I tug Rin from my bedroom with a childish smile on my face, excited to eat what Jin has prepared for us. He's the best cook around, and there's no one else in the dorm I'd trust more with making a good meal for Rin. I'm sure the Pajeon he made will be fantastic.

With Rin in tow, we enter the living room, as it's a walkway between the bedrooms and the kitchen. Gathered around on couches and pillows are three of my bandmates: Hoseok, Jungkook, and Jimin. Jimin's the first to look up, unsurprisingly.

"Hey, noona," he says coyly. "What were you two up to in there?"

I'm about to chew him out for being disrespectful when Rin handles the situation herself. With that same cunning attitude, she responds, "Nothing a kid your age would understand. Ask your parents." Then she smiles sweetly and punches me lightly in the shoulder. "Right, Yoongi?"

I sigh, shaking my head slightly. "You really haven't changed a bit, have you? C'mon, the food's gonna get cold."

Rin's head shoots up to look me in the eyes. "You're right; we need to go eat! Come on!" She grabs me by the sleeve of my hoodie and tugs me into the kitchen, where Seokjin has two plates of Pajeon set out on the small dining table.

"What's up with Jimin?" Jin asks as we enter.

"He's just being himself," I respond. "Honestly, what are we going to do with that kid?"

"I'll make sure he leaves you two alone; you know how he gets."

I smile, shaking Jin lightly by the shoulder. "Thanks, hyung. It means a lot. And thanks for the food, too!"

"Yeah, Jin-ssi, thank you. It's so sweet of you to do all this for me," Rin adds, bowing politely.

"It's no trouble at all, Rin; I just want you to be comfortable with all of us. Sure, we're crazy, but I just don't want you to think we aren't nice."

"Oh, I don't think that at all!" She says quickly. "You've all been nothing but hospitable, even Jimin." She laughs a little at that last part, and I crack a smile, too.

"Great, then I'm doing my job as dorm mother. Alright, I've been here long enough. I'll get out of your hair." Jin dusts his hands off on his pant legs and then moves to exit the kitchen. Before he does, though, he turns back to Rin to say one more thing.

"And Rin?"

"Yeah?" She seems a little nervous.

"Just Jin is fine. I know I said it earlier, but don't think you need to be super formal around any of us. And feel free to use our real names, too. Like I said, we're all crazy; we won't care."

Rin's expression shows obvious relief and she nods. "Yeah, okay. Just Jin; I'll try and remember that."

"Great!" Seokjin perks up with a dorky smile. "See you around!"

He leaves the kitchen and Rin and I are left alone to our Pajeon. I watch as Rin takes the first bite. What with Pajeon being one of her favorite foods, I'm nervous about her liking it. She chews a few times and I watch her jaw move with nervousness. I didn't even cook this and I'm acting like she's a judge on a cooking show. Rin swallows the piece she'd been chewing and gives me a quizzical look.

"What are you doing, Yoongi? Have some, it's really good! Or do you want me to eat it all for you?"

I smile, then move to dig into my own meal. "I by no means want that. You like it, though?"

"Yeah, it's amazing," she says, taking another piece. "Jin's quite the cook, yeah?"

"He's the best around," I say after swallowing the piece I'd eaten. Rin's right, of course: Kim Seokjin has nailed yet another meal.

We chat through bites of food, mostly about what dorm life is like for me. I tell her about the photo shoot today, and how our schedules normally go. Then I tell her about the practice room and what it's like to essentially live there when we're promoting. Once the Pajeon's gone, we just talk for another half hour or so.

As I'm describing what a usual day of choreographing is like, Jungkook pops into the room. He sees Rin and a small yelp escapes his mouth before he starts to turn around.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," he says quietly. That's when Rin notices him and a soft expression takes over her face.

"There's no problem at all," she says with a warm smile. "You're Jungkook, right?"

"Y— Yeah," the maknae sputters. For a second there, I almost forgot how bad at talking to girls he is. "I just wanted to get some water."

"Go right ahead!" Rin laughs. "You're not bothering anyone. If anything, I'm bothering you. I mean, you live here."

A nervous smile crosses Jungkook's face and he lets a small laugh escape him. "Right, you're right. Okay." He gets a bottle of water from the fridge and then leaves the room quickly. Rin gives me a confused look upon his departure.

"He's always like that with girls," I explain. "It's just who he is."

"Then how do fanmeets work if he's terrified of women in general?"

"Oh, fanmeets are a whole other thing. Jungkook thinks of all ARMYs like little sisters, so he's better at talking with them. It's when he's with women that aren't necessarily fans of his that he gets like that. Don't take it personally."

"I wasn't; just curious." Rin looks at the clock on the stove and shoots up out of her chair.

"Shit! Yoongi, I've got to head home."

I take note of the time myself. It's 6:43pm, and Rin seems to be late for something.

"You alright?" I ask her, concerned.

"Yeah, I just have a deadline to submit some songs for a show at 7:30 tonight, and all of my files are at home. I knew I was forgetting something!" She slaps herself in the forehead and stands up straight, giving me a sad look.

