Author's note:
not perfectly done, but this is my fav chapter 🥺

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At the time of landing in South Korea, Jiah noticed that the Bejiwoo staff exited the plane in silence, carrying their bags. No one spoke, and the only sound was the rustling of their movements. Hoseok, with his hood up, was engaged in a business conversation with Yoongi. In a surprising turn of events, Jungkook and Taehyung, who were always with Jimin, left together. Seokjin left with his sister, while Wheein left with Jiah.

It seemed like Jiah needed to adjust to this new atmosphere. She couldn't imagine all the individuals involved being together in one store and it becoming quieter than before. It was worrisome that Hoseok, their boss, had to face this problem as well.

As they stepped out of the arrival door with other tourists and locals, they saw Namjoon waiting for them behind the cold metal rail, arms crossed and a dimpled smile on his face. Other people waiting for their loved ones were scattered in different spots. As Jiah and Wheein approached him, he left the rail and greeted them, saying, "Welcome back!"

"Hi!" Jiah greeted, stopping in front of him along with Wheein.

Taehyung brightened up and shouted, "Namjoon hyung!!" He ran towards the older man and clung onto him like a koala. "Wow, Namjoon hyung has gotten stronger. What have you been eating while we were gone for five days?"

Even Jungkook approached Namjoon, amazed, poking his arms and thighs. Namjoon's black shirt seemed to be too tight on him. "Woah, hyung is thick!" he exclaimed with his mouth slightly open.

"I've been... I've been eating rice," Namjoon said as he struggled to balance Taehyung's weight.

Jiah laughed at their antics but noticed Jimin walking past them without a greeting or a farewell. Even Namjoon seemed to sense that something was wrong as he looked at Jimin. Leaving them, Jimin went through the automatic sliding doors and hailed a taxi.

"What's with him?" Namjoon asked, looking at Taehyung and pushing his spectacles up with his finger.

"It's a long story," Taehyung said, hopping down from Namjoon's cling.

Turning to see Jimin getting into a taxi, Namjoon muttered, "I see."

Jiah wondered who would tell Namjoon what had happened. She doubted Seokjin would open his mouth, and neither Jisoo nor Wheein, who were closer to him, seemed like they would. She didn't think she was in the right place to do it either. After all, she was just a witness to the aftermath.

"Came here crying and running, Namjoon?" Yoongi's voice caught everyone's attention. He arrived with Hoseok by his side, smirking with his hands shoved in his khaki jacket.

"Heh," Namjoon chuckled, understanding the sarcasm. "Safe to say I walked here the moment I finished the exam. I missed everyone. It feels like a long time."

"Touchy-feely Namjoon." Wheein snorted. "We've only been gone for a week."

"Still." Namjoon shrugged, and the others chuckled.

**********

For dinner at their favorite restaurant, only Hoseok, Jiah, Wheein, Namjoon, Yoongi, and Taehyung were present. The rest went home early to rest.

Eventually, Namjoon found out from Wheein. He couldn't hide his confusion and was left speechless, only able to shake his head and nod as Wheein recounted the story from the beginning. Like everyone else, he never expected Jimin to turn out that way. Namjoon was not one to judge others, given his nature, so it must have been shocking for him to learn that Jimin had been toxic in his past relationship with Jisoo.

Namjoon didn't seem surprised to find out that Wheein and Jisoo were in a relationship. "That's cool," he simply said to Wheein.

"What are we going to do about Amber? We don't know when she's going to return. What if she senses that something's wrong?" Namjoon asked after finishing his bibimbap.

Wiping his lips with a balled tissue, Yoongi lazily glanced at him and replied, "As long as Seokjin doesn't act up, she won't figure it out."

"The atmosphere in the store is bound to be different, I bet."

"Things won't change between those who aren't involved. Jimin is still part of Bejiwoo. Treat him the same way you always do."

"That won't work for me, hyung," Taehyung said, ruefully staring down at the table. "I stopped talking to him. I'm already uncomfortable around him."

"You're not even part of their problem," Yoongi drawled.

"It's the fact that Jimin hurt Jisoo, and Jisoo had to conceal her pain all this time. It reminds me of the times when I purposely left them alone. Jisoo must have been scared," Taehyung paused and then muttered, "Ugh, I'm such a loser."

Wheein looked at Taehyung and let out a sigh. "You're not the loser. It's my fault to begin with. I shouldn't–" She nibbled her bottom lip, then whispered, "I shouldn't have told him. I'm the root of this mess."

Silence fell over the group.

Looking at Wheein, Jiah could sense her shrinking. With a sad stare at her empty bowl, her usually bright eyes seemed dull, her bangs almost covering them completely, and her straight hair almost hiding her entire face. Her dark painted lips formed nothing but a frown. Jiah wished she could offer some words of comfort.

Yoongi uncrossed his legs after taking a sip of water. Breaking the silence, he said, “no point of blaming yourself. No point of pointing fingers. I understand you are close. Or ‘were,’ I must say. But business stays business, if Amber returning is what you worry about.” Pausing briefly to glance at Taehyung, he added, "And you, Taehyung. Keep personal matters separate from business. There's no need to talk to him unless necessary. I don't think I need to teach you that. Right?"

Humbled, Taehyung remained silent.

Yoongi sighed. "Why am I the one acting like the boss here?" He turned to Hoseok and asked, "You should say something."

Baffled, Hoseok stuttered, "Y-y-you're b-better with words than I am."

After staring at him for a while, Yoongi turned away without saying anything.

They all left the table after paying Yoongi. While Yoongi went to the counter, the rest walked out of the restaurant. Jiah and a blushing Hoseok chatted about their experience in Sarawak.

All Hoseok did was chuckle and ask her, "Really?" He smiled and looked as if he was in a daze. When Jiah realized this, she sealed her lips and gave him a light slap on the arm. He yelped.

"Were you listening?" she asked, widening her eyes.

"I-I was!" Hoseok said.

"You look like I bore you," she said, squinting her eyes.

The man gasped, waving his hand and stammered, "No, no, you don't bore me."

"Seriously?"

"Yes!"

Jiah kept squinting her eyes, retracting back. Arching her eyebrows, she blinked once slowly and looked at her boss. "I was planning to sit with you and talk long for the trip. But things happened." Smiling, she added, "Would you like to grab a soju and ddeokbokki with me?" Giggling, she swung her body side to side.

Hoseok's blush became clearer. "M-me?"

She snorted. Playing dumb, she spoke to the wall behind Hoseok, "Let's grab a bottle of soju and ddeokbokki."

Her act made him flustered and laugh. Scratching his nape, he said, "Well... should we?"

All of a sudden, Jiah danced around, punching the air, expressing her happiness. "Yes!" she exclaimed. Then, she linked her boss's arm and said, "Let's go!"

**********

Jiah paid for all of their purchases. She must have meant it when she said she wanted to have a long talk with him. It took them a few minutes to find a food truck with fewer customers in their area.

They sat at a table in front of a food truck, with fish cake piping hot in their cups. A big cup of ddeokbokki was shared between them, and small cups of soju were placed beside them. Two green bottles were in between. An ahjumma was frying a Korean pancake in front of them, and a savory smell lingered around.

A conversation started when Jiah asked, "Are you the youngest child in your family?"

The question caught her boss off guard, but he took it as a good sign to start a conversation. He buzzed for a while before saying, "Yeah." Thinking this would be a good opportunity to get to know her, he asked, "How about you? Are you the youngest child too?"

"No," Jiah shook her head. "I'm an only child." She swallowed her food and added, "It must've been fun to have siblings, right? You have someone to play with and to vent to."

Hoseok snorted, "That only happens in a dream."

"Oh, I... see? I mean, I've heard a lot of complaints from my best friend telling me that her siblings cause a lot of trouble and even fight about trivial matters. But I think your life doesn't get boring like that."

Hoseok pulled his hoodie closer. He raised an index finger and moved it from side to side with his lips pursed tight. Then, he said, "I don't agree. I agree that having siblings makes your life eventful, though. But still... Some siblings don't make you fight over just trivial matters. Having siblings can make unpredictable things happen. What happened to me right now, you can see that as an example."

Hoseok didn’t understand why Jiah would start a conversation by asking about his position in the family. He thought it had to be best to say something. But after he said what he had to say, Jiah became quiet. He feared if he had turned the conversation in the wrong direction.

However, Jiah spoke again, "I understand how you feel waiting for your loved ones to come back." Hoseok stopped chewing, the ddeokbokki formed a round bulge in his left cheek. "My mom too. It’s been a long time since we talked."

Chewing the ddeokbokki quickly and swallowing, he looked at her and asked, "Where is she?"

With a sad smile, Jiah shrugged and said, "I don’t know. The last time we spoke, I knew she was somewhere in the States. The country code made her location obvious." There was silence, tempting Jiah to gulp down the soju from the small cup. She exhaled a deep sigh after putting it down.

"And you've tried calling your mother with that number?"

"Yeah. I have. Many times. All I got was the operator. I waited for her to call me and my father then. It’s been years now; she hasn't called back. I'm worried. I've been working hard to find a job after graduating. I need money to settle my father's debt and then fly to the States and find her," she said.

Silence. He remembered their meeting at the field, the time when Seokjin threatened to burn his clothes if he wouldn't accept Jiah. If only he knew her story and their similarities, they wouldn't have started off on a bad note. A pang of guilt hit Hoseok. He tried to lighten the atmosphere.

"You know her last location, at least. I don't. I only know who she ran away with. If I knew where she ran to, I could have gone to find her," Hoseok said, gulping down the soju.

Curving another sad smile, Jiah said, "that’s true. You know who she's with. But I don't know who my mother is with, and that worries me. Sometimes, I imagine a scenario where my mother purposely cut us off because she's tired of my father's debt. But I believe my mother isn't that kind of woman."

Silence again as they ate their food. Chuckling, Hoseok grabbed the green glass bottle and poured the liquid into their cups. He stated, "judging by our stories, I wonder if we're better off alone. None of our families do us any good. Your mother disappeared, my sister ran away with her boyfriend. My parents fight. It sounds to me like our families are falling apart. Unless what you imagine about your mother is wrong." He took a bite of ddeokbokki. As he chewed, he said, "but come to think of it, it sounds insensitive of me. We have parentless children and children who come from abusive households. Through their bright eyes, we know they crave to understand what it feels like to be loved by figures we call mother and father. We can't even call ourselves their 'appa' and 'eomma.'"

Before he put another piece of ddeokbokki in his mouth, he added, "I don't understand what the universe wants from us."

Jiah swallowed her food and turned to him with big eyes and a smile. She asked, "Do you want to adopt one of the children? To get custody, we can get married!"

Hoseok almost choked on his food. Fortunately, the piece of ddeokbokki escaped his mouth, but that didn't stop him from covering his mouth and ducking down. He heard the ahjumma scolding him, "Oh, dear. Don't talk while you eat! Swallow first." Subsequently, she handed them a box of tissues.

As Jiah thanked the hawker, she looked at him worriedly and asked, "Hoseok… are you— are you okay?"

Hoseok immediately raised his head with a poker face and said, "Yeah."

"You look red!"

Still with the poker face, he said, "N-no. I'm okay."

Jiah blinked her eyes multiple times. She said, "you know… I was… I was just joking about us getting married."

"W-well..." Then, his eyes wandered, looking for something. He grabbed the small cup and poured a right amount of soju. "Ch-Cheers to us!" he exclaimed.

The sudden change in mood brought a quizzical look to Jiah's face. "Cheers to us? For what?"

"Uhh…" he stammered. Once again, his ears and face reddened. "Cheers to us for… for… nothing!"

