“So,” Jungkook started, his eyes staring at his two feet dangling on the edge of the building. If he was stupid enough, he would let gravity take a hold of him and plummet to the ground below. “Tell me about yourself.”

Chaeyoung looked at the boy beside her, her eyes that were looking at the moon and the dozens above the night sky has averted to Jungkook’s brown ones. She chuckled. “My life isn’t that interesting.”

“No, it’s fine. The less interesting it is, the more curious I get,” Jungkook shifted his leg over so one is on the edge and the other hovering above the rooftop floor. “So, again, tell me about yourself.”

Chaeyoung saw the genuine eagerness in his voice and couldn’t help but sigh. She turned her body to the left so that she’s fully facing Jungkook. Once she shifted into a much comfortable position, she began her life story.

“I was born in Australia, in the lovely city of Melbourne. My parents thought that it would be clever to have a separate English and Korean name for me, so Chaeyoung isn’t the only name I have.”

“What’s your English name, then?” Jungkook asked, reaching his hand out to pull back strains of hair that was blowing against Chaeyoung’s face behind her ear.

The sweet gesture made her smile. “Roseanne Park.”

Jungkook knew the name would be pretty. “Lovely name.”

“Thanks,” Chaeyoung said before getting back to her story. “So, yeah, I spent my whole childhood there in Aussie. The house I lived in was small and simple, but it was and it still is home. My parents believed that a home shouldn’t be based upon a structure or a place in time, but how much memories we carry as we grow older. I remembered my mother saying this to me one night: ‘We could be a million miles apart, living in different places with different people. No matter the distance, home is not where you live. But it’s those who keeps you safe, who loves you unconditionally, who purposely builds a house in your heart in fear of being forgotten. Home is a feeling, a comfortable bubble surrounding you and those you cherish. So, whatever you do, Rosie, don’t you ever forget about us.’ I swear, I must’ve cried a lot that night and told them I’m sorry for being a horrible daughter.”

Jungkook laughed loudly, causing Chaeyoung to join him as well. He didn’t say a word after that, waiting for the girl to continue.

“Skipping my primary school years which were pretty uneventful, except for the time that I went into the boys’ bathroom to pee-“

Jungkook started to laugh again, slapping his thigh with his hand repeatedly. “You- you what?”

“Shut up, they didn’t have a freaking sign up on the doors!” Chaeyoung defended, leaning forward to hit Jungkook on the arm as the boy couldn’t stop laughing. “Fine, then. I won’t continue.”

“Okay, okay, okay, geez,” Jungkook was giggling, trying to convince Chaeyoung that he’s ready to listen, but the girl had strong persistence as she crossed her arms and stare at him with a longing glare. “Hey, come on. Are you seriously mad at me?”

Chaeyoung thought she could hold her angry gaze even longer, but it quickly diminishes when she felt Jungkook’s hand getting a hold on her and pulled her closer towards the edge. Her heart sunk down to the very bottom of her stomach, sheer terror coursed through her veins as she lets out a high-pitched scream whilst quickly gripping onto Jungkook’s arm. “Pull me up, pull me up, PULL ME UP!”

Next thing she knew, she was back on the rooftop standing on her two feet.

She didn’t hesitate to give Jungkook a piece of her mind by mercilessly punching him on the chest and arms.

“Whoa, whoa, quit it! QUIT IT!” Jungkook blocked the attacks and, once he saw an opening, grabbed Chaeyoung’s fist in mid-air and stopped her other hand from nearly punching the area no men wished to be punched upon. He looked at the girl’s face and held back his laughter as she saw how furious she was with her gritted teeth showing and narrowed eyes staring up at his. She was breathing heavily, trying to gather up all her energy to punch Jungkook square in his pretty, little face. “Hey, easy now… easy…”

Chaeyoung finally calmed down, but her glare never left. “I hate you.”

Jungkook grinned. “Looks like someone needs a drink. Want to head to the store?”

Chaeyoung thought about it for a moment before saying, “You’re paying.”

Jungkook shrugged, his grin still apparent. “Fair enough.”

“Dude.”

“What?”

“Will you let go of my hands already?”

“Oh, . Sorry.”

