Author's note

Hi everyone,

I hope you've all been well. I'm finally back from my holiday. I'm still a little jet-lagged but I really wanted to get this chapter up ASAP.

Thanks for all your kind comments while I was away. They honestly make my day. <3

Yoongi impatiently waited in the back room of the club where Soo Jin always went to leave her belongings before she performed. “Where the hell is she?” he growled as he once again checked his watch. “She’s supposed to be on stage in ten minutes. I hope nothing happened to her.” he said as he paced the small room. He pulled his phone from his pocket at called her. She had never been late before. She always turned up at least half an hour before she was due to perform. Thoughts of something happening to her on her way to the club ran through his head, each imagined scenario worse than the last. The mark on his wrist throbbed, but he pushed the thought away, blaming his increasingly bad mood for that crazy thought.

His call was forwarded to her voicemail and he swore loudly as he cut off the call. He was just about to call her again when the door flew open. “I’m so sorry!” Soo Jin yelled as she rushed into the room, completely breathless. She threw her bag into the corner of the room and ripped off her jacket, throwing it in the direction of her bag. “I’m so sorry.” She said again as she bowed to Yoongi in an uncharacteristic display of formality. He put his phone back into his pocket, surprised by her sudden appearance. “Hey, it’s fine.” He said, his bad mood instantly disappearing at her appearance. He waited for her to calm down as she took deep breaths to get her breathing under control.

“Everything ok?” he asked, a note of worry in his voice. She nodded but didn’t meet his eyes as she smoothed her unruly hair back, sweat clinging to her temples. “Yeah, everything’s fine.” She said, but Yoongi didn’t believe her. He was about to question her further when Seokjin appeared in the doorway. “Hey, take this.” Yoongi said as he handed her a bottle of water. She accepted the bottle with a smile, greedily drinking half of the bottle in one go. “Okay, let’s do this.” She said as she wiped away the water droplets from . “Are you sure?” Seokjin asked noting her flustered state. “We can get the DJ to keep going if you need some time?” he offered. She shook her head. “I’m good. Let’s go.” She said as she made her way out of the room.

Seokjin and Yoongi exchanged a look before Seokjin followed her out of the room. “I wonder what’s wrong?” Yoongi asked himself as he made his way out to his usual seat at the bar. Jungkook slid a drink over the bar to him as he sat down. “Did I see Soo Jin nuna fly by here a second ago?” he asked. Yoongi nodded as he sipped on his drink. “She looked kinda stressed out. I hope she's okay.” Jungkook said worriedly as the lights changed and she walked out onto the stage, some regulars whistling and cheering for her.

She forced a smile onto her face and gave her performance everything she had. She didn’t miss a single step or note but Yoongi could sense that something wasn’t right. The mark on his wrist had grown uncomfortable again. He absentmindedly rubbed it as he watched her sing with everything she had. He wanted to pull her down from the stage and ask her what was bothering her, but he knew that she probably say that she was fine and not to worry.

Once she finished singing, she went straight to the back room instead of sitting at the bar with Jungkook like she normally did. Yoongi followed her, stopping by the doorway as she dropped down onto the couch there, her head falling back to rest against the back of the couch, her eyes slipping shut. He went into the room, closing the door behind him to help block out the music that was playing out on the dance floor. As he approached her, he noticed the dark circles under her eyes even in the dim lighting.

“Soo Jin?” he said gently as he sat down beside her. She slowly blinked herself awake. “Ah, sorry.” She said as she sat up, yawning as she did so. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly. She gave him a sleepy smile. “Yeah, sorry. I’ve just been kinda busy at my other job lately, I haven’t been sleeping well.” Yoongi frowned. The reason he had given her such a ridiculous salary was so that she wouldn’t need to work as much. He knew that she had taken on all kinds of shifts at the café, often working ridiculously early mornings and late into the night. He had hoped that with the extra money she had been making since she had started working for him, that she would have had more time to live her life rather than just working. He also hoped that she would be able to move into a better apartment.

“What do you mean? Why have you been working so much?” he asked. She had slipped back down to her previous position, barely able to keep her head upright as she spoke. “My grandma was hospitalized a couple of weeks after I started working here.” She said quietly. “I’ve been sending money home since I moved to Seoul, but because of that I've been sending more. My parents don’t have a lot of money and the hospital bills are just too much for them to cope with on their own. They say they don’t want me to send anything, but I know that they're actually grateful.” She said as she forced her eyes to stay open. “That’s why I’ve been working so much lately.” she said as she turned to him with a tired smile. “I had a late shift at the café last night then I had to cover the opening shift at the last minute as well. I only got a few hours’ sleep last night and I’m just a little tired.” She said.

Yoongi frowned, angry that she was taking on such a big burden by herself. “Don’t do your last performances tonight. We can live without you. I’ll take you home.” Yoongi said, a note of finality in his voice as he moved to stand but Soo Jin grabbed his wrist and shook her head. “I’ll be fine. My next performance isn’t for another hour. I can just rest here until then.” She said as her grip loosened on his wrist, her eyes slipping shut as she spoke. She tilted to the side, her head landing on Yoongi’s shoulder. His eyebrows shot up in surprise when she landed against him. “Soo Jin?” he said as he glanced down at her face. A small smile appeared on his face when he saw that she was fast asleep.

