Chapter Five

So min had no idea how but she somehow followed the two guys into an arcade, rather, she was dragging her feet into the noisy area while sending daggers to Jungkook who was oblivious to it. Taehyung was linking his arm with Jungkook's and had managed to pull him into the arcade with him. So min was cursing Jungkook relentlessly under her breath because honestly, it seemed more like a date for the two of them. Why is he even here? So min rolled her eyes.

"Come on So min!" 

Taehyung waved for her to catch up with them. Instantly, So min's frown was replaced with a bright smile as she nodded and fastened her pace. Jungkook rolled her eyes when he caught the change of expression in her. Taehyung was already asking the counter for the amount of tokens to play the games in the arcade. Taking out his wallet, he took out about 30 bucks for exchange of tokens. So min widened her eyes at the amount before Taehyung shrugged and just laughed it away.

"What are you doing? We're not kids," Jungkook said in an annoyed tone as if he was a teenager dragged around by his mother. He also held onto Taehyung's hand to stop him from passing the money over.

"Let's leave, this place is noisy."

"Dude it's our holiday already! Let's just have some fun," Taehyung shook his hand off before resuming to pass the money as he winked at the lady behind the counter. The lady blushed shyly before accepting the money and handing over a handful of tokens. Jungkook groaned before he was about to walk away but Taehyung quickly thanked the lady for the tokens before he went over and dragged Jungkook back. 

So min, on the other hand was standing with her hands holding onto the strap of her handbag. She blew air out in slight irritation while looking at the two of them. In her mind, she was just thinking of how rude Jungkook was to Taehyung. Are they even friends? Is this how friends treat each other? She squinted her eyes with furrowed eyebrows at Jungkook who caught it.

"What?" Jungkook stopped moving as he cocked his head in arrogance at So min.

So min scoffed before she casted a look at Taehyung instead. The moment she looked at Taehyung, her eyes beamed as she showed a bashful smile. "Let him leave if he wants to. He's probably dying to do his homework since he has no life. Let's go and have fun," So min took a few steps forward to Taehyung who was surprised at her actions. 

Jungkook opened his mouth to say something but the two of them already left his sight before he could speak another word. So min had long dragged Taehyung with her away from him.

"Hey–Wait up!"

Before Jungkook knew it, he was babysitting two children as he was standing and holding onto their belongings. He regretted not leaving and following after them but he had no idea why he did that too. Before he could process it, his body had already automatically caught up with them. The next moment when he got back to his senses, he realised he was helping them take care of their belongings while they had fun with the games in the arcade. Right now, he couldn't help but scoff while looking at So min and Taehyung sitting down as both of them are absorbed in playing the video games as they mercilessly pressed on the buttons, keeping their fingers busy.

"Ah damn it," Taehyung hit the machine with his fist as he lost in his game. He peered over at So min who was surprisingly doing well as his eyes dilated at the sight.

"Wow So min, you're good," He couldn't help but say as he looked at the screen of hers in admiration. So min smiled while continuing with her game as she continued to move her fingers at lightning speed while her eyes never left the screen. Being curious, Jungkook took a few steps closer to behind them as he looked at the screen silently.

In minutes, she won the game and got the highest score in the machine.

"Wow that's impressive!" Taehyung commented before he raised his hand for a hi-five which So min got flustered at for a second before she realised what he wanted.

She blushed before hi-fiving him back as Taehyung stood up and grabbed her wrist. Before Jungkook could utter a single word, Taehyung had already pulled So min to another game. Jungkook rolled his eyes before he reluctantly dragged his feet to follow them.

"Hey Jungkook, catch this," 

Taehyung threw one of the guns attached to the machine to Jungkook who barely managed to catch it since he was holding onto their stuffs. So min reluctantly gave him her hand as Jungkook just stared at the gun then at her hand and right back at the gun.

"What?" he retorted as his tone came off rather impudent. So min pointed to their belongings before Jungkook got what she meant. He passed her their belongings while Taehyung had already started the game.

"Hurry! We're starting!"  

So min was caught off guard when she watched the two of them laughing while playing with the shooting video arcade games. Especially since she did not expect Jungkook to be laughing while giving his utmost effort in killing those virtual reality zombies behind that digital screen. His eyes crinkled as his nose was scrunched up while he laughed, elbowing Taehyung to kill some zombies at the other area. She was in a daze since she has never seen him smiling like this.

He does sort of look...cute.

"So min? Let's go," Taehyung snapped his fingers in front of her.

