12. Suspicious

Jungkook stood in the hallway with his back pressed against the cool eggshell painted bricks. His gray t-shirt was soaked through from practice, causing him to stick to the wall he was leaning against. He had his face angled upwards towards the fluorescent lights fixed in the ceiling above him while holding a tissue to his nose to get the bleeding to stop.

He had been distracted all of practice by everything going on, causing his nose to get up close and personal with Hobi's elbow. Jungkook didn't know the man's elbows were so pointy.

He kept his eyes turned towards the ceiling as he heard the squeal of the dance room door open before thudding shut. The squeak of sneakers on the tile indicated someone was coming towards him.

"How's your nose?" asked Namjoon.

"Sore," said Jungkook in a warped way due to the tissue, "But I'll live."

"Are you okay?" Namjoon asked next. "I mean - obviously your nose is sore - but I mean...you're very distracted and it's not like you."

"I'm fine," said Jungkook. He brought the tissue away from his nose to look at the blood that had blossomed there before feeling more blood slide out of his nose. He replaced the tissue, sighing. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Are you getting plenty of rest?"

"Yes mother," said Jungkook teasingly as he moved his head to shoot Namjoon a look.

"I just worry about you, Jungkook," said Namjoon. "I don't want the stress to get to you."

"I'm fine," repeated Jungkook which caused Namjoon to sigh.

Meanwhile Taehyung and Jimin - who were currently taking a break like the others - were standing near the practice room door. They had it opened a crack so they could try and overhear the conversation in the hall. Jimin was crouched down low to listen while Taehyung was hovering above him a bit.

"Can you hear anything?" whispered Taehyung.

"No...not really," whispered back Jimin.

"You two look ridiculous," said Jin as he drank from a water bottle while seated on the floor on the far side of the room, "And not sneaky in the slightest."

Jin turned his head to look at Yoongi who was sitting beside him on the floor with his knees tucked up. A notebook rested on them and it was clear he was in the middle of writing down some sort of lyrical masterpiece.

"Yoongi, don't you think those two aren't sneaky?"

"Does it look like I care?" replied Yoongi who continued to write without looking up from what he was doing.

"Hobi," said Jin as he turned to look at Hobi over in the left corner of the room practicing some solo moves. "What about you? Do you think they are sneaky?"

"Don't involve me," said Hobi, "Especially where I injured part of the party they are spying on."

"I feel like I'm talking to a wall with the two of you sometimes..." muttered Jin into his water bottle as he took another drink.

"He's coming back!" hissed Jimin in slight panic as he tried to scrabble to his feet hearing Namjoon's footsteps make their way back towards the practice room.

Jimin seemed to forget that Taehyung was standing right behind him, and as he tried to quickly stumble to his feet, he bumped into Taehyung. Taehyung was caught off guard, stumbling backwards until he ended up on his rear on the dance room floor.

"GEEZUM JIMIN!" said Taehyung as he rolled onto his side. "I think you bruised it."

"I'm sorry!" apologized Jimin as he tried to move to help Taehyung up. "I didn't..."

When Jimin was close enough, Taehyung reached up a hand to grab him by the arm and tug him down onto the floor with him just as Namjoon entered the room.

"I'd ask, but I don't want to know the answer," said Namjoon with a dimpled grin, shaking his head.

"Where's Jungkook?" asked Jin.

"I told him to take the rest of the day off. The last thing we want is for him to burn out. We need everyone in full form if this comeback is to be a success."

"Does that mean we get the rest of the day off too?" asked Taehyung who was ready to go hide himself away for a bit.

"No. We can still practice our parts," said Namjoon.

"But I'm sore," said Taehyung in a fake whiny voice.

Jin rolled his eyes, chucking his now empty water bottle at Taehyung. The plastic bottle made contact with the top of Taehyung's head. The contact didn't hurt, but Taehyung went to town with the theatrics again, clapping both hands to the top of his head.

"OW! WOULD EVERYONE STOP HURTING ME?!"

Namjoon rolled his eyes as he moved to stand in front of the mirrored wall.

