<OST: I Wanna Say To You - Suzy>
"Bujang...?"
"What?" Namjoon said bluntly as he flipped through his documents. "If it's nothing important, leave me alone."
"I mean, it's not very important but-"
"What is it?" Namjoon sighed as he looked up, his eyes widening as he spotted who it was at the door. He sat upright immediately. "Oh- Chungha-ssi."
"I got a cup of coffee and a sandwich for you, bujang-" Chungha said with an awkward chuckle as she placed the food items on Namjoon's desk. "I saw that you didn't eat much at lunch earlier so..."
"Ah, you really didn't have to-" That was what Namjoon said, but his entire face lit up. "I wasn't that hungry, that's why."
"Oh, is that so?" Chungha smiled as she reached for the sandwich and coffee. "In that case, I'll take this back-"
"No, no, no, no, no-" Namjoon shielded the food with his hands and let out an adorable chuckle as he looked up at Chungha. "I feel hungry all of a sudden."
Chungha smiled. "Bujang-nim... may I have a seat?"
"Oh-?" Namjoon's eyes widened in surprise. "Of course, of course."
Chungha took a seat and looked around the office slowly. "Ah, come to think of it - I've never been stayed inside here for longer than five minutes."
"Oh?" Namjoon laughed. "Then what brings you here today?"
Chungha hesitated a little. "I'm really sorry about earlier, bujang-nim. I was just talking to Hoseok-oppa how I usually do, I didn't mean to be so insensitive towards you-"
"Me? No, it's fine-" Namjoon chuckled as he took a small sip of his coffee. "It's not like I'm not used to it."
An awkward silence filled the room.
"Anyway, I just hope that we didn't make you feel uncomfortable-" Chungha smiled as she got to her feet abruptly. "That's why I came here, bujang. Lunch time is almost over - I'll head back to my desk now."
"You yourself said that you barely come in here to take a seat and chat with me, didn't you?" Namjoon rose to his feet before Chungha could leave the room. "In that case, if I ask you to come here more often, whenever you want, will you do that for me?"
Chungha didn't answer Namjoon. Instead, she took a small bow and headed out of the office, leaving Namjoon all alone once more.
-•-•-
"Jennie-ssi! JK-ssi! We'll play a quick telepathy game now, is that alright?"
"Whoo!" Jennie cheered sarcastically as she nudged Jungkook under the table. "Sounds fun!"
Jungkook looked dead inside as he forced a smile. "Whoo."
"So the rules of the game are easy-" The emcee explained. "We'll give you two options, and you'll both have to shout the option you prefer, alright? It's really simple - it's just to test if your tastes and preferences have changed to become more like each other's... since you've been dating for about half a year now, am I right?"
"A year."
"Right, a year! I forgot!" The emcee laughed. "Well, that means that you had even more time to get to know each other, am I right? Let's try it out! For example, if I say... chicken or pizza, you say?"
"Pizza!" Jennie yelled.
"Chicken!" Jungkook shouted.
Jennie and Jungkook exchanged frantic glances.
"Ah-" The emcee looked awfully awkward as he waved his hands and laughed. "You see? That's how you play it. That's right. You choose one option. That was just the practice round, so now shall we begin?"
"Yup!"
"Okay..." The emcee looked down into his cue cards. "Firstly... winter or summer! 1... 2... 3!"
"Winter!"
"Summer!"
Jennie glared at Jungkook, who frowned at her.
"Ah-" The emcee chuckled nervously. "It's alright, couples can have different tastes in weather, that's fine. But the next question, I believe you should be able to get right. It's about food after all - I'm sure you both eat a lot together. So... the question is... dip or pour? 1... 2... 3!"
"Dip!"
"Pour!"
"Jungkook-ah!" Jennie nudged Jungkook in his side, before turning towards the camera with a smile. "When we eat tangsuyuk together, we usually pour the sauce on half of it and dip the rest. Am I right, Jungkook-ah?"
"Yeah, yeah-" Jungkook nodded. "That's what we do. I was confused for a while back there, that's why I said 'dip'."
"And that's why I said 'pour'-" Jennie laughed loudly. "Let's continue."
