Yoongi held the jewelry store door open for the two males behind him. After the three had left the bakery, they came across a cluster of all kinds of shops. A bright pink boutique that screamed teenage girl. A withered, falling apart building with a burned out sign that read 'Antiques'. A log cabin type place with a comic book store operating inside (it had taken a ton of effort to pull Jungkook away from that one). A tea shop with light blue themes in and out. Several cafes, which Namjoon refused to look at as he considered that cheating on Got Jams?. A bookstore, several more clothing shops, a grocery store or two, and a repair shop later, the trio found themselves at a nice looking Jewelry store. 

At first they had been very cautious about it, this was a fairly nice part of town, though it had it's ups and downs, and they were unsure that anything in there would be in price range if they were to find something that suited their fancy. However, after discussing that they were only there to look around, they decided upon going in. So, here they were, Yoongi holding the door open to an especially nice looking establishment for his two friends and who, including himself, didn't exactly look like the type to be able to afford a decked out accessory. 

Yoongi closed the glass door with a gold colored sticker that read 'Diamond 4 Ya' stuck to the top behind him. The entire store looked exactly how any jewelry store looked. Blue and green carpeting. Lights that were dim and needed their light bulbs replaced. Glass cases with false gold rims and black pieces of cloth covering the empty space underneath. Fuzzy necklace and bracelet displays placed in and on top of the cases. Textured, dull green wallpaper lined the walls. The occasional framed photo of a model with some new form of expensive jewelry on their wrist or neck hung on the walls. Four men in ties or bowties were joking around behind the counter. As the door closed, the men's attention turned to the door. 

One of them came towards the group and cheerily said, "Welcome! How can we help you, gentlemen?"

"We're just looking around," Namjoon said.

"Alright, let us know if you need anything."

"Thank you," Yoongi responded as the man walked away.

It had been a while since Yoongi had been in a jewelry store. His Mom hadn't been able to afford anything within it's walls so there was really no point in even batting an eye at one. He hadn't ever really been interested in them even after he moved out. As he had found out early on, Jewelry store employees always pestered the men to buy a watch if they couldn't see one on their wrist and Yoongi, in no way, wanted one.

"Suga hyung," Jungkook said from a display case near the back, "Come look at this."

Yoongi headed towards the brunette who was practically drooling over what appeared to be a necklace.

"Look at this thing. Isn't it crazy?" Jungkook pointed to a necklace that was made up of entirely diamonds and spanned at most a foot. 

"That is pretty crazy. I mean, what would you wear it to?" Yoongi said.

"The Guinness world record place to receive the longest diamond necklace plaque," Namjoon said, joining the two.

"Give it as a gift to your fifteen cats," Jungkook said.

"Why would anyone give something like this to their cats?" Yoongi laughed.

"They have before and they'll do it again."

"No doubt," Namjoon added.

"I'm surprised you haven't heard about that, Hyung."

"I don't follow rich people and their cats, Kook."

"Hey, you wouldn't say that after you've seen the pet weddings," Jungkook said, pulling out his phone and searching for something.

"They're just so glamorous," Namjoon said.

"I don't even want to know why you both know about these things."

"You can't avoid it forever," Namjoon sighed.

Jungkook turned his phone towards Yoongi and revealed a picture of two dogs, one in a wedding dress and the other in a tux, under a wedding arch.

"Wow."

"See?" Jungkook said matter-of-factly.

"That is the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

"Exactly!" Namjoon and Jungkook said together.

Yoongi sighed, "I don't understand you two sometimes."

"That's the point," Namjoon said.

"Come on, Namjoon hyung. Look at this bracelet!" Jungkook said as he moved on to another case.

"Coming!" Namjoon said before turning his head to Yoongi, "You want to come?"

"No thanks," Yoongi shook his head.

"We'll be over here if you want to join us," Namjoon said as he started towards Jungkook.

"Alright,"

And then he was alone. Yoongi could remember the last time he had been in a jewelry store. A young fifteen year old boy neck deep in rap t-shirts, black jeans, and bleach blonde hair with a Mother who wanted just an ounce of respectability out of him. His Mother had always been one to imagine her son in the Ritz with nice clothes and people who knew him everywhere for it. She had tried to pass that dream on to him only to have it go through one ear and out the other. 

He could remember that the sky had been coated in greyish clouds, so close to pouring light rain down but not close enough to actually do anything. The back seat of his Mom's 2000 Hyundai Elantra was covered in stains from soda and afterschool snacks. Crumbs danced around on the slightly sticky floorboard as the car sped down the highway. His tired Mother sat behind the wheel, one of her various work uniforms still on her body. Stress wrinkles just then beginning to find their home on her face, dark circles poorly hidden underneath her eyes. Her hands twitched slightly as they rested on the wheel, an obvious sign that she was craving the cigarettes she kept in her purse, which occupied the front seat instead of her son. 

