"Look, old man, I'm in a very nasty mood right now and I don't have a single cent on me so stop bothering me and get lost before I lose my patience."

Taehyung warned the beggar as he shot him a death glare but the latter looked unfazed, too drunk to care.

"So...you won't give me money...huh?"

"No." Taehyung deadpanned.

There was a sudden shift in the dirty man's demeanor. His expression turned from faded to a feral one. "I SAID GIVE ME MONEY!" He shouted, startling Taehyung, then he threw the soju bottle at him and Taehyung barely managed to duck before the bottle hit the wall and shattered, pouring some soju remains on Taehyung's back.

"What the heck is wrong with you?!" He snapped his neck to stare at the man, wide-eyed.

"ALL THESE DAMN RICH PUNKS. DAMN YOU." The man cursed out loud and pulled out a knife from somewhere inside the rags that covered his body. Taehyung dropped the cig in his hand, scoffing.

"This day can't possibly get any worse."

"I'LL KILL YOU!" The thin man threatened, stepping closer to Taehyung and pointing the knife at him. Taehyung's gaze shifted from the man to the knife in his shaky hand.

"Get some help." He muttered through gritted teeth. Heaven knows how hard he was trying to hold himself back from beating the old man to a pulp, but then he already looked so miserable that Taehyung almost felt pity for him. He decided to just sprint away from the man to avoid any commotion. As Taehyung stepped back to leave, the crazy man charged at him, unwarned. Taehyung gasped, dodging his first sloppy swing but the man swung the knife at him again, without a pause. Taehyung grabbed his wrist at the last moment before it could stab the side of his stomach.

No way in hell was he gonna let some homeless man stab him.

He twisted the man's arm and the knife fell out of his hand, kissing the ground with a clattering sound.

"That's a fucking murder attempt," Taehyung seethed as he let go of the man. "and I'm letting it slide so piss off now." He added, astonished at the old man's audacity. Taehyung bent down to pick the knife off the ground and shoved it in his belt. The moment that he straightened up, a hard force hit him on the nose and a piercing pain shot through his whole face.

That punch came very unexpectedly. Clearly, the man was just asking for Taehyung's wrath now.

Grunting, Taehyung shot daggers at the drunk man as he held his nose. The man threw himself at Taehyung again, grabbing him by the collar and shouting incoherent words. But Taehyung had had enough. He grabbed the man and whacked him so hard that he fell backward, moaning in pain with his hands on his jaw. Feeling a metallic taste on his lips, Taehyung wiped at his nose and realized that it was bleeding.

"Crazy bastard." He muttered angrily at the man who was struggling to get up as he looked for a tissue paper in his pocket. Luckily, he found a very thin piece of tissue that looked as if it had been kept there for weeks. Taehyung wiped the blood off with the tissue and tossed it away.

He could still feel a slight sensation of pain all around his nose area. Now, he definitely wanted to go home. His mood was even worse than before and he was starving. He just wanted to sleep and turn off his thoughts for a while. Jungkook will get his karma anyway, he told himself, as he made his way towards Eunha's house. Digging out his phone from his pocket, he sent Eunha a text informing her that he was coming home. He imagined her radiant face washed with relief and his lips stretched into a small smile. He put his phone back in his pocket as he dragged his weary body, leaving footprints in the snow, hoping sleep could turn off his anger.

