The kitchen was calm.
Jin was making toast for the hungry boys, who were salivating just from seeing the food.
Yoongi looked at his reflection in the mirror while sitting by the window. SeoWoo smiled as she watched him while making a sandwich for Jungkook. She and her brother still hadn't discussed what had happened. It seemed that the time had not yet come to address all the issues and ask questions. She had accumulated quite a few in just a few hours.
Hoseok muttered sleepily over a glass of an anti-hangover drink prepared by Jin. He held his head, which felt like it was about to explode. Meanwhile, Tae wouldn't shut up, chattering incessantly and occasionally nudging Jungkook so he wouldn't be silent. But the boy did not respond. He hid his gaze from Noona under his thick bangs. He was ashamed to look her in the eyes.
"Eat..." SeoWoo placed a plate in front of him. "Your favorite, with chicken," she said, smiling at him. Jung's eyes lit up with joy immediately.
"Is she not angry? Or does she just not want to start scolding me in front of the guys?" His stomach growled with hunger as he asked himself. "Whatever. I'm hungry." He pounced on the sandwiches and began to eat.
"Hey, slow down. You'll get indigestion," Jin said, handing food to the other guys.
"Ah, hyung! We're saved!" shouted Tae, attacking his plate.
"Aigoo, I can't look at food. I feel sick," said Hoseok, looking at Tae happily eating.
"Here, eat," said SeoWoo quietly as he approached Yoongi with a plate.
"I don't want to. I'm not hungry," he blurted out again, looking at himself in the mirror.
"How can you be so..." SeoWoo hissed, turning away.
"Hey, where are you going?" he croaked in his hoarse voice. "I'm hungry."
"You said..." She handed him a plate with two sandwiches. He turned toward the window and took a big bite. When SeoWoo headed toward Jungkook, he glanced at her, forgetting to chew.
While everyone was eating in the kitchen, they heard voices and noises coming from the hallway.
Yoona rushed in, hiding behind Jungkook, who was chewing his sandwich like a hamster. Jimin followed her.
"Don't come near me," she said.
"Yoona, you need to rest. How many times do I have to tell you to stay in bed?" Jimin said, standing by the table. "Oh, sandwiches," he said, glancing at the last two portions.
"Onni, take them away from me. Why aren't you sitting with me anyway?"
"I wanted to be with you, but he forced me out the door," SeoWoo explained.
"And you let him do that? How could you leave me with this monster? He won't let me out of the room. He follows me to the bathroom. I feel like a prisoner. I'm not a little girl!"
"Jimin, why did you drive the poor girl to this state?" Jin asked, smiling.
"I didn't drive anyone to this state. I just don't want her to feel bad again. Do you know how hard it is to sit with her in the bathroom and hold her hair?" Jimin said, reminding Yoona of the unpleasant moments of their acquaintance.
"Hey, shut up, you idiot. Why does everyone need to know about this?"
"Come on," Yoongi interrupted. "We all saw how you threw up right outside the house," he said with a smile.
"YOU!" She turned her gaze toward Yoongi. "I'll have a conversation with you. You... — followed by profanity... You dropped us off in the middle of Seoul! You unfinished idiot..." She continued to shower the boy with "beautiful" words. The boys watched the girl silently, mouths agape. Even Hoseok had time to sober up.
"Are you done?" Yoongi asked, which made Yoona angrier. She was ready to kill him, but SeoWoo stopped her.
"Yoona, you're a little overexcited. You need to rest. Let's go to your room."
"I don't want to! I'm not going," she shouted. "Where's Namjoon? I need him. He can throw these half-baked freaks out of my house. I can't stay here with them anymore."
"Namjoon left us with them himself," SeoWoo said quietly. "What? No, that can't be!"
"He said he had business to take care of and would be back. We're locked in this house!"
"Where's my phone? I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!"
"Yuna, calm down, please," said SeoWoo, already embarrassed by her friend's behavior.
"I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to..."
"Then what do you want?" Jimin suddenly asked, chewing the last bite of his sandwich.
Yoona suddenly fell silent. She forgot everything, even how to breathe. Jimin's question had stopped the endless flow of her thoughts and words. Everyone froze in anticipation, looking at the girl. Only Yoongi didn't care. He looked askance at everything that was happening.
"Have fun," Yoona finally said. "I want to have fun."
"Wasn't what happened at the club enough for you, Yoona?" SeoWoo asked.
"No, not that kind of fun," she pouted. "I want to have fun with my friends. Eat junk food. Drink the wine my dad saves for special occasions. I want to dance to my favorite BTS songs and not pay attention to the time," she explained in a trembling voice. "That's what I want..."
"Then let's have fun," Tae exclaimed. "By the pool. Jin will prepare some snacks."
"I don't want to have fun with you guys. You're annoying," the girl snorted in response to Tae, giving Jimin a dissatisfied look. "You don't have a choice," Jim replied, devouring her with his eyes and smiling on the left side of his plump lips. "You're locked in here with us, so I suggest we have some fun while we still have time. We won't be seeing each other again anyway."
"Then it's settled!" Hoseok exclaimed. "I'll be the DJ."
"Then I'll be the security guard," croaked Yoongi. He liked the idea of a surprise party, too.
"I'll go prepare some snacks. Yoona, help me here. You can give me directions."
"And you guys, do something useful too. Don't just stand there."
