reef knot

two

December 2, 2016, 5 p.m.

"Thank you so much for your help today, Jiyoung-ssi," Mrs. Lee beams at me just as I am preparing to leave the empty nursery.

All the children's parents have already fetched them home, leaving only Mrs. Lee and three other teachers in the small school.

"No problem," I grin back in reply, before bowing and taking my leave.

As Yoongi warned, taking care of four-year-old kids is harder than it looks. With twelve of them to look after at the same time, I almost had a mental breakdown trying to get them all in one place without them running around the whole school.

And as expected, Yoongi did nothing but laugh at the side as he watched me chase after the kids while trying to get them into their cots for their afternoon nap.

That asshole.

As we walk through the streets of Seoul, my stomach growls, and I realize that I haven't eaten anything since breakfast.

I bring my hand to my stomach, soothing the rumbling as I look around for a decent restaurant.

"Hungry, Miss?" Yoongi asks from behind me.

"Yeah," I reply, before stopping in my footsteps and turning to face him. "Wanna go grab dinner with me before we go home?"

"But Mr. Park said-"

"Doesn't matter," I grin cheekily as I continue walking forward, digging out my phone and entering the Google application. "I'll have you to protect me, anyways." I pause for a moment, my eyes peeled to the screen as I study the list of restaurants in the area. "Do you like Chinese food?" I turn to ask him.

However, before he can reply, a series of pained cries sound in the distance, momentarily interrupting my thoughts.

I turn my head to the right, where the shouts originated, and my gaze falls upon a pink-haired teenager, about the same age as me, being beaten up in a dark alleyway.

Two other boys clad in black suits stomp and kick at him as he writhes in pain, and I instantly frown at the sight.

"Hey!" I start to advance towards the boys, but before I make it past my second step, a hand grabs my elbow and pulls me backward, stopping me from moving.

"Do you have a death wish?" Yoongi glares at me, starting to drag me down the street and away from the fight.

I start to protest, but a familiar voice cuts me off before I can say a word.

"Jungkook, kick him in the gut."

Yoongi and I freeze at the same time, heads snapping back towards the alley. I didn't notice before, but behind the two boys in black suits, is a man with graying hair, calmly smoking his cigar as he watches his underdogs attack the pink-haired boy.

"Dad?" I call out uncertainly, voice loud enough to be heard by the men. On cue, all of them instantly stop their actions, turning towards us. All doubt disappears as I register the faces in front of me.

Fuming, I start to stomp towards them again. Yoongi tries to grab my hand, but I smack his hand away, giving him a warning look before finally coming to a stop in front of my father.

"Jungkook, Seokjin," I address them calmly, without removing my eyes from Dad, "Let him go."

At my order, the two boys first turn towards Dad, and after receiving an approval, they get off the pink-haired boy, allowing him to run away.

"Kim Namjoon, that ass," Dad mutters, glaring after the boy as he rounds the corner and sprints off into the distance.

"Dad, I can't believe you're still in the mafia!" I draw his attention back to me, my eyebrows furrowed so deeply together that my forehead starts to wrinkle.

"Honey, I was just-"

"Is that why you hired him?" I point towards Yoongi, who's currently standing at attention beside Jungkook and Seokjin, "Because you're scared that all these people you've been beating up will come after me?"

"Honey, Kim Namjoon owed me money and refused to pay up," Dad starts to explain himself, "I wasn't beating him up, I was just giving him a friendly reminder!"

"'Friendly'?!" I throw my hands up into the air, "Dad, he was bruised and bleeding! You call that being friendly?!"

"Honey, look-"

"You haven't changed a bit!" I snap, eyes starting to water, "Not even after Mom died, not even after everything that has happened to me and Jimin!"

Once the words land, they land hard. Dad stumbles backwards as if something were weighing him down, and almost loses his footing as his right foot brushes against a rock. Thankfully, Seokjin rushes to his side before he can fall. Grabbing his right arm, Seokjin quickly hoists Dad back onto his feet, before returning to stand between Jungkook and Yoongi.

The both of us remain silent for a moment, just facing each other as the same memories run through each of our minds.

Jungkook and Seokjin look down at their feet - after working in our family for more than half their lives, they were also one of the few witnesses to Mom's death, and the trauma Jimin and I had gone through afterwards.

It had taken eons for us to move on.

Eons.

"I'm sorry," Dad closes his eyes, pinching his nose.

I look away, a small smirk forming on my face.

"You wouldn't have gone back into the business if you really were sorry," I snap, before turning on my heels and abandoning the alley.

As expected, Dad doesn't try to stop me.

;;

The silence is almost unbearable.

Yoongi was never much of a talker, but even this is too much for him.

Watching Mr. Park lean against the wall behind him with his head in his hands as his daughter walks away into the night. Watching his colleagues, Jungkook and Seokjin, look down at their feet as Mr. Park starts to tear up in front of them.

They've been with the Park family for a longer time than Yoongi - hell, he only met Mr. Park last week - so he assumes that they know what's going on.

Turning his head towards the direction in which the girl stomped away, Yoongi suddenly feels a strong urge to follow her.

She looks broken.

Broken, but not wanting to show her emotions.

That is something Yoongi can relate to.

His gaze flits between his colleagues, a sobbing Mr. Park, and finally back towards the streets.

He doesn't like Park Jiyoung - not even a single positive vibe from that spoiled brat - but still. She's a heartbroken girl wandering through the streets of Seoul at night.

Yoongi feels uneasy.

Maybe he should watch over her. Not console her, just follow behind her in case anything bad happens.

With that, Yoongi - a little awkwardly - bows at Mr. Park, excusing himself before walking out the alley and turning towards the direction the girl went.

+

aish these two chapters were so, so, so boring but as you all know i usually spend about three chapters on the intro so please bear with me!! action starts in the next chapter ;)

|hoseokieomo|

p.s. btw, should i include more third person povs like the one at the end? :/