He couldn't afford any more surprises for today.

~~~

"Is it good?"

Jungkook nodded, sipping on the hot chocolate that Eunha had brewed for the two of them. Putting her cup down, Eunha moved to pick up the pile of tissue papers on the table first. It took almost a whole box of tissues to make Jungkook stop bawling.

"Thank you." Jungkook simpered. The gratitude he felt towards Eunha could be practically seen on his face.

"You're welcome." Eunha smiled back. They had warmed up to each other rather quickly after their conversation. Nothing else can tie people together like a shared tragedy between compassionate souls. After discarding the tissues, Eunha sat back down next to Jungkook and it felt like they had been friends throughout lifetimes. She wondered when it had started to feel so comfortable around Jungkook. She grabbed her cup off the table and sipped on it but as soon as the sweet and bitter taste of the hot chocolate was felt on her lips, a thought flashed across her mind.

"Oh." Eunha froze.

"What?" Jungkook gave her a quizzical glance.

"The bookstore," She murmured, staring into nothing with a look of horror on her face.

"The what?"

"The bookstore. I got a job at the bookstore you showed up at earlier," She explained.

"Really? That's awesome—" He beamed but was cut off immediately.

"Awesome except for the fact that I might not have that job on me anymore." Eunha glared at Jungkook and his smile faded into a regretful face. "I can't believe I just ran off and didn't even remember to go back and inform them of the situation at least. Oh God, Ms. Nam even went to get me a welcome hot chocolate. How could I just forget? I'm definitely fired." Eunha groaned, putting her cup down and rubbing her face in frustration. 

"Talk about bad first impressions!"

"Sorry." Jungkook apologized, also putting his cup down. He felt guilty drinking something made by her when he had just lost her her only source of income.

"It's not your fault," Eunha looked away, trying not to look mad.

"It is though," Jungkook insisted, looking at his knees like an ashamed child.

"It's fine I guess. It's okay. I'll find another job." Eunha nodded and it sounded like she was telling it to herself more than Jungkook. But Ms. Nam was so kind and Eunha had been keen to work at a bookstore for the first time ever, and now, that would not happen. It discouraged her a little but she told herself people have it worse and tried to get over it. They both continued drinking their hot chocolates until it was finished.

"Make up for getting me fired on my first day of work though," Said Eunha as she placed her cup down, next to Jungkook's who had finished first.

"What do you mean?"

"Go wash the cups and the rest of the dishes in the sink," Eunha ordered and pointed in the direction of the kitchen. Jungkook gave it a thought and then nodded.

"Okay." Without any complaining, he obediently started picking up the cups.

"You're my housemaid now." Eunha giggled, leaning back on the couch comfortably.

"Excuse me?" Jungkook turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow, almost looking offended.

"You heard me." Eunha smacked her lips. Jungkook stared at her for a moment then sighed, his face turning somber.

"Fine. I deserve to be a housemaid." He stated dully and strode off to the kitchen.

"Hey! Why would you say that?!" Eunha got off the couch and followed after Jungkook, looking displeased.

"What? You said it first." He deadpanned.

"I meant it as a joke. Why did you get all serious? Tsk." Eunha clicked her tongue as she watched Jungkook put on the yellow rubber gloves and turn on the tap, sulkily. She left the kitchen without a word and returned after a moment, all dressed up. She wore a cedar coat with a wool scarf around her neck and gloves. She held a black face mask in her hand with a bag around her right shoulder.

"Are you going somewhere?" Jungkook asked as he looked Eunha up and down.

"Yes. What's your favorite flavor in ice-cream?" Eunha asked back, putting on the mask.

"Uh," Jungkook hesitated before answering. "strawberry,"

"Strawberry?" Eunha repeated, a bit surprised. Same as Taehyung.

"Yeah, why? Are you going to buy it?"

"Well, since somebody returned my money, I can." She said, emphasizing the 'somebody' as she glared at Jungkook. He looked away, embarrassed. The guilt was never going to go away.

"I see," Jungkook turned around and continued washing the dishes. "you don't have to buy it for me though." He added. He didn't think he had the right to ask for anything or make demands. It was her money, she should buy whatever she wanted.

"Don't be boring." Eunha rolled her eyes as she ambled off to the front door and pulled out a black umbrella from the umbrella stand near the door. Jungkook hadn't even noticed that thing there. Waving Jungkook goodbye, Eunha turned to leave but suddenly halted, like she had remembered something important.

"Ah, right," She walked back to the kitchen with the umbrella still in her hand. "give me your number so I can contact you in case of emergency," Eunha told Jungkook as she brought out her phone from her bag and forwarded it towards him.

"Emergency?" Jungkook raised an eyebrow, removing the rubber gloves and taking the phone from her.

"Yes, emergency, in case a certain someone with anger issues shows up with murderous intent," Eunha stated. Jungkook poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue. Ah. Taehyung.

"Right." He typed in his number and returned the phone to Eunha. Pocketing it, she made her way towards the exit again.

"I'll be quick, stay safe!" She called out to Jungkook before slamming the door shut, leaving Jungkook alone in the house.

"You too..." He sighed.

~~~

The snowfall was relentless. Eunha was sure this year's winter was going to set new records. She gripped the umbrella carefully in her hand as she strode to the nearest convenience store. Walking past a fancy-looking restaurant, Eunha tried not to stare and wondered if she'd ever get a chance to eat at such an elegant and expensive place.

Convenience store food was all she could afford.

She sighed and shook it off, deciding to stay grateful for what she had. As she approached the convenience store, she rushed in, relieved to be away from the snow for the moment. There were very few people inside as Eunha had expected. This was not the ideal weather to be outside. Closing her umbrella, Eunha went to the ice cream aisle and started looking for the strawberry-flavored one. After she'd found it, she also grabbed some other random snacks, everything Taehyung and she liked. As she waited for the cashier to total her items, Eunha's thoughts flew back to Jungkook.

She didn't know how long she could keep him in the house. Taehyung was going to come back someday. She also felt bad about helping Jungkook behind Taehyung's back. She knew how pissed he was going to be if he found out that she had brought him back, fed him, and even let him wear his clothes after he had practically stolen their things and run away. But that was in the past. Jungkook wasn't that much of a bad person in Eunha's eyes anymore, especially after she'd found out a little bit about his past, but she knew Taehyung had a very different opinion and image of Jungkook.

"Terrible weather today, isn't it?" Eunha snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the cashier lady speak. "Your total is 8000 won."

"Ah, yes," She nodded vaguely, handing out the cash.

"But it seems like an even worse storm is on the way though," The lady added, looking past the glass doors of the store. Eunha followed her gaze and mentally agreed. The clouds were getting darker and there was a restlessness in the air.

Her phone dinged. 

She brought it out of her pocket as she thanked the cashier and grabbed her plastic bag off the counter. She turned on her phone to check the notification, and to her surprise, it was a text from Taehyung. Clicking it immediately, she gulped as the chatbox opened. The color drained from her face as she read the text. The snow outside was getting faster and heavier. The cashier lady was right, a storm was coming.

태형이: I'm coming home.

I'm coming home.

The message repeated in Eunha's head a couple of times as she felt her heart sink lower and lower. She pressed Jungkook's contact number right away, inhaling a sharp breath as she put the phone to her ear. The ringtone repeated itself twice before shifting to voicemail. Eunha felt her anxiety grow stronger. Why wasn't Jungkook picking up his phone? Shoving the phone back in her pocket, holding a closed umbrella in one hand and the plastic bag in the other, Eunha dashed out of the convenience store and towards her house like there was no tomorrow.

Usually, she would have been pleased after seeing that text from Taehyung, but right now, she felt like she was inside a horror movie and she knew Jungkook was the first one to die.

_____________________

A/N: The Korean word in the chapter is Taehyung's name.