SPRING; April

Sunday -- Morning

“Why are we doing this again?”

Jungkook lets out a long yawn, his jaw clicking as he opens his mouth too wide. It made his mouth ache and caused him to grimace, even after he’d shut his mouth. He blinks his eyes and takes a look at his surroundings.

Bangtan was there and so was Jiyoo. Like him, Jiyoo wore a tired expression, while the rest of the guys looked much too energized for a Sunday morning. Especially since it was only 10 AM.

“We’re going shopping!” Hoseok said excitedly. The happiness on his face radiated off of his skin like the sun, causing Jiyoo and Jungkook to grimace even more.

Fortunately, someone else had agreed with them. “Stop being so noisy. It’s just shopping.” Suga grumbles, adjusting his shades so that he didn’t have to look at the sun.

Hoseok looks offended, but easily brushes off the statement. He usually isn’t one to argue with anyone unless boundaries were broken.

“You all need a new change in wardrobe.” Seokjin air through his teeth as he looked at the others from head to toe. “You’re all dressed terribly.”

Seokjin motions towards Suga who’s clad in an all black outfit. Black shirt, black jeans, black combat boots, and even black sunglasses- If he didn’t have white earphones, any passerby would’ve thought that he was trying to give himself heat .

“What?” Suga says, possibly offended, but still appearing very casual like usual.

Jungkook’s chortle doesn’t escape Seokjin’s judging glare. He turns towards the latter and clicks his tongue. “You shouldn’t be laughing Jungkook. You literally wear white shirts everyday.”

“And you!” Seokjin flares a finger at Jiyoo who stood sleepily next to Jungkook. “Do you ever wear skirts outside of school?”

“No.” Jiyoo mumbles, a yawn escaping her lips as she buries her face into Jungkook’s back. “Pants are easier to wear.”

Seokjin groans and stalks off towards the entrance of the mall, followed by Jimin who trailed after him most likely to calm him down.

“I don’t know why he’s so mad.” Jungkook whistles, watching as Seokjin stomped off. “He’s the one that agreed to take us to the mall today.”

“He can’t refuse a request from your father.” Namjoon sighs. He too, was persuaded into believing that a trip to the mall would be a good idea.

According to Jungkook’s father, it was to ‘promote a good relationship between everyone’ since Jungkook more or less agreed that he’d join the group. Namjoon was pretty sure that the real reason behind the sudden mall trip was so they could help Jiyoo and Jungkook shop for clothes.

Most adults wouldn’t just give a bunch of kids a thousand dollars to ‘have fun’ after all.

“Can we get something to eat first?” Jungkook whines. Since Jiyoo had her face pressed against his back, Jungkook could feel her nod her head agreeingly.

“Let’s just look around first.” Hoseok says, “You want to be able to fit your clothes, right?”

“Not like I fit them right now anyways.” Jiyoo mumbles, indirectly complaining about her small figure.

They walk into the mall and immediately spot Seokjin and Jimin in the first store to the right of the entrance. Seokjin was busy speaking to the store clerks while Jimin was just roaming around. They both had clothes in their arms; Seokjin was carrying one of the store’s baskets while Jimin just held onto the hangers with one hand while he searched with the other hand.

Both Seokjin and Jimin had something in common with their clothes; They both had girl clothes.

“No, but I need the underwear thing. You don’t know what I mean?” Seokjin cries out, baffled that almost all of the store clerks were with him and yet they all didn’t understand what he was trying to ask for. He turns and sees Jiyoo walk in and a fire alights in his eyes. “Jiyoo! Take Jungkook with you and try on these clothes.”

Seokjin tosses the basket to Jungkook without warning, turning back to talk to the store clerks without waiting to see if Jungkook caught the basket or not. Luckily he did, though a few items fell out here and there. Jungkook looks at Jiyoo and finds her eyes scanning through the basket curiously.

He’s never seen her so interested in clothes before. Usually when they went shopping, Jiyoo just grabbed whatevers was closest in her size and threw it into the basket. She was the one that convinced him that “white shirts match with everything, therefore everyone should have a few on hand”. Her curiosity made Jungkook curious as to if she’d like the clothes or not, taking her over to the changing room to try on the clothes.

“Spandex!” Seokjin yells suddenly, startling everyone in the store. “She needs spandex shorts!”

“Aren’t those like exercising shorts?” Namjoon asks confusedly, growing more embarrassed as the store clerks began to giggle at his nativity.

