(Y/N) POV:

"I'm fine oppa." I stress for yet another time staring slightly exasperatedly towards Habaek oppa who's fretfully staring at me, having just sat down after wrapping me up into yet another blanket.

I wriggle, trying to move and huff when I realise he's swaddled me into the blankets making it impossible to free myself from.

"Just sit there and let me take care of you." he insists, tugging my blanket-wrapped form into his arms and cradling me there, the warm comfort that he provides is way better than the warmth of a blanket.

"I'm not even shivering anymore." I point out, twisting slightly.

"Thank god that you hadn't been alone. Do you know how terrified I was?" he asks, a small shudder as he holds me closer, rocking me slightly with him, mumbling softly near my ear.

"But I wasn't, I had help and he stopped me from getting panicked or freaked out. He held me through it." I mumble, trying yet again to reassure the fretting male.

He startles.

"He held you? And you didn't freak out?" he asks, eyes wide with confusion and amazement.

I nod slowly.

"He also helped me out of the pool. And for some reason he felt safe, I wasn't scared." I add, mind drifting back to the sensation of his strong warm hand effortlessly hoisting me up and then to the way he'd held me close but still kept a respectful distance- giving me comfort without pushing those boundaries.

Oppa's face is a mixture of proud and happy.

And he squeezes me tighter all of a sudden, eliciting a yelp at the suddenness of the gesture.

"I'm happy for you cherub. I really am." He murmurs, pecking my cheeks repeatedly with a wide smile on his face, that only deepens and brings out his deep laughter when I giggle and twist helplessly in his arms.

Once he's calmed down and relented I speak up again.

"You know I was also thinking to take Hoseok's offer." I say. And he attacks.

And it's like that Mi-sun unnie finds us, with me breathlessly laughing under Habaek oppa's sprawled frame, affected by his infectious laughter and teasing hands and butterfly kisses, twisting and failing to escape.

But what's to say I want to escape from this bubble of happiness?

I'm perfectly content right then in that moment.

----

I'm sitting under a parasol at a small café with Habaek oppa and Mi-sun unnie the next day when I decide to muster the courage, fingers slipping into my bag to withdraw the card Hoseok had given me, phone sitting on the table.

My hand is slightly shaky as I unlock it, type in Hoseok's number first to save it before slowly typing out a message, finger hovering over the send button- deciding whether or not to go through with it. And then I click on it, quickly so I can't back out and change my mind, the delivered sign coming through.

And now it's a waiting game.

A waiting game even as a waitress comes to serve our food and drinks and we begin to tuck into waffles with fruit and cream.

"You did it then?" Mi-sun unnie remarks, her eyes snagging onto the card which still lies next to my phone.

I nod as I chew my mouthful.

She sighs, a long withdrawn exaggerated sound.

"Even if you're ditching me to be moved up the ranks, I can't say I'm disappointed, I'm the one who left you to it." She remarks, voice teasing and feigned hurt.

She looks at me expectantly and I part my mouth after swallowing the waffle.

"Thank you unnie for nudging me to take the lessons." I say and she smiles, satisfied until she taps her cheek, waiting. I lean forward to kiss her and though Habaek oppa rolls his eyes at her and nudges her to eat, she beams when she leans back- looking a mixture of proud and satisfied.

And just as we're coming to the end of our brunch, my phone screen lights up, the chime alerting me to the text that's come through. My hand goes clammy as I reach out for my phone, see Hoseok's name come up. I take a breath before opening the message.

His message is like his personality; bright and exuberant. And comes accompanied with an array of emojis too.

I'm excited to see you dance!! Jiminie and I can't wait! 🤩 💃 🥳

I type out a reply, to know the date and time.

And almost immediately my phone pings again.

How about the end of this week?

There's only a few days but when I glance up Habaek oppa is already nodding reassuringly, encouragingly- peering over my shoulder.

"Go for it." He prompts which spurs me into replying with an affirmative.

And with that decided we leave the café, a thrum of nervous excitement rushing through my veins.

The day seems inviting and welcoming- and I wonder just what it can hold for me.

----

"Are you sure you won't come along? Sure, sure, sure?" I ask again and again to where the two of them are sleepily reclined into each other.

They both shake their head, sleepily cuddling as they peer up at me.

"I know before we turned you were older than me but surely you can't be this tired." I say, looking incredulously at them.

Mi-sun's arm lazily rises to swat at me but the slow sluggish movement is easy to avoid, and I sidestep it laughing.

"We're your elders so stop teasing...and you made us do so much already in the day, how can you still have energy?" she asks, looking at me with amazement.

