"Here..." Alana gingerly hands Yoongi a pair of hair scissors before sitting down on the floor between the coffee table and Yoongi's knees. Alana tried her best not to be overly impressed by how good Yoongi could look in just black sweatpants and a baggy tee. His hair was wild and fluffy as if he'd washed and rushed to blow dry it and his skin held a clean shine that made Alana envious every time she saw him.

She kept her attire simple, the leggings she always wore when she was doing her hair, and an old cheer t-shirt from high school that she cut into a crop top that gave an unhindered view of her waist beads as she sat down.

Yoongi tries to keep his eyes ahead as he spreads his knees just enough to accommodate her and is overly mindful of keeping his crotch as far from the back of her neck as he could.

The two weren't so awkward with being in each other's space but this...

This was a different type of intimacy.

Perhaps he didn't think this through...

"Now...if you cut my hair.." she begins with a warning tone and Yoongi huffs in exasperation and rolls his eyes.

"You'll cut me. Yeah...you said that." he deadpans, making Alana chortle as she scoots back.

"And Ima keep saying it. I'm already nervous about letting you do this..." she grumbles, nestling back against the couch and between Yoongi's legs. He smirks as he watched her get comfy and tries his best to keep all of his little-headed jokes to himself. He taps her shoulder and holds his hand out expectantly for her to hand him the comb for him to set aside.

"Just chill.." he chuckles, tentatively lifting one of her braids to eye level before making that first cut.

Comically taking Yoongi up on his generous offer, Alana agreed to allow him to help her take her braids down. She gives him the easier task of snipping the braid at the very end, threatening him with bodily harm a few times if he cut too high, and equipped him with a rat-tailed comb that he aptly nicknamed his 'toolie'. Once halfway up the long braid, Yoongi would then drape it over Alana's shoulder for her to finish.

A movie plays ahead of them on Yoongi's flat screen and neither of them said much once they started dismantling her hair. Not that it posed that difficult of a task or anything. It was just a comfortable silence that both of them were accustomed to in each other's presence.

It had only been 20 minutes and Alana had already completed unraveling the section of braids she had pre-selected for herself to work on, while Yoongi took his time picking through the tightly braided sections.

"How you doing back there?" She asked and Yoongi grunted in amusement as he laid a half-undone braid aside for Alana to complete.

"As I expected...This is lite work." He chuffs haughtily, making Alana smirk.

"That's because I gave you the easiest job." She mutters. A slight grimace crosses her face when she hit a snag on her real hair nearest to the roots where there was a little bit of build-up. Yoongi watches with interest as she used her fingers to comb through the detangled hair that still held a stretched-out wave from being braided for so long.

It looked soft to the touch and he considered abandoning his task to join her in running his fingers through it.

He knew better than that though.

"So...tell me about this altercation," Alana says suddenly, pulling Yoongi's gaze back to the braid he was working on.

"Which one?" He furrows his brow, now squinting to get the pick into the tightest part of the braid. Alana shrugs her shoulders as she tentatively detangled, separating her hair carefully. 

"The one that troubles you the most I guess..." she responds and Yoongi chuffs humorlessly at the notion.

He was bothered by the argument between himself and Taehyung that ensued on the ride back to campus. The two weren't new to disagreements and being teammates, frustrations on the court often manifested into verbal disputes.

But this was different.

"Fuck dude...I couldn't just let him get his ass beat or risk him injuring himself though. He's a starter..." Yoongi states plainly and Alana pauses to glance over her shoulder briefly.

"And that's what you care about most? The basketball season..." she asks and Yoongi furrows his brow. He knew what she was implying but he didn't care to get that deep. Not right now at least.

"It's why I'm here." He shrugs, picking up another braid and carefully snipping the end of it.

"Mmhmm..." Alana hums in disbelief, turning back to face ahead.

"Look...Taehyung's issues have nothing to do with me until they do. And last night he made his problem my problem...and he said some outta pocket ass shit that I'm just not ready to let slide yet." Yoongi admits and Alana's expression of indifference falters to concern at the way his voice shook slightly at the end of his statement.

Taehyung hurt him and he wasn't trying to admit it. She pauses her busied hands again but Yoongi continues to pick through the braid he was working on, his expression hard and focused.

"So you think this will affect your friendship for good?" She says after some weighted silence and Yoongi exhales sharply through his nose at the question.

"Naw. Just for now. I just need some space from dude for a while.." he says, tilting his head but continuing to work.

Aside from the remarks about his feelings towards Alana, his comments about their difference in upbringings struck a chord that Yoongi never thought existed.

He grew up poor and Taehyung grew up privileged. His parents had a toxic relationship and Taehyung was born of a successful pair most couples aspired to be.

But that never kept them from bonding over similar interests.

Deep down Yoongi knew Taehyung's real issue had something to do with his identity and his self-esteem, and he while he understood alcohol had a lot to do with his flippant behavior...

He also understood that sober truths travel faster through intoxicated lips.

His father taught him that.

This begs the bigger question: Was that really how Taehyung felt about him? That he deemed him inferior because of his background?

For the sake of Yoongi's mood and mental state, he chose not to dwell on it.

"Damn....for someone with such a tiny ass head, you have hella hair." He opts to say and without warning, Alana lifts her arm and playfully elbows Yoongi in his tummy.

"Shut up." She laughs and Yoongi falls back against the couch as if she'd hurt him, groaning pitifully until Alana threatens to do it again. He straightens immediately, stifling his laughter.

"I knew it. I just knew it was coming. You've been burning all day to say that, huh? Asshole..." she mumbles and Yoongi's croaky chuckles taper off as he scoots up an inch to move on to the next braid.

"I was just making an observation and giving a compliment at the same time Peanut. No need to get violent." He coughs out another laugh, flinching playfully when Alana turns to give him a tight-lipped seething look.

"Say something else bout my head...go ahead..." She warns him with a playful hilt in her voice that makes Yoongi bite back any snarky comments he had in his arsenal with a smirk.

After more than half of her hair is freed from its braids, Alana abandons unbraiding for a moment to lean over and reach for her bag that contained her hair supplies.

Yoongi continues picking through a braid with the sharp end of the comb when he glances over just as she pulls out a medium-sized container of what he assumed to be some type of hair product.

He frowns curiously as she untwists the lid and proceeds to dip her four fingers in, taking a sizable amount of white goop and applying it to her mane. She starts at the ends, working the product up the millions of curly strands until it's all fully saturated in the product.

As she did, a pleasant tropical scent wafts through the air and smacks Yoongi in the face.

"Damn...what is that?" He asks, now fully entranced by the attractively sweet-smelling hair product coating the bottom half of Alana's head. She hums in question before picking up the container.

"This?" She asks, lifting it and tipping it just enough for Yoongi to see the swirling whipped white concoction closer and he nods.

"Yes...that shit smells fire. I wanna eat it." He admits and Alana laughs as she shakes her head in disagreement.

"I wouldn't. It's just come conditioner I use to detangle. It makes my hair super slick so I don't have to fight with it." She says casually before placing it back down on the floor beside her.

"Hmm....." is all he says, his frown remaining on his face as he watched Alana continue to finger-comb through her curls.

After a few minutes of silent observation, Yoongi gives into his curiosity and sets his comb aside to begin running his fingers down the now more defined curls that spiraled down Alana's back and over her shoulder. He's barely touching her hair at first, merely following the pattern of one of her coils with the tips of his fingers.

Her natural texture is revived by the conditioner and Yoongi's fingers eventually press forward to strum through her hair smoothly like butter. He's still gentle though and goes undetected as Alana resumes applying more conditioner to the top section of her head.

He pauses to take one of her creamy white-coated curls between his fingers and gently pulls at it, watching it stretch and bounce back in place.

He smiles fondly at it before leaning back a little to boldly resume running his fingers through her hair and it takes Alana a second to realize what he's doing until their fingers brush against each other unexpectedly.

Feeling as if he were caught trespassing, Yoongi pulls his hand away.

"Oop..what you doing.." she says in surprise, not expecting to feel his touch through her hair just then.

"Sorry.." he mutters bashfully, wiping the excess conditioner from his hands against the front of his sweats before picking up where he'd left off with the last few braids. Alana has to bite down on her lip to combat her blush as it filled her cheeks.

She shakes her head.

"It's cool...I didn't even notice you doing that until now. You're not heavy-handed at all..." she says and Yoongi shrugs at the comment, trying not to think much of it.

"Whatever that means.." he mutters and Alana chuckles.

"It means.... maybe we should switch jobs. Since I'm heavy-handed and faster at unbraiding and you won't snatch my hair out." She suggests and Yoongi hesitates, slowing his movements as cut another braid.

"I don't know about all that..." he shakes his head, resisting the deepening blush rushing through his body. Not that he wouldn't enjoy detangling her hair more than stabbing himself with this damned shank of a comb Alana gave him.

Truth was, while his gentle toying with her damp tresses started innocent and born purely of curiosity and admiration...

His impure self couldn't wait to appear on his shoulder.

😈:
You know why I'm here.

😇:
Aw hell...

Before they can begin, Yoongi dispels their banter with his thoughts that drowned them out completely.

Feeling the softness of her hair between his fingers made his mind go places he didn't need it to go while she was sitting between his legs. But he could resist it.

The sweet scent it carried ignited a need to lay in it once it was dry, inhaling the shea and coconut essence while his hands caressed her smooth caramel skin.

He imagined running his fingers through her hair from that exact angle, pushing it up and forward at the nape as he bent her over.

He imagined his hand gathering it up in his fist and using it to hold her in place while he...

"Yoongi..."

Alana's voice halted him and he raises his brows in question as she turned to face him. His pause in response must have been a slight cause for concern and she smiles at his adorably puzzled expression.

"Hmm? What you say?" He asks with his hands idling on a braid that Alana snatches from between his fingers.

"You got quiet. I asked if you wanted to swap roles so we can finish this a little faster."

Her wording could have been better but Yoongi blinks thoughtfully before gazing at the amount of untouched hair Alana had still sectioned off that was ready to be detangled.

"Um..." he begins and Alana rolls her eyes.

"Don't overthink it. It's easy. Plus, we're almost done. Here..." Alana turns suddenly to take the scissors from him, replacing them with the wider-toothed comb she fished from her bag.

Yoongi frowns at the hot pink comb in his palm.

"In case you don't wanna use your fingers. Just start at the ends and work your way up until there's no resistance."  Alana quickly instructs before picking up on the braid Yoongi was working on, her deft hands unraveling the strands twice as fast.

Using the comb was a great idea because Yoongi wouldn't have been able to keep his thoughts at bay if he used his hands. He wasn't a perv, nor did he lack self-control.

But he was still a guy.

A guy that was severely into the girl leaning into his lap.

He survived the last 20 minutes of helping her remove every last braid and marveled at the amount of thick healthy hair she had that was not covered in condition from the ends up to an inch from the root.

She asks him if he had an extra towel for her to use so she could wash her hair in his kitchen sink and he obliges with one of the freshly washed ones in his closet.

As the water ran loudly in the distance and Yoongi was sure Alana's head was deep into the sink, he leans back into the cushions of his couch, streaking his hands over his face tiredly.

😈:
You gotta get a grip home skillet.

😈:
On your feelings

😈:
And yo dick.

😈:
I bet them balls bluer
than Albertson's Stadium.

😇:
What is with you and dicks?

😈:
You ever seen SuperBad?

😇:
Huh?

😈:
Don't worry bout it.
YOONGAAAAY...
What you gon do mane?
Cuz the audience is
getting tired of yo shit

😇:
The audience is understanding
your hesitance. She's your friend.
You're afraid to cross that line.
Plus, who wants to be a rebound guy?

😈:
So what about last night?
He was ready to cross that mf with no blinker and you weren't saying shit to stop him

😇:
I don't recall.

😈:
Aight. All jokes aside man.
You like this girl.
She likes you.
There's an obvious attraction
and connection here that
neither of yall is brave
enough to acknowledge.
How will you know what
will happen if you're
too scared to make that first move?

😇:
For once, I kinda agree with the idiot.
You two need to have a conversation.
A sober conversation.

Yoongi's brow crinkles at the thought, glancing towards the kitchen where Alana was still at work rinsing her hair.

He asked her over for a reason and it wasn't to play in her hair, despite how appealing that sounds. He wanted to see her and check in with her. He wanted to make sure that even though the two of them nearly kissed the night before, she didn't think the reason for it not happening had anything to do with her.

He had to address the elephant in the room for the sake of their relationship.

And his dick, apparently.

