Thrilled was an understatement for her mom when Rochelle called to give her family the heads-up about a guest joining them for the holidays. She heard a lot of noise in the background and guessed that her mom was trying to multitask by prepping the guest room and talking on the phone. 

"Does he have any allergies? Anything he loves to eat?" her mom asked. 

"Mom we already ate," Rochelle said. She zipped her duffle bag shut and hoisted it onto her shoulder with a grunt. "I made the offer because the poor guy celebrates at the complex by himself every year."

"No family?"

"He's not on good terms," Rochelle said. "They weren't pleased with his career choice. Forensics by the way. Um, yeah, can you not grill him about his family while he's here?"

"I'll hold her to it," Bri promised in the background. "You two drive safely, okay?"

"Will do," Rochelle uttered before hanging up. She did a quick visual sweep of her surroundings and nodded, satisfied that she had everything for the trip home. 

"It's really nice of you to offer," Jimin said. He rubbed his hands together and blew on them for warmth. 

Rochelle pointed to a set of dials and explained he could adjust the temperature of the air directed on him. One finger pointed to a button under the dials.

"That heats up your seat," she added. "I've rarely used it, but it's nice to have."

Jimin thanked her, then pressed the button. His eyes went wide as he felt a gradual warmth under his seat and in the lower back portion. He beamed as he got comfortable in the passenger's seat and looked around at the cars going past them in other lanes. 

"I owe your family a meal out for hosting me last minute," he declared as he looked back at Rochelle. 

She shook her head and checked her mirrors before changing lanes. "You don't owe us anything. I will apologize in advance if my mom's food makes you gain a few pounds while you're here. She's all about people eating well."

Jimin snickered and leaned back against the headrest. "I'm not complaining about that. I think it's been a while since I've had a homecooked meal that someone else made for me."

If Jimin had been overwhelmed by the warm welcome from her family, he didn't show it as he allowed Rochelle's mom to drag him into the living room for a cup of something hot to drink. Bri took his bag to the guest room and her father chatted with Jimin about his career choice. 

"Forensics, that's not a common topic I hear for college studies," her father mused as he crossed a leg over the other. "Field duty?"

Jimin took a tiny sip from the mug in his hands and shook his head. One finger pushed his glasses up and he explained that he was focusing on lab work. 

"I did take a Forensics and Law course to understand how my work ties in with the legal side," Jimin explained. "But Science interested me when I was in school and I thought it would be an interesting career."

Rochelle lingered in the kitchen where her mom was busy cleaning up from dinner. She tried to offer to help with drying the dishes, but her mom insisted she had it under control. 

"What floor does he live on?"

"Same as me, actually he's across the hall," Rochelle said. "No, he's not a possible boyfriend."

Her mother shot her a look and Rochelle returned it with a light shrug. 

"Bri did that to Lucas from the fourth floor," Rochelle added. 

"Oh how is he doing? You said he plays soccer?" her mom mused. She turned off the water and dried her hands on a towel. 

Rochelle crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. The last few days she hadn't seen Lucas around – maybe he was busy with finals or he had already taken off for Hong Kong. 

Come to think of it, she realized the charismatic second year hadn't talked much about his family, other than he had an older brother and his parents were back in Hong Kong. Perhaps the older brother was studying abroad as well, or maybe even doing a service project in an underdeveloped country. She never tried to hog the conversation when they hung out, but the more she thought about it, Lucas seemed to ask most of the questions and tried to divert the attention away from himself. 

She made a mental note to try to catch up with Lucas when she got back. He had promised to do lunch or dinner with her some time, but the pair had been unable to make arrangements after kicking around a soccer ball. 

"How do you like your eggs?" Bri asked. 

Jimin folded his hands in front of him and politely asked for scrambled eggs. He turned his head as Rochelle took the seat next to his and watched as her sister started prepping Jimin's breakfast order. 

"I'll get you after I'm done with Jimin's," Bri said, glancing at her sister. 

"You're cooking? Oh boy..." Rochelle joked. 

