A ROSE'S SEVEN THORNS

CHAPTER 08

"The Babysitter's Club"

Earlier

As Jangmi followed from behind, she watched him quietly. Then she glanced in the direction where that P.O. guy walked off to before looking back at Namjoon. Just who was that guy and why did Namjoon have such a reaction like that?

And just like that, more questions were added to her already long list of questions.

•••

Left eye twitching slightly, Jangmi sighed loudly in irritation as she rested her right hand on her chin. She loved coming into work. Sadly, this was the highlight of her day – unless her mother made her favorite for dinner or if Netflix added a new season of her favorite show.

She really had nothing going for her, so her fun time was when she went to work. It was a bit sad – actually, very sad. Jangmi was having the most fun when she was serving and delivering pizzas while chatting with her flirtatious boss, who charmed everyone with a handsome face, and a grumpy ahjussi. No, she did not include Sehun in that because he wasn’t something she looked forward to.

It had been a week and a day since the P.O. incident and Jangmi’s life slowly fell into a routine of sorts. Since she worked Monday through Friday from one to six (her shift had been moved up an hour), she would always be picked up by one of the members of BTS. Although there was seven members, she had only be paired up with four of them.

Around twelve-thirty, one would show up and her to the pizzeria then just relax as they made themselves comfortable for the next five hours. Jangmi had felt bad – I mean just because she looked forward to work didn’t mean they did and for a job that wasn’t even theirs? They were taking time out of their day just to babysit her. They called it watching over or protecting, but she saw it as babysitting as did her favorite member of BTS – Suga. Note the sarcasm please.

Suga did not have a problem in telling her what he thought – that she was a nuisance or that they have better things to do than babysit her or just giving her looks that said exactly how much he wished he didn’t have to put up with another child. While she didn’t care for that unsweet, rude man, she had to admit that she agreed with him.

She didn’t like being a nuisance to the members. She genuinely liked them and considered them very close acquaintances-almost-but-not-really-kind-of friends. Well, she knew at least 1 out of 7 was her friend.

Or was he? Jangmi thought with narrowed eyes directed at the person who occupied a seat on the counter.

He was laughing about how Jangmi accidentally sat in pizza earlier after a family with a small child left. She had cleaned their table, but hadn’t seen the tiny slice of pizza on the booth. It had been her break, so she was going to sit for a few minutes. After her break was done, she got up and didn’t even notice what had happened. But Namjoon did.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t clean the stain so she grabbed another apron and tied it around her waist to cover her stained behind. That only made her not friend laugh even harder.

This had happened around fifteen minutes ago, mind you, and he was still laughing. So to say Jangmi was a bit annoyed was an understatement. After all, she was known for her quick temper.

What even drove her more insane was that that coworker of hers had shown up early for his shift, claiming he had been in the area and figured he would come in. And Namjoon was only too eager to inform Sehun what Jangmi had done. Thus the question – was he her friend?

“Yeah, yeah, it’s so funny,” Jangmi sneered at them, irritation dripping from her tone.

Namjoon snickered more. “Your reaction only makes it that much funnier.”

It was true. Things were funny only for a little bit then you eventually forget about it. What made things even funnier was when the person involved got easily bothered by it. Jangmi’s temper and patience was short and it was very easy for her to get riled up.

This made her an easy target, especially for Suga who enjoyed seeing her bothered. He figured if his not-so-peaceful-but-calmer-before-you-showed-up life was bothered by her presence then he would return the favor.

And not just him, but that coworker too.

Sehun smirked at her. “What kind of idiot sits on pizza?”

Her eyes shot to him and if looks could kill. She huffed loudly, annoyed, “Who asked you?” Then she glanced at the clock and sighed when she saw it was five minutes until six. Happy that she could finally get out of here, she began untying both aprons.

It’s a shame… Jangmi thought to herself as she glanced at the annoyances. The main thing I looked forward to during the week has been tainted by these rude pests.

She hmphed when they laughed and rolled her eyes. Then she put one apron on her shoulder and tossed the other one at Sehun’s face. Usually, his guard would have been up but since he had been laughing he didn’t see. The scrunched up apron hit his face.

He caught it before it hit the counter and immediately glared at her. At his reaction, she gave him a smug smirk before sticking her tongue out childishly. Before he could say anything, she moved quickly to the back to gather her belongings.

Rap Monster shook his head, eyes directed to where she disappeared. Oh Jangmi, when will you learn to not get so worked up?

“Are you positive—?” Sehun started, only to be cut off.

Not missing a beat, the leader of BTS replied, “Completely positive.” Rap Monster was so used to his questions. If he wasn’t asking him directly, he was sending messages with the other members – did they really have to protect her and couldn’t they just give her to VIXX and if not that, then can I kill her?

It seemed that Jangmi and Sehun’s friendship was one of the very best.

“Alright, I’m out,” Jangmi said, tossing a peace sign to ahjumma and ahjussi. She had wrapped her work jacket around her waist to block the stain. With that, she began to walk out the back door of the pizzeria.

“Bye Jangmi-ah~” Ahjumma said cheerfully as she appeared next to Sehun.

It seemed their friendship was also one of the best.

“Y-Yah, Lee Jangmi, wait,” Rap Monster called after her as he threw his long black jacket on. Then he quickly followed her out the back. “Hold on!”

Meanwhile, Sehun and ahjumma watched as the back door shut.

Ahjumma smiled and clapped her hands together, “Aw, aren’t they the cutest? Ah…” She paused and tapped her chin thoughtfully. “But so many handsome boys, just who exactly do I ship her with? Decisions, decisions…”

Sehun glanced at her and only smiled, not even bothering to figure out what she was rambling about. Why his boss was talking about ships, he didn’t know and he found it better that he didn’t. Although he didn’t admit it out loud, he was a bit afraid of the thoughts that roamed in his boss’s mind.

Just then, the bell dinged, indicating new customers had entered. Sehun put the apron on and turned to head over to the hosting section. Just as he took a step, he felt his get slapped. He stopped, but made no indication of being surprised.

“Work hard, Sehun-ah~” Ahjumma grinned before heading towards a table, who looked ready for the bill.

Sehun sighed under his breath. Then he took the party of four to their table, where he left them to look at the menu. Realizing he didn’t have his notepad, he sauntered to the counter and picked one up. He slid it into the apron’s pocket, but froze when he felt it damp.

He glanced down and pulled the notepad out once he realized what was wet. His apron was very damp and covered in red stains and marks. He was confused. His apron had never gotten this dirty and if it had, ahjumma would have washed it. So why…?

Then it hit him – Jangmi.

And indeed, was he right. It turns out when Jangmi had tried to clean the pizza stain off the back of her pants, she had used his apron. On purpose, of course, but she will deny that.

Sehun’s face instantly transformed. All the girls who came in to gawk and drool at him loved his dry, expressionless face. They had claimed that he was mysterious, Jangmi snorted when she overheard that. Now his face was nothing like his usual expressionless expression.

His face turned into a full-on diva. Lips pursed in distaste, eyes narrowed, Sehun looked like almost every snooty K-drama mother role. He even had his hand, the one with the notepad, tossed back sassily. His right arm was up while his wrist was pushed back, fingers curled around the notepad. He looked completely like a diva.

Of course, he was better than letting things like this get to him. So he would go on with his shift and wait until tomorrow when he would see her again. Then he would let his mouth do the damage.

Completely satisfied with that, he flipped his hair and made his way over to the latest table. He greeted them and opened his notepad, but something caught his eye. He had been flicking through the pages, trying to find a clean page when two certain words stuck out.

Written on the page was – I win, a brief reminder of their bickering and seeing who could get the last word before the end of her shift. And this time, it was quite obvious who the winner was.

Sehun paused for a good ten seconds before he ripped the page out and shoved it into his damp pocket. Then he took the table’s drinks and orders as he tried to hold his annoyance at bay.

Oh, he was going to destroy that girl.

•••

“Lee Jangmi!” Namjoon chased after her. Luckily, she wasn’t very fast and he caught up swiftly. Once he reached her, he fell into step with her and flicked the back of her head.

“Ouch!” She cried out as she held the back of her head where he had assaulted her. Then she turned towards him and glared. “What was that for?”

“For running off,” He answered with a shrug. Then he gave her a stern look, his leader mode sneaking in, “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that you need to be careful. We don’t know what VIXX is planning and you shouldn’t draw too much attention to yourself. So running off isn’t the smartest.”

She huffed, but knew she was in the wrong. Crossing her arms over her chest, she turned away and muttered, “Don’t exaggerate, I didn’t run. Besides, I didn’t even get that far.” It was true. She had only gotten about a shop away from him and that was it.

But she didn’t understand that all a gang needed was a few seconds to do something. Give a gang a few seconds and many things could happen – kidnapping, pulling the trigger of a gun, dying. This life was dangerous and Jangmi had yet to see just how bad it could be.

“And…” Namjoon said, giving her a look to continue.

She sighed loudly before continuing, “I’m sorry, alright? I know I should be more careful, but I mean can you blame me? Sometimes I forget that gangs might be after me.”

They came to a stop when they reached the light. Jangmi leaned over and pressed the button, so the light would turn green and they could walk across. Then she stood straight and looked at her childhood friend. “It’s been weeks and nothing has happened. That VIXX group is staying away and I haven’t even seen that P.O. box guy since that day. I mean maybe it was just a false alarm?”

Just like Namjoon had said before, VIXX was staying out of sight. None of their members had been seen around, it was like they completely vanished, according to Jimin who had heard that from some other gangs. While this made it easier for BTS as they watched over Jangmi, it also made them extremely suspicious. Just what was VIXX up to?

And as for ‘that P.O. box guy’, as Jangmi so eloquently put, well he hasn’t been around. After that day, Jangmi hadn’t seen him at the pizzeria. Whilst VIXX vanished, he was around just never near her. According to Jimin and Jungkook, they had seen him and some of his Block B members on the other side of town.

It was strange and Namjoon didn’t know what to make of it. He didn’t understand why P.O. hadn’t told his leader. Or why that little meeting didn’t turn out like VIXX. Obviously, P.O. had to find it very suspicious of a big gang leader like Rap Monster to be hanging out with some random pizza girl. And yet, they hadn’t done anything to Bangtan or her.

He knew Block B’s leader’s ways, so Namjoon assumed he was laying low, simply scoping around and listening to the gang gossip that traveled around Seoul. But still, better safe than sorry.

Namjoon shook his head as they began to cross the street. “It’s not a false alarm when you’re almost kidnapped by them. Besides, just because they haven’t shown themselves doesn’t mean they just gave up. We have to be aware and prepared for anything.

“As for P.O., we can’t be too sure. He saw you and it’s only a matter of time before they start asking questions.” Namjoon stated matter-of-factly before he continued with a finger pointed sternly at her. “Remember, if you see them in the street in open ground—”

“—run the other way, I know,” Jangmi finished with an exasperated smile. Then she patted his arm before placing it back on her bike. “You’ve only told me a million times this past week. And I’ve been keeping an eye out, but I haven’t seen him since.”

He stretched his hand out and the action ruffled her hair. She only scrunched her nose, but made no movement to duck or get him back. Then he spoke, “I just want you to be cautious. Seoul is dangerous at times and you need to be prepared. It’s not the same place as when we were little.”

“A lot sure has changed since then,” She muttered under her breath, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. Then Jangmi looked around the area as they walked closer and closer to her house.

Just as they crossed a small street, they passed by a small park. She instantly recognized it and was drawn to it. Jangmi was about to take off until she recalled Namjoon’s words from when they left the pizzeria. She hated being a burden to Namjoon and the boys. So if she could make it just a tad bit easier, she would.

Instead of running, she simply came to a stop and tugged at Namjoon’s sleeve. He stopped and looked at her questioningly. Just when he opened his mouth to ask, his gaze landed on what captured hers. His mouth closed as his gaze hardened, a strange feeling of nostalgic passing through him.

“Can we?” Jangmi asked, still looking at the park.

Namjoon sighed softly and was about to say no until she looked at him. Her dark brown eyes met his and he saw just how much she wanted to go. One look and he simply broke. He prayed no one would ever find out about this, or then she’d really be used against him.

“Five minutes,” He relented as they started making their way to the park. Jangmi moved faster, but still tried to stay close to him. Once they approached an old tree, Jangmi crouched down and gently touched the carvings on it.

“Remember when we did this?” She asked him, a tiny smile appearing on her lips. On the tree, there were nine letters carved into the bark. These letters were initials, three initials and two belonged to Jangmi and Namjoon.

Namjoon snorted softly before he chuckled, “How could I forget? We got scolded by our mothers for ‘desecrating’ this tree and ‘tagging’.”

She laughed loudly as she looked up at him. “That’s right. They were so mad, but we thought it was the coolest thing. Leaving our marks on the world…well, on this tree that is a part of the world, so technically…” She trailed off and Namjoon scoffed playfully at her explanation. She grinned at him before turning back to the tree. “I miss those days.”

With that, she ran her fingers along the third initial. As she stood, she turned to face Namjoon.

He knew exactly what was coming. She had been asking for the past week, every time it was his turn to watch her. But he didn’t want to talk about it. He had done a good job at letting go of the past. He buried the hatchet a long time ago – he didn’t want to dig it up.

“Where is he?” She asked him.

He shrugged carelessly. “I don’t know. We don’t talk much anymore.”

Jangmi let out a tiny