It was as if time slowed down for the rest of the day.
Yoojung continued to do one housebold chore after another household chore, from washing clothes, to cooking, then barely resting to have dinner, then back to massaging Grandma's back and serving drinks to the guests - no, wait, she was the guest, she almost forgot - to Jimin's relatives.
Yoojung was so exhausted she let out a big sigh when she finally got to lie down on her bed later that night. Obviously, no, she didn't share a room with Jimin. That would be so... obvious. They made her share a room with Jimin's mom. And even though that was really awkward, Yoojung was really just thankful she didn't have to share a room with Jimin's slavedriver of a grandma.
"Yoojung? Are you alright there?" After hearing a lot of tossing and turning, trying to get used to sleeping on the floor from Yoojung, Jimin's mother finally spoke up.
"Huh?" Yoojung turned around, surprised that Jimin's mom had not fallen asleep yet. "Oh- auntie, you're not asleep yet? Was I making too much noise?"
"I mean, well... yeah, you were," Jimin's mom admitted. "Is there any way I can make you feel more comfortable?"
Yoojung shook her head, then realised it was dark and Jimin's mom probably couldn't see her at all. "Oh, no, it's alright, auntie. I'm just not used to sleeping on the floor, I guess."
"That's not good..." Jimin's mom's voice trailed away. "You must be exhausted. You worked so hard today."
Finally. Yoojung almost cried tears of relief. Finally someone is acknowledging my hard work. Fina-freaking-lly.
"Oh, no, I'm fine," Yoojung let out a small chuckle. "But thank you for noticing."
"I'm so sorry you have to go through all that," Jimin's mom said quietly. "It's just that... Jimin's grandma has always been a little strict on the girls close to her sons and grandsons. But likewise, she's strict on the guys close to her daughters and granddaughters too."
"Oh."
"I remember that time when I was dating Jimin's father," Jimin's mom laughed. "It was crazy. The way she kept making his dad do all sorts of things from growing crops and pulling weeds, to horse-riding and slaughtering pigs-"
"Slaughtering pigs?" Yoojung sounded mildly disgusted.
"Yeah," Jimin's mom let out a chuckle. "She was so wary about him being close to me... and I think the same thing is happening to you too."
"I don't get it," Yoojung frowned. "But doesn't she know that by doing this, she's just making life hard for me? And more likely to leave her grandson? Does she want Jimin to be friendless or something?"
"Would you leave Jimin simply because of that?"
"No, of course not-" Yoojung frowned. "That's not what I meant but-"
"Exactly," Jimin's mom laughed. "That's the point."
"I don't get it."
"Neither did I, back in the day," Jimin's mom sighed. "But you'll get it one day."
"Huh? But-" Yoojung was just about to clarify with Jimin's mom what she meant, but she cut her short.
"Anyway," Jimin's mom continued. "Tomorrow's probably gonna be another long day for you, Yoojung, so you better get all the rest you need. Goodnight!"
Yoojung went to bed that night, missing Jimin, thinking about Grandma and wondering what Jimin's mom meant when she said that she'll get it one day.
Needless to say, she barely slept a wink.
~
Byulyi's heart was racing at a million miles per hour.
She could feel Seokjin's arms around her waist and his body pressing gently against her back as he breathed gently against her neck. He could feel his heart beating steadily against her back and every small little motion he made - she could feel it all.
Was she the only one feeling this way?
This was literally the first time he had slept over and already, he'd insisted on sharing the same bed, citing the reason that her house didn't have heaters other than in her grandma's room, so if they didn't cuddle, it'd be cold. Byulyi was hesitant - reluctant, almost - as she let Seokjin roll under the sheets right behind her and felt his hand slither around her waist, because at that very moment, she felt tense and pensive. Going to sleep with him lying so close to her... it made her heart race like crazy. She'd only ever slept next to her grandma before. There was absolutely no way she was gonna sleep tonight.
"Byul."
Byulyi snapped to her senses when she heard Seokjin call her name all of a sudden. She cleared her throat, just so she could croak out a soft, "Huh?"
"Why are you so tense?" Seokjin asked in a soft whisper, causing Byulyi's ear to tingle. "Are you still worried about what your colleague said?"
What her colleague said was the least of her concerns at this very moment. Why did she even agree to let Seokjin stay the night?
"How am I supposed to not be tense when you're sleeping right next to me?" Byulyi laughed nervously. "My heart is beating so fast right now I think it's gonna explode."
"Oh." Byulyi didn't respond, because she expected him to continue, but he didn't - at least not for a long time.
