The entire LAX airport watched as two woman wailed on the departure gates. Kim Alison bawled her eyes out with her best friend as the boyfriend watched, unsure what to do.

"Chae... you will leave me alone...you cannot leave me alone...", the woman cried as she hugged the other tightly. On the other hand Chaerin too bawled her eyes out. "I don't want to leave you alone, who will take care of my little Ali if I leave her alone"

"Dont go...", the best friend cried in response. "Dont go....this is the first time in 23 years we will be away"

"Come with me Ali, come with me. I'll take care of you forever. Even if I have kids, you'll be my firstborn. I have to take care you...", Chaerin hugged her tightly.

"You know I cannot. Someone has to handle Woolworks until you come back", the former replied, talking about the clothing brand the duo started to promote the stuff Alison knit. Chaerin on the other hand took care of the business operations and finance.

"Okay then, I'll come every month to visit you", Chaerin assured.

"Babe we are literally going to be on the other side of the country. You cannot take a 7 hour flight every month"

Jungkook shut up when Chaerin glared at him for interrupting. "He is right", Alison replied blowing her nose on a tissue. "I'll drop by whenever I can. You are in the most competitive course in the world and I am unemployed. So between the both of us, I can definitely hop in on more flights"

"Every month?", Chaerin raised her pinky finger. "Every month", Alison wrapped her's around. The former nodded with a smile, tears still rolling down her eyes.

"Listen to me. Cut down on your shopping and save money for the business. Avoid eating sour food at night, it gives you rashes. Don't go drinking with that fake ass friends of yours who will leave you alone drunk just so they can makeout with random men. Always cover your glass so no one roofies your drink. Take a coat because you never know when it will get cold. And always keep some me—"

"Medicine for headaches and hangovers so that I can take one when I feel sick", Alison completed. "I know mommy, I know it all", she chuckled.

Jungkook smiled seeing this interaction. He had in his life never seen two people who completed each other like this. It was as if these girls were both carved from the same stone, the ying to the other's yang. "Its time Chae", he said to his girlfriend as the announcement was made for the flight to boston.

"Take care of yourself Ali, I will miss you a lot", they hugged tightly for one last time.

"I'll miss you too Chae, I love you so much. And you have to keep your status as the topper. Our honour resides in your hands. When I come to your graduation ceremony I better not see this trick ass bitch Jungkook being crowned as student of the year", with that she playfully glared at the man.

Jungkook chuckled as he pulled her cheek. "I cant wait to see your sore face as Chaerin comes second and I grab the highest honor"

"That's never happening", the woman whose name was mentioned scoffed from the side. "Because I have already began my side of the game. I actually have a dinner meet up with one of the professors two days from now. I reached out to her LinkedIn to talk about one of her research papers and she was so impressed, she invited me to a popular ramen place near Harvard's campus for dinner. So I am going to talk her into giving me the schedule ahead of time so I can begin studying right away"

Jungkook gasped and Alison smirked as she put a hand around Chaerin's shoulders. "All is fair in love, war and a quest for a 4.0 gpa"

"If you want to play dirty", Jungkook scoffed. "We shall do it that way"

Chaerin blew him a kiss and Alison laughed. "So Jungkook", she moved ahead to hug him. "Take care of Chaerin for me", with that she pulled his face down and whispered only for him to hear the next words "you better not get her pregnant or something. I will physically end you, no cap"

Jungkook raised an eyebrow. "I am not looking for a mini Kook or Chae around either" 

"Good", Alison put on a fake smile as she parted. "Go now guys, don't make me cry more"

Chaerin picked up her purse and Jungkook their bags. "Love you", she mouthed one last time to Alison who nodded before raising her hand to wave. As the duo disappeared from her vision, soft tears rolled down her eyes again. An unsettling loneliness took over as she quietly walked back to her car.

"ALISON!", she stopped as she heard the name only to see a running Chaerin coming towards her. The woman jumped at her before grabbing her tightly into a hug. "I'll miss you so much. And this is for until I see you again", with that she grabbed her cheek and kissed it.

"I'll miss you too", Alison had a full on breakdown once again as both the girls cried.

In tha background Jungkook shook his head. "We are never making it to Boston at this rate"

———•••———

An unknown girl opened the door as Jimin knocked on the door of a top floor penthouse overlooking the Han river in Seoul. His eyes narrowed as he observed the girl. "Yes?"

"Where's Taehyung?", he asked and the woman leaned on the door. "He's inside. And you are?", she asked irritated.

"I am his friend Jimin", with that he tried entering the house. The woman moved swiftly blocking his way as she looked at him challengingly.

Jimin scoffed as he put a finger on the woman's head and pushed her inside to make room for himself. "You are a mere hookup but I am the soulmate of the man you just fucked. So now pack up that cheap ass jeans lying on the floor there and get going"

The woman was taken aback before she loudly scoffed. "And who do you think you are to tell me to leave? Do you own this house ? No right?"

Jimin smirked. "Sweetie, actually I do. The building is my father's. And I sold the penthouse to Taehyung. So will you now leave or will you wait for security to drag you out of here?"

The woman was angry and wanted to retort until Taehyung walked in. "What is happening? Jimin, why are you here at this time?"

"Maybe if you picked up my phone, I wouldn't have to spoil my mood by interacting with irrelevant people", he side eyed her. "But I want to talk to you. So please ask your guest to leave"

"Hana, you can go", Taehyung turned to the woman.

