Date: ‪November 13th‬
Time: ‪5:03pm‬
Location: A new place
Mood: Nervous, excited
<><><>

New people, a new place. Comfort zone, who? Each new day and every instance spent with Hyuna or talking to Jimin, that particular zone seemed to grow and stretch. By this point she could even look her friend in the face without feeling too awful, but even texting Jimin brought her body's temperature up to a dangerous degrees. Though that was for a whole different reason.

That respectful distance he had given her still existed in text messaging. Jimin would message at certain points of the day. Mostly a good morning and a good night. The topic never varied too much, it was kept simple but friendly. But he always worded things in such a way that gave the impression that he would message again the next day, and would always look forward to speaking to her. Actually, that last part he had said aloud. Last night when he had taken a chance and called her.

The fact that she answered on the first ring was definitely a good sign.

"He-hey Jimin—Oh, sorry, I didn't mean—I think—never mind, I-I'll hang up."

"No!" he nearly shouted, ignoring his dad's quizzical look. "Call me Jimin. I really want you to."

They hadn't discussed what to call one another, but he'd assumed (more like hoped) that being the same age, she would call him by name. Honestly she could call him TurdAss and he would be fine with it.

Or maybe not.

"O-ok. Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"I don't know," she confessed quietly, feeling more miserable by the second. Why couldn't she be normal for a change? Before she could stop herself she uttered it once again. "Sorry."

He chuckled, imagining the red undoubtedly blooming on her face at the moment. "Don't be. There's nothing to be sorry for."

Silence fell, as was custom with this still new and awkward relationship. They'd forgotten this part of it since it was nonexistent in text.

"Um," Jimin finally hummed. "How have you been?"

"Good. You?"

"A little lonely. But...don't just say 'good' when I ask how you've been or how your day was. I want to know everything about it, even the boring parts. I mean, if you're ok with that," he backtracked, worried he had taken it too far, "only tell me what you're comfortable with. Heck—you can hang up on me if you want." he paused before whispering, "but please don't do that."

There was no telling if it was his rambling or her stuttering awkward self, but whatever passed by then broke the ice and the tension eased between them. Y/n giggled and he joined in after. When they quieted down she had the strongest urge to apologize but held back, knowing that would put them back at square one.

Instead, with a low and shaky voice she went into as much detail as she could remember. Which wasn't much. It was like the moment someone asked her about it, all memories were wiped from her mind.

"I've been...normal. Except no job, so I spent more time with my little sister. I," she idly plucked at the corner of her pillow case, hoping he hadn't fallen asleep already due to boredom. "I took her to her ballet lesson yesterday."

"She takes ballet?" he sounded more interested than she expected. "What type?"

"I-I think classical."

"I see...I used to dance contemporary."

"Really?" she hadn't expected that.

"Yes. I haven't in a while because I wanted to focus on school and—uh, other stuff. But maybe one day Rosie and I can dance together."

That would probably, definitely be something adorable enough to see. No doubt the toddler would love it. She expressed as much and Jimin sighed happily before asking what he'd initially called for. The location of the day care and what time she wanted to meet. Their interviews were to be back to back. The background checks would take a few days to process but by this time next week if all went well, they'd be employed adults once again.

Y/n refrained from letting him in on the fact that if she were to get the job there and he not, she would pass on the opportunity and look elsewhere. She wouldn't even admit that to Hyuna. That would definitely expose her secret.

A poorly hidden secret. Hyuna wasn't blind.

Especially now as they stood outside of the gate of the daycare where they were supposed to meet Jimin. Y/n was checking her phone every fifteen seconds and looking both ways up and down the road for him with a hopeful but nervous expression on her face.

Like a lost duckling, she thought affectionately. Y/n was cuter than her own little sister. Hell, Y/n was cuter than anyone she'd met. If she was gay, she'd snatch her right up. But unfortunately, she was a boring, straight person.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

It's ok to be straight. Like it's ok for Hyuna to feel so protective of her friend that she would literally chop the hands off of anyone who tried to hurt her. She already had the knife for her own protection. She was prepared.

"Y/n!" Jimin appeared, jogging from the opposite end of the sidewalk and waving frantically, both corners of his mouth already spread wide and threatening to touch his ears.

