32b was eerily quiet. 

It felt like the night before Christmas, when no one would make a peep for fear of keeping Saint Nick away. Saffy supposed she was kind of like Santa, just with less beard and more coal instead of presents.

She always made sure that the boys had a bottle of Gavi in their fridge for when she visited. It was her favourite, although she usually would have drunk it with an evening meal they had prepared for her. Tonight was different. Tonight she was drinking to take the edge off.

The boys were all out on their jobs: Hobi was following up on connections to his Busan trip, and the other two had been instructed to collect debts from dealers in the south of the city. She had hoped forcing Jungkook and Tae to work together would soften their animosity from earlier. They adored each other, which is why they felt so comfortable getting angry with one another. It never lasted too long.

Saffy traced the stem of her wine glass while Jin poured the nectar from its bottle.

"It was just one night, surely it can't be that bad," she sighed, bringing the thin glass to her lips. The wine was crisp and ripe, and immediately took the edge off a little.

"Two nights, technically," Jin corrected her. "I'm a little worried, Saf."

"You scared that history will repeat itself?"

"Terrified," he admitted, taking a large sip of the wine, feeling it wash through his system. He wished for the burn of vodka or a fresh cut, but this would do for now.

He wished that he was exaggerating, that Taehyungs over-dramatic reactions had just rubbed off on him, but they hadn't. He was genuinely fearful for what this could mean for the boys of 32b.

It's not that Jin didn't trust Jungkook's judgement. He did, unreservedly.

It was just that he, too, had once been in the young boy's position.

He had dealt with the heartache, and the grief of a star crossed love and knew that things wouldn't get any easier for Jungkook. It was reaching close to a decade since Jin had last seen the man who made time stand still, and yet every time his thoughts drifted back to the man, clocks stopped ticking. Or at least the one in Jin's head did.

Those few seconds of skipped time were filled with memories as clear as if they were yesterday. His hand would instinctively raise up to his throat and stroke the small scar left by a thumbnail that had strangled him close to death. He could still remember the man begging for Jin to fight back, tear-soaked cheeks red from exasperation, eyes brimming with desperation. They had been the same eyes that had devoured Jin's body and rested shut peacefully as they slept next to each other for one final night.

They were kids, not much younger than Jungkook was now, but Jin had never been able to let go. He had accepted the fact that he was dying alone, but it still didn't stop him from waiting by the door every Halloween.

A single bar of sea salted chocolate would be posted through his door. It was always the same one, always bought from the stall down by the parade. The same one they had shared on the night they first met. No tricks, just a treat.

A gentle reminder that somewhere, out there, he was stilled loved.

"So he's got a little crush, what's the harm?" Saffy tried to deflect. "I get crushes all the time, it doesn't have to mean anything."

"Jungkook doesn't get crushes," Jin was adamant. He'd known the kid for years, watched him grow into the young man he was. "He's a slut for anyone that will say yes, but doesn't get crushes."

Jin had lost count of the number of girls he had heard giggling in the early hours of the morning after Jungkook had returned from whichever seedy joint he had got pissed at that evening. They were never still here by the time Jin woke up, for Jungkook never let them stay. Not like he had done with Hana.

"So why is she any different?" Saffy pressed, genuinely confused.

"Something just doesn't feel right," Jin said before finishing the wine in his glass and instantly pouring himself another one. Saffy held her glass towards him, and he topped hers up too.

"You're paranoid," she said in simple terms. "You got fucked up by a Dal Pa boy, so you're projecting and expecting the same thing to happen to him."

"But I was never sloppy," Jin sighed, thinking back to his late-night escapades and secret rendezvous. He had spent six lovesick months keeping things hidden. He never faulted once, and the people around him didn't know shit - well, no one except for Saffy. 

She was different though, she was his best friend. He genuinely thought that he would have gone mad if she hadn't been there for him throughout it all; she was surprised that she didn't go mad from all the lovesick nonsense she had to listen to. 

"The fact that we already know shows that he's off his game."

"No," Saffy laughed. Jin could be so dense. "We already know because you've been keeping tabs on your Romeo all these years. If she wasn't one of his, then you'd have had no clue. She could have been from any other faction, any other Pa, and you would have been none-the-wiser. It's a coincidence. That's all."

"The world isn't that simple, Saf. Nothing is a coincidence," Jin frowned.

Yet coincidence is precisely what Jungkook would have called the chain of events following his and Tae's job for the night.

Their disagreement earlier had been swept under the rug, just as all of their other arguments had been. They never let them simmer for too long - it was never worth it. They made too much of an accomplished team to ever be separated.

They had wrapped up their jobs earlier than usual, everything going slightly smoother than expected and they had a little spring in their steps. Things felt remarkably fresh, considering how murky Jungkook had felt earlier.

They were chatting nonsense, heading home, when they passed the coffee shop Jungkook had been to with Hana. It was instinct, more than anything, that made him glance over the street to it, large windows full of light but only a handful of people inside it.

"I'm gonna grab a coffee," Jungkook interjected suddenly, ending whatever conversation they had been having. All of that seemed irrelevant now, his mind on a single-track focus.

"Sure, I'm fucking knackered though, so I'll meet you at home," Tae told him, knowing they were only a few blocks from home. Their directions forked, and Jungkook walked on auto-pilot until he reached the swing door and pushed it open, letting the warm air hit him instantly. There was the familiar scent of roasting coffee beans, but it seemed sweeter than expected, cosier. He stood at the counter and placed his order with the same waitress who had seen him there the previous night.

"Shall I bring it over to your table?" She asked kindly, glancing to the booth in the back corner. His eyes followed her gaze, and all he could mumble was "please" as he began to make his way over to it.

"You got no good coffee places in your neck of the woods, doll?" He smirked, leaning against the wall, towering over the small girl who had been typing away on a laptop at 'his' table.

"I was running errands if you must know," Hana rolled her eyes. It wasn't a lie. Sure, those errands were on the other side of town, but the details were insignificant. He didn't need to know that. Something had drawn her back to this place, and her curious mind wouldn't rest until she had fulfilled its needs.

She hadn't intended on bumping into him.

Coincidence, she told herself. That's all this was.

A little bit of serendipity.

a/n: I'm editing and GOD DAMN. If there are two things im bound to say in a ff it's "humans forget pain" and how something is a "little bit of serendipity".  originality is dead x