"Jael, you poop?! You need my help?" Jordan exclaims across her apartment. She cranes her neck to see from where she was seated in the living room couch busy folding clean laundry.

Her question is projected towards the open bathroom doorway and Jaél's tiny voice responds with equal volume to assure his mother that he has it handled.

But Jordan wasn't convinced.

"Hold on girl..." she says abruptly, referring to the person stifling their laughter on the screen of her propped-up phone that sits against some books on her glass table.

Demi barely has a chance to respond before Jordan is rising from her couch and stepping over the full laundry basket.

"I know you pooped! I smell it already.." His voice trails off the further she ventured from the phone.

Demi remains patiently at her desk, gazing at the screen of her iPad as she chewed on her bottom lip and turned mindlessly in her chair. She was gratefully less miserable than she was this morning. After a long shower and throwing up only once, Demi felt renewed and much more balanced.

Physically, at least.

As she awaited Jordan's return, her mind travels to the short spurts of her previous night. The weight of Seokjin's body looming over her, dipping his head to kiss along her jawline, burying his face in her neck.

Her hazed vision only catches glimpses of his features, blurry and dim from inebriation.

Softly hooded chocolate brown eyes.

Pillow soft kiss-burned lips, shining from their tongues.

His husky deep groans as he thrusted into her slowly.

"Damn..." she says to herself, sighing at the faded memory as she glanced at her phone sitting at the corner of her desk.

There was a text that remained unopened by her since she'd returned to her dorm from a number she didn't recognize.

But from the context of the message and the way her heart fluttered at the sight of the notification, she knew exactly who it was from.

She stares at the black screen, furrowing her brow as she considered picking it up until a sudden commotion between an adult and their toddler has her attention back on the iPad.

"You did poop."

"only a wittle bit..."

"That's not a little.
Oof, and it stinks. My god...
Stand up."

"But mommy...."

"Need me to wipe your butt?"

"No."

"Let me see."

"No!"

"Boy let me see! So you don't have skid marks in your drawls."

"Skit marks?"

"SKID marks! Poopy stains.."

"Poopy stains?"

"Turn around boy.."

Demi laughs aloud at the comical little argument that she'd never get tired of bearing witness to on many of their calls.

She was aware of Jordan's ongoing uphill battle with potty training her two-year-old. Some incoherent chatter is muffled out by the sound of a toilet flushing. Soon after, Demi hears the light pitter-patter of Jael's barefoot steps zooming about in the background and Jordan exhales heavily as she resumed her place in front of the phone.

"Any poopy stains?" Demi asks, her expression half-smooshed against her palm and Jordan rolls her eyes with an exasperated chuckle.

"This potty training shi...I mean stuff is ghetto..." she shakes her head and Demi laughs at the stress on Jordan's face.

" I can only imagine. He seems to be doing well though. He's letting you know beforehand and is wearing underwear majority of the day." She remarks and Jordan sighs heavily once more before picking up an article of clothing from the laundry basket.

"Yeah, he is. It's this booty-wiping part that's gonna put me under. Anyway... what were you saying?" she changes the subject. Demi pouts thoughtfully at her question and glances back at her phone.

"Oh, nothing. Just over here contemplating something..." she says and Jordan looks up through her brow with a mischievous smirk.

"Does that something involve letting Seokjin nail you to the cross again?" Jordan snarks swiftly and Demi's eyes widen at her screen.

"JORDAN!" she exclaims, making her overly amused friend snicker evilly as she set the folded garment aside.

"What? I'm speaking in code." she feigns innocence and Demi wishes she could thump Jordan through the screen.

"It doesn't matter! Why you gotta say it like that?" Demi whines comically.

"Because that's what happened." Jordan shrugs nonchalantly and Demi covers her face to conceal her embarrassment as Jordan continues to laugh.

"Yes but that expression is just...ugh..." Demi groans, dragging her hands over her face. The obvious blush under her brown skin has her cheeks aching and even Jordan could sense it through the phone as she fought to subdue her laughter at Demi's expense.

"You'll be alright. At least I hope that's what happened. It's a shame you can't remember it well enough to give me the dirty details." She says and Demi props her elbow back on her desk and rests her face in her palm lazily. She then pinches the bridge of her nose soothingly as her lingering headache pulsed between her tear ducts.

"It's coming back to me in bits and pieces. Haunting me. But from the way I'm still sore now I can only assume..." she trails off and pauses mid-fold to regard Demi with piqued interest.

"Sore??? You mean to tell me you woke up.........with a sore cootie cat and it's still sore and you're in denial about getting nailed cross??" She pauses to lean in and whisper, glancing off screen to check on what her son was doing. Demi grimaces at the notion and covers her hand over her eyes again. Jordan leans back with a satisfied expression, shaking her head and clicking her tongue.

"Mmhmph! I miss sex. I wanna be sore too. I'm jealous." She pouts.

Jordan considered herself celibate since she hadn't had sex with anyone for over a year. It was her choice since she didn't enjoy the way casual sex made her feel now that she was a mother and her wounded heart desired more than just a physical connection.

But she still missed it.

"Girl shut up!" Demi chuckles at Jordan's pitiful expression as she shakes out one of Jael's T-shirts dramatically before beginning to fold it.

"Just saying. But...I'm glad it happened. You needed that in your life more than anybody, chile.." she says and Demi snorts humorlessly before sitting up to lean back in her chair.

"Needed what? Sex or Seokjin?" She asks with a perked brow, swiveling slightly in her seat. Jordan smirks at her choice of words but doesn't pay Demi a look as she continued folding her son's clothes.

"The fact that both came to mind says it for me," she remarks slyly, shooting Demi a quick look before matching a pair of spider man socks and tucking them together.

Demi frowned at what Jordan was insinuating but eventually relents with a slow roll of the eyes toward the ceiling. Holding on to the dated rivalry between organizations wasn't going to fly anymore and at this point, she was clinging to any reason to resist the inevitable.

"Maybe. Maybe not..." she mutters and Jordan sighs.

"You gotta stop being like that Dems. Realistically. What is the worst thing that could happen if you and he hooked up? Not just for sex either. Genuinely giving it a go. You already know how he feels about you. You already know he's not some fuck boy frat that has a graveyard full of bodies in his backyard. Everyone likes him. He's smart and has something going for him. He's not broke..." Jordan prattles off and Demi exhales tiredly at every pro of giving Seokjin a chance.

"Lord you sound like my mama tryna put me on to someone from her church.." she says and Jordan purses her lips and lifts her brows.

"See? Even your own mama tryna get someone to nail you to the cross..." she says casually and Demi shoots daggers through the screen.

"I'm bout to hang up on you."

"Nuuuhhh..." Jordan drawls out and Demi shakes her head.

"Yep. And block you for like 30 seconds." She adds and Jordan laughs.

"Ok ok, I won't say it no more." She promises, pausing her task briefly to lift her right hand with a smirk. She then diverts her attention across the room to respond to something Jaél asked her, his little baby voice audible in the distance.

As they conversed, Demi's eyes trailed off towards her phone as her smile faded and her shoulders sagged as she considered reaching for it.

Truth was, she wished she remembered last night as vividly as she remembered the times before when they were intimate. She could tell Seokjin had changed since then and she wanted to find out in what ways and commit them to memory.

She wanted to feel him again and know in her heart why she wanted to resist him so adamantly.

"I know you over there thinking hard about texting him back. I can see the smoke rising from your scalp." Jordan interrupts Demi's daydream and is met with a seething look.

"Ima step on your pinky toe next time I see you." She threatens and Jordan's expression drops as if she were offended.

"See? You only threaten bodily harm when I'm right...Jaél SAAHTDOWN!" she snaps suddenly, bringing the humor back to Demi's scowl.

"Maybe you are right but...I don't know..." Demi admits reluctantly and Jordan grunts as she lifted the pile of folded bath towels from the couch to set them onto an empty clothes basket.

"Oof...I think you do. You're just a control freak and scared of letting go. Even if Seokjin isn't the one, there's no harm in just enjoying the moment and letting loose. I know you let loose in Costa Rica but that part of you doesn't only have to exist there. You can have that here too."

And as she does every time Jordan has a point that she can't argue against, Demi bitterly puffs air through her lips and drags her eyes off screen to ponder it.

A control freak? Eh...
Scared?...

Possible.

Demi makes a quick decision on what to do concerning Seokjin but decides to keep it to herself as she abruptly reaches for her phone, only to flip it over on its screen.

