It was eleven in the evening at her place. Amber Skyped from New York, connecting Seokjin and Yoongi in one call. She needed to know their updates.
Before she could utter a ‘hi!’, Seokjin’s voice erupted through the speaker. “AMBEEER! Help me!” He cried, falling to the ground and struggling against Jungkook and Jimin. As his camera only showed a portion of Jimin's and Jungkook's heads, whatever there had her eyebrows creased.
On the other side, Yoongi held his phone to one side, watching the chaos play out in front of him, unperturbed.
“No customers yet?” Amber asked.
"Opening," Yoongi said, turning his attention to the video call. “With the ruckus right now, they might have driven our customers away.”
“These boys are not done with my gummies! I’ve given them enough and they’re still after me. THEY’RE TRYING TO KILL ME, HELP! AAAARGH! JUNGKOOK IS BITING ME!”
“You know, the kids are like hyenas when it comes to food,” Yoongi said.
“THEY’RE FUCKING ZOMBIES!”
“Seokjin is overreacting,” Amber sighed.
“Agree,” Yoongi replied.
“I WON’T BE OVERREACTING IF THEY DIDN’T THREAT TO TEAR MY CLOTHES!”
"Why did they threaten to tear your clothes?” Amber asked, frowning at the ridiculousness.
Scratching his nose, Yoongi said, “he’s hiding the gummies in his shirt.”
“Give us more!” Jimin said in the background. “I’m gonna tear your clothes!” Jungkook warned.
The tomboy threw her head back and released a sigh. Judging by how chaotic Seokjin’s side was, she assumed he might have suffered through worse. And looking at how calm Yoongi was – and not to mention, he was smiling, it looked like he was enjoying it. She asked, “you not planning to help him?”
Seokjin’s voice appeared to be more strained. “it’s Yoon… Yoongi! Min Yoongi’s the one who suggested to tear my clo-OTHES!” He was still struggling to protect his gummies and to stop his clothes from tearing. “EUGH!”
“What the hell, Yoongi?” Amber spoke in English, utterly in disbelief.
“Equal,” Yoongi said, nonchalant.
“What?” Her face contorted at his word.
“Seokjin threatened Hoseok to burn his clothes last time. So?”
Seokjin shouted again, “if I hadn’t threatened him, Jiah wouldn’t have worked with us!”
“Oh my god! Just give them some,” she said.
“I’m not giving them more! I only have five pieces left. I want them for my… SELF,” Seokjin shouted. Suddenly, the phone's speaker rang with a loud, long static noise and something exploding.
Seokjin’s bare back made its appearance. Jungkook and Jimin could be seen running away, telling each other to get two and they were going to cut the last piece in half.
Seokjin’s loud voice came through. “Yah!” He touched his bare back. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" His neck grew red each time he shouted.
Yoongi snorted.
Amber wanted to laugh but felt terrible that it was happening to him. Thinking the gummies issue had ended, she let out a relief sigh. She said, “serves you right. You should have given them and buy new.”
His raven head turned, looking at his phone over his broad shoulder. “That was a limited edition. That was the last pack!”
“They’re just gummies, Kim Seokjin.”
“They are just gummies to you, but they are precious to me! They’re dumping into my tummy with love. No one fucking understands me!” A yellow towel flew and landed on top of Seokjin’s head. She heard Jimin say, “to save your pride, hyung!”
From his side view, Seokjin could be seen opening his mouth in incredulity before he shouted again, “HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO YOUR HYUNG?” It was deafening that the speaker gave out a wincing noise.
She started to think it was a terrible idea to leave the boutique without her. Leaving Seokjin and Yoongi to take over the boutique seemed a ridiculous decision she had ever finalized. She did not expect Yoongi to be that childish to Seokjin either.
Seokjin got up, grumbling and shut his camera, giving the woman a translucent silver screen with ‘camera off’ sign. "How's Hoseok?" Amber asked.
“Seokjin hyung,” Yoongi called, giving the older man the cue to answer.
“Same old, same old,” Seokjin said, sighing. There was a wincing noise in the background as the man asked, “Hey, Hoseok, do you have an extra hoodie?”
Hoseok’s small voice could be heard in the background. “I-I do. What happened to you–”
“For once, your hoodies got some proper use. Thanks!”
“Hi, Hoseok!” Amber said out loud.
“I already left his office. Sorry, buddy. Jiah is in there. They look like they have a serious talk,” Seokjin said. Something clinking and hissing came from his side. Amber assumed he was in the toilet to change. “Aish. They turned my shirt into a fucking donut!”
“Seokjin sounds like he’s been cursing more than the last time I was there.”
“He does. The kids have been getting on his nerves,” Yoongi said. Changing their topic, he asked, “what’s up, Amber?”
Amber curved a bitter smile as she leant her back on the leather chair. Still wasn’t clear with Seokjin answer before that, she asked, “How’s Hoseok and his assistant?”
“As hyung has said, same old,” Yoongi replied as he shrugged. “Lee Jiah. She’s been doing a good job taking care of him and the business.”
“Has that boy eaten well?”
“I saw him eat three slices of Tiramisu last week. Jiah bought the cake.”
“Woah. When was the last time we saw him eat a cake?”
“Don’t remember. Two? Three years ago? His birthday party. He barely ate the cake though.”
Seokjin interfered, “he gave it to my sister and she finished it for him.”
“That’s a… wow! A great development. Didn’t know he would like a cake,” Amber said, eyebrows raised with an open-mouth smile.
With a smirk, Yoongi chuckled. “I notice some changes,” he said.
“Please tell me he’s changed his –”
Yoongi calmly cut her, “I'm afraid it’s not about his hoodies.”
“Then?”
“What did I miss? I don’t see any changes in that boy,” Seokjin said.
“You’ve been babysitting the kids, not him. What can I say?”
“I’m not babysitting anyone.” There was a halt. “I’m not babysitting a.ny.one!”
Yoongi’s crimped and curly hair rolled back as he laughed, revealing his gums. He said, “calm down. I’m just joking.”
“I’m not in the mood for a joke,” Seokjin said. And then, there was a small ‘aish’ in the background.
Amber quickly returned their topic to Hoseok. “What’s the change, Yoongi?”
Yoongi let out a brief, short hum before answering. “His appetite. He’s been eating more. I think it was yesterday, he ordered two portions of sweet and sour pork.”
“And he didn’t invite me!” Seokjin exclaimed.
“He finished them, hyung.”
“Alone?” Seokjin asked.
Yoongi nodded his head slow.
“That boy’s really something,” Seokjin muttered. There was a short pause before his face appeared on the screen. “I forgot I turned off the camera. Miss my handsome face, buddy?” he cooed, teasingly smiling at her.
Smirking, Amber rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Duh... I’m happy to hear he’s been eating well. By the way, no problem with the store?”
“Nope. We just need to do something with the kids at the orphanage. We didn't set a holiday last summer,” Yoongi said.
Amber’s eyebrows creased as she asked, “why not?”
“It’s because you aren’t with us, Hoseok said.”
Rubbing her face before throwing her hand to the back of her head, she shook her head. “An excuse.”
Seokjin then said, “don’t worry about that.” He checked on his look through the camera and added, “Jiah’s gonna coax him.”
An eyebrow raised, Amber said, “you sure?”
The oldest staff in the boutique nodded his head. “Uh-huh! Lee Jiah volunteer–”
Without warning, Yoongi changed the topic. “Have you found Jiwoo?”
The change of topic was too sudden and Amber was not prepared for it. Although Yoongi often appeared the most laidback person among the Bejiwoo’s staff, the twinkle of anticipation in his eyes was something she didn’t usually see. She didn’t know whether to take that as a good or bad sign. Especially when it was Jiwoo they were about to talk about.
How was she going to explain?
**********
The silence in his office was creepy. Even his assistant didn't look like she was okay that day. She had been sounding like she was mad at something for no reason and that wasn’t what she usually sounded like. He didn't even dare to raise his head up. Had her patience been thinning?
“I volunteered. It’s not Seokjin’s fault,” Jiah said, eyebrows frowned.
Hoseok peered at her. He found it funny that she seemed to have reached the peak of frustration. Since she had been befriending Seokjin, he could imagine she was going to become like Seokjin anytime.
Putting his thoughts aside, he said, “but we’re busy.”
“I know. But you’re the boss. You can decide to close the shop for a few days," she said.
"I don't want to," Hoseok said, looking at her timidly.
She let out a long whining hum, lips frowning and eyebrows creasing.
He stuttered, “d-don’t look at me like that.”
Jiah stared at him in silence for a while before asking, "why don't you want to?”