“It’s the stuff that covers the underwear hyung.” Jimin says off to the side. He already has a pair of colored spandex in his hands and tosses a blue pair to Seokjin to was headed towards the fitting rooms.

Hoseok laughed as he spotted Jungkook refusing entrance for Seokjin into the fitting rooms because Jiyoo was in there. He was pretty sure that they were the only group in the store, so it made it even funnier that Jungkook was acting as the bodyguard. When Seokjin handed over the spandex shorts to Jungkook to give to Jiyoo, Hoseok’s source of entertainment was long gone. He walks over to Jimin and watches as his friend carefully chooses clothes to match the outfit he was trying to prepare.

“You’re picking an outfit for Jiyoo?” Hoseok whistles, underestimating Jimin’s fashion sense.

“I think we all know that we can’t trust pink lord Seokjin hyung when it comes to these things.” Jimin chortles, holding up a pair of white high waisted shorts up to the shirt he’d picked.

“Uh, you grabbed pink too didn’t you?” Hoseok grimaces at the pink long sleeved shirt in Jimin’s other hand.

Jimin rolls his eyes, but doesn’t try to argue. “It’s a subtle pink. You should’ve seen what hyung put in that basket.”

Hoseok and Jimin look towards the fitting room just at the right time to see Jiyoo come out. She was wearing an oversized hot pink sweater that went down just above her knees. Seokjin looks pleased with his choice in outfit, but everyone else could disagree. Even Jiyoo looked uncomfortable, pulling down the sweater uncomfortably. The sleeves on the sweater were too long for her, causing her to look smaller than she already was.

“You’d think he would get her a real dress instead of just getting her something he’d wear.” Suga cringes, watching as Seokjin came out of the dressing room with the same sweater on.

It was then that the others realized that they could make a way better outfit than Seokjin. So they did.

Since Jimin had a head start, he was the first to go to Jiyoo and present her with the outfit he’d picked. He could tell she was hesitant about the pink, but assured her that it wasn’t an ugly pink like what Seokjin had picked. Since Seokjin was still wearing the hot pink sweater, he took offense to Jimin’s words and stomped off. He was easily seen looking for another outfit and Jiyoo could only sigh.

“How much longer until we can go eat?” Jiyoo asked Jimin, who was unsure of the answer to her question.

“Probably another hour or so.” Jungkook grumbles. He watched as the rest of the guys were searching for outfits, and since this was a woman’s store, Jungkook knew that they were looking for clothes for Jiyoo.

Jiyoo sighs loudly and takes Jimin’s outfit into the changing room. She’s only in there for a few seconds before she opens the door, revealing the same pair of shorts, but the light pink shirt that Jimin gave her. Her bra was visible through the light fabric and before she could open to complain, Jungkook shoved her back into the fitting room and held the doorknob in place.

“Jungkook! I need a new bra! Let me out!” Jiyoo yells, trying to open the door to no avail.

Jungkook looks at Jimin and motions to the doorknob with his eyes. Jimin immediately takes his place, continuing to trap Jiyoo in the changing room while Jungkook goes off to search for something in the store. He returns quickly with a bra. Or at least that’s what Jimin thought it was. Jungkook was so quick to throw it over the door to Jiyoo that Jimin could barely make it out.

Jiyoo came out a few minutes later, fully clad in the outfit Jimin picked. Since the shorts were a bit thin and flowy, Jiyoo pinched the bottom to pull it down after she’d walked. The outfit fit her better than the last one she tried on.

“Do you like it?” Jimin asks nervously, looking at Jiyoo’s reaction as she looked at herself in the mirror.

“It’s nice.” She says softly, entranced by her own reflection in the mirror. How could the person in the mirror be her? Glancing down at her feet, she wore gray socks with sandals, a combination that she felt was a little strange. It still looked nice overall, so she gave Jimin a thumbs up.

“The pants are so thin.” Jungkook comments, tugging at the bottom.

Jiyoo does a little side step so Jungkook didn’t end up pulling her pants off. “I think it’s supposed to be like that. Thank you for getting the spandex ahead of time Jimin.”

Jimin nods, but blushes a bit. “Sorry for not getting something better for, uh. The top part.”

“It’s alright!” Jiyoo says.

