BUSAN PACK || JIKOOK. ✅

2

Jimin pov

"I swear you have Spidey senses, Grams."

I looked at the card she'd sent, sliding the one-dollar bill to the side to read her handwritten words, not that I had to.

She reminded me every time she thought the moon was going to be weird.

Remember to stay inside on the Omega Moon.

Love,

Grams

"Omega Moon. Right." I sighed.

Grams meant well and, while she was a bit peculiar about moon phases, especially this one, which according to all my Google searches didn't even exist, she didn't ask much of me, and I always complied.

It wasn't like I had a raging social life and complying would cramp my style.

I took the dollar, walked it over to my piggy bank that lived on my bookshelf, and slid the bill inside.

Grams never quite figured out that first, people didn't put dollar bills in cards for anyone over the age of ten, and when they did include money, it was five dollars now becos inflation.

And second, a don't go out card was different from a birthday card.

I probably had close to thirty dollars in that little hand-painted bank shaped like a wolf.

I'd possessed it for as long as I could remember, and I had never opened it since a hammer was the only way to get at the goods.

I listened to Jih's message again and cussed under my breath.

How could I say no to a single guy with a sick kid?

How?

Sorry your kid has a raging fever, so you can't go to work, and there is no one to cover your shift, but my grand mother told me to stay home for no particular reason, so I'm gonna do that.

You probably won't get fired probably.

Yeah, that would go over well.

My phone rang before I could set it down, and Jih's name appeared.

Great.

He was going to want an answer.

"Hey, I was just going to call you back," I lied.

"I had to deal with something with my grandmother."

Guilt. I had to deal with the guilt of defying her for the first time in my adult life.

And really, I was pretty darn obedient even as a kid.

Of course, that was fueled by guilt, too, just a different kind.

"Please tell me you can. Kai is being an ass and threatening to give me day shifts,"

which in our bar was the kiss of death. If you made minimum wage on one of those shifts, you did well.

And Kai refused to pony up the difference, insisting we would make more if we tried harder.

Our boss could be an ass.

"My neighbor refuses to watch him if he so much as sneezes. Pleeeeeeease."

"I can." I sighed.

Not that he heard me, being too busy thanking me over and over and over again.

"You're welcome. Tell Jung I hope he feels better."

"Will do, and please let me know if I can ever return the favor."

"For sure," I promised, and we said our goodbyes.

Grams was gonna be pissed. No. No she wouldn't.

I wasn't going to tell her. The whole thing was silly anyway.

It wasn't like there were vampires who came out at certain moons to eat people like in the movies or was that werewolves?

Whichever. It would be fine, and there was no reason to let her know.

I picked up the card again, now paying attention to its original purpose. It was a thank you card Grams received for donating a quilt to the community auction.

It cracked me up that with the exception of most birthdays, all of her cards had been given to her first.

Regifting greeting cards. Some things never changed.

I pulled the album from my shelf, opened it to the first blank page, and slid the card inside the sleeve with all of the others she'd ever sent me.

In a weird way, the cards told two stories, and I treasured them.

"Please don't let her find out."

Then, like a good little grandson, I circled the Omega Moon on my calendar in permanent marker, having no intention of paying attention to it.

And it wasn't like I was going to a party or bowling or something.

Jih needed me. Ever since his wife Julia died, he'd been doing the best he could to be the best father possible, even leaving his day job so he could be home most of the time Jung was, his neighbor his usual babysitter whose one fault was being a germaphobe.

I put the album away and walked to Anley's terrarium.

"Papa's gotta get ready for work." My little turtle looked up at me.

Food was his end game, not my words. "You want some yums, don't you?"

I opened his jar of food and gave him a few pellets. "There you go, little fellow."

He tilted his head slightly then dove on in.

My place was perfect for one but had a strict no-fur rule, leaving me with Anley.

I enjoyed having him around, but it would be nice to have a dog, someone to go for runs with, to greet me when I came home, to sleep curled up at the end of my bed.

"I'm off to shower and work, Anley. Be good while I'm gone."

I took a quick shower and threw on my best jeans. It sucked looking good was directly related to tips, but so be it.

If I was going to defy Grams, the least I could do was make some decent tips and "accidentally" have them wind up in Jih's tip out for the week.

He had enough to worry about with out fretting about money.

I opened the door and stepped outside as the sun was already setting. The air invigorated me in an inexplicable way.

I had so much energy flowing through me, I almost left my car at home, wanting to enjoy the feeling, but Jih's shift was starting shortly, and I knew better than to walk home alone late at night.

Grams didn't raise no fool.

Although if she knew what I was about to do, she'd probably disagree after she hit me over the head with her dish towel.

====================================================