Winter Tangerines (IU x SUGA)

Seventeen

It's been three days since Jieun got sick. She felt better, but decided not to go back to work first. She still needed more rest and she wanted to avoid Yijeong and Yoongi as much as possible.

She wanted to avoid Yoongi the most.

She found herself thinking of that night again. How the frozen street seemed to warm up with just one kiss.

"No, no, no. Jieun, just stop thinking about it!"

"Stop thinking about what?"

Jieun jolted upon seeing Beomgyu standing by her door. Her brother has been taking care of her for the past days and she felt bad that he had to stay at home instead of enjoying his vacation.

"Nothing." Jieun fixed her messy hair into a bun.

"Noona, you've been keeping a lot of things from me lately. I thought we promised that there will be no secrets between us?"

"I've got no secrets, okay? I was just thinking about...about work."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I got so many things left to do. I really need to go back as soon as possible." Jieun lied.

"But you need to take a rest first. Don't worry. I'll take care of it. Maybe I can give Yijeong hyung a visit at the off-"

"No!"

Beomgyu was shocked with Jieun's sudden reaction.

"I mean...don't leave me here. What if I feel so sick again and you're out? Just stay at home, please."

Beomgyu just gave his sister a tiny laugh. "I thought you're gonna say something crazy. I felt nervous for a while, noona." He sat at the edge of the bed and tapped Jieun's head. "Okay, I won't go anywhere. But please be well soon. I want to enjoy my vacation here too."

"Yes, don't worry. Once I'm okay, I'll tour you around."

"And oh, take me with you when you go back to work. I want to see Yijeong hyung too!"

Jieun just nodded. She knew she had no choice because Yijeong was like a brother to Beomgyu. But she's conflicted to explain anything if her brother finds out about Yoongi.

—

"Did she call you already?"

"Not yet."

"It's been days, bro. I think you should contact her."

"Yoons, relax. She'll be back when she's ready." Yijeong couldn't help but smile at his friend getting so worried.

"But what if something happened to her? I mean she could have texted you if she won't report for work, right?"

"Trust me, bro. I knew her since we were kids. Jieun is always like this. She prefers to keep her distance when we're not okay."

Yoongi took a sip of his cold coffee. It's been three days since he last saw Jieun and he was starting to get worried.

"I'll go talk to her." Yoongi was willing to take a risk. He was the cause of all her misery anyway.

"Okay, okay. I think it's for the better. You guys really need to settle things. It's already affecting our work."

"I'm sorry Yijeong. I promise to fix this."  Yoongi was reminded of the song that Jieun agreed to work on.

Come on, Yoongi. There's no way she'll be doing that this time.

—

It's almost twelve noon when Yoongi arrived at Jieun's place. He brought some food along the way. Maybe she'll accept them as his peace offering. Just when he was about to knock, the door opened and he was surprised to find an unfamiliar face. The latter was also trying to figure out who Yoongi was.

"Hi. I'm looking for Jieun-ssi. Is she here?"

"Do you have an appointment with her?" Beomgyu was curious of the man in front of him, all dressed up in black and a leather jacket.

Yoongi was dumfounded. "Ah, no. Actually I was—"

"Oh, are you picking her up for a date? Are you her boyfriend? A suitor?" Beomgyu couldn't stop himself from interrogating Yoongi. He swore he only knew one man Jieun was close with and that was Yijeong. Any other man automatically becomes a subject of his suspicion. "No way. You won't like my sister. She's a brat."

Yoongi tried to hide his smile. He was starting to like the kid now.

"Actually, I work with her. I'm a producer. I just dropped by to check on her. She's been absent for days aready."

"She didn't tell you?"

"Tell what?"

"She's sick. She was having a bad colds and fever since Tuesday."

"What?!" Yoongi made his voice a little louder than his usual.

"I thought she already called Yijeong hyung. I told her that I'll go visit the office, but she asked me to stay here. Noona is really stubborn."

"Noona?" Yoongi tried looked at the kid's face. He looked familiar, but he was sure that they haven't met yet.

"Oh, I'm sorry, producer-nim. I forgot to tell you. I'm Beomgyu. I'm Jieun's brother." Beomgyu offered his hand for a handshake to which Yoongi accepted hesitantly.

"She has a brother?" Yoongi was confused. He suddenly thought that was why the kid appears to be familiar. He was a male version of Jieun.

"Yup. I guess she forgot about me. I haven't seen her for a long time, maybe that's why she didn't tell anyone." He frowned.

Yoongi noticed it so he tried to cheer him up. He's Jieun's brother anyway. "I'm Min Yoongi." He gave his best smile, trying to win the boy's heart.

"Min Yoongi? Your name sounds familiar."

"Really?" Yoongi felt excited to talk to him.

"Yeah. Although I don't know where I heard your name. Maybe Yijeong hyung mentioned you before."

"Oh, maybe that's why." He suddenly remembered the food that he brought. He was still holding the paper bag. "I brought Jieun some food. But these are good enough for you two."

Beomgyu happily received the food and was even happier when he checked what Yoongi had brought. "Wow, this looks so good." He kept on eyeing on the assorted sushi on the container. "I have to wake her up. You wait here for a while. Noona's in her room."

"No, it's okay. You don't have to wake her up. She needs to rest. I'll just come back some other day." Yoongi was hesitant, but he continued. "Uhm Beomgyu, can you please keep this a secret? Don't tell Jieun that I've been here."

Beomgyu didn't understand, but still he agreed. "Sure, producer-nim."

"Thank you. Uhm, I have to leave now. See you again." Before he could leave, Yoongi paused by the porch. "You can call me hyung." He then walked back to his car.

"Woah, you're cool. Bye hyung!"

"Who are you calling hyung?" Beomgyu was startled with the weak voice behind him. He swiftly shut the door and ran towards Jieun who was stepping down the stairs.

"Nothing. It's just the...the delivery man." He was thanking the heavens for the food that Yoongi brought. That actually saved him.

"You ordered food? We have lots of food in the fridge, Beomgyu. Why are you wasting your money?" Jieun headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Somehow, she was feeling much better and wanted to leave the bed for a while.

"Noona, just for today. I got really bored and I wanted to eat some Japanese food." He showed her the sushi which also happened to be Jieun's favorite.

"Fine. But you need to share that with me."

Beomgyu felt relieved that Jieun's attention was entirely focused on the sushi.

**

a/n: I feel like updating daily. I have written 2 or 3 chapters in advance and I'm excited to share them as soon as possible😄 Anyway, take care everyone. Stay healthy💙