24

Day 21/29

"Jimin, sweetie. Wake up, breakfast is ready."

I was cooed awake by my mother's soft voice. As I lifted my head off the side of the bed, I groaned as my neck and back hurt from the uncomfortable position I had fallen asleep in. My mother chuckled lightly while helping me off the ground and downstairs to the dining table. While eating, I must have dosed off as I felt a light smack on my head. I perked up to see my father sitting across from me with a teasing smile on his face. I stuck my tongue out at him before finishing my breakfast. I helped with the dishes and waved goodbye to both my parents who were leaving for work.

"Take care of your friend, okay? Call one of us if there's a problem, and make sure to eat lunch. Goodbye, sweetie."

I nodded as they kissed the top of my head before heading out the door. Once I locked the door, I headed back upstairs and peeked into Jaeyoung's room to see if Jungkook was awake, but he wasn't. He was still out cold, and soft snores could be heard as he slept. I changed the cloth on his forehead before heading to the bathroom where I brushed my teeth and hair. I washed my face and came out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and fully awake. I grabbed my laptop and my phone before heading back to Jaeyoung's room. I settled myself back by Jungkook's side and checked my social media sites for the first time in forever.

An hour later, I found myself laying on the floor while staring at the ceiling with a blank face. There were still seven and a half hours left and I was already bored out of my mind.

Glancing over at Jungkook, I sighed and wished that he'd wake up soon. I averted my eyes back to the ceiling and a memory came flashing back into my mind causing a smile to appear on my face. It was of Jimin and me last night when we laid in the grass together singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle'. Quietly, I softly sang the song while tracing stars into the air with my fingers. After finishing the song, I pulled myself off the floor and headed to the music room downstairs where I searched the shelves and piles of music until I found the piece I was looking for. It was the one piece I could play that actually sounded decent.

I set the piece on the music rack and positioned my fingers on the correct keys before playing Mozart's, 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,' or as my brother called it, 'Ah! vous dirai-je, maman,' the original title. I smiled as my fingers easily glided over the keys, playing each note gracefully. Too absorbed in playing, I didn't notice the door to the music room opening until I heard his voice from behind me.

"I never knew you played the piano."

Startled, I ended up missing a note while turning to see who it was. Jungkook stood before me with his hands shoved in his pockets and an amused look on his rugged face. He had bags under his eyes and his posture was horrible like always. I let out a breath before shrugging and rising off the piano chair.

I didn't know what to say to him. Was I supposed to ask him why he let himself almost freeze outside? Or why he came to my place in the first place? Or was I supposed to ask the lingering question of why he still loved a

girl who used him and threw him away like he was trash?

I took the piece off the music rack and scurried back to the place where I had gotten it from. I slowly put the piece away while panicking about what to say. When I opened my mouth to finally say something, I heard the creak of the piano chair and I turned my head to see Jungkook sitting in front the piano with his fingers positioned on the keys. He had picked out a piece from one of the many shelves of music in the room and it sat on the music rack, but he had his eyes closed as he played. He played an unfamiliar piece, but it was still soothing as he played it delicately as if it was a frail, glass figure. I slowly walked over to him and as he finished the piece, I saw the corners of his mouth lift slightly into a smile. He opened his eyes and glanced next to himself to see me staring at him with a curious look. His eyes were wistful as he caught sight of me and soon, he stood up and placed the piece back where it came from. As he walked out of the music room, I debated whether or not I should ask him if he was okay, but he must have sensed it as he answered me before I could ask.

"I'm alright. Thank you for staying with me through the night, Jimin, but don't sleep on the floor next time. It's bad for you."

With that, he left the room while closing the door after himself. I stared at the door for a few seconds before walking out of the room myself and heading back upstairs looking for Jungkook. He knew I had stayed by his side all night, but how? Had he waken up in the middle of the night?

I poked my head into

Jaeyoung's room to see Jungkook laying on the bed with his phone. He glanced up for a second to meet my eyes before returning his attention back to his phone. I awkwardly walked in and closed the door behind me. I sat at Jaeyoung's desk with my notebooks and silently started on the homework I never bothered to start yesterday. The homework for my core classes were effortless as I breezed through them. The class I had the most trouble with was my 3rd language class, French.I let out a long, heavy sigh as I stared at the foreign words in front of me. After trying for thirty minutes, I threw my pencil down on the desk and let out a loud, agonizing groan while spinning in the desk chair. As the chair came to a slow stop, I saw Jungkook clutching his stomach while laughing at me. I felt my face flush red and heat up as I turned away with my hands over my cheeks. I heard his laughter die down and a few seconds later, I heard shuffling from behind me. Seconds later, Jungkook was towering over me and looking over my shoulder.

"Would you like some help?"

I shamefully nodded and let out a sigh of defeat. Jungkook chuckled and started to point at some words in my workbook as he explained why these verbs were conjugated and why the other ones weren't. I glanced up at him as he explained and saw that his hair was falling over his eyes again. His skin was pale and he still looked as tired as ever.

"Jimin? Are you listening?"

"H-huh? What?"

I blinked a couple of times and saw Jungkook staring at me with a questioning look. I felt my cheeks heat up once more

as I turned away to face my workbook. I read the problems again, but they were still nothing but gibberish as I hadn't been listening to Jungkook's explanation.

"S-sorry, I wasn't paying attention... Could you explain this one more time?"

Jungkook shook his head before lightly knocking the top of my head. He scolded me with a teasing smile before explaining the material again. This time, I actually listened and like a lock finally being unlocked after hundreds of years, everything became a lot easier to understand. He explained everything and made it seem so easy while I was struggling to keep a decent A in the class. Well, I guess that explained why he was the school's precious jewel.

I thanked Jungkook with a grateful smile before finishing up my homework and doing some extra studying. At a magnet school such as the one I was enrolled in, academics were prioritized and students were expected to do self-studying to know most of the material by the next day if they were absent. Jungkook had found his place back in Jaeyoung's bed, cuddled up in the pile of blankets that were brought to him last night. He was sound asleep with an innocent look on his face. He probably didn't have to self-study when he was absent. I guess it really did pay off to be smart. Lucky him...

By four, I was burnt

out and starving. I had skipped lunch as I had become far too lazy to make myself something to eat. I trudged down the stairs, still in my pajamas. As I passed by the front door, I heard someone knocking on it. Not in the mood to deal with others, I ignored it and passed right by it and headed into the

kitchen. For the next minute, the knocking continued relentlessly. I finally gave up and groaned before walking over to the door and throwing it open. I opened my mouth to ask what the person wanted in an irritated tone when I saw Jimin standing before me, breathing hard.

"J-Jimin? What are you doing here?"

"I... You... School.."

He tried to talk, but out of breath, he couldn't speak in full sentences. I motioned for him to come in and led him to the kitchen where I gave him a glass of water. He chugged it in a flash before shooting me a smile.

"I came to check on you. You weren't at school today, are you sick?"

His smile turned into a worried frown as he reached up and touched my forehead to see if I had a fever. I swatted his hand away with a laugh and told him I was just fine which earned me a questioning look.

"If you aren't sick, why weren't you at school? I had to eat lunch all alone. I even brought a lunch this time!"

He frowned and fake cried as he pouted with his arms crossed over his chest. Unable to bring up the fact that I skipped school to take care of Jungkook, I just shrugged and avoided his eyes. Jimin seemed oblivious to my vague answer as he observed my kitchen like a new born puppy that was brought to his new home. After a few moments, my stomach growled loudly in hunger and I flushed red in embarrassment as Jimin chuckled.

"Let's go grab something to eat. It'll be on me so don't worry about buying."

"Huh? Right now?"

"When else would I be talking about, Princess? Did missing school for a day really get to you?"

Jimin

teasingly smiled as he took my hand and led me to the door.

"Wait! Jimin, hold on! I'm still in pajー"

"You look gorgeous, don't worry!"

He pulled me out the front door while winking at me. I stumbled behind him as I properly put on my shoes. I glanced back at my house with a worried look. Jungkook was still in there and I hadn't left him a note. My phone was back in Jaeyoung's room too. I sighed and gave up on trying to fix the situation.

"Why the sigh, Princess? Am I bothering you?"

"No, Jimin, you're fine. I just, uh, forgot my phone.."

"It's alright, there's no need to worry. I'll protect you if something goes wrong."

Jimin gave me a cheeky smile as we walked down the sidewalk, hand in hand. I couldn't help but giggle as he arrogantly flipped his hair. We kept walking for a few minutes until I caught sight of Jin at his mother's shop. I surprised both Jimin and Jin by yelling his name loudly while waving.

"Jin!! It's me, Jimin!!"

I ran over to him, pulling Jimin along with me. Jin breathed out a sigh as I came towards him with an excited smile on my face.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop yelling like that in public? Jeez, you gave me a heart attack.."

He shook his head at me while flicking my forehead. I glared at him and cleared my throat to introduce Jimin.

"Jin! This is Jimin, my friend from school. Jimin, this is Seokjin, my childhood friend."

I motioned at them both as I introduced them to each other. Jimin had a blank face as Jin smiled at him kindly. He stuck out his hand for

a handshake.

"Hello, Jimin. Just as this idiot said, I'm Seokjin. It's nice to meet you."

Jin pointed at me as he mentioned an idiot which only earned him a glare from yours truly. Jimin nodded and shook Jin's hand with a small smile of his own. I felt him pull me closer to his side as his grip tightened on my hand. I gave him a questioning look but he ignored me and kept his grip firm and strong. It wasn't until Jin's girlfriend walked out of the shop that Jimin loosened his grip on my hand. Jin raised an eyebrow at me with an amused smirk as he saw the whole scene. I ignored him as his girlfriend introduced herself.

"It's nice to see you again, Jimin! Who's the boy next to you?"

"This is Jimin, my friend from school."

"Ah, it's nice to meet you! I'm Kwon Minah, Jin's girlfriend."

I felt something weird churn in my stomach at the mention of the familiar last name, but I ignored it as my stomach growled again. Jimin chuckled and bowed at Minah and Jin as he excuse the both of us.

"Have fun on your date, Jiminie!"

I heard Jin shout to me while waving as Jimin and I took off running. I heard Jimin snicker as I blushed and sent a glare back at Jin. After running for a few more minutes, Jimin came to a sudden halt in front of a cafe, causing me to bumping into him. He chuckled before opening the door for me.

"After you, Princess."

"Why, thank you, sir."

I did a small curtsy before entering the cafe. Jimin looked surprised and smiled broadly after realizing that I had returned his joke. We told each other stupid jokes as we stood in line to order. When we reached the front, I picked out a sandwich and a bottle of water which Jimin switched out for a chai tea latte. I gave him a light shove for it, but Jimin only chuckled as he ordered his order too. We were given a buzzer after Jimin paid. I opened my mouth to complain to Jimin for switching out my choice of beverage as we sat when Jimin spoke first.

"It's cold out and you like chai tea anyway, right?"

"H-how'd you know?"

I suspiciously glared at him with my arms crossed. He shrugged with a smile on his face.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it was that pile of chai tea in the kitchen with a post-it note saying 'JUNG JIMIN'S PROPERTY ー DO NOT TOUCH' written in bold, red letters."

My face flushed in embarrassment as he mentioned my large collection of different types of chai tea I kept in the kitchen. I thanked Jimin anyway and soon the buzzer went off. Jimin left and came back balancing two trays in his arms while walking carefully, trying not to spill anything. I helped him put the trays down and we ate while sharing a small conversation.

Once we finished eating, we left the cafe with satisfied smiles and as I turned to head back home, Jimin turned the other way. I gave him a strange look, but he returned it with his signature cheeky smile.

"Where are we going? My house is this way."

"Who said we were going back to your house?"

"Huh? Then where are we goー"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

Jimin took hold of my hand and pulled me down the busy street, his smile still playing on his face. One look at his expression, I knew it was going to be a long day.

But who knows? Knowing Jimin, maybe it would be a fun one as well.