.:Chapter 5: Trouble at Home:.

The next morning, Mihi’s body felt more refreshed and she was less drowsy. Yoongi went into her room several times to check her temperature. He was a lazy bum but he took care of her when she needed it. The only thing annoying her was how verbally rude he was towards her coworkers.

“I bet Jimin couldn’t take care of you at all. He’s too busy picking fights with everyone he sees’.” Yoongi said wiping a warm washcloth over her forehead.

“…” Mihi didn’t say anything. She wanted to scream at him and point a finger at him for doing that but she was too tired to.

“Are you even searching for a job?” She changed the subject.

“I’m trying my best.” Yoongi said, helping her get up. He tried to help pull her shirt over her head but she stopped him.

“I could do that myself, thank you.” Mihi pulled it down, embarrassed. If he was trying his best, why was he still dressed in pajamas every time she came home?

Yoongi backed off. “So are you going to work today?” He sat on her bed.

“I have to.” She slid off her bed and rummaged through her closet. She sighed. She felt fine. She just had to take it easy a bit. “Can you please leave the room? Or do you want to see my ?” She took her work clothes out and stuffed them underneath her arm.

Yoongi didn’t say anything which concerned her. He just sat there for a minute and then slid off the bed when she waited for him by the door.

“Fine.” He spat.

Mihi almost reddened when she slowly closed the door. What was he thinking just now?

When Mihi finally got dressed and sped to work she was greeted by her many coworkers who were concerned over her. She had to explain several times that she was fine.

She worked under low pressure. They didn’t expect much from her since she was just admitted out of the hospital. She used this opportunity to relax a bit.

After she was done busting tables, she went to the garbage can to throw away any left overs. Jimin was there, replacing the garbage bag that was full.

“Mihi…” Jimin greeted.

Mihi nodded her head, unsure what to say to Jimin. Ever since Jimin had that quarrel with Yoongi yesterday, she couldn’t completely look at him the same.

“Can I talk to you a bit outside, when you’re not busy?” Jimin asked smoothing out the edges of the trashcan.

“It’s fine. I’ll meet you at the back in two minutes.”

Jimin looked relieved. “Thanks.”

Mihi finished up her work. She didn’t know what Jimin wanted her to talk about. Maybe it had to do with yesterday. Either way, she was nervous. He told her he wanted a friendly relationship with him but it was going to be hard to fully open up to him when she was distracted by his features.

Mihi walked outside to talk to Jimin. He was standing there with his hands in his pocket, deep in thought.

“You wanted to say something?” Mihi crossed her arms, bringing his attention to her.

Jimin looked up, finally aware that Mihi was outside. “I wanted to apologize to you and your roommate. I didn’t mean to cause a scene.” Jimin’s brows drew together. “It won’t happen again.”

Mihi was taken by surprise. She had no idea that Jimin would be the one beating himself over what Yoongi did yesterday. She actually thought that he wanted express his annoyance with her roommate but instead he apologized.

“Really?” Mihi blinked at him. “You’re not mad?”

Jimin scratched his ear. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t mad…” He turned his attention away from her to look at the clouds. “It’s just that I’ve made mistakes before and the best thing I could do is to man up and apologize. Plus, I get it. He was probably worried about you and was just protecting you.”

Mihi didn’t know what to say exactly. She knew it was Yoongi who started it and Jimin probably provoked him but he had no intention to. It wasn’t Jimin’s fault at all and yet here he was, apologizing for something he had no control over.

“Are you serious?” Mihi started to say. “I don’t think you should be apologizing. You’re the one who saved me.”

Jimin frowned. “Yeah, but I probably stressed you out more at the end.”

“No, you didn’t.” Mihi couldn’t take it anymore. “He did. So don’t apologize.”

Jimin shrugged. “I wanted to. Just let him know that I did.” Jimin walked to the door. “Eat lunch with us today, okay?” The corner of lips rose and he left her alone.

Mihi stood there dumbfounded. Park Jimin was an interesting one.

Mihi went back inside to work on more things when she felt a pair of eyes watching her. She concentrated on her notepad until Hoseok came up to talk to her.

They exchanged some friendly banter, something she felt the need to do. Hoseok did miss a couple hours of work to stay with her at the hospital. If that’s what he was doing to make her forgive him, it helped a little. He shouldn’t have to miss anything for someone who wasn’t kind to him daily.  

“That guy you’re living with…what type of relationship do you have with him?” He asked suddenly.

Out of all the questions Hoseok could have asked, he had to ask that? Hoseok was always amusing even though he was a horse, an idiot, and never knew the word ‘personal space’. She thought that he was going to ask about why she was living with Yoongi or something over protective as usual but instead, he was worried about her relationship with her roommate.

Did the word ‘roommate’ not explain anything to him? Did he think it meant something more? Knowing Hoseok, he was definitely thinking something more. The way he tried to hide his concern was amusing enough.