She ed the first two buttons on the light pink shirt and Jimin was prepared to look away when she’d showed him her chest. Under the shirt she was wearing a tank top that covered her bra. Jimin lets out a relieved sigh and looks at Jungkook who was just as wary as he was.

“What?” Jungkook stammered, “I don’t know her.. Size…”

Letting out a small sigh, Jiyoo wants to change back into the clothes she came in but is distracted by the mirror again. She’s usually not this vain. For some reason, Jimin’s outfit captivated her.

“What if we put leggings under these?” Jungkook inquires, still looking at the length of the shorts with distaste.

Before Jimin could answer, Jiyoo did for him. “N-No!”

Jungkook and Jimin look at her and she finds herself tongue tied. Jiyoo glances back in the mirror and regains her composure, “I like this outfit. I want it the way it is.”

A small smile lights up on Jimin’s face. He’s happy Jiyoo likes the outfit he picked out for her, though he plays it off saying that she just needs to expand her wardrobe a bit more.

“My turn!”

The three turn around to find Hoseok standing behind them, a large grin on his face as he holds up a new outfit for Jiyoo to try on. It was a baby blue dress with ¾ sleeves. It looked pretty and Jiyoo reached out to grab it before she’d realized.

Before heading into the changing room, she stops and looks at Hoseok seriously. “I need shoes for this outfit.”

Hoseok’s smile falls a bit. He didn’t realize that she wanted to have a complete outfit. Looking for a pair of shoes nearby, he spots a pair of simple Adidas and tosses them on the floor near Jiyoo’s feet. She closes the door and begins to change. The boys didn’t miss the small smile on Jiyoo’s face and unconsciously they all smile too. It was only after looking at one another and catching it that their smiles fell.

Jungkook’s eyebrows pinch together in the middle and he looks towards Hoseok. “Did you get her the right size-”

“I need different shoes!” Jiyoo calls from the changing room.

She already tossed out the pair of shoes that Hoseok got her. He scampered around to each of the store clerks to find the same pair in a smaller size. It was difficult since Jiyoo had such small feet. Jimin had just gotten lucky that the socks had filled in a bit of the sandals that he grabbed for Jiyoo. That, and the fact that Jungkook may or may not have told him her shoe size while Jiyoo was distracted with Seokjin’s hot pink sweater.

Jiyoo came out all dressed in Hoseok’s outfit. It was simple, but feminine again compared to her usual look. He looked at Jiyoo weirdly when she’d come out, running off for a moment before returning with a pair of blue sunglasses. Instead of putting them on her face, he uses them as a headband to pull back her hair. After being seemingly satisfied, he pulls out his phone and begins to take pictures.

“You look AMAZING!” Hoseok cheers, his phone clicking with each picture he took. “Give me that million dollar smile!”

Jiyoo’s eyes widen before she’s able to comprehend what he’s saying. After about four clicks of his phone, Jiyoo then begins to loosen up. She smiles and throws up a peace sign, looking at Hoseok as he continues to hype her up about how great she looks in the outfit. As he continues to shower her with praise, Jiyoo feels a bit more confident and begins to pose. She puts her arms behind her head and bends them at the elbows. After that, she moved her leg a bit so that one leg posed in front of the other. Then she got really confident and did a little twirl. The last pose was a bit much, especially since she’d stumbled on her own two feet.

Lucky for her, Jungkook was right there to catch her. She gives him a sheepish smile before grinning widely again. “This is really fun Jungkook. I wish we did this more before.”

Jungkook can’t help but smile seeing her so excited. “Do you want me to pick an outfit too?”

Jiyoo nods her head vigorously and Jungkook laughs seeing her so thrilled about something so small. He leaves her with Jimin and feels a bit better knowing that Jimin was there to watch her. While he was gone looking for clothes for Jiyoo, Suga and Taehyung showed up with their own outfits.

She was surprised that Taehyung was smiling happily like usual, but what really shocked her was that Suga presented her with an outfit that he personally picked out- shoes and all. She tried on his outfit first and came out slightly embarrassed. The shirt was a crop top, revealing a bit of her tummy to the world.

“She’s not that small hyung.” Jimin scoffs.

Suga shrugs, but takes a look at how his outfit fit on Jiyoo. Even he had to admit that she looked good in a pair of black jeans. The black leather jacket might have been a bit much since Jiyoo didn’t exactly have a ‘tough’ image.

“I like these jeans though.” Jiyoo mutters softly. She was sure that nobody could hear her since the others were talking amongst themselves. Taking a look at them in the mirror, she likes how the jeans hugged her legs and yet she didn’t feel like they were suffocating her either. “I really want them.”

Hoseok, who had just finished taking pictures, pushed Taehyung forward with his outfit. The latter was nervous and didn’t walk up to Jiyoo. Instead, she’d come to him and picked up the clothes. Giving him a giddy smile, she heads back into the dressing room and begins to change to the next outfit.

“Stop acting so weird.” Hoseok grumbles, punching Taehyung in the elbow. “Maybe then she’ll want to be friends with you.”

“I can’t help it hyung.” Taehyung whines.

He still feels bad about making Jungkook decide to be her mate on the spot like that, mostly because it meant that Jiyoo had to say yes. It was normal for Alphas to decide who their mates would be and wasn’t totally uncommon for that to happen by force. Jiyoo was lucky that the Alphas around her were more understanding. What Taehyung did was still wrong and he felt it whenever he saw Jungkook try his best to make sure Jiyoo was comfortable despite how Taehyung ruined the mood on Friday.

Jiyoo came out and looked at herself in the mirror, a small squint in her eyes. She had on a white shirt and a pair of black leggings. It wasn’t too extravagant like the past outfits and she seemed a bit disappointed.

“You don’t like it?” Taehyung says worriedly.

“Taehyung, can I see your jacket?” Jiyoo says, shaking her head as she kept looking at herself in the mirror.

Taehyung takes off his jacket immediately and hands it to Jiyoo. She puts it on and turns around, looking back at him with a small smile.

“I like it a lot.” Jiyoo smiles, walking up to him and pressing her hands to his cheeks. Since his jacket was a bit big on her, it was the sleeves that made contact with his face instead of her hands. “You just seemed sad.”

Taehyung can hear the faint sound of a camera clicking somewhere off to the side, but other than that, it’s silent. He completely airs out the music playing in the store, his eyes locked on Jiyoo’s as she continues to hold him.

“Sorry for making things weird on Friday.” He breathes, feeling himself get lost in her eyes. The only thing he can think is that her eyes were so captivating.

“It’s fine.” Jiyoo says, backing off to Taehyung’s dismay. “I feel like we should figure out the mate thing as well, but it just seems too early, don’t you think?”

Jiyoo takes another look at herself in the mirror and heads back into the changing room at the arrival of Seokjin with her new outfit. Before she could close the door, she peeks out between the space and looks at Taehyung. “We’re just first years. There’s so much time left!”

And with that, she closed the door. Seokjin looked at Taehyung confusedly, but the later is left in a daze with Jiyoo’s departure. It doesn’t take too long for Jiyoo to change into the next outfit and she comes out, happy with her jeans and white oversized sweater. It was big, yes. But it didn’t completely swallow her like the last outfit. She rolled up the sleeves at the ends and looks at Seokjin with a smile.

“This looks good. I like it.” She grins, turning to look in the mirror before he could reply.

Seokjin was relieved for one thing. His first choice wasn’t that bad, but seeing Jiyoo in much simpler clothes looked a lot nicer that his original outfit choice. “I know. I just pick good outfits.”

“Remember hyung,” Jimin says, a small smirk on his face. “Hot pink disaster.”

Seokjin begins to yell at the latter for teasing him. Jiyoo doesn’t mind that though, enjoying herself in the mirror before someone stood behind her. Since she had a mirror in front of her, it was easy for Jiyoo to see that it was Jungkook.

“My turn.” He smiled, giving her the outfit and taking her hand to her inside. Once Jiyoo had gone back into the changing room, Jungkook looks at the others. “So… We’re cool?”

He hadn’t had a chance to ask the question the last time he’d seen them due to the awkward meeting, so naturally he didn’t know how to bring it up without being weird about it. The first person to respond was Jimin, who just socked him in the shoulder.

“We’re cool as long as you don’t make it weird.” He laughs, pointing out Jungkook’s not so subtle way of asking if they were all good with one another.

Jungkook smiles, tilting his chin a bit before he lets out a small chuckle. He might’ve knew this all along, but the guys were actually really nice. It was just his ego that prevented him from being friends with them. That, and the fact that he usually kept other boys away from Jiyoo.

“Yah Jungkook!” Jiyoo screams from the dressing room. His happiness was short lived after she’d practically kicked open the door, revealing his outfit that didn’t exactly fit her all that well.

