"Hey, Ruan-ssi? Did you perhaps get injured? You don't look well," Namjoon peeked at the back seat of the van, as he was seated in the front.

"Y-Yeah. Just a bit taken aback since it's my first time seeing a bloody mess," She lied smoothly.

"Oh, don't worry about that, you'll get used to it." He released a relieved smile. "I was wondering, would you like to go back to your old house to grab some of your clothes or do you wanna go shopping?"

Old house. I hate that term.

Ashlyn grimaced. "No, I'd go hit my house rather than wasting my money."

"We have time now, would you like us to drop you off and fetch you back or should we wait?" Namjoon offered.

"Hmm... You don't need to wait, you can go back. Come fetch me tomorrow morning,"

"Will it be safe?" Taehyung butted in.

"None of your concern," She spat.

"Okay, then Ruan-ssi, please enter your house address in the GPS." Namjoon handed her his phone. She typed the address in, and Namjoon stuck it back on the phone stand; Seokjin started driving accordingly. 

-x-x-x-

It was fifteen past seven when they reached Ashlyn's house. It felt so lonesome and dark from the outside. It was probably like that too on the inside. Seokjin gave her a subtle smile, whereas Taehyung's eyes scanned the whole neighbourhood. Jimin scoffed when he saw her ears burn under the gaze of Seokjin. They pulled away from her house as she went in.

"Feels like never been here in ages," She circled her finger on the dirt laid upon the coffee table. "No point in cleaning, won't be here in ages either."

She practically emptied her closet into a giant suitcase which took around three hours. She folded each of the pieces neatly, as she had a hint about Jimin not being too happy with her sharing his closet. She put skincare products in two ziplock bags, stuffed them in the inner side pocket of the suitcase and closed it. Dusting her hands, she drowned two entire glasses of water in one go. She took a nice warm bath in her tub and put her body wash and shampoo in the suitcase too. After she double checked everything, she released a sigh and jumped on her bed. She scrolled through her call log and dialled a number she yearned to hear the voice of. 

"Hello?"

"R-Ruan?"

"Ashlyn, cautious ass,"

"Oh, thank God, I thought you were captivated or something,"

"Why the hell would I be captivated?"

"Y'know, secret agent shits."

"Anyways, I'm home currently."

"What? Did you get kicked out or something?"

"Geez, Jisang, be positive for once!"

"I am not covid positive-"

"Are you coming or not?!"

"At the café?"

"No, I can't be seen out. At mine."

"Comin' in 10, princess."

She smiled, feeling finally at home. Hadn't been a full week, yet she was tired out of her wits. She knew what she had to face once she got in at Black Crystals', but upon facing reality, she realized she was wrong. It was much harder than she thought. Hadn't been a full week, but she already got enemies. Hadn't been a full week, and she already regretted her decision. But she forced herself to not regret it, she worked her whole life for this.

Soon enough, the doorbell rang and she ran to welcome her favourite person she had been counting down the days for. She opened the door and attacked the taller male who chuckled and fake-gagged right after— of course hugging her back in the process.

"Ji! I missed you so much!" She dragged him inside by his free hand; the other one was holding snacks.

"What were you learning in that place? How to get cheesy? One might think you're in love with me!" He exclaimed.

"You gonna stop with your shit or do I have to make you? C'mon, I'm sure I'm not the only one who missed you!" She whined, plopping down on her couch. He smiled and sat beside her, attacking her with a bear hug.

"I missed you too, fat bones," He snuggled his face on the crook of her neck. She made a comfortable sound that indicated she was happy. Happy to be in the arms of the boy who had been taking care of her since childhood. 

After their small re-unite, both pulled away and started scrolling through Netflix. Jisang was busy with the snacks, while Ashlyn was trying to find a movie.

"Ugh, no good movies." She pouted. "Anime?"

"FMA?" 

"Hell yea'," She put on the suggested anime and sat in the empty space between Jisang's legs, as he was sitting vertically on the couch, his legs spread open. They both got cosy and started cuddling while eating chips, with the anime series in the background.

"Just let Ed and Al get their bodies back omg is that so hard?!" Ashlyn groaned in frustration after a while.

"You using text acronyms in real life now? What the fuck. You sound like a 12-year-old who's busy doing TikTok," Jisang scrunched his nose up.

"Oh, shut up, let me enjoy, party pooper." She pulled her tongue out.

They stared at each other's eyes deeply; it felt like a year went by. None of them lost eye contact even for a nano-second. Then, they burst out laughing. They laughed and laughed, Ash felt like jumping around and laying down on the snow and rolling on it, even though it was summer. She felt like a toddler, she knew it. She knew she would get less and less time to spend with Jisang as days will go by, and one day, she won't even get time to text him. He will never text her first thinking he might disturb her. Just like that, a friendship so pure and so vibrant will be forgotten at the running treadmill of time.

Deep down, she knew all of this. She knew it from the beginning; yet she couldn't do anything about it, hunting down the man that made her wretched was her top priority. A lone tear escaped her eye, Jisang couldn't see it. He was busy bending over and laughing too. One by one, memories flooded her brain. 

They met at a park where he accidentally almost crashed into her. He took her to the hospital, paid the fees, got to know each other, and continuously offered help with the tech stuff she needed. He was the first person she got close enough to talk about her past. They never got the time to truly, just relax, observe each other, care for each other, have fun around the streets like every other teenager, but life had other plans. Two people met by ill-fate, becoming best friends, helping each other— it was all planned by life beforehand. 

Quickly wiping the salty substance away, she focused on the laughing male in front of her. She never focused on his features before.

He had beautiful fluffy ebony hair, light brown eyes, broad chest, smooth and sharp jaw, porcelain skin— he was a perfect man. A man whom every girl would love to date, spend their life with. A man who made other men fall for him. A man whose personality couldn't get more gentle. He was handsome, kind, tall, caring, funny, and he knew his way around with technology too! He worked as a part-timer in a convenience store, but what could you want more in a man who has a job, a perfect personality, and handsome features?

When she momentarily gazed into his eyes, she realized she was caught staring. Her ears flushed ever so slightly from embarrassment, that she immediately looked away, causing him to chuckle yet again.

"I don't blame you, I'm handsome," He pulled a peace sign. "But don't go falling for it, I'm a bad boy."

"Oh, yea'? You do know girls love bad boys?" She simpered.

"I take it back." He scrunched his nose up. Finding him cute, she ruffled his hair. He just sat there, letting her do whatever she wanted, since he too, missed her a lot. Later at night, they fell asleep cuddling.

Ashlyn secretly didn't want dawn to come; she didn't want to lose her comfort and be in the centre of people who continuously wanted her out.

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A/N NOTE:

HAPPY READING!

To be continued...