She decided to have her fun with him.

She told him to meet in the staff room to lengthen his worries. She plopped on the couch and stretched her legs and decided to test him with a few questions. She watched as Hoseok answered them as plainly as he could but she could tell he was growing more and more anxious when she didn’t tell him exactly what her relationship with Yoongi was. It was fun.

She stared at him a few times, causing him to blush. Hoseok was kind of cute when he acted this way. Mihi was surprised when that thought crossed her mind. She still hasn’t forgiven him for what he did to her but the least she could do was repay him for being concerned. So she owed him an explanation, something to make him not worried since he was obviously bothered if Yoongi and she were in a relationship.

After the long pause, Mihi finally leaned in closer.

 “Well he’s not a relative of mine.” Mihi finally said.

“I see.”

His eyes were losing life by the second, like he was giving up on something.

She started to laugh. He was taking her so seriously, it was so sad.

“He’s a friend from high school. We live together. That’s all I’m saying. I have to repay you for advising me to take care of myself. I’m…sorry for not listening.” Mihi got up and dusted her skirt.

From the corner of her eye, Hoseok eyes widened and resumed his usual grin he held up every day.

Someone was happy. If she ever did have a boyfriend, what would he do though?

“Relieved?~” She couldn’t help but say.

When he denied it, she wanted to smack the back of his head. Don’t lie to yourself.

She stared at him when he walked out the room, the energy in him was once again regained.

That afternoon, she ate lunch with the boys. She was still nervous around Jimin and kept herself in but he wasn’t as talkative around her either.

Hoseok was the only one trying to push them together and to be comfortable.

Hoseok would make the dumbest jokes and they would both start laughing. She couldn’t believe that she was laughing at a joke Hoseok made. She would usually laugh because he was dumb but then I guess she was surprised that he was genuinely funny.

She used many opportunities to insult him and sometimes she would throw some at Jimin to see how he would take it. Jimin would just laugh it off. Jimin wasn’t the best person at comebacks so he made an easy person to target.

When she got home, Yoongi was watching tv again while taking notes? It was an odd combination.

“Yoongi, did you look for a job?” Mihi slipped off her shoes at the front door. She was expecting his answer to be no but was surprised when he nodded.

“Yeah, I applied and everything.”

“Good.” Mihi was pleased. “So what are you working on?” She looked over his shoulder.

“Lyrics.” He said, writing out something.

Mihi peered over his shoulder a little longer, not sure whether to bring up what Jimin said.

Yoongi turned his head so that their faces were a couple inches apart. “Do you need something?”

Mihi backed away. “I wanted to deliver a message.”

“Well?”

“From Jimin.”

Yoongi rolled his eyes. “Really now? This should be interesting. What does a delinquent like him have to say to me?”

Mihi fumed. “H-he said that he wanted to say sorry to you.”

Yoongi raised an eye brow. “What else?”

“And that you were probably worried about me and you were trying to protect me.”

“He’s right about that.” Yoongi paused. “Tell him, I don’t care if he apologizes to me, I still won’t like him.”

“Yoongi!” Mihi finally snapped. “You know you started that fight so accept his apology.”

“I don’t have to accept anything.”

“You’re so stubborn, it drives me nuts!”

“I’m stubborn? You’re stubborn.” He got off the couch. “You won’t forgive that Hoseok guy because he kissed you right? Well if you want to know the truth, it was an accident.”

“…” Mihi didn’t know what to say. “But you were on my side when you first heard about it.”

“Yeah but then I thought about it. Why are you so mad? You should be happy it wasn’t a really bad guy stealing your first kiss.”

Mihi couldn’t take what else he had to say. She left the living room to her room and shut the door.

The next couple days she grew closer to Hoseok and Jimin. They were the only ones bringing light to her day. The problem was Yoongi. Every time she came home, he would tell her that the job offers didn’t accept him. Then he would bring up Jimin every once in a while to make her mad. Sometimes it wasn’t about Jimin. It was about his job, their house, the cleanliness, the food. Everything possible. A few times, she got into an argument with him but it didn’t last too long.

Yoongi was really good with words and knew what to say to shut her up. It was frustrating for her to get her point across. He was very intimidating at times and she gave up all together. She was never scared of Yoongi when they were in high school but nowadays he would lose it in a loud voice if he didn’t like what he was hearing.

“I told you to clean up a little since you’re staying home every day.” She nagged him.

“You’re not my mom.” Yoongi replied back.

Mihi clenched her fists. “Yoongi, I’m sick of your attitude. It’s so damn annoying. We were never like this back then? Why now?”

“Maybe because I have to see your face every day, that’s why!” Yoongi shouted as he got off the couch. “I never knew seeing someone’s face so much would make me realize how much I hate seeing it.”

