Namjoon was sitting outside on the beach. He had watched the sun rise, and hadn't been able to convince himself to go inside since then.

His solitude was interrupted by 2 boys walking up to him.

Probably for the best - Namjoon was thinking too deeply about everything.

He would've wondered why they were up at this time, but he figured that they were probably on their way back home.

Seungkwan had his arms crossed tightly, and Jeonghan was standing stiffly next to him.

Namjoon sighed, standing up and turning.

"Hey, we want to talk to you!"

Namjoon turned back to them, surprised. "You're not here for YeongMi?"

"No, we're here to talk to you..."

"About YeongMi," Jeonghan quickly added.

Namjoon nodded, facing them nervously.

"Look, I don't know what's going on between you two," Jeonghan looked away awkwardly as Seungkwan spoke, and Namjoon wondered just how true that statement was for him.

"But, you have to know, YeongMi, she's really not as strong as she pretends to be," Seungkwan shook his head, "I know she's got the whole careless act perfected, but she probably cares more than anyone."

Namjoon nodded, trying to really register what he was saying.

"Her parents aren't the most invested," Seungkwan looked away awkwardly, "so she doesn't really expect anything from anyone."

Namjoon had considered that as a very real possibility, but he still felt bad at the thought.

"So just, do your best to watch out for her, would you? She can take care of herself, and she does, but everyone needs a friend sometimes." 

This was not what he was expecting when YeongMi's old friends had approached him. Maybe they didn't know about the fight, and his very large part in it....

All he could think of was that night; it looked like she had almost cried.

He'd never seen her cry before.

"Don't worry too much, Jin's totally got the caretaking part down. Sometimes I swear he even seems to think he's everyone's mom and dad, all in one."

"I'm not asking Jin, I'm asking you."

YeongMi would hardly look at Namjoon; there was no way she would let him help her.

Namjoon wasn't sure what he should say; should he explain the fight or keep his mouth shut?

"But, if you're the reason that she's so messed up right now, you better knock it off. She seems to like you guys a lot, and this is the first time I've ever heard of her even hanging out with anyone. It's real progress. If you mess that up, she may never do this again."

"If I hear that you hurt her, in any way, I won't be happy."

Namjoon nodded, staring blankly at them, still unable to speak.

Despite being taller than the both of them, he felt very, very small in that moment.

Seungkwan coughed awkwardly before nodding to himself, and then they were walking away, leaving Namjoon alone, processing what they had said.

Namjoon's closest consolation was that there was no way YeongMi would say anything to anyone, but it didn't really make him feel any better.

It meant that she could suffer in silence and nobody would even know.

~

YeongMi woke up alone, with no Hyjoon there to poke her until she was awake, frustrated, and a second away from blowing up.

Checking her phone, she saw that she had been able to sleep in, miraculously, with none of the rowdy boys waking her up.

What the Hell was going on?

She walked down the stairs, noticing everyone out on the beach.

That explains it then.

She sighed, for once not feeling like going out.

Instead, she moved to the kitchen, getting food and sitting silently.

Seungkwan and Jeonghan would be gone by now.

She checked her phone, not expecting anything.

She was pleasantly surprised to find a message from both of them.

- Hey loser, I bet you miss me already so I took it upon myself to send you a picture so you can pretend I'm there

She shook her head, chuckling, but saved the picture of her brother before moving on to Jeonghan's message.

- Whatever's going on shouldn't matter, because you're better than anyone around you, hands down. After all, you get to have a picture with me, and you didn't even have to edit your face in.

She rolled her eyes, but smiled at the messages.

Replying quickly, she found herself suddenly bombarded with company.

"YeongMi, are you okay?"

Even though she hated the question, she had to smile seeing Jungkook's concerned face, and she nodded softly, patting Jimin's hands as she felt him hug her back.

Her skin crawled, the hairs on her back rising up; someone was watching her.

She glanced over to see Namjoon walking past them, quickly disappearing into another room.

She shook her head, rolling her shoulders and trying to ignore it, resisting the urge to recall every incident of the last few days.

It didn't matter.

He didn't matter.