The past year Minnie had gotten through hell and back, but seeing her little sister healthy and alive made it all worth it.

After the plane had crashed in their neighborhood she'd managed to escape the monster's grasps and had been pretty much thrown out of the house by the impact of the crash that was evident even streets further.

She had believed her sister to be dead, had wandered around aimlessly, numbly, until a group of rowdy old men - that all had a criminal record for sure - had picked her up and eventually gotten her to Jeju.

It hadn't been fun. She's been molested, pushed around and mocked by them, but in the end she had gotten here with all her limbs still attached to her body.

"I- I thought the prowlers killed you." Y/N had mumbled into the crook of her neck, tears wetting Minnie's shirt.

"Prowlers?" Minnie had echoed amused, which had earned a laugh from the guy accompanying her little sister.

Ah yeah.

That man. Jeon Jungkook.

Tall, imposing and - if she was being honest with herself - menacingly scary. The scythe he carried around the entire time didn't help.

He had this sort of unhinged look on his face she'd seen on so many men in this refugee, overall pose and body language reminding her of that of a raw diamond - unpolished, rough and too quick to cut someone.

Minnie didn't trust him a single bit, but Y/N, for some reason, did. The older girl had made enough terrible experience with the kind of men that are able to survive these deadly times, that she wouldn't be as naive.

It was around four in the morning - a time where the refugee was usually wide awake - when Minnie made a move to protect her sister, "Come, let's go to our room." She gently pulled the younger girl away by her hand, fingers intertwined like she used to do whenever they were alone in town as kids.

"Our room?" Y/N echoed, clearly not catching on.

Minnie smiled, "Do you not want to share a room with me?"

As happy as her sister had been only seconds ago, did she look incredibly uncomfortable all of a sudden, "Tha- That's not it." She turned around to Jungkook, who didn't even bother to hide his displeasure. Again - scary.

Minnie didn't go through all of this bullshit just to have her sister taken away from her by some creepy scythe carrying freak. She wasn't blind - she of course saw how Y/N seemed to always gravitate around him, much like he did around her, how she seemed too much at ease in the presence of this man.

Generally, this was strange. She knew her sister as the shy, awkward little girl who needed years to feel comfortable around strangers- especially men.

She pulled on the other girl's hand again, this time with more insistence, "Then come."

Y/N looked weirdly alarmed, pulling her hand out of her sister's grasp, "I don't think I can do that."

Jungkook behind her smirked at Minnie with what she could only label as spite, hidden behind her sister's back.

"What? Why?" Minnie wasn't about to cover her thoughts behind pretty words, "Do you really want to stay with this creep? L-Look at him! As your older sister I can't allow that—"

"First of all- I'm not a fucking baby." Y/N cut in sternly, startling her sister into silence, "Secondly- I know what Jungkook looks like, silly. I've been with him the entire past year, I also know that I can trust him. Also..." She was back to this widely uncomfortable expression, leaning closer to her sister so that the others around them wouldn't hear, "I- I don't think I can sleep without him yet."

"WHAT?" Minnie blurted out, making Jungkook crane his head curiously, like a puppy being taunted with a toy. A really intimidating puppy.

"Shh" Y/N pressed her hands against the older's lips alarmed, before whispering: "He's been protecting me the entire time- never let me behind or let me get hurt. I've been with only him around for an entire year." She stared at Minnie, who was beginning to get the impact of her sister's relationship with this guy, seriously, "He's been the only thing keeping me alive until now, give me some time, 'kay?"

"Dunno what kinda guy y' think I am, but you must be really fuckin' stupid to think I'd do something' to Chibi here, Ma'am." Jungkook scratched the back of his neck, looking slightly offended and equally annoyed.

Ma'am??!

Minnie's eyes switched between her sister and Jungkook. If it was true what she had said, then the girl was hella lucky to having found someone like that by accident.

"I can't... I'm sorry but I can't really believe that," Minnie admitted, "What if my sister only stays with you because she thinks she owes you something? I don't want her to be with someone out of obligation. What if she feels pressured, because she's scared of you?"

Jungkook looked at the younger girl with an irritated grin , "D'you feel pressured, Chickie?"

"Oh, shut up." She boxed his shoulder with an eye roll, making the older man grunt, but otherwise only brush the gesture off amicably.

The interaction looked really... domestic? Familiar, definitely. Minnie was in awe at her sister's unusual behavior, even if she didnt like it.

"Let's catch up tomor... later today." Y/N waved at her nonchalantly, reassuring smile on her lips.

"Yup, you two should sleep." Kim Namjoon, who had been watching the whole scene quietly, chimed it, "I'll lead the way."

"Buh-bye." Y/N waved once more, happy smile on her face.

"Sleep tight." Minnie retorted weakly, feeling powerless as always within the past year.

While watching her little sister leave, she noticed something else: Her shy, awkward little daydreamer of a sister was walking with her back straight, making long steps (to keep up with the long ass legs of her companion), smiled confidently and radiated an aura of.... well, strength.

Her sister had changed drastically in a lot of ways. Her sister had become stronger.

