When Shadows Fall | BTS Kim Namjoon

Chapter 22: Pictures

A/N: Spring Day!!!!!!!!!!! Also, there's a hint in this chapter - it should be pretty easy to spot if you're paying attention. Thanks for reading! :)

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I kept looking in the rearview mirror as I drove to meet Areum and her family, fearing that I would be followed. But I didn't see anything – not that I really knew what I should be looking for. A car that was following me, of course. But I didn't really know how to spot the difference between a car that was tailing me and a car that was just sharing the road with me; it was especially hard to tell on highways like this.

This was the same stupid stuff that I'd been doing for the past few months, with absolutely no results. Nothing I did was effective! I couldn't even spot a trailing car, let alone throw one off track.

I was so over this whole crazy situation.

I relaxed as I neared the small house that belonged to one of the Kim family's friends, who was out of town for a few days on business and had agreed to let them stay there over the weekend. The house was near the ocean, so that was something to look forward to. I was also just so excited to get out of town for a while.

As I parked in front of the house Areum had told me about, I sighed and turned off the radio. Driving alone was such a drag.

Taking my black duffel bag out of the trunk, I walked up to the house and knocked. Areum opened the door quickly and tackled me in a hug. "Chunhwa! I've missed you!"

I hugged her back with one arm. "I've missed you too." Walking into the house, I greeted Areum's mother and father, then followed her to a bedroom.

"We'll be staying here," she said, gesturing to the two twin beds. "Take your pick."

Sitting on the left one, I moved my bag against the end of the bed. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good. I'm still working at that daycare, and I love it."

"Are you doing okay with..." I trailed off, realizing that it was tactless to ask about Seulgi right now. After all, he was supposed to be the one here on vacation with her; I was just a replacement because of the breakup.

"Yes, I'm doing fine." She hesitated, but as her parents called us, she smiled and nodded her head toward the door. "We're going for a walk on the beach, do you want to come?"

"Of course!" I smiled back.

After the walk, which offered Areum and me a chance to catch up, we had dinner and sat on the porch in the fading summer heat of twilight, talking. I felt myself growing tired – after all, I'd had about four hours of sleep the night before.

Blinking to stay awake, I was startled when Areum's father's phone rang. Answering it, a smile grew over his face. When he hung up, he looked at his family and grinned. "Namjoon says he was able to get some time off, and he'll be at the train station in half an hour."

I smiled at the others' excitement. They saw Namjoon so infrequently – I didn't want to think about how painful it must be for them to hardly ever see him.

"When do we need to leave to pick him up?" Areum asked.

"In about ten minutes."

Areum's mother made an exclamation and rushed into the house. "I must check the room!"

"I'm going to make sure we have snacks!" Areum ran after her mother.