Winter Tangerines (IU x SUGA)

Sixteen

After running away from Yoongi, Jieun managed to walk all the way to her apartment. She was cold as ice, but her eyes felt like burning. She hated it, but she couldn't help but recall what just happened.

"Why did he kiss me?"

When she reached for the door keys in her bag, she sensed that something was wrong. She peeked through the window and saw that the lights by the kitchen were on. Turning the knob, she also found out that the door was unlocked. Before she could enter her home, she picked up a sturdy tree branch to protect her, just in case. But it was no use. Jieun was shaking, she was scared. Did somebody break in my home?

She almost ran away when she heard the sound of plates by the dining table. She slowly reached for the switch of the living room lights to take a good view of the intruder.

"Beomgyu?!"

"Noona!" The young man approached Jieun and hugged her. "I missed you! Where have you been? Have you been going out this late? Eomma will surely get mad if she knows about this."

"As if she cares." Jieun laid down on the couch. She could feel the pain of the blisters on her feet now that they were free from her shoes. "Why are you here, by the way?"

"Eomma sent me here. Since it's vacation and I really want to have a taste of the city, I decided to give you a visit."

Beomgyu was her half brother. Jieun never met her biological father, but was so lucky to be treated like a real daughter by Beomgyu's dad. Unfortunately, he died from an accident when Beomgyu was still a kid. They were both left with their mother, who Jieun was not very close with.

"Fine. But don't expect to be living like a prince here. The city is far different from our hometown. Life's difficult in here."

"Seems interesting!" Beomgyu exclaimed. "Noona, can you give me a tour around?"

"We'll see."

"Yes! By the way, I brought you lots of kimchi, your favorite. I placed everything in the fridge. And also, Eomma said to ask you for my allowances while I'm here."

There was no response. Beomgyu frowned when he saw Jieun sleeping soundly on the couch.

—

Jieun was awakened by the sudden ring on her phone. She checked the time. It was almost two in the morning and she was still in the the living room.

Who could be calling me at this hour?

Reaching for her phone, she found an unknown number. She mentally made a debate whether she should answer it or not. Maybe it's her mom checking if her brother arrived safely at her place. Or maybe it was an emergency. Or maybe it was Yoongi. She put aside the last though in her head.

"Hello?"

"Hello?" A female voice responded. "Is this Lee Jieun?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"Oh, you don't know me. It's just that your friend's here at my house and I need you to pick him up."

"Friend?"

"Yes. He introduced himself as Suga. And he's very drunk."

Jieun couldn't believe what she heard on the other line.

"Jieun-ssi, would you mind taking him home? I'm kinda worried. Something bad might happen if I let him drive."

There was a long silence on the line. Taking a deep breath, she answered the lady.

"I'm sorry but I can't. It's really late and I don't drive. Uhm, what's your name, miss?"

"I'm Sana. I'm sorry if I bothered you. You're the only name Suga keeps on saying so I decided to look for your number on his phone."

"Sana-ssi, could you please let him stay there? I'll just pay you for this inconvenience. I can transfer money to your bank account. Just let him stay for the night."

"Oh, it's okay. I can let him stay. Don't worry, you don't need to pay me back."

"Thank you."

After the call, Jieun went upstairs to her room. She tried to sleep again but she kept on tossing and turning.

"Why did he get drunk? Was it because of me?"

She was forcing herself to close her eyes and take some rest, but to no avail. Her mind was a complete mixture of questions, thoughts and emotions.

"And who is that girl?"

—

"Noona, don't you have work today? It's already nine." Beomgyu slowly knocked at Jieun's room when he noticed that she was not downstairs yet. "I made breakfast for us."

Noticing that the door was unlocked, he tried to open it. He found Jieun still asleep.

"Aish noona, get up. It's late." He noticed Jieun looking pale so he checked her sister's condition. She was having a fever — a consequence of her decision to walk on a freezing night on her way home.

Worried, Beomgyu looked for some medicine. When he found one, he returned to her room carrying a glass of water. He saw that Jieun was already awake, looking very tired.

"Noona, take this. What happened to you? Were you already sick yesterday? You didn't tell me."

"I'm okay. I was just so tired." She took the medicine and the water.

"You look really bad. You want me to take you to the hospital?"

"No. I'm fine, really. I just need to take a rest."

"Okay, but you should eat first. You'll get worse if you don't. Wait, I'll heat the soup for you. Just stay here."

Jieun felt relieved that Beomgyu was just in time to visit her. She couldn't have handled herself if she was all alone, especially now that she don't want to talk to Yijeong. Feeling weak and helpless, she laid down again in her bed and gently closed her eyes to sleep some more.