Minnie felt even weaker.

___

Jungkook stared at the bed in front of him.

He stared for a really long time.

"Ahhh, fucking finally." He heard Y/N groan next to him, felt a gush of wind when she rushed past him to throw herself onto the mattress, "No more sleeping on dusty sofas or dirty floors!"

They had gotten a small cabin on the very edge of the area, with only a tiny bath and a bedroom. Both of them were grateful.

Y/N popped one eye open when she realized the lack of action on Jungkook's side, "What?" She grinned, "Shy?"

He shook his head silently, "No, it's just... I don't think I've ever slept in a bed like that."

"Huh?" She lifted her head surprised, "Oh. Well. Enjoy, I guess."

He snorted, before clumsily joining in, feeling a little out of place in the clean white sheets. The mattress was so soft he felt how his body slowly sank into the material, engulfed by nothing but softness and the rustling of fabric around his head.

There was no dust, like in the other beds they had slept in so far, no smell of mold and no creaking either.

"So?" Next to him, his companion propped her head up onto her palm, eyeing him curiously as if his opinion on beds was something world moving.

"S' alright." He mumbled.

The room was dark, silvery moonlight breaking through the window from outside, accompanied by the gentle chirping of cicadas in the dune grass .

"Yeah?" She hummed.

"Yeah."

Peaceful. Everything around him was so fucking peaceful, it made his head ache.

The only thing that wasn't peaceful to him was the girl laying next to him, she didn't make his head ache. Her presence was loud and exciting - the only things he wanted to have around him, the only things he wanted to know.

Jungkook acted how he always acted - brash and on impulse.

Swiftly, he had turned around and captured her flabbergasted form underneath him, trying to hide the deep irritation he felt with a playful grin.

"Your sister's annoying." He mumbled, because he didn't know what else to say. Acting on impulse always included a sense of dumfounded-ness after wards, like, hell he didn't plan that far.

"Shut up. She's exactly how older sisters are supposed to be." Why was she whispering?

"Ya must be happy to see her again." Now he was whispering too, staring at her moonlit lips, that were forming her next words.

"I am."

"M' happy for you." He grumbled, one hand coming down to gently rub over her shoulder. He hadn't really looked at a lot of people's shoulders so far, but he was convinced that she had the nicest shoulders.

"Are you? Happy, I mean."

"...." He tore his eyes away from her, "...we'll see."

She frowned, "You know that-"

He didn't want to hear it. She'd tell him that he "didn't have to stay here just because of her". The mere thought of this stupid-as-shit sentence made him shiver.

Before she could finish that sentence he leaned into the remaining few inches and pressed his lips onto hers, a method he'd come to realize made her shut up effectively.

She flinched away surprised at first, but to his luck her head was already pressed into the pillow, which meant no excuses for her. Much like with all new things he tried (besides reading), he didn't really know what he was doing but would just excel in it on the way.

Slowly, he moved his lips against hers, tongue swiping over her upper lip until she opened up with a gentle exhale. He tilted his head slightly, both of his hands pressing hers into the mattress besides her head while he deepened the kiss, licking over her teeth and into her mouth, sighing softly.

He had never been that close to her, and honestly, he regretted that now. He really should've done that earlier. How often had they shared a bed before?

When she just laid next to him it was like standing right in front of a bonfire. But kissing her like that, moving against her like that, felt like being the center of the explosion - and Jungkook craved this chaos.

It was a given that after all this time without a watch he had lost his feeling of time entirely, but when they parted it felt like they'd spent hours kissing - and who knows, maybe they did.

"You kiss like a fish." She panted, lips swollen and eyes wide like Easter eggs.

He snorted, flicking her forehead playfully, "I think I kiss damn amazing."

"I don't think you've kissed yourself so far, have you?" She tried to wiggle out of his grasp like a little weasel, which only led to him slumping on top of her chest, both arms wrapped around her body and pinning her arms to her side, "...You're heavy." He grunted.

"Need to be heavy to fight off scary prowlers for you, Chickie." He grinned, "What did ya say again? I don't think I can sleep without him yet?"

She kneed him in the stomach, "Fuck you with your crazy ass superhuman hearing."

He laughed again, loud and relieved, rolling around so that she was now laying on top of him, head pillowed on his chest, "Not my fault all of ya are far behind me."

"You cant even read, I'd be careful if I were you."

"Let's agree that I'm physically superior, but academically stupid."

"...Alright." She wiggled in his arms until she found a position to her liking, relaxing on top of him like a lifeless doll.

"You tired?"

"You aren't?"

"Chickie when do I ever really sleep?" He swiped one hand over her head, rearranging her hair that had gotten a bit messed up just now, "I'm always on guard when we're on the road."

"Oh. Right." He hadn't meant to make her feel guilty.

"Don't worry. I've never slept a lot."

"I see." She muttered, closing her eyes yawning, "If it's like that."

He hummed.

The cicadas outside their little cabin were still chirping. In the distance, Jungkook could hear the sea clashing against the beach.

"I really like you, Chickie." He whispered into her hair, "I like you as much as I like the freedom and the chaos."

___