We should’ve used some brushes.

Maybe it was just Jungkook’s male understanding that caused him to think mops were the best cleaning utensils (I did think this as well, so I’m not 100% blaming him), but it took us roughly an hour to remove the blood completely off the road.

Even though the day was cold, the young boy was sweating quite a lot. I felt bad for not being allowed to help. I just helped keep the bucket from tipping over. But he didn’t seem to mind the labor.

It was embarrassing, really. For me to not inform Jungkook that brushes were a more effective tool in this case. It’s embarrassing because I’m basically cleaning lady #2 in the house, who helps our actual cleaning lady. When my parents were busy attending events or meetings or whatever else for the sake of their empire, I was stuck at home, sorting out the detergents and napkins. I didn’t mind, though. At least I had something to do.

Jungkook wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand as he took a step back from the seemingly sparkling road.

“Phew, that took long enough!”

I smiled. “Because you used a mop, Jungkook.”

“Yeah, that was probably it,” he breathed out, and started laughing. I couldn’t help but join in, so there we were, laughing in the middle of some narrow road with a mop and a bucket full of blood water. But it didn’t feel weird at all.

Jungkook shook his head to get serious again, and said as he looked at me, “I’ll take care of the bucket. You should head home, hyung. your family is probably wondering where you are.”

“What about you?”

Jungkook stared at me. I guess the question caught him off guard. “Me?”

“Yeah, you. What about your family? Home? You are what, 18? 19? This is probably not my place to something like this, but—but you are too young to be wandering around the town all by yourself. Let alone getting into bloody fist fights with some gangster.”

Jungkook lowered his head, almost like a puppy which had been scolded by its owner. “You mean well,” he muttered, almost inaudible, “That’s why I would gladly listen to you, and stay at home, and go back to my old life, but…”

“But?”

He was holding onto that mop as if his life depended on it. I obviously opened a topic he wasn’t comfortable talking about, so in a way, I understood was he was feeling.

“Forget about it,” I said. He lifted his head and looked at me with those big worrying eyes. I offered a smile, to which he gladly responded with a polite nod. He wasn’t making eye contact anymore. Only then did I notice that he was visibly shaking under his jacket. He was going to catch a cold if we kept standing out here. “Do you have anything to do after this?” I asked. He hesitated a bit, but then he shook his head, “No, not really.”

I grabbed the bucket and started walking, “Come on, we’ll dump this in some gutter nearby. Then we’ll go grab some coffee.”

I heard his hurried steps soon after to catch up to me.

“Y-you want to have coffee? With me?” he stuttered out. I didn’t have to look at him to see how he was practically glowing next to me. I nodded, and turned to look at him. He had the biggest smile on his face, and nodded back, just because.

That sight alone would’ve warmed me up better than any jacket could.

                                                                                                ***

The tiny bell at the top of the door rings, and the first thing we noticed when we entered the coffee shop was the refuge that was the warm air, infused with the amazing aroma of coffee beans and muffins, which almost brought little Jungkook to tears. We walked over to the cashier and I ordered my usual hot chocolate, ordering the same thing for Jungkook. I was opening my wallet