Hyunjung shook as much water droplets off her coat as possible, and then hung it on the coat peg after she slipped off her school shoes. She locked the door. “I’m home, uncle!” She remembered he was probably still at work, but looked in the living-room and the kitchen just in case, but there wasn’t anyone there. He was usually home before her, so she assumed it wouldn’t be long until he arrived from work.

After turning the heating on, Hyunjung plodded up to her room, her feet cold and tired from walking through the rain. Before anything else, she switched her school socks to a thicker pair and chucked her school ones into the laundry basket, then hurriedly changing into her home clothes. Hyunjung inspected her uniform. Thanks to her coat, her school shirt and blazer were adequately dry. She unfortunately couldn’t say the same for her skirt.

Her shoulders sunk. She only ironed it this morning, and her other skirt was in the wash. Oh well. She’ll just have to hang on the drying rack in the living room and hope that it would dry before tomorrow morning.  

It was still raining outside, though not as heavy as earlier, and she spent about two minutes (pointlessly) dazing out the window. She had planned to do something productive earlier on, but today seemed to have drained all her motivation. Perhaps it was the rain. But a small voice in her head was screaming at her that she just being plain lazy. She couldn’t do nothing for the rest of the evening, so she thought she may as well force herself to do something. As badly as she didn’t want to do any self-studying, she had nothing else to do. Other than watch television, go on her laptop, or self-study (which she thought of earlier). If her uncle came home and saw her watching a love drama on a weekday, he would force her to cook her own square meals for the rest of her school life.

That was an exaggeration, he wasn’t that harsh. The worst he could do would be to turn the TV off.

So self-study it was.

Or she could watch a video compilation of cats being jerks.

No. Self-study. Self-study, she repeated in her head.

She hurried straight to her room to get a textbook before she changed her mind.

-

“Hyung, what are you doing?” Taewon asked while flicking back and forth through the channels on the television. As usual on a school day, their dad was still at work which left Taewon and his older brother at home. Taewon hogged the space on the couch; his upper body was sprawled on most of it and his legs were stretched on the other half. While Taehyung had his textbooks spread out in front of him on the coffee table and was sat (quite comfortably) on the floor in front of it.

Taewon sighed. “Hyung. What are you doing?” he said again, prodding Taehyung’s back with his foot. Taehyung countered back by pinching his leg, which only made Taewon all the more determined to prod him back harder. Taehyung just moved to sit on the other side of the table.

“Self-study,” the older finally replied.

Taewon’s face twisted into a pinched look. “You’re so boring.”

“I know,” Taehyung said, scanning through the page of his textbook. Taewon finally settled to watch a music program. “Which subject?” he asked, his eyes focused on the screen.

“Chemistry.”

“Boring.”

“Shut up,” Taehyung grumbled, his eyes going back down to the page.

“But it is!”

“You know nothing.”

Taewon blinked at his older brother. “Well I’m only ten.” Taehyung inhaled slowly, continuing with what he was doing. At times like these, it seemed to be the only thing he could do to keep himself focused. He didn’t really know why he didn’t just go to his room instead of being with his ten-year-old brother who had the mentality of someone four years older. Taehyung had by now accepted that his own personality traits had rubbed off on him.

Taewon eventually turned the television off and had moved from his seat on the couch to the floor and sat opposite Taehyung. He tried his best to not accidentally disarrange his notes as he knew how irritated he got when that happened. Taewon tilted his head a little to see what his brother was writing. But in the end he just gave up after reading the first word. He clicked his tongue a few times. “Hey hyung, it’s nearly your birthday.”

“It’s two months away.”

“Still pretty close. What do you think your friends are giving you?”

Taehyung scribbled down a few notes. “I don’t really have many friends so—”

At this, Taewon straightened and looked at him oddly. “But Hyunjung noona said that she was your friend. Should I tell her you said that?” he said in a playful tone.

Taehyung’s head snapped up and he scowled at the grin on Taewon’s face. “Please. Don’t.”

Knowing Hyunjung, Taehyung guessed she probably wouldn’t leave him alone for a few weeks if Taewon told her that. And she would most likely swing her bag at him a few times to top it off.

Or worse, she wouldn’t talk to him ever again, and as often as Taehyung thought she was a distraction, he had eventually gotten used to her company. “Of course she’s my friend. I didn’t say she wasn’t. I’m just saying I don’t have that many.”

Taewon nodded. “Having only a few people as friends is perfectly fine too. But do you have an idea of what they’re getting you? Like with me, I know Hoya is probably getting me a Rubik’s Cube – he practically told me already,” he boasted with a laugh.