"I had a fantastic time today, Yoongi. I'm sorry I have to go so soon, but I would absolutely love to come back and hang out again. It's great that we're finally catching up."

"It's no big deal, Rin. You go get your stuff submitted. If I can make the show, I'll come say hi, okay? Here, let me walk you to the door." I stand and walk with her from the kitchen to the front door. In the living room now are Jimin, Taehyung, and Jin. Just my luck Jimin's still here.

"Leaving so soon?" Jin asks.

"Yeah, I have a thing that I totally forgot about. I'd really love to stay, but I kinda need to be employed."

"I get it," Taehyung says. "Well, good luck!"

Rin lets out a small laugh. "Thanks, Taehyung." Then, to the room, she adds, "I'd love to come back if you all would have me. I had a lovely time today."

"Absolutely!" Seokjin exclaims. "You're welcome back anytime, Rin; we love having you. Unfortunately, it seems we'll be pretty busy in the near future, but feel free to drop by when we're around! Do you know where our practice room is?"

"I'll send you the address," I tell her. Rin nods and smiles.

"Tell everyone else I had a great time, okay? Thanks, you guys." Rin turns to leave, but I place a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll walk you to the car, okay?"

"Sure."

I tug on the first pair of tennis shoes I see and walk with Rin out of the dorm. As we ride the elevator down to the ground floor, she looks over at me. Everything about this is just so surreal. It's hard to imagine having Rin here by my side again after everything four years ago, and now that she's here I've started to believe I'm dreaming the whole thing. The fact that Ah Rin is standing with me here in this elevator is damn near a miracle.

"I really did have an awesome time, Yoongi," Rin says, a smile tugging at her lips.

"I did, too," I reply. "It's nice having you back."

"Yeah, I missed you, too." She smiles, but it garners a sadness to it in mere moments. "It'll never be how it was back then, will it?"

"What do you mean?" I ask. Rin's not implying that we can't be as close as we were, right?

"Like, we'll never be able to spend as much time together as we used to. We're adults now, Yoongi. Isn't that crazy? We used to think we'd just be kids forever, but we're not. Look at us now: living two incredibly different, incredibly busy lives. It's just— oh, I don't know. It was stupid."

"No, Rin," I say, placing a hand on her shoulder. The elevator door opens, and I walk her out into the lobby. Standing next to the door, I continue. "It's not stupid; it's the absolute truth. We're different people now. You did your thing, I did mine. That doesn't make us any worse as people. But you're right: we aren't kids anymore. And I think that's okay. You dream of ruling the world as a kid, right? But now we can actually do it. And we've still got each other, too."

Rin thinks on my words for a second. In all honesty, I do, too. I didn't know I had that level of melodramatic pep-talk in me.

"Wow, profound much?" She laughs, hitting my arm lightly. I just shrug.

"Well, I'll keep that in mind. Goodnight, Yoongi." She gives me a quick hug and I return it.

"Goodnight, Ah Rin," I say softly, and I watch her leave the lobby.

* * *

Back in the dorm, I kick off the shoes I'd worn down to the lobby. They're Namjoon's, I think, but it doesn't really matter. Still left in the living room are Jin and Jimin, but it seems the older of the two is getting ready to retire. He stretches and stands before turning to me.

"Can you clean up the kitchen? I'd do it, but I really wanna relax tonight."

"Totally. Take it as thanks for cooking for me."

"Gotta help you make a good impression," he says with a sly wink. With that statement, he leaves the room.

"I'll help," Jimin decides, standing up and turning off the TV. My junior slaps me on the shoulder and walks into the kitchen, me in tow. Immediately, I get to work washing dishes while Jimin cleans the counters.

"So, old friend or something more?" Jimin asks, handing me a towel to rinse for him.

"Just friends," I reply, tossing the damp towel in his direction. "Not much else."

"Then why haven't you talked to her in four years? That doesn't happen often with 'just friends.'"

"We got into a fight in my early trainee days," I explain, putting a dish on the rack to dry. "Lost contact after that."

"What'd you fight about?"

"Doesn't really matter. It was just kids being dumb, y'know? The important thing is that we get this shot to reconnect. I'm just trying to give it my all."

"It matters to me," Jimin says, drying off the plate I'd washed. "Look, I don't know anything about you two, and even I see the chemistry. She seems a little shaky around the rest of us idols, but she definitely has no problem with you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I think with a lot of convincing and some good luck, it could happen. Granted, you aren't telling me much, so I could be wrong. It's not up to me, after all."

"Jimin—"

"She's not against you, hyung. Make it happen."

With that, Jimin puts away the last plate and leaves the room.

I dry my hands on one of the few remaining dry towels, left alone and wondering what the meaning behind Jimin's cryptic pep talk was.

It seems that kid will always be a mystery.

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i'm alive!

hey guys! sorry, i was going to update reflections tonight but presidential debates got in the way. oh man what a wild ride.

anyway, if you liked this chapter, feel free to vote and tell me why! if you didn't, tell me why! i'm always down for constructive criticism.

thanks again, and keep your wits about you,

sam

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