In the dark

12

Peri returns wearing a matching set of blue and yellow sweatpants and a sweatshirt. It is too large for her, but she doesn't make any adjustments. The sleeves are kept wrapped around her hands, and the pants are scrunched up at the bottom of her feet. Jin sees her coming back with her hands to her face. She pulls her face away with a deep inhale, giving a little hum in response.

"Everything ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, it just smells like lavender. I like it."

"Do you not have any of your own clothes to wear?"

"Umm, How do you know it's not mine?" she returned the question.

"Because it's mine," he said with a knowing smile. He smiled a little wider when his brain flashed him the moment before when she mentioned liking how it smelled.

"I'm sorry. I can go change." Peri responded and then turned back around to start walking back to the bedroom.

"No. Keep it. It's fine. I don't mind." He really did not mind her wearing his clothes, especially if she was going to smile like that while wearing them. He saw her turn back around and give a little nod. She walked towards the counter where he was still standing. "How do you know Yoongi? You said you were friends. How did you meet?"

She thought for a moment, raising her eyes to the ceiling, almost as though she was searching in her mind for the correct file. "We technically saw each other in a meeting at HYBE, but we officially met at the elevator when we were on the studio floor. Then again at Han River."

'Oh! she works at HYBE. She must be new,' he thought to himself. 'She also must live in Seoul, and if she was in the apartment and wearing their clothes, poor thing must have had something happen to lose all her stuff.' Jin was proud of Yoongi for taking care of a friend in need. 

"What made you come to the apartment? Yoongi said no one lives here anymore." It was Peri's turn to ask the questions.

"I needed a break, so I went for a walk. The next thing I know, I am here."

"A break from?"

"We were at dance practice, getting ready for the show. You must know about that?" Peri nodded her head. She had heard Yoongi mention it before. "Practice was becoming too much. I needed to get out of there."

"How did It become too much?"

"How? That's a strange way to ask. How does something become something else."

"Yes. How. I read somewhere that asking questions that start with the "W's"- you know, what, where, why. Those types of questions are closed-ended. A person can answer them quickly without any real definition to them. Asking how makes it open-ended. Meaning the person answering them can divulge further into the answer." she stated matter-of-factly. 

"You sound like Namjoon. Always spitting out references from a book. Do you read a lot too?"

"Yes, I do. Let's keep the focus on you. How did it become too much for you?" She asked with determination in her voice. 

"Ah!" He stopped before he answered and looked into her eyes again. He saw them shift from the green he saw before to amber. The more he saw of them, the more he liked them. He could almost imagine himself staring into them all day and feeling completely astounded by their never-ending color change. He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts. He took a deep breath before continuing. "We had been practicing all morning, nonstop—me in particular. Even at lunch, Hobi-ah pulled back onto the floor for some extra work. I couldn't get the steps right. I kept failing or forgetting the moves. Then I saw the maknaes practicing, and they weren't struggling like I was. I just became frustrated by the whole thing and decided to get away for a while."