He let out a small sigh as he brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face. “You don’t need to push yourself so hard.” He said gently, even though he knew that she couldn’t hear him. Seokjin chose that moment to push the door open, but his words died on his lips from Yoongi’s glare which dared him to wake her up. “Is she okay?” he whispered, concern lacing his words. Yoongi nodded. “Yeah, she's fine.” He said. “But she won't be performing again tonight.” Seokjin nodded in understanding. “That’s fine, we’ll make it work.” He said looking down at Soo Jin’s sleeping frame. “You should take her home.” He said. Yoongi nodded. “Five minutes.” He said, hating the thought of disturbing her when she so clearly needed to rest. Seokjin nodded and gave his old friend a knowing smile before closing the door, leaving the pair on their own.

Those five minutes turned into a full hour. Yoongi sat, phone in hand, too afraid to move in case he woke her up. It was only when his need to visit a bathroom made itself known that he finally moved. He carefully got up, laying her down on the couch before rushing to a bathroom. When he returned, Soo Jin was still fast asleep. “I should take her back.” He said as he slipped on his own jacket before grabbing her things. He looked down at her, in two minds about whether or not to wake her up. But after looking at her tired face, he couldn’t bear to wake her.

As carefully as he could, he moved her into a sitting position, pulling her arms over his shoulders before slipping his hands under her thighs to pull her onto his back. He carefully adjusted his grip, making sure that he had a good grip on her and her belongings. She groaned softly from the movement, making him freeze just in case she woke up. When she settled against him, he slowly made his way out to his car, wishing that he had thought his plan out more carefully. “How the hell am I supposed to get her into the car?” he asked as he felt Soo Jin snuggle in against his neck. He suppressed a curse as her breath started curling around his collarbone.

He leant forward to better balance her as he let go of one of her legs to open the passenger door, throwing her belongings into the tiny backseat. “Yoongi?” he turned his head to the side at the sound of her sleepy voice. “Hey.” He said quietly, silently furious with himself for waking her up. “What’s happening?” she asked as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. “You fell asleep so I’m taking you home.” He said. She nodded against his neck, too tired to argue. “Can you stand? Just for a second until I get you in the car?” he asked. She nodded again and he slowly set her down, turning around and wrapping his arms around her waist as she flopped against him, still only partially awake.

“Easy now.” He said as he lowered her into his car. He gently lifted her legs into the car and buckled her seatbelt for her, ignoring how close their faces were as he leant over her. He rushed around to the driver’s side and quickly started up the car, hoping the noise of the engine wouldn’t bother her, but she barely flinched as the car sprang to life.

He carefully drove to her apartment, purposely driving slower than normal so that he wouldn’t have to brake suddenly and have her wake up. When they reached her apartment, he killed the engine and turned to her, but she was out cold. He let out a small chuckle as he looked at her. “You're kinda cute like this.” He muttered before he got out of the car and made his way around to the passenger side. He opened the door and Soo Jin blinked up at him. “Where are we?” she asked, once again only half awake. “You're home.” He said gently. She let out a little groan. “I’m sorry.” She said. “I didn’t do the second performance.” She mumbled as she fumbled with her seatbelt.

Yoongi leant over her and helped her unbuckle the belt. “Don’t apologize, just look after yourself.” He scolded gently as he helped her out of the car, making sure to grab her bag and jacket. “I hope you’ve taken tomorrow off. You're in no condition to work.” He said as he wrapped his arm around her waist to support her as he led her to her apartment. She nodded. “Yeah, I’m going home tomorrow.” She said, slightly more awake than before. “What?” he asked. She shook her head slightly to wake herself up. “I’m going home. To see my grandma. I haven’t seen her since before she went into the hospital. I've taken a few days off from the café.” She said. “I’m taking the bus first thing in the morning.”

“Yah.” Yoongi said. “What were you thinking about coming into work tonight then? You should have just taken the night off and gotten a good rest.” He scolded as they stopped outside of her apartment. He pulled her keys from her bag and let them into her apartment. The apartment looked much different from the last time he had seen it. She had unpacked all of her belongings, putting her personal mark onto the apartment. He took a minute to admire how different it looked, it looked like a real home. “How long does the bus take?” he asked curiously as she slipped out of his grasp, heading towards the kitchen. “It’s about three hours.” she said as she pulled two bottles of water out of the fridge, handing one to Yoongi. “I bet I could get you there in less than two.” He said.

She laughed, “Probably, that car of yours wasn’t built to just look pretty.” She said as she took a swig of her water. “Then let me take you.” He said. She laughed again but Yoongi didn’t. “I’m being serious.” He said as he looked directly at her. Her head tilted to the side as she looked at him, looking for any sign that he was joking. “Why?” she asked, too puzzled by his generous offer. He shrugged. “You said you live on the coast and I haven’t seen the ocean in forever. Seoul is nice but it can get boring. Plus, it’s been forever since I took my car out for a proper drive. You'd be doing me a favour.” He said, a hint of a smile on his face.

She searched his face, looking for any sign that he was joking. “You're serious?” she asked once again. He nodded. She thought it over for a few moments before nodding, her gaze meeting his. “Okay, deal.” She said. He grinned at her. “I’ll pick you up first thing in the morning.”