Her shorts were short, even on Jiyoo’s short legs. The spandex shorts were easily visible under the black frayed shorts. Her shirt and black cardigan were nice, but she could already hear comments about how her outfit had too much black.

“It looks good.” Suga nods, earning a shove from Seokjin who clearly didn’t agree.

“Just because I told you not to wear white all the time doesn’t mean you give her all black Jungkook!” Seokjin huffs loudly, “Hurry up and get changed Jiyoo.”

Instead of listening to Seokjin, Jiyoo was seen peering her head around the others in search of something- or someone.

“Where’s Namjoon?” She asks curiously.

The others turn to look, but couldn’t find their friend anywhere. Jiyoo was the first to move around, taking a few steps into the open to find him.

Namjoon was trying to hide amidst the clothes racks. He wasn’t doing a very good job, his height making it difficult to be hidden due to how his shoulders were higher than any of the racks. He makes eye contact with Jiyoo and gives a small wave.

“What are you doing?” Hoseok says, trying not to laugh.

“N-Nothing.” Namjoon shrugs. He’s unaware of Jiyoo quietly sneaking up on him through the clothes racks. Since she was so small, her body was unseen until she’d gotten up close.

“He has an outfit for me too!” Jiyoo yells triumphantly. She takes the outfit that was conveniently being carried in one of the store’s baskets before running off to the changing room, leaving Namjoon slack jawed in awe.

“I’ve never seen her so excited before.” Namjoon says, baffled by her quirk attitude despite how tired she looked that morning.

“Girls like their shopping. It’s like a fact.” Hoseok says proudly, almost as if he were some sort of expert on the subject.

“Does that make Seokjin hyung a girl then?” Jungkook says, earning a chorus of laughs from the others. He gives Seokjin a sheepish smile but is cheering internally. The first step of bonding with these guys is getting them to laugh; And Jungkook would rather have them laugh with him and not at him.

“You can tell she’s enjoying her time though.” Hoseok says, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye from laughing so hard. He pulls out his phone and goes to his pictures. “Look at the pictures I took of her.”

He scrolls through the pictures one by one, showing Jiyoo’s awkward poses from when she was wearing the outfit he picked out for her. Hoseok took a lot of pictures. It was difficult to see any nice ones that proved what he said, so he opted to quick scroll using the lower bar instead.

The pictures of Jiyoo were awkward and shy at first, but as the pictures continued, they could see a happier smile on her face. Not only that, but she was getting a bit more confident with every picture. With each outfit she wore, her smile got bigger and more smug knowing that she looked good. Hoseok laughed at the part when she fell twirling around with his outfit, pointing out how panicked Jungkook looked when he’d caught her.

“Looks like she’s not the only one enjoying this.” Suga points out, making Hoseok scroll backwards to the first outfit, which was Hoseok’s outfit again.

You could see Jungkook’s annoyed expression as Hoseok took the pictures of Jiyoo in the beginning, but as soon as Jiyoo started having fun, his face changed. No longer was he frowning, but instead smiling at Jiyoo just as happily as she was smiling at the camera.

“You look like a happy dad for his daughter.” Namjoon says with a soft smile. He understands the feeling every time Jiyoo smiles at him.

“I’m her best friend, not her dad.” Jungkook grimaced.

Taehyung shrugs, “Your dad looks at her like that too though. With a fatherly smile, I mean.”

Jungkook takes a moment to pause and think about it. He realized that his father really did care for Jiyoo like she was one of his own. Thinking about it more made Jungkook’s heart swell, being sure that it was because he knew Jiyoo just had that good effect on people.

His smile was misinterpreted by the others. Their interpretation of his smile was a more smug happiness, as if he were happy that his father approved of Jiyoo like a mate.

Then again, they could just be overthinking things. Being older than Jungkook, they knew that finding a mate was more dire for their situations rather than his, especially since Jungkook would rather spend his days having fun than having a mate anyways.

“Check it out!”

Jiyoo comes out of the changing room with a little hop in her step. She was wearing a white off the shoulder shirt and a pair of blue shorts that cuffed at the bottoms. The first thing Jungkook sees is an ugly red color near the bottom where her feet were. To his dismay, her outfit included a pair of red converses, much like the pair she already has.

“I really like the shoes for this one.” Jiyoo says with a grin, purposely showing off the shoes knowing that Jungkook didn’t like her present red converse.

