Six heads huddled around the table, staring blankly at the white A3 sheet. No one said anything; they just stared at the page for an unknown amount of time.

Jimin, on the other hand, broke the silence. "We shooed our boss to buy us snacks. Is it just me who feels bad?"

The question went unanswered. There appeared to be no one with Jimin.

"What did Amber tell us again?" Taehyung asked.

"She wants us to figure out how to help Seokjin and Yoongi," Namjoon replied.

"They're gonna hire an assistant for Hoseok. We're gonna help them to hide it from Hoseok, am I right?"

Namjoon nodded.

Wheein asked, "any ideas?"

Silence.

Jisoo spoke, holding her head with a contort on her face, "my brain isn't working."

Silence again. The silence became longer as all of them in the meeting room was still staring at the paper. But later, Jimin snapped it. "I don't think we need this!" He cried out. His face mimicked a whine as he slumped on the chair.

The rest of them then followed suit, pulling themselves back to sit straight. Sighs came out one by one.

"Can we just go with the flow?" Jimin said, whining.

"We can't simply go with the flow. What if Hoseok finds out and objects to having an assistant assigned to him? What are we going to tell him?" Namjoon remarked.

Jisoo said, "My brother is with us. His threat of a spatula always works on him."

"What if that threat starts to work less on him?" Namjoon wondered, raising his eyebrows.

Jisoo never thought of that. "Oh. W-well, then... Never mind."

This procedure appeared to be impossible. It wasn't that no one knew what this meeting was about. No one could think of a solution to help Seokjin and Yoongi if it weren't for Hoseok. As far as they knew, their employer was not the sort to overtly welcome new people, making it nearly impossible to persuade him to hire an assistant.

Amber, Yoongi, and Seokjin had treated them as though they were family, but Hoseok was difficult to read. It was confirmed that business remained business. But treating them as if they were members of his family? They were not close, they were not distant either. Hoseok's behavior resembled a switch on that occasion. It has its own on/off switch. It took a long time to get him to open up to them, but not to the point where he could chat with them.

They would not have hired an assistant for Hoseok if it hadn't been for Amber's directive.

However, Taehyung was the first to suggest a suggestion later on. "How about we put our acting skills to use?"

All of them looked at him quizzically.

"We have to risk our boss feeling for this one. Like, we are going to force him out with us while Amber isn't here. We're going to tell him that we have to take this opportunity to get close to each other."

"Convince us it will work, Taehyung," Wheein said.

"Seokjin."

One of Wheein's eyebrows raised as she said, "Seokjin?"

Taehyung firmly nodded. "Suggest him a new threat. The spatula is canceled!"

**********

Although Amber said that she would go to the airport alone, Bejiwoo staff adamantly demanded to send her to the airport. She admitted her defeat at last, and they went to the airport together.

Amber needed to leave in fifteen minutes. After handing her luggage to the immigration station, she planned to find her seat as soon as possible. She was halfway to the customs checkpoint when she said, "You all, behave! I don't want anything bad about the boutique being written in an article."

"Yes, ma'am!" Wheein, Jisoo, Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook all exclaimed simultaneously.

Then she faced the two oldest staff. "Both of you. Don't forget," said the rough-voiced female.

Yoongi bobbed his head back and forth.

"Don't worry," Seokjin said. He shifted his gaze to Hoseok. The boss was a long way behind, strolling and distracted by his phone. With his all-black outfit, he appeared to be preparing to set off a bomb at the airport. "But I don't trust the kids' ideas," Seokjin muttered.

Amber chuckled, patting her friend's shoulder. "Everything will be fine."

"Jisoo 'surprised' me the other day. She told me that they need my participation in their strategy. Do you think Yoongi will be on his own in his search for new employees?"

"Maybe not. You don't know their full plans yet. Relax!"

Seokjin sighed once more. He quickly changed the subject. "Let me call Hoseok for you. Hoseok!"

As he adjusted his hoodie, the aforementioned man raised his head.

"Amber is getting ready to leave!" Seokjin yelled once again.

Hoseok jogged over to them and came to a halt beside Yoongi. He offered the tomboy a small smile as he tucked his phone into the sweater's connecting pocket.

"Take good care of the boutique. If you need assistance, ask Seokjin or Yoongi," Amber told him. All she got was a nod in response.

Hoseok fixed his gaze on her glumly. "Are you going to be gone for a long time?"

Amber made a low hum. She shrugged and said, "Maybe. There are a lot of things I need to take care of there. I'll return after they've settled down."

As a response, the man in all black nodded his head once again. Then he remained silent as he gazed downward. Amber had never taken a long absence before unless it was for medical reasons. Knowing Hoseok, the three oldest knew exactly what he was feeling and thinking.

Amber playfully smacked the boss's arm and said, "Hey. You're going to be okay."

"I know. It's simply that I'm not used to you leaving us if you need to leave for a long time."

"You have Seokjin and Yoongi with you," Amber said.

"Yeah, you're right. I've got them. But I usually feel tense in my stomach when you guys aren't in the store."

"What part of those kids makes you feel uncomfortable?" Yoongi interjected.

Hoseok deeply hummed. "There's one time when it's my birthday. I don't remember which year though."

"What happened then?"

"They threw a party for me. Amber was on leave, and you and Seokjin went out of Seoul. I didn't like it."

"You don't like throwing a party?"

Hoseok hesitantly nodded.

Yoongi gave him a soft smile. "I'll tell them."

Amber took a look at her digital wristwatch and said, "I'd better get going." She proceeded to hug Seokjin and Yoongi before Hoseok. Hoseok did not hug her back, but instead allowed himself to be embraced by her and got patted on the back a few times.

Despite acting as though she didn't notice, she spotted the despair on his face. After that, Amber hugged the rest of the group before giving Hoseok one last glance. She was hoping that she would be able to track down Jiwoo for him.

Jiwoo had always been there for him when their parents couldn't. Dancing, in particular.

She wondered, though, if his parents were behind him, supporting him emotionally when he opted to take Jiwoo's position.

She sensed, they still didn't.

**********

It was six o'clock in the evening when Hoseok reached home.

"I'm home!" shouted the man almost nonchalantly. His black soft locks bounced as he pushed down the hoodie.

"There's food on the table," said Mrs. Jung without looking as she made her way to the bedroom.

Hoseok didn't respond. As he saw that there were takeaway foods, he went to the dining table. Staring, his chest felt heavy. It wasn't an unusual view; it wasn't a new situation anymore. In a house of his own family, having meals without his mother and father was something he never wished to experience.

Nonetheless, he gently drew the chair closer to him, pulling a cold sweet, and sour pork dish with rice after he sat.

His mother used to cook. However, after Jiwoo's absence, she hadn't done so much. She had gone through a lot of changes. The family's oldest child's disappearance altered the entire family. He was heartbroken because he couldn't ask her to prepare his favorite dinner for him. It was enough to intimidate him when he was yelled at to cook it on his own.

His father was an exception. At the very least, he remembered his favorite food and got takeout for his son's birthday, as well as attempted to make seaweed soup. He still cared, despite the lack of deep discourse. Despite this, the only son of the family was frequently left eating alone. The two of them were rarely seen at the dinner table together.

After seven years, seeing them together at the dining table for an entire week would be an unexpected change.

The sweet and sour pork tasted hollow, and the rice tasted like sand. Every day felt the same, regardless of whether he ate home-cooked or store-bought food. Hoseok ate to stay alive, but none of the meals he ate was to his liking. He often felt unable to complete his meal, but he forced himself to scoff so much that he nearly puked.

As he was cleaning spoons and chopsticks at the sink, he heard the door at the entrance click. He didn't bother turning back because he knew his father had arrived from work when he heard the floor shuffling. A quiet thump followed, signaling the placement of a pair of shoes on the shoe rack. Later, Mr. Jung sighed, "I'm home."

Hoseok noticed that his father sat down on the couch after that. "Do you want to eat?" he asked.

Mr. Jung took a long breath in. "No, thanks. I've eaten."

"Okay." Hoseok cleaned the last spoon and placed it on a rack. He went to his room to wash up after leaving his father alone in the living room.

Just like that, the Jung family's day ended.