how Jaehwa always complained to him how she wished she was prettier and more sophisticated, just like her older sister. And Jungkook always told her over and over that she was perfectly fine the way she was, that she didn’t need to change. He wished he could say the same words to her now, but he knew that he couldn’t. That was back when they were still dating, if he said those same words again… he tried not to think too deeply about it. Besides, he was happy enough that they were talking to each other normally again.

“You’re so pretty,” Jaehwa said abruptly. The hesitation in her voice almost caused Jungkook to snort. He knew that was just her way of lightening the mood, but he thought she could have at least thought of something better. He tried to hold back rolling his eyes as well as retraining a smile. You simpleton, you can’t even see her full face.

The woman laughed lightly. But it wasn’t like anything he heard before; kind of like Jaehwa’s laugh; if you blindfolded Jungkook and put him in a room with a bunch of people, including Jaehwa and they all laughed simultaneously, he would be able to distinguish Jaehwa’s above the rest. She always said she hated her laugh, but whenever she’d giggle through her nose, or snorted uncontrollably whenever she tried to restrain her laughter, Jungkook couldn’t help but laugh also. But the thing about the woman’s laugh was that it was the complete opposite of Jaehwa’s; the sound that elicited was silvery and pleasant to the ears, but at the same time it didn’t seem forced at all. Maybe that was why he compared her laugh to Jaehwa’s; they both sounded genuine.

Jungkook shifted his eyes to Taehyung who was unusually quiet; while the woman was laughing he was watching her intently with an unmoving expression. Jungkook wondered what was wrong. He looked away for a split second to turn to Jaehwa when she suddenly gasped and shouted out.

“Taehyung!”

By the time Jungkook swivelled round to face where Taehyung was stood, he wasn’t there, he was running back into the direction of the crowd.

Where the hell was he going? “.” Jungkook was about to go after him before he lost sight of him completely, but he felt Jaehwa hold onto his wrist to hold him back.

She let go. “Jungkook, stay here. I’ll go after Taehyung.”

Before she could run he grabbed onto her hand. She looked down at their hands and then at him with a confused but irritated expression while Jungkook stared at her as if she was crazy. “If you think even for a second that I’m actually going to let you go alone in that crowd while it’s already dark, you better believe I ing won’t.”

“I’ll be fine.” She tried pulling her hand away but his grip was like iron.

“You don’t know that.”

“Jungkook, please.”

He still clutched her hand with the same strength. “No.” He was not going to let go of her so carelessly again.

“Nothing will happen to me, I promise. I can look after myself.”

That's what you said last time. “It’s raining. What if you’re going to slip and injure yourself?” he reasoned, but Jaehwa didn’t seem she was going to back down anytime soon.

“Don’t worry.” She smiled reassuringly but he still wasn’t certain. “Jungkook, trust me.”

He stared at her. The rain continued to pour down.

He let go of her hand.

Jaehwa smiled at him one last time before turning away and running in the same direction Taehyung went. Her body disappeared into the crowd.

Jungkook stared at the spot where she vanished and wondered if he made the right choice. He knew she had an umbrella, but he still wished he had at least given her his beanie. The rain was so heavy now.

“Tae-Taehyung?”

Jungkook snapped his head round to look at the woman who was gazing off into the crowd where Taehyung had disappeared.

Who was she?