In turn Y/n giggled and shyly waved back before smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles of her pale yellow sweater.

Now Hyuna was trying to decide which was cuter. Jimin, bright eyed and bushy tailed or Y/n, poorly hidden smile and blushing cheeks.

It definitely wasn't her in the baggiest pair of sweats she owned. But at least her hair and makeup was on point.

Finally they were face to face, Jimin still beaming and panting slightly and Y/n smiling down at her feet.

Both hands gripping the strap of her bag stretching across her abdomen, her voice was so low that Hyuna barely caught it. "Hey."

"I forgot how cute you are!" Jimin's practically squealed, hands tightening into fists. "You're like a squishy marshmallow I can fit in my pocket!"

Something about his statement brought a small downturn to her lips. "Squishy?"

Dumbfounded by the change in body language, he frowned as well.

"Are you calling her fat?" Hyuna decided to help him because after all, she was a straight woman and Jimin was it. And since Y/n was a bit hopeless in this area, the blonde woman declared herself captain of this ship. She would see them sail!

"No!" he was quick to disagree, turning wide eyes onto his mate. "She's just so...soft. Gentle and smol. That's why she's marshmallow." A hand reached up to glide through his hair. "Also, she was wearing this fluffy, white sweater the first time we met."

Both of Y/n's hands covered her now scarlet covered face. Everything he said made her happy. Even his voice made her feel good. This shouldn't be possible. From her perspective, crushes didn't do that much to you. She wasn't sure how to respond to that, but thankfully Hyuna spoke up with an odd request.

"Do that again." she ordered.

"Huh? Me?" The index finger of his right hand pointed to his chest in question.

"Yes, you. Do that again." she gestured to his hair when he failed to take action.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Not knowing why, Jimin moved his hand through his hair once again, the soft locks moving back before the front strand escaped to hang over his forehead. Hyuna couldn't be sure, but she could swear she heard a thousand fan girls scream, though she couldn't say where they were coming from. Probably it was all in her own head. Before he was attractive, but when he did that it made him into something manlier, sexier.

Not that she would try anything with him. She shipped him with Y/n. As if that wasn't enough, she could recall the last time they'd come face to face and Jimin had let her know under no uncertain terms that she was not his type. The memory gave her an idea as a determination sparked in her eyes.

Neither noticed Y/n's frown as she looked back and forth between them.

"So, shorty," she started, casually flinging an arm around Y/n's neck. The size difference engulfed the smaller woman and Jimin's hands twitched, though she couldn't tell if it was due to that gesture or the nickname. "If I ain't your type, then what is?"

"Eh?" The sudden question confused and surprised him. Why would Hyuna care what his type was? His gaze slid to Y/n, under the protective arm of her friend and their eyes locked for a second before both looked separate ways donning matching flushed faces. Everyone knew what the answer was, but he didn't want to make Y/n uncomfortable all over again. A beat of silence passed between the trio and once more her eyes slid back to him, the twin pools of beauty peeking at him from beneath her lashes with an almost...hopeful look in them.

It was then that his wolf urged him to do something he never did: do what he wanted. It was all the push he needed.

"I like girls who program really impersonal names into my phone and duck behind counters when they don't know what else to do."

Hands clutching at the collar of her sweater, Y/n now freely stared up at him. Not wanting to appear as nervous as he felt, he shoved his shaky fingers into the front pockets of his coat.

"The fuck?" Hyuna scratched her head in confusion.

Jimin nodded, hands trembling but eyes steady on his mate. "Girls who hate roses and call for their brother when they see spiders. The kind that doesn't like me at first sight but makes me work for it. She's warm on the outside and warmer on the inside, but likes music that is contradictory to her personality."

"That...is very specific." Hyuna spoke up, more to break the ice than anything else. Then just to tease him a bit, "I could be that girl."

"No!" he snapped, his head turning to glare at her snickering face. "You can't be!"

Feeling the urge to push at his temper a bit more, she leaned in closer to her friend to whisper teasingly in her ear. "Yah, how 'bout you, Velma? What's yer type?"

