yoongi stands at the door, his knuckles tingling from prior contact when a young woman opens the door, still dressed in a black business suit, raven hair pulled in a tight ponytail that falls flawlessly over her shoulders.

"you are?" she asks, perhaps with a hint of hostility, a sharp eyebrow slanting upwards with a wary expression.

yoongi clears his throat awkwardly.

"i'm sorry for the bother," he begins to explain, "i'm looking for your neighbor, son seungwan. i've been knocking the door and calling her for quite some time. i was wondering if you would know where she might be."

for a moment the woman is silent, leaving yoongi to hold her gaze uncomfortably.

her face is inexplicably beautiful, he finds, but harshly contrasted against a demeanor that leans more toward cold rather than warm. the woman is expressionless, but her bright eyes seem unforgiving.

"i'm trying to make things better." he adds, perhaps guessing the source of her concern.

it's only then that the woman relents.

"she's in here," the woman finally answers, albeit hesitantly, opening the door a bit further to reveal a battered son seungwan sitting on the leather sofa.

"seungwan?" yoongi says when the woman steps aside and gestures that he come in.

seungwan doesn't look at him as he approaches, turning her head to the side, and a part of him knows she's only hiding her tears.

"yoongi." is all she manages to croak before burying her head in her hands. "i just want to be left alone." she lies, "you don't have to come find me."

but yoongi doesn't relent. "listen seungwan, if this is about the money—"

she interrupts him.

"of course it's about the money." seungwan shakes her head, her red hair cascading over her shoulders. "it's always been about the money."

he stares at her, a flash of confusion flooding the shadows of his irises, an anomaly within the once placid darkness.

"i've had a while to think about it, while running away from you." she inhales sharply, "and the truth is, i have a sense of pride, yoongi. we all do."

there's a short lull as she chuckles bitterly before continuing, no longer looking him in the eye.

irene takes the opportunity to leave the two alone and busy herself tidying the kitchen, but yoongi stands his ground, still as stone except for the whitening of his knuckles.

she turns her head to the window, cracked lips parting, "since i was little, you know. my parents, they always thought my brother was—was deserving, i guess you could put it that way."

her voice cracks at the word deserving, because it is everything that son seungwan thinks she is not.

"whenever he was wrong, whenever things didn't go well for him, they'd always find a way to put the blame on someone, something else." she explains, "and a lot of times, that someone was me, and that something was my lacking.

"whenever he needed something, they would make sure to find a way to give it to him. and most of the time, that way was me.

"and i thought—i thought they were right for a long, long time. until the day i paid for his entire house only for it to be put under his name, until the day my mother called me heartless for forgetting to pay my nephew's tuition one time, until i began to dread calls from home and from him because he walked around the town jobless while i worked myself to exhaustion. until the day he became a criminal, despite all i had given him."

at this, yoongi steps closer, perhaps unconsciously. "that's not your fault," he states, but she shakes her head once more.

"don't you see? it's shaped who i am now. it's shaped my entire life. i—" she grits her teeth, "—i'm always needing money, more than i am earning now."

her breath wavers as she finally turns her head again, back to meet his eyes. "i'm not going to lie, yoongi. i want your money, and maybe that'd be easy for you to give me, or easy for me to get from you. maybe you're even willing to give me it, but even if you are, i'd be using you, and that's not right." she tilts her head back to blink at the ceiling, laughing cruelly, "because i like you, you know. that's why, min yoongi, it hurts here—"

she points at her chest. "—whenever i realize that i would be using you. and what kind of person wants to live their life in pain?"

he moves to speak, but she holds a hand to let him know she has more to say. "all my life, i've been used for money by my family. that's how i know that they don't love me. i know that's not love, and i'm telling you, if i do the same to you, i'd be no better than the dirt underneath your shoe."

the room is silent when she finishes pouring out the contents of her heart recklessly onto the carpet of irene's apartment.

inside the kitchen, irene pauses from sorting out the dishes from the dishwasher to digest seungwan's words.

and yoongi, lastly, stares at seungwan for what seems like an eternity before he speaks, voice raw.

he's desperate, now.

