Yoongi had a late shift on this specific night. It was nearing 9:00 P.M., which was the time the mall closed, and so that meant his workplace, too, was closing soon. At this point there were very few customers left in the bookstore, and a couple in the coffeeshop which was inside the bookstore.

So 9:00 P.M. came around and Yoongi was ready to start wrapping things up to go home. An announcement had been made just moments ago, alerting the remaining customers that the store would be closing, and the majority of them had left. But as Yoongi was straightening the shelves nearest to the registers he heard something.

The soft whimpering of a teenage girl.

Yoongi stopped what he was doing and sighed. What part of 'we're closing' don't people seem to understand?

—a/n:
sincerely, a low-tolerance retail employee

He made a gentle approach, trying to be considerate as he confirmed that yes, this girl with her head buried in her arms on the table was indeed crying, so maybe he shouldn't be rude by straight-up telling her to get a move on. Stopping once he reached the table, Yoongi awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Hello...miss."

The girl didn't respond at first.

"Miss..." Yoongi cleared his throat again. "I'm sorry, but we're closed-"

"Can't I just stay?" The girl sobbed, still not lifting her head. "Please, I just-...I can't leave, I just need to stay for a while..."

"...you wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"Oh, you wouldn't care, you're just some-"

And as she was forcing this grating comment out of her sore throat, the girl finally looked up, and she immediately flinched at the sight of Yoongi standing over her.

"You're...J-Jiminie's boyfriend, aren't you?"

Yoongi raised his eyebrows. He paused, digging into the back of his head to retrieve a name. "...You...jin? Tae's sister."

She nodded and tried to quickly wipe away her tears with the sleeve of her sweater. "Please don't tell him I'm here, though, please."

It struck him as odd, to say the least. Yoongi recalled the last few times Youjin had stolen Taehyung's phone to talk with her brother's friends in their group chat, and she was so lively, and fun, and without a doubt reminded Yoongi of Taehyung. But here she was now, with puffy red eyes and tear-stained cheeks, makeup smeared but she didn't seem to care much about that.

Well, she's human, after all.

Yoongi pulled out a seat and sat down.

"Why don't you want me to tell Taehyung, Youjin?"

The girl sniffled, wiping another tear and she glanced away. "I don't want him to worry," she mumbled. "He'll probably make a big deal out of the whole thing and make me cry even more."

"Well, isn't it a big deal?" Yoongi asked. "If you're crying this hard, it's got to be, right? I'm sure your feelings mean a lot to him."

Youjin sniffled again.

"If there's anyone who could comfort you, wouldn't it be your brother?"

"...I-"

"I'm gonna call him, okay? He'll come pick you up."

Yoongi took out his phone, once again greeted by the familiar sight of a hundred notifications from the group chat. He was about to ignore them but at Youjin's name catching his eye, he decided to quickly read through the conversation he missed.

"He's been looking for you," Yoongi said after a long pause. Youjin sank into her seat guiltily.

*

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*

Taehyung didn't have a car. But fortunately, thanks to the boy's mischievous boyfriend who had "borrowed" Hoseok's, he and Jungkook were able to arrive at Yoongi's workplace in a little under twenty minutes. By this point, Yoongi and his coworkers had finished with cleanup and were all preparing to go home.

Yoongi waited outside with Youjin until Jungkook pulled up.

And there was not a moment of hesitation. Before the car even came to a stop Taehyung practically launched himself out of the passenger's side and ran up to Youjin, capturing her in a bone-crushing hug. After pulling away, the girl's older brother looked at his friend. Gratitude poured from his eyes.

"I owe you one."

"You do not," Yoongi said with a sigh.

"I do," Youjin added. Yoongi and Tae both looked at her. Yoongi sighed. Again.

"No one owes me anything. Goodnight, Youjin, Tae." He started on his way to his own car, passing in front of where Jungkook was still sitting in Hoseok's car, and he waved to him before leaving.

Taehyung's gaze followed his friend.

*

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*

Jungkook drove the siblings back to their house. The drive was silent. However he knew that there would be a solemn exchange of words once they got back.

Taehyung exited the car first and held the door open for Youjin, who shamefully got out, then made her way into the house, followed by her brother and at last Jungkook.

She knew she wouldn't be able to escape this time. Accepting her fate, Youjin took a seat on the living room sofa. Taehyung sat on her left side. Jungkook sat on the right.

"I won't tell Mom and Dad."

Youjin twiddled her thumbs and breathed a soft thanks as Jungkook handed her a tissue.

"That doesn't mean you're free to go," Tae added. He frowned but Youjin was refusing to look at him. "...Youjin, you scared me half to death."

She tensed at her brother's stern tone.

"What's the matter with you? How could you be so careless?? For all I knew you could've been kidna-"

"I fell in love with a girl, okay?!"

It shut him up instantly. His heart dropped, not only at the words Youjin had uttered, but at the expression of absolute heartbreak on her face as she uttered them.

"But..." Taehyung hesitated, pursing his lips as he observed the tears on his sister's cheeks. "...Youjin, I didn't know you w-"

"I didn't, either," she interrupted. A bitter tear spilled over her eyelid. "But I wasn't going to deny it to myself, and I didn't want to deny it to her, either. I thought about it for a while and fought up the courage to tell her. But she..." Youjin's lip quivered. "...she looked at me like I was crazy, Taehyungie. I'm not crazy, I'm not weird, and I didn't choose to fall for her anyway, and now I wish I hadn't..."

A small breath of silence followed her words.

"I'm...not weird, am I, Taehyungie?"

"You're one of my best friends, Youjin."

She gradually lifted her eyes again to look at her brother, who tried to smile at her, even though it was obvious he was a bit sad and probably wanted to cry for Youjin, too.

"You're one of my best friends, and anyone who thinks you're weird or judges you deserves a serrated stainless steel blade shoved between their seventh and eighth rib and twisted."

"That's..." Youjin blinked, then cracked a smile. "...a bit graphic, but I like it."

"He stole it from Jimin's boyfriend," Jungkook joined, also smiling. "Oh, and I don't know if this will really be comforting to you, but..." He drew in a small breath as he rooted through some old memories. "I had my heart broken before, too. And you already know about the boy who broke Tae's heart. But we're here now, and I don't have to ask him to know he's glad he got rejected back then. I know that I am."

Taehyung and Youjin were both staring at him now, and Jungkook had never seen such a striking resemblance between the two siblings than he did at this very moment.

Unfortunately Taehyung ruined the moment by making a kissy face at Jungkook, which earned him a quiet scoff from his boyfriend.

"Youjin, smack him for me."

"Gladly."

"What did I do??"

*

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a/n:
STAN KNK.
STREAM LONEY NIGHT.

AUTHOR OUT.