7

“At least he’s hot.” 

“Mina,” Hara says through gritted teeth, “you are not getting the point.” 

“Okay, okay, fine, your new stepbrother is an absolute douche, but Hara, my baby, my darling, I searched him up online and I swear to God if you think he’s unattractive I’m gonna have to disown you as a friend.” 

Hara groans and drops on her bed, pouting up at the ceiling. Mina snickers and Hara has half a mind to turn the call off, but then she’s reminded of why she contacted her best friend to begin with. 

She’s lonely. Like extremely lonely.

She wants to go out or just do something - anything,  but it’s impossible when the only people she knows are connected to the douchebag whom she would very much like to avoid. 

“Maybe you should take the offer,” Mina says after a few silent seconds, her voice sounding tired and a little raspy, and Hara feels guilty for calling her friend this late in the night. Mina’s definitely got classes tomorrow morning. 

“I can’t afford it, Mina. I don’t have enough money to even buy the books.”

“Didn’t your stepdaddy buy them for you already?” Mina asks, “the books and the uniform?”

“Yeah, I forgot I mentioned that. Also, if you ever call him that again, I’m blocking your number.”

Mina chuckles. “So what’s the issue? Tell him you wanna start studying and fix yourself a damn routine.” 

“I can’t, Mina, I really can’t.” 

Mina is quiet for a short beat before she gently asks, “why not? He willingly wants to spend money on you and your mother, why can’t you accept it and maybe make things easier for him as well?” 

Hara hates how Mina always knows exactly what words to use. 

She lies still and goes over her options, feeling a little annoyed at how saying yes is literally the only thing she’ll benefit from. Yunho will also feel like he’s treating his new stepdaughter right, and her mother will also feel some peace. 

And she's gonna be trapped in this town for three whole months, she might as well get something out of it. 

Plus, if it irks Jungkook to the point of having him personally follow her out and indirectly praise her for declining the offer, well, Hara hates to admit it kind of tips the weights completely in favour. 

“But I yelled at him,” she groans, “I threw a whole tantrum earlier, it’s gonna be embarrassing to say yes now.”

“I actually think it might be better.” Hara can imagine Mina shrugging, and she finds herself missing her stupid friend. “He’ll feel better. It’ll seem like you feel guilty for yelling at him, he’ll think your bond is stronger than it really is.” 

“You’re absolutely right.” Hara grins and snorts. “Can’t believe you’re this smart and yet you decided to decline all the scholarships you were offered because you don't wanna move cities. Well, at least you and Sana ended up at the same uni."

“Yeah, uh, funny,” Mina says, nervously chuckling, and Hara frowns a little but shrugs. 

“Anyways, I’m gonna go and tell him now, say goodbye to my dignity while you still have a chance.”

Hara is about to hang up when Minah laughs. “What dignity?”

“I’m blocking your number!” 

Hara throws her phone on the bed and shakes her head in disbelief before leaving her room. Too soon nervousness starts bubbling in her stomach, and it only intensifies when she leaves the hallway. 

She remembers where the office is located, but she walks slower than necessary and mentally goes over how to do this without dying of embarrassment.

One of the maids, Seohyun, she thinks, is turning off the main lights near the office, and Hara stops, her dry lips as she points at the door. 

“Is he in there?”

“Oh, yes, master Jeon is in there,” Seohyun says, smiling nervously, and Hara nods, stepping closer. She knocks on the door and waits, heart beating harshly against her chest, but a couple of seconds pass and no one opens. 

“Are you sure he’s inside?” Hara frowns over her shoulder at Seohyun who rapidly nods.

“Yes, miss, I saw him enter not long ago.” 

Hara knocks again and frowns because Yunho still won't open the door, and she sighs and decides to try her luck tomorrow but the door suddenly opens and she jumps away in surprise.

Yunho smiles in amusement, but Hara finds comfort in the fact that Seohyun also jumped with her, and she quickly thanks the maid who bows and briskly leaves the hallway, probably to go and sleep. 

“Have you come to accept my offer?” 

Well that certainly makes things easier. 

“Y-yes,” Hara clears , tilting her head upwards, “I think it will be beneficial.”

“Indeed,” Yunho muses, a small smile still lingering, and Hara looks away, cheeks pink. “I will contact the principle first thing in the morning. Since it is thursday today, starting tomorrow seems a little pointless, but I think you should accompany your brother so he can maybe show you around. Make yourself a little familiar with the campus.”

Hara tries not to grimace at the word Yunho uses to describe Jungkook, but then she realizes he’s absolutely right, Jungkook is her brother. 

Stepbrother, her mind corrects, and she mentally shrugs. 

“Thank you, Yunho.” Hara clears her mind with a quick shake of the head and offers the tall male a small smile. “I’ll tell him myself, you don’t need to worry. Good night.” 

Hara bows slightly and turns around, moving down the long hallway but Yunho calls her name and she stops, turning around. 