"what if we start from the beginning, wannie? i'll quit the house. i'll leave every penny behind, i'll get a job somewhere, and—"

"remember when i was crying that one christmas?" seungwan cuts him off wistfully. "when i asked you if you could not say anything, if you could just stand next to me and not ask why i'm crying or what had happened?"

"of course." yoongi answers, expression softening. "you told me later that it was about your mom."

she nods.

"you let me cry on your shoulder, and you didn't ask one thing, just like you promised to." she smiles slightly at the memory, "but the point is, you were always there for me. so if someone has to change, it's me. not you."

"so," she concludes, "give me time to change myself first, to sort everything out on my own, and if you still think whatever we have is worth the hassle by the end of it, we'll talk then."

when she looks up again, he's staring at her quietly once more.

and two minutes later, in the end, he nods and turns to leave, with a discreet murmur of thanks to irene and a whisper to take care of seungwan for him, before he walks out the door.

—

"what do you mean?" yerim asks, plainly, more out of shock than anything else.

"look, yerim, you're pretty to look at and all—" her boss begins again, stuttering slightly. "but we...aren't looking to give females the position you're interested in."

yerim laughs in disbelief. "you're seriously telling me i'm not as capable as my male colleagues?"

at this, her boss shifts in his seat uneasily under her accusing gaze. suddenly, he seems highly uncomfortable, as if he is sitting on a chair made of sharp objects.

"look, yerim," he repeats as he clasps his hands in front of him on the desk. "we're perfectly happy to give you the position under—"

"i have a master's degree." yerim interjects, her voice near broken.

"—or, we'd really like to see you continue our internship program—"

yerim stands suddenly, her chair skidding against the tile behind her and her gaze filled with anger as she shakes her head. "it's alright." she says before picking up her bag from the chair next to her and promptly exiting the room.

all these years, of running around like a dog for these men, all these years of running out to get coffee, of staying late into the night trouble shooting system malfunctions, of being told to print this and copy that and send this and type a report on that.

perhaps one could say kim yerim hadn't thought far enough when she chose to pursue a career in computer science, when she chose an industry where females were rare to the convention, rather than becoming a teacher or staying at home to prepare dinner plates.

yet, yerim had always believed that she could make up for god-given shortages through hard-earned achievement—hence the grueling master degree which had followed after the first four years of her college education, hence the patience she had mustered for an internship that was far too grueling for her talent.

but no matter what she does, what she accomplishes, kim yerim realizes in that moment, that she is still a girl.

and to her employers, apparently, that is all that matters.

but when she sees jungkook outside his car waiting for her at the front of the building, yerim holds back her tears.

"how'd it go?" comes his smooth, slightly startled voice when she approaches him and hugs him in broad daylight.

she inhales his familiar scent, turning her head so that she can hide her fallen expression as she feels his soothing touch on the small of her back. when she pulls back to face him again, a bright smile is lining her lips. the last thing she would want is for jungkook to be worried for her, and she would make sure of it that he wouldn't be.

"it was fine." she chirps, hoping that he can't hear the irregularity in her voice.

jungkook nods, to her relief, before opening the car door for her. "i have a surprise for you at my office."

yerim's eyes brighten as he slides into the driver's seat beside her, although she still manages to scoff, "i'm never surprised by your antics, jungkook. tell me, what did you and hoseok oppa plan this time?"

her words are contradicted, she soon finds, when she nearly drops her purse at the sight of a certain man waiting for her in jungkook's office with open arms.

the man, having likely just driven over from work, is dressed formally, with raven hair slicked neatly and wearing a pleasant hint of cologne.

yerim isn't quite the only one who is surprised however, when the commotion initiated by yerim's squeal of delight causes jungkook's business partner, jung hoseok, to lift his head from his respective office and discover the two guests that jungkook had invited to the premises without his knowledge.

seeing hoseok's confused expression, jungkook leaves yerim with the man to meet hoseok from the other side of the glass.

"yerim's fawning over another man, and you're not bothered?" hoseok muses immediately as he approaches jungkook from outside the glass, watching yerim embrace the man through the office window. "and you let said man into your own office? is this the jeon jungkook i know?" he jokes with a playful punch in on jungkook's well-muscled bicep.

