Hoseok and Suga had some errands to run later that day, and left behind an injured Namjoon and a more than messed up me to somehow take care of him. Hoseok didn’t even flinch when he saw Namjoon sprawled on the floor as he made his way to the front door. And suga looked kind of just… impressed. I offered him a thin smile as though to say I was able to explain, if he’d listen. He didn’t, of course, just told us to be careful which only made Namjoon all the more alert.

I was in my room all day, sitting on the floor and practically staring holes into the wall trying to forget what happened. Idly rubbing my sore knuckles.

But it’s been a while and the sun was going to set soon.

And I was getting really hungry.

I wobbled out of my room and was greeted with a pair of judging eyes, attached to a more than spiteful looking person.

“You going somewhere?” I asked Namjoon as he closed the door behind him. He had his red beanie on his head and his thick cotton jacket on.

“The store,” he deadpanned.

“Oh, can I go? We’re out of eggs and milk. Or better yet, I might as well just go buy the groceries, Hoseok would appreciate that.”

“Or, you could write down whatever it is we need and I’ll go buy them.”

I could tell from the way he was staring daggers into me that he really didn’t want company, especially if I was the one he was going to be accompanied by. But despite being a stiff, slightly deranged person, he was no different than any of the lecturers back at the university, so I wasn’t fearing for my life per say.

And I didn’t care that he didn’t like being with me at that moment. He’d cool down eventually.

I straightened up, put my hands in my pockets and said, “I’m going.” He nodded. Of course he knew I wasn’t going to except no as an answer.

                                                                                                ***

It was a surprise to see so many people in the grocery store. Granted, I usually went there in the afternoon, so there would only be a couple of old ladies pushing their trollies through the aisles. I was used to those numbers, accepted them as shopping acquaintances. I wasn’t, however, used to being in such a large crowd of middle-aged women sniffing fruit and yelling at each other about how expensive the tangerines were.

Namjoon got lost in the crowd a while ago, which I definitely thought was his plan anyway so I paid no mind and tried to be as polite as possible while I shoved my way through the aunties to the dairy products aisle. The area was practically empty, not including the elderly woman who was hunched over the bottom shelf peering way too close at a block of cheese and a guy reaching for a carton of milk way above his reach. I didn’t get the guy, though, because there were rows and rows of other perfectly acceptable brands of milk just under his nose. Nevertheless, the one he was so desperately trying to grasp was the brand I was going to buy, so I decided to help him out.

I walked up to him while eyeing the one he was trying to get and mumbled, “Here, let me get that for you.” I had to do a ridiculous little jump but managed to get a hold of it. “I struggled a bit too when I first came here, but I sort of got the hang… of…it.”

He looked at me with bewildered eyes, and I had to stare at him for five seconds to actually realize it was Jungkook.

I stayed silent and so did he. He wasn’t some stranger I had just met, for god’s sake. And I wasn’t some stranger to him either but there was something a bit off in the way he was staring at me. Usually I had to keep up with the amount of giddiness he had because, that’s how he always was. I felt judged for reasons unknown to me and I wanted to disappear.

But eventually I remembered about the carton in my hands. “This is uh… for you,” I said slowly, tearing my eyes away from his gaze, deciding to look at my feet instead.

“Thank you,” he replied with the similar awkward tone I was using. I cringed. Why did I feel like we were forcing small talk, like a couple of acquaintances from an office who’ve never even talke