"Taehyung, are you just going to ask me to leave like this? It's disrespectful"

Taehyung scoffed. "You are not my girlfriend first of all we just met at the club a week ago. Second, you know what's disrespectful? You trying to hook up with my friend when we were at the club two days ago. You know what else was disrespectful? Not carrying your wallet and expecting me to pay everywhere. And wait, what else? Thinking that just because I am rich you are going to get me to pay for 3 Chanel handbags"

"How did you.. did you—"

"Yes I heard you talking on the phone", he coldly replied. "I drink wine like its water. If you thought I was passed out after two glasses, well dumb is the word for you"

The woman didn't say anything. She just quickly grabbed her things as she rushed out of the house, too embarrassed to say anything. Jimin sighed as he watched her leave.

"Seriously Taehyung, her jeans were not the only thing on the floor. Your standards are too apparently"

"Its just for sex. Personality doesn't really matter", Taehyung retorted. "And can you tell me what was so urgent you had to rush here at 9:00 pm?"

"Your mother called me. You have been ignoring her calls and acting as if you fucking don't know them. They have—", Jimin resisted saying the next thing but continued anyways since that's what he was mainly here for. "They have set up a brunch meetup tomorrow at your house. Some important guests have been invited and you need to be there"

"What is the brunch for?", Taehyung asked.

"I don't know", Jimin lied.

"Jimin, what is the brunch for?", Taehyung eyed him.

"I literally said I don't know, what else do you need?"

"JIMIN—"

"Fine! Your parents invited Mr and Miss Kwon of the New Korea Steel group along with their daughter Arin to introduce you to them for a potential marriage match in the future", the man replied knowing he could never hide his lies from Taehyung.

Taehyung sighed clutching his head as he sat down. "Tell them I am not going", he grabbed his wine bottle lying nearby and removed the cork to pour himself a drink.

"What do you mean you are not going?", Jimin snatched the bottle away. "Its not a choice. They want you there. No one's asking you to say yes to the marriage. The least you can do is attend and not destroy their reputation"

"They chose to invite them. They did not consult me or take my consent. I am not required to be there just so they can keep their reputation afloat. They couldn't care less about what I want. All they are concerned with is the fact that all their peers's kids are getting married and throwing upscale weddings and they need a project on hand. They don't have anything to contribute when their business circle talks about who powerful the families their kids are married into and hence all they want is a damn marriage to shut everyone up"

"TAEHYUNG DON'T TALK ABOUT YOUR PARENTS LIKE THIS", Jimin yelled, visibly upset and angry at his best friend for insulting his own family.

"But was I wrong?", Taehyung scoffed. "My parents are not like yours Jimin. So don't get worked up about it. Everything I said is true and deep down you know it to"

"Are you throwing a tantrum?", Jimin shot back. "Because of Chaerin. Its been about a year since she turned you down and you are still hung up on that? Is that why you are being mean to all of us? Me, your parents, rest of our friends, the girls you hook up with every week? We have been trying our assess off to make you feel better. You wanted to move out of the house because you wanted space, your father wrote a $10 million check for this house without any questions. Your mother was heart broken but she still supported your decision because she cared. Jin Hyung does double the time at your business. He does work THAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO because you refuse to show up to the office, too busy wallowing in your grief. Do you know he was hospitalized last week for overworking himself?"

Taehyung looked at him wide eyed, this new information taking him by surprise.

"Exactly", Jimin scoffed. "Yoongi Hyung was hurt you did not show up to any of his concerts and you missed Namjoon Hyung's graduation party for his PhD as well. And what about me?", Jimin's voice cracked. "You don't call me. You don't come see me. You cannot be bothered about what is happening in my life. If I don't call you, I probably am never going to hear from you. Last week I called you because I wanted to talk to someone. I felt so depressed and anxious because of my startup not doing well. I just wanted to talk to someone. 14 calls. And you did not even pick up once. Couldn't be bothered to reply to any texts. How much longer until you see what effect your actions have on others?...", with that Jimin was almost teary eyed.

Taehyung felt like a stone had been stuck in this throat which did not allow him to speak. He tried hard to fight tears as he looked down to the floor. He gulped, wiping his cheek discreetly which was wet as a tear rolled down.

"Jimin-ah", he called out to his best friend taking a step in his direction. "I am sorry. For not paying attention to you and being this selfish. Surviving and making sure that I wasn't breaking down completely was my priority so I did everything I could to distract me from it. And also because I didn't want the effect of my actions to fall on you guys. But you are right. I have been pathetically wallowing in my grief for so long it has borderline become a part of my personality", with that he paused to dryly chuckle.

"I know its been a year now. Chaerin and Jungkook are doing pretty well, they started their business school together. I should probably forget all about it and clean up my act. I have already spent 26 years of my life I cannot afford to any more"

"I am glad you realize", Jimin replied. "Anyways, I just came to relay this message. I did not expect to burst into an emotional mess like this. I understand where you are coming from but I just wanted you to be careful so you don't end up hurting others more than your already have. I'll get going now.."

Jimin walked towards the door but stopped as he heard footsteps behind him. "Why are you following me?"

"I have to go home", Taehyung replied. "I have to prepare a bit if I want to make a good impression on that lady"

Jimin was surprised but nodded. Taehyung smiled as he put an arm around his best friend's shoulders like he always did and the duo walked out of the house.