The smaller woman squirmed out of her hold, her face and neck glowing like a stop light but an unmistakable smile on her face. A smile she was attempting to rid of but was having a lot of trouble accomplishing that task. "Let's go already," she mumbled, lightly pushing Hyuna towards the keypad to unlock the gate.

"How come?" Hyuna teased, moving her hand to the keypad at an agonizingly slow rate. "It's a simple question. Hey, are you smiling?"

"Unnie!"

"Fine, fine." smirking, she glanced at Jimin, only to find that he had turned his back to them and was looking elsewhere. How odd.

<><><>
‪6:00pm‬

The daycare was a large, one-story building made of tan bricks and white trimmed windows. The archway to the front door was held up by two columns in the shape of giant crayons. The fence was surrounding the property was over all of their heads, ensuring a safe environment. Over to the side was a grassy area dotted with droves of messily painted birdhouses, which Hyuna informed them that no bird went near and almost the whole year of three-year-olds who painted them was distraught over.

Inside was a colorful, chaotic, organized mess. The most put together part of it was the supervisor's office, though to say it wasn't cluttered would be a lie. She was in her late twenties with frizzy hair and the white uniform shirt she wore sported a bright pink stain over the front of it.

All of that went right over Y/n's head, as her main focus was on not being herself.

By the end of the fifteen minute long interview she felt proud of herself. She managed for the most part to sound like an average, outgoing person and keep an adequate amount of confidence on display. Her fingers paid the price for it—by the end of it, when she finally unclenched they felt as if they could break off at any second. When she came out and Jimin went in, she sunk into an empty chair and took deep breaths, the nervous nausea making itself known.

She had no idea how she did that.

Jimin's interview was over by the time she had gained control of her breathing. Walking out afterward with him by her side, her stomach was once again filled with butterflies. The long halls between classrooms were decorated in color drawings of one classes favorite animal, another with their future aspirations. They had stopped to admire them, both giggling over one that said he wished to be a T-Rex when he grew up.

"What about you?" she asked softly as her eyes traced over one that promised to be president of the world someday. "What did you want to be?"

A nervous chuckle came in reply as embarrassment became obvious in his features.

"I wanted to be a wrapper."

"A rapper?!?" she gasped. Jimin was a rapper? Was this the best of both worlds?!?

"No," he looked away. "A wrapper. I wanted to move to the North Pole and help Santa's elves wrap all the presents. Mom said they were busy all year because of that and I wanted to help them."

A hand clasped over her mouth to keep from laughing. She replied when she sure it wouldn't escape. "That's so cute." The hand popped back into place when she realized what had come out, but he paid it no mind, seemingly still too embarrassed to notice.

Except that he did notice. And he was DYING inside. "Whatever." he grumbled to keep her relaxed, putting on a gruff act. "What about you?"

"A-a veterinarian."

"Why did you change your mind to," his eyebrows scrunched in thought, "a blood...scientist?"

One shoulder lifted in reply as they walked out of the front entrance together. "I'm more interested in blood spatter."

Pulling his jacket tighter around him, he peered over at her to make sure she wasn't cold. "But...why blood?"

With a frown she questioned, "you think it's weird?"

"No," he answered slowly, searching for the right wording. "Not weird. Different. Most people don't want to work with blood all day. Though," he grinned down at her, "most people aren't red marshmallows either."

Used to this silly nickname by now, she rolled her eyes but still allowed her hair to fall down and shield her face, granting herself the illusion of being hidden.

"It's not j-just blood. It's the puzzle, the mystery, the responsibility. The blood spatter analyst on a case can tell you what weapon was yielded, the velocity, which hand was used and whether it was the dominant of the two." Jimin stared in surprise, nearly tripping over his feet at the way his mate chattered like she never had before. She went on, informing him that without a blood spatter analyst, solving a murder where blood was involved would be hopeless. He nodded in agreement, having no idea what any of it meant.

When they reached the head entrance he rushed forward to hold the gate open for her, and with a pink face she rushed through. Muscles itching in excitement he skipped after her, moving to her side with a very obvious hop to his step. Though content and comfortable, both felt the crackle of hyper energy coursing through the air between them. They walked in silence for a moment, before the two looked to one another at the same time by chance, and identical smiles were exchanged. Both looked in opposite directions just as quickly.

