Pushing open the door to the convenience store, Taehyung stepped into the brightly illuminated interior and headed straight to the counter. The cashier girl had her back to him as she put in the new stock of cigarettes, and he knocked twice on the counter to get her attention.   “Yes, may I help you with anything?” The girl said as she pushed in the last few packs. When she turned around, her eyes widened in brief surprise before smoothing out into a smile when she recognized her friend. “Taehyung!”   He smirked in response.   Nari reached over to punch him in the shoulder. “Kim Taehyung! How can you disappear for a week without telling anybody? Do you know how worried I was? Namjoon told me you weren’t even showing up for school!”   Staring at her with an unreadable expression, he decided that it would be better not to tell her that his ‘disappearance’ was the price he had paid for talking back to his mom’s boyfriend. Although Nari already knew his family’s situation, he didn’t want to scare her off with too many details.   Instead, he went with a nonchalant, “Something came up, and I had to go somewhere for a while. No big deal.”   Nari looked unconvinced, but before she could ask anything else, Taehyung spun around and lumbered over to the employees’ room. “I’ll be in here until you’re done,” he said and lazily waved his hand at her before stepping inside and closing the door.   Figuring that he had trouble with his mom and her boyfriend again, she left him alone like she always did whenever he came and got back to work.   It was about an hour and a half later when she had to go into the room to get something, and when she did, she found Taehyung sleeping on some chairs he had put together as a makeshift bed. She smiled a bit at the sight and tiptoed over to the pile of boxes where they kept storage.   After she picked up a box, she was about to go back out but hesitated for a moment, looking at Taehyung. She set down what she was carrying and took off her jacket to place it on him. Making sure not to wake him, she carefully picked up the box again and tiptoed back out.   When the door closed, a smile crept onto Taehyung’s face, and he pulled the jacket more snugly around himself.     Three hours later, Nari’s shift ended, and after handing off the keys to the next half-timer, the two people walked out of the store.   “Here,” Taehyung said as he handed over the jacket with one hand.   Nari took it and replied sarcastically, “You’re very welcome.” A smile was on her face nonetheless as she put it back on.   “Bring a blanket next time, that would be warmer,” Taehyung indifferently responded as he ruffled her hair. Nari swatted his hands away, yet she knew that was how Taehyung gave his thanks. So, she said nothing more as they started walking down the street.   Just then, a voice calling Nari’s name stopped them, and she turned around to see Jimin running towards her, waving his hand. He looked surprised to see Taehyung beside her, but he continued his jog until he had reached them.   “What are you doing here?” Nari asked while Jimin caught his breath.   He swept his hair out of his face with a smile. “I was by this area so I thought I would walk you home.” He glanced at Taehyung standing behind her, and his smile wavered a second before widening. “Hey, Kim Taehyung!” he exclaimed, suddenly addressing his friend, “Where have you been? We were all worried!” Jimin reached over and grabbed Taehyung in a headlock and continued while rubbing his head, “You should’ve at least told this hyungnim before going anywhere!”   Taehyung laughed and easily got out of his grip. “Hey, Park Jimin, why don’t you grow a little more before saying that?” He laughed again as he jumped behind Nari to avoid Jimin’s punch.   “Kim Taehyung! You’re dead!”   The two boys took off down the street, their laughter echoing as they got farther away. Nari shook her head and started walking down the street after them with a somewhat relieved smile on her face. The group didn’t meet up much anymore due to her, Hoseok, Jimin, and Seokjin attending the newly-built high school in their region, so it was always nice to see sights like this ㅡkind of like proof that their friendship wouldn’t change.   Though she saw Jungkook regularly since they lived in the same area of town and Taehyung because he often came to her part-time jobs, it had been a while since she had seen the other boys. She did keep in contact with most of them frequently. As far as she knew, they were attending school well, except for Yoongi. He had quit school after graduating middle school to provide for his grandmother and himself. According to Jungkook, he had a package delivery job. He was also the only one whom she didn’t keep in frequent contact with.   At the thought, Nari took out her phone and sent Yoongi a text asking how he was. On the outside, he seemed uncaring and cold, but she knew from the three years they had spent together in middle school that he had a kind heart. Besides, from how he always took care of Jungkook whenever the younger boy had trouble with his parents in middle school definitely said a lot about his character better than anything she could say.   Since her phone was already out, she decided to text Jungkook too, curious on if he had made up with his mother after that big fight he had told her about a few days ago. When she had put her phone back into her pocket, footsteps came running over to her, and she looked up to see Jimin bent over, hands on his knees, as he caught his breath.   “Are you guys done chasing each other? Where’s Taehyung?” Nari searched the street with her eyes, but the said boy was nowhere to be found.   Jimin straightened up and gave her a smile. “He probably just went home because he was too afraid of confronting his hyungnim.”   Nari burst out into laughter. “Geez, you guys are so childish.” She shook her head and fell into step beside Jimin as they began walking down the street.   They soon reached her apartment building after much talking and laughing, and the street lamp shone on the two people as they stood outside the front door.   “Well, I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” Nari said with a smile and turned to go inside.   “Wait.” Jimin’s hand reached out to grab a hold of her arm. She turned back around with a tilt of her head. “I have something I want to say to you,” he said, suddenly seeming to turn nervous as he stared down at his hand, “Park Nari. I-“   “Taehyung!” Nari’s voice interrupted him, and Jimin turned around to see their friend standing behind them.   “What are you guys doing?” Taehyung asked with a neutral face, though his eyes darted from Jimin to Nari unnaturally.   Jimin looked b