24

Friday passes by in a blur. 

Hoseok and Taehyung say their goodbyes and leave to visit Jimin, and to everyone’s surprise Jungkook also joins them. 

So far, he has kept his visits a secret, mostly because none of the boys knew he had a part in Jimin being sent to rehab in the first place. But now that everyone knows what really happened, and especially since Jungkook allowed them all to find out about his vulnerable past without interfering, he seems to be trying to right his wrongs. 

And the boys all suddenly seem to be more protective of him. 

Jungkook has always had their backs, without them knowing, and Taehyung and Hoseok have decided to change those dynamics. 

Jungkook had looked nervous when he had followed Taehyung’s car out of the parking lot, but determination to never keep any secrets from the boys had him driving his maserati right after Taehyung’s tesla, and for some reason, Hara had felt a pang of pride in her chest.

She had not joined them. 

Mostly because this meeting is the first one in which the trio are going together to visit Jimin, and Hara honestly does not want to intrude. Especially not now when Jimin seems to have taken a liking to her and expects to see her around. no. 

Yoongi had also declined the offer, and no one had asked why, but Hoseok had given him a small, comforting smile before they had left, a knowing look on his face. 

Instead, Yoongi joins Hara to buy a costume. 

Hara knows the only reason he joined her is because he’s still recovering from their meeting with Jimin last week, he isn’t ready to meet him again, especially not with Jungkook in the same room, and honestly she gets it, they’re all having a hard time facing reality. Even she felt a part of her heart break when she met the friendly boy last week. 

“What about this?” Hara holds up a red dress and Yoongi stops sipping on his drink and scoffs. 

“It’s Halloween, not the red carpet.” Hara rolls her eyes and groans, and Yoongi sighs and takes the hanger from her. “I have an idea.” 

Hara accepts the drink he hands her and tiredly sips on it while watching him place the dress back where it belongs before moving to the back of the store. She leans against the wall behind her and grabs her phone, quickly checking her notifications to find she has received a snap from Taehyung. 

It’s a picture of all of them grinning at the camera, Jimin’s lovely smile filling up most of the frame as his hands push at Jungkook’s cheeks while Taehyung and Hoseok pretend their hands are bunny ears so Jungkook ends up looking like one. 

There is an angry scowl on his face, eyebrows furrowed deeply and arms crossed over his chest, but Hara cannot take it seriously when his bunny teeth are popping out like that, and honestly it seems like Jungkook is trying very hard to not grin because amusement is dancing in his eyes and his nose is scrunched in an attempt at holding back a laugh. 

Hara does not know why but she takes a screenshot. 

Yoongi calls her name from the other side of the store and she snaps out of her thoughts, realizing she had been grinning all that time when she quickly makes her way across the store, and Yoongi frowns, instantly sensing something is off when she finds him looking at boots. 

“What’s up?” he asks, bending to grab a pair of black biker boots. Hara puts her phone away and shrugs, taking a quick sip from the bitter ice americano. 

“Just tired. What did you find?” 

Yoongi sighs and holds out a pair of boots. “Don’t know your size, but this fits exactly with what I had in mind.”

Hara stares at him for a moment and then slowly arches an eyebrow. 

“You want me to go to the halloween party, where the whole college no doubt will be, wearing a pair of boots?” 

Yoongi gives her an unamused look and extends his arms further, the boots lightly hitting the americano. “This is all a part of an outfit I’ve got planned, brat. Check if these fit.”

Hara decides she’s too tired to argue and hands him her drink before trying the boots. They find her size after two tries and then leave the store after purchasing them. 

Turns out trying to shop for a halloween costume is easy when you’ve got a grumpy college student as your assistant. 

They stop by a cafe for a quick lunch before Yoongi takes the lead and takes her to all the stores selling the different parts of Hara’s costume. She’s tiredly following him, holding hangers, trying on shirts that he keeps insisting be white, and then at the end she just sits down on a bench and Yoongi completely takes over the shopping. 

Hara sneaks a quick snap of him, a small smile on her face all the while as she sends it to Taehyung and Hoseok, giggling at the shocked responses they reply with because Yoongi looks awfully concentrated. Seems like he’s into fashion, Hara writes, to which Taehyung replies with a very shocked emoji and Hoseok just sends a smirking one. 

“We’re done.” 

Hara looks up from her phone and Yoongi holds up a couple of bags. 