“Not with those ugly shoes.” Suga cringes.

Jungkook is relieved that someone agrees with him. He looks at Suga who gives him a small nod in agreement, making Jungkook sigh in relief. “Namjoon hyung, you couldn’t have picked any other shoes?”

“What?” Namjoon retorts, “She likes converse. And if she likes it, we should get her another pair.”

“Yup I like it.” Jiyoo says with a smile, “I want these.”

She’s already walking back into the dressing room to change her clothes before anyone else could argue, leaving all of the boys without a say in her situation. Namjoon has a smug smirk on his lips that was easily visible despite how he used his hand to cover his mouth.

“I’m still buying her the other shoes that managed to fit her.” Seokjin says, “She needs more variety.”

“Jiyoo only has one pair of shoes.” Taehyung points out the obvious, “Jungkook’s the one that has too many shoes.”

“I just take advantage of when my dad is feeling generous is all.” Jungkook says defensively. “Plus Jiyoo doesn’t usually want things when we go shopping, unless it’s like. Food or something.”

“Hey Jungkook?” Jiyoo calls out, “Can you help me carry some of the clothes?”

She was already dressed in the clothes that she arrived to the store in and all of the boys were thinking that it was a waste that she wasn’t wearing any of the clothes she’d picked.

Jimin was the first to have an idea, “Jiyoo, why don’t you just change into one of the outfits you like and you can wear it out for today?”

Jiyoo was confused and makes sure to voice it. “Don’t we need to buy it first?”

To answer her question, a store clerk seemed to pop out of nowhere as if she were on standby. “Oh nonsense! As long as you pay for it, then it’s fine!”

Her overly peppy attitude seemed to sway Jiyoo’s opinion and she went right back into the dressing room to change. Now it was just a silent competition to see who’s outfit she picked. The boys all waited anxiously, doing miscellaneous things to try and pass the time.

When Jiyoo came out, they were surprised- Mostly in a bad way.

“That’s my girl!” Hoseok screams with glee.

He jumped up and down in place as Jiyoo came out with his outfit, or the dress anyways. On her feet were the brand new red converse that Namjoon picked out for her.

“Are you sure you want to wear those shoes with that dress?” The store clerk asked worriedly. She wasn’t worried about how poorly Jiyoo’s outfit was clashing in color, but rather how some of the boys couldn’t hide their disappointment as their Alpha pheromones began to slowly seep out.

“I like these shoes though?” Jiyoo says with a small frown. It was obvious that she felt hurt that her choice in fashion was doubted and the boys were quick to pick up on it.

“It’s fine.” Jungkook says, gently pushing the store clerk slightly towards the dressing room. “Just take those clothes from her so we can pay for them.”

Since there were so much clothes for them to buy, the sales clerk had to get a few of the other workers to help her ring up their purchases. Jiyoo was helped by Jungkook to take the tags off of her clothes. After that, the plan was to go get lunch.

--

“I can’t believe I did that.” Jiyoo groaned, her forehead kissing the table with a loud bang.

Jimin gives her a small pat on the back as Jiyoo continued to hit her head against the table.

Since Jiyoo was so used to just watching Jungkook shop for clothes, she wasn’t aware of how much girl’s clothes really costed.

“Five hundred thirty two dollars. Damn.” Suga whistles, not bothering to look up from his phone.

“And thirty three cents!” Taehyung says quickly.

Jiyoo feels the weight on her shoulders get heavier and sinks lower into her chair. “Thanks for the reminder Taehyung…”

“No problem!”

“And to think my dad used to almost beg you to buy clothes before.” Jungkook rolls his eyes. He sees the confused looks on the others and lets out a sigh, knowing he’ll have to explain what he meant. “Jiyoo never liked spending my dad’s money. That, and she only liked wearing my clothes before.”

“That explains all the pants.” Seokjin grumbles, placing a tray on the table.

Jiyoo lets out a squeal as Seokjin began to pass out the burgers. They finally got to eat after their first stop and Jiyoo was more than happy to eat anything at this point. She takes a burger and stares at the labeling before passing it to Jungkook, then going back and picking up another burger for herself.

“Jungkook can grab his own burger Jiyoo.” Namjoon sighs, not liking how she was practically babying him.

“He likes the beef burgers though, so I just gave it to him.” Jiyoo shrugs, “I wanted to eat this one anyways.”