"it's still me, hyung." jungkook simply answers with a tug of his lips, to hoseok's great surprise.

hoseok raises a skeptical eyebrow, but jungkook's reply seems genuine. it's rare for jungkook to compliantly share yerim, and in fact, the elder is on the verge on complimenting jungkook for finally not moping like a baby when yerim displays affection with any other man that doesn't go by the name "jeon jungkook" when jungkook explains, "that's her brother, joonmyun-hyung."

kim joonmyun, yerim's older brother, whose legacy at their high school had been the source of yerim's complaints for years, jungkook recalls with a small smile. in the past, yerim had often expressed to jungkook her frustration for being known as "joonmyun's sister" almost her whole life.

("to be honest, yerim, i'd be fine with being known as kim yerim's boyfriend for the rest of my life, you know." was what jungkook had told her at the time.)

regardless, with joonmyun now busy paving his path to being a top lawyer in the richer districts of seoul, jungkook knew yerim didn't get to see her older brother often. for her birthday, at least, jungkook figured she'd be happy to see joonmyun in person instead of over facetime.

"well, that explains it," hoseok mumbles underneath his breath before quickly offering a patronizing smile. "nice going, son."

"why thank you, hyung." jungkook answers pleasantly as hoseok rolls his eyes.

it is then that yerim exits the office with her brother behind her, giggling, "hoseok oppa! meet my brother, kim joonmyun."

hoseok and joonmyun shake hands and exchange nice-to-meet-yous cordially before joonmyun snickers, "thank you for sending for me on yerim's special day, jungkook."

"my pleasure." jungkook returns genuinely with a sheepish grin when yerim gives him a large smile. "thank you for coming. i know you're busy."

the two men in yerim's life share a knowing nod.

"actually, i'm still going to need you to celebrate with yerim for me." joonmyun says, "i've got a client in ten minutes, and i best be going."

"of course," jungkook dips his head as joonmyun slaps him on the back.

yerim hugs joonmyun again before he leaves, in which the older kim promises her birthday present will arrive in the mail tomorrow.

"i'll get going too." hoseok chuckles when joonmyun is gone before offering a wide smile, "happy birthday, yerim. i'm happy you and kookie here have figured things out—because good god, it was a tortuous experience to spend eight hours a day with a guy who is constantly grumpy from being friendzoned." hoseok cackles with a wink, dodging a kick from an embarrassed jungkook and whisking out the door.

"you know," yerim turns to jungkook when hoseok disappears out the parking lot, "you're the best. thank you for everything, kook."

"i called joonmyun seven times last week before he picked up." jungkook rubs the back of his neck with a grin, "but it was worth it."

yerim feels her cheeks prick with heat and her chest swell with warmth. "i told him about us, you know. i told him we're in a relationship now." she mutters audibly.

"you did?" jungkook exclaims, wide-eyed in shock.

yerim nods, crossing her arms across her chest with a shy huff. "why, is there a problem?"

"of course not—" jungkook is quick to reply, his nose scrunching as a delighted smirk replaces the initial disbelief on his face.

"also, kookie," yerim quips, before asking hesitantly, "that programmer position in your company you kept telling me about—is it still open?"

jungkook nods absentmindedly, before whipping his head to meet her gaze with a confident answer. "of course, princess." he responds, "why?"

"i'll take it." she states nonchalantly as jungkook stops himself from picking her up and twirling her around the room.

"really?" he screeches excitedly, speaking slightly faster than normal, "but what about your job right now? didn't you just follow up an interview?" he asks earnestly, to which yerim drops her gaze on the ground guiltily.

"actually," she begins, "i didn't tell you when you picked me up from work. i didn't want you to be upset because of me." she confesses, staring at her hands. "turns out the position isn't open for female employees."

suddenly, jungkook becomes quiet at her words, staring down at the ground as if he is about to burn a hole in it.

yerim to internally panics at the sight.

in truth, she hadn't seen jungkook truly angry since that time she'd come back drunk from lalisa manoban's birthday bash.

she'd apparently been carried by him back to her dorm that day, spewing nonsense about how lisa would be a good match for him—because that's how kim yerim always was, pushing what she was too scared to admit she wanted into the hands of another.

"yah, jungkook, it's okay." she says, a bit scared, reaching out and tugging his sleeve.

