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IT was almost a quarter of an hour after midnight when seulgi reached their apartment - she was still getting used to calling it their apartment - but it couldn't possibly cross her mind now, not when she was so worn out that all she wanted to do was collapse.

silently, she cursed joy for leaving her alone to close up on a monday night, even if she had matters to attend to (what was worse was that they were boyfriend matters) and made a mental note to make her go on dish duty the day after.

her keys clinked as she closed the door behind her, leaning against the door and letting out a long exasperated sigh, which sounded more like relief than exhaustion.

home at last.

she threw her bag on the couch before unraveling her scarf and taking off her coat, hanging them both on the rack by the door. taking off both of her shoes, she brought a hand to the nape of her neck as she made her way to the apartment's kitchen, slowly but surely, in the dark.

her neck ached from all of the table wiping and cash register problems that day - but she was home now, and all that matters now was to get some sleep before she had to do them again the next day. then again, her days have all been filled with neck aches, along with the occasional back pains and sore muscles. she was definitely not cut out for waitressing, if she could say so herself - but if it gets her one step closer to her dream, even if she had one friend from all of the staff in there and had to stay later than she would expect, she will gladly do it. anything to get a hold on something other than waiting on strange people's tables. besides, seoul wasn't particularly a bad city - it was beautiful, especially at night.

she didn't expect anyone, not a living soul to be awake at this time of night, especially jimin, who would usually be tuckered out at this time of night. well, at least she would assume he would already be asleep, since the music from his room would definitely have died down by now. she actually wondered how in the world she was going to tell jimin about how pint-sized her salary arrived that month, and that she would be a little, well, late on the whole rent thing. she knew jimin was that kind to understand - and that just madher feel more bad.

she could hear herself sigh audibly. it was totally quiet.

she took a deep breath, relishing the silence of the apartment. it was kind of nice to hear silence: no bickering customers, noisy crowds or shouting personnel filling her eardrums, even if it was only for a few hours more.

seulgi made out the white exterior of the fridge in the dark of the while place, and easily grasped the handle. she bent down and scanned its contents, looking around, and finally took out the tub of milk, uncapping it and taking a long, satisfying drink, both of her arms supporting its weight, before placing it back, replacing the cap along the way.

for a while, everything was silent. the only thing she could hear was the fridge's quiet humming, and its orange light being the only source of illumination in the whole kitchen.

that was, until, the small backlight by the sink was flicked on, revealing jimin, who was standing at the other end of the small kitchen, in a hoodie and shorts, his arms crossed. "there goes the milk."

seulgi almost staggered back in shock. she didn't think jimin would be awake at this hour, more or less in the kitchen, looming in the dark. "what the he-"

"you know, you shouldn't really drink straight from the tub," he simply stated. "that's gross."

"what the hell, jimin!" seulgi said, raising her voice slightly, clutching her chest, trying to chase her heartbeat. "you scared the living shit out of me!"

he gave a light chuckle. "sorry," he apologized. "i didn't mean to startle you."

"well, you just did," seulgi retorted, closing the fridge.

"it's a little funny, though." jimin smirked again, his lips thinning.

"yeah, i bet it was." she pulled a chair out and sat down. "what the hell are you doing awake at this hour?"

"well, i should be asking you the same thing."

she raised an eyebrow at him. "i just got home from work. i happen to be the last one to leave since i always close up."

"and you close up at midnight?"

"they want me to."

jimin raised an eyebrow back. "you know how dangerous it is to be walking around outside at this time of night, right?"

"pretty sure i do, which is why i take the bus." seulgi scoffed at his sudden concern for her. "you want to make fun of my job, too?"

jimin's face contorted. "what?"

seulgi looked at him, and shook her head upon seeing the confusion take over his face. "nothing, whatever."

jimin folded his arms. "i'm probably in no place to do that, you know."

she raised an eyebrow. "i just assumed you would." she pursed her lips. "why do you suddenly care, anyway? about me closing up at night?"