---

Both of them left the rooftop and headed out of the apartment complex to the convenient store next to it in search of drinks to pour down their throats. By the time they reached their destination, Chaeyoung quickly ran towards the back of the store where all the drinks are kept cool and fresh in refrigerators. Before she disappeared, she didn’t notice the ‘Wet Floor’ sign and let out a yelp when she nearly slip and fell before regaining her balance and continued her journey to get the desired drinks.

The sight made Jungkook chuckle. Before he could go after her, a voice called his name out. “Yo, Kookie!”

Jungkook turned to his right and saw the cashier who happened to be one of his closest friends, Yugyeom. He’s probably on his late night shift again, Jungkook thought. He smiled at the latter and walked towards the counter, greeting the fellow with their memorable handshake. “Hey, man. Working late again?”

Yugyeom shrugged as he flashed a tired smile. “Sorta. Seriously, I got a Physics test tomorrow, which I clearly won’t study at all, and I haven’t even finished my homework for English yet. Can you believe it?”

“Yes, I do believe it because this is you we’re talking about,” Jungkook teased. “If you’d stop being a and actually study, you won’t be stuck working on a dead-end job here and at McDonalds during the weekends just because your parents forced you to.”

Yugyeom sighed dramatically. “You’re right,” he was silence for a moment. “By the way, can you signal me the answers for Physics tomorrow?”

“DUDE!” Jungkook said, flabbergasted. “Seriously!”

“Okay, okay. Some friend you are,” Yugyeom decided to divert the topic of the conversation to something else, because talking about school won’t help him get through the night. “So, you’ve been hanging out with Chaeyoung recently?”

Jungkook shook his head. “No. We just started talking after she caught me smoking in front of my apartme-“

“Wait, you did what?”

, Jungkook thought. He never told any of his friends that he smokes.

Jungkook’s eyes widened like dinner plates and quickly shushed Yugyeom before he could cause a scene. “Ssh, shh! Be quiet.”

“How can I be quiet when my best friend is burning his lungs out in secret?” Yugyeom whispered loudly, looking at Jungkook as if he had lost his mind. “Jungkook, really? Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“We’ll talk about this later, Chaeyoung’s coming,” Jungkook whispered back before he turned around to face Chaeyoung, who was holding a bag of Doritos in one hand and two cold Red Bulls in the other, and gave her a nervous smile as he chuckled sheepishly. “Heeeey there, mate.”

Chaeyoung raised an eyebrow, inspecting Jungkook’s odd behavior for a second before shrugging it off and proceed to set the snacks down on the counter. When she saw that the cashier was none other than Kim Yugyeom, who’s secretly sideglancing at Jungkook with a sour look on his face, she smiled and says with a cheerful voice, “Hi, Yugyeom!”

Being the ‘gifted, au natural actor’ he claimed to be, Yugyeom turned to face Chaeyoung with a surprise look on his face accompanied with a sweet smile. “Oh, Chaeyoung! What’s up?”

“Nothing much, just hanging around with this fella here,” Chaeyoung gestured her hand to Jungkook, who was standing uncomfortably beside her. “Working on a night shift again?”

Yugyeom sighed, nodding his head. “Mhmm.”

Chaeyoung winced, knowing that a long, tiring night awaits him. She gives a reassuring pat on his shoulder. “Sorry to hear that. But, hey! If it makes you feel any better, I’ll treat you out for a bowling night next Saturday.”

Yugyeom’s face lit up instantly. “Daaaamn, it’s been a while since we played bowling. Alright, count me in! Don’t you forget about it, okay?”

“I promise!” Chaeyoung beamed at Yugyeom, then nudged Jungkook’s arm with her elbow. “Hey, you gonna pay or nah?”

Jungkook was in a daze before he felt Chaeyoung waking him up from his little reverie. He looked at Chaeyoung, confusion written across his face. “Sorry, what?”

Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, then went back to Yugyeom. “Don’t mind Jungkook, he’s been a little off lately,” she left the two boys alone and exited outside the store before shouting, “I’m going to wait outside!”

The boys near the counter stood in silence. Jungkook was the one who broke it when he sneezed loudly, startling Yugyeom.

“Bless you.”

“Thanks,” Jungkook said, pulling out his wallet while Yugyeom bar-scanned the purchased items. “So, how long have you known Chaeyoung?”

“How long have you started smoking?” Yugyeom smirked.