"no it's not, yerim." he shakes his head, staring at her with a clouded gaze. "i shouldn't—"

he runs a frustrated hand through his hair, his jaw tense and a furrow forming between his brows. "it's just that they've got to be blind." he attempts to finish, hissing. "your time, your effort, you—"

yerim slings her arms around his neck, however, making him lose his train of thought. "kook, i said it's fine." she insists. "i'm telling you because i want to tell you the truth, that's all. i'm not upset anymore."

taking his larger hand in hers as naturally as she always has, she leads him towards his office, changing the subject with a toothy grin. "it doesn't matter now that i'm working for you and hoseok oppa." she reasons, somewhat to his approval, "besides, didn't you say you had something to show me?"

reluctantly, jungkook nods, letting her lead him to his desk. "alright, but i'm going to settle this situation with those blind s later." he vows as he opens his laptop, typing a few things into the console discreetly.

stepping back, he gestures for her to watch the monitor, and it's not long before a yerim-esque holograph flickers to the screen, a motorcycle helmet in its left hand, swinging loosely at its side.

"what do you think?" jungkook piques nervously as he fiddles with the cord of his laptop, turning to watch her expression.

yerim blinks.

"you and hoseok...put me in your video game?" yerim stares at the smaller, animated version of herself on the screen, her voice almost a whisper.

jungkook nods again, biting his lower lip. "i was against it at first. i didn't want all those hormonal teenage guys to have you on their screens. i wanted to be the only one staring at you all day like that." he admits, his arm still slung lazily around her waist. "but hoseok insisted you'd love it—and i knew he was right."

"happy birthday, yerim." he continues when she hugs him tightly, overjoyed.

"i love you. thank you." she whispers, her toes elevating her up a few inches so that her nose touches his.

she leans her head to the side as she kisses the corner of his mouth softly before she feels him lift her onto his desk. it's not long before she's laughing in between large gasps when he leans forward to kiss her and finds her leaning backwards at the same time.

"not here." she says, placing a hand on his chest. "let's go home."

the last time they were together in a public space like this, yerim recalls, did not go well.

they'd just returned to yerim's apartment after jungkook had picked her up from the bar, only to see her reunite briefly with jung jaehyun in front of the building.

the latter male had embraced yerim before leaving to attend his own matters, to jungkook's dismay.

"it's just a hug." yerim shrugs as she digs in her purse for her keys, and suddenly her back is against the cold marble wall, with jungkook so close that their noses brush against each other.

yerim doesn't have time to process things before his lips are against hers and her hands are sifting through his soft black hair.

"it's just a kiss." he says against her skin when they part, and she gasps when he leaves a small, telltale pink mark on the pale porcelain of her neck.

"jungkook-"

"oh my ing god. you two are not going to do that on my apartment door." a familiar voice belonging to none other than son seungwan snickers from the elevator.

jungkook backs away from a now-squirming yerim reluctantly, who proceeds to turn a bright strawberry-red.

"seungwan noona." jungkook greets with a sheepish grin.

"jungkook, you little rascal." seungwan coughs before glaring at yerim.  "kim yerim. you're wiping the whole door with clorox before i come a foot near that area."

"we were not doing anything-"

"i'll be going then," jungkook announces, as if on cue. he glances at yerim before smirking at the sight of her swollen lips. "sleep early, princess. that way you'll have more time to dream about me." he murmurs in her ear before heading towards the elevator.

"unnie, i can explain-" yerim starts when jungkook is long gone.

seungwan grins, a bright glint in her eye. "no need. i already saw everything." she says, pointing at the mark on yerim's neck smugly. "including that."

("it doesn't mean anything, and it only happened once. you made a typo! you said hickies, not hickey." yerim would later argue when seungwan brought up the matter in the level 23 group chat.)

yerim moves to slide off the desk, but jungkook is quick to pull her back in her original position.

"that means here." he blinks back at her innocently.

yerim rolls her eyes, humoring him with a sarcastic tsk of her tongue. "home is three miles away, coconut-head." she retorts, her eyebrows knitting into a half-hearted glare.

the expression soon fades when jungkook leans in once more.

"no." he murmurs against her lips,  "home is wherever you are."

(she'd later protest that they had all night anyways—he'd have to treat her out to an expensive dinner first, before anything else.

jungkook, of course, agreed heartily.)