I shrug my shoulders.

"It takes a lot to wear me out." I say before leaning over unnie to kiss oppa's forehead.

"I'll be going then! Baking lessons won't do themselves...I'll bring back dessert then- you two have to cook." I say as I swing my bag on, allowing myself to be tugged into a droopy tired hug, smiling down at the two of them.

They nod.

"Take care cherub." Habaek oppa murmurs.

I nod before leaving, stepping out into the late afternoon air.

I drive there, music filtering out of the car's speakers until I pull up outside an elaborate looking exterior, parking before stepping out.

And when I find the instructions guiding me towards the kitchens where the lessons will be held, I step in and feel my jaw drop. There's sleek, state-of-the-art equipment, large ovens and multiple stoves lining each kitchen space, the marble counters polished and shining, equipment waiting on each surface, all matching in colour and ingredients sitting adjacently. There's a small group of other students gathered near the front, talking amongst themselves waiting for the baking teacher to enter. I hover awkwardly on the edge of that bustle, unwilling to brave it and decide to move to wait for the teacher, leaning against the shining tables, peering down at my reflection.

I decide to gather my hair up now whilst I'm waiting, hands bundling my hair up to keep it out of the way, securing it tightly. And it's whilst I'm doing that, that there's a sudden shift- a silence that sinks onto the chatter and mutes it and curiously I raise my head to see what it is that has suddenly silenced them.

There's several wide-eyed stares trained on me and then I realise that they actually are focused on something behind me, I turn my head slowly to the side and pause.

Standing there looking so comfortable and at ease in a large oversized tee and jeans is the man from the supermarket. Mr Snack the supermarket saviour...and then internally I flush at the double implications of the words, eyes threatening to slide away from him. From Kim Seokjin.

His face is as entrancing and ethereal as I remember, hair dark and mussed over his forehead, eyes that widen and sparkle with recognition and those thick lips curved generously into a smile. He steps forward, moving closer and closer to me until he's right in front of me.

"It is you! From the other day at the supermarket!" he says, his smile dazzling and bright and welcoming, voice smooth and sweet.

I nod shyly, recalling the situation we'd met in and I feel my cheeks flame in remembrance.

He laughs.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Did you finish all those snacks?" he asks, curiosity and a bit of mischief in his eyes.

I shake my head quickly, eliciting another laugh.

"Honestly, I'd be impressed if you had...I think even Kook would've struggled with that amount." He says, voice turning warm as he references someone, someone close to him.

"You signed up to learn baking too? I can't wait to see what we make today." he confides happily.

And just then the teacher walks in smiling as they grab an apron, calling out for all of us to do so.

And immediately get right into teaching us how to make a batch of soft large cookies, inviting us to choose our own flavour combinations and pair off to share kitchens. Whilst it's blatantly apparent to me that the others are throwing Seokjin eager, inviting glances, he seems to be blissfully ignorant of them, turning to me.

"Want to be partners?" he asks, looking at me eagerly.

And though I have no idea why he'd wanted to I nod, grateful to be partnered with someone that I know even if it's in the slightest.

The two of us hover over ingredients but I pluck out dried raspberries and white chocolate chunks, deciding on my flavour for the cookies. Seokjin raises his eyebrows, nodding approvingly before leaning forward to choose the chocolate chunks and cocoa powder.

"The boys love chocolate." He explains.

The teacher begins to explain the first steps, the two of us carrying them out in each other's presence, helping each other measure flour, sugar, and butter. I scrutinise the scales carefully- trying to be as precise as possible.

Seokjin I learn is full of funny jokes and puns, small tales that have me staring at him in disbelief, sometimes in wonder and sometimes in wistful envy- to be close to a large group of people, to be constantly surrounded with laughter. To live such a normal life. I yearn for it.

And it's during a particularly fitful round of laughter that Seokjin accidentally sends the clear container of flour to tip over dangerously, sending a cloud of white to float and then settle onto the marble.

"Oops..." he says good-naturedly, face flushed with laughter.

Being Seokjin's partner is hard I learn. Because his constant stream of chatter and jokes make it hard to keep a response back, to hold back the laughter from bubbling past my lips and mingling with his.

Somehow he worms his way through those strongly enforced defences with his easy good-natured friendly personality.

"I never learnt your name." Seokjin suddenly says once our cookie dough is sitting in our glass bowls waiting for us to make into balls and place onto greaseproof paper.

I look at the flour still dusting the surface and drag my finger through it to write my name.

"(Y/N)." he reads aloud before repeating it a few times.

