Thursday, Today was going to be a full day of classes and there was no avoiding it. My bag felt heavier then usual on account of having to lug around books for multiple subject. Not to mention, the weather matched my feeling about today perfectly. Dreary with rain. My umbrella protected me from any of the downpour on the walk to class this morning. I'd rugged up more than usual and was wearing light ripped denim that hugged my legs perfectly and an oversized light purple hoodie.
As I sat through morning classes I tried my best to concentrate, only getting sidetracked by my thoughts a couple of times. I wondered about my mum and dad. I hadn't heard from them since I arrived, I know they had their own issues with money and keeping up took a lot of their efforts. Not to mention dad had a bad habit of gambling. As far as I knew, he hadn't been too bad recently but there had been times in the past that it nearly broke us as a family.
He was somehow paying for my apartment but I knew time was ticking away.. I still had to figure out what to do after the month was up and I had to pay for it myself....
My Mum liked drinking. Sometimes a little too much. For the most part she got by without it affecting our family relationship that much.. But, getting ignored over a bottle of wine was fairly normal to me. I'd learnt to rely less on her and dad, and try to hold my own weight. Stand on my two feet. And be unbothered by struggles, no-ones life is perfect. That's just straight facts.
Bells rang signalling lunch break, I finished jotting down the last of my notes for the class before packing up and leaving.
As I walk sombrely down the hall I see two messages on my phone, both are from Jimin and it perks me up a bit.
Jimin: Jiaa ~
Jimin: There's a special event menu today on campus 🤤 Where are you? 👀😏
Jia: Is it in the main cafeteria? If so, like 2 minutes away, are you already there?
Jimin: Yeah 😉 Hurry up, before Tae eats it all lol
I shoved my phone back into my pocket and quickened my pace a bit. The cafeteria was fairly big and crowded with students. I usually went off campus for coffees and lunch for that exact reason but today was a special occasion aparently. I looked around for a moment until I spotted the two I was looking for. It didn't take long because they always stood out like some kind of celebrities.
As I approached their booth I noticed that a few different groups of girls and guys kept glancing over in their direction. I didn't blame them though, how would people NOT be checking them out...? It only made sense. As I reached their table I said "Heyyy" and slid in next to Tae. They both looked up at me from their conversation.
"Hey"Jimin replied while Tae put his hand up to high-five me but I just poked his hand instead and then laughed. "Wha- that was only a high-one, disappointed" he whined before ruffling my hair playfully.
"Hey! Wait, stop!" My hands found his big ones as I reached up and grabbed onto them. I redirected them back towards his lap before letting go. Then I noticed the food on the table. "Wow this looks so good" I licked at my bottom lip unconsciously.
"Yeah, but, the question is, does it taste good...." Tae tilted his head throwing a playful look at me, eyebrows raised slightly. "How could it look this good and not taste good? It's really unlikely" Jimin licked his lips too.
"Well, let's just try it and find out.." I giggled.
"Yeah. Good idea. Who's first?" Tae asked as he picked up one of the dumplings with his chopsticks. I thought he was going to put it in Jimins mouth but he turned to me with the food coming my way.
"Wha? Me?" I asked in surprise. "Yeah, quick, open up" he said as though it was normal.
I didn't argue and just opened my mouth, it felt so weird for a second, I could feel jimin watching in amusement as Tae gently popped the dumpling into my mouth. I quickly closed my mouth and started chewing.
"Oaaaah this is seriously good!" I exclaimed as the tasted hit me. The boys didn't wait any longer, taking my reaction as a signal to dig in.
"Wonder if they hold these kind of events often" Jimin contemplated out loud, taking a sip of his drink.
"I hope for the next one they have Ramen" Tae cooed. As I went to put another dumpling in my mouth a piece of hair fell in front of my face. I stopped and was about to move my hair out of the way until someone had beat me to it.
Tae had apparently noticed, I was helpless to stop it as he gently tucked the strand of hair behind my ear and I felt a wave of shyness hit me. He flashed a small smile before he went back to eating. I mumbled a small 'thanks', trying to pretend like that wasn't the cutest thing and that my heart wasn't about to explode.
After our meal we sat and chatted for a bit, jimin mentioned that another friend of theirs would come along for our Karaoke night which I didn't mind. He told me that their friend was a year younger than us but was a main vocalist member in their group which I thought was pretty cool.
I felt my phone vibrate from my pocket so I quickly clicked the screen on to check.
I saw that it was a work request and that the name looked familiar. I felt my heart drop for a second and quickly clicked it off again before shoving it into my pocket but my actions didn't go unnoticed.
"Hm? Is it from that guy you like?" Jimin asked. Tae perked up instantly. "You like someone? Who is it?" He questioned.
"Heeeey, I already said it's not like that..." I pouted, I was determined to not let jimins teasing get to me today. "Okay, okay, if you say so" He shrugged his shoulders innocently. I noticed Tae's gaze linger on me for a short moment before speaking.
"But like, If you did like someone would you tell us?" Tae's question wasn't one I was expecting. But, I guess that's something that you'd talk about with friends right..? But, I hadn't known them that long, so, did that mean that he already considers me a friend?
"Would... you want me to tell you?" I asked him hesitantly.
"It depends. If it's me you liked I'd want you to tell me" he said as he kept a straight face, eyes heavily on me. Jimin just cracked a short laugh. "Ahh, your really something else today TaeTae" he seemed to be really enjoying this.
"Like you can talk Jimin .." I mumbled quietly, trying not be be heard but knowing it needed to be said. Tae just started laughing at my comment and then patted my head gently.
"You're such a character Jia, Uni would have been so boring without you around" he sighed happily to himself. "Oh, it's nearly time for class" Jimin noticed so I thanked them for lunch and promised next time it was on me. We said our goodbyes and I went off to my next class.
During the small interval between both my afternoon classes I replied to the work request I got earlier, confirming it for tomorrow night. Just before I was about to put my phone away I got a message from Namjoon.
NJ: Heeey, how's your day going?
Jia: It's been bearable 😌
What about you?
NJ: Thursday's aren't so bad for me either. The rains nice too.
Jia: But, when it rains I feel like time goes slower for some reason..
NJ: When is rains people mind their own business... If you feel sad you can hide away under your umbrella
Jia: Yea, there's some comfort to be found in it.. every now and again it will tap on the window, asking if you're doing okay
NJ: This is starting to sound like it should be a song
Jia: Yeah now that you mention it, I'm getting ideas
NJ: We should find some time to work on putting something together 🧐
Jia: Yeah definitely 😌 How about Saturday, around 1?
NJ: Yeah, sounds perfect.
I didn't realise I had been smiling to myself like an idiot the entire time I was messaging until after I'd put my phone away. God lucky Jimin wasn't around, he would have not let me hear the end of it.
___
By the time I finished my last class for the day it had stopped raining and the pavement had begun to dry up. Dusk was setting and my stomach was rumbling so I went home and dropped off my books then headed back out to get something for dinner.
I walked down the streets for a little while to check out what restaurants or take away food shops were open. I didn't know what I wanted to eat yet. A small distance away there was a wide path which had drawn a small crowd and the funky music that was emanating through the air suggested it was some type of street performance.
I went over and tried to poke my head up so I could see over the shoulders that were blocking my view. I saw a small group of guys that looked the same age as me but totally swagged out and dancing like pros. I was amazed at how good their moves were and watched for a little while, as I took a better look at each of them I saw someone I recognised! It was Hobi.
My legs started to hurt from being on my tippy toes for too long so I ducked around to the side of the crowd to get a better view. His moves were so on point that I felt myself unable to look away. As I watched his eyes suddenly locked with mine. An expression of delighted surprise overtaking him. No more than a few second later the routine finished. He said bye to the guys he was dancing with before coming over to me. He was wearing a baggy yellow hoodie and olive pants with a green side bag slung around him.
"Jia, hey, what're you doing here?" He smiled, still slightly catching his breath as he asked.
"I was going to get something for dinner when I saw the crowd so.. I came to check out what all the fuss was about. Wasn't expecting to see you in the middle of it" I chucked, feeling just as surprised as he he probably was.
"What do you think? Was is worth the hype?" He smiled.
"More than worth it, where did you learn how to dance like that? so cool.." I fawned a little without meaning to.
"Street dance is the coolest isn't it? Just picked it up over the years" He laughed. "So, who were you going to dinner with?" He then asked, looking around to see if I was with anyone.
"Oh just by myself" I confessed. It didn't sound like a sad thing until I'd said it out loud for some reason.
"Really? Yoongi and I were going to meet for bbq.. Did you wanna join us?" He suggested.
"Sure, that would be nice. Will it be alright with Yoongi-Sunbae though?" I asked, not wanting to crash any plans they may have had.
"Don't worry about that, he'll definitely be surprised though" He laughed. I guess there wouldn't be any harm in it right?
"Okay then, I'm in. Lead the way" I beamed.
"Alright my little Jia" Hoseok put his hands on my shoulders and steered me around to face the direction we needed to go in "Let big bro Hobi take you to the best bbq in Seoul" he pushing me forward a few steps as we set off. My cheeks were hurting a little from all the smiling I was doing but I didn't care.
We joked half the way there and the remaining half was us discussing our hobbies. It turns out that we get along really easily, I'd say even almost effortlessly. Hoseok pointed out the restaurant as soon as it came into view, the sign above read 'Seven Star'. As we stepped in we saw Yoongi was seated at a booth, his face was barely visible through his dark hair that fell in front of his face. He was looking down at his phone which he had on the table and hadn't even noticed us until Hobi slid into the seat across from him. This caused him to look up, mouth slightly hanging open as if caught off guard.
"Yoongi, look who I ran into on the way here" Hoseok tilted his head in my direction as a gesture for Yoongi to take notice of me. Hobi scooted over further into the booth so I took a seat beside him.
"Oh really? What so.. you just saw her walking down the street or something?" Yoongi asked, a mixture of confused and somewhat amused.
"Yeah. Pretty much" Hobi replied plainly. "Small world, huh" Yoongi hummed before picking up the menu and sliding it to you.
"Thanks" I gave him a small smile before looking down to read it.
"I already know what I want. Lambs fine with you guys?" It sounded more like he was telling more than asking but I didn't mind. "Sounds delicious" I replied, still scanning through the options when I noticed they had a set with lamb, chicken and pork combo.
"Did you guys wanna maybe do set D then?" I offered, looking up to Yoongi and then to Hobi.
They didn't even bother looking at the menu when Yoongi mouth fell open and he squinted his eyes and scrunches his nose. Was he confused ? Or .. "Yah. Jia... are you a psychic or something?" Hoseok suppressed a laugh.
"What? No, I mean, maybe?" I rambled a bit, Yoongi still ogling me like I'd said something he couldn't process and Hobi still swallowing down his giggles. "Guys I'm so confused, what's wrong with set D?" I pleaded.
Hobi pulled a straight face "Sorry, wait let me explain" he grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face him as though about to say something really serious.
"We always get set D when it's just us two" he explained. "And that was this first thing you said, it's not even really that funny. Yoongis face when you said it was way funnier".
"Over here" Yoongis voice called to the waiter. "Hmm. Set D" he said before flashing me a small bemused smile. "And three rice" he then added. The waiter wrote it down, took the menu and then left.
"Well, that was easy" Yoongi commented. Hobi sighed, leaning back into the seat and propping his arms along the back rest.
"Did you check the new schedule for this month?" Hobi asked.
"Yeah, I was just looking over it before you came" Yoongi sighed. "It's going to be a busy month. We'll have to work harder". Hobi just gave an 'oh' in response.
"Is this about your classes and assignments..?" I asked carefully, not sure whether it was my place to ask.
"Sort of. We are signed with an agency, so our studies are a part of that but, we still have a lot to do outside of uni." Yoongi explained, I nodded understandingly. It reminded me that Jimin mentioned him and Tae did singing and dancing practises.
It made me realise that Yoongi, Hobi and Namjoon were possibly in the same kind of situation. Before I could say anything else the meat arrived along with some sides. Yoongi started putting the meat onto the hotplate, I stole glances of him cooking when I could. There was just something about him that was drawing my attention. When it was ready Hobi put a few pieces of meat on to my plate which a thanked him for.
We all chatted and ate together, Yoongi shoved a huge lettuce leaf into his mouth as if it would go unnoticed. Hobi just laughed. I felt myself smiling too, there was just something about being with these two that made me feel like I had no worries in the world.
"Uhh so full" Hobi leans back patting his stomach. Yoongi glances down at his phone and checked the time. "Its getting late, we need to go into the agency". Hobi nodded and reluctantly grabbed his bag and put it on.
"What, really..? At this time..?" I checked my phone and saw that it was already 8pm. We start to get up and go to the counter to take care of the bill.
"Yeah, we'll take you home first. Then we gotta go to practise" Hobi put his arm around me and smiled.
"You weren't joking when you said you'd be busy.." I sighed. Yoongi took care of the bill and when we got outside Hobi and I reimbursed him for our share. "Okay, where's your place?" Yoongi then asked.
"This way!" I pointed down the street. It seemed that no one ever slept in this endlessly busy city named Seoul. We didn't talk much on the walk back, which was okay cause I was feeling a bit sleepy anyways.
"Thankyou for tonight" I bowed lightly to the two boys. "until next time Jia" Hobi patted my shoulder playfully. "Rest up" Yoongi added, sending a small smirk my way before they both turned and left.
It had been a long day, as soon as I hit the bed my sleepiness gave way.