Mihi grew quiet. Yoongi didn’t mean it right? He was just mad. He was spouting nonsense.

“Do you really mean that?” Her voice got quiet. “You’re just angry. You say stupid things when you’re angry.” Mihi searched for any signs of regret on his face but there was none.

“No. I mean it. I never knew that your constant nagging would finally push my limits with you.”

“Did I do something wrong before?” Mihi’s eyes started to fill up with tears. “Does that mean other things about me bother you?” She shouted accusingly.

“Yes. A very big one.” Yoongi said calmly. He sighed heavily. “You’re the idiot. I’m tired of waiting for you to notice.”

“Notice what? That you’re a slob and I should accept you?”

Yoongi bit his bottom lip and refused to say anything.

Mihi held back the tears. If he hated her face so much then she should leave right?

“I’ll leave tomorrow if it makes you happy. Good luck paying the rent without me.” Her face was straight with no emotion.

“Mihi…” Yoongi started to say but she didn’t hear the rest as she shut the door to her room and dragged out her suitcase.

She wasn’t going to cry over him. No man is worth crying over.

When she went to work the next day, she worried. Where could she go? Where would she stay? She admit, she didn’t have much friends. There were a few people at work she could ask but she didn’t know them too well. How long was she going to stay away from Yoongi?

That morning she left really early because she didn’t want to see him. She left so early that she didn’t have time to grab her lunch which forced her to go to the store during break and buy some.

When she met Jimin and Hoseok at the table, she made sure her face was clear of worry. The last thing she wanted was them to worry even more about her. How to bring it up to them?

She finally decided to bring up her urgent question when they were relaxed. What she didn’t expect was Jimin’s hand to be on hers. Mihi didn’t notice but she was practically shaking with fear. What if they both said no?

Jimin’s warm hand calmed her. It brought her back to the reality that she could comfortably ask these two because they were her coworkers but also because they were coworkers who she grew close to in a short amount of time.

“Can one of you let me live at your house for a while? Yoongi is driving me insane these days. I can’t be around him any longer.” She stared at them with pleading eyes. “It won’t be long, I promise. I don’t have any female friends I could ask. Honestly, I don’t really care about the gender but I need a place to crash for a while.”

Hoseok was the first to speak. With an extremely desperate yell of ‘YES’, she was convinced that he had no boundaries when it came to expressing feelings.

Well at least Hoseok said yes. Now she didn’t have to worry. She never thought that she would be the one asking Hoseok if she could crash at his place. He was the enemy of her lips but she’ll put that aside for now since this was urgent.

Her hand was squeezed and patted and the next thing she knew, Jimin was telling her that she had permission to stay at his place too. This really caught her off guard. She couldn’t help but blush. Jimin wasn’t usually touchy and she didn’t allow anyone to touch her beside her roommate but his hand and expression was warm.

Maybe he was still sorry about the Yoongi thing? Maybe Jimin thought she was leaving because he thought it was his fault that Yoongi and she were at odds. Jimin’s explanation was because he was helping a friend in need. It was enough for her to melt.

Her eyes met with Hoseok’s and Jimin’s eyes. Hoseok was annoyed that she was paying attention to Jimin a lot more. She couldn’t help it.

To decide between the two was hard. She was more comfortable around Hoseok because of his friendliness and she didn’t know Jimin that well but she knew he was a good person too. They both had roommates so thankfully anything odd that will happen, would happen in the presence of the other.

Truthfully, she wanted to know about Jimin more but she should be fair. Hoseok seemed the most eager when it came it came to it. She had to be cautious though in case he had ulterior motives but she shouldn’t think too much of that. He did prove a little that he cared about her.

Before she could answer, an earth shattering scream from the kitchen shook her train of thought.

“Fire!!!” A woman yelled.

The trio stumbled out of their seat and ran quickly the back door. Fire? How could this be? Mihi thought. 

A river of smoke rushed out of the doorway once Jimin flung the door open.

Mihi coughed hard and waved a hand in front of her face.

With a blink of an eye, Jimin ran inside. Mihi was going to follow him but Hoseok held her hand back.

“Wait here, okay? Promise me.” Hoseok held out his pinky.

Mihi hesitated and Hoseok impatiently pulled her hand up and wrapped his pinky around hers. “Don’t break it unless you don’t want your pinky!”

Hoseok nodded at her when she didn’t try to run in. He prepared himself and then ran in himself.

She couldn’t believe she listened but Hoseok had his serious expression on. She took a several steps back as the doorway produced even more smoke. She called the fire department while she was waiting. Nervousness crept up her like a snake.

Are they both idiots? Why would they both run into a burning building?

She began to worry as seconds passed. They’re both okay aren’t they?

A crowd of workers and customers were in front of the building. Mihi spotted them as she looked over the fence. She should be there too just in case.