Each time he says my name I find a small warmth take root and blossom.

"Well you can call me Jin. When you want to that is..." he offers, ears tinged red and a shy smile on his face.

I nod back, smiling. When and if that time ever comes I'll be glad to call out his name.

JIN POV:

It's surprise and amazement that propels my feet forward towards the girl, who I'm certain is the girl from the supermarket- right there in the flesh tying her hair up and exposing the slender arch of her neck.

It's hopeful eagerness that prompts me to ask her whether she'll be my partner, something about her silently emanates comfort and safety, makes her the easy, obvious, and only choice for me to be baking partners with.

And it's nothing but a sense of comfort and ease that makes it so easy to talk to her as I would with the others, and pride that bursts in my chest and fans out with a pleasant warmth when I see her seem so engrossed in my stories, so amused by my jokes. She is perhaps the person who's reacted the best to them, mouth parted in silent laughter that can only be made out by the slight breathless gasps, the slight wet sheen to her eyes and the few tears that have trickled down.

And it's during a joke that always cracks me up without fail that I accidentally knock over the cannister of flour, righted quickly by her. When the white fog settles down, I look sheepishly at her to see her grinning back- eyes alight with amusement.

And during this all I realise that I don't even know the name of my baking partner.

One slender small finger trails carefully through the flour, spelling out her name.

Her name rolls off the tongue pleasantly. So pleasantly that I give in to the urge to say it aloud a few times.

"Well you can call me Jin. When you want to that is..." I say, feeling the urge to convey that to her, for her to call me with a familiarity.

And to leave her that choice for when and should she choose to speak, given how expressive she is silently- I knew deep down that when she spoke it would be even more so.

And the thought was appealing.

She's deftly making small balls out of the cookie dough and placing them evenly onto the lined baking trays and then looks at me pointedly. At my empty tray.

And though my ears burn slightly with embarrassment for being caught out, she shakes her head and reaches over to start helping me, the trays filling up quickly. And then she gestures to the large oven for us to put them into.

The wave of heat that slams into my face makes me wince, my whole body feeling the heat and I quickly slide the trays in, gloves on and then turn to pluck (Y/N)'s trays out of her hands and load them in too.

She smiles thankfully at me when I turn back and it's with that smile that the two of us begin to clean and wipe down our surfaces, cleaning up silently.

When the timer goes off, both our heads dart around from the counter where we've been playing noughts and crosses, our competitive battle left behind to focus on getting the cookies out.

She silently marvels and oohs over the cookies that have taken a golden hue, sitting there invitingly- the smell thick and sweet in the air.

The impatience wins over so as they sit on the cooling racks my hand inches out to snag a cookie, hissing slightly at the heat that burns my fingers. Undeterred I take a large bite and promptly begin fanning my mouth, desperately chewing, and trying to get it down my throat.

When I finally do, I look down with watering eyes to see (Y/N) laughing, hand covering her mouth, eyes creased up and looking at me with something that's a mixture of amusement, concern, and fondness. As if this is a familiar sight for her.

And in normal situations I would've scolded her just like I do to any other dongsaeng but I can't find it in me to dredge up feigned annoyance, not when she's practically shining with laughter and happiness.

But when then she stops and picks up a cooled cookie from her rack, proffering it as a peace offering to me, held up sweetly. And I take it smiling back at her.

Today feels like the beginning of a sweet camaraderie, one that I hope will deepen with time.

And it's with a happy wave that I see her step into her car, my own box of cookies clutched in my hands- half of them triple chocolate cookies and half of them raspberry and white chocolate.

(THERE YOU GO! A SWEET BONDING, FRIENDLY CHAPTER OF JINNIE AND (Y/N)! YOU HAVE YOONGI TO LOOK FORWARD TO TOMORROW! THEY ARE NOW BAKING BUDDIES AND SLOWLY WE'LL SEE HOW THEY BECOME CLOSER WITH TIME! I FOUND THIS CHAPTER PARTICULARLY CATHARTIC TO WRTIE AFTER BOUND BY BLOOD- SO MY LOVES WHO'VE COME HERE FROM THERE, USE THIS TO RELAX AND UNWIND AND FEEL SAFER AND COMFORTED! I LIKED WRITING THEIR SMALL INTERACTIONS- AND I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE AND WRITE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. STAY SAFE AND TAKE CARE LOVES!)

QUESTION...A TV SHOW YOU'D RECOMMEND?

Mine is...I currently just finished watching My ID is Gangnam Beauty again which is amazing! And now I'm re-watching Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo for yet another time because it's just so fun!

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3