“I just wanted to say, I just- I, uh.” 

Yunho purses his lips and looks away for a moment, clearly in the process of finding the correct words, and Hara is intrigued, frowning at the nervous male. Yunho doesn’t do nervous. 

“I do not consider you nor your mother as anything pertaining to charity,” he finally says.

Hara’s frown slowly disappears. Oh no. 

“I have never thought of money as a problem, and please, do not take this the wrong way. I just want you two to be comfortable, I want you to be happy and content with your new life.” 

Hara looks away when Yunho’s tone turns gentle, way too gentle. Her dad never spoke to her like that. Her dad barely spoke to her. 

“I hope you will forgive me for any distasteful impressions I might have given you, and please, if you ever feel something is wrong, come and confront me so we can clear out any misunderstandings.” 

Hara swallows the knot that has formed in and she’s grateful there’s a couple of feet between them because Yunho looks like the type who hugs to comfort, and Hara just knows she’ll melt right into him if he offers her one. 

“Okay,” she whispers, shaky, “I can do that. Yeah.” 

This is ruining our plan, a voice in the back of her head pipes up, and Hara knows, she’s aware. She just needs to feed these people what they want for a little while longer, then she’ll be free.

The only problem is she might just start feeling something for them. 

Hara feels a spark of fear at the prospect of anything getting in the way of her plan, and she quickly shakes her head and bows. 

“Good night, Yunho-ssi.” 

“Good night, Hara,” Yunho replies after a short moment of disappointed silence, obviously due to Hara addressing him so formally. 

But Hara does not dwell on that thought and leaves as quickly as she can, heart thundering in her chest and eyes prickling with ugly tears. Yunho is too good to dislike, and she hates that.

When she reaches her room, Hara stops and bites her lip. 

She’s obviously never going to ask Jungkook for a personal tour of their campus, but she thinks Taehyung and Hoseok might be helpful and maybe even willing to help.

Only issue is the fact that Taehyung has her number, but he hasn’t texted or called her yet so she’s left with no choice but to wait until tomorrow when she’ll be able to ask Jungkook for the digits. 

But wouldn't it be easier if she just asks him now and gets it over with? 

It’s nearing midnight, but surely Jungkook is awake, right? Hara doesn’t know of any teenager who sleeps before at least one a.m., so she sighs and turns on her heel. 

The house is completely quiet, and all of a sudden everything seems eerie for some reason. Hara doesn’t like how cold it is, and she regrets wearing a t-shirt and shorts for pajamas when a shiver runs down her spine. 

The main lights are all turned off, but the lamps on the walls are still on so there’s a soft orange glow everywhere, and Hara pushes away her fears and quickly moves down the grand staircase.

If she correctly remembers Leeteuk’s words from the tour she had received, the basement floor she never had the chance to see belongs to Jungkook, sort of like a mini hostel, but Hara is not quite sure how to get there so she gets lost in the myriad of hallways.

“Where the hell are the stairs?” she mumbles, biting her lip as she moves down another hallway, only then realizing that it leads to the dining hall. 

Hara suddenly recalls the events from yesterday, and she instantly follows the path Jungkook had taken when she had screamed murder on him.

The hallway thankfully leads to only two more, of which one ends in a lounge room Hara had zero idea existed, but she sees a stairwell and sighs in relief before gently treading down the carpeted steps. 

Hara doesn’t know what she expected, but a mini apartment should not surprise her.

There’s a huge bathroom to her right, a guest room to her left, and when she moves down the hallway there’s a door leading to a mini gym. Hara doesn’t check what’s behind the other closed doors, and she gently moves past the huge living room with a built in mini kitchen in the back, rolling her eyes all the while because Jungkook is spoiled alright. 

She finally makes it to what she believes is the bedroom, if the huge door is anything to go by, and she knocks and waits for a moment before gently opening the door. 

To her surprise, Jungkook is nowhere to be seen, but the lights are on.

Frowning, Hara moves further inside the grand room and looks around, quickly checking if maybe he’s inside the oversized walk-in-closet. Unlike Hara’s empty one, his is perfectly organized with items Hara just knows cost more than all her belongings and more in total. 

She then checks the bathroom with no luck but when she turns around to leave, Jungkook is standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest and a curious look on his face.

“What are you doing in my bathroom?” 

Hara ignores the mini heart attack she almost suffers and runs a shaky hand through her hair. “Was looking for you.”

“In my bathroom?”

“You were obviously not in your room,” Hara snaps, and Jungkook looks like he’s enjoying putting her on the spot. “Anyways, I came here for Tae’s number.” 

The amusement is wiped off Jungkook’s face in an instant. “What for?” 

“Doesn’t really concern you.” Hara arches an eyebrow. “So, you got it or do I have to wait until tomorrow?”

“What’s happening tomorrow?” Jungkook asks, his eyes hardening, and Hara sighs.

“I’ve accepted your father’s offer, he wants me to check the campus tomorrow so I thought Tae and Hobi could maybe show me around.”

