change

change. | 05

Nineteen unread messages.

For a long moment, you can only look at your phone in disbelief, as if the words on the screen will disappear if you stare long and hard enough. But when they stubbornly remain, you heave a sigh and click open the notification, already knowing exactly who is responsible for bombarding you with so many texts last night.

[8:24pm] Jin: Fucking finally! It’s about time you left

[8:25pm] Jin: Have fun with Taehyung. But not too much.

[8:29pm] Jin: Are you there yet?

[8:36pm] Jin: Hellooooo, earth to {Name}. Are you dead? Do I have to call the police?

[8:42pm] Jin: There’s no way you’re not at Studio V by now, young lady. Don’t ignore me

[8:42pm] Jin: What’s this Taehyung kid doing to you? Don’t forget that you have a boyfriend

[9:21pm] Jin: Okay, now I’m starting to get a little worried

[9:22pm] Jin: Don’t make me come over there

And so forth. Jin’s last message, sent at precisely eleven o’clock, declares his intent to file a missing person’s report if he hasn’t heard from you in the next twenty-four hours, and you can’t help but laugh as you open up the keyboard and type out a response.

[8:12am] You: Wow Jinnie

Your phone buzzes with an incoming message almost instantaneously.

[8:12am] Jin: SHE LIVES

[8:12am] Jin: Now spill, what the hell happened to you last night?

Rolling your eyes at his insistence, you swipe open his contact tab and tap the phone icon. As the call connects, you meander into the bathroom, grabbing your toothbrush and squeezing some toothpaste onto the bristles. Seokjin picks up two seconds later, squawking incomprehensibly, and as you put him on speaker and plop your phone on the counter, you marvel at how easily you can still hear him over the sound of the faucet.

“Hi Jinnie,” you greet dryly. “Lovely weather we’re having, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, yeah, good morning and all that.” Jin’s pleasant tenor filters through the speaker, undeterred. Vaguely, you can make out the sound of sizzling from his end of the line, and deduce that he must be cooking breakfast. “Now spill, damn it! What happened yesterday?”

“I went to an art gallery,“ you reply, giggling when Seokjin lets out a derisive snort. “Because unlike you, I’m a cultured lady.”

“Cultured, my ass,” Jin retorts, and you can practically see him rolling his eyes. “Are you going to tell me about Taehyung or not?”

You laugh, tapping your phone’s screen to life in order to check the time. “I have to be at work in an hour, bud. Why don’t I tell you over dinner tonight?”

He lets out a pleased hum. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll bring the food and you provide the wine?”

“Of course.”

“Good,” Jin says. “Seven okay?”

You nod, despite the fact that he can’t see you. “Seven’s perfect. See you then.”

“Bye, {Name}.”

Smiling, you end the call and finish brushing your teeth, already beginning to plan what you’re going to wear for the day. As you wander into the kitchen and start up the coffeemaker, you unlock your phone again to scroll through the most recent headlines, but a little red message notification catches your eye before you can open up the news app. Curiously, you tap it open, eyes widening when you see who the sender is.