They had already ended the game and So min was too engaged in her thoughts to notice. Jungkook was already back to his usual stoic expression as he looked around the arcade with his hands in his pocket. So min avoided his gaze before she looked at Taehyung who looked rather concerned in front of her. "Are you alright?" 

So min nodded before she put up a smile. "Let's go then," 

The next game that they ended up at was the basketball arcade game which the guys will never miss when they step into an arcade. Taehyung smirked at So min after pushing her forward to the front of the machine. He slot a coin into the machine behind her before he moved over to her right. After the balls were released, he grabbed one and passed it to So min.

"Hey I'm not good at basketball–" 

"It's okay, it's just a game. Give it your best shot," Taehyung laughed and winked at her before he walked to the other basketball arcade game beside hers. He slot in a coin for himself as well. He grabbed a ball before he aimed at the hoop. 

"Loser treats ice-cream," he smirked before throwing the first ball. And it went into the hoop.

"Hey that's unfair!" So min retaliated in disbelief as she quickly threw her ball as well.

She was beyond flustered since her first ball obviously did not go through the hoop. Not only that, it was far from going into the hoop. She couldn't help but cast desperate glances at Taehyung's score and then at hers. But she did her best as she tried to focus and look at the hoop before throwing. However, it obviously wasn't working since most of her balls bounced off the hoop. She still remember she had a basketball module in middle school before and she failed the part where they had to shoot goals. Panicking when she realised her score wasn't even a quarter of Taehyung's, she bit her lips. 

But then, she felt a sense of warmth when she felt a pair of hands gently holding onto hers. She stiffened while holding onto the ball as she could feel how close he was behind her. "What are you–"

"Listen, relax."

Jungkook's voice was ringing right at her ears due to their close proximity and she felt a shudder running down her spine. "Look at the front of the rim," Jungkook pointed to the rim before he held onto her hands again. So min didn't dare to turn around since she had a feeling that he was way too close to her. Instead, she just listened to him since all she could hear right now was his voice. It was as if his voice drowned out the entire noise in the arcade.

"Elbow above your eyebrow," He said while pulling her arms up higher.

"Now, throw lightly aiming a little over the front of the hoop," So min listened and gulped before she threw it. At the moment, Jungkook released his hands as well as the both of them watched the basketball fly over to the hoop before it rolled around the rim and dropped through the hoop. It went in.

"It went in.." So min unconsciously repeated what was on her mind. It was one of those few rare goals in her life for basketball.

"It went in!" she said this time, louder in disbelief as she spun around to see Jungkook looking at the hoop with a satisfied smile. But right then, the bell rang in signal for the end of the game, causing So min's smile to fade in an instant. She turned back to see her score and then at Taehyung's. 

It wasn't even comparable.

She heard a chuckled coming from behind her as she turned around again just to see Jungkook hiding his mocking laugh at their score. She glared at him as Taehyung walked over.

"Let's go for our ice-cream now," Taehyung chuckled as well before putting his arm over Jungkook's shoulder as the both of them walked out of the arcade while guffawing. So min kicked the floor as she sighed. 

Taehyung was standing in line with So min at a small cafe they found at the streets. They walked in when Taehyung saw the banner that has different flavours of ice-cream printed on it outside of the cafe. So min checked the amount of money she had in her wallet before mentally praying that they do not pick expensive ones. Taehyung seemed to have understood her as he chortled boyishly. So min casted him a questioning expression.

"I won't pick the most expensive one, if that's what you're worried about." 

So min raised a brow before she giggled. "Was I caught?"

"So..how was it like to learn basketball from the professional?" Taehyung asked out of the blue.

So min rounded her eyes as she looked at him. Taehyung cocked his head to Jungkook who was looking at his phone while sitting at the corner of the cafe. So min's eyes went from looking at Taehyung to Jungkook who was boredly browsing through his phone until a girl approached him. "You saw?" 

"Of course! I was right beside you guys. I have to say..I was surprised when I saw it." 

So min raised her brow again at his words. Taehyung did the same until he realised she probably didn't understood what he meant since she wasn't close to Jungkook. He cleared his throat. "Ah..you see, it's just that usually, Jungkook finds it a hassle to teach others." Right. Like as if she didn't know. So min has seen him being annoyed by plenty of things numerous times now. He was literally annoyed at everything.

"But still..he's not bad. Jungkook's good at everything," Taehyung complimented him out of nowhere.

Before he could say further, it was already their turn to order as they reached the counter. So min was about to order when Taehyung cut her off.

"We'll have today's special," Taehyung said politely as he grinned.

"What–" So min was confused until she looked for the special that he ordered in the menu.

