When Danger Falls In Love

3: Ball of Sunshine

THREE
A BALL OF SUNSHINE
Han Riverside Apartments

SEOKJIN

    I dumped off the last of my leather duffel bags, which contained my personal belongings, unto the bed that was in the middle of my spacious room. I huffed in exhaustion and plopped myself face down on the sofa after spending hours hauling the boxes and unpacking my things out since I arrived in my shared apartment.

    I should have let the maids do this.

    You asked to be independent, bitch, so you gotta suck it up, my inner self grunted internally.

    I wriggled on the sofa, reaching out blindly for my toiletry bag on the carpeted floor and thinking of organizing them first inside the bathroom, when someone cleared his throat. I immediately whirled my whole body around and covertly reached out for something else under the coffee table, but I retreated at the last second --- my eyes landing at the young man who was standing outside the opened door with a contagious smile on his face.

    "Hi, Seokjin-ssi! Welcome!" he spoke out cheerfully. "I'm really sorry I wasn't here to welcome you earlier!"

    Fuck. He was too bright for me.

    I stood up on my feet as I invited him over. "Come on in."

    The man stepped inside my room and introduced himself to me. "I'm Jung Hoseok, but people like to call me Hobi. You can call me Hobi too, if you want."

    Oh, a Jung.

    "You're from the Jung mafia family?"

    Hoseok smiled and nodded once. "Yes, but unlike my family members, I have chosen a different path for myself. I am not like the rest of them, so I chose to be just plain Jung Hoseok."

    In our world, the Jungs were the best trackers one could find.

    "You can be whatever you want to be," I shrugged as I walked over towards where he stood, my gaze sharp as I stood in front of him. "But how can I be sure you weren't ordered to stay here with me?"

    "My family doesn't tell me anything about the mafia business," he answered. "Clearly because I am nothing to them."

    "It doesn't mean you can't be used as a pawn."

    "If it makes you feel better, I don't even think you're involved in your family's mafia business, nor have they acknowledged you as their family member as well."

    I took a deep breath. "I wish it was true."

    "That you're not involved in the mafia business and that they don't acknowledge you as their family?" Hoseok asked genuinely.

    Yes.

    "No --- about you. I will choose to trust you this time, but don't ever break that trust. I don't like mending bridges, I burn them."

    Hoseok nodded his head in understanding. "I get you. I will tell you one of my secrets, if you don't mind."

    "What is it?"

    "I'm actually your fan."

    "Huh?" My brows furrowed, trying to understand.

    "I love fashion and modelling --- that is why I became a model. Growing up, I have always admired your mother's designs ever since I could remember. When you started modeling and you modeled for her collections and became her house ambassador, gosh, I'm a goner. I literally bought copies of the magazines you have covered and featured in. I even saw you so many times from afar during fashion shows," Hoseok gushed. Right. I almost forgot I was a model myself. He continued, embarrassed, with a tinge of pinkish blush colouring his cheeks. "I also managed to get your autograph during the Paris Fashion Week two years ago."

    "Oh. Well-------" I was tongue-tied --- our conversation turned from zero to 180° real quick.

    Hoseok giggled.

    Great, Jin.

    "If you don't mind, can you please sign my other magazines, too? When I found out you're going to be my roommate, I literally freaked out. I can't believe you're finally here," Hoseok wiggled in excitement. "I hope we can be friends in the future as well. Mafia shit be damned."

    He's such a ball of sunshine.

    My lips curved into a grateful smile. "Are you hungry, Hoseok-ah?"

    "I am, actually."

    "Shall we have dinner then? My treat."

    "Of course, Seokjin-ssi. But you don't have to treat me-"

    "I want to treat my new friend to dinner. Is that wrong?" I told Hoseok, my eyebrows raised suggestively. Before I knew it, a ball of hopeful sunshine threw himself at me and hugged me tight.

    I missed this type of feeling --- the warmth of a genuine hug.

    A small smile crept on my face as I returned his embrace, up until Hoseok's hungry stomach began to rumble in protest, and the two of us could not help but laugh out loud.

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When Danger Falls In Love. © JT Starr, 2024.