BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 42: storm after the storm

Byulyi didn't want to believe it at all.

Knock. Knock.

"Can you open the door for me, please?" Seokjin shouted. "I'm carrying a lot of things... and a 600 won tomato."

Byulyi's insides boiled as she ripped the door open once more. "You stupid piece of-"

"There we go-" Seokjin dumped a plastic bag of things into Byulyi's arms as he squeezed past her into the apartment. "Thank you for your help."

"You-" Byulyi dumped his things onto the ground as the door slammed shut behind them. "What are you doing here? Why are you my tenant? Why would you-"

"Where can I put my stuff?" Seokjin raised his eyebrows as he spotted Jieun's name on one of the doors. "Ah, there. Jieun's room. That's gonna be mine from now."

"No, wait-" Byulyi ran in front of Seokjin and blocked his way from entering Jieun's room. "You haven't answered me! What are you doing here? What is your motive? Why here, of all places?"

"I just wanted to live here, am I not allowed to?" Seokjin shoved Byulyi aside and entered the room, dumpling his bag at one corner as he took a seat on the bed. "Ah, it's nice and cozy. Not bad."

"It can't be that simple-" Byulyi insisted as she folded her arms. "Why would you pay twice the usual rent just to get Jieun's room?"

"I don't know-" Seokjin shrugged. "Maybe because I came that time and I saw how nice it was? I was looking for a house to stay at then, and I fell in love with it. When I found out that Jieun-ie was moving out to stay with our JK, I decided to rent her room."

"Lies."

"Yeah, those were lies-" Seokjin finally admitted with a shrug. "Okay, I'll tell you the truth - it's gonna be out soon anyway. Jeon Jungkook asked me to live here - he paid for 75% of my rent, so why not? Can you leave me alone now? I'm sleepy, I wanna rest. Goodnight."

Byulyi stared at Seokjin with her eyes wide open and her jaws on the ground, not knowing what to say or how to react as Seokjin lay down in bed, closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

-•-•-

"Try this too-" Jennie shoved another free sample into Yoongi's mouth. "This bulgogi beef is good, I tried this exact same brand a long time ago when I came here."

"Why are you feeding me all these things-" Yoongi shielded his face with his hands. "Are you sure we're even allowed to have this much samples?"

"Yeah, yeah, we can-" Jennie assured him. "I used to come here during my rookie days and get my fill of these things. Tonight, you can have this for dinner. It's nice, isn't it? For a change, eating something like this for a meal instead of instant food or delivery food?"

Yoongi didn't answer her question as he put his mask back on once more. "Hurry up and get the stuff you need."

"Ah! Tofu!" Jennie smiled as she picked up a packet of tofu. "I needed this. Tofu is the best for diet, oppa."

"So far you've only gotten tofu, chicken breast, cucumbers, kimchi and spam-" Yoongi glanced into their trolley. "Your diet is really clean, huh."

"Oh, the kimchi and spam isn't even for me-" Jennie laughed. "I got them for you, I'll cook it for you one day, to thank you for coming to shop for groceries with me."

"That won't be necessary-"

"I insist, Yoongi-ssi-" Jennie hesitated. "No, Yoongi-oppa, we're friends, aren't we?"