It was a smart choice of him since the special consisted of three different cups of ice-cream with a discount for the third cup. So min didn't even see that and she was impressed by Taehyung. 

"You're sharp," So min told him to thank him for helping her save some money as they took their order that was prepared. When they were walking to the seat, Taehyung chuckled.

"Jungkook told me to order that when we came in the store," 

So min stood rooted to the ground as she instantly wanted to take back her compliment since if it was Jungkook, that's a whole different story. Taehyung chortled at the sight of So min as he grinned.

"In case you didn't know, Jungkook won the champions of basketball competition in middle school. You're lucky to be taught,"

Taehyung laughed before walking off to Jungkook who looked up from looking at his phone when he saw Taehyung.

Just..what is that guy?

After their dessert, as if it wasn't enough, they ended up in the cinemas. It was all due to Taehyung who had too much energy for the day and had been dragging them around now. So min, on the other hand was contented with everything since she get to spend more time with her dream guy. Since it was the holidays, she wouldn't be able to see him much if not for today. She was determined to hang out with him to her hearts' content.

Jungkook was rather, tired mentally and physically since he didn't really liked going out in the first place. Honestly, he had no idea why he was still with them when he could have gotten home a long while ago. He doesn't even attend class parties so he didn't know what was up with him today.

They picked a thriller action movie which Taehyung claimed that he had wanted to watch for a long time now. Luckily, they managed to get tickets with a suitable timing that started almost instantly after they bought the tickets. Hence, they were able to get into the theatres after they bought the tickets. Taehyung insisted that he treat them to popcorn and drinks since So min paid for the ice-cream. While walking down the hallway of the threatres, Taehyung stopped and casted Jungkook a warning look.

"You better not sleep during the movie this time," 

Jungkook was just yawning when he said that. Jungkook shrugged before walking into the theatres that was totally dark since the movie was starting. So min didn't know how but she ended up being stuck in the middle of Taehyung and Jungkook in the seats. It was more because of Taehyung who decided to be a gentleman and went in to sit first since he caught So min hesitating to sit beside the noisy bunch of teenager guys who bought the seats beside them in the row. Jungkook on the other hand, waited for her to move in before he took the seat on her other side. 

During the movie halfway, Taehyung often moved closer to her and whispered about how the actor was someone he looked up to. So min would often chuckle hearing him say how cool the actor was while the he did some stunning action scenes. She was however distracted when she felt something lightly touching her shoulder. She was popping a popcorn in as she turned to realise Jungkook's hair was lightly touching her shoulder since his head was hanging low.

She peered over to take a look at his face to realise that he had fallen asleep. He was dozing off with his head slanted to her side. Before his head could hit her shoulder, it dropped to the front and he groaned quietly. So min caught him whimpering before he got himself comfortable by leaning back on the chair and resting his head on the other side instead. 

So min decided not to disturb him since he did looked exhausted when they were hanging out just now. Was it too much studying at home? She thought to herself before she shrugged that thought off and decided to focus back on the movie.

"Alright now, it's late. You should go home," Taehyung took a glance at his watch before looking at So min as they walked out of the cinemas. Jungkook yawned again before Taehyung deliberately glowered at him.

"I told you not to sleep!" Taehyung raised his voice at Jungkook who wiped the tears that came from his eyes from yawning. "Can't help it,"

"You should do something about that sleeping habit of yours, I think you sleep too much."

Jungkook shrugged Taehyung's suggestion away as he cocked his head, signalling Taehyung for the time. "It's 10.37p.m" Taehyung told him after rolling his eyes. Just then, So min received a message coming from her mother. She opened it just to heave a deep sigh. Oh right, I wasn't supposed to go home today.

My dear, we have already sent your belongings to Mr Jeon's house and they have picked it up safely. Now all that's left is for you to go take a rest at their house tonight since your dad and I have already left for Japan. Don't worry too much about us and take care of yourself at Mr Jeon's! I'm sure his family will take excellent care of you. We love you! I will send the address to you in the next message!

So min couldn't help but breathed out in annoyance as she put her phone in her back pocket after taking a look at the address. "I'm staying somewhere else today for some reasons–"

"What? Where? You're not going home?" Taehyung asked curiously as he shot her three questions at once. Jungkook eyed him before he lifted his hand for their attention.

"I'm leaving." he simply said before he waved and walked away from them.

Taehyung caught up with him before he quickly waved to So min while catching up to Jungkook.

"See you next time So min! We'll leave first,"

So min waved back as she bit her lips before she took out her phone again to check the address. She had no idea where the place was and had to search online for a way to get there from the place she was at. But since she wasn't that bad with direction, she managed to find a simple route soon as she mentally celebrated in her mind when she found a direct bus from the area she was in.