“Did you buy that?” Hara stands up, frowning lightly as she puts her phone away, and Yoongi rolls his eyes. 

“Nah, I stole it, now come on before they notice and call the cops.” Yoongi leaves the shop and Hara jogs after him. 

“Hey, Yoongi, you didn’t have to pay for all that,” she says as she catches up with him, and Yoongi doesn’t bother replying, walking past a bunch of boys wearing the same uniform as them. Hara instantly tenses up when she realizes who they are, but surprisingly none of them follow them, and she throws a quick look over her shoulder, noticing how they instantly avert their gazes, as if burned. 

Told me that he threatened to have them expelled last month if they ever as much as looked in Yoongi hyung’s direction. I wonder why.

Hara’s cheeks burn and her heartbeat doubles. Jimin’s words keep repeating in her head and she mentally curses when she remembers the knowing look on his face. . 

“The bus is gonna be here in twenty five minutes,” Yoongi says, coming to a halt in front of the mall exit. Hara almost crashes into him, and he steadies her, frowning. “Hey, you okay?” 

“Yeah, just tired,” Hara mumbles, and Yoongi’s jaw suddenly clenches as realization hits him. 

“Did they do anything?” 

“What? No, that’s not it, they didn’t do anything, Yoongi,” Hara quickly assures, shaking her head. Yoongi stares at her for a moment, eyes narrowed before he blinks. 

“You’re bothered because of the opposite.” Hara averts her gaze. “They didn’t do anything.”

Both of them seem to be thinking the same thing. As Jimin had said, Jungkook never explicitly told those boys to bother Yoongi. None of them ever approached him when Jungkook was his friend, but when he cut ties with him they started tormenting Yoongi. 

“Why did he never tell them to stop, though?” Hara whispers, the question having bugged her for so long. Yoongi looks up. “I mean, sure, he never encouraged the violence, but he didn’t exactly prevent it from happening either.” 

“You keep thinking of the bad part only, huh?” Yoongi’s lips slowly curve into a small smirk, a bitter one, Hara recognizes, and he tilts his head to the side. “Someone comes into your life, your ed up life might I add, and your friends instantly accept him as one of their own when you’ve strived for so damn long to gain their trust and acceptance.”

Hara swallows thickly. Yoongi shakes his head. 

“Jungkook was scared. He didn’t know what to do about me because I not only infiltrated his small gang, but I also became a brother to him, whether he wanted it or not. And suddenly, I was a liability, because I knew some of the truth. He probably thought it was for the best.”

“Yoongi, that’s not a good thing,” Hara mutters, and Yoongi laughs.

“I know, but the kid’s ed in the head.” He sighs tiredly and shrugs. “It probably seemed like the best solution to him, I don’t ing know. I’m just glad to know he never explicitly ordered them to beat me up. Makes me feel a little better knowing he isn’t as lost as I thought.”

Hara has a hard time wrapping her mind around this, violence has never sat well with her. Just the thought of it gives her heart palpitations, she hates it. How Yoongi can just accept it and move on, ing sick. 

“You’re overthinking.” Hara blinks and looks over at Yoongi who reaches over and ruffles her hair. “Think about it like this; all of us are ed. Some to bigger extents than others. And Jungkook - that kid tops the ing chart.”

Yoongi jerks his head in the direction of the exit doors and turns, walking ahead, and Hara slowly follows him. 

Something makes Hara think that Jungkook could have gone further than simply allowing those boys to around with Yoongi. What if he had actually wanted someone to hurt him? Would he have made it more severe? Would he have gone for the family as well? 

Hara shudders and jogs to catch up with Yoongi. Yeah, overthinking is quite a dangerous concept. Yoongi seems to be sharing the same thought as the two of them reach the bus stop and sit down on the waiting bench, both quiet for a couple of moments. 

“There’s still too long left until the bus arrives,” Yoongi mutters after checking his phone. Hara shivers, hiding her hands in her coat pockets. 

“Wanna go back to the mall?” she asks. 

“What’s the point, we’ll have to come back after five minutes in there to make it in time.”

“I can call Taehyung to come pick us up.” Yoongi sighs and shakes his head. 

“They’re at the rehab, we shouldn’t rush them,” he says, and Hara frowns. 

“I’m pretty sure they’re done, Yoongi, they probably left a while ago. Did you forget there’s limitations to how long one can visit the patients there?” 

“Did you forget who Jungkook is?”