"Get in formation," said Namjoon. "We're going to take it again from the top."

Taehyung groaned as he got to his feet. Jimin moved to stand up beside him, walking over to join Yoongi, Jin, and Hobi.

"We need to figure out why Jungkook's acting so suspicious," whispered Taehyung into Jimin's ear as they stood beside each other. "I want to know what is going on."

- - -

"He left his number. You should text him."

"That makes me look eager."

"If you don't look eager, you are a fool."

Rai looked over at Ava who was fixing her with a look. Rai was holding the ad that Jungkook wrote his number down on. Ava reached forward to snatch it out of Rai's hands, carefully though so she wouldn't rip it.

"If you don't text him, I'm going to."

Seol - who stood at the sink with his forearms submerged in warm soapy water - turned to look at the two of them.

"I'm on Auntie Ava's side," said Seol. "Dad was only known to do the chasing when he knew there was someone interested."

"Smart kid," said Ava. "Are we sure he's yours?"

Rai rolled her eyes, playfully slapping Ava's arm as she grabbed the ad back.

"The two of you are a bad combination," said Rai as Seol turned back to washing the breakfast dishes with a smile on his face.

Rai walked over to the table where her cell phone was, picking it up in her hands.

"What do I even say?" asked Rai after she entered the number, staring at the screen as the thin line blinked over and over again.

"Hi future hubby," suggested Ava as Rai's cheeks heated up. "Or even, hi future baby daddy."

"You really have no shame," said Rai as she sat down at the table.

"Seol," said Ava as she looked over at him by the sink. "Cover your ears. I'm about to say some things about your father that you probably don't want to hear."

"Auntie Ava, I've heard you describe how hot my father is before," said Seol. "No offense, but when you get going, you aren't very quiet."

Now it was Ava's turn for her cheeks to catch fire as Seol laughed. He dried his hands off and humored her by covering his ears with his hands.

"First off, that boy over there is wicked," teased Ava, "Second of all, if there was even the slightest chance that I was going to someday have a family with Jungkook, I'd be as shameless as possible. He's a gorgeous hunk of man. Do you realize how lucky you are?"

"Yeah...I just..."

"Oh give me that," said Ava as she moved to yank the cell phone out of Rai's hand.

- - -

Standing in the sandwich shop with a mask over his face, sunglasses, and a bucket hat, Jungkook moved to dig his phone out of his pocket when he heard it go off. Flicking the screen on, he saw he had a new text message. He unlocked his phone to see the message he just received.

???
So
Wanna know what's good looking?
You!

Jungkook chuckled right out loud at the text, causing the people in front of him in line to turn. He mumbled a quick apology under his breath as he moved to text a response.

Jungkook
Hello Ava.

- - -

"Seriously, how does he know it's me when he doesn't even know us?"

"Because my Dad is smart," said Seol as he peeked over Ava's shoulder at the text she sent to him.

"Give me that," said Rai as she snatched the cell phone out of Ava's hand.

Rai
Sorry about that.

Jungkook
Take it it's not Ava anymore.
I feel like she wouldn't apologize.

"You need to give me that phone back so I can give that gorgeous hunk of man meat a piece of my mind," remarked Ava after she saw Jungkook's latest response.

"I didn't get to cover my ears, Auntie Ava. My innocence..." teased Seol to which Ava shot him a look.

Rai chuckled as she moved to text Jungkook back.

Rai
You guessed correctly.
It's Rai.

Jungkook
Hey
I'm getting sandwiches
Then I'll be by again
Is that okay?

"Is that okay?..." mumbled Ava under her breath. "It's a honor for him to grace us with his presence."

Rai
That's fine, yes.
I'll go out and get the test.

Jungkook
Sounds like a plan.
See you soon.

"See? Was it that hard to start a text conversation with him?" asked Ava as Rai put her phone back on the table and stood up.

"No. I guess not."

Rai looked at Seol who still stood nearby, chuckling at everything. That boy had brought so much change into her life - and if everything really was true - she knew that this was just the beginning of it all.

- - -

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