She displays her chicken sandwich momentarily before taking a big bite out of it. With puffed cheeks, she smiles as the taste of chicken and bbq tingle on her taste buds. “Yummy.”

Since nobody had time to eat breakfast that morning, their meal time was quiet and brief. It was only after all of the burgers were finished and they were only picking on the fries did the chatter begin again.

“Fries always taste yummy with burgers.” Jiyoo says with a smile, enjoying the taste of the bbq sauce leftovers on her fries.

“You two could’ve at least eaten your lettuce.” Hoseok says with a small chortle, “So picky, tsk tsk.”

Laying there on the wrapper were smears of bbq sauce from Jiyoo’s sandwich and the lettuce and tomatoes that she didn’t eat. There was a similar sight on Jungkook’s burger wrapper, except he’d managed to pull out pickles as well. Her burger didn’t come with pickles, thank the lord.

“Ara? Jiyoo is that you?”

Who the would know me outside of school?

The question replayed in Jiyoo’s head a million times as she’d turned around to the sound of the voice she’d heard.

“It is you!” Bambam says way too forcefully to have been natural. “What a weird coincidence!”

Bambam strolls over to their table and immediately begins to start up a conversation that nobody else was really interested in. “You look so cute in your little dress! She looks cute, right Yugyeom?”

Yugyeom stood awkwardly too the side. He nodded his head, but proceeded to take small peeks at Jiyoo every once in awhile. It was no surprise that she looked a lot different than usual. They went a school that required uniforms after all, so naturally, seeing her in casual clothes was a big difference.

“Of course she looks good. I picked out her outfit.” Hoseok says boredly. He picks at his nail nonchalantly as Bambam’s eyebrow twitches.

“Ah, I see..” Bambam sighs, “That would explain those hideous shoes.”

Before anyone could get offended, Jiyoo’s hand came out and pushed Bambam. She wasn’t too forceful. The push was a bit weak if anything. Giving him a mean look, her lips pursed together.

“I like my shoes.” She insisted, watching as the attention turned to Bambam.

“Well, you have terrible taste.” Bambam shoots off automatically. His words came off a bit harsh, earning him a disapproving look from Jaebum and a push from Yugyeom. Unlike Jiyoo, Yugyeom wasn’t afraid to push Bambam with all of his might.

“Are you feeling okay now Jiyoo?” Yugyeom asked suddenly.

Jiyoo feels all eyes on her and it automatically makes her drop her gaze to her red shoes. “Y-Yeah.. I just felt a bit sick.”

“Did the medicine work okay?” Jinyoung looks at Jiyoo intensely, and only then did she realize that the person speaking to her was probably Jinyoung.

“It didn’t sit well with my stomach, but I feel a lot better now.” She says honestly, leaving out the part when she threw up her guts. “Thank you.”

Jiyoo bends her back to bow a bit and Jinyoung seems satisfied with that. Now the only problem was the pregnant pause between Bangtan and Yugyeom’s group of friends. Nobody knew what to say and frankly, many didn’t want to initiate conversation either.

“I’m still washing your shirt with Jiyoo’s uniform.” Seokjin says suddenly, disrupting the silence surrounding the group. “So we’ll see you guys in school.”

He looks towards Yugyeom and the latter stutters out a small answer. “Uh, y-yeah. Thanks.”

Seokjin nods his head and stands up, prompting the others to stand with him as they bid their awkward goodbyes. Once Yugyeom and his friends were out of earshot, Seokjin lets out a loud sigh.

“That was rough.” Taehyung mutters, his voice bitter from their run in with Yugyeom being more soon than he’d liked.

“So you say. At least you’re not the one that had to be civil to a bunch of stupid kids.” Seokjin hisses. He was older than everyone after all.

They did a bit more shopping for Jiyoo, mostly because she was missing a few key items in her wardrobe; Undergarments weren’t something that the others could guess so easily. Even Jungkook wasn’t able to go into the bra store with Jiyoo and Hoseok because he didn’t know what her size was.

“That explains the tank top.” Jimin says with a small hum.

Jungkook rolls his eyes and sulks in the chair near the entrance of the store until they’d come out. Hoseok seemed pleased with himself while Jiyoo practically dragged herself out from that store. The next few moments were full of mumbling on her part saying how she never wanted to go bra shopping ever again.

“It couldn’t have been that bad though.” Jimin chides, not understanding why Jiyoo would look so whipped just from buying a couple bras.