Then Byulyi felt a ruffle of sheets and Seokjin's hand slide away from her waist and his body separate from hers. She thought he was going to get up and leave, but instead, she felt his hands on her waist once more, positioning her to turn around and face him under the blankets. Their knees were touching and Byulyi could feel Seokjin's familiar and warm breath once more, this time on her face. She felt his hands cup her face as he leaned in to talk.
"You think I'm not nervous?" Seokjin spoke gently, his voice soothing and calming. "I'm so nervous right now I can barely breathe."
"Mm?" Byulyi managed to get out.
"Yeah," Byulyi could imagine the smile on Seokjin's face as he continued, while stroking her cheek in circular motions gently with his thumb. "I'm nervous too. I've never slept with a girl like this before too, you know."
"Ya- the way you put it-"
"Go to sleep, okay?" Seokjin mumbled. "I'm just gonna hug you tightly in my arms so you can fall asleep. I'm not gonna do anything to you, so you can tell your heart to calm down."
Seokjin wrapped his arms around Byulyi's head once more, pulling her closer to him and resting her head on his chest. Byulyi got startled by how fast his heart was racing, it was literally beating even faster as hers.
Tell your heart to calm down, Byulyi thought as a smile spread across her face. "Okay."
"Goodnight, Byul."
Byulyi smiled even wider at the nickname no one but Seokjin called her by. "Goodnight, Jin."
That night, Byulyi slept like a newborn baby.
~
"Water..."
Jieun woke up in the middle of the night with her throat dry as the Sahara dessert.
Her forehead was still burning up, she still had a splitting headache and she still felt insanely weak, but as compared to how she had felt a few hours ago, it was nothing. Rubbing her eyes to clear her vision, she flipped on the bedside lamp next to her bed and stumbled towards the door, turning the doorknob quietly before staggering into the living room.
The first thing that struck Jieun was how dark the living room was. Jieun was about to flip on the lights in the living room so she could make her way to the kitchen safely without tripping over a piece of furniture and dying.
But that was when the second thing struck her - there was someone lying on the sofa right next to the light switch. A guy, in fact. In the dark, Jieun could see his chest rising and falling as he inhaled and exhaled. Jieun was about to freak out, wondering how a random man had entered her house, but that was when it struck her.
It was Taehyung. Taehyung had agreed to stay at her house to look after her tonight. A small smile formed on Taehyung. This guy always put others above himself, of course he'd keep his promise.
Jieun crept away from the sofa slowly, groping her way in the darkness towards the kitchen just so that she could get a glass of water. To cut a long story short, she eventually managed to without killing herself in the process, but on the way back to her room, she tripped over a stool and almost ended up falling flat on her face.
Overwhelmed with pain, Jieun still managed to balance herself as well as her cup whilst hopping on one foot to the couch opposite the one Taehyung was lying on, clutching her stubbed toe with her other free hand. It took every ounce of her not to let out a loud welp in the process.
Jieun held her breath as Taehyung stirred on the sofa opposite her, only breathing once again when Taehyung stopped moving. She let out a sigh of relief as she sank into the sofa, sipping on the water whilst watching her friend sleep so peacefully.
It was healing.
The dead of the night, with no one except for the two of them in the house, Jieun could let her thoughts run wild. Her head throbbed from all the stress she had put herself through just not to wake Taehyung up, but it was still, nevertheless, healing.
Jieun had called Taehyung, earlier on, with the sole purpose of unloading her burdens to him. But now that he was asleep, Jieun felt like it was all the better. She could tell him what happened and how she felt, without fear of him judging her - he was Jungkook's friend after all.
"Taehyung-" Jieun whispered, her voice cracking.
She recalled what happened earlier that day at the playground, with Jungkook. That had happened more than 10 hours ago, but the memory of Jungkook's crying face was etched deeply in her head. Jieun felt a rush of an emotions, as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I-" Jieun swallowed hard. "Taehyung, I-"
She didn't know where to begin. Should she start with what happened in middle school, or tell him about how she knew Somi, or about how sorry she felt towards Jungkook, or how much she loved him, or-
"Taehyung, I... I was responsible for what happened to Somi."
The words rolled off Jieun's tongue before she knew it. It felt horrible to say it aloud for the first time in since the fateful day, but at the same time, she felt like a whole burden was lifted off her shoulders. Jieun closed her eyes, trying to catch a breath and encourage herself for finally coming to terms with that fact.
Somi would be proud.
But Jieun's relief didn't last long, just like how nothing nice in her life ever lasted, because what happened next shook her to the core. It had all happened within seconds, not even a split second, but everything made zero sense to Jieun.
Because at that moment, Taehyung sat up straight on the sofa, reached towards the light switch and flipped it on.
Except that Taehyung... wasn't Taehyung.
Neither was he Jieun's dad.
He was Jungkook.