"Alright. Enough about me. I wanna hear about your night with Mr.Big Bawdy..." she deflects and Jordan lets out a loud 'HA' before responding.

"Not Mr.Big Bawdy...." she chortles and Demi shrugs as Jordan did before.

"Whaaat? That's what people call him! Ok, maybe that's just what I call him. I didn't know his name till recently. But you gotta admit though, that's a big dude." Demi defends, scooting closer to the desk.

"Demi...Everyones big to you," Jordan says thoughtlessly as she leaned across the couch to reach for something.

"Shut up. Spill it. I want details..." Demi waves a hand dismissively, ignoring Jordan's snide short joke. After resuming her position with the last pile of folded face towels in hand, Jordan bites back her smile.

Demi lifts her brows in surprise.

"Oh wow. That good huh?" She asks and Jordan shakes her head in denial.

"Naw...Well. Last night was...really nice. It was needed. Even after 'you know who' popped up, he was cool and chill about it. Like it didn't phase him. We talked for a while. Even after I got home, he called me to make sure I made it in safely and we were up until like 3 or 4 am just talking. And at the club, he was a complete gentleman and he made me feel...safe."

Demi's expression softens as Jordan spoke of her evening with Namjoon, noting the way Jordan sort of went to another place as she recalled the night. After their years of friendship, Demi didn't think she'd ever heard Jordan describe a first date in this way. Even if she didn't want to admit it was a date at all at first.

"Wow....what did yall talk about for that long?" She asks and Jordan shrugs.

"Girl...everything and nothing all at once. Music. Movies. Art. We sent each other playlists and talked about what certain songs meant to us. He's intellectual. I didn't expect that from a college ball player. Not that they aren't smart but..." she trails off and Demi nods immediately.

"No, I know what you mean. Sometimes they can be a lil dull-headed. Especially the fine ones. Isn't he a starter?" Demi validates, tilting her head with her question. Jordan shrugs.

"I don't know. We didn't talk about basketball much other than he was kinda forced to play since middle school due to his height and was lucky enough to be good at it. He stays off campus now but he told me about his freshman year and how he hated being in the dorms with the other players. He always felt out of place. But anyway. He seems cool."

"Indeed...So when's the next date? Oops, I mean 'outing'?" Demi asks sarcastically, lifting her hand to gesture air quotations and Jordan looks up at her dryly before smirking.

"I don't know. We haven't discussed anything like that yet. But I let him know that I was open to it."

"Whaaaat??? Jordan? Open to a second date?" Demi gasps dramatically, earning a relenting and sheepish nod from Jordan.

"Hell hath frozen over...I know. You know I just don't like wasting my time. The moment I get a hint of a guy just wanting some, I get the ick. But with Joon.."

"Joon? Already on a nickname basis? Mmmhmmmm" Demi hums teasingly and Jordan sighs with a weak smile.

"With NAMJOON...I just don't get that vibe. That's all I can say for now though because I don't want Jaél hearing too much. You know he repeats everything."

Demi leans back in her seat again, folding her arms over her chest and swaying from side to side again.

"Right. He's gonna be at school telling his teacher you got nailed to the cross." She says and Jordan snorts at the thought.

"Hell. Wouldnt be the worst thing he's repeated. But anyway, I don't wanna jinx it and get my hopes up by gushing over one date. He's nice and all, but you know how my luck tends to go...." Jordan shrugs.

Demi frowns at the hesitance in Jordan's words, knowing that her apprehension is granted considering her past experiences with dating as a single mother.

Most men already have this notion, thanks to women-bashing podcasters, that a single woman's value decreased the more children she had. As bogus as that was. So when Jordan had her season of light dating after having Jaél, she realized that most dudes weren't looking beyond how fast they could get in her panties because judging off her circumstances (alone with a baby), she had to be lacking in the inhibition and moral department. Even if they were nice about it.

But countless people have tried to convince Jordan that the fate of her love life didn't have to reside with men only looking for a good time.

She had to believe that she was deserving of more.

"Hmm, and you accuse me of being scared..." Demi opts to say, knowing teasing Jordan would make her feel less guilty for being vulnerable.

And it works.

Jordan glances up at Demi, the tiny dimple in her cheek deepening as she smirked.

"Shut up."