Jimin's P.O.V

I closed the door behind me, leaning on it slightly. Breathing heavily with anger, hatred for Jungkook, and maybe a bit of fear. Fear for Aera. If anything ever happened to her, I would never forgive myself. I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. My meditation was interrupted by the door knob turning beside me. I let out a small gasp and jumped away; the door swung open to reveal a surprised looking foreigner. Laurel? I thought, trying to recall if I'd seen her before. She stared at me for a second with wide eyes.

"Who are you and what are you doing in this dorm?" She asked in complete English, before shaking her head. "Uh, hold up-- Who are you and why are you here?"

"I'm Aera's friend," I explained quickly.

"I don't trust you," she replied. "Stay here, don't move a muscle."

She pulled out her phone.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Texting her."

"Aera won't answer if you text her. Or call her," I told Laurel. "She keeps her phone off in class."

Laurel looked up in surprise.

"Nice. Guess you are her friend." She grinned. "I'm Laurel, Aera's roommate."

She bowed aggressively at me. Holding back a laugh, I returned her greeting. Satisfied, Laurel pushed past me into the dorm.

"So what's your name?" She asked, slipping into the small kitchen.

"Uh, Park Jimin..." I said, following and sitting at one of the chairs by the single table.

"You sure?" She laughed.

"Heh, yeah." I realized then I wasn't used to talking to people.

Nor was I very good at talking to people.

"You hungry? I'm starved. I just had the most boring class of my life." She shook her head and opened the old fridge.

"Um, I'm kind of hungry," I admitted.

"What do you want?" Laurel asked. "I could go for some Doritos right now. Do you know what those are? I guess you do. Right? Sorry, I know Korean cuisine and all, but I'm not sure how much American culture is mixed in. None? Should I stop talking?"

I shook my head. She could keep talking. If she stopped I surely wouldn't pick up the conversation.

"Aw, thanks. I'm not actually a very talkative person. Isn't that crazy?" She laughed again. "But ever since I got here I've been talking and talking. It's tiring, but it's good practice."

I wondered if she understood the difference between talking to practice and talking to just talk.

"Here." She threw me a mini bag of Doritos. "You better eat those well. Doritos are my life. I only brought one bag of singles, but you're Aera's friend, so I'll let you have it."

I nodded and opened the bag carefully, feeling a bit guilty.

"Speaking of which, Aera should be home in about fifteen minutes." She jumped back against the counter. "Who are you?"

"Wait, what?"

"No, I mean, tell me about yourself. Why are you here?"

I looked down, wondering how to respond.

"Aera and I met when she moved to Busan. We became good friends." I cleared my throat. "I'm just visiting her."

"How long?" Laurel asked, munching in a chip.

"I...don't know."

As if on cue, Aera burst through the door at that exact moment, in what looked like a state of panic. She rushed in and stopped, her wide eyes landing on us. We all sat and watched each other for a moment.

"Uh. Are you okay, Noona?" I asked carefully.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again, before responding.

"I'm fine...just hungry."

"Okay," Laurel said in English, dragging out the 'ay'.

Still watching her with a confused frown, I patted the seat beside me. Aera gulped in a breath and slid onto the chair.

"I'll just make some mac and cheese now," Laurel piped up.

"She's introducing American cuisine to me," Aera said casually, with a slight eye roll.

As Laurel started doing whatever at the mini stove, I leaned closer to Aera.

"What's wrong?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"It's stupid." She shook her head, waiting for a moment. "Jungkook was absent today, so I was wondering if he'd come here or something."

I watched her with a slight frown, wondering how she'd come to understand Jungkook so well. Maybe it was just obvious. But it scared me that she knew him that much. It meant she'd talked to him much more than I was comfortable with.

"Wait, did he?" She asked at my silence.

"Well..."

"He did!" Her eyes widened.

"It's nothing. Just the same empty threats as before," I sighed.

"Jimin, they weren't exactly empty before," she reminded me.

We shared a look. Probably both thinking the same thing.

"What're you guys conversing about over on the table?" Laurel asked.

"What?" Aera's worried, tired eyes turned back to her friend. "'On the table'?"

"Uh, by the table?" Laurel tried again.

"Correct," Aera replied with a clap.

I smiled slightly. But worry still clouded my mind.

•••••

Aera's P.O.V

"You really don't mind right?" I asked Laurel again.

"Omigosh, Aera, it's fine! He seems like a cool guy. You guys seem pretty close. So I trust you! Do not worry about me," Laurel insisted for the third time.

"I know, but I feel like I'm forcing a weird situation on you or something." I frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jimin asked from the couch, where he sat patiently.

"Okay I'm done with this conversation. Goodnight!" Laurel said, heading for the bathroom.

I turned to Jimin.

"She hates me."

"I do not hate you! But I am going to kill you!" Laurel called.

I walked over to the couch with some blankets in hand.

"Get up, get up," I said, ushering him off. "Hold this." I offered him a soft blanket.

I laid out a larger blanket on the couch and began to pat it down.

"And you're comfortable too right?" I asked when I was done.

He nodded, I nodded back.

"Okay." I sighed and sat down.

Jimin sat beside me, putting the blanket I'd given him over us. We sat like that for a moment. Side by side, sharing the blanket on our laps. I allowed myself to breathe steadily for once. After another minute, I laid my head back on the couch cushion, just staring up at the ceiling. It was crazy. I was calm, even in the midst of being in love with a non human and defending myself from another non human, all the while attending college. I was calm.

"We're good," I told Jimin.

"We're good," he repeated.

A small smile tugged at my lips.

"Good."

"Good."

Well hello.
Anyway I'm so sorry for slow updates and everything and omg. Gosh. Another self promotion: Check out Our Loud Minds if u have not already. Love you guys!!!
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