35: A HOME OF SOLITUDE AND SOUP

"Summer Fever," by Bevy Maco

                That Saturday was moving day for Naeil. She woke up feeling anxious but a little giddy, rushing downstairs and eating her breakfast at an inhuman speed. Her mother noticed, and asked if she was okay, to which Naeil replied in a high-pitched tone, “Yes!” which only made Jaehee more skeptical.

                “Did you tell me that you’re looking at your new apartment today?”

                “I’m not just looking at it, I’m taking my stuff over.”

                “You’re moving out so early?”

                “Eomma! I told you already! Did you forget?”

                “Calm down, calm down. My daughter is moving away, and it just feels like such short notice.”

                Naeil gulped down the remainders of her meal and plopped her dish into the sink with a clatter that made her mother cringe.

                “Ttal…why don’t you take the trash out? It’s getting full.” She added in a quieter tone, “And it seems like you could use the fresh air…”

                She was already pulling off the edges of the bag and tugging it out. It was warm outside—summer was definitely coming. And with summer, who knew what else would come?

                Naeil held her nose as she dumped the bad into the dumpster. The lid fell shut with a loud clang.

                “Oh. Hi, Naeil-ah.”

                She looked up. It was Yoongi, strolling down the sidewalk in her direction. He had his hands in his pockets and was looking away at nothing in particular, lips pursed together.

                “The others aren’t here yet?”

                “The—oh, no. They aren’t.”

                The silence that followed hurt Naeil’s ears more than any sound could. She tapped her fingers, together, thinking that she should wash them, and Yoongi continued staring off into the distance. It had been a while since they were alone in each other’s company. For the most part the pretended nothing had happened, but ever since their conversation after Yoongi showed up drunk at the church, things just hadn’t been the same between them.

                Perhaps he was angry about the words she had said. Or perhaps he was just shaken by how much he had admitted. Naeil had been too timid to try to reconcile with him. It was so hard not to run away, when he had that look of dull disinterest in his averted eyes.

                “Sunbae. Yah, sunbae.”

                His eyes slid over to glance at her, but only long enough to smirk slightly and look away again.

                “Could you at least actually look at me?”

                Yoongi shrugged. “Why should I?”

                “Because it’s polite.” That didn’t sound right. “No, because…because I miss it. That look of honest awareness, even if it is mixed with a little sadness, or regret. I felt like I was just starting to get to know you, and now you’re doing everything to keep me as far away as possible.”

                “Well…” he said, looking up at her with a steady gaze, “You’re right.”

                Naeil found that she couldn’t say anything. But she couldn’t look away, either. Why, all she wanted to know, why couldn’t she look away from this person? Why did she care? What was it about him that made her feel sad when his head bowed, and his brow furrowed?

                Their staring contest ended with the arrival of Seokjin and Taehyung. Neither seemed even remotely aware of the tension in the air, and Yoongi’s personality seemed to flip suddenly as he chatted with Seokjin and headed inside. They greeted Ji Jaehee, loaded Naeil’s things into the car, and when Namjoon arrived, they all left together.

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                “Wow…this is…nice?”

                The first thing that caught Naeil’s attention when the boys led her up to her new apartment, was how messy it seemed. There was already furniture, and it seemed mismatched and badly positioned. She hadn’t expected decorations, but there were still-life paintings, statuettes, and even posters of random things like Pokémon and Super Mario.

                “Are you sure we’re in the right room?”

                “Of course,” Namjoon assured her, pushing past with an armful of her things.

                Taehyung clambered onto one of the couches and stretched himself across it. “Do you not like it? I love it.”

                “No…it’s just…” Naeil shuffled over to where Taehyung lay. On the chair next to him, there was a fluffy pink blanket with little cute animal faces. She picked it up and turned to the rest of the boys. “It even came with a blanket? This is a nice blanket, guys.”

                “Oh, they’re, uh, generous,” said Namjoon, setting the bags down.

                Is it just me? Naeil wondered, Or is Seokjin really sweating right now? She glanced around at the boys for a moment before strolling over to the kitchen. There were salt and pepper shakers on the counter. She lifted one up and shook it over her hands. Pepper floated into her palm. That was too much—the refrigerator had to be opened.

                “Umm…”

                Yoongi’s head turned in time to catch sight of Naeil lifting a Tupperware of soup out of the fridge. He marched over and snatched it out of her hands, turning to Seokjin furiously.

                “Hyung, what the hell is this?”

                With a squeak, Seokjin rushed over and nabbed it from Yoongi, cradling it lovingly in his arms.

                “I couldn’t take to Namjoon’s! You would’ve eaten it all.”

                “Idiot!”

                Naeil watched them with narrowing eyes. “This isn’t a free apartment is it?”

                “Yes it is!” snapped Seokjin, still snuggling with the Tupperware.

                “You don’t have to pay anything,” Namjoon said, pointedly.

                “Is this…Seokjin’s apartment?”

                “Not anymore,” said Seokjin smilingly. “Now it’s yours. I’ll be fine with Namjoon and Yoongi.”

                “And sometimes me!” shouted Taehyung from the couch.

                Naeil was dumbstruck. “No. No, I can’t take your apartment! How is that fair?”

                “I already moved all my things—”

                “Most of your things,” grumbled Yoongi.

                “—I don’t feel like moving back. Also we already moved all your things, and we won’t help you take them back. You need this more than me, anyway.”

                She didn’t know what to say. Her silence stretched on so long, the boys became concerned and asked if she was upset.

                “No, no…I…I just can’t believe you would do this for me. I don’t know how to thank you.”

                “Ah, it’s fine, I don’t even like living here. Too lonely.”

                “Speaking of being lonely,” said Taehyung. “Don’t worry about that, noona. Hyung still has a key, so we’ll keep you company all the time!”

                Namjoon coughed awkwardly. “Yeah, you probably won’t be thanking us for too long.”

                “Wait a second…” said Naeil, putting things together mentally. “Were you just going to wait until Seokjin’s parents showed up for a visit or something before you told me this is his apartment?!?”

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                “Aigoo!” crooned Seokjin with delight, swinging an arm over Yoongi’s shoulders and patting Namjoon on the back. “Isn’t this going to be fun? The three of us, hanging out here together all the time?”

                Yoongi snorted, pulling a box of snacks out from the backseat that Seokjin packed at the last minute. They had just arrived at the old shipping site and were walking toward Namjoon’s little house. He couldn’t help but think that it was a million miles away from the sort of living style Seokjin had grown up with.

                “It’ll be really nice seeing you more often,” said Namjoon, digging his keys out of his pocket as they reached the door. “What’s this? It’s open. I must have forgotten to lock—”

                As the door swung open and the three of them stepped inside, they all looked up at the occupied couch just before them, jaws dropping open at the sight. There sate Jungkook, reclining on the edge of the seat, sipping on a bottle of juice.

                “Oh!” said Jungkook, sitting up quickly. “You’re back!”

                Yoongi dropped the box he was holding.

Author’s Note

You guys I’ve been creeping on the internet waiting for this comeback I HAVE BEEN IN SUCH A COMEBACK MOOD FOR LIKE THE PAST MONTH…okay but honestly I’m almost always in a comeback mood.

May I just say, I have been just waiting for BigHit to drop more HYYH stuff that totally screws up this fanfic and now it’s happened hahahahahahahaha ughhhh I told myself I would just ignore new stuff and keep on going with the plot I planned BUT IT’S SO HARD.

Also may I just say, the black hair is making me so happy ^^

I have a question: if Yoongi went to the same high school as Naeil, shouldn’t she be calling him sunbae? Someone educate me.