5

Leeteuk bursts through the kitchen doors followed by one of the chefs holding a rolling pin above his head, ready to attack the intruder, and Hara quickly wipes away her tears, cheeks warming up in embarrassment.

“What happened? Are you okay, why are you crying?”

“Who did it? Where is the culprit?” the chef yells, turning around in circles with wild eyes examining their surroundings, and Hara would have laughed had it not been for the utter humiliation she’s currently feeling because of Jungkook’s ing words.

“Sorry, I-I just thought I saw something,” she whispers, shaking her head again, and Leeteuk frowns at her, eyes worried. “I’m just being stupid. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“It’s okay,” the chef says, giving her a small smile, “it’s really bloody boring in here and you’ve just provided us with the most dramatic moment yet to date.”

“Heechul,” Leeteuk snaps, and the chef throws a hand up. 

“I’m just being honest, man.” 

Hara makes a small note in her head to hang around Heechul more often because he seems to be the only normal person in this new town. 

“Are you sure you are okay, miss?” Leeteuk gently asks with a frown on his face, and Hara sighs, nodding.

“I just need some fresh air. Feels stuffy in here.” Which is ironic because the house is ing huge. 

Leeteuk decides to buy the excuse and nods wearily.

“You should take the driver today, the weather forecast warned a fifty percent chance of precipitation.” 

“Just say rain, oh my god,” Heechul groans, rolling his eyes before walking back into the kitchen, and Leeteuk very forcibly smiles down at Hara.

“Ignore him, he is rather.... special.” 

“Yeah, he is,” Hara agrees, snorting. “But I won’t need a driver, I’m just gonna explore the area. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“Miss, are you su-”

“Bye!” 

Hara all but jogs out of there and all the way to the other side of the house where the exit is, slipping into her boots and thankfully a coat this time before exiting the house. 

“ing ,” she mutters, scoffing when she goes over Jungkook’s words from earlier. 

He really said that, huh? Called her a charity case and a gold digger. 

Hara wants money, obviously, but she won’t take from Yunho. Her mother on the other hand…

She’s got a financing degree, sure, but she’s been working as a receptionist at a law firm for a while now, nothing special. Exactly what is she trying to achieve by purchasing stocks from Yunho’s firm? 

And what the hell kind of firm does he own, anyways? 

Hara realizes, as she leaves the Jeon property, that she knows zero about her new stepfather. 

Sure, she’s gonna leave this place in less than three months, but she can’t ignore the slight worry she feels for her mother whom she’s leaving behind.

Will Jungkook be a to her? 

He has been keeping up his facade around her, but that’s because she’s always with Yunho and Jungkook seems hellbent on keeping up the perfect son act in front of his dad.

Hara doesn’t take the same road as yesterday, instead she makes a beeline near the end of the street and walks through an opening near the small forest area behind the houses. 

There’s a huge park there, with all kinds of equipment ranging from swings to workout gear, and Hara snorts, walking past a gang of kids playing football in adidas fits. ing snobs. 

Hara decides to occupy one of the swings and watch the commotion from afar, not really in the mood for socialization, but she’s barely five minutes into lazy swinging when there’s a low whistle from the clear cut path a couple of feet behind her. 

“Isn’t it the chocolate-girl from yesterday?” 

. 

Hara grimaces and continues swinging, mentally praying the boys will leave her alone, but they very obviously have other plans as the two of them move into sight, both wearing expensive looking coats, hair styled nicely and faces shining brightly. 

Hara briefly wonders where they purchase such flawless skin. On a second thought, she wouldn’t be able to afford it anyways. 

“Hey! What a nice surprise!” one of them, the one who had tried helping her yesterday, exclaims, grinning. 

He’s holding a leash, a small ball of brown fur running around his legs, tangling the leash, but the owner doesn’t seem to care one bit, a boxy smile on his face as he watches Hara frown at him from where she’s still swinging. 

“Yeah, hi,” she says, noticeably less enthusiastic. 

“What are you doing here?” the other boy asks, putting his hands into his pockets. 

Hara shrugs. “Swinging?”

The boys both laugh and Hara feels her cheeks warm up in embarrassment because that was not funny, at all. 

“Mind if we join?” 

Now, this she didn’t expect, but she shrugs and points to the vacant swing next to her. 