"Jjajangmyeon or jjamppong?"
"Jjajangmyeon!"
"Jjamppong!"
"Sweet or salty?"
"Sweet!"
"Salty!"
"Sleeping or eating?"
"Sleeping!"
"Eating!
Jieun sat backstage, watching the couple fail while secretly taking down mental notes. There was definitely something wrong with this couple. Jieun was certain that she could do this telepathy test with any random uncle on the streets and they'd have better chemistry than them both.
"So..." The emcee chuckled. "The telepathy game didn't go as well as we had expected it to turn out-"
"What do you mean?" Jennie's eyes darted around nervously. "Weren't we supposed to choose different answers? They say opposites attracts, don't they?"
"Oh, right! Oh, right!" The emcee played along. "Silly me. You're right, Jennie-ssi. Let's take a short break, and come back with our next game."
Jieun jumped out of her seat and hurried towards Jungkook, dabbing the sweat that had formed on his forehead.
"It's so hot in here-" Jungkook said as he held up the portable fan. "I'm sweating all over. Jieun-ssi, please do my makeup well."
"I will-" Jieun frowned as she patted the sweat off Jungkook's forehead. "You just have too much sweat right now I can't even do your makeup yet."
"I have sweat here too-" Jungkook pointed at his arm. "Help me wipe it well."
Jieun did as she was told.
"Here too-" Jungkook pointed at his neck.
Jieun wiped it off as well.
"Here too-"
"Here too-"
"Here too-"
"Tsk-" Jieun finally looked up at Jungkook, shoving the packet of tissue into his hands. "Wipe it on your own."
Jungkook grinned as he did what he was told. Jennie watched the two from a distance, a cheeky smile playing at her lips.
-•-•-
"Jieun-ssi, so... you've been working with us for more than a week now, how do you feel?"
"Hm?" Jieun looked up at Seokjin with a smile. "Good, I just find it hard to interact with JK-ssi sometimes. You know how he's warm at times, then suddenly he gets cold... and that scares me."
"Ah, yes-" Seokjin chuckled as he glanced at Jieun through the rear-view mirror. "He can be a bit of a prick at times, but when you get to know him, he's not that bad. Like, just a little better. Look at me, I've survived by his side for more than five years now."
"Excuse me?" Jungkook frowned as he glanced at Jieun, who was seated right next to him. "I'm literally right here?"
"See? When he speaks like that, it's scary sometimes-" Jieun grinned. "Anyway, I'm glad I moved. Now, I'll have a ride home whenever I'm on duty."
"It worked out well then-" Seokjin glanced at Jungkook through the mirror. "If you're sure that won't escape halfway, then maybe you can let your unnie know that she should convince her landlady to take you back. At least you can have a place to return to sometimes, you know? I know how strict some places are with rental."
Jieun frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"What are you saying, Seokjin-hyung?" Jungkook gave Seokjin a dirty look through the mirror. "I'm sure Jieun-ssi's landlady had a good reason to rent it out to someone. Maybe higher rent... or something."
Jieun narrowed her eyes. "And how did you know that?"
"Isn't that the basics?" Jungkook pursed his lips and closed his eyes. "It'd make sense for anyone to choose the tenant that offers a higher rent. So don't be ridiculous, Seokjin-hyung. Unless Jieun-ssi offers a higher rent than... that person, she won't get her room back."
Seokjin muttered under his breath as he frustratedly hit the steering wheel with one hand. "Damn it."
Jieun was getting more and more suspicious by the second. "What did you say?"
"He didn't say anything, Jieun-ssi," Jungkook waved his hand in the air. "Hyung, focus on driving. Jieun-ssi, I wanna take a nap. Please help me."
Jieun frowned.
Something was definitely amiss.
-•-•-
Click!
The door opened.
"Yoongi, hi!" Jennie waved as she stood in front of Yoongi. "I'm back!"
"You knocked on my door just to say that?" Yoongi yawned loudly. "I was napping."
"At this hour?" Jennie frowned as she looked down at her watch. "It's dinnertime though?"
"The concept of time does not exist in my life," Yoongi said plainly.
