↳ ❝🍓 [chapter 03] ¡! ❞🚬

EVA HUMMED SOFTLY TO HERSELF, delicately swaying through her little kitchen packed into the back of her home, still partially cluttered with boxes she had yet to unpack. The stove was hot, gas lit flames cooking her dinner for tonight. Lemon pepper chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, as well as some green beans cooked with onions and bacon, all her mother's recipe of course.

It had been a day since she last saw him, her mysterious stranger, though, he wasn't much mysterious any more. And as much as she thought about him, she opted to stay far, far away from him for her own safety. He didn't seem to want her around anyway, talking about how it was too dangerous for her to be near him. Which- he wasn't wrong. Eva would heed his warning because as nonsensical some of her choices may be, she wasn't suicidal.

So now Eva was living her best life, cooking and baking her heart away, coming to quickly forget her scarring experience even if it was just for a moment.

But of course, it couldn't leave her alone, coming right back to her in the form of a short, yet fim knock on her front door. There was a purpose to it. They weren't knocking for just any little thing.

Eva stilled and anxiety filled every vein contained in her body. Who was that? She hadn't given her address to anyone. Was it one of those gang members? She hadn't told anyone anything.

Melting in dread, another knock came to the door, scaring her even further. Should she grab a pan? She didn't have any other weapon in her house? She should have taken her father's advice and invest in a baseball bat.

"Eva, it's Yoongi!" The familiar disgruntled voice called through the door. Eva let out a sigh of relief. Good, she wasn't about to die.

Hopefully. The possibility wasn't zero.

Eva cleared her throat and walked out of the kitchen, still debating on whether she should answer the door at all. What if he did come here to kill her? What then? She got up on her toes and looked through the peephole. Sure enough, there stood the white-haired man, leaning on the guardrail on her elevated porch with a cigarette between his lips and her Tupperware container under his arm.

Eva unlocked the door and tugged it open, capturing Yoongi's attention. His cat like eyes briefly wide as he stood up straight and took his cigarette from his mouth. As he approached, he blew the smoke, letting it pass his rosette lips and dance through the air before vaporizing into the void of nothing. The sun was setting behind him, painting the sky a beautiful mix of clementine and pink lemonade which meld into each other that there is no distinguishing where one fades into the other. His white hair makes a cloud against that sky, soft and fluffy looking like fog, a cloud that had come to greet the world.

"Uhm- Yoongi." Eva smiled nervously glancing around outside to make sure there was no one on the sidewalk. "What are you doing here? More importantly, how'd you get my address?" That's what she was most concerned about. What if someone followed him?

Yoongi shrugged as if were no big deal and he literally didn't just track her down to return a Tupperware container. "I have my ways." He spoke in that low voice of his. "I just came to return this." He held out her container before taking another drag of his cigarette.

"Oh, uh thank you." Eva carefully took to container from him. Her shoet, copper-shaded fingers brushed against Yoongi's long, pale ones. His knuckles were always so inexplicably rosy like he was always sporting a fever.

Yoongi just hummed in response. "Don't mention it." He sighed. The smoke he held in his mouth escaped past his lips as he spoke like a foggy curtain over his face. With his business here being done, Yoongi turned on the heels of his sneakers and began down her stairs to walk off and do... whatever it was that he did at this time of the day.

Eva didn't know if she was supposed to just let him walk away and let him exit her life forever. Three times now, they've met. Sure only the first one was unintentional but it could be a sign from whatever higher power there may be. Maybe she should invite him in for dinner. He was already here and she was pretty much done cooking (and she made too much for her to eat on her own). Maybe he'd appreciate a good meal.

"Uhm Yoongi." Eva piped up before she could stop herself. And all too quickly, he turned around and raised a brow at her. "Yeah?"

"Would you-" She paused a little, pushing her lips to the side childishly while she played with her fingers. "Would you like to have dinner with me? I made lemon pepper chicken."

