'𝐇𝐞𝐲 𝐄𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚, 𝐇𝐞𝐲 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐚'

⌱ [𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕]

"She wasn't even insisting properly after he came," Jungkook grumbled under his breath as he threw his bag on the couch and landed his body directly onto it, letting out a loud groan of displeasure.

"You came back?" Mrs. Jeon questioned, peeking out of the kitchen, which was right in front of the living room, and giving her son an inquisitive look. "I thought you were going out for some karaoke with your friends."

Jungkook looked up, sighing and feeling tired over nothing. Being sleep-deprived rendered him irritable, and he couldn't help but feel vexed by Hyejin's reaction to another man's presence. The effect on her was too obvious and hurtful. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, collecting his thoughts before attempting to respond. However, just as he was about to speak, a mischievous chuckle interrupted him, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"It's okay to get sidelined by friends, Hyung. Don't worry."

Jungkook clenched his teeth as his irritation grew at the words. It was Beomgyu, his cousin, who must have been there on the side sofa the whole time. Jungkook didn't notice him, or else he would have never sat there in the first place.

"Eomma!" Jungkook yelled, not sparing a glance at the younger, "Tell him to shut up, or I promise I won't think twice before kicking him out this time."

With a dramatic gasp, Beomgyu held onto Jungkook's shoulder from his side and made him look at him. "Excuse me! This house is not your territory." His tone was furthermore dramatic than the gasp.

Jungkook rolled his eyes, shrugging Beongyu's hand off, and spoke, "Oh well, guess what? It is."

"No, Hyung, it's not. Not yet, at least," Beomgyu teased before getting up from his seat and moving forward towards the kitchen. "It is owned by my handsome uncle and beautiful aunt."

"Ugh! Eomma! When's Aunty coming back to take him back home?! Go back to your parents, dude."

Beomgyu turned towards Mrs. Jeon, who was not an inch affected by the chaos, and held her sleeve before pleading, "Eommo-ni, look. Hyung's trynna send me back..."

"Keep me out of it, boys," Mrs. Jeon asserted, continuing her work with the meal. After tasting a sip of soup, she looked at Jungkook and, with a frown, defended Beomgyu, saying, "And you, Jungkook, stop behaving like a kid. He wants to complete his studies here in Busan, so he stays here. What's even wrong with that?"

Jungkook knew there was no arguing with his mom. She was the boss around the house, and even when she wasn't around, she was still the most authoritative person in the Jeon family. Having the 'guest first' mentality was just the perfect cherry on top of the torture cake for Jungkook, especially when it was regarding the most annoying but his mother's favourite cousin of, Beomgyu. So he sighed deeply and just let it go. "Whatever," he muttered, getting up again to head into the basement of their little house. His own little territory, where Jungkook himself was the ruler.

He started working on his project, painstakingly constructing the basic framework of ChronosAion, when suddenly, and without warning, a rush of electric charge was released. Startled, he quickly distanced himself and frantically attempted to regain control using his laptop, but his efforts proved futile.

A powerful gas under great pressure burst from ChronosAion, filling the space and completely obstructing his eyesight. Overwhelmed, he instinctively shut his eyes and shielded his face with his arms. Time passed, and as the chaos subsided, he cautiously reopened his eyes, examining the damage that had enveloped his once-orderly workplace. It had been transformed into a chaotic disaster zone, strewn with debris and equipment.

A sigh of relief escaped him as he realised the basement's soundproof nature had spared the rest of the house from the turmoil.

Suddenly, Jungkook's gaze was drawn to the seat of ChronosAion, and his eyes widened in surprise as he noticed that there was, in fact, a man, sitting within the unstructured machine. His initial thought was an almost incredulous question- a guy was sitting inside ChronosAion.