To Find Something True

※ twenty-five

Hoseok broke it with a sniff, brushing his nose with the back of his index finger. A soft sigh from his lips came after and with a light beam, he nodded, "thank you."

Jiah displayed a thin smile on her lips. She questioned, "what do we need to prepare first?"

“There’s not much we should prepare, to be honest. But the last one was… unexpected. I had to give a public speech with no preparation. So, maybe, that’s one of the preparations we need to do,” he said.

Jiah bobbed her head in response. ‘Why can’t they reject the sponsor?’ she thought.

“We should ask Seokjin how to do the speech.” 

“Wait. But.” She challenged herself to question. “Why can’t we reject the sponsor?”

The boss buzzed, looking elsewhere before he returned his gaze to his assistant. “I don’t know. Not even Yoongi and Seokjin know. Amber doesn't want to reveal anything. But it seems… my sister is tied to something.”

Thinking, thinking and thinking. It was possible that there was something suspicious about the boutique. Jiah wondered who could be those behind the plans that seemed to love to play games.

 As far as she knew, this property was bought, not rented. So what was the story behind this boutique and the organizers? 

********** 

Jiah could sense how much Seokjin and Yoongi trusted her with Hoseok, especially after Hoseok told them his plan. Aside from preparing the speech, Jiah had the responsibility of convincing people to allow her to attend the party with him. It was said that there was a possibility that they would not allow her to enter. A mind game, she needed to think of anything that could get them to allow her stand beside Hoseok. 

"Let's be prepared for more," Seokjin said. “You know how terrible the Kang’s family are.”

“Speech, Jiah,” Yoongi spoke. He scanned Hoseok from head to toe, deadpan. “And outfit?”

Seokjin looked at Yoongi and Hoseok before sighing loudly. “We can think about that later. But my point is that it's not just speech, Jiah, or clothes. But whatever they drag us to."

"Wealth brag, talk fancy, talk like an ignorant. Is that what you mean? Then, sure, lemme watch a couple of TV dramas” Yoongi said, still deadpan. The disgust in his tone made it clear that he hated them.

“Uhh…” Seokjin halted, staring at the man that stood across him with perplexity. “I understand how much you despised the Kang family, Yoongi, and you know how much I despise the Kang family too. But, that’s not it.”

There was one thing Jiah worried about. “Was Amber allowed to follow him before?”

Seokjin and Yoongi exchanged glances. The oldest one answered, “Amber wasn’t even allowed to sit beside Hoseok. They dragged him everywhere they wanted without her.”

That explained why they thought of the possibility of her absence.

The pause hooked in the air as his face gloomed. His stares weakened, staring at the floor. It worried her assuming what he was thinking.

********** 

Seokjin and Jiah chose to take a break together under a parasol near a convenient store. The afternoon sun pierced through the chill. Sunlight bit their skin, balancing the cold that had been sweeping the city.

They had Kimbap that the man bought that morning, but he wouldn’t allow it to be the only food for their lunch. He treated her to some cup of ramen she wanted. Seeing that she only brought a cup of Jajang ramen, he said, “you can buy another cup. It’s my pay anyway.”

Jiah shook her head. “Nah, I’m fine. We have Kimbap. I don't want to work with my stomach overstuffed." Seokjin chuckled at her.

As they ate, Jiah’s mind filled with questions. It almost made her lose appetite. Who was the Kang family? She couldn’t just Google and type ‘Kang family’ in business as the result that would come out more than one. What was the relation between the small fashion store and the Kang family?

Eyebrows raised, forehead wrinkled, she forced a fist amount of noodles into her mouth.

She smiled as she declared, "Yum!" She then grabbed another large amount of noodles and shoved them into her mouth. 

Jiah noticed Seokjin quietly laughed, watching her chewing the food as she stretched her chopstick to fetch a piece of Kimbap with both cheeks rounded. It did not bother her though.

Just then, he left his seat and stepped into the store. It didn’t take him more than five minutes to return with something small in his hand. An instant, rough, thick scratching sound came through. He pulled a tissue from the small plastic pack. “You got stain here,” he said, carefully wiping both sides of the corner of her mouth with tissue.

He sat down on his chair after that, placing the smudged tissue next to Jiah.

Embarrassed, she licked the corner of her mouth to make sure there weren’t any more stain. She took the tissue that was placed beside her drink and wiped any possible stain on her mouth. Shyly, she said, “thank you.”

Seokjin suppressed a laugh. 

Jiah scolded herself mentally. She should have finished her food before thinking about something. Her mind became half-conscious of the surroundings if she did.

Her mouth gaped, witnessing the man opening his mouth wider than she could and then, chewing his food with both cheeks full. Seokjin caught her staring, though he continued chewing. “Delicious that way,” he said with his mouth full.

She nearly could not comprehend what he meant. Nonetheless, she raised a slow thumb up to Seokjin and uttered, “woah.”

He snapped his finger. “Let’s compete,” he said and swallowed. “And see whose mouth can shove in this much Kimbap.” He picked up five pieces of Kimbap in one grip with chopsticks. “The loser buys coffee.”

The man laughed when the woman gasped. She said, “my jaws can’t –” 

“I saw you ate a mouthful though.”

“B-but that was…”

“It’d be better if we had wasabi, don’t you agree?” he said, looking around at the store.

Jiah's eyes widened. She exclaimed, "wasabi?"

“If you back off, Jiah, I suggest buying our friends some ice cream too.”

It was not like she didn’t have money and it was not that she was planning to give up either. But wasabi? She had no choice. She lifted her chin and crossed her arms. “And if I take the challenge?”

“If you take the challenge and you win, I buy.”

She took some time to consider before a clap resonated the area, telling Seokjin that she was up to it. “But where can you find wasabi?” she asked.

“There’s a Japanese restaurant nearby. I can buy us sushi and get the wasabi,” he said.

And when the challenge began, both were struggling with the cold spice. She swore wasabi was best to be eaten when her nose was clogged. Face red, eyes and nose watery. Concerns caged in her mind temporarily escaped. And all she got in return was laughter with Seokjin.