Yoongi stared at her silently with no real particular emotion on his face. "Dinner?" He questioned with mild interest outweighed by confusion. Eva nodded. "Yeah, come on in. You're all skin and bones." She eagerly motioned him inside to join her for dinner. He was rather slender. It would be beneficial for him to receive a good, large meal.

Yoongi was a bit hesitant. He didn't remember the last time he had an actual warm meal he didn't buy from a fast food place or made in a microwave. So, he climbed back up the staircase, going strickly against what his mind was telling him. 'Don't go near her, don't get close to her, don't grow attached. You will get her killed.'

But body over mind. He was hungry and the closer he came to her door, the more he could smell and the more hunger overtook him.

Yoongi was about to step inside when Eva stilled him. She placed her hand on his chest, stopping him just at the doorframe. He looked down at her with his dark brows furrowed under his snowy hair.

"You're not smoking in my house." She shook her head. "Put it out."

Yoongi rolled his eyes. He had no idea what her vendetta against cigarette were, but a lot of people didn't like the smell of it, so he supposed. He dropped the cigarette and stepped it out before looking to her for the okay. Eva smiled and nodded with approval. "Okay, now you can come inside." She shuffled out of his way we're her hands placed behind her back.

Yoongi walked inside, looking around the slightly cluttered home as he closed the door behind himself. Eva was already off into the kitchen to put together some plates for the two of them.

Her house was warm and cozy, filled with the delicious smell of dinner after spending nearly an hour cooking. Yoongi didn't know what to do. He didn't want to make himself too comfortable. He shouldn't even be here. Hoseok was waiting for him down the street but...he could wait for a few more minutes."

"Make yourself at home. You can take your shoes off beside the door." Eva called from the kitchen. Eva's voice eased is worries and with that being assured, Yoongi kicked off his shoes and slipped off his jacket. He hung it up on the rack where a few of her own jackets dangled. He wore a large, short-sleeved shirt that exposed the dark, intricate ink that tattooed his pale skin.

He walked forward a little more and peeked around the corner to see that what was meant to be her dining room was completely empty. There was a large box with a picture of a dining room table on it. Yoongi put it together that she hadn't yet assembled a few pieces of furniture in her house.

Eva soon came out with two plates. She gave one to Yoongi with a sheepish smile. The plate had three large pieces of chicken on it, a pile of greens, and mashed potatoes with gravy.

It looked just as good as it smelled and Yoongi could feel every thought in his mind be completely drowned out by his stomach. He could never turn away from good food.

Eva shuffled her way past him and sat down on her couch, curling up to the far side. She glanced up at Yoongi with eyes far more innocent than they should be and motioned him over. "Sit down, you don't need to stand." Her eyes trailed down at the tattoos that seemed to cover 90% of the skin of his arms.

Yoongi came over and sat down on the opposite side of the couch. Without much thought, he began eating and God was it heavenly. For a moment, he thought of not eating at all because he knew nothing could possibly compare to a warm, home cooked meal like this.

Eva kept glancing over at him while he ate. He seemed to be enjoying it a lot, barely even swallowing his last bite before stuffing more food into his mouth.

Eva let out an involuntarily giggle, piquing Yoongi's attention. He looked over at her while swallowing his potatoes. "What?"

"You know the food isn't going anywhere right?"

Yoongi scoffed. "Lemme eat my damn food, woman." He spoke defensively, only making Eva smile wider and laugh and little harder. His cheeks became just as rosy as his knuckles, embarrassment crossing across his face unabashedly.

It was cute.

Yoongi quickly finished eating, knowing Hoseok would be on his ass about why he was late. He took the last bite of his chicken and put his fork down on the empty plate.

"Thank you- for dinner." Yoongi cleared his throat and stood up. He looked down at the plate. "Where do you want me to put this?"

