*Please make sure you have read the revised versions of the previous chapters so it all makes sense! Thank you!*

"Call me or something at least." -Kim Taehyung

Chapter 4: A Moth and Butterflies in His Stomach

“What took you so long?” Jimin complained as soon as Hamin walked into the house. 

“Is everything okay?” Taehyung’s worried voice followed after. Hamin just made her way in front of the couch and sat on the floor, setting the plastic bag from the convenience store down on the ground. She handed Jimin and Taehyung their drinks and popped open her banana milk as well. She shrugged.

“Sorry, I ran into a creep and a beast,” she took a sip.

“You what?! Park Jimin I told you you should never let Minnie leave the house alone so late at night!” Taehyung first came down from the sofa to inspect Hamin before standing back up to hit Jimin hard with a cushion. 

“It’s only a five-minute walk and the streets are lit man. At least she’s back home safe,” Jimin held out his hands in defense and then quickly shooed Taehyung away, as he was blocking the TV screen. 

“How’s it going for us?” Hamin redirected the conversation to the soccer match, and saw that the score was still 0-0. She sighed and took another sip.

“Min-ah, are you really okay? What do you mean you ran into a creep and a beast?” Taehyung didn’t let go of the matter and bent down to sit next to Hamin on the ground. He peered into her face with eyebrows angled downwards. Hamin smiled, thankful for him and used to the fact that Park Jimin wasn’t even a real brother after seeing how indifferent he was when his little sister literally just said she “ran into a creep and a beast.”

“I’m fine, really. I mean, I was scared at first when some guy tried to pay for my stuff and asked me to hang out, but then my boss came and saved me,” Hamin whispered. Taehyung’s eyes grew enlarged before they darted to Jimin and changed into a glare. How could he let her go out so late? She literally met a creep! he almost growled. He was also briefly bothered by the fact that Hamin’s “boss” had rescued her, given that he didn’t know what kind of a man he was, but ended up focusing on Hamin’s safety for now.

“Well it’s good your boss was there to save you,” Taehyung whispered back, “But next time, don’t ever walk out this late at night—even if Jimin makes you. Call me or something at least.”

“Okay, okay,” Hamin giggled, seeing how concerned and worked up Taehyung was. She could always count on him to be protective. She shot Park Jimin a glare as well, but ended up turning her gaze back to the TV when she saw how focused he was on the match. 

Soccer over sister, huh? she thought to herself as she finished up her milk and joined Jimin and Taehyung cheer for team Korea. But before long, her tired body gave way and Hamin slowly fell into a daze...shortly before her eyes closed and her mind dreamed.

***

    Thump. 

Taehyung felt something land on his shoulder and slightly turned his head to see Hamin leaning on him fast asleep. He froze for a brief moment as he looked at her close face and felt his own face heat up. He coughed and tried to focus on the game by turning his eyes back to the TV screen, but his mind was solely on the girl with her head against him. He gently lowered his shoulder so her head could rest more comfortably, and couldn’t hold back a smile, hearing her occasional soft snores. 

Park Hamin, why are you doing this to me?

Taehyung couldn’t help but use his long fingers to brush a strand of hair out of Hamin’s face and safely tuck it behind her ear. Despite Jimin being in the room with them, Taehyung felt like he was in his own little world with just the two of them: himself and Hamin. 

But it wasn’t like Jimin was stupid.

He saw everything unfold in front of his eyes: Taehyung swooping down to sit next to his sister, the two of them whispering, Taehyung shooting glares at him, the two laughing their heads off at some random humor Jimin didn’t find funny, and now the scene where his sister leans on the shoulder of his best friend while his best friend makes lovey-dovey-googly eyes at her sleeping face. It was clear there was something going on between those two, and if it wasn’t both-sided it was definitely one-sided, looking at Taehyung’s soft eyes and gentle touches.

Jimin’s attention was no longer on the soccer match.

Is this seriously happening right now? Kim Taehyung and Park Hamin? Jimin closed his eyes and rubbed his aching head. What was he supposed to do? Act like he didn’t see it all? Confront Taehyung? Wait until they told him about it? He took a sip of his drink.

