In the dark

68

Peri was once again out the door before sunrise. Sometimes, the men of the house often wondered if they were living with a ghost. Peri was quiet most days, usually keeping to herself with her endless supply of reading or typing away at her laptop. Someone usually had to engage in conversation with her about what she was doing to pull her back to the present; otherwise, she would be lost in her own world for hours.  

It wasn't until the final man, Jimin, came shuffling out of his room that they all failed to notice that Peri was not present at breakfast. Joon and Tae had gotten up from their spots and began to look around while Jin stayed in the kitchen to cook breakfast. His fingers gripped a bowl as he poured the liquid into a muffin tray, prepping for Gyeranppang. The rest of the men keep their positions, knowing Peri would pop up when the smell of breakfast wafted through the apartment. 

"Would you like to know where she is?" Yoongi asked Jimin, who was sitting beside him. Yoongi pulled his phone from his pocket, ready to open the app and show Jimin precisely where Peri was. Yoongi couldn't help but feel a little elated that Jimin knew what he was doing. Yoongi knew Jimin wasn't going to dime him out with Peri, but that had to mean that Jimin was ok with it. 

"If I wanted to know where she was, I'd do it the old-fashioned way and ask," Jimin scoffed. Just because he knew didn't mean he wanted to know. Jimin wanted no part of Yoongi's rogue actions. Jimin knew it was only a matter of time before that bomb went off, and he didn't want to be caught by the shrapnel. 

Jimin had pulled out his phone from his pocket, dialing Peri's number. "Hello?" Peri asked when she answered her phone after the second ring. "Oh! Hold on. I'm getting another call." Jin had the same thoughts Jimin had, and after he poured the last of the batter into the final muffin tin, he, