。。。。

Jeon Minji's POV

The woman stared at me in disbelief.
"You... you are..?"
"Was." I interrupted her. "I don't work there anymore."
"I don't think it was acceptable to work there in the first place." The woman scoffed, shuffling away in her seat slightly. "Children should never be associated with places like that."
"She was never associated with the place." I retorted. "When I was working she was always with.. him."
"Jungkook?"
"Yes."

"And you were happy with that? She was happy with that?" The woman glared at me patronisingly.
"He was the one she loved the most." I retorted.
"But how could you know?" She asked back. "He could've been hurting her the whole time."
"She loved him ever since she was a baby." I told her. "A baby can't fake happiness. It smiles at what it likes, and cries at what it doesn't. Around him, she was always happy."

"She loved him like a father."

。。。。

"Minji, we have bad news." Jungkook informed me. I looked up at him, since I was on the floor playing with Areum, and he was holding a letter in his hand.

"Mr. and Miss. Jeon. We are writing to inform you that we will be paying a visit to your accommodation some time in the upcoming week. The purpose is to survey the living conditions and ascertain whether the environment is safe for a young child to be living in." Jungkook read out.

"If the conditions are unacceptable we will have no choice but to take your child into care, where he or she will be fostered and soon adopted into a family that can properly afford to look after them."

"Who sent that!?" I exclaimed.
"Social Services." He replied solemnly. "If we don't do something about the state of this place Areum will get taken away..."
"That can't happen." I told him, standing up. "We... we can tidy up, right? Make the place look cleaner, scrub off some stains..."

"Minji," Jungkook sighed. "They'll look at EVERYTHING; the food we give her, the running water, heating, everything." He sighed. "What are we gonna do?"

"Wait!" I exclaimed. "Do you still have that letter off Namjoon that we got a couple years ago?" I asked. "You know, when we first moved in?"
"Yeah, why?" Jungkook questioned, pulling it out of a nearby drawer and handing it me. Skimming through the letter, I finally came across the part I was after, and read it aloud:

"There's not a lot of basic necessities as you have to pay more for those, and you're on the bare minimum. There's no electricity, no heating and you only get running water in your taps between 11am-2pm every day. Of course, if you do have the money or eventually get the money then you can speak to the landlord and he'll arrange better living conditions for you."

"Jungkook, we have enough money to afford everything for a week." I told him. "I've been saving up. I can go speak to him."
"On your own?" He asked me.
"Someone needs to look after Areum for me." I smirked in reply.

"Hey Areum!" I turned to look at the little girl who was playing with a plastic bottle. She looked up at me intrigued when I called her name. "Who do you wanna play with?"
"Kooki-pa!" She squealed, causing Jungkook to chuckle.
"Pa?" He smiled, walking over. "Does she think I'm her dad?" He looked me in the eye, but I just shrugged at him, grabbing my bag and all the money I've been saving up hidden in an envelope.
"Back in a few." I smiled, leaving the pair giggling on the floor.

"Oh, Miss Jeon, you're back." Yoongi sarcastically tried to sound surprised when he opened the door, but immediately stepped back and protected his manhood.
"I'm not gonna do anything again." I sighed at him. "Honestly, I promise."
"Okay," he sighed, letting me in. "How's the job going?"
"Pretty good thanks." I replied, and we made our way into his office.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked me once we sat down.
"I received this letter of Social Services." I replied, showing him the letter. "And I was wondering if you could improve our living conditions for a week."
"I can," He told me. "But it's going to cost you."
"How much?" I blurted out.
"How much have you got?" He retorted, glancing up at me from the letter.
"Enough." I replied.

"Alright." He sighed. "Well, Thank you for informing me about this. I need to halt my business procedures for a week if social services are paying a visit."
"Business procedures?" I questioned.
"Oh Minji you do not wanna know." He sighed. "There'll be no income for a whole week, which will get a few people mad, but it's better than getting caught."
"I- uhh, I guess." I mumbled.

"Oh, also, I wouldn't tell them about your occupation." He informed me.
"Then what do I say?" I asked.
"Well, this goes for all the workers there; it's hidden behind a bar, right?" He smirked at me, and I nodded. "So you work there as a barmaid. As do all the others." I nodded in understanding.

"I'm surprised Jin didn't tell you this." He sighed.
"Well I don't think he was expecting anything like this." I replied. "Thank you for the advice."
"Oh, before you go." He stopped me. "Do you have any money available now? It would help... get things moving.. if you get what I mean."
"How much?"
"50,000 won." (abt $50) He told me, and I fished around in my bag, pulling out the required amount.

"Pleasure doing business with you Miss. Jeon." Yoongi smiled, shoving the money in his pocket.
"Likewise Mr. Min." I replied, standing up.
"The rest of the money will be added onto the end of the weekly rent bill." He told me.
"Thank you." I smiled. "And, can this deal be terminated after a week?"
"Of course. Just a week." He smiled at me, and I bowed before leaving.

For the next couple of days we decided that it would be a good idea to take Areum to the park, so if they did end up talking to her she could mention her wonderful adventures. It was late spring, so the birds were chirping and the weather was pleasant, but we dressed her up in her best clothes and coat regardless.

"Areum," Jungkook smiled down at the girl. "Why don't you go and play with the kids over there while me and mummy sit on this bench." The small girl nodded, skipping over to the sand pit to make new friends. Me and Jungkook sat on the closest bench, watching from a distance.

"Do you think she'll live a good life?" I asked Jungkook. There was a slight pause before he answered.
"I do." He replied. "And I believe she is living a good life now. She may only be four years old, and we may only be living off scraps, but we pour our hearts into the girl, and I think that's all she needs to grow up well." I nodded in agreement at his statement, but then turned to look at him.

"Remember the other day when she called you pa?" I asked, and he nodded, turning his attention away from Areum and towards me. "Do you think that it would be better for her if we said that you were her real dad?"

I stared into his eyes and saw the sheer desperation; that want and pleading that was practically begging to agree.
"No, I don't think it's right." He told me, saying something completely opposite to his eyes. "It would only be worse for her when she gets older and finds out we've been lying."
"But parents lie all the time." I replied. "You know, Santa, the Easter Bunny, all that shit."

"But lying about her father is something completely different Minji." He retorted. "She'll soon realise that me and her look nothing alike, and then she'd start to question who her real father is."
"So you want me to tell her that her father is a psycho-rapist who's in a mental asylum?" I raised my voice a little. "Surely saying that you're her father is better."
"You don't have to phrase it like that!" He raised his voice back.
"But it'll always be that way, won't it!?" I yelled back. "Do you want me to tell her that she was an accident as well!?"

"Mummy?" The two swiftly turned their heads to face the young voice. It was Areum, she was stood facing the pair, looking distressed. "Why are you yelling? Are you mad?"
"No no sweetie, I'm not mad." I ran over to her, embracing her in a tight hug. "Me and Kookie were just talking, that's all."

"Did he say mean things to you?" She asked, mispronouncing a few words, which was understandable considering her age. "I'll tell him off for you mummy."
"Oh it's okay sweetie." I laughed. "I already told him off."
"Can we go home?" Areum asked, and I nodded, picking her up off the ground.

"Did you manage to make any new friends?" Jungkook asked Areum.
"I made LOAADDSSS!" She giggled. "There's.." she began listing names whilst counting them off on her dainty fingers. "Jeno, Haechan, Renjun, Jaemin And Jimin!"
"Wow, that's so many!" Jungkook smiled happily.
"Yeah!" Areum grinned. "They were all the same age as me, except Jimin, he was older."
"I see.." I smirked. "Is he your oppa?"
"No mummy." She giggled.