"Uh, just in the sink, I got it from there," Eva told him. She wasn't done eating yet so she'd get to washing the dishes once she was. Eva watched as Yoongi walked back to her kitchen and out the plate in the skin, turning on the water to give it a quick wash and make her job that much easier.

He came back and went over to the door to put his shoes and jacket back on. Eva got up so she could send him off and lock the door behind him. Now that she was thinking of it, she didn't have nearly enough locks on her door.

Eva stopped behind him as he pulled open the door to leave into the night. "Thank you for joining me, Yoongi. It's nice to have company." Her plump lips pulled with a polite smile, sweet just like her personality and the atmosphere she created around herself.

Yoongi looked down at her with softer eyes. When he looked at her, all sweet and innocent, he could only think that she didn't belong in this neighborhood. Not that he thought she wasn't good enough, of course not, this place was rundown trash. She was far too good for this place. She deserved to be at some fabulous place like Beverly Hills or the Hamptons.

Yoongi sighed and placed his hand on Eva's braided head endearingly. "Yeah, it is. . .I'll see you around, angel." His deep voice was a bit softer than normal, more gentle in the way he called her "angel".

He gave her one last look before turning away.

Eva watched as he jogged down the cracked concrete stairs, reaching into the pocket of his jacket to pull out a battered pack of cigarettes. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it as he trekked down the uneven sidewalk with purpose.

She was curious, completely intrigued by the mystery that was Yoongi aka Suga aka mystery man. He had a very rough, edgy exterior, but he didn't seem all that bad, nor dangerous.

He seemed...friendly, a rough friendly, but friendly nonetheless.

Eva wanted to know more and she knows she shouldn't, that's the worst part about it.

Meanwhile, Yoongi managed to get to his and Hoseok's usual meeting spot of the far corner of Fairbanks St. where it intersected with Winston Dr. It was their usual corner, where you could often find them when they weren't home or at some corner store buying more booze and cigarettes.

Hoseok was leaning against the brick wall of the corner store, munching on a small bag of peanut M&M's while he impatiently waited for Yoongi to show up.

Once he spotted the heavy smoker still with that cancer stick that seemed to have found a permanent home between his lips, he sat up. "Man, where the fuck have you been?" He nudges Yoongi as they began down the sidewalk together. "Jayvon's gonna put a cap in our asses." Hoseok shook his head, eating the last M&M before crushing the yellow wrapper in his hand.

"I went to return that container thing to the girl." Yoongi huffed, passing his cigarette over to Hoseok as he didn't feel like finishing it off.

Hoseok happily plucked it from his fingers and took a long drag. "For like 40 minutes?" He questioned with suspicion. That suspicious look only lasted for a second as a wide grin pulled at his lips. "Unless you got it in?" He nudged Yoongi again, harder this time, like some immature teenager not yet casual about the act of intercourse.

Yoongi scoffed, a soft one instead of the expected harshness. "No, I didn't and I don't plan to. She just...invited me in for dinner. She is a pretty decent cook."

This Yoongi was a more realistic version of him. Less gruff and unyielding and more relaxed. By no means was it a true reputation of himself, but more like a layer peeled away only when he was in the company of those he trusted.

"Aww, I can't believe you got a crush on her already, Yoon." Hoseok teased taking another drag of the cigarette before coughing. "These things are disgusting as fuck." He cringed, voice turning into a gasping, wheezing sound as he dropped the cigarette and stomped it out

"You should really stop smoking those. They're gonna kill you faster than the streets will."

Yoongi sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. He shook his head, the small curve of a smile making itself known on his lips.

"Yeah, I've been told."

*.✧ Kᴀʏs Eɴᴅɪɴɢ Nᴏᴛᴇs

There's something so nostalgic about going back to rewrite this. I remember I was so excited to write this book and it was probably the greatest decision of my life (as of now). Though it isn't my most read, it's probably my most popular book and I really love the characters.

Thank you all for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed and I wish you all a wonderful day/night.

사랑해

~Kay ♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ )