The petite looking girl puffed out her cheeks as she asked, "Jungkook... Are you really leaving?" The boy beside her nodded his head, agreeing with her question before looking at Jungkook.

The wind at the rooftop was not biting at all, surprising for a day so close to January. Jungkook answered with a smile, "Yes, I am. Why?" Naoki blinked her eyes repeatedly and stared out at the tall blocks of apartment flats in the distance. "I feel scared, for some reason," she admitted with a whisper.

"Aish, Nao- Nothing's going to happen when I'm back in Korea," Jungkook laughed, putting a hand on her shoulder. Her two ponytails were swept to the side by the wind and Jungkook noticed that her eyes were a little red. He then sighed internally with lips pursed as kindly as he could.

"Naoki, Jun is going to take care of you," he said confidently while looking at the boy sitting on his left, "Right?"  The lean boy nodded his head frantically with a grin. Jungkook then turned back to Naoki and said seriously, "If he doesn't, I'll come back here and beat him up."

"Hey! I'm going to, okay?" Jun huffed infuriatedly as he crossed his arms. At this, a small smile broke onto Naoki's face and she looked down at her shoes, "Well I guess so..." A peaceful silence ensued for a while and Jungkook smiled to himself upon thinking of the past few years he had spent with the two of them.

Jun poked at his shoulder and asked, still a little miffed, "Why are you smiling?"

"I was thinking of how you fell into that pond last year," Jungkook answered cheerily. Naoki clapped her hands like a seal and giggled, "Oh right! You looked so funny!"

Jun's face burned a bright red and he argued, "Hey! That was because Kiruto and his stupid gang pushed me into it. Those idiots." Shaking his fist dramatically, he continued, "I haven't gotten back at them for that!" Jungkook tutted as he pushed his friend's head with a playful force. "If you do anything to them when I'm away you'll be the one getting a beating, arasso?"

"Ah fine fine fine," groused the boy, "You're not even in Korea and you're using Korean already." He looked away before looking back at Jungkook, "What did that mean anyway?"

Jungkook opened his mouth to reply but Naoki beat him to it. "It means 'okay'," she said in a matter-of-fact manner which made Jun scrunch up his face, "Okay I get it. Why do you always remember things so well?"

The three of them laughed good naturedly at that. Jungkook, being his friend of five years, knew that the two of them had the same problem. In which the problem was studying well. Naoki was honestly the only reason they had scrapped by through the years. Out of the three of them, Naoki was getting constant A's but the two of constant D's.

"Talking about grades," Naoki said suddenly and looked at Jungkook with worry, "How are you going to survive there without me?"

"I'll find a way," Jungkook assured the girl with a smile (he hoped that it could pass as a sincere one). Naoki made a 'hmpf', then a 'you'd better!' before the bell rang sharply from the building below.

"Nao, you need to go now right?" Jun asked. Naoki nodded her head and stood up, brushing down her plaid skirt. "See you next year then, Jun. And you Jeon Jungkook, make sure you come and visit," she said with an eyebrow raised. Jungkook promised, "I will. Or you will come to Korea and find me yourself, I don't think I'd want that."

With a hearty chortle, Naoki skipped away down the staircase as she called out her byes.

After the girl left, Jungkook immediately punched Jun's upper arm and the other mumbled, "Ow..." "Can you stop being so grousy? You have to take care of her!" Jungkook chided with a half-hearted glare. "Sorry bro... It's just," Jun sighed before pausing. He ran his hand through his mop of raven black hair and muttered, "I don't even know..."

At that, Jungkook grinned, "I know. You like her."

"Shhhhhhhhh."

"What?"

"Don't let anyone else hear that! By the way, will you please stop telling me that I like her?"

"Firstly," Jungkook said heartily, slapping his friend on the back,"I cannot. Secondly, if you're going to act awkward around her any longer, I'm going to sit you down and have a long chat about your love life."

Jun shot him a devil's glare and complained, "Can you not?"

"How did I know? Your awkwardness and secret gifts you've been giving her."

"Wait how did you...?"

"Excuse me sir, the lazy Jun I know does not just go all the way to another city to get something for a person, much less a doll."

Jun slunk down in defeat after hearing that and Jungkook patted him on the back comfortingly, "Besides that, you know you really need to protect her." Jun nodded his head solemnly in agreement, "I know."

The smile dropped from Jungkook's face as he said seriously, "You can't let them bully her again. Otherwise she'll..."

"I won't let them," Jun said confidently in return. Jungkook then nodded his head happily, as he felt a weight lifted off his chest. "I think I need to go now," he said while standing up, "Otherwise Jin hyung is going to murder me." Jun laughed and stretched out his leg to kick him away, "You'd better go then. I don't want to see you get chewed up by him."

"Bye Jun!" Jungkook yelled out behind him before breaking out into a run, because he was really late. And Seokjin was no person to play with when it came to punctuality.

 

~

 

To say that he was excited was an understatement. He was over the moon, and it seemed that Seokjin could not stand his burst of excitement. "Jeez what's gotten into you?" the elder asked loudly over the noise of the airport. Deciding to ignore him, Jungkook pulled his luggage behind him as steadily as he could while skipping like a little child.The luggage made heavy bumping noises against the carpeted floor, gaining some irritated glances from other passengers but he could not care less.

I'm in Korea I'm in Korea I'm in Korea, he sang in his heart as the floor moved quickly under his feet. I'm in Korea I'm in - "Koreaaaaaaa!" Jungkook yelled out loud upon seeing the gates to the outside world. Caught up in his frantic happiness, he broke into a run towards it.

"Yah! Jeon Jungkook! Stop running!" Seokjin shouted somewhere far behind him. Jungkook grinned to himself after hearing Seokjin shout. Just let me be rebellious for a day.

Half an hour later, Jungkook nearly regretted his earlier actions and somehow wished that he hadn't run. Nearly.

"...please behave properly. Especially at the company building, okay?" Seokjin chided incessantly. Jungkook then stole a glance at the clock at the front of the taxi. Wow, Seokjin had nagged for a good whole twenty minutes. That was his new record. "Are you listening?" the elder asked impatiently, jolting him out of his thoughts. Jungkook nodded his head and said while grinning, "Yes hyung! I won't ever misbehave again."

Seokjin seemed pleased at his answer and allowed himself a small smile. He then reached out and ruffled Jungkook's hair affectionately, "You little brat."

The rest of the trip to their new apartment was relatively peaceful with Seokjin continuously mulling over a small piece of crumpled paper and Jungkook looking at the outside scenery. The city view was not so different from Japan, except that the streets seemed less cluttered and crowded. A tiny sense of longing emerged within him when he spotted a shop selling Japanese books and manga.

I wonder how Naoki and Jun are doing now... he thought listlessly, his previous excitement dying a little. A few streets later, Jungkook spotted a store by the road selling plush toys and his mood brightened up. Maybe I can buy some for them. Yeah I should.

After sitting back comfortably on the seat, Jungkook turned and craned his neck in order to catch a glimpse of the note that was in Seokjin's hands. "Hyung you've been looking at that note for a few months already, can you at least tell me what it says?" he asked sweetly, only to have Seokjin withdraw the note as quickly as a gust of wind. He answered flatly, "No, Jungkook."

Jungkook then made a face and asked, "Am I not your favourite son?" "Pfft, favorite son," the elder sniffed sarcastically in reply while slipping the piece of paper carefully into his backpack. Seokjin sat back up after making sure the paper was safely in a file and patted Jungkook on the shoulder with a smile, "I would be happy if my favorite son can score an A in his test. Right?"

"Er..." Jungkook said sheepishly, eyes immediately looking away from Seokjin. "Maybe? Hehe."

Fortunately, the taxi pulled up into a parking lot below a modest looking block of flats which saved Jungkook from being interrogated about his results (again). He just hoped with fingers crossed that he could scrape by in his new school. "I'll go take out the luggage, hyung!" he chirped before opening the door of the taxi hurriedly. It must be because of the plane ride, he thought deeply while carrying the cold-feeling luggage out. Then Jungkook stupidly realised that it was a freezing December day, with the temperature some negative twelve degrees Celsius.

Just as Jungkook got the last luggage out of the boot, a thought suddenly sparked to life in his mind. It's the 25th. 25th of December. A discreet smile then crept up his face and he waddled away happily with the luggage towards Seokjin where the elder had just thanked the taxi driver and was closing the door.

"Hyung," he called with a cheeky grin. Puffs of white smoke escaped from the their lips from their breathing as the taxi drove off, leaving the pair behind. Seokjin raised a suspicious eyebrow at Jungkook before asking, "Yes?"

"It's December."

"So?"

"It's the 25th."

"... Jungkook I thought we've already discussed th-"

"Hyung let's go shopping."

 

~

 

The street was alive with colorful fairy lights and a cheery mood, and Jungkook felt just as cheerful. Hugging the newly acquired paints, he hummed gratefully while looking at Seokjin, "Thank you, hyung." Seokjin shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal, "As long as you're happy." 

"You're the best."

At that, Seokjin smiled radiantly and ruffled Jungkook's hair. Jungkook felt his heart swell with the many heartfelt thank-yous he wanted to tell the older, but knowing that they were on a public street, he resisted the urge to start spouting them out (as well give him one big teddy bear hug). Other than Jun and Naoki, he only had Seokjin. Even though Seokjin claimed that he had only known him for three years, he knew that it had been longer than that.

Maybe Seokjin could not remember, but Jungkook could remember the elder cooking a pot of ramen for the thirteen year-old him as he was half-freezing on Christmas day. He could remember the elder chasing the bullies away from him and Naoki. He could remember how painstakingly the elder had tended to his wounds after getting bitten by a dog. Without Seokjin, Jungkook didn't think he could have made it this far.

"Yah, Jungkook. I have to go somewhere first. You know how to go back to the apartment right?"

Jungkook nodded his head in reply. Seokjin then slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket before reminding him, "Remember it's the fifth level. And take care of yourself!" "Yes hyung," he answered with another nod. 

"Be back before 10.00!"

"Aish I got it! Go go," Jungkook whined childishly before gesturing with his free hand for Seokjin to go to wherever he needed to go. He wanted to ask where the older was going, but he decided to let it go at the last minute. Giving Jungkook one last look of concern, Seokjin finally disappeared into the crowd. Jungkook then shifted his grip on the bag full of paints and looked at his watch.

8.00pm. Great. He had two hours to hunt for a present for Seokjin.

About an hour later, Jungkook left a shop selling weird stuff in high spirits- Alright, not entirely weird. The shop just sold a variety of things, teacups, books and a pretty cherry wood paint brush set with gold leaf imprints which he had set his eyes on. Why he had called it weird? He simply did not understand why the shop sold insects, as in living breathing creepy crawlies and there was a parrot.

He had put his own present into his knapsack and was now holding a set of not-so-merry looking cutlery set. But hey! It had a cool design and Jungkook could not simply give it up. Even though it cost a bomb, Jungkook thought that it could not amount to how much Seokjin had cared for him over the years. Looking carefully through plastic cover on top of the wooden box, the lights around him seemed to dance with the silver lining of the cutlery, contrasting starkly with the obsidian black metal. What Jungkook really loved about the set was the meticulously wielded silver roses with faux rubies that were set on the handles.

Jin hyung is going to love them, Jungkook thought happily to himself while walking. And it's only 9.00, whoops.

Grinning, Jungkook then made his way out of the busy street to walk back to the apartment. The apartment was not really far away from the shopping street, so Jungkook decided to stop by a supermarket nearby to get a new cookbook for Seokjin as well. After he had done the payment (the book was a dessert book, and the cover was totally pink, with pink cupcakes with pink frosting), Jungkook went off in even higher spirits.

The walk back was a peaceful one, and Jungkook took the time off to observe his surroundings. The road was still busy, as people walked past him, up and down to get to their destinations. Similar to the shopping street, white fairy lights and some giant plastic Christmas stockings were hung from the lamp posts. Jungkook blew out puffs of white smoke in the icy air as he quickened his footsteps. It was getting extremely cold and he wanted to try out the new heating system he had found earlier in the new apartment.

It didn't take long before the small block of flats came into view. Earlier on in the sunlight, it seemed prim and proper. Now in the night, the occupants seemed to have a conspiracy to hang out as many Christmas lights as possible onto the balconies and windows, so now the entire block looked like a giant neon signboard. Jungkook laughed quietly at the sight.

When the lift opened its doors at the first level lobby, he quickly rushed into it to gain some warmth from the enclosed space. After pressing the correct button, Jungkook tried his best to warm his hands while juggling with Seokjin's present. The lift was halfway up when he realised that his hands were extremely numb from the exposure to the cold winter air. Suddenly feeling completely worried about the state of his hands, Jungkook began waging a war against the numb coldness in his hands by rubbing them together fiercely.

Finally, the lift doors opened and Jungkook rushed out, completely focused on his still numb hands. Then he crashed into someone hard, sharply jolting him out of his secondary state of mind. The cutlery set dropped onto the tiled floor of the lift lobby with a sharp crash. He tried catching them, but his frozen hands failed him.

Instead, when Jungkook felt the warm breaths against the cold skin on his face, he looked up without much qualms. 

These eyes... Why are they so familiar- No Jeon Jungkook don't bring it up! Don't you dare- ing dare- No!

"I'm sorry-"

"Save it for yourself."

"Hey I'm really sorry!"

"You!" Jungkook spat after a moment of stifling silence. The other looked back into his eyes with his own midnight black ones in a shocked light, like a deer caught in headlights. "Why are you here?!"