Hara blinks, feeling goosebumps rise across her skin, and it has nothing to do with the cold. Rules bend for that little er, Hara doesn’t know why she keeps forgetting it. 

“Still, fifteen minutes in this cold? Too long.” Hara sends Taehyung a text and asks if he’ll bother picking them up. 

“You’re awfully stubborn,” Yoongi mumbles, fiddling with the bags, and Hara snorts. 

“Tell me something I don’t know.” 

It takes a minute before she receives a reply, and she quickly checks her phone, brows furrowing. 

“Um, Jungkook is coming to pick us up.” She looks over at Yoongi. “Is that okay with you?” 

Yoongi just shrugs but Hara can sense the hesitation, and she bites her lip and sends Taehyung another text. The boy just replies with a “he’s on his way, girlie, no backing out now” and a bunch of smirking emojis. 

Hara groans and puts her phone away, angrily crossing her arms over her chest, which she instantly regrets because her hands have been exposed to the cold for too long now and they might just fricking fall off. She quickly stuffs them in her pockets and shudders. 

Yeah, she’s not declining the car ride. 

Jungkook arrives a couple of minutes later, his speeding car coming to a halt right next to them, and Hara shares a quick look with Yoongi before walking up to the passenger seat. She’ll save them both the embarrassment, clearly they’re not ready for a conversation. 

Jungkook waits for them both to click their seatbelts shut before driving away from the bus stop, and Hara is surprised at his sudden change in speed. 

“No racing today?” she can’t help but ask, and Jungkook’s shoulders seem to instantly sink in relief, the tension in the car slowly dissipating. 

“It’s friday, nothing important happening.” Hara huffs and looks out of the window next to her, and after a moment she frowns. 

“Why the hell is the car so damn cold?” Jungkook gives her a quick look before blinking in realization. 

“Forgot to turn the heater on.” 

Hara does not want to think about the implications of that sentence.

She does not want to think about him leaving the rehab and racing to get to the bus stop. She does not want to think about him completely forgetting to turn on the heater because he was busy trying to get her and Yoongi out of the cold, and she also really does not want to think about his ed coat, pulled on in a haste. 

Clearing , she reaches over to fiddle with the different buttons, trying to find the heater so they don’t die of hypothermia before making it home. 

Home?

Hara angrily forces the thought away and twists a knob, jumping in surprise when radio static fills the car. Jungkook quickly reaches over and turns it off, but instead of scolding Hara he just frowns at her. 

“You’re freezing,” he says, and Hara retracts her hand and nervously shrugs. 

“It’s like minus two degrees, of course I’m freezing.” 

Jungkook just sighs and turns on the heater, full blast, and Hara melts into her seat, her and back warming up instantly. She can hear Yoongi sighing in the back, and she blushes slightly, having completely forgotten that someone else is in the car with her and Jungkook. 

They drop Yoongi off first, the boy offering Jungkook a curt nod before leaving, and the rest of the trip is surprisingly comfortable. Hara almost dozes off, and she blinks, blearily staring at the huge garage Jungkook is slowly entering, the car coming to a halt next to a row of really expensive looking ones. 

Hara steps out, shuddering as the cold instantly attacks her, and Jungkook leads the way out, the two of them quickly walking over to the entrance where Leeteuk greets them with a surprised look on his face. 

“You have both just made it in time for din-”

“I’ve had food,” Hara says, smiling as she takes off her shoes. Jungkook allows Leeteuk to help him take off his coat while frowning at Hara. 

“You had lunch at three.” He looks down at his watch and arches an eyebrow. “It’s six p.m.”

“How do you know that?” Hara asks, and Jungkook shrugs. 

“Taehyung showed me the snap.” 

Hara feels a little uncomfortable and slowly nods. “I’ll come down if I’m hungry, no need to wait up.”

She grabs her school bag from the floor and offers Leeteuk a small smile before leaving the hallway. 

As she enters the huge living room, she stares at the decorations in awe, watching a couple of professionals set up the sound system near the huge windows while some of the maids hang up spiderweb near the staircase. Hara quickly moves past them and jogs up the stairs, and once she’s in her room she locks the door and drops down on her bed.

A couple of silent moments pass before she receives a snapshot of multiple shopping bags on Yoongi's bed and she curses. 

I guess you’ll have to change at my place then, Yoongi writes, and Hara sends him a crying emoji.