Chapter 20

Thank You for Listening

  Jungkook and Hoseok sat at a small table by the wall of the restaurant near the entrance. It was the next day and the two of them were there to find information on the girl known as Kim Hana.

  Around them Jungkook could see waiters and waitressed hurrying around in black and white uniforms. The restaurant was rather big and the walls were cream in colour. The place wasn't flashy but it gave off a sense of understated class.

  Jungkook leaned over the table to Hoseok. "Where's Tae?"

  Hoseok set down the menu he was looking at. "He said that he had something to do and that he's going to catch up with us later."

  "What is he doing?" Jungkook asked.

  "Hell if I know."

  Jungkook looked around the restaurant. "So how do you suppose we go about this?"

  "I have no clue, maybe ask them for a Kim Hana?"

  "Great way to sound weird." Jungkook complained.

  "I don't hear you pitching ideas."

  The two heard a voice next to them clear their throat and they became aware of the figure by the table in the black and white waiter uniform.

  "Can I take your order?"

  Hoseok picked up the menu again. "Um, yeah wait…"

  Jungkook thought there was something very familiar about the waiter's voice. He looked up at him and saw that the guy's face was turned away from him, but underneath the black waiter's cap, he could see a distinctly bleached blond hair…

  "Taehyung?!" Jungkook exclaimed.

  Hoseok dropped his menu and also his jaw. "What the hell man?!"

  Taehyung grinned his insane grin before bursting into laughter. "You sure are slow, Hoseok."

  "What are you doing?" Jungkook asked.

  Taehyung lowered his laughter and jerked his thumb towards the entrance. "I'll explain later, just get out of here first."

  Jungkook and Hoseok dumbly got out of their seats and followed Taehyung out of the restaurant into the alley beside it. When the trio were out of view of other people, Taehyung burst into laughter again. "You should have seen your face!" he cackled. 

  "What's this about?" Hoseok asked. "Since when do you work here?"

  "I don't." Taehyung answered, wiping away a tear from laughing too hard.

  "What?!"

  Taehyung took of the black cap and started spinning it around his index finger. "You'd be surprised how easily a uniform can fool people into thinking you work here."

  "I'm going to guess you stole the uniform." Said Jungkook.

  "Geez, stealing is such a harsh word. I'd say borrow. I'm going to give it back. It's not like I have a use for this outfit after this."

  "And will you please explain to us why you're disguised as a waiter here?" Hoseok interjected.

  "Ah." Taehyung began with a proud grin. "I figured you'd need some help getting information. So I pretended to be a waiter here. It's amazing how even the employees are fooled by this. I just went back into the kitchen and asked around for a Kim Hana and I was able to see her and talk to her."

  Jungkook stared at him with a look of pure admiration. Damn, if he keeps doing this for a living, he'd be set for life. "You're awesome."

  "I know." He grinned.

  "Seriously, you should just get a job as a spy or something." Hoseok smiled.

  "So? What happened?" Jungkook asked.

  Taehyung shook his head. "Sorry. I talked to her and it's not the chick you're looking for. The flower shop she worked at still exists and she only worked the register there for half a year." Taehyung stepped out of the alley and pointed a finger at a waitress in the shop. See that girl? That's her."

  The girl was a short girl with shoulder length black hair kept in a low ponytail. She was of a very small figure. "I think she's probably the girl that Solyi saw though. She fits the description."

  Jungkook sighed in disappointment. Hoseok patted his back sympathetically. "Hey, there's still a chance that that other girl might be her. Maybe they both have black hair."

  Jungkook sighed again but he wasn't very hopeful. "Yeah, we still need to go check her out."

  "Well then let's go." Said Taehyung. "But wait up first, I need to change."

  Jungkook and Hoseok waited in the alley while Taehyung went back into the restaurant. About ten minutes later he returned dressed in a white and blue t-shirt and jeans. "Let's go."

  The three of them drove to the charity shop in Hoseok's car. The entire way, Jungkook felt himself growing more and more nervous, the feeling finally peaked when they stopped at the big white sign of the Songbird's charity. The trio got out of the car and stood in front of the entrance.

