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7

After a long day filled with unpacking and organizing, Jimin groans in pain as he stretches out his muscles and rolls his shoulders. He decides to go check on Evelyn since he hasn't had any time to do so until now, so he jogs over to her house and sees the cup where he left it. This time, it still has coffee in it.

It hasn't been touched.

Jimin decides to knock, his heart rate picking up as he begins to worry about her and if she's doing okay after her brother's earlier visit. She doesn't answer, but he sighs in relief when he hears her shuffling around just on the other side of the door.

He decides to stay for a minute, so he sits down in front of her door and begins to speak about whatever comes to his mind, just to make her feel less alone.

"I had a productive day today," he says. "I unpacked everything I hadn't had the time to touch until today, and now everything is in its place. It's nice to finally feel like my house is turning into a home, you know?"

She doesn't respond, but it doesn't bother Jimin because he's expecting she won't reply to anything he has to say. He decides to just keep talking to keep her company, not knowing if he's helping at all. If he is easing her sadness even a little, he'll camp out on her front porch all night, though.

"I love my job," he continues. "Ever since I was little, I wanted to be a vet. I loved seeing their happy faces looking at me after I took away their hurt."
Jimin sighs.

"It's not always happiness, though. I do have to put some of the animals down, and it really stays with me when I have to do it. I have nightmares sometimes about the look in their eyes when I give the medicine to make them fall asleep. It's hard, but knowing I've dedicated my life to making animals healthy and happy almost makes up for the sad days."

Jimin looks over at the sun setting, a smile gracing his lips. "You should come sit out here and admire the sunset. It's beautiful. It's one of the main reasons I picked the house that I live in now. It has a perfect view of the sunset."

The front door to Evelyn's house swings open, and Jimin stands up, his hopeful eyes meeting her puffy, red-rimmed ones.

"Please just go home," she says, her voice breaking as she stares into Jimin's eyes. "Stop trying to fix me. Stop trying to cheer me up with coffee and small talk. I don't need any of it. I survived before you came here, and I'll survive long after you've grown tired of the small town life and moved away. You can't fix what is broken beyond repair, so stop trying to fix me. Leave me alone."

Without giving Jimin a chance to respond, she slams the door in his face, leaving him standing alone on the porch with nothing but a cold cup of untouched coffee keeping him company.

After walking back to his house in defeat, Jimin grabs a beer and sits on his front porch, his rocking chair swaying as he sips the drink. He watches the stars glittering in the sky, wondering how he managed to go years without even bothering to glance at the living artwork above him.

He hasn't regretted moving here for even a second. He has started paying attention to things he wouldn't have given a second glance to when he lived in the city. Sure, he misses his friends, but he lost the love he had for life when he lived there.

He stopped watching the sunsets. He stopped sitting outside just to watch the stars twinkle above him. He didn't realize how thick the air around him was with pollution until he moved here. He took everything for granted - everything from the sun to taking deep, cleansing breaths. Now, moving here has brought an entire new outlook on life and he can imagine growing old in this tiny house while watching the sunsets and the glittering stars.

His eyes move from the night sky to his neighbor's front window, and he can just barely make out her silhouette as she spins around, dancing in her living room as she does every night. His curiosity is burning within him, a million questions about Evelyn's pasts and her nightly habits floating in his mind.

He forces himself to push the thoughts and questions away, remembering her earlier words. She made herself very clear: she doesn't want his help. She doesn't want his shoulder to cry on and she doesn't want him to reach his hand out to help her get out of her darkness.

As much as he wants to help her, he realizes that he can't help someone who doesn't want to accept the help they're given. So, ignoring every single one of his own natural instincts to be that person everyone can rely on to cheer them up, he continues to sit on his front porch. He sips on his beer and tears his eyes away from Evelyn's window.

Though his eyes are locked on the night sky above him, his thoughts are still stuck with the girl dancing in her living room. All he can think of is how heartbroken she is - how she so harshly rejected her own brother as he begged her to let him into her heart.

What happened to her?