Well, deep inside Jimin knew that he wasn’t against the two if they did end up dating. He wouldn’t mind giving his sister to Taehyung because Taehyung was the only man he trusted to take care of her. He just...had no idea Taehyung had feelings for his sister. He felt rather betrayed at the fact that his friend hadn’t said a word about this and shot glares at Taehyung, returning all the ones Taehyung had shot at him earlier.

You should be thankful I’m merciful, Jimin thought as he turned his eyes back on the screen. He decided to let the matter slide until Taehyung brought it up. Perhaps he had a reason as to why he didn’t tell Jimin about his feelings.

Just trust Tae on this one and don’t bother them for now, he told himself.

    But seconds later he was screaming at the goal Korea made, making both Hamin and Taehyung jump. 

    So much for not bothering them.

***

“Sajang-nim, here are the files you asked for,” a man in a nice, grey suit handed Hoseok a black binder. Hoseok nodded as he took it from him.

“Is there anything else you need sir?” the man asked and Hoseok shook his head.

“No, that’d be all. You’re dismissed,” he said cooly. The man bowed before exiting Hoseok’s office. Hoseok opened the binder and began to look through the pages, only to find his mind utterly distracted and unable to focus.

He had precisely two reasons for this: one, he got less than four hours of sleep, and two, he was debating whether or not he should call Park Hamin. He looked at the piece of paper with Hamin’s number on it on his desk. 

He ran his fingers through his silky, black hair that was poking bits of his eyes because he hadn’t styled it up this morning. Do I call her or not? he tortured himself to come up with an answer, a decision. If he didn’t call her, will he even be able to sleep that night? He knew he had an important meeting coming up with investors of his company and that he needed a refreshed, focused mind. He couldn’t bear to fall asleep during the meeting itself. But even if he did call her, what would he say? That he needed her back? No, that sounded too desperate for the prideful, cold, Jung Hoseok. 

“Hey man,” Namjoon poked his head through the door, making Hoseok turn away from his complicated thoughts. He looked up at Namjoon and raised his eyebrows.

“You look terrible even for a Monday morning,” Namjoon commented, looking at Hoseok’s state: his black hair freely hanging down, his red knit sweater messily tucked into his black slacks that matched the color of his skin underneath his tired eyes, and his elbows helplessly resting on the armrests of his wheely chair. We need Ms. Park, Namjoon concluded in his mind.

“Thanks,” Hoseok grimaced and gave Namjoon an eyeroll. Namjoon gave him a grand display of his dimples in return as he smiled, “Guess nothing works as well as you-know-who right?”

“Stop fueling the fire, Kim Namjoon. I’m already miserable about that issue myself,” Hoseok groaned. He drooped his head and closed his eyes. 

“I don’t see why it’s even an issue. Keep it simple and stop overthinking. All you need to do is call Ms. Park and she’ll come to your house tonight,” Namjoon crossed his arms and shrugged, “Problem solved.” 

When Hoseok gave no response, Namjoon just shook his head. He was confused as to why his friend thought it was so difficult to call Hamin and ask her to come back. He didn’t even fire her, so he knew she would be more than willing to come to work if only one of them asked. 

“Do you want me to tell her to come then?” Namjoon broke the silence, making Hoseok shoot his head up and face Namjoon.

“Just leave me alone. I’ll figure it out,” Hoseok answered, his voice full of annoyance. It was true that he was slightly, just a tiny bit, tempted to let Namjoon do the asking and bring Park Hamin back.

But he didn’t want to chicken out of anything.

He wanted to prove to himself that he was not—not at all—afraid of calling Park Hamin. Besides, he hadn’t even made up his mind yet, whether to ask Park Hamin to resume working for him or not. Something about that girl was weirdly charming, and if Hoseok didn’t like that at first, he was a bit too desperate at the moment to care.

The real question was: Should he call her or not?

“Fine. Just know that you have an important meeting coming up and you better not embarrass our company by falling asleep,” Namjoon nagged on as he turned around and stepp