4:06 a.m.

it's raining again.

the sleeking drizzle that began only a few minutes ago made jeongguk want to get up from the comfort of his bed to walk in the relief of the rain, and that's exactly what he did. he sat up from his bed, stretching his arms and ruffling his own hair to nullify his sleepiness. he stared ahead at his closet for a few seconds, his nose sniffing while he leisurely stood up, gripping onto the bed sheets for support against his awakened drowsiness.

his feet found themselves walking over to his closet, pulling the doorknob open tiredly and looking around to find the white hoodie he always wore. he grabbed the blank clothing promptly, quickly realizing he needed a new one considering the current one he had had a hole in one of the sleeves, displeasing jeongguk's picky point of view.

nonetheless, he walked towards his door, putting on a pair of random sneakers and stepped outside hastily, pulling his hood over his head. almost immediately, he felt the raindrops that came from the clouds drop onto his hoodie, and he sighed, relishing in the familiar feeling and sound of the comforting splash of clear, falling liquids.

there was a clothing shop near his home that was always open 24/7 for some odd and unusual reason, but jeongguk didn't mind. honestly, he was grateful for the fact that it was open all the time, since he could walk in and buy whatever clothes he needed that way, especially at a time like this. his hoodie was falling apart from the calamity of a treacherous hole embedded into it, never to be fixed unless it was somehow sewed back together again. jeongguk wasn't planning on learning to sew anytime soon.

his feet carried themselves languidly down the chalky texture of the soon-to-be drenched sidewalk through light footsteps, his sneakers padding down on the ground, his lethargic movements obviously gone unnoticed by all except for the unwavering rain itself. it was soothing to pace so calmly like this, the rain his only wandering companion, just the way he preferred it to be. he reached his hand out from the buried ends of his warm pockets, sensing how the rain dropped onto his skin like careless meteorites with no idea nor clue of where its destination would lead it to be.

he blankly stared at his soaked hand for a few more seconds before his peripheral vision spotted the faint 'open' sign on the front of a transparent door, clearly seeing how clean the glass was and how spotless it seemed to be. he faintly wondered how much time it took to just wipe the dust particles off of the see-through material.

his hand moved towards the handle on the door, pushing it and introducing him to an abundance of clothes inside the well-lit store. he noticed the tiny bell placed above the door and how it rung throughout his ears as he nudged the door even more. he looked around aimlessly for a few seconds until a man appeared in front of him, smiling joyfully with his hair that was dyed a handsome gray.

"hello! thanks for visiting. my name's jimin, feel free to look around," the said man known as jimin waved at him politely and he watched as he went back to the counter and pulled out a book from underneath.

~~~

4:06 a.m.

it's raining again.

taehyung wasn't really the type to stay up during the days, so he woke up in the night, this moment being no different than the other times he had awoken in the past. his feet were dangling from the bed, and he craved to have the satisfying peacefulness that it offered, but as soon as he heard the pitter-patter of rain on his window, he swung his closet door open and put on comfortable clothes, practically rushing out of his door to get outside. he didn't forget to bring the newspaper with him either.

he swept his newly dyed blond hair to the side, praising jimin on doing that for him. he walked towards the latter's store that was always open 24/7, giving taehyung an odd but fair reason as to why he decided to do that.

"i switch shifts with the rest of the group all the time, taehyung! and besides, people like you might need to get a new hoodie just in case it starts to get old or something like that!" jimin argued, pouting with his bottom lip sticking out.

taehyung hummed, sipping his strawberry-flavored drink carelessly, not really paying attention to what his best friend was saying, but rather diverting it to the rain that was pouring outside. "yeah, sure, whatever makes you happy."

taehyung doesn't really regret saying that since he can stay up talking with one of the five other group members all the time in the late, late hours at night. tonight was jimin's shift, and he never actually had any idea of what their conversation would turn out to be, since they were best friends and they talked about unusual topics all the time. he skipped cheerfully along the sidewalk, welcoming the rainfall on the bare parts of his skin that were left uncovered.

of course, he never forgets to walk by the first alleyway he sees, instantly recognizing the box that had a soaked newspaper covered over it. he lifted the sheet up, revealing a puppy that was sleeping peacefully in the cardboard box. he smiled heartily, bringing the new piece of paper over and draping it over the entire crate, making sure he shrouded everything.

he never had any ideas of naming the puppy, or knowing whether or not it was a male or female, but he still took great care of it whenever he got the time to. he really did want to take it home with him, but his consciousness always told him he needed more responsibility first, whatever that meant. he trusted his mind anyway, repeatedly coming back to the puppy to make sure it was well fed and had plenty of water to drink.

he stood up, walking out of the alleyway and continuing his mini journey to the store. his hair bounced with each step he took, but he still sighed. it was an endless loop for him: go to work, come back home, and then sleep or stay up the entire day and night playing games. there was the occasional rain that would irregularly greet him when it came, and that was the time he spent going to the shop to talk to one of the members, pouring out all of his thoughts there and sharing his opinions to one of them from time to time.

he recalled one of the nights where he talked to namjoon, and two of the older's thoughts consisted of how low his self-esteem and how lonely he looked every time he saw him. taehyung couldn't deny the words namjoon spoke about anyways, since he constantly gave him the right advice and the right answers to his endless worries. he had mentioned how skinny he was becoming, and how his eyes had more purple bags under him the more he met up with him. taehyung could only agree to his answers, trying to understand whatever namjoon was saying. he really did want to concentrate on his guidance, but he always got sidetracked by the rain instead, so he usually always forgot the conversations they had.

he soon caught the view of the shop, as it was only a few minutes of a walk to get there for taehyung. he put pressure onto the door handle once he arrived at the entrance, pushing it open and greeting the familiar sight all around him. however, he spotted an unknown person who was examining the hoodies. he had brown hair, well-built muscles, and looked attractive overall. wondering why a person like him had come at a time like this, he greeted jimin who was by the counter, reading a book about dogs, or something like that.

he noticed how the male picked up a hoodie, pondering on whether or not he should buy it. he noticed how he shrugged his shoulders, picking up two of the exact same hoodies and walking over to the counter to pay for it.

he also noticed how the younger became aware of the fact that he forgot to bring his wallet with him.

"shit," he heard him whisper under his breath, and then it was taehyung himself who began to ponder as well.

maybe this was his chance to not be alone for once.

"wait!" taehyung abruptly spoke up, startling jimin and the male himself. "i'll pay for it."

he saw how jimin widened his eyes at first, but as soon as he realized what taehyung was doing, he softened, nodding his head along with it, as if he knew nothing at all.

taehyung really didn't know why he brought cash with him today, but he gave the exact amount to jimin nevertheless. he took the hoodies from his best friend's hand and waved him a goodbye, guiding the male out of the store.

"here." taehyung tossed him the pair of hoodies, to which the other caught with ease.

"why'd you buy it for me anyways?" the male questioned, tilting his head curiously.

"i didn't get you that for nothing, you know."

"you're not gonna make me do something crazy in return, right?"

"no, just a tiny favor."

the brown-haired male sighed, grinning slightly at the clothing in his hands. "that's good-"

"stay with me for the entire night."

"what?"

"i said," taehyung glanced over to face him, "stay with me for the entire night. you know, just until this rain stops."

~~~

uh

welcome to this new book

lowkey hoping its not gonna flop like dangerous did oops

also merry christmas and even if u dont celebrate it, have a good day / night wherever you are <3