She just had to find the bus stop. It can't be that bad.

She decided to take her words back on how bad it could be when she stopped in her tracks as she reached the bus stop.

Jungkook was staring right back at her as he was leaning on the metal railings for the queue for the same bus with his earpiece plugged in. He stood up and stopped leaning on the railings when he saw So min. He raised a brow at her. So min couldn't help but curse before she took a few awkward steps forward to join him in the queue.

Damn it, I should have hid somewhere before he found me.

So min cleared as she stood beside him in silence, not even daring to move. 

"Why are you following me?" Jungkook asked while looking at his phone, not even sparing her a glance. I knew it. 

"No I'm not, I-I'm just happening to go this way too alright?" So min scoffed since she knew he would ask that sooner or later. Well it was true that she came after him when they clearly waved each other goodbye and should no longer see each other again until the next year. She breathed out and dropped her shoulders. Jungkook turned to look at her before he looked back at his phone. He took the chance to pull out one side of the earpiece that was plugged into his ears. 

"Why's the bus taking so long.." So min kicked the ground as she couldn't help but talk to herself due to the awkward atmosphere since Jungkook was relatively quiet and not talkative. Jungkook didn't answer her and instead continued to look at his phone. Damn..this guy. Why is he always looking at his phone? He's making the atmosphere even worse. 

"Did Taehyung leave?"

So min regretted the instant she asked that question because she realised how stupid she must have sounded. Of course he left! Why else would he be alone here waiting for a bus right? 

"He took the subway instead since his house is nearer to the subway station," Jungkook simply stated without making any eye contact with her.

It was silence again and So min had already started to pray for the bus to come faster so she could escape from him by taking the furthest seat away from him. But it wasn't until this time Jungkook was the one who decided to break the silence.

"Where are you going?"

So min raised a brow skeptically at his question. Until she realised that he must have heard that she said she wasn't going home just now when they had a conversation with Taehyung there. She snapped her fingers.

"Ah.. that. E-erm something happened at home." So min was trying her best to phrase it in a way that she wouldn't be misunderstood. "So I will be staying somewhere else in the time being," she continued.

"Just for this holiday," she quickly added.

Jungkook had a quizzical look before he shrugged at her words since he didn't really understood her. So min cursed since how could she just tell him the truth:Oh so my mom and dad had a very important anniversary to celebrate so they decided to throw their daughter into a complete strangers' house. How absurd, he'll probably think my family's bonkers.

Just then, the bus came and So min couldn't help but beam at the sight. It was a double decker bus and So min couldn't help but thank god even more since she would definitely get on the level which Jungkook wasn't at. Jungkook went into the bus first and he head straight for the back seat in the first level. So min grinned before she quickly went up to the second level and threw herself to a seat there. 

"Finally I can breathe.." So min heaved. 

So min barely managed to open her eyes at the right time. She looked around the neighbourhood that the bus reached. "This is the place.." she muttered and rubbed her eyes. It must have been a really tiring day for her since she could even fall asleep soundly on the bus for a fifteen minutes ride. When it was finally the stop that she had to alight on, she was going to press the ringer button when another passenger had already pressed onto it. She took another look outside the windows and headed for the stairs.

She was mentally praying for the Jeon family to be nice and welcoming so that she wouldn't have to suffer for her holidays but her thoughts instantly disappeared when she saw a way too familiar figure standing at the door of the bus when she stepped down. Oh my god.

Jungkook was standing patiently waiting for the bus to alight.

She totally forgot about him during the ride thanks to the fifteen minutes nap and now it was a total nightmare. He's going to alight at the stop I'm alighting at? What could be any worse? She stumbled backwards as she stared at his back in horror while he waited for the bus to stop.

She was startled when her phone rang again, signalling for a message. She managed to snap out of her sense as she quickly fished out her phone to check who could be messaging her so late.

Oh right my dear, Mr Jeon apparently has a very intelligent young man as his son! I'm sure he'll be glad to help you out with your studies during this holiday! Your dad and I will be cheering for you!

What? A son? I'm going to have to live with another teenager near my age? How bad can my holidays get? First day of holidays and we're already off to a bad start.

So min always knew the surname Jeon was a familiar one but she couldn't believe how stupid she was to not realise what her fate had bind her to until she was standing right at the gate of Mr Jeon's house which was right in front of the bus stop she alighted at with none other than...

Jeon Jungkook.

Jungkook was now looking at her with a flabbergasted look as he slowly pulled out the earpiece that was plugged in his ears. 

"What are you doing here?"