  Jungkook breathed in a deep breath, steeling himself for entering. In his mind, he kept repeating to himself that he should prepare himself for a disappointment.

  "Ready?" Hoseok asked.

  Jungkook still felt anxious, but it was about as calm as he was going to get, so he nodded, and the group entered the glass doors.

  Once inside, the three boys were instantly hit with a smell of old objects. Instead of like a store, it looked more like an old person's hoard stash only neatly arranged in a room instead of spread out in piles. The place was almost completely silent. Only a few customers could be seen quietly looking through the items.

  As they went deeper into the shop, Jungkook looked at his friends and realised their discomfort. It was almost laughable. All three of them were pretty much wealthy kids from private schools who have never once set foot into a place like this. Taehyung was looking around like he had never seen anything like this before, and Hoseok seemed to just look uncomfortable. Jungkook shook his head. If the girl saw this she would probably shake her head as well.

  Ahead of them, Jungkook could see the corner of the cashier table. "Hey, she should be there right?" said Hoseok.

  As they drew closer to the table, Jungkook felt a sense of dread fill his heart. With every step, they could see more of the girl sitting at the register, and with every step, it became evident that this girl was definitely not the girl he was looking for. She was a mature looking girl, probably in university; too old to be around their age.

  Jungkook groaned. Hoseok walked up to the girl. "Excuse me, Song Dan Ah-sshi?"

  The girl looked at him. "Yes I am. How do you know my name?"

  Hoseok felt bad for Jungkook. "Oh, another worker here mentioned your name." he answered.

  "Oh, okay, what do you need?" she asked.

  Hoseok thought that even if this wasn't the girl, he may as well try to get some information out of the situation. "Well…the worker mentioned that you worked for a flower shop. You see, we're looking for a flower shop that closed down around this time last year, would you know anything about it?"

  "Well, the place I worked at is still open. I don't know about any shop that closed down. Why are you looking for this place?"

  "They did my older sister's birthday party flowers and my sister wants to thank them. She's really big on the sentimental value stuff and she's adamant that she's going to find it." Hoseok lied.

  "Oh that's kind of sweet." Dan Ah smiled. "Sorry but I can't help you. I really don't know."

  "It's fine. Thank you for your time."

  He turned away from her and went over to Jungkook with a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay man?"

  "Yeah." Jungkook answered dully. He didn't appear disappointed but he looked weary.

  "It's fine, we can just look elsewhere." Taehyung tried to reassure.

  "It's fine." He sighed. He paused for a while. He didn't look at either of them the entire time. He just looked at the ground. "I think I'll just go home for today."

  "Jungkook-"

  Jungkook began walking to the shop entrance. Hoseok and Taehyung, unsure of what to say in this situation, knew little else to do but to follow him.

 

 

 

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yuxuan #1
i love this story so much that i don't mind to keep on reading every time when i came back to AFF
snowcastles
#2
Chapter 1: The both of them seemed to have endured lots of hardships along the way, I really hope that their situation improves over time. I can really relate to this chapter, cause my parents are divorced as well. So this hits me pretty hard. Also, not being able to openly talk about your personal struggles is a serious issue. There's a very genuine & understanding nature to the female lead.

She deserves to find her own source of strength, and steer towards a happier life! ♡
Amsohappy
#3
Chapter 44: Thank you for writing 🙏🏽
I loved and enjoyed every part of the story
cheonchoni
#4
Chapter 29: hoseok need to rest his flirty
cheonchoni
#5
Chapter 23: Oh wow i guess the depressing 3 months really worth it huh?
cheonchoni
#6
Chapter 18: His friends are funny lol
THIRSTY-RP
#7
this was really great
WholesomeRain
#8
Chapter 44: AWWWWAHSGJA! That's so freaking cute!!!! The ending leaves me wanting more! I want to read about these two again lol!
WholesomeRain
#9
Chapter 16: Their friendship is so adorable!
WholesomeRain
#10
Chapter 14: AHHHHH!!! He's back baby!