"Have fun!" Beomgyu waved goodbye as Nari and Soobin headed out the door, "Take lots of pictures and call us if you need anything!"

"We will!" The girl promised, "Bye Gyu." She turned to Soobin, "Where do you want to go today?"

The boy shrugged playfully, "We can go anywhere we want! Is there anything that you'd like to see?"

"Hmm," Nari thought for a moment, "Well, you like to take pictures right? Let's go somewhere pretty. Oh, I know! Namjoon has this special place that we go sometimes, it's on a mountain and it overlooks the whole river. You'll love it."

"That sounds great!" Soobin agreed enthusiastically as they maneuvered the sidewalks of Seoul, "Let's do it! Do you know which trains to take?"

She stopped to look at a poster outside the subway showing all of the available routes, "West C and then North Line A, I think."

The two of them then purchased their tickets and got on their first train. Nari looked for an empty seat, of which there was none. She sighed and looked for a pole grab on to. There weren't any of those as well, so she was left with her last resort: The rings attached to the ceiling. The girl carefully stood on her tiptoes and managed to just barely grip the plastic. She tried to avoid using them as best she could, the rings were always too tall.

"You're so little," Soobin spoke, biting back a smile. It was just too cute, "Here, you can hold on to me instead. That should help you keep your balance better."

Nari shyly grasped one of the denim sleeves of the boy's jacket, "Are you sure?"

"Positive." He assured her, "I don't mind at all."

An older woman seated right beside them spoke up, giving a smile, "You two remind me of myself and my older brother when we were young."

Instantly, the pair's faces turned bright red. The boy managed a respectful bow, while Nari hid behind him bashfully, "Thank you." Soobin replied quickly.

"You're welcome." The woman replied, "Such an attractive pair of siblings, are you two models? Or idols?"

"I'm in a group, but she's a student," Soobin explained, "Her dad is in the industry too."

"Wow, you have such a talented family!" She exclaimed and gave the girl a smile, "I bet you're their princess, huh? I was like that too. My dad and brothers never let me forget that I was their little girl. I got into all kinds of trouble, but they were always there for me no matter what."

The boy laughed a little, "Sounds like someone else that I know." He playfully nudged the girl hiding behind him, "You really made Jimin sign for that second ear piercing, hm?"

"He offered." Nari mumbled and blushed harder, "And Joon wasn't mad, he said it was cute." Just then, an announcement came over the loudspeaker that signified that their stop was coming up. She let out a sigh of relief. Talking to new people wasn't her strong suit.

"Treat your oppa well." The older woman said as the train came to a slow stop, "But keep causing trouble, I'm sure that it's what makes you loved."

The girl smiled and gave a polite bow, "Thank you. I will."

Soobin said his goodbyes as well and the two of them stepped off the platform. He held Nari's hand securely until they got to a less crowded area.

She looked up to him as they walked, "Soobin?"

"Yes?"

"Should I call you oppa? Like I do with Yeonjun?"

The boy shook his head immediately, "Nah, you don't have to. I'm okay with just being Soobin. Besides, I think Yeonjun would get mad. He wants to be your only oppa."

"Of course he does," Nari laughed, "He's just like Tae." She stopped in front of a large window, "Oh, a bookstore. Can we look around?"

"Sure." Soobin agreed, "I've been needing something new to read anyway."

They eagerly entered the bookstore, which was much different from the one that Jungkook had taken the girl to about a year ago. This one was a lot smaller and felt more homey. Nari took in a deep breath, exhaling with satisfaction. She would never get tired of the smell of books.

"Nari. Nari, look," Soobin whispered, catching her attention, "A cat."

Sure enough, there was a grey cat laying in a sunbeam on top of a stack of novels. She carefully reached out to pet the animal, who eagerly bumped her head against the girl's hand. Nari smiled brightly and looked to her companion, "Nice kitty."

"Nice kitty." Soobin repeated with a laugh, "You really are Joon's daughter, he's such a cat person. Now, what kind of books should we get? There's so many here."

"Hmm, I'm not sure. I like almost anything." Nari replied and took a step back to gaze upon the shelves, "What kind of books do you like to read, Soobin?"

The tall boy gently ran his fingers across the worn covers, "I like all of them too. How about this: Let's choose books for eachother."

"Oh, that sounds fun!" She agreed, "Let's do it."

So the two of them set out to explore the rest of the store with eachother in mind. Nari wandered through the shelves, scanning the spines for something that reminded her of Soobin. Finally, something caught her eye. The girl pulled a worn, leather bound copy of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley from a shelf and nodded to herself with contentment. This was perfect.

A few minutes later she met back up with Soobin, who presented her with a book with a title written in English. "I don't really know what it is," He confessed, "But the cover is beautiful, isn't it? And all of the pages are have pictures on them too. It just seemed very you."

Intrigued, Nari carefully took the book from his hands. Like the boy had said, it really was beautiful. Colors swirled around the words of the title and within the pages of the book itself, each of which had a picture drawn in what looked like oil pastels.

"Songs of innocence and of...ex...experience." She read in English from the cover, "Songs of innocence and of experience." The girl repeated in Korean.

"Do you think you can read it?" Soobin asked excitedly, his dark eyes shining, "You know English, right?"

"Well, I'm not as good at it as Joon or Kaikai," Nari said shyly, "But I can try."