"Ah..." Jennie looked down at the floor and smiled shyly. "Thanks for the message earlier, I received it and saved your contact number."
Yoongi scratched the back of his neck and pursed his lips together awkwardly. "Ah, okay."
"What made you text me?" Jennie asked with a smile. "I was really surprised to receive your text, since I said it really casually."
"Just, things have happened and- just-" Yoongi gestured around and shrugged. "Ah, whatever. Are you done? I wanna go back to sleep."
"No, I'm not done-" Jennie frowned. "How can you go back to sleep right now? I have something very important to talk to you about."
"What?"
"I was thinking about it..." Jennie began, her hands fiddling around awkwardly in front of her. "And I thought that now, since we're neighbours, sharing groceries is a good idea."
"Sharing groceries?" Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows. "This is the first time I've ever heard of this."
"Oh, that's where you're uninformed, Yoongi-ssi." Jennie grinned. "It actually is a very popular choice amongst young adults living alone nowadays, for a myriad of reasons."
Yoongi folded his arms. "Go on."
"Listen to me-" Jennie carried on with more confidence. "Whenever you live alone, you need to eat, don't you? When you eat, what do you need? Groceries, ingredients to cook! Am I right?"
"I don't cook often."
"You should, Yoongi-ssi..." Jennie clucked her tongue and shook her head disapprovingly. "Eating instant food and delivery food for an extended period of time is bad for the body."
"It's troublesome to cook."
"Not if someone cooks for you-" Jennie grinned. "Hear me out some more - when you buy groceries, you always see promotions like buy 1 of this get this free, buy 2 of this and get 1 more! Promotions! Am I right? You always feel like you wanna get the promotion but omo! What should I do? I can't finish it all before the expiry date. So what do you do? You give up the offer... Yoongi-ssi, what a waste that is, don't you think?"
Yoongi stared blankly at her. "I've never experienced that."
"Well, I have-" Jennie dramatically wiped away a tear from her eye. "It's awful, knowing that you could have gotten the offer, but you simply couldn't because you live alone. With such a wallet-friendly and socially-responsible alternative of sharing groceries with your neighbour, don't you think we should take advantage of this and share groceries? What do you think, Yoongi-ssi?"
"Aren't you rich?"
"Have you heard of frugality?" Jennie frowned. "Why spend money you can save?"
Yoongi blinked a few times. "Why didn't you do this before, with your boyfriend?"
"Ah..." Jennie thought for a while. "I did! But you see? He moved out now and I had to find an alternative, aren't you the best alternative? You're my only friend in this entire building! Plus, you're just right next door, so it's convenient. What do you say, Yoongi-ssi?"
"No."
"Eh..." Jennie pouted as she grabbed onto Yoongi's arm. "Take it as you're doing me a favour, please? I'll pay you back, I promise."
Yoongi stared at Jennie for a while, before he finally gave in. "Fine. We'll share groceries from now. Send me all the things you need and I'll get them tomorrow. Then I'll calculate and text you the portion of the bill you need to pay me."
"What do you mean?" Jennie chuckled as she pulled Yoongi by his arm, out of his apartment. "We're going now."
"What?" Yoongi frowned as the door slammed shut behind him. "Now? People will recognise you-"
"No, they won't-" Jennie grinned as she pulled her hat over her head and put on her mask. "Let's go."
-•-•-
"Chicken, tofu, corn... done-" Byulyi looked down at her grocery list as she pushed her trolley along. "Yogurt - that's it."
"Tomatoes... High quality locally-grown tomatoes selling at 2,000 won for 5! First come first serve, don't miss the opportunity! 2,000 won for 5! Tomatoes! High quality tomatoes! Selling out fast!"
Byulyi's eyes darted towards the nearest crowd she spotted. Tomatoes, she didn't need tomatoes. But promotion... she needed promotion.
Byulyi left her trolley by the tray of corn as she darted towards the crowd of ajummas. She clawed her way into the crowd, squeezing and pushing past everyone till she got to the core of the crowd. They were right - it was indeed selling out fast. There were only about 20 tomatoes left in the tray - meanwhile, everyone around her scrambled to get their hands on at least 5 tomatoes.