“No reason.”
She still had the same expression on her face. The more he kept quiet, the more he realized she might have reached the point where she wasn’t afraid to express herself. What he had imagined earlier wasn't a joke anymore. It might happen right at that moment or later. He couldn’t tell how long it had been since Jiah worked with him, but he heard from his staff that she had gotten closer with Seokjin. He might have encouraged her (in an evil way, in Hoseok’s opinion) to do anything to make Hoseok do what he wanted him to do.
Your circle sure does affect you in some ways. Be careful with whom you form friendships.
“It’s not Seokjin’s fault that I’m behaving like him.” Hoseok froze, wondering how she was able to read his mind. He looked at her, blinking his eyes multiple times. She was still frowning. She muttered, “you are mean.”
Hoseok gasped quietly, his eyes widened. He asked, "what do you mean?"
"You're ignorant," she muttered. Her expression soon changed to a frown without pouts. "Children deserve to fill their lives with happy memories and experiences. Miss Amber gives you, Seokjin and Yoongi the responsibility to take care of the orphanage while she’s absent. But here you are, being selfish and wanting to have time for yourself!”
There you go. There was a small foreign accent at the end of her words. Hoseok found that cute, but it wasn’t the time to think of her that way.
Jiah added, “I remember seeing you’re so attached to the children. You don’t mind them leaving the orphanage, forgetting us when they grow? How could you want to leave them cooped up in one place?"
“I do mind. I –”
“Then, do something, you dumb!”
“Did you just call me dumb?” Hoseok asked, stupefied.
“Yes! Dumb. For being selfish. To yourself. To the children. To everyone. And I've grown tired of doing nothing for you. What am I? Your inflatable tube man?” Jiah asked, almost shouting but she held it back well. “I’m hired to assist you so that you won't be having a hard time. But I’ve been doing little to nothing and I’m always afraid people would accuse me of being lazy and you never think. You don’t care!”
“I-I care. B-but I wasn’t the one who hired –”
“It wasn’t you who hired me, it was never in your plan to get an assistant. It was your older brothers and sister’s plan. I know. I know! Seokjin told me everything!”
Hoseok was stunned. “W-What everything?”
“You fainted before because you always wear hoodies. You puked during one of your store’s sponsor public party. It went all over the news.” Jiah paused to catch her breath. "You hardly eat anything. You starve yourself. Your hyungs and noona are worried about you. That’s why they make you hire me, so that I can assist and monitor you. They’re afraid something bad might happen to you. But you’re taking their cares for granted!”
The man in dark blue hoodie stiffened, struck by a chill in his senses. Darkness and rain filled his mind. Staring at her, he felt the stillness of guilt against him.
He broke the stillness and said, “I never ask for their care.”
“But they are your sister’s best friends! Your selfishness blinds you that you don’t see how precious you are to them as they know how precious you are to your sister.”
Seriousness painted his face as he said, “you don’t need to mention my sister.”
“I know I don’t need to. I don’t want to! I promised Yoongi that I wouldn't! But you make me,” Jiah said. Her voice was shaking, but she managed to make it stable at the end.
Just then, Yoongi was heard at the door. With his eyebrows furrowed, he asked, “what’s going on?”
The occupants in the office turned their attention to him, then Jiah returned to look at her boss. She snatched her notebook from the table and strode out of the office, sliding away from Yoongi as she did.
Seokjin – from the toilet at the end of the corridor, wearing his lavender hoodie – seemed to have heard the noises too. When he was almost at the door, he slowed down his steps and stood in front of the office with a confused look. “What happened?” he asked Yoongi.
Yoongi was still staring at Hoseok, suspecting that the younger one had done something wrong. He answered, “I don’t know. I was checking the staff’s schedule when I heard a fuss coming from this room.”
“Oppa!” Jisoo’s voice rang through the corridor. Both Yoongi and Seokjin turned their heads. “Jiah’s crying,” she said.
“What the… fuck?” Yoongi uttered calmly, but his face told otherwise.
The seriousness on Seokjin’s face signed Hoseok that this madness was not like the times he experienced. The older man rolled his eyes at him, facing at his sister next and asked, “is she still there?”
“She ran out,” Jisoo answered.
As Seokjin walked out with big steps, Yoongi reprimanded him with a calm tone. “You made a girl cry, Hoseok. You’re done!”
If his sister was there, he might get a scold from her too.