Jae sighed as she woke up earlier than usual. It wasn't even a school day and she was up before Jimin.

It was becoming the new normal, and she hated it.

She missed waking up to him cooking breakfast, or even just turning the stereo up too loud.

Because that had all stopped.

"C'mon, Mochi." Jae called to the Corgi that was casually lounging on the end of her bed.

"C'mon, I get to spend the day with you... unlike some other people." She rolled her eyes and picked up her Corgi, which uncharacteristically growled and bit at her.

"Mochi, what's wrong baby?" She asked as the grouchy little fur ball curled back up on her bed.

"Fine. Leave me like everyone else." She muttered as she padded into the bathroom, brushing her teeth harshly before turning on the shower, which for some reason, she really wanted to stay in.

She took her usual pills before hoping into the shower, the warm droplets washing away her problems.

A soft knock came from the door.

"Yeah?"

"Can I pee real quick?" Jimin asked from the other side.

"You have your own bathroom, I don't." She said casually as she lathered herself in a Givenchy body wash her aunt had sent her last week.

"The toilets acting up again, and I really need to take a whiz. Please?" He whined like a child.

"Fine, but let me get back in the shower before you barge in.

"Alright."

She quickly stepped out of the shower, unlocked the door, and then hopped back into the shower.

"Alright, you're good." She called out as she started rinsing off.

"Thanks, Jae-Hwa."

It saddened her a bit, the fact that some of her students were less formal about her name than her own brother.

"Hey, do you want to hang out today?" She asked without a second thought.

"I guess, I don't really have anything planned for today." He replied as he washed his hands.

"Okay, let me finish up real quick." She said as she washed her hair in record time.

~~

"You'll catch a cold if you don't dry your hair." Jimin said softly as Jae walked into the living room, her face void of makeup, her hair still wet from her shower, and very casual clothes thrown on.

"I'll be fine, Jimin." She said as she walked towards her brother, hugging him briefly.

"Thank you for caring though." She mumbled into his chest before pulling him out of the house.

Because she knew this might be the only time she got to spend with him.

It scared her a little bit, knowing that she very well loose Jimin soon.

It scared her to know that she'd be completely alone then.

She was old enough to not have to be put into care of her other family, or foster care.

But she knew that she was certainly not prepared to live alone, to pay all the bills by herself, to have no one smile at her during the holidays.

It would rob her of the last happy memories she had.

"Do you even have an idea of where we're going?" Jimin's voice got her out of her thought.

"There's a new bubble tea place around the corner." She said once she realized where they were.

"Okay." Jimin said as he followed his younger sister aimlessly.

As soon as they entered the bubble tea shop, Jae's stomach dropped.

"Hello, may I take you order?" Then the boy looked up.

"Oh, H-Hi, M-Miss Park." Yoongi stuttered as the two siblings walked up to the counter,

"Hi, Mr. Min." She said quietly,

"Two Mango bubble teas, please." She lowered her head as she ordered, fishing for her wallet.

"It's alright, Jae-Hwa, I've got it." Jimin said softly from beside her, his wallet already in his hand.

"Jimin, that's your school money, you know I can't let you pay with that." She said still digging for her wallet.

"It's alright, I got a job last week." He gave her a soft smile, and she felt uneasy but decided that arguing would be useless.

He casually handed the money to Yoongi before accepting a receipt from him.

Jae shook her head, but went to go sit at a nearby table anyway.

"So, where do you work exactly?" She asked as soon as he sat down.

"It's a place uptown, you wouldn't know." He said a little shamefully.

"Jimin, you're not...?" Her eyes widened, and her lips parted slightly.

"I had to, they were hiring. I can't keep mooching money off of you. I should be the one supporting us, not you." He said with his shoulders slumping forward, bottom lip caught tightly between his teeth.

"Jimin, it's not about who should or shouldn't. You've still got to finish school, and a job won't help on top of it all." She reached for his hand, and he let her take it into hers.

"I'm failing nearly every class as it is, a job won't change anything about my grades." He mumbled.

"If you need tutors, I know some people that would volunteer for free, well, for extra credit." She trailed off.

"Did you say you needed a tutor?" Yoongi asked nonchalantly as he set the bubble teas down on the table.

Jae looked at her brother, her 'mom' look burning into his soul.

"Yeah. I'm basically flunking all my classes, and my sisters concerned." Jimin said with a sigh.

"I could help if you want, given I'm not exactly Einstein, but I'm pretty good with my school work." Yoongi said with a small smile.

"How much do you charge an hour?" Jae asked as she put her bubble tea to her lips.

"For you? Free." He said shamelessly as he fixed the bright pink hat, which must've been part of the uniform.

"You know she's gonna pay you whether or not you want to be." Jimin said as Jae smiled widely.

"Fine. Fifty for all the sessions." Yoongi said with a shake of his head.

"If he gets any A's, I'm paying you more." She said as she pulled a fifty dollar bill from her wallet.

"Can you start tomorrow?" Jae asked, seeing as Sunday was tomorrow.

"Is around six-ish okay for you?" Yoongi asked, a small smile on his lips.

"Yeah, that's perfect. I'll write down the address in a minute." Jae said giving Yoongi a thankful nod before walked off, probably to go do his job.

Jae quickly wrote her address across the back of one of the one of her 'business' cards, the one that had her work and personal number.

Jimin and Jae finished their bubble tea, quickly tossing the cups in the trash before Jae handed her card to Yoongi.

"This has my work and personal numbers, and my address is on the back." She said softly, letting him look at it.

"I live right down the street." He said once he looked at the address.

"Oh, good. Uh, see you later, Yoongi." She said as her brother ushered her out, wanting to get to the next place.

Somewhere he had picked to go.

~~

"Why are we at the mall?" Jae asked as they stepped into the semi-crowded building.

"I forgot your birthday, and I didn't get you a present. So pick a store, and get whatever you want." Jimin said as he kissed the top of Jae's head.

"I really don't need anything, Jimin." Jae pleaded as he ushered to the little Chinese trinkets shop she never refused to shop at.

"Park Jimin, don't you do it." She said sternly before he dragged her into the shop.

"Ni Hao, Li Xiang." The elderly woman greeted from the counter.

"Ni Hao, A Yi." She said softly as Jimin pulled her up.

"It was recently her birthday, and I forgot to get her something. Have anything special that she might like?" He asked the clerk.

"Ah, yes. Right this way." The clerk said before quickly hobbling into a separate room.

"These are the dresses that were worn for special occasions, or celebrations..." The clerk said as she took the soft silky fabric in her fingers.

"Because you are like daughter, I give you one custom made, for free." The old woman said with a large smile.

'What is with everyone giving us stuff for free?' Jae thought as she stepped in to the room, or rather pushed in to the room by Jimin.

"Thank you, A Yi, but you know I have to pay you for something." Jae insisted as the older woman grabbed some dark fabrics off the shelves.

"Then buy a set of pens, they're half off, and you're really the only one that appreciates them." The old woman said with an almost motherly tone.

"What colors do you like best?" She asked as pulled brighter colors off the shelves.

"I like dark colors, but that lilac purple is really pretty..." Jae said as she absent mindedly touched the silky fabric.

"How about black as the main color, a grey sash, and purple accents?" Jimin said from the sidelines, watching as his sister became immersed in the whole thing.

"What do you think?"

"Yeah, that sounds great." Jae was still in awe of all of the colors.

"Alright, let me take your measurements, then I will make dress for you. Ready by next month." Then she looked at the fabrics.

"Sooner if machine doesn't break down."

Jae nodded enthusiastically as she stood still, letting the older woman measure her.

"I'll go buy those pens real quick." Jimin said with a shake of head as he walked out of the fabrics room.

He looked at all the pens, and there wasn't anything extraordinary about them.

Then he saw the perfect thing for Jae.

Well, things.

There was a box with a large sketchpad, charcoal pencils, calligraphy pens, the really thin pens that she liked, and a matching pocket watch in the case next to it.

Then he read the price.

200.00 For the watch, and 80.00 for the drawing set.

He didn't have that kind of money, and he didn't know of anyone who did.

The old woman, whose real name Jimin still couldn't figure out, walked to the counter.

"Jimin, would you come here for a minute?" She asked as she looked through some boxes.

He walked over with a little bit pizzazz.

"I don't know what your family situation is, I don't know your personal life. But I do know that Jae is hurting, and that she isn't going to let you know because she's worried. She worried that you're going to leave her, and so am I." She said as he stood at the counter, head hanging, turned away in shame.

"I haven't seen her happy in a long time, and right now she's giddily walking around the store. But it isn't because something piques her interest, it's because you're here and she isn't alone."

"I know." He said numbly, barely looking up to meet the woman's eyes.

"Don't hurt her more than she already is." She smiled and pulled out the drawing set from the case, along with the watch.

"80.00 for both?" She asks as rounds the counter.

Jimin nods, smiling at the older woman.

"Thank you, for everything."

She just smiles, she smiles as if she just got the news that she was going to be a grandmother or something.

She'd always been there for those two siblings, and they all had a feeling that she always would be.

Jimin thanked her one more time before taking Jae and himself home.