“Knock yourself out.” 

The one with the dog remains standing while the other boy quickly jumps onto the rubber and starts swinging wildly, loud giggles escaping his lips, and Hara can’t help it when she snorts in amusement. 

“We don’t get to do this often,” is his explanation, and Hara can’t believe she feels a little sorry for a bunch of rich s. 

They’ve probably got all these expectations to live up to, she realizes, and then regrets her cold behaviour. Just a little bit, though, because people like Sunny and Jungkook still exist, and these boys are apparently friends with them both.

Hara briefly wonders if this is a prank and they’re just messing with her, but then the boy standing starts whining about his turn and the other one chuckles and jumps off the swing, taking the leash so his friend can have a go. 

“Uh, do you guys live nearby?” Hara asks, awkwardly clearing . 

The boys thankfully get the hint and both nod, the one standing laughing a little. 

“We haven’t even introduced ourselves, sorry.” He straightens his shoulders and dramatically puffs his chest out a bit. “My name is Jung Hoseok, and this lovely, absolutely delightful, funny, kind, talented, beautiful-”

“Aww, hyung,” the boy on the swing coos, grinning widely-

“Amazing and positively astounding friend of mine is Yeontan, but we usually just call him Taennie. Oh, and that loser over there is Taehyung. Tae for short.”

Taehyung skids to a halt and opens his mouth in shock, and Hara blinks in surprise, a small giggle turning into full on chuckles, and she has to stop swinging to regain her breathing because okay, maybe she likes these two boys a little. 

“That was not funny,” Taehyung snaps, but he’s grinning, and Hoseok finally stops cackling like a hyena and leans over to high five Hara with a wriggle of his eyebrows. 

“Our new friend begs to differ,” he says, and Hara nods, wiping away a tear that has escaped. 

“That’s some stand up comedy right there. I’m Hara, by the way.” 

Hoseok is a little surprised at her choice of words, but grins nevertheless and Taehyung rolls his eyes, snorting, and yet he’s still smiling widely.

“Whatever, Taennie takes from his father anyways.” 

“Yeah, sure he does,” Hoseok grins, but Taehyung pretends to kick him from the swing and the other male jumps away with a loud laugh. 

Hara learns a lot more about the two during the next twenty minutes. Taehyung is two years older than her, while Hoseok is three years her senior, they both attend the prestigious college all the other rich kids in the town attend, they’re very sorry for Sunny's behaviour and they’re also very different from the rest. 

The last observation is made by Hara herself, and she decides that maybe she’ll befriend these losers while she stays here.

Who knows? They might just come in handy one day. 

The thought of using them for her own personal reasons don’t sit well with her, but Hara ignores the guilt and grins at Hoseok who’s very animatedly telling her another anecdote in which Taehyung makes a fool out of himself. 

“Okay, how about we stop ruining my reputation and focus a bit on our new friend instead,” Taehyung yells in exasperation when Hoseok begins another story, and Hara feels her cheeks hurt from all the laughing, which is very new. 

“There’s not much to know,” she says, shrugging. “I just moved here with my mom.”

“Are you going to enroll into our college?” Hoseok asks, leaning against the swing set bar to Hara’s right. Taennie excitedly barks at Taehyung who makes dramatic sounds while swinging back and forth. 

“Isn’t it too late for that? And anyways, I decided to take a gap year, don’t really know what I wanna do with my life just yet.”

Hara doesn’t add the fact that she’d never be able to afford that even if she sold both her kidneys. 

“They take applications until the first week of October,” Taehyung points out, frowning. “You still have time, though.”

“Yeah, but I don’t really know what I wanna study.” 

“We have councillors who help with that stuff,” Hoseok explains, smiling, “a lot of the students there don’t know what they want to do until their second year, that’s why we have collective subjects. Everyone is taught the same thing in the first year, as long as it’s relevant for the courses they offer. And then you’re free to choose for yourself.”

That actually sounds very sensible, Hara thinks, pursing her lips. Still, she won’t be able to afford it. And she is definitely not going to accept Yunho’s help if he offers it. 

“I’ll think about it,” she lies, smiling, and Hoseok grins, almost blinding her. 