In a few minutes, everyone rushed to prepare for the party. Hoseok searched for music on Yoona's computer. Jin ran around the kitchen preparing snacks with the food in the refrigerator while Yoona handed him plates. Taehyung and Jimin hung out by the pool. Yoon sat in a chair, watching the guys and drinking a cold beer. His phone vibrated with messages, but he had long since stopped paying attention to them. He just put it on the table next to him. Meanwhile, Jungkook and Noona decorated everything around them to make the party a success.
"Noona, remember how we decorated Yoona's room with garlands for her birthday last year?" Jung suddenly remembered.
"The little star-shaped ones?"
"Yes, the stars," his brother smiled. "Where did she hide them?"
"Under her bed."
"Okay..."
"Wait, where are you going?" Tonsen was surprised by his sudden joy.
"I'll be right back, Noona," he shouted cheerfully as he ran off. He returned a few minutes later with a box of colorful garlands. "Let's decorate everything around us with them." Upon hearing this, SeoWoo smiled sweetly, causing the younger boy to blush. But only for a second. He took the party preparations very seriously and wanted to do everything right. After all, Yoona had suffered because of him, and all the problems were due to his stupidity and his friends.
The first beats of music sounded. Hoseok felt bad, but tried not to notice. Lost in the music, he drank juice, looked at the sky, and filled his lungs with fresh air. Still, his thoughts would not leave him alone. He watched Jimin with fear, realizing that what had happened today would not go unnoticed. He would not allow his brother to go to prison, though. After all, he had his whole future ahead of him. However, he refused to accept this, ruining not only his own life but also that of his parents.
While Hoseok was lost in thought, Jimin finally found the switch for the pool lighting. A soft neon light filled the space under the water, brightly illuminating everything around it. It was somehow too intimate and beautiful. He stretched his lips into a satisfied smile, imagining what the party would be like: With drinks, lots of food, and good music. It would be the best party of his life. Perhaps even the last. This thought made him feel sick, and he felt a painful tightening inside.
"Jimini..." Tae shouted and jumped into the pool in his underwear, splashing water everywhere. "Come on, hurry up," he called out to his friend as he surfaced.
"I'm coming," Jimin shouted happily, chasing away the bad thoughts. He stripped down to his boxers and jumped into the cool, neon-colored water without hesitation.
After decorating the trees with garlands, Jungkook hurried to take a dip. SeoWoo remained to set the table, carefully placing the cutlery on it. From time to time, she watched the boys, then returned to her work. She didn't suspect that she was being watched, either.
Yoongi couldn't take his eyes off her. No one had interested him in a long time. No girl had attracted him, although many had tried to get through to him. He was cold to each of them. Until tonight. Until this moment. Until he met SeoWoo, a stubborn and cheeky girl.
Her behavior caught his attention. She was arrogant and intrusive, and she wasn't afraid to treat him that way. She did everything she wanted, not what Yoongi ordered. Maybe that's what he liked. He liked it when someone treated him the same way he treated others.
Nervously clicking his lighter, he suddenly froze, enjoying every movement of the girl. How she runs around the table in short denim shorts and a tight T-shirt. How she reached across the table to put down a napkin. How she tucks a stubborn curl behind her ear and throws her hair over her shoulders. How she paused for a second to check if she had done everything. How she smiled. Her muscles tense as she adjusts her chair. Suddenly, the pain pierced through him. The flame from the lighter burned his finger painfully. Yoongi hissed, licking his finger and grimacing from the unpleasant sensation. The phone on the table vibrated again. Seeing a familiar name on the screen, Yoongi indifferently dismissed the call, then turned off the phone altogether. He had enough adventures for one day.
All of the preparations had long been completed, and all that remained was to wait for Jin and his culinary masterpieces. When he and Yoona finally appeared in the doorway, the guys did not hide their joy. They gathered around the table, and Yoongi poured everyone a glass of expensive wine.
"Here's to tonight!" shouted Hoseok, raising a glass of juice because he couldn't stand the sight of alcohol.
"May it never end!" said Jimin, looking at Yoona. Seeing her cheeks flush, he smiled. Nevertheless, this "monster" managed to attract the attention of the beauty standing opposite him.
"Enough talk," Yoongi hissed, drinking the wine in one gulp without savoring it. "Let's eat. I'm hungry." He was the first to reach for the delicacies, stuffing his cheeks with a little bit of everything.
"Yona, is this really your house?" Tae asked, removing the fruit from the toothpick with his teeth.
"Not exactly," she replied, sitting down in a chair. "It's my father's house." He owns the largest supermarket chain.
"Wow!" Hoseok's eyes widened.
"You work in one of them," Yoona said to the boy. He almost choked on his juice. "And you tried to rob one of them today," she said, taking a sip of wine. The guys fell silent. "I hope you pay for what you've done. My father will never forgive you for this," she said, smiling slyly.
"Hey, let's not talk about sad things," Taehyung said, breaking the silence. "We'll have time to think about that later. Let's have a drink instead."
"I'm all for it," Hoseok exclaimed.
"So they don't catch us. Never," Tae raised his glass above his head. But it seemed that only he was having fun. The boys thought about the girls' words, and their mood disappeared.
"I'm just kidding," Yoona said, smiling. "You'll get away with a fine or community service. But only if they find you."
"You won't turn us in, will you?" Hoseok asked anxiously, afraid of losing his job.
"I'm still thinking about it."
4:01
The party is in full swing.