"Sorry, there's some pretty bad traffic up my way. I should only be a few more minutes," Juyoung says into the phone, apologeticness in his tone.

"No big deal. I grabbed a table already, so just come on in," I reply. "See you soon, bye!" After moving away from the receiver I hang up and put my phone back in my pocket, absentmindedly scanning the menu before me. Juyoung and I are grabbing what's essentially a midnight snack at this bar he's been going on about for weeks. He was originally going to pick me up, but I decided to just meet him there to make things easier. This is the third time Juyoung and I have hung out since he visited me at the library, and things have only gotten clearer the more time we've spent together. I can say with definite certainty that Juyoung is flirting with me, but I just haven't found a good way to approach him yet.

The biggest issue I have with how to talk Juyoung out of all this is that I don't know whether he's flirting because he's genuinely interested in me, or if he's flirting because he wants to get a message across to Yoongi. Juyoung has always been a really protective guy, and it's clear he doesn't have the same respect and admiration for Yoongi that I do. In fact, it's pretty obvious that the two don't like each other much at all. From Yoongi's sassy comments to Juyoung knocking shoulders with him at the library, it's clear the only common thread the two boys have is me. I guess one of the major reasons I've been spending so much time with Juyoung lately is to figure all that out; the other major reason being that Yoongi has been out and about promoting Fire for three weeks now. The only times I've seen him have been odd hours of the morning when we record our track. The most recent time the two of us have had fun together was when Jieun made us kiss at the library, and I was admittedly a little embarrassed around him for the remainder of that day. Yes, the kiss was for theatrics, and yes, it didn't mean anything, but I can't deny that Min Yoongi is a great kisser and that I had a pretty good time. Either way, with Yoongi not being around as much, Juyoung's been my go-to guy to hang out with.

"Hey!" Chirps my friend as he sits down across from me. "Sorry again for being late, I really wish I could make it up to you."

"It's not a big deal, Juyoung," I say, nudging a menu towards him. "Shit happens."

"Yeah, fair enough. Anyway, how are you?"

"Good! Y'know, nothing really changes with me nowadays. You?"

"Same here. Is there even a point to asking anymore?" He laughs, running a hand through his freshly dyed brown hair.

"Doubt it," I reply with a chuckle. My eyes scan the restaurant absentmindedly, landing on a TV in a nearby corner. On it, an MCountdown broadcast is playing. If I remember correctly, Bangtan is supposed to be on MCountdown tonight. Maybe I'll be able to catch the results if they don't change the channel.

"Whatcha looking at?" Juyoung asks, turning around to follow my gaze. His brows furrow when he notices the TV, and he looks back at me with a stare that screams "are-you-kidding-me?"

"Really?" He grumbles.

"Yeah, Bangtan's supposed to be on tonight. I think we missed their performance, though; it looks like we're close to the end of the broadcast."

"What a shame." Sarcasm drips from Juyoung's voice as he picks his menu back up, looking through it intently.

"What do you have against Yoongi anyway?" I ask, doing all I can to not sound accusatory.

"I just don't like the guy. I don't think he has a very good influence on you, y'know? Especially with all the idol stuff he's doing now, you could get involved in a ton of scandals just being around him."

"Yoongi has a pretty clean slate, Juyoung. I don't think there's anything of consequence that could hurt my reputation."

"Look, if I ruled the world, you'd be around him less. That's all I'm saying." I go back to my menu, ready to let the subject drop, when I hear Juyoung mutter, "The photo shoot was bad enough."

I feel myself tense up a bit, but decide to do the right thing and hold my tongue. The pictures from my shoot with Bangtan had been released last week, and Juyoung had apparently seen them. Doing my best to ignore the grumbling of the boy across from me, I continue studying the menu. After deciding that some pretzel bites as good an idea as any, I go back to watching the MCountdown broadcast. Lucky me, the results are about to be displayed for us all to see. I watch with anticipation as the numbers appear on the screen, tallying Bangtan's numbers against Twice's. The two groups stand in clumps as the final totals tally, and I smile as Bangtan is declared the winner of the broadcast. I cheer a little bit in spite of the boy sitting across from me, and he puts his menu down to look at the TV.

"The song isn't even that good," he drawls. "It's a hype track, sure, but it's still pretty generic."

"I don't really think so," I say, still trying to play nice. "It's a strong track— you, a producer, should see that."

"It'd be more impressive if an underground artist did it."

"I mean, sure, but I don't think anyone would be able to capture the spirit of the song the way they do, y'know?"

"God, you almost sound like one of them."

"What?" I ask, finally letting some irritation into my voice.

"Do you even remember where you came from?"

"Of course I do." How could he even ask something like that? There's no possible way I could forget all the sleepless nights I spent writing lyrics or finishing up piles of schoolwork after late night gigs. There's no way I could forget my parents screaming at me when I told them I wanted to pursue rap as a career. There's no way I could forget them cutting me off, how I moved out and could barely support myself, how I worked myself raw just to find somewhere to live. There's no way to forget becoming entirely self-made, no way to forget meeting other people who dealt with the same things I did. People like Yoongi who were doing all they could to make a living doing what they loved, people like Juyoung, people like me. Yoongi dealt with the same things I did, and look how successful he is now. It's not like he forgot where he came from— how could anyone?

I stand, walking to the bathroom wordlessly. I feel my phone buzz as I stand with my back to the wall, trying to calm myself down. I check my phone, wondering if it's Juyoung on the other end. It's not.

Hey, we just finished up MCountdown and I'm free tomorrow morning. I was wondering if I could hang out at your place awhile?

I examine Yoongi's text with a smile, then quickly write out a reply.

Yeah, but I'm out with Juyoung right now. Heading home soon, though. The spare key is behind the front shutters, you can let yourself in.

Thanks! See you soon?

Yep!

I only feel a little bad about deciding to walk out on Juyoung. He was pissing me off, after all. When I reenter the main restaurant I find that Juyoung is no longer occupying the booth we shared. A nearby patron notices me eyeing the booth quizzically and speaks up, giving me the information I need.

"He just got up and left, sorry."

"Ah, it's alright. Thank you," I reply, giving the woman a curt nod. Well, now I don't have any hangups about leaving. I exit the restaurant and make my way to my car, not even feeling slightly bad about this failed excursion. I mean, hey, I get to see Yoongi, right?

I put my keys in the ignition, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. With any luck, I'll be able to make it to my house before Yoongi does.

God knows it could use some cleaning up.

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hi!

short chapter today, but no worries! if all goes to plan i should have another up tomorrow.

anyway, as per usual, feedback is greatly appreciated, whether it's in the form of a vote, a comment, or whatever. it all makes me a better writer, so thanks.

wow, bangtan's comeback's going to kill me,

sam

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