“Hobi? Tae?” Jungkook scoffs, but there’s no sign of amusement in his tone. “What makes you think they’d want to do that?”

Hara ignores the sudden uneasiness she feels and shrugs. “They seem nice, I think they wouldn’t mind.”

“You’ve hung out with them once,” Jungkook clarifies condescendingly, “and you think they’re gonna ditch their classes and babysit you?” 

Hara hates Jungkook.

She especially hates how easy it is for him to put thoughts into her head. 

“You’re not exactly the type of person they usually befriend.” Jungkook looks like he’s enjoying this, and he leans against the doorframe and tilts his head to the side. “Plus, I don’t think Sunny and her friends would appreciate a new addition to their group.” 

“Do you have the number or not, Jeon?” Hara snaps, already fed up with his bull, but Jungkook doesn’t look like he’s done yet.

“I might.”

“Can you like, I don’t know, give it to me?” Jungkook smirks, actually smirks, and shrugs. 

“I don’t know, what’s in it for me?” 

“You won’t have to show me around yourself,” Hara grits through clenched teeth, “like your father wants you to.” 

Now this seems to work in Hara’s favour, because Jungkook’s smirk slowly dies out and he straightens up. 

“Yeah.” Hara nods. “He was going to appoint you as my babysitter tomorrow, but I told him I’d tell you myself.” 

“You’re not, though.” 

“No , Sherlock,” Hara mocks, rolling her eyes before walking closer to the doorway. “Now, give me the number and we’ll both be saved a torturous day tomorrow.” 

Jungkook’s jaw is clenched, and he stares at Hara with an indecipherable emotion for a while, making her a little uneasy. But Hara isn’t quite fond of letting bullies get away with bullying, so she stands unwavered, brows arched in challenge and expectation. 

“Give me the number, Jeon,” she murmurs, “and we can both get the to sleep.” 

Jungkook doesn’t say anything and instead turns on his heel, briskly leaving the room. Hara stares at the space in front of her, dumbfounded, but then quickly jogs after him, following him out into the living room space.

Jungkook doesn’t stop, however, and he continues all the way to the exit hallway, making Hara frown in curiosity. 

“Where are you going?” she asks, abruptly coming to a halt when Jungkook stops at the end of the hallway leading to the staircase up. 

“I’m showing you around tomorrow. Go to bed.” 

And with that Jungkook turns back around and leaves. 

Hara stares after his retreating figure in bewilderment, her brain taking a couple of seconds to process what just happened. 

“What the hell?” Jungkook doesn’t stop and Hara groans in annoyance and follows him back down the hallway. “Hey, nuthead, I’m talking to you.”

“You heard what I said,” Jungkook says, not even bothering to look over his shoulder, “I’m not repeating myself.”

“Yeah, unfortunately I’ve got ears, but that’s besides the point.” 

Hara grunts when she has no choice but to reach forward and grab Jungkook’s wrist, using almost all her force to stop him from entering the living room. 

Jungkook looks surprised when he turns around, his eyes moving down to her fingers clasped around his wrist, but Hara quickly lets go and takes a small step back. 

“I thought you didn’t want me getting in your way,” she mutters, clearing . “Why the hell do you suddenly wanna give me a tour?” 

“I don’t want to force any burdens onto my friends.” Hara grits her teeth in annoyance because this son of a just called her a burden.

“I don’t want people to associate me with a lowlife like you,” she retaliates, shaking her head. “Spare the trouble, just give me Tae’s number and I’ll be out of-”

“Don’t call him Tae,” Jungkook suddenly snaps, and Hara blinks in surprise, teeth clacking when she shuts . Jungkook’s expression turns blank as quickly as it had turned sour, but his jaw is clenched and his stare is hard. “Taehyung and Hoseok hyung do not need to do anything for you, so leave them be.”

“I didn’t realize you were this territorial,” Hara says, ignoring the hurt she feels at the thought of Jungkook’s words being true, “but what can you do? Dogs are nothing but animals, I wouldn’t expect them to understand normal human behaviour anyways.”

Jungkook actually growls at that, low in the back of his throat, and Hara would have laughed had it not been as frightening as it is, especially since it’s in the middle of the night, everyone’s asleep and she’s all alone in Jungkook’s fricking dungeon. 

“Watch your mouth,” he snarls, stepping closer, and Hara feels trapped when her back hits the wall behind her. Jungkook seems angrier than usual, almost like he could hurt her if he wanted to. 

Hara realizes she has been stepping over the line ever since she’s met this boy, and in addition to this she’s literally on his territory - Jungkook is capable of doing anything he wants and getting away with it as long as his father is left in the dark. 

Hara should stop, she should bow her head and accept the defeat, turn around and haul before she actually gets hurt. 

But does she ever use her braincells responsibly?

Responsibly?

There’s unfortunately no such word in her dictionary. 

“Make me, Jeon.”