Mihi unlocked the fence and blended herself with the crowd outside. The building continually produced smoke and she could smell wood burning. Some of the workers had ash on them and burned clothes. The fire was increasing as the minutes passed.

Mihi tried to locate Jimin and Hosoek. “Has anyone seen Jimin and Hoseok?” Mihi asked several workers. They all shook their heads, trying to grasp what was in there. Her heart began to race. What if something happened to them in there? Why didn’t she go with them?

The fire department arrived shortly and they moved quickly inside the building. Several seconds later, Hoseok ran out with a girl in his arms. Not any girl but the snooty girl from day one of her first day of work. She had short black hair and her name was Nara.

Mihi didn’t like her at all but at least she made it out. She would never wish death upon her coworkers.

A sense of relief washed over her as she took a look at Hoseok who bravely saved her. He was alive.

Hoseok was covered in head to toe with ash and he had trouble breathing. He handed Nara over to a medical person and another medical person came to assist him. Mihi ran to his side and hesitantly pat him on the back. At least he was alive. Thank goodness.

“Hoseok, are you alright?” She patted him harder to get rid of all the dirt.

Hoseok nodded and coughed and breathed into an oxygen mask. His eyes looked like it was watering from the heat.

“Where’s Jimin?” She almost shouted. They went in together, why didn’t they come out together?“Why did you guys go in at all?!” She almost let her tears drop as she yelled at him. She was afraid to hear the worst news. Why wasn’t Jimin out here either? Why?

Hoseok shrugged and Mihi felt her heart drop. “No, don’t tell me…” She put her hand over .

When Hoseok had control of his breathing he coughed. “He went in before me, remember? I had no idea where he went. It was hard to see.” “I found Nara underneath a pile of boxes. It must have toppled over her as everyone rushed out.” Hoseok explained to her. The medics placed a blanket over his shoulder.

Mihi wanted to cry but instead she threw her arms around Hoseok and buried her face on his shoulder. She never knew how scared she was going to be when he left her. When they both her left her.

“Don’t do that again, idiot.” She hugged him tightly. She felt a warm blanket and a hand on her back pulling her closer.

“I won’t.” Hoseok whispered. His warmth spread over her and she felt herself relaxing a bit.

But then Jimin entered her mind once more. She tried her best not to cry but it was hard to since Jimin was still nowhere to be found. “But Jimin…”

Hoseok didn’t know what to say. Worry painted over his eyes.

After she said that, the crowd in the front of them shouted. Jimin rolled out of the building with a child. The child screamed and ran to his mom.

“Thank you! Just thank you!!!” The mother shook Jimin’s hand.

Jimin coughed violently, covered in dirt, scratches, and marks. He gave her a thin smile before the medical team assisted both of them.

Mihi slipped out of Hoseok’s blanket. Her nervousness was pushed away just by looking at Jimin’s face. He was alive! They both ran towards Jimin who held an oxygen mask to his face.

How is he still okay for this long? She didn’t care, as long as he was alive!

“Jimin!” She choked out a scream and hugged him around the waist.

She felt his body stiffen a bit and then he suddenly relaxed. Hoseok hugged both of them too, since he was the taller of the two. “Jiminie!!!” He screamed as well.

Jimin blushed since the attention was given to him. “I’m sorry I took so long.” He replied calmly as he patted them back.

After the fire died down, the department reported that there were no fire extinguishers in the whole restaurant. There was also reports of the fire alarms not working and had been disabled. It was almost as if someone purposely tried to burn down the building.

Their manager explained to the fire department that they did have fire extinguishers and the alarm was working fine but then he didn’t understand what had happened to them since the fire. He still got fined for have an unsafe building.

“Looks like we’re going to be out of work for a while until everything is replaced. I’ll call you guys in later when we’re done figuring out the cause for the fire and why everything disappeared.” The manager said. The workers nodded and parted ways and a few talked to the police for questioning.

At least no one died, Mihi thought. We cannot replace life.

“I tried to look for the extinguishers….” Jimin explained. “There was none and I was sure I saw them yesterday. I found a little boy crying without his mom and we had to stick together for a while since the door handles were very hot. The back door got blocked. Let’s just say everything was a complete mess in there.” Jimin sighed as Mihi and Hoseok listened.

I was really scared. Mihi tried to tell him but she couldn’t. Instead she nodded and placed her hand over his to comfort him, just like what he did to her. Jimin was an important friend to her. She honestly thought something had happened to him but thankfully he was saved.

“So did you decide yet?” Jimin asked after the trio went to another restaurant to eat a hot meal.

Mihi looked back and forth between the two.

“Yes. I have.”

The boys waited patiently.

“Hoseok.”

Hoseok started choking on his drink.

“I choose Hoseok.” Mihi stabbed her fork into her steak and placed it in to let that sink in. 

.:Chapter End:.