"why can't i?" jimin asked back.

she narrowed her eyes at him, and decided to drop it. jimin barely talked to her, and she barely talked back, except for when necessary rudeness to each other was in line, so this was definitely something new. "you know, you still haven't answered my question."

"question?"

"why are you still up? it's-" she paused to check her phone, "- almost one in the morning, jimin."

jimin just shrugged. "well, i couldn't sleep, i guess."

"what are you, four?"

"what are you, my mom?" jimin retorted. "why are you asking?"

"why can't i?"

jimin narrowed his eyes at her, smirking at the same time. "touché, kang." seulgi smiled in victory, and jimin smiled back.

and as soon as both their smiles faded and their gazes from each other's faint images from the light by the sink tore away, the silence crept in. it was that same, truck-hitting silence that'd always play third person when they talked - which was why their conversations never last more than a few minutes. which was also why jimin never spoke to her the first few days he was under th same roof as her.

usually, one of them would be the first to leave, and the other would just be left there, gawking at nothing.

seulgi debated whether she should say something or not - just for the sake of saying something. she had barely talked to him for the expanse of their time as roommates so far, and a conversation would definitely be something - especially if it was at one in the morning.

but apparently, that wasn't the case when jimin suddenly spoke up, before she could even come up with something. "hey, seulgi?"

partly surprised, she hummed in response. "hm?" she just sat there, frozen, not knowing what to say.

"have you–" he stopped himself for a while, letting himself scan her dim features in the dark, "–uh, had any luck on the acting gigs?"

seulgi's mouth parted slightly open. she didn't expect him to remember that after a year; she would've never guessed that he still knew a lot about her.

"what?"

"i mean, that was the reason you came to seoul, right?" he said, rubbing the nape of his neck. "you wanted to act. be a star."

"yeah, well, not really a star. just, someone who does well in acting," seulgi said, leaning back. "you still remember?"

"i'm the guy who read your scripts with you, in case you don't remember," he said, half-chuckling. "i was there during over ten failed auditions."

"they weren't failed auditions, punk," seulgi retorted. "i just didn't get called back."

"right." jimin smirked. "still pursuing the dream, right?"

"waitressing isn't exactly getting me a good career. it also isn't the reason i could afford this apartment."

"then what is?"

seulgi shrugged. "your money is, loser." she chuckled. "you own a dance studio, right?"

"yeah, how'd–"

"wendy. she told me the day you moved in." seulgi beamed.

"oh."

"and a dance studio for kids? really?"

"hey, me and my gang happen to love kids," he defended. "sure, they're hard to teach, but getting them to dance is actually a fixer-upper." jimin smiled at his statement.

"are you that passionate?"

"parents give us about a hundred and fifty thousand won per child, so no biggie."

"figures."

she could see a slight smile in his face from her side of the kitchen. "you know, we had a new kid today at the studio. we introduced him to everyone."

seulgi's forehead crinkled, but she decided not to ask why he was telling her about this just. "a new kid?" funny how he's randomly speaking to her about his day when he never really spoke to her for three weeks now - unless they needed to.

"yeah. name's jiheon." he crossed his legs. "he had an amputated leg."

"really?"

"really," jimin silently repeated. "he lost his leg because of a car accident years ago, but he wanted to dance. his dad told us that he really wanted to learn some dancing, and they tried different other classes but no one would take him." he shrugged. "i didn't get it, i thought he was amazing."

"how'd you manage to get him?" she asked.

"hobi got him in for us," he replied. "he was this small, scrawny kid with a metal leg, and he was freaking scared to go up front. he was at the back the whole time."

seulgi smiled a little. "did he dance?"

"did he dance?" jimin shook his head, his smile getting even bigger. "he did so much better than most of the kids we've been teaching for a while now." he chuckled lightly. "and to think that most of the kids were scared of him because of the way he looked, you know?"

"i think i know."

"but when he got up there and danced for hobi, he made mouths open everywhere." jimin bared his teeth in a happy smile. "he was so happy when he danced, he practically hugged hoseok after what he did up front."

seulgi didn't notice that her elbows were already leaning in, looking at him intently. "he sounds like an amazing kid."