“Hoseok kept flirting with the store clerks and left me to do everything by myself!” Jiyoo complained.

“I told you I should’ve gone with her.” Seokjin sighs.

“I did it so that we could get a discount, relax.” Hoseok grinned, stretching his arms above his head. “Plus none of you understand how taxing this kind of shopping is.”

Since Hoseok was the only one with a sister that was old enough to understand bras and such, it seemed only right that he was the one that would help Jiyoo shop.

“I can’t believe I’m actually grateful that noona dragged me around so much for inspiration for her clothing line.” Hoseok shivers, remembering how many bags he had to carry that day. His sister was a fashion designer after all. He takes a peek at Jiyoo and admires how his outfit fit on her. “I’m just glad everything worked out!”

Wrapping an arm around Jiyoo, Hoseok takes the bags in her hands and begins to break out into a sprint. He dragged Jiyoo along to the exit of the mall, leaving the others behind the faster they ran. Hoseok’s giggles echoed through the mall as he continued to run. By the time they got outside and got to the car, Jiyoo and Hoseok were out of breath.

“Wah! Wasn’t that a good run Jiyoo?” Hoseok says with a smile, breathing deep breaths of the outside air.

Jiyoo gives him a single thumbs up, but doesn’t lift her head. Her breathing was heavy and she wheezed the lower she bent her back. Hoseok didn’t like that; He brought a hand to push the bend in her back while gently pulling her shoulder up so she’d stand up straight.

“You won’t breathe good if your posture is like that.” He teases, continuing to support her until she could stand on her own.

Since he danced, he more or less understood the basics of health and fitness. That, and he had a bit more common sense than book smarts, so you could say he was a pretty good life coach.

“Why did we have to run though?” Jiyoo says, breathing in as soon as she’s shot off the sentence.

“I can bet that you don’t get much exercise outside of school, right?”

Hoseok hit it right on the nail and Jiyoo nods her head slowly, not wanting to get caught lying.

“See?” Hoseok chuckles, pinching Jiyoo’s nose a bit.

Her nose scrunches up after Hoseok pinches it. She glares at him and juts out her lower lip as she pulls away, not liking the feeling of being treated like a kid. While they wait for the others to catch up, Hoseok pulls out his phone and opens his contacts.

“What’s your number Jiyoo?” Hoseok asks.

“You want my number?” Jiyoo’s eyes were wide as if she didn’t believe Hoseok really wanted her phone number.

Hoseok looks at her as if she’d said something stupid, nodding his head again to confirm what he’d said. “It’s kind of a hassle to talk to you during school through Jungkook. Plus the more numbers, the bigger the party, right?”

He had a cheesy smile on his face and Jiyoo could only giggle as Hoseok made her laugh. Pulling out her phone, she opens her contacts and with that, they exchange numbers. Since Jiyoo let Hoseok put his number into her phone, she found out that he put ‘Hoseokie Oppa’ as his contact name rather than just putting Hoseok. She gave him a weird look, but doesn’t change it. Seeing more than three contacts in her phone did look a lot nicer than just having two.

The two continue to make small talk until the others had arrived, allowing them to head home for the day. Jungkook’s father was startled that Jiyoo had managed to cut through half of the budget that he’d given the boys, but he didn’t scold her about it. If anything, he was more mad that she held back so much before when he used to take her shopping.

Hoseok laughs as he watches Jungkook’s father scold his son for buying more white shirts. What the others didn’t know was that on his phone was Jiyoo’s phone number and a picture of Jiyoo in the outfit he’d picked for her- as his home wallpaper.

He’s not going to lie; Hoseok was on the verge of ripping his hair out when he found out that Jiyoo was sick. Not being able to contact her ate away at his very soul, thus being the reason why he’d got her alone to get her phone number. Hoseok might be a very playful person, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t be serious.

And he was serious when he said that he’d protect Jiyoo. He was just disappointed in himself that he didn’t keep that promise on the day that she really needed him.

A/N: Filler chapter, oops ☆⌒(ゝ。∂) We have two more days until summer aaaaa (for the story at least)

Also, for anyone that doesn't know: My giveaway is still going on. Just follow the rules and let me know if you want to be entered to win! 

(I also only got back from one of the winners saying they got their gift so hrnnmmnm my creditability is half and half at this point zzz)

See ya on Wednesday HAHA