Yoongi didn't mind it all that much. When he did sit up front, his Mom wouldn't let him use the earbuds he had perched in his ears, nor could he listen to Nirvana or whatever other band he was into at the time. Although the words were lost deep in translation, he still found a way to enjoy it, which is something his Mom didn't get. She thought that all gifted children that grew up to be someone rich and prestigious should listen to something that wasn't given the title 'death metal' or anything relating to it. She thought that all brilliance was born from Mozart or Beethoven or some other classical composer that Yoongi, at the time, could care less about. 

Yoongi's Mom turned the radio on to some classical station and he pushed his white earbuds further into his ear and turned it up, placing his attention on the words and the scenery outside the car. The city was visible over the highway's guardrails. Tall buildings glowing neon colors against the lifelessly dull sky. 83 Tower held it's head high above the citizens of the city, proud to be an icon known across the country. Swift breezes rustled the trees that adorned the edges of the highway exit that his Mom had turned onto, leading them towards the outer edge of the city. The part where all the less expensive but still somewhat pricey shops were. He remembered being slightly confused. He had only ever gone here when his father had gotten a large bonus and wanted to treat his family with it. The car they were in didn't fit in with the other ones rolling down the street or parked along the road. There weren't dents or scratches from close calls on those cars, nor were they ten years past their prime. 

His Mom slid into a space in front a jewelers and in those seconds that the words 'Jewelry Store' slid into view, Yoongi knew exactly what was going to happen. He begged his Mother not to bring him in there. To leave him out in the car and treat herself, not him. That he didn't need whatever she was going to get him, that it would just be a waste to buy something he never would wear. She just gave him a look and said that every respectable figure ought to have one and that's all she wanted out of him, to accept her gift and be thankful that he can even get something like that. Yoongi was less than thankful but kept his mouth shut. 

His Mom had never taken the whole clock thing seriously, not even after all the panic attacks she had to soothe him out of because she'd placed one where she shouldn't have. You'd have thought that six years of crying would've said something, but all it proved to her was the length her son was willing to go to get what he wanted instead of deeming it an actual fear. She continued to put clocks up around the house and replace the ones he'd taken down or broken. She thought his cries were just an act, a fake built up to gain her attention, which she thought she gave despite not being home all that much and was confused as hell by them. Her thinking they were a fake, pushed them away like they were the plague. She wasn't going to indulge in his pretending and promote that he forever hate clocks and therefore create, as she put it, a brat that thought he could get anything out of his Mother if he just cried enough for it. 

So here she was, practically dragging her teenage son into a very outdated jewelry shop that was manned by several older men that knew the second this bare wristed boy came in behind his Mother what the two were there for. They put it quite simply with an "are you interested in a watch, ma'am?" which his Mother gave an affirming nod to. The man straightened his bow tie and led them back to the corner filled with what Yoongi could only describe as his worst nightmare. Watch after watch, ticking endlessly, their little hands pointing conspicuously at the numbers which were the bane of his entire existence. His Mother began discussing exactly what it was that she wanted for her little rock listening, blond haired son that had gone basically his whole life without one. 

Their words were quickly covered up by the sound of the watches hands sliding to the next number. Soft ticks and tocks that were getting louder and louder by the second. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. 

He knew what was coming and didn't want to experience it here. He pulled on his Mother's arm, trying to pull her out the door only to receive a warning glare from her tired, frail eyes. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. 

He kept pulling and pulling, the glares getting more frequent and threatening each time she turned to look at him. He began to whisper to her as he got more desperate to leave. He begged and begged to the point she finally turned and said that if he kept it up, he'd be grounded for the whole month. He quit but couldn't keep still. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. 

He tried to leave but was immediately pulled back by his Mother who said that his opinion mattered in the process, too. So Yoongi responded sharply that he thought the watch he had now was quite fashionable and gestured to the empty space on his wrist. The comment wasn't received well. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. 

Louder, it was far louder than when he had come over at first. All of the watches were getting louder. All off beat. So many noises all at once, not aligning. Surrounding him like an off-key orchestra. Ticking and tocking not with each other, no chorus, no designated time to be alike. They were all different and separate and it hurt his head. Tic- Tock. Tock. Tick. Toc-Tick. Toc-Tock. Tick. Tock. Tic-Tick. Tick. Tock. Tick. Toc-Tick. Tic-Tock. 