Like a whirlwind, Byulyi stretched her t-shirt out to form a cradle, before she started loading it up with tomatoes - 1, 2, 3, 4-
She only needed one more.
Her eyes landed on the last tomato in the tray, not for from her grasp. Time seemed to slow down to a still as Byulyi reached out towards the one single tomato, feeling hands claw around her arms to prevent her from reaching her goal.
Then, to her shock and horror, a hand with long bony fingers reached out from nowhere at the speed of light, and grabbed the final tomato. Byulyi felt her entire heart collapse.
"Sold out! Tomatoes sold out!"
"Ah..." The crowd around her collectively let out a loud sigh as they dispersed slowly.
Byulyi looked down at her cradle of tomatoes and let out a frustrated groan. 1, 2, 3, 4 - 4 tomatoes. She couldn't get the promotion, and all she needed was just one last tomato - the last tomato which someone stole before her very eyes.
Byulyi looked up.
Before her stood a tall handsome man - the owner of the hand with long bony fingers. He had the tomato in hand, as he grinned from ear to ear. Upon feeling someone's eyes on him, he looked up and locked eyes with Byulyi at once. Instantly, a look of recognition spread across both their faces.
"Y- You- You-" Byulyi stammered as she pointed at the man, feeling her blood boil instantly. "You-"
Seokjin stared at her with his jaws on the ground.
"What are you doing here?!"
"I should be the one saying that!" Byulyi glared at him like he was her worst enemy. "I live nearby here, what are you doing here!"
"I'm moving into a house nearby here-" Seokjin smirked knowingly. "Getting groceries before I go - why? Am i not allowed to?"
"No, but-" Byulyi pointed at the tomato in Seokjin's hands, breathing heavily. "You stole my tomato!"
"Oh, this was yours?" Seokjin held up the tomato. "Wow, I didn't know! Does it have your name on it? Because I don't see it!"
"Why would you take it?" Byulyi yelled. "You don't even have 4 tomatoes to get the promotion!"
"Promotion?" Seokjin scoffed. "I'm not here for the promotion, I'm here for just one tomato."
"What?!" Byulyi groaned loudly. "Then get tomatoes elsewhere or something! There are China tomatoes over there, and Indonesian tomatoes over there, go get them instead!"
"I only want locally-grown tomatoes," Seokjin said with a grin. "Korean tomatoes."
"I'll pay you for it-" Byulyi offered. "200 won for that tomato."
"Why would you do that?" Seokjin scoffed. "Are you a fool?"
"Well, no- I'm not, you idiot-" Byulyi clucked her tongue agitatedly. "I'm trying to get the promotion, can't you tell? The price of one tomato is usually 600 won, five tomatoes is 3000 won, but now it's 2000 won. Even if I pay you 200 won, I still get a 800 won saving. So hand it over."
"Why should I?"
"Because you get 200 won for free."
"200 won is nothing-" Seokjin raised his eyebrows as he looked at the tomato in his hand. "And I don't get to have my tomato."
"You-" Byulyi sighed. "Let's combine our tomatoes and split it after purchasing them then."
"And why should I do that?"
"Because you're saving 200 won on your tomato, stupid."
Seokjin chuckled. "I told you 200 won is nothing."
Byulyi was enraged. "You-"
"Besides, I saw another ajumma with 4 tomatoes earlier as well-" Seokjin grinned. "Tell me why I should help you instead of her?"
"Because we know each other...?"
"But you've been rude to me since day one."
"And so have you."
"Exactly-" Seokjin shrugged. "Even that time after we declared truce, you refused to talk to me. So if we're on bad terms, why should I help you?"
Seokjin grinned as Byulyi walked off. Byulyi came back with her trolley a while later, already loaded up with her incomplete bag of tomatoes.
"You have messed up logic-" Byulyi shook her head as she glared at Seokjin. "Forget I even mentioned it, Seokjin-ssi. Have a good life."
With that, Byulyi ran over Seokjin's foot with the trolley and walked off, leaving Seokjin hopping on one foot, wincing in pain.