“I haven’t told them,” Taehyung said.

“Huh?” Taewon’s face twisted into an incredulous expression. “Then how are they supposed to know what to get you if you haven’t even told them when your birthday is? You’re weird. Like, really weird. I’m surprised someone like Hyunjung noona is friends with a boring, rude, weird person like you,” he reeled off bluntly.

“You little son of a –”

Taewon beamed. “Maybe I should ask noona to give you a kiss. That would be something you can smile about.”

A fleeting silence passed between them, and Taewon’s grin slowly fell when the tips of Taehyung’s ears were getting tinged with a pink and he had this unfamiliar expression on his face. Was he imagining this? He rubbed his eyes just in case. Geez, Taewon thought, he wasn’t supposed to take that seriously.

Taehyung closed his eyes and pursed his lips. “Taewon, let me make this as monosyllabic as possible. She – has – a – boyfriend. I already told you.”

“Oh, yeah. You did.” Taewon tilted his head. “How about a hug? Come on, you can’t be like this forever. If you’re going to be boring, at least have someone you can be boring around for the rest of your life.”

That was it. Taehyung wordlessly gathered his notes, textbooks and other stationary he had and stood up. How was he supposed to concentrate if he had some child patronizing him every few minutes? Taewon raised a brow, but shrugged. “Alright then. You can go be boring on your own.”

Taehyung scoffed and grudged his way up to his room. As if he cared.

-

Jungkook put on his jacket. “Thanks for staying behind a few minutes to help, Jeon,” Mr. Song said after locking the storage room. “Ah, it’s been a disaster this year.”

“I’m sure we’ll be more prepared next year, sir,” Jungkook reassured as he followed Mr. Song past the lockers.

“If only we had expected this damn rain.”

“Surprises happen.”

The teacher sighed. “Get back home safely, okay?” he said and patted Jungkook on the back. “Don’t go catching a cold.” Jungkook nodded and pulled his hood up before opening the double doors.

Although not as heavy as earlier, it was still raining. He didn’t mind – he had a waterproof on anyway, so it wasn’t a bother. It was cold so he shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, but he felt something already in there. He smiled fondly to himself when he remembered that Hyunjung had saved him a cookie from her lunch. With a hurry in his step, he padded to a bus shelter and took the folded paper bag out from his pocket. The cookie was luckily still not crushed and he broke a piece off and put it in his mouth as he placed his school bag by the seat and sat down. He heard someone shuffle beside him and he glanced briefly to the side; the person next to him appeared to be wrapped in three thick layers of clothing with their coat hood tightly pulled over their head. He also noted how small the person was.

“Good evening,” he said out of common courtesy, but the person next to him only nodded quickly without turning their head. Jungkook broke another piece of the cookie and continued to eat it until he had finished. He then stood, picking his school bag and putting the straps over his shoulders. He pulled his hood tighter over his head and began to walk away.

“B-bye.”

Jungkook paused only for a second and turned his head back to the owner of the timid voice. He smiled and gave a small wave at her before resuming his way back home.

-

“How was work?” Hyunjung looked up from her textbook once she heard the front door click and a shuffle. Her uncle came into the living-room shortly after while taking off his coat.

“Gosh, that was some rain out there.” He looked to Hyunjung who was lying on her stomach on the floor with a textbook and notes in front of her. “Work was the usual. Not that exciting,” was the simple answer to her question, and he hung his coat on the drying rack. Hyunjung sat up and moved her things out of the way so he could go to the couch and take a seat, which he did with a tired sigh.

“Anyway,” he began, grabbing the remote on the coffee table. “How was school? I’m guessing your sports fest was cancelled?”

Hyunjung nodded. “Yup. I didn’t get to run.”

“Is that a good or bad thing?”

“Good,” she replied, staring back down at her textbook. “Running doesn’t appeal to me.”

“Just like Soa,” Hyunwoo muttered to himself, and Hyunjung’s head perked up the instant her mom’s name was mentioned.

“When do you think I’ll be able to see my family? Simply phone calls aren’t enough. I really miss them,” she admitted. Yes, she was the one who wanted to move to the city in the first place, but it wasn’t merely because she wanted to (though that was one of the reasons), but even her parents knew that the countryside wasn’t a place of many opportunities.

Uncle Hyunwoo thought for a moment. “Probably sometime during your winter vacation. So maybe Christmas you’ll get to visit?”

Hyunjung’s brows furrowed. “Aren’t you coming?”

He shook his head sadly. “I have work the day after Christmas, so I can’t. But I wish I could.” Seeing the frown forming on his niece’s face, he quickly changed the topic – “So what subject is that for?” He gestured to her textbook.

