"I miss being the age when I thought I'd have my shit together by the time I was the age I am now.."

-K.J. force-
~~~~~

Turned off the laptop after sending the last email of today, Soomin stretched her tensed body as she lamely laid herself on carpeted floor. So tired. She mumbled silently while rolling herself lazily. Then, she tilted her head slightly to glance at the clock on the wall in front of her.

4 o'clock it said.

Great. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she realized she had less than enough hours to rest her worn-out head and eyes before facing another hectic day at work. Didn't even bother to drag herself to her warm, comfy bedroom, Soomin, still in her work outfit, lifelessly unbuttoned her slim-fit cotton pants and wiggled out of them before kicking them to the other side of her living room.

Ah, feels good. Groaned a woman as she stretched her bare legs freely, wearing only her shirt and underwear. Too tired to move her light body, she just blinked and breathed while staring at the ceiling, waiting her eyes to close due to the tiredness. However, her eyes were as wide as the full moon appeared on the night sky. Damned Espresso.

The clock kept ticking; it was 5 o'clock already and she was still lying on the floor - move less- like a dead cockroach. Sleep, sleep, sleep. She was trying to sleep by shutting her eyes, but for the nth times, The image of a man in black, with whom she had spent the day, rudely flashed before her closed eyes and caused her sore eyes to open instantly, ruining her countless efforts to have a good, short sleep.

Dear God, Spirit, Karma, or anyone who can hear me right now, please spare me and allow me to sleep for just a minute. Nearly crying in desperation, she pleaded and smacked her own no-longer-cheeky cheek repeatedly. As expected, nothing changed. If it wasn't his smug face, it was his serious face, his furrowed face, his annoyed face, his shocked face, or his smiley face that appeared one by one on her closed eyes.

Tick tock, tick tock. The clock showed 7 o'clock.

"Sleep my ass! "

Jolted from her mannequin-like position after sleepless hours, cracking sounds were heard here and there from her joints as she walked herself to the bathroom. Her shirt was harshly opened as she prepared the bath. Standing still under the shower, she let herself absorb the comforting warmth.

"When I thought that I would have a peaceful, successful, and carefree life in my 26th..." She groaned.

Soomin #1 conscience:

Seven years..
You are doing amazing for these 7 years.
So stand straight and face this situation with your chin up.
Don't let the past ruins your life.
Just kick him out of your head.

Soomin #2 conscience:

Geez..
Why so tensed? Chill out.
You know, people said that if the world gives you a lemon, just make lemonade

Soomin #1 conscience:

Make lemonade you said.
Yeah, do that and wait till a glass of sour lemonade lands on your own damn face

"Oh shut up!" Soomin grabbed her towel as she marched back to her bedroom.

"I definitely need to see a psychiatrist... these voices really drive me crazy!"

It took her a brief 15 minutes to dress herself casually before she slammed the apartment door and ran hurriedly to the parking lot. I am late, I am late! she cursed silently as she started the engine. The car screeched across the lot as soon as she impatiently stomped on the gas pedal.

As if the mood wasn't bad enough for her, she groaned when she saw a long line of cars ahead of her. They moved slightly, then stopped completely. Annoyed, she pressed the brake pedal with her bare foot and slid down the window. She spotted a police officer standing right next to her car.

"Mind telling me what's wrong?" she asked, not even bothering to act polite to the middle-aged police officer.

"Chickens, ma'am," the police officer sighed.

Sliding her shades to the tip of her pointy nose, Soomin pierced an unamused stare at the officer as she demanded a logical answer from the man.

"A farmer's truck accidentally released its cargo when it passed a speed bump, as the back door was not locked properly," said the officer.

"And the cargo is chickens? Live chickens?" she asked, while raising one of her eyebrows.

"Correct, ma'am. Now my colleagues are trying to help the farmer gather the chickens that are running and flying around the street."

"Thank you."

She rolled up the window calmly, gripping the wheel tightly as she felt her eyes twitch. It was a good thing she had never been exposed to any gamma rays; otherwise, she would have gone mad and went berserk as female Hulk, ready to turn the chickens into nuggets.

She was almost at her limit and about to jump out of her car to catch the chickens by herself when a dark-haired guy in a black bomber jacket passed in front of her idle car. His head was ducked, but as she looked at the way he walked and how he munched on the bread in his right hand, she had a hunch that it was him.

Without thinking, she unlocked the door and jumped out of the car. Leaving the car key with the officer who was still standing next to her car, she shoved many of pedestrians who were blocking her way to reach him.

The bustling sidewalk did not make her stop to catch the guy whom she had been looking for during the past seven years. Where is he?! She was desperately looking around as she no longer had sight of him. She went to several shops on the sidewalk, but there was no hint of his presence. He was gone. She had lost him.

Where are you? I know that was you... Where are you, Jeon Jungkook?

Slumped against one of the shop's walls, she leaned her head as she gasped for air. The cold morning weather was not helping at all, as the air flowing into her tired lungs felt like it was burning her from the inside. Clutching her coat tightly, she stood up and began searching for him once more.

Seven years had passed.

Seven years ago, she had freed Min Yoongi, her savior and first love, from his horrible past, which was herself.

Seven years ago, she had also freed Kim Taehyung, her guardian angel, from his worrisome past, which was herself.

Yet, in those seven years, she couldn't even free herself from the thought of both of her precious men. Not only did she spend her idle time trying to cleanse her mind and heart from the unrequited love she had suffered, but she was also trying to figure out what Kim Taehyung had become after his death.

Devoured a lot of books in search of the answer about her deceased brother, she seemed unable to find the answer by herself until she remembered something, something important that she was late to remember.

"Meet my friend."

She remembered that he was the one who introduced V to her in the first place. How could he be friends with her late brother and act so close to each other, as they usually showed in front of her? That was the question that she wasn't able to ask.

"Jungkook? Haven't you heard that lucky ass kid got a scholarship to study abroad?"

Neither Park Jimin nor Jung Hoseok knew his current contact information. In fact, they didn't know any personal information about him except for his already inactive phone number.

She gave up.

During these seven years, she completely dropped her curiosity of Taehyung.
During these seven years, she successfully buried her feeling for Yoongi.

But.. in these 2 consecutive days..

All of her efforts were shattered as if they meant nothing when Yoongi appeared mesmerizingly, and Jungkook, who possibly held the answer she had been searching for, appeared nonchalantly right before her eyes.

Soomin #2 conscience:
Take a deep breath.
It seems that the world really gives you a lemon this time.

"Then lemonade it is," she said as she fixed her hair while walking back to her car, without realizing that there were a pair of brown eyes looking at her from behind a tree. He chuckled as he took the last bite of bread from his hand.

*****

A/N
I feel empty without any quote on this book.. So I add it from the first chapter lol