Bri scowled at her and Jimin laughed as the pair lightly threw insults about the former's cooking skills. 

"I can cook!"

"Questionable," Rochelle replied, "Mr. Devon would beg to differ after that Vanilla Surprise you burnt in class."

"One time! It was one time!" 

Jimin saw a glass being placed in front of him and he tore his gaze from the sisters to their mother, who was pouring juice for everyone. He thanked her, raising the glass to his lips as he watched Bri resume cooking the eggs on the stove. 

"Jimin, do not wish for a sister," Bri declared as she moved the skillet to the center of the burner. 

"Yeah, especially a busybody like her!" Rochelle fired back.

"Girls, it's the holidays!" their father sighed as he lowered his newspaper. "Not in front of our guest."

Jimin put his glass down and reassured the family that it was fine. "Honestly I don't mind this," he said. "It's interesting for me to see how your family dynamic works."

"Part of your Forensics learning?" Rochelle asked. 

The young man pushed his glasses up and waved his hand side to side slightly. He explained that during one of his second year required classes, he had to learn the basics behind psychology and how it related to Forensics in terms of the victims and suspects. "It wasn't an in-depth course, but more like an introduction to understanding how everyone fits into a case," he added. He took another long sip from the glass and listened as the topic changed to the family's plans for the rest of the holiday. 

Rochelle mouthed an apology to the young man as they huddled in the car, waiting for the light to change. He shrugged and offered her a small smile, before glancing up at Bri reviewing a list of stores. 

Her sister wanted to do post Christmas shopping to score deals on things she had her eye on. Rochelle voted against it, while her parents took the neutral route, stating that they'd follow whatever the kids wanted to do. Poor Jimin was forced to be the deciding factor and he reassured the older sibling that he was fine with wandering around the mall for a day. Like many determined shoppers, Bri had everyone get up crack of dawn to head to the mall for parking and to be there when it opened. 

"We should try to find a quiet cafe or something while she's fighting over hell knows what," Rochelle muttered. 

Jimin exited the car and held the door open for Rochelle. He waited until she got out and closed the door firmly. The pair walked slower as Bri zipped to the doors of the first store she wanted to visit, her mom in tow. 

"I'm guessing you don't like shopping?" Jimin suggested.

"Not like this," Rochelle said. She tugged her beanie down over the tops of her ears and hunched into her scarf. She noticed there were other women and some guys waiting in line for the stores to open and sighed with a shake of her head. 

"Nothing says Happy Holidays like indulging in commercialism," Jimin joked as he put his hands in his jacket pockets. "This could be a good study for my major. Although I've never heard of a case where someone dies by shopping."

Rochelle snickered at the thought of it and bantered back that Jimin had the bones of a comical murder story down. "All we need are the victim, the killer, and the person who solves it," she added. "Also a motive that is compelling."

"Last item?" 

"Perfect!" Rochelle declared as she turned to face Jimin. "You know, maybe this can be a side hustle for us. We write this thing, get it published, then split the profits?"

Jimin laughed with a shake of his head. He raised a hand and confessed he wasn't much of a fiction writer. "I mean, I could consult on the accuracy of the murder elements and forensic science," he offered. 

Rochelle shrugged and turned back to the front, pausing as the store opened its doors and began letting people in. She held out a hand to signal that Jimin should wait, explaining that they should let the die-hard shoppers in first. "Then we avoid getting trampled."

Jimin tapped the side of his head and remarked that she was right. He stopped where he was on the sidewalk and watched as the shoppers hurried inside to peruse the racks for deals after the holidays. Once the line dispersed, the pair walked up to the doors and entered, carefully weaving their way around the shoppers shuffling hangers around and checking price tags.

Rochelle pulled her phone out and sent a message to her parents and sister, saying that she and Jimin were going to hang in a cafe within the mall for breakfast. Once she finished, she pocketed his phone and motioned to Jimin to follow her. 

"I think breakfast sounds more appealing than fighting over a last season cashmere," she murmured.