•𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑰𝑫𝑬•【√】

⇝CHAPTER 3⇜

It's been two hours and I haven't run out of questions. Namjoon has patiently answered every one of them. He's like my Dumbledore. I guess that's not quite accurate. He's far too young, firstly, and secondly he acts very little like a wise wizard. His forehead is deeply creased with years of worry, showing his age against an otherwise still boyish face. I've only seen him twice, but both times he's been wearing faded old jeans and the type of plain shirts that can be bought in packs. It suits him. His tall, thin build makes him look like an old cowboy. All he's missing is the hat. I glance at his feet, and sure enough he's wearing a pair of well-loved brown leather cowboy boots. I hide a giggle and turn my attention back to what he's saying.

He seems to have a lot of energy, constantly shifting in his seat or pacing the room, or scratching at his scruffy chin. He moves quite a bit while thinking or talking but when he's listening he stays very still, one hundred percent of his attention on my words. It's like an ongoing game of red-light green-light that he doesn't realize he's playing.

He's mid-pace, explaining the details of... actually I spaced for a few minutes so I have no idea how he got onto this tangent. I only got about two hours of sleep last night, and I've paid attention really well up until now. Oh, crap. Don't yawn. Don't yawn. Don't you dare. Damn you, treacherous lungs of mine. I'm splitting at the ears.

"If you're tired you can scoot on out and come back another time," He's finally stopped looking at me like I'll run.

"No, I'm good," I try to wave him off, but I yawn again.

"Minhee, it's alright," He smiles reassuringly, "You run on home, and if you wanna talk more you can come by any time. I work from home, so I'm usually here,"

"M'kay," I stand and stretch my arms out in front of me. I need a high dosage of caffeine or lots and lots of nap-time, "Thanks for talking to me,"

"Anytime," He escorts me into the hall. As we reach the top of the stairs a door bursts open on the second floor.

"You guys finally done?" Taehyung leans over the railing, craning his neck to watch us descending towards him.

"Were you listening for us to come out?" Surely he wouldn't.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you before you left," He bounds up to meet us, blocking our exit.

"What about?" He has a wicked smile on his face that could only mean trouble. I glance at Namjoon and see a flurry of suspicion and fondness flicker across his face. These people don't look related, but they seem to act like family. It's a very fatherly look that Namjoon  gives to Taehyung.

Namjoon nods in concession to Taehyung and turns back up the stairs, "You're always welcome here, Minhee. Things are dangerous out there," He disappears back into his room.

"I made him promise I'd get a word alone with you if you stopped by today," Taehyung  grins slyly.

"Okay, a word about what?" We start back down the stairs.

"I knew you'd be back," He smiles his chimed smile.

"Oh, really?" I use a mocking tone, "'Cause I feel like that wasn't the impression I left on y'all. You know, the whole, 'See you guys tomorrow' vibe."

"I knew before then. So when you threatened my life-"

"Pepper spray wouldn't have killed you."