The cold November air was unforgiving in it's chill. A light wind nipped at the tips of their ears, but only Jimin shivered, something he found curious. His mate appeared comfortable as she observed the trees dotted with yellow falling leaves along the streets.

"I hate autumn."

The proclamation came from no where and he wondered if she had meant to say it out loud.

"Really? How come?"

"Mm," she nodded, expression sad as they walked over leaves strewn along the sidewalk. "Everything dies. It's sad."

"What's your favorite season, then?"

"Winter."

And now he was more than confused. "But...everything is dead is winter."

The reason was more complicated that she thought he would want to know. Winter wasn't when everything died. Lots of things still flourished during that time. Lots of plants. Some animals. People. November 30th was the day her dad left. A week before her birthday, as if what he had done wasn't bad enough.

That winter was the hardest of her life. It was tougher than tough, but they pushed through. Just like the plants that died and came back to life. Like the animals that hibernated and woke up. To her, winter is what all living things wait for and have to survive through. Once you make it to the other side you know you can push on, even if you were still injured from the last round. At the end of every winter there was a spring. Spring was worth waiting for.

The wind whipped at her face, giving it it's regular rosy glow. As much as she'd liked to, and as connected as she felt to Jimin, she wasn't quite there yet to share that much. So she opted for reason number two.

"I like snow." It wasn't a lie.

He blinked for a moment before one corner of his mouth turned up. "I like spring."

More time passed as their walk slowed to a crawl, neither willing to say goodbye just yet. Jimin certainly wasn't going to complain. He was on cloud nine. At one point his hand had brushed against hers on accident and since then she hadn't stopped blushing, even though she'd retracted the limb and began fiddling with the ends of her hair.

After some time of trying to find something interesting to say, he spotted an ice cream shop. "Ice cream! I mean—do you like ice cream?" Not that he wanted any right now. Not in this weather. But whatever got her to stay with him longer, he would take it.

"I...don't." her shoulders drooped. "I'm sorr-"

"Don't!" she jumped at the height of his tone so he adjusted it accordingly. "Don't say that. There's nothing to be sorry for."

"O-ok."

Another long stretch of silence followed. They were getting closer to her neighborhood and dread at the inevitable separation bloomed inside him. He hated this. For one wild moment he contemplated asking her to marry him. Just dropping to one knee right there and begging her.

Sure, that won't make us look crazy at all.

"Hey red," he slowed to a stop and she did as well, pushing her hair behind one shoulder to get a better look at him.

It felt as it years had gone by just to get to this point with her, where she could face him while talking. There wasn't always eye contact, but it was definitely an improvement.

"On Thursday and Thursday night you won't hear from me." The sadness that was always in her eyes seemed to expand. In response his arms itched to wrap around and comfort her but he held back. Words would have to do. "Friday morning I'll text you again, promise."

His pinky finger came into view and like the first time she began to giggle. Unlike before she reciprocated the gesture by wrapping her own pinky around his smaller one. She shivered at the action and he instantly worried for her comfort out in the cold.

It's honestly sad how blind you are.

He would have like to bite back at his inner wolf but focused on his mate, not having finished with the rest of his promise.

"Sometimes...maybe like, once a month I might not text you. But you don't have anything to worry about. I'll always come back to you."

Something in her expression changed. First from shock, to pained, then to something deeper, a forlorn longing for a better time that would eternally be out of reach. Not entirely sure what it meant, there wasn't an obvious sign of anything until a single tear glided it's way down down the side of her nose. Whether this was a good or bad sign he couldn't tell, especially as his wolf had gone dead silent.

Then all at once her gaze set on something behind him and widened in terror. Before he had a chance to question anything, she had jerked from his grasp and whispered hurriedly.

"Run!"

Run.

"What? Why-"

The answer he received was when she shoved him with surprising strength between two parked cars on the curb.

"Oppa!"

Instinct (and his wolf yelling) told him to duck and he did, just as Y/n's brother appeared.

He's giving me some serious "Hyung!" vibes.

Jimin had no idea what that meant and decided he didn't want to.

—
Edited 7/26/22