“Hm? Oh, chemistry,” she answered.

He glanced over at her notes. “Homework?”

“No, just self-study.”

The lines on her uncle’s forehead creased as his brows knitted together, and he looked at her in disbelief. “Hang on, I thought you didn’t like chemistry,” he asserted.

She waved her hands in front of her. “Oh no, just thermodynamics. This is much easier to understand.”

“What is it?”

Hyunjung showed him the page she was looking at. “Nucleophilic properties of amines.”

He looked once at the diagram and then blinked at her. “Oh. That’s nice.” He reached out to grab the newspaper and leaned his back on the couch. “Well done. Carry on.” Hyunjung brought her textbook and notes with her so she could sit next to him. She pulled the coffee table a little closer to her and laid her textbook on the surface.

Evenings usually went by like this, when there was nothing else that they could do. Minutes passed with them like that; Hyunjung still studying, and her uncle reading the newspaper. But very soon, he spoke up. “Hyunjung, who’s that boy who waits outside our house in the morning? He’s been there more frequently the past month.”

Hyunjung’s head snapped up. “H-huh?”

“You heard what I said.” The tone he used was almost teasing.

She gave a hard gulp. “Oh, he’s um… he’s – uh – he’s my –”

Uncle Hyunwoo raised a brow. “Your boyfriend?”

Hyunjung blinked as he waited for an answer.

Her shoulders sunk. “Y-Yes…” Her uncle seemed to be enjoying her flustered state. “He is,” she confessed with a quiet voice, with a stupid hope that her uncle would think she was joking. But he believed everything. He didn’t appear surprised though. He probably knew for a while now, was what Hyunjung thought.

He brought a finger to his chin. “I swear I’ve seen his face somewhere. Hang on, I’ll be back.” He put the newspaper aside and stood to go to the kitchen. He came back seconds later, with the school newsletter in his hand. He flicked through a few pages, but it didn’t take long for him to find the page he was looking for. “Ah-hah! He’s on the honor’s page. See.” The page had photographs of students from the second to third year, all of whom Hyunjung recognized. He brought the newsletter closer, and she looked to exactly where he was pointing. Underneath his photograph read the words; ‘Jeon Jungkook –Lead the first-year baseball team to first place, breaking Gangnam International Academy’s six-year winning streak. Notable recognition for his participation and contribution to the school’s sports’ team. – Second Year.’

Hyunjung read over the words a little longer than she thought, and was greeted with the teasing grin of her uncle as soon as she looked up. She could feel heat rush to her cheeks. “Uh, yes. That’s him.”

“Quite some guy he is,” her uncle said, glancing back down at the newsletter. “Haven’t even met him, but he’s always in some article in your newsletter. Quite some guy he is,” he said again, and Hyunjung wanted to just make a run for it. Not as if she had many places she could go though. “You need to invite him over sometime. I’d like to meet this boy and see if he’s actually golden as they say he is.”

Hyunjung sulked. “You’ve heard about that?” she asked, and his lip twitched.

“Students are the ones who write the newsletter. Turns out the editors are also students,” he told her. “Why didn’t you tell me that Jeon Jungkook was your boyfriend? I know I’m not your mom, but you can tell me these things too,” he said with a chuckle, and Hyunjung forced out a laugh which came out more awkward than she expected.

She stood suddenly. “I-I really need to go for a wee.”

Uncle Hyunwoo crossed his arms. “You’re taking your textbook with you?”

She paused and pursed her lips. “I’m – I’m going to study in my room afterwards, plus it’s too cold here which isn’t a good environment to study and I’m also hungry,” she rambled, and picked up one of her notebooks she dropped while scrambling to gather all her notes.

“But the heating is on –”

The door that led to the kitchen had already closed, and Hyunwoo looked back down at the newsletter. So, Jeon Jungkook.

He inspected Jungkook’s photo a little further. Handsome kid, he thought, and looked up after hearing the door open. Hyunjung had a bread roll in with three others she managed to fit in her free hand while her textbook and notes were tucked securely under her arm. She scampered her way towards the door which led to the stairs, but her rush made her toe catch on to one of the legs of the coffee table and the bread roll she had in fell to the floor as she bent to clutch her toe, also causing her textbook to slip. opened in pain and she jumped up and down with the repetition of “ow” gritted through her teeth.

“Be careful,” her uncle said, containing a laugh. Only wincing a little, Hyunjung nodded and recovered as quick as she could, picking up her textbook and bread rolls she dropped and rushed to the door with a small limp when she reached for the handle.  

“I really want to meet him, Hyunjung!”

“Sure, sure!” she called back.