"he is one," jimin agreed. "one hell of a dancer, too." he was still shaking his head and smiling to himself. his own story made him happy - and that partly made seulgi happy, too.

and she had no idea why.

her forehead crinkled again, and she decided to ask, "why exactly are you telling me this, jimin-ah?"

jimin thought for a split second, before pouting his lips and shrugging his shoulders. "i don't know, i guess i was just so happy." he smiled again. "plus, ever since we became roommates, i never really talked to you for more than seven minutes without making it awkward," he said, placing his palms on the kitchen counter, "so i decided i'd seize my chance, and, well, start with something nice to tell you." he rubbed the nape of his neck, his lips forming a small line. "i figured jiheon would make you smile than a story about a rubber chicken."

seulgi felt her eyes droop. "glad you did," she replied, yawning. "although you could've gone with the rubber chicken, i would've loved to see how that turned out."

jimin gave a hushed chuckle. "you know," he started again. "i know that it's kind of, well, awkward most of the time, since we, um, formerly dated-" he shrugged his shoulders impulsively, "-but it doesn't have to always be like this, right?"

seulgi looked at him, and nodded with a small smile. "yeah."

"for the record, we're good, right?" he asked cautiously. "no, like, hard feelings?"

seulgi shook her head no. "i don't have any." you probably still like him, dumbass.

jimin smiled. "that's good. good." holy hell, it's not. "so, uh, friends?"

"i'll think about it," seulgi smiled back. "asshole." her smile quickly faded. "i'm still allowed to call you that, right?"

"you can call me whatever you want," he replied. "although i missed - what was that again - chim? baby?"

seulgi turned bright red; she never called him by his real name when they were still together: it was either 'chim' or 'babe'.

"shut up. you used to call me 'princess'."

"that's the cringiest thing to call a girlfriend." he smirked again. "you're no princess, anyway."

"got that right."

"more like a jester."

"hey!" seulgi said aggressively yawning.

jimin gave another light laugh. "you should get some sleep, sweet cheeks." he walked over, and ruffled her bangs a bit, startling her. "you have a whole day of hating me ahead of you tomorrow."

"sounds unequally tiring," seulgi muttered as jimin walked towards his room, his feet making light sounds against the floor.

"you like me here."

"the hell i do."

"you're such a bad actress."

seulgi turned to him. "excuse me?"

jimin gave a light chuckle. "i only said you should be getting some sleep."

"i'm not counting you in once i do get casted, if that's what you're thinking."

"whatever you say, sweetheart." they laughed, and then the silence was there again.

they're probably going to act like this talk never happened. but at least they were friends now, right?

seulgi turned to him before he disappeared through the hall, saying, "hey, jimin." he looked over his shoulder, both his eyebrows raised. she had no idea why he wanted to tell her that. it was nice to hear, and maybe he just wanted her to know that he had nothing against her, even though they have every reason to hate each other like they should.

but she wasn't mad. and neither was he, she figured.

"that was a nice thing to do. y-you know, for jiheon."

jimin smiled back. "well, you can thank hoseok for that, he's done more for the kid." he blinked. "it's cool to do something good for someone every once in a while, you know?"

she nodded. "well, good night. asshole."

he nodded as well. "good night, sweet cheeks. see you in the morning."

and turning back, he made his way to his room with the same light footsteps, shutting the door behind him, leaving seulgi smiling like an idiot at the dining table.

after all these years, why was it still so hard to hate him? park jimin was a lot of things - but one thing he was exceptionally talented at, apart from coloring a girl's cheeks red every time he exists, is being so amazingly charming that you actually forget you hate him. and he's done that to every single girl he's ever talked to, kang seulgi included.

she took a deep breath. nope, not when it's park jimin, it's not.

she stood up and walked to her bedroom, looking at the kitchen counter behind her, before quietly shutting the door.

no hard feelings.

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sorry i had to republish this lol i forgot to update a chapter

- nayeonsbunny -