Quiet and peaceful in the office. An excellent atmosphere for working.

A mechanical pencil in between his slender fingers, shading a soft and long curved line to sketch a shape of a woman, to darken the outline second. A palm-sized eraser in his grip – in between the pencil and his index finger and thumb. When the outline was too thick, he delicately erased the line and swept away the residue with the back of his hand. 

The sketch carried on – with a fist under his left cheek this time, getting more focused yet slowly feeling his brain's energy drain. The pencil began to work slower, carving with the HB graphite lead small details on the long dress he illustrated on the paper.

The man hadn’t put down his pencil since a few hours ago. Neither did his hoodie.

He had never let the hoodie off his head. Be it the short sleeves one or the long sleeves one. Be it black, white, pink, or rainbow. The one with zipper one or no zipper. Be it the one with rope inside the hem of the hoodie or no rope. When the hoodie he wore had a rope, he would tie it in a loose knot, so it would not distract his concentration.

But there was always something that disturbed him.
"Hoseok!!"
                                                 
The loud call made Hoseok jump. His pencil became out of aim, and the thin lead broke and rolled around the paper.

Gritting his teeth, he cursed under his breath.

"Let's eat!" Shouted the oldest friend in his circle.

"I'm not hungry," replied Hoseok flatly.

"Aw, I cooked a lot for us."  
                          
"You didn't ask me whether I'll be eating or not."

The man replied smugly head shaking, "Because I know you will never reject food."

Hoseok sighed, feigning ignorance and rubbing off the mistake on the sketch with the eraser.

"Come out quick, or the food will get cold."

"I said, I'm not hungry, hyung," Hoseok pressed.

Seokjin curved his plumped lips into a smile and cooed, "you know, I'm not taking a 'no' from you." His smile fell when he finished his words and threatened, "now, hurry up before I whoop your butt with this spatula."

Hoseok shot him a short glare before gathering the stationary and placing them in a stationary cup. "Fine. Let me clean these up."

The older one snickered. "Good boy."

The glass door screeched against the metal beneath the hinges. Hoseok peered, watching the figure of a broad-shouldered man holding a spatula with a lavender apron resting on his chest and stomach pass through the glass wall behind the artificial wood blinds. Knowing that Seokjin had disappeared, the 'good boy' began to grumble with his mouth curved downwards.

He mimicked, “'hurry up before I whoop your butt with this spatula'.” He lightly hit the breadth of the papers twice on the table, and he placed his sketch papers on the table and then pushed the chair under it.

It did not take him long to reach the main spot of the premises.

He stopped his steps, getting his sight to be greeted by the view of residents of
South Korea and foreigners passing by the glass display with the porcelain mannequins posing for them. Their products didn’t seem to attract them, but he didn’t care.

It was not a rare sight either, to see his friends gathered in the middle of the boutique. The spacious, rounded coffee table was filled with food cooked by Seokjin and three boxes of pizza that Hoseok did not know who ordered. A few cups of orange juice or coke or water were either in between their legs or grip of their hands as their dominant hands fed themselves, some of their cups were under the table.

Some were bickering, some were busy with their phones, some were busy talking and some were stealing others' food.

If the sight was not them gathering at the table to have a meal together, then it would be them busy entertaining customers. They would be arranging the stocks, sweeping the floor, cleaning the mannequin or glass display, and compiling and counting the boutique’s profit and loss.

They were also his family at the Bejiwoo Boutique, consisting of people with different personalities and backgrounds, different talents and abilities, and who came from different provinces. These people had been supporting him since the day he had to manage the business alone, and since the day they started working with him.

"Oy, Jung Hoseok!" The call from a feminine yet rough voice shook him off his trances.

"Waiting for the red carpet?" Joked Amber with her mouth full of pizza.
"N-no." Hoseok scurried to a stool and brought it to join them. He sat between Namjoon and Yoongi.

The loudness of the Kim siblings – Seokjin and Jisoo – bickering bothered him as he stretched his arm to grab a piece of pizza.

As if Yoongi had read his mind, the curly, black-haired guy said, "who could have thought siblings could fight over who's getting to have the final pizza?" "They fight like the world is planning to ban pizza forever," Amber said.

Jung Wheein – who had been listening to their ridiculous arguments – muttered, "I can't believe siblings still compete over the last pizza by mentioning who washed their clothes the most." A grimace appeared across her face.

"But the argument is usable," said Kim Namjoon. It seemed that Seokjin and Jisoo still had not known the spectators were talking about them. Namjoon resumed, "the one who works the most, deserves more rewards."

Seokjin heard him. "Uh-huh, that's right. Did you hear that, Jisoo? Thank you, Namjoon." He then blew a hand kiss to Namjoon.

Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook, and Park Jimin simultaneously contorted their faces at that action.

The bickering then continued, but Namjoon stopped eating. "Now I'm losing my appetite."

Yoongi, on the other hand, did not give a damn anymore. He took the last piece and stared at it for a few seconds before giving it to Hoseok.

The presence of pizza on his plate got him confused. "Huh?"

"Take it." Yoongi lightly tossed the pizza on Hoseok's plate. "You must eat a lot."
He raised his plate slightly. "But hyung, I have much food already –"

"You are getting thinner."

"It's just my sweater that makes me look thin."

"I see,” he said, chewing his pickled radish as he stared at the sweater. “Eat up, fill in the sweater.”

Knowing Yoongi, 'I see' always meant 'whatever'. Hoseok could not find a way to fight or to stop him if that left his mouth.

Ever since he sensed three of the older staff were worried about him, he knew since when it started. This was to the extent that it was almost suffocating. He had no clue what he did that made them worry. But the root of this problem was probably his sister.

Until that day, no one knew where Jung Jiwoo had disappeared. Hoseok's sister did not leave a message about where she went and with whom. She only left a message saying to pass her position to his brother if she went away for so long.

Amber, Jiwoo's trusted friend and assistant, was the one who found the message. She tried calling Jiwoo and sending her text messages but none of them replied.

Remember that one day when she visited her boss' family to ask, the first person she saw at the door was Jung Hoseok. He used to be a bright and ambitious boy.