Frost bitten air fills our lungs as we make our way down the street, steps echoing into the silence. It bounces off buildings, parked cars and trash cans before reaching our ears once again. The city is quiet tonight, unbelievably so. Glancing over, I watch as Jungkook’s eyes fly back and forth, taking in the city, absorbing every detail. 

 

Often times we can’t do this. Usually we’re too tired anyway to leave the dorm on our days off, but tonight it’s so late, no body out. Straightening the hem of my shirt and ignoring the pain shooting up my back, I look over to the boy next to me. His dark hair sways against his forehead, cheeks pink but hardly visible in the darkness. We walk slowly, rocks flying from under our feet occasionally, enjoying the night. 

 

“It’s nice you know,” Jungkook whispers, nodding. “I love our job, but sometimes I wish I could just walk around daily and never be seen.” His eyes flick to the street light overhead, burnt out. 

 

I hum, arms coming back to stretch, contemplating. 

 

“This reminds me of when my dad used to take me on walks. Mom used to be so tired after dinner, and he thought it was important to enjoy the little things.” He sighs, stopping with a frown. I watch as he slowly turns in a circle, breathing in the neighborhood. The color of houses is washed out by the darkness, but you can see the faint yellow color chipping on the houses in the block. There’s a hole in the ground not far away from where a hand made mailbox used to be. The couple that lived there had recently passed away, and with them, the mailbox was taken too. 

 

“We used to walk through the alleyways between houses,” eyes narrowed, climbing  up a Larch tree. “Sometimes, when it would get too late my dad would boost me up through my bedroom window because we didn’t want to wake mom up with the loud front door.” He chuckled, smiling at the thought. I can’t help the smile as I watch him watch our surroundings, eyes wide and lips in a pout. 

 

Shaking his head again he steps forward and I follow, arms brushing slightly. 

 

“Do.. “ I start but stop, finding it stupid. He quirks his head to the side, waiting for me to continue. “Would you ever go back?” 

 

He looks straight for a moment, then down, watching his feet move underneath him. When he looks up I don’t need to see his eyes to see the sadness in them. 

 

“Yes and no,” the boy whispers quietly, hand reaching out to feel the cool breeze flow between his fingers. I don’t push it, and we turn down the street, buildings starting to glow closer to us now. Suddenly he shoots his head to the side, stopping. 

 

“Hoseok you never told me where we were even going.” 

 

“Oh,” I chuckle, smiling before sliding behind him. “Right.” 

 

“What-“ 

 

Jungkook struggles for a second before relaxing back into my chest, all movement halted. His hands twitch, itching to reach up and remove mine, but he doesn’t, causing me to smile subconsciously. 

 

“I won’t let you run into things.” Voice soft, reassuring. Then I nudge him forward gently with my knee, walking slowly and leading him down the path. Neon lights erupt around us, colors sickeningly sweet. Blues, pinks and greens fill the air, and more so, the path for us to walk. 

 

I like it more like this, sure the neighborhoods beautiful too, but there’s something about the brightness of this stretch that makes me feel alive. I can feel him try to stop every few seconds, probably in fear he’s going to run into things, but never does. I can’t help but laugh, holding him tighter, crinkling on the palms of my hands from his eyes. 

 

“Okay, there’s going to be a step,” I grunt as he freezes, smiling before using my right foot to hook up under his, pushing it up onto the concrete floor. He follows the motion slowly, other foot coming up to step up the individual slab before waiting. “Now, a door,” I say, left arm reaching out to push it open. It swings back with a bang, drowning out the little silver bells chime over head. Jungkook giggles, being pushed inside. 

 

Shooting a smile to the two familiar figures in front of us, I can feel Jungkook getting antsy. 

 

“Ready?” 

 

“More than.” He grunts, shaking my hands off before squinting, his own hands flying up to block the intense light. It’s silent for a moment, the three of us staring at the small boy before he turns around, teeth poking out from behind his lips. 

 

“Froyo!!!” He squeals, childlike, before enveloping me in a tight hug. The two workers smile, saying their hellos. 

 

“Ah, Hoseokie Oppa how you’ve grown.” The raven haired girl says, slipping out from behind the counter to hug me. The older woman shakes Jungkook’s hand, said boys brows furrowed now. 

 

“This is Suyeon.” I say, motioning to the girl in my arms. He nods, tilting his head still. “That’s her mother, Hyeona. They used to be my neighbors back in Gwangju.” 

 

“Really?” He asks, voice higher as his eyes widen. I smile, nodding and untangling the younger from me. She blushes, smiling before turning to him. 

 

“It’s nice to finally meet you.” She coos and he gives smiles, eyes soft. 

 

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Hyeong moves back to grab two medium sized containers, handing them to us. 

 

“Choose whatever you want, tonight’s free.” She says, and Suyeon hums before disappearing into a room in the back. 

 

“Are you sure?” Jungkook asks timidly, eyes still wide. Hyeong lets out a breathy laugh, motioning him forward to the machines. I watch as his eyes light up at all the labels, leaning forward to read the handwritten plaques. 

 

“He’s a lot cuter in person.” A small voice whispers behind me, nodding. I my head back, eyes wandering from her to him before nodding too, small smile visible. 

 

“He’s precious.” I breathe out, shifting to stand beside her as we watch Jungkook giggle at Hyeong, eyes watching her intently as she pulls a lever, light orange pooling out of the nozzle. 

 

“Has he gotten any better?” She asks quieter, eyes raking up and down said boy slowly. I frown, shaking my head. She bites her lip before looking up to lock eyes. 

 

“It takes time.” She says with a whisper, knowingly, because she too has struggled with this. 

 

“How did you get better?” I ask after a moment, a sudden shriek and laugh distracting. 

 

She stares at me for a moment, eyes looking back and forth contemplating before speaking. “I had you.” Her voice is low and soft, barely audible, but I can hear her even when she doesn’t speak. My chest grows warm, offering her a small smile before sighing, doubt creeping back in. 

 

“What if.. what if I’m not enough.”  I ask, and she shakes her head before stepping towards me, hand reaching up to cup my cheek gently. 

 

“You will always be enough.” She pulls away slowly, but fast enough to where when Jungkook and Hyeong turn around in unison, Suyeons hands are back at her side. Jungkook beans bright, stepping forward to drag me along, whining. 

 

“Hyung aren’t you going to get one too?” He ushers me forward and I hear a laugh before a door shut to my right once again. Biting my lip, I carefully take the container from him and stroll to the familiar machine stationed in the middle, pumping the lever. 

 

“What’s this?” He asks, inspecting the plaque before smiling. “You’ve always been obsessed with strawberry huh.” He snickers, hands reaching up to swipe hair out of my face. I smile at the motion before wrapping my arms around his waist, leading him to the toppings bar. 

 

“My mother used to buy me strawberry anything after my dance competitions.” I revealed, eyes surveying the bar and landing on the multicolored sprinkles. He hums, own hand reaching out to scoop up a spoon of gummy bears. 

 

“Even strawberry milk?” He asks, tilting his head and talking his fingers together. 

 

“Yeah sometimes?” 

 

“No wonder you’re so tall.” He retorts, dodging my hand carefully to not spill his container. 

 

“We’re the same height!” I shout, laughing along with him. 

 

“Yeah but you’re long.” He says between air filled giggles. 

 

“Oh am I?” I raise an eyebrow, leaning my hip against the cool counter to watch him. His face grows slightly red as he picks up another ladle. 

 

“Mhm.” He hums, dumping two spoon fulls of almonds. 

 

“Jeez kid have some froyo for your toppings.” He frowns, glancing up at me for a second and my heart drops for a second, thinking I said the wrong thing, before swiftly grabbing a cherry and popping it into my container, smiling. 

 

“Jeez hyung, add more, you hardly have any.” 

 

“That’s cause I quite like the actual strawberry taste.” I snicker back, smirking as he huffs. 

 

“Alright kids, shops closing.” Suyeon says, appearing in the doorway with a yawn. Jungkook steps to the counter as I reach down to fish my phone out of my jacket pocket, knuckle clicking the home button. 

 

“It’s already 2 am!” Jungkook gasps, turning slightly to look at me before at the ground. The other members will be getting up soon, Jin especially and we need to get back. Suyeon tilts her head, amused while Hyeong shakes hers, hand reaching up to stop Jungkook from pulling out his credit card. 

 

“It’s free.” She says, watching as he tries to protest. 

 

“But-“ he’s cut off by her pulling him into a hug, Suyeon coming up behind him to grab the container. At that, he allows his arm to wrap around the woman fully. 

 

“It’s free, and you’re always welcome here,” she whispers in his ear, tightening. “ so please, enjoy your desert.” Before pulling back, hands on his shoulders. He nods, offering her a small but bright eye smile before turning to pull me into a hug too. Before leaving I grab the plastic bag off the counter, ruffling Suyeon’s hair and promising to visit again soon. 

 

On the way out I shut the door with my foot, hand reaching back to flip the OPEN sign to CLOSED. Jungkook smiles dreamily, swaying as we walk back in the direction we came. 

 

“I’m so excited to eat that!” He chides, voice filled with happiness and, in return, filling me too. 

 

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him this happy, truly this happy. Sure, concerts are fun, making music is too, but you can never catch a glimpse of him like this on camera. He holds up a facade, as if he’s scared to show the real him. There’s a crack in the mask though, as I get to see right now. The crack is slim, barely there, but it’s enough. 

 

We walk back quickly, mainly in silence, smiles on both of our faces. Occasionally I’ll glance over to see the moonlight bounce off his eyes, casting shadows along his nose. My heart swells, filling me with enough heat to keep the cold night air from hurting. Are the members awake?, I think, frowning. What if they as where we went? What if they see or hear the plastic bag as we come back in. We obviously didn’t bring them anything. Will they be mad? What if- 

 

“Hyung.” A voice breaks me from my thoughts, and I stop, swirling around to look. Jungkook’s not behind me, no, but several feet back, kneeling in front of the hole. 

 

“Jungkookie...?” I ask slowly, brows furrowing as my eyes start to adjust to the darkness more, to the small lump at his feet. He beckons me over, an emotion in his eyes that I can’t define. I stumble forward, dizziness creeping into my veins as fear fills me, worrying if something’s wrong. 

 

“Shivering.” He whispers, grabbing my hand as I approach, kneeling down slowly too. Grey tufts of matter fur cling to the skin, dirt splotches covering it. Eyes are pulled back wide, but hold no malicious intent. 

 

“Wasn’t here before.” I say, thinking back to a few hours ago when they passed through here. Jungkook shakes his head, tilting it before slowly reaching up to the cats neck, fingers grasping the metal pendant. 

 

“What’s her name?” I ask, eyes trailing down to examine the cat further. She purs, leaning into the touch and I watch as he scrapes dirt off the tag, thumb brushing over the writing ever so softly before speaking again. 

 

“Nora...” 

 

——————— 

 

This may not have been as long as I planned, but it came out exactly how I wanted it to and I’m so happy with the outcome. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did writing this chapter! 

 

What do you think they’re going to do now? 

 

Also, do you guys know whose cat that actually is? 

 

Please comment your thoughts and I’ll be back with the next chapter soon. Thank you!