Jisoo stared at her ugly cookies with a frown. She swore she used the cute bunny and heart shaped cookie cutters so how could they have turned out looking so… horrible? Just to make sure the cookies tasted alright, she picked up one of the blobby looking cookies and bit into it, chewing slowly.

“Yummy!” she exclaimed, clasping her hands together. “At least they weren’t a complete failure.”

She piled the cookies into a small plastic bag and tied it with a pink ribbon. The pink ribbon matched her walls and she couldn’t help but let a small smile spread across her lips. Jisoo didn’t know if Taehyung liked cookies or not but who could go wrong with delicious sweets, even if they were shaped a little funny.

Taehyung seemed a little rough on the outside but she was sure he was a big softie on the inside. Or else he wouldn’t have switched places with her because he thought she was going to fall off the chair. He also wouldn’t have stayed around to help paint her room. And he wouldn’t have told her to fix her door. She smiled at his roundabout way of worrying about her.

Closing her creaking door behind her (which she reminded that she needed to get fixed), she turned to head to Taehyung’s apartment when she suddenly bumped into someone.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized, bowing her head.

The man looked down at her with curious eyes and noted the bag of cookies in her hand. “Where are you headed, miss?” he asked.

“Right next door actually,” she pointed to Taehyung’s door.

The man kept his eyes fixed on Taehyung’s apartment before staring back down at her. Jisoo shifted uncomfortably at the scrutinizing stare he was giving her. “Um, do you know him?” she asked timidly, not knowing what else to say.

“You could say I’m a friend of his.”

Jisoo perked up at this. “Really? Are you here to visit him too?”

“No. I’m just passing by. Are you a friend of his?”

“Yes—“ she stopped. Was she really? “No, I’m his neighbor,” she amended, looking down at her feet. She supposed she still had a long way to go before she could actually be his friend.

The man gave her that strange look again before tipping his hat and walking past her. “Tell Taehyung I said hello.”

Jisoo nodded before waving at the man who disappeared down the stairs. She knocked on Taehyung’s door and waited for a minute before the door swung open.

“What do you want?”

Jisoo held up her bag of cookies and gave him a wide smile. “It’s a thank you gift.” When he just stared at her blankly, she blushed slightly and fidgeted. “You know… for helping me with my room.”

His eyes shifted towards the hideous cookies and back to the nervous girl in front of him. She really must not be around here if she was making homemade cookies as a gratitude gift. People in downtown Seoul never gave gifts. In fact, they never baked, period.

Taehyung ignored the way she looked as her cheeks tinted pink and she shuffled in front him. He looked over her head and out into the hallway, narrowing his eyes. He was positive he heard a man’s voice out in the hall before she knocked.

“Who were you talking to before?” he asked gruffly.

“What?” Her eyes widened.

“Was anyone here with you?” he repeated.

Jisoo nodded slowly, wondering why he was asking so suddenly. Besides, didn’t his friend just leave after visiting him? “Yeah. A man with a black hat. He said he was your friend?” she said, confusion apparent on her face.

Taehyung stiffened. He specifically told none of his friends to come to his apartment because they were meeting at the club later. In fact, Jimin had texted him before saying they were all at Suga Monster already.

He pushed Jisoo out of the doorway and ran down the hall and down the stairs. He looked left and right but was met with emptiness. He growled under his breath before stalking back to his room.

Taehyung’s steps slowed as he saw Jisoo kneeling on the ground. His eyes locked on to the broken cookies scattered across the floor and he felt a twinge of guilt.

Jisoo hadn’t expected Taehyung to push her so roughly when he flew out of his apartment and she fell to the floor in shock, dropping her cookies. She picked up a broken cookie and bit her lip, willing herself not to cry. How pathetic would he think she was to be crying over spilt cookies. It was like a baby crying over spilt milk.

“Get up,” he said, the bite in his voice a bit softer than usual. When she didn’t listen and reached over to pick up another damaged cookie, he yanked her up by her elbow and pushed her away from his apartment, into the hall. He ignored the flash of fear and hurt in her eyes and looked away. “Get out of here,” he told her coldly. “Leave.”

He slammed the door in her face and she bit the inside of her cheek, forcing the tears at the corners of her eyes to recede. “Fine then. Goodbye, you jerk!” she retorted, whirling on the balls of her feet and stomping down the stairs.

She really needed a drink.

Back inside his apartment, Taehyung grabbed his cellphone and scrolled through the texts from his friends.

I think Bang Shihyuk sent some men down here to check on us –Yoongi

I saw some men tailing me –Jungkook

Damn that man –Hoseok

Why is he keeping tabs on us… –Jin

Be careful –Namjoon

Taehyung, I saw someone suspicious walking up the stairs when I left your apartment. I think it was Noh JIhoon –Jimin

Taehyung grit his teeth before deleting all the messages. First rule of being in a gang meant to erase anything that could be used against them or to link them to the organization in any way. That was the reason why he had no contacts on his phone; he merely memorized all the numbers he needed.

With the exception of one contact. He stared at the contact he had labeled ‘?’

That girl.

He flipped his phone shut and threw it on his bed. If Jihoon was the one talking to Jisoo in the hall, he probably knew that she was coming to visit him. Taehyung cursed the bad timing of the entire situation. He didn’t know what exactly Jisoo told Jihoon but Jihoon knew she was connected to him in some way and that was bad enough.

A sigh escaped his lip and he leaned down to the floor, staring at the cookies. He picked one up and gave an amused snort.

“What the hell are these supposed to be?” He flipped the cookie around, examining the blob shape. “How ugly,” he muttered