As expected, the giddy feelings had not worn off quite yet. Eunji could hardly contain her excitement as she drove, for the umpteenth time, to her favorite coffee shop to ingest more caffeine. 

Today, said caffeine-ingesting would be done with two other people by the names of Namjoon and Kyungmin. Namjoon had told her in advance that his immediate family was visiting Seoul again, and he'd requested to see Eunji again.

Namjoon and his sister were seated at a table, and Eunji could see them talking quietly. She looked away, but she'd already caught Namjoon's eye. Through her peripheral vision, she saw his face light up. Eunji tried not to make eye contact as she ordered and got her coffee.

He waved at her, and she smiled, rushing to claim the seat next to him. "Hi, Kyungmin-ssi," she said, sticking her metal straw through the plastic lid.

"Hi," said the other girl. She looked worse for wear, as if she was fresh out of finals week and was ready for a break. Eunji wondered why. "Thanks for coming."

"Oh, it was nothing," said Eunji. "I..." Wanted to see Namjoon. But Namjoon couldn't know that.

"You what?"

"Nothing."

Kyungmin didn't reply. She looked at her brother for a few seconds, as if doing an examination. He met her eyes, and Eunji could've sworn they were doing some sort of sibling telepathy. Based on their expressions, Eunji deduced that they were silently communicating. Communicating what, she didn't know, but Eunji got a sense that it was about her.

"There's something between you two," said Kyungmin.

In response, Namjoon shifted his chair away from Eunji.

"What?" Eunji asked innocently.

"It's like something happened while I was in Ilsan," said Kyungmin. The examination resumed, and Eunji sipped her coffee, getting more and more uncomfortable by the second. Eunji was a specimen under Kyungmin's microscope, and Kyungmin was taking notes on her, preparing to share her findings with the world. "Are you guys in a relationship?"

Through the side of her right eye, Eunji saw Namjoon's cheeks turn pink.

"I don't know," she said finally. "I don't know what we are."

A smile of amusement formed on Kyungmin's face. "What's happened?"

"She gave me a plushie," said Namjoon, embarrassed. His hand went to the back of his neck. Eunji sat stoically, her coffee forgotten.

"And?"

Eunji wrenched her mouth open and said, "We kissed." It came out as a squeak, far less assured than she'd desired. Why, oh why did her confidence always seem to leave her when she needed it the most?

Kyungmin smiled again. "We've always wanted Namjoon-ah to come out of his shell, and it's amazing that you're the one to help him do that. Also, congratulations on your relationship."

"Thank you. And That's what Yoongi-ssi and Hoseok-ssi said," said Eunji.

Namjoon awoke from his daydream. "You talked to Yoongi and Hoseok?"

"Remember that day you forgot your phone at home?" said Eunji. He nodded in response.

"Have you done anything together since the...kiss?" Both of them shook their heads, and Kyungmin said, "You're so awkward around each other. If you're going to make it work, you need to be a little more comfortable with each other." Noticing their expressions, she continued, "I don't mean PDA. I just meant, like, you guys shouldn't act like strangers around each other. You're in a relationship, for God's sake. Act like it."

"Who said we were in a relationship?" Namjoon mumbled, but he moved his chair back to its original spot. When he didn't make another move, Eunji took his hand.

"He's very non-confrontational," said Kyungmin.

"But he initiated the kiss," Eunji said.

"Well, I guess he was on something that day, then. Normally, Joon-ah doesn't like to face things head-on, so if he initiated the kiss, he must really like you."

Namjoon mumbled something under his breath.

"What's that?" said Eunji.

"You guys talk about me as if I'm not even in the room."

"Well, Namjoon-ah, is it true that you're not very confrontational?" Eunji asked.

"Namjoon-ah," said Kyungmin, more to herself than to the others. "Oh, yeah, you can call him Namjoon-ah now."

Disregarding Kyungmin, Eunji said, "I guess he—you're more comfortable when you're not around people."

"Are you not a person?' he shot back good-naturedly, knocking her elbow with his own.

"You know full well what I meant."

"Anyway," said Kyungmin, "Don't be afraid to act like a couple." Upon hearing this, Eunji scooted her chair closer to Namjoon's and kissed him briefly. "You guys are so cute!" said Kyungmin, dragging out the last word. She smiled fondly at them, and her gaze slowly flitted to her brother. "Joon-ah," Kyungmin continued, "How have you been doing?"

He raised his eyebrows slightly, amused. "I'm fine. Why?"

"I'm just worried, Joon-ah. I don't see you every day like I used to. I just don't want anything unfortunate to happen."

"I'm okay, Kyungmin-ah. I'm doing fine, I promise. And since when did you become my eomma?"

"Who said I acted like Eomma? I don't order you around." Kyungmin shook her finger at him. "'Namjoon, go do your homework. Namjoon, hurry up. Namjoon, did you eat?' I don't do that. What are you playing at?"

"I'm just saying, you used to hate me and now you're standing over me like a mother." The siblings erupted into loud conversation, bickering about some useless thing, as siblings do.

Eunji let them squabble, picking up her coffee cup and consuming the contents. She might have been left out of the conversation, but Namjoon's hand on hers told—no, showed that she was loved, that she still belonged. People always said romantic love or serendipity was the best emotion, but Eunji thought it was the sense of belonging. She now knew it wasn't true, but Eunji had had a period of doubt, of self-hate, where she'd felt like the black sheep—sticking out like a sore thumb. Feeling like she was apart from her friend group, as if she was being shunned—that was, in Eunji's opinion, worse than even depression.

Even with only a month's exposure to Namjoon and Kyungmin, Eunji got the sense that these were her people, the ones she'd been meant to find all along. It was almost strange how she'd immediately felt comfortable with them, whereas it'd taken her months to not feel uneasy with her friend group.

"Eunji-ssi!" said Kyungmin, snapping her fingers. "Did you hear anything I said?"

"No..."

"I said that based on what I know, I think you're a pretty cool person."

"Oh!" said Eunji, ashamed. "Thank you."

Kyungmin nodded. "Yeah. You kind of looked like you were zoning out for a second."

"Don't worry," said Namjoon. "I zone out a lot too, during class, during meetings—"

"—and when I speak," Kyungmin cut in. "It's quite rude."

"What can I say?" Namjoon teased, his lips curling into a smug smile. "The things that come out of your mouth are comparable to the things that come out of your ass."

Mouth agape, Kyungmin could only stare at him.

a/n: 15 chapters in and i just realized that i never described joon's hair color?? i always imagined his hair color to be the color he has in bon voyage 3 but since i never described it, i guess y'all can imagine him to look however you like

also!! i have somehow thought of 5 fic ideas?? 3 of which are stray kids related?? i'll work on one of them when the school lets out for the summer or when i finish this book, whichever one comes first :)

on an unrelated note i can't wait to watch endgame lmao