The Rules

Chapter 12

Ami woke up, excited to start the first day of her new job. She knew it wouldn't be her forever job, but having a purpose every day felt good again like she was finally moving forward. She arrived at work early to meet her coworkers and be shown around the office.

"I'm so excited to get to see you every day!" Jae greeted her with a huge hug. "Let me show you around. Ji-Hoon sits over there", he waved at her, " Mr. Lu sits behind us over there." Ami looked and said hello, but was met with an uncomfortable stare from him. "And our desks are over here. We are a small department, but we work hard." Jae said with a satisfied smile.

"Well, I'm excited to be working with you. Thanks again for helping me find something so soon." The day went fast, and she enjoyed learning about what they would be doing. Soon it was lunchtime and she and Jae went outside to eat their lunch. "How long has Mr. Lu worked with you guys?" Ami asked as they ate. "Oh, about 8 months," Jae said between bites, "He's pretty quiet and keeps to himself, but he works hard."

"He's OK though? As a coworker I mean?" Ami had a weird vibe from him all morning, but she was hoping she was just reading him wrong. Maybe he didn't like new people coming into the workplace. "Oh, he's harmless." Jae brushed off her concern and kept talking about other things. Ami wasn't too sure about Jae's perception of him. Something seemed off.

The rest of the week went fast. She was busy learning her new job and getting into the swing of things. By Thursday evening she finally felt like she could sit down and take a breath from her busy week. She picked up her phone and saw she had a missed text from the boys.

Ami, want to come over tomorrow for dinner? We want to hear about your new job, and we don't have any commitments tomorrow. Let me know! - JK

Ami smiled, she missed talking to the boys and it sounded like a nice way to relax after her busy first week.

I would love it, I'll come over right after work. Ami set her phone down and went to take a shower.

Friday was a slow day and she was ready for it to be over. She looked forward to relaxing after her first week at work and catching up with all of them. It was about the end of the day, when Jae said, "Let's go out for drinks after work to celebrate your first week!"

"Oh I would love to, but I have plans tonight. Maybe next time, OK?" Ami was packing up her stuff to head home. She wanted to spend time with Jae, but not tonight. Things still felt superficial to her, and while she wanted to truly reconnect with her old friend, she had other places she would rather be.

"Plans? Who do you have plans with? I didn't know you knew anyone else?" She asked in a huff, crossing her arms and looking at her.

"I met some neighbors, and they invited me. Maybe next time though, OK? Have a good weekend, see you Monday." With that Ami headed out the door and to the boy's apartment. She just wanted to get there and decompress from her first week.

-Friday 7 pm-

There was a knock on the apartment door, and JK opened it to find a smiling Ami. "Ami! Come in, we missed you!" JK gave her a huge bear hug as she entered the door. "Oh! Hey Jungkook. How are you?" Jungkook's hugs were big and warm but surprised her, she wasn't expecting it. Namjoon was watching from across the room and felt a twinge of jealousy watching him hug her. "Come on in, Yoongi has been cooking all afternoon." He smiled as she walked in, it was good to see her.

"Hey there, It smells AMAZING!" Ami lifted the lid of the pot and inhaled deeply. "I hope you're hungry, we have so much." Yoongi smiled as he watched her close her eyes and smile at the smell of his food. "Can I help at all?" She asked, getting ready to roll up her sleeves. "No no... go sit and relax, it will be ready soon." He said as he waved her out of the kitchen.

Ami wandered over to the table and sat with her knees pulled up and arms around them. She felt content. It had been a long time since she felt like she belonged somewhere. To have 7 guys excited to see her and asking about her, wasn't overwhelming, she felt relaxed.

The rest of the guys trickled in, saying hello and joining in the conversation. Yoongi finally brought the food over and everyone dug in. "How is your new job?" Hobi asked, between bites. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's good. It's been good to get back into a routine again. The work isn't hard, I just have to get in the groove and learn their processes, you know. Nothing is rocket science, except rocket science." She smiled at Hobi.

"Are they treating you well?" Jimin asked as he dished up more food. "Yeah, it's a small department, just my two friends Ji-Hoon and Jae, and another man, Mr. Lu.. he doesn't say much... He's OK.." She kind of said this with an unsure face. "You don't like him?" Namjoon asked, he put his food down as he looked at her stare off. "I don't know, I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe he just needs to get to know me." Ami finally said with a shrug.

"I don't know, you seem to be a pretty good judge of character. If something seems off with him, it might be." Tae said before shoving his mouth full with another bite without another thought. Ami just sat there quiet and thinking as she took another bite. How do you explain someone's vibe was off? Is that a thing even? I'm sure it's fine. But still... something seemed off with him. She realized she was being really quiet and changed the topic. "What have you guys been up to this week? Have any fun things coming up soon?"

Jin casually said, "Well actually we are getting ready to head to Japan in a couple of months." "Seriously?" Ami said surprised. "What are you doing there?" "We have some promotional stuff we have to do, a couple of TV spots and a small concert. We'll be gone for about 5 days." Namjoon said as he got up to grab something out of the kitchen. "Are you excited about it?" Ami asked, taking the last bites of her food. "I mean, it's always fun to see our fans, and perform, and I love Japan. The extra stuff is just filler, but our fans love it, so we do it." Jungkook said with a nonchalant smile.

"Do you ever get to travel just on your own or together without obligations?" Ami was genuinely curious, this was a lifestyle she knew nothing about. "Not as much as we would like, but it does happen." Jimin said, "Usually on big tours we have days built in for that kind of stuff. But it can be hard because fans know we are in the area, so finding quiet spots and not being spotted can be tough."

"Have you been to Japan before, Ami?" Tae asked as he picked up dishes and started to take them to the kitchen. "Me? No, my Japanese isn't strong enough yet." She laughed.

"Are you learning?" Jimin asked, surprised. "I am, I'm teaching myself. I know English of course after living in London and all, I can get by in Spanish because we used to vacation in Spain, and I thought Japanese would be good to add to it all."

"You learned all that on your own?" Yoongi sat back, impressed that she had learned so much.

"Mmmmm..." Ami said while taking a drink. "I like to keep busy." she smiled and winked at him.

The group spent the rest of the evening just talking, laughing, and enjoying their time together. They all loved spending time with her, and she was with them.