His face melted into a bright smile, "I know you can do it! I'd love it if you could read to me..." The boy's cheeks turned red, realizing what he just said, "If you want to. No pressure or anything. Sorry."

"It's okay. I'd like to read to you, Soobin. I don't mind." She replied, her face turning rosy as well, "Oh, here. I picked this one for you." Nari handed him the book that she had been holding.

"Frankenstein by Mary Shelley," Her companion flipped through the pages, "I don't think I've ever actually read this one. I mean, I know what Frankenstein is, but I've never read the original story."

"It's really good!" Nari excitedly replied, "Frankenstein was actually the first science fiction novel and the author wrote it during a ghost story contest with some friends when she was like 19. Isn't that cool?"

He nodded, "Uh huh! Let's buy these, we can find a nice place to read for the rest of the day."

So, after paying for the books, the two of them went back to the busy streets of Seoul. Suddenly, a feeling of familiarity washed over the girl. She looked up to see a sign for something that hadn't crossed her mind in a long time: The orphanage.

"Soobin," Nari spoke, catching the attention of the tall boy beside her, "It's my old orphanage. Can we stop by for a little?"

"Sure." The boy answered and fell into step behind her, "Whatever you want, kiddo."

The building was quiet when the two of them entered. Just like she remembered, it was about now that all the children would be at school. The only people inside should be Aecha and maybe some custodians. Nari turned down the familiar hallways until she got to just the door she was looking for. Carefully, she knocked.

"How can I help y-" A middle aged woman answered the door, looking the same as the girl remembered her. Her gaze softened with recognition, "Nari? Is that you?"

"Hi Aecha," She answered shyly, "How are you?"

"Nari! It's so good to see you!" Aecha exclaimed with a happy grin, "It's been so long, almost two years! Please come in."

The girl smiled and shyly stepped into the office, "Thank you. This is Soobin, by the way." She said, introducing the tall boy beside her, "He's a friend."

"It's nice to meet you." Soobin bowed politely, "Are you the person in charge of this place?"

Aecha nodded, "Yes, I'm the headmaster of the orphanage. I've known Nari since she was five."

"Wow! That's a long time!"

"It is," The woman laughed and handed him a picture frame that was on her desk, "She was always very special. I'm so happy that she and Namjoon found eachother."

Nari stood on her tiptoes to look at the photo that Aecha gave the older boy. It showed her and Namjoon standing in front of her big tree in the orphanage courtyard. His smile was bright and genuine, the kind that she loved most of all, and his hand rested lovingly on her head.

"Whoa, you look so different!" Soobin exclaimed, "I didn't know that you had long hair, although the pixie cut definitely fits you much better. You've got the same glasses though. And the same smile."

She self consciously pushed the thin round frames farther back on her face, "I guess so. This was taken before I was officially adopted, right Aecha?"

"That's right," The woman nodded, "I took a couple pictures back when Namjoon used to visit you while all of the paperwork was still getting approved. You finally looked happy here."

"My tree, is it still there?"

Aecha didn't have to speak for Nari to know the answer. The way that her face instantly fell said enough. "Oh. I see." The girl replied, her gaze dropping to the floor, "Sorry for asking."

"It's alright, it's not your fault," She assured her, "The branches kept dropping leaves and seed pods into the street, so the city said that we needed to get rid of it. I'm sorry. I know that you really liked that tree and I was thinking of you when they cut it down."

"Can we still visit?" Soobin asked, surprising the girl.

Aecha nodded, "Sure. The stump is still there. The rest of the children shouldn't be coming back for another couple hours, so take all the time that you need."

"Thank you very much." The blue haired boy bowed politely and gently nudged Nari beside him, "C'mon kiddo, let's go see your tree. Show me the way."

The girl nodded and silently showed him to the courtyard. Not much had changed, the playground equipment still stood exhausted all around them, their once bright colors now faded and worn. Somehow, there was a corner that looked emptier than the rest. Soobin saw there was only a stump and guessed that was where the tree was.

Sure enough, Nari led them to it. She knelt down and pressed her palm to what was left of the rough bark. He followed suit, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"I can't cry." The girl said, "I already cried yesterday, so that would make it two days in a row. That's not allowed."

"Well of course it's allowed," Soobin shook his head, "Crying is just a release of emotions. That's all."

Nari gave him a grateful smile, "Thank you, Soobinnie. I appreciate you." She let out a deep breath, "It's just...this tree was my only friend for such a long time, you know? Whenever I felt lonely I would read under its branches and make a wish on all the leaves that fell, and when I met Namjoon for the second time it was here. He told me that he would make all my wishes come true. You know the leaf tattoo that he has? It's because of this tree. It hurts that it's gone now."

"The tree itself might be gone, but your memories aren't," The boy said softly, "And we can always make new ones too. Do you still want to read, Nari? It'll be just like you used to, except this time you won't be lonely. You've got me."

"You're right. I've got you."

So, the two of them sat with their backs against the trunk, just like Nari used to do. The blue sky overhead matched Soobin's hair perfectly and he wrapped a gentle arm around her shoulders. She pulled the book of poems that he bought her out of her backpack and smiled when she saw that the colors on the cover fit perfectly.

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soobin chapter for haych 💓💓 we just have beomgyu and kai to go!