And it all fell apart. Yoongi's breathing soon matched the rhythm of the watches, way too fast. All he could hear was their loud ticking and tocking. He couldn't hear his Mother's soft voice. He couldn't hear the employee speaking to her. He couldn't hear the cars passing on the street or the birds chirping. He couldn't hear anything to bring him out of this. Not even his own voice which was begging his Mom to take him home all over again, this time paired with tears. 

The employee looked at him and then at his Mom, who had never looked more embarrassed. Her fifteen year old son was crying in the middle of a jeweler's shop over getting a watch. Sounds slowly started entering his ears again as his Mom pulled him by his hand out of the store and to their car. It was one of the most silent rides Yoongi had ever experienced in his life. She was fuming and he could tell. She had been so upset that he had caused a scene in public and he could understand why. He had acted like a two year old while his Mom only wanted to gift him something nice. Yoongi hadn't been in a jewelry shop since, this being his first time back since that incident seven years ago. 

"That's a nice looking watch, Hyung," Jungkook said, somewhat startling Yoongi who hadn't noticed the younger joining him.

"Wha-" And it was in that moment that Yoongi realized where he had wandered to. The watch section. He had subconsciously made his way there all while thinking about them. "I-I guess so."

"Try it on." 

"I'm sorry?" 

"Try the watch on, Hyung," Jungkook waved over one of the employees.

"Oh, I don't think that's really necess-"

"My friend would like to try on that watch there," Jungkook pointed to the bright yellow watch with black and silver trimming and a digital screen in the center.

The employee unlocked the case and pulled the watch off the display and handed it to Yoongi who looked up at Jungkook. The younger gave him an excited nod as if to say, 'Put it on!'. Yoongi sighed lightly as he put the watch on top of his wrist and tried to fasten it, failing miserably. 

"Here," Jungkook set the bakery bag onto the ground before helping the older fasten the watch to the right size, "How does it feel?"

"It feels.." Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows slightly. He didn't feel like panicking. He couldn't hear the watches ticking. The luminescent numbers didn't fly up and encircle his head. He wasn't bothered in the slightest. It wasn't normal.  "..great."

"It looks great on you, too," Jungkook commented.

"I agree," Namjoon said, joining the two.

"Really?"

"Absolutely!" Jungkook nodded.

"You're killing that yellow, Hyung. You should get it."

"I think so, too. I don't think I've ever seen you with one."

Yoongi bit the inside of his cheek, "Well, I- I can't. I really don't have the money for one at the moment."

"How much is it?" Jungkook asked the employee.

"₩107,000, sir."

"We'll take it," Jungkook said, pulling his wallet out, "Do you accept credit cards?"

The employee nodded.

"Jungkook, you really don't have to. I can save up and buy it myself-"

"I want to buy it for you, Hyung. As a thank you for talking to me and being my friend."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Absolutely positive."

"O-Okay," Yoongi said as the employee cut the tag off of the watch and led Jungkook to the register.

Yoongi looked down at the watch. Why wasn't it bothering him like the watches seven years ago? He was beginning to think that his two friends had somewhat protected him. Shielded him from the event from seven years ago recurring. Gifted him with the one time telling device that didn't hurt him at all. Told him everything would be alright without them even knowing. Perhaps they were here to slow down time for him. To tell him that he shouldn't stress over that with them there. After all, time surely did slow down, sometimes even halted, when he was with them.

"I'm ready to go home," Namjoon sighed as Jungkook finished the paying process. 

"Same," Jungkook sighed, opening the door to the store.

"Today's been great. Thank you both," Yoongi smiled.

"You deserve quite a bit of thanks as well, Gi," Jungkook responded.

"I agree with JK," Namjoon added.

"If you say so."

"Hey, Joon, when should I return your hoodie?" Jungkook asked.

"You can keep it. I didn't like that one all that much," Namjoon shrugged.

"Are you sure?"

"Keep it."

"Alright."

"That sweatshirt looks good on you, Kook."

"Really? Thanks!" Jungkook said pulling slightly on the hoodie.

"That watch looks good on you, Suga," Namjoon smirked slightly.

"It really does."

"I really like it," Yoongi smiled.

"I'm glad you do," Jungkook smiled back.

Maybe these boys really were here to protect him from the speed of time.

Word Count: 2866

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Fun fact, I based Yoongi's watch on my own. I love that little quirky yellow thing.
TWICE is having a comeback and Mina will be in it! I'm super pumped for that! I'm this close to my Dad pre-ordering it for me off of KTown4U. Speaking of which, are there any other reliable sellers who have the pre-order that you guys know of?
Today I gave my friend my story info, shout-out to that friend who'll get to this chapter eventually.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next week!
P.S. I love this chapter