“Another one?! Do you even care about this family?” My mother yells from the kitchen..

My father lost another job today, my mother is furious. They’ve been fighting ever since he got home. I flinch at the sound of my mother’s yelp. I swing open the door and start walking to the kitchen. My heart pounds in my chest from fear. I can’t bring myself to sit by and watch this happen to my mother anymore. I have to do something. I stop at the entrance and meet eyes with my mother, who is leaning against the kitchen counter. My dad has already stormed into the living room. She shakes her head and motions back to my room ever so slightly. I sigh, my heart dropping to my stomach. I back into the hallway, going back to my room quickly. I throw on V’s jacket and climb out of the window. I quickly run down the stairs, careful to keep my footsteps light so that no one hears. I just can’t sit in this house anymore when I can’t do anything.

The park is empty except for someone sitting on the swing set. I sit on the one beside him and glance over at him. I notice a lollipop hanging out of his mouth, which was curved into a frown. It’s impossible to ignore the aura of sadness that surrounds him, like a permanent black cloud that hangs over his head and spreads to everyone around him. I have the overwhelming urge to make him smile or laugh, or just something to brighten up his mood.

    “Hey.” I whisper, my voice coming out small and hoarse.

    He looks up, studying me. A look of confusion flashes across his face.

    “That’s V’s hoodie.” He points out, looking down at the hoodie.

“Yeah, we’re neighbors. He gave it to me.” I explain badly.

“Oh. I’m J-Hope.” He says, not bothering to hold out his hand or anything.

“Nicole.” I reply, kicking some dirt around.

You don’t expect to hear such an odd name from someone who seems so depressed.

“That’s a pretty boring name.” He states, kicking himself into motion.

I watch him swing back and forth for a moment, climbing higher and higher with each kick.

“What do you mean ‘boring’?” I ask, pushing off the ground and swinging slightly.

“It’s plain. You should have a cool nickname.” He says, with no amusement in his voice.

“What? Like ‘J-Hope’?” I say, hoping to make him laugh.

I internally celebrate when I hear a small giggle from him.

“Yup. I should make one for you. Give me a little while and the next time I see you, I’ll give you an awesome nickname.” He says. I could hear the smile in his voice, this alone makes me grin widely.

He puts his foot out to stop the momentum of the swing, making him jerk forward. He’s smiling widely when he stops.

“I have to go now.” He states, pulling a lollipop out of nowhere. “Want one?”

I nod, taking it from him. He gives a little wave goodbye and starts to walk away. I notice how heavily he walks, as if he’s being weighed down by something. I watch as he heads towards the direction of the apartments. He’s probably going to V’s to do whatever it is they do.

I twirl the lollipop between my fingers and study it.

V’s friends are so strange. Everywhere I go, a new one appears.

I unwrap the lollipop and stick it in my mouth before heading home.

_________________________________

A few days later, as I’m walking back from the store, I hear my parents fighting before I even reach the top of the stairs. I hesitate at the door, wondering if I should stay outside or not.

“Are those your parents?” Someone says from behind me, making me jump.

I turn around to see someone with white hair that looks like it was originally styled into a quiff but was now falling into his face slightly. For once there was not a single lollipop in sight

“Yeah…” I whisper, trailing off into my own thoughts.

If I go inside then I’m probably going to get yelled at too, or worse.

“You’re not actually considering going inside are you?” He asks, sounding slightly concerned

“Where else am I supposed to go? This is where I live.” I tell him, shrugging.

I hear him sigh from behind me and I glance back at him.

“Come with me.” he says before grabbing my arm.

“I don’t even know your name.” I yelp in surprise.

He drags me to V’s apartment and opens the door.

“Namjoon, and your’s is….”

“Nicole!” a familiar voice cuts him off, running up to me and hugging me.

“Hi, J-Hope.” I say to him, surprised to see him so hyper.

He was so sad a few days ago. I didn’t even think he could be this happy.

“He seriously got you to call him ‘J-Hope’?” Namjoon laughs from somewhere behind me, “His real name is Hoseok. The only one who calls him “J-Hope” is himself.”

J-Hope almost instantly starts pouting. It’s kind-of funny the way his attitude changed so dramatically.

“That’s because none of you will call me it.” He explains, looking kind of depressed about the whole thing.

“I’ll call you J-Hope.” I tell him.

He instantly erupts into a smile, hugging me again.

“What is all of that noise and what’s taking you guys so long? I just wanna finish watching this movie!” I could hear a familiar voice yell from somewhere beyond the hallway.

“Nicole is here!” J-Hope yells to him.

“Who the hell is Nicole?” He yells back.

“The neighbor girl!” J-Hope yells back as Namjoon pushes us into the living room.

The living room is small and cozy. Suga is sitting on a couch pushed up against the back wall and directly across from it was a pretty nice T.V.

“Oh, yeah. I remember you. We had lunch.” He says, a look of relief flashes across his face for a moment.

“She’s staying here for the night.” Namjoon explains, sitting on the couch.

“Why?” Suga asks, moving over to make room for me I assume.

        J-Hope sits beside Namjoon and pats the spot between him and Suga, signaling for me to sit down.

    “Because her parents are fighting and I won’t let her go home.” He explains.

    “Ugh, can we just finish this movie?” Suga whines before hitting the play button.

_____________________________________________________________________________

    By the end of the movie, which I never really catch up to, I’m leaning on J-hope because of how tired I am.

    “I’m gonna head out, okay?” Namjoon says as he stands up.

    “Okay, are you coming over tomorrow?” Suga asks him.

    “Yeah and sleep here tonight.” Namjoon tells me before walking away.

    “I have to go too.” Suga says before following Namjoon.

    I hear the door shut as they both leave. At this point it’s just J-Hope and I sitting on the couch,

    “Do you want me to put on another movie? You must be really tired.” J-Hope says to me as he gets up to find another DVD. He starts a random movie and comes to sit next to me again. I lean my head on his shoulder and yawn. It isn’t long before I drift of

_______________________________________________

    Something wakes me up in the middle of the night. I’m pretty sure it’s the sound of the door opening and closing again. I open my eyes slowly to see a mess of orange hair walk through the room. He stops to look at me, but I can’t tell if he knows I’m awake or not. I’m guessing he doesn’t because he leaves the room without saying anything. I close my eyes and try to fall asleep again until I hear him walk back in. I feel him shaking J-Hope, to wake him up.

    “Wha-” I hear him say as he shakes him into consciousness.

“Shhh.”

Suddenly, J-Hope is pulled off of the couch and I fall onto the cushion. Someone lifts my head and I have to try my hardest to keep my eyes closed. I feel someone, probably V, slip a pillow under my head.

“Don’t you have work in like an hour?” A deep voice asks.

“Yeah, I should probably get going. What are you going to do?” J-Hope asks V.

“Probably go to bed.” V sighs, “Namjoon told me her parents were fighting.”

“Yeah, I could hear it over the movie.” J-Hope answers, sounding concerned.

“It happens all the time. I hate that she has to deal with it.” V says.

Does he hear every fight that my parents have? Oh God.

“Yeah, it . I have to go, but I’ll text Jungkook to stop by in the morning.” J-Hope says as I hear him walk to the door.

    Everything is silent after that. I hear the door shut as J-Hope leaves. V comes back into the room to put a soft blanket over me before going to bed himself.

    It’s not hard for me to drift off again.