“Oh, Jungkook just texted me,” Taehyung suddenly says when his phone vibrates in his pocket, and he frowns at the screen. “Said he’s gonna pick us up from the bus stop. Class starts in twenty minutes”

“Jungkook is a friend of ours, by the way.” Hoseok grunts while picking Taennie up, affectionately pressing his face into the dog’s fur before grinning at Hara. “You probably didn’t see him yesterday, but he was also at the mall when the whole Sunny thing happened.”

“Yeah, I think I noticed him,” Hara mumbles, following the boys away from the swing sets. There’s no one to talk to now, so she might as well go home, she decides.

“Speaking of Sunny, once again, I’m sorry for the whole ordeal yesterday. She can be a bit dramatic at times.” Taehyung has a sheepish look on his face and Hara shrugs, giving him a small smile.

“I’m familiar with her kind. Nothing I won’t be able to handle.” 

Hara doesn’t like the thoughtful look that crosses the boy’s face, and she especially hates the way he shares a frown with Hoseok, both very clearly feeling pity for her. 

“So, do they offer classes for our furry friend or is taking your pet to class another rich people privilege?” Hara asks, deciding to switch the subject before she’s asked questions she would rather not answer. 

Hoseok snorts while Taehyung smiles lightly. Their eyes still look thoughtful. 

“We usually drop him off on our way there. My house is near campus.” 

They make it to the bus stop, which is located on the same road Hara had taken to the busy center of the town yesterday, and she refrains from rolling her eyes when a couple of girls passing by frown at her. 

Taehyung and Hoseok seem to notice the special treatment she’s receiving, and they for some reason both walk closer to her, Taehyung a little ahead with a surprisingly threatening tilt to his head, as if daring anyone to look at Hara. 

Hara almost stops in surprise because they barely know each other. And yet, her brain supplies, they seem to have grown fond of her. Protective even.

You like it, don’t you? You need it, don’t you? 

“There he is,” Hoseok announces when they reach the waiting bench, a sleek, black car parked on the road next to it.

This time, Hara rolls her eyes to high heavens. 

“He might seem a bit cold.” Hoseok walks ahead and enters the backseat with Taennie, and Hara narrows her eyes when she notices the driver of the car tentatively watching her. “But he’s actually a good guy. Come on, he’ll give you a ride home.”

“Yeah, no thanks,” Hara says, giving Jungkook a final glare before turning towards Taehyung with a sheepish smile on her face. “I don’t want to make you late.”

“What? No, it’s okay, none of us mind!” 

“Really, it’s fine, I live nearby anyways,” Hara tries, taking a step backwards, and Taehyung frowns, stepping closer to her so he can gently grab her by the arm. 

Hara is reminded of a similar thing happening between her and a very impatient boy whom she would rather not think of right now, except Taehyung’s touch is a million times gentler and she finds that she doesn’t entirely hate it. 

“I’m sure it will be faster with the car,” Taehyung argues, smiling softly, almost convincingly, “plus it’s very cold, you might get sick.” 

Hara is about to reply when there’s a loud honk from behind them and she startles, yelping is surprise.

She whips around and glares at Jungkook who gives her an impatient look, and Taehyung chuckles and shakes his head before letting go of Hara’s arm. 

“Yeah, I don’t really think your friend likes me,” Hara mutters, trying very hard to refrain from flipping the jerk in the car off, and Taehyung sighs.

“As I said, he can be cold sometimes, but he’s a good guy. Our Jungkookie is a good guy.”

“I’m sure he is.” Hara hates how Jungkook still hasn’t looked away from her, and she briefly wonders what Hoseok must be thinking, watching everything from the backseat. “But I have to get going now, still got to unpack.”

Taehyung’s face seems to fall, disappointment present in the lines between his eyebrows, but he pouts and shrugs. 

“Can I at least get your number?” he asks, hands already fishing the device out of his pocket, and Hara quickly punches her number in before handing the phone back. 

“See you around.” 

“Bye, Hara,” Taehyung grins, watching her walk off while waving at her, and Hara smiles and shakes her head as she leaves the street. 

She stuffs her hands inside her pockets and takes a deep breath, her lungs burning when they’re filled with icy autumn air, and then she almost jumps out of her skin when Jungkook’s car rushes past her, a honk resonating in the quiet morning air. 

“ing-.” 

She bites her tongue and decides to use the anger as fuel to warm herself up. Luck be with any poor soul that decides to test her patience on the way home.