Awkward silence fell between them. Hoseok stiffened with his smile. To him, it was embarrassing that he spoke with such cheerfulness.

On the other hand, Jiah stared at him, confused. Breaking the awkwardness, Jiah quickly took her cup and poured the soju. She raised it up and exclaimed, "Cheers to us!"

They gulped down the soju together, grunting at its harshness and bitterness. Then, they laughed, remembering the comical incident.

The next thing they knew, they had finished six bottles of soju. Hoseok didn't drink much, so he was still sober. But Jiah had drunk most of it and her cheeks had turned pink, her eyes drooping. She leaned on a bottle, placed her palms on top, and rested her cheek on the back of her palms. Humming for a while, she said, "Do you know my heart aches for you? A lot!"

Hoseok knew she was drunk. If drunk Jiah was the type to talk about deep stuff more than usual, then he had to take care of her. To him, it was inappropriate to have a drunk woman with him, no matter if she was his assistant. He worried about how her father would perceive him for having her return in a drunken state. He said, "You're drunk. I'm sending you home."

She whined, "No!! I want to spend more time with you. You deserve my time."

Hoseok stifled his giggles at her drunken slurring. Then, he said, "But your father—"

Jiah's eyebrows furrowed. "Aish… he knows I won't be back today. I lied. I said I'd be staying at Shinhye's!"

Hoseok exhaled a soft sigh and smiled. "Okay."

"Woh-kay. I shaid—" a hand bent on her chest "—my heart aches for you. Do you know where the heart is?" She extended her index finger, bringing it near and pushing it against Hoseok's chest. "Here. Here."

Hoseok smiled softly. "I know." His smile slowly faded when he asked, "Why does it ache for me?"

Whining, Jiah curved her lips downwards. She said, "You chose to build a cage... just because of your sister. It's like... you purposely threw away—" she motioned a throwing gesture with her hand "—the key you want her to find. To unlock you from the cage. You're punishing her to find the key to save you. Because you chose... not to save yourself."

With a sad, drunken stare, she looked at her boss. She added, "My heart hurts for you. Because you hurt yourself. You've allowed a big, big, scar-wy monster to take you." Closing her eyes, she shook her head. "We haven't known each other for long. But I hate! Seeing. You. In pain," she said, pushing the corner of his shoulder with her index finger.

"You see... that's what's different about us," Hoseok said. Then, there was a short silence. "Despite what you imagine about your mother for disappearing, you still have a positive image of her," he paused. "But I don't."

Jiah slowly opened her droopy eyes and slurred, "Whyyy?"

"I don't know... Perhaps because I know she won't come back."

"But if you think that way... why... why are you still torturing yourself, closing yourself in hoodies? Whyyy?" Her eyes closed again.

Hoseok stared at her quietly. He no longer found her slurs amusing. Exhaling a soft sigh, he pushed down the hoodie that had been covering his red hair. Were there any more reasons for him to continue wearing hoodies? The question remained unanswered. Another sigh left his nose. Then, he said, "You're drunk. Let's get you home."

"You want my daddy to get angwy? I'm drunk!" she said, opening an eye before closing it again.

"Sending you to sleep at the boutique doesn't sound safe. I'll face your father," he said.

"I'm not going home!"

"Do you want me to take you to the police?"

Her eyes opened wide as she gasped, "No!" Her body slouched. He heard her muttering, "I want to hug you. So. Bad. I want to give so much luh—" Hoseok assumed she was shutting off again. He chuckled.

"Do you remember our first meeting?" A big smile bloomed on his face. He grabbed a bottle and laid his head in the same posture as Jiah. He admired Jiah's peaceful look. The pink tints on her cheeks looked endearing to him. Another sigh left his nose before he said, "I don't know why you brought me here, Jiah. But I'm glad you brought me here. I don't want to go home either. The house doesn't feel like home anymore."

His eyes blinked slowly, admiring her features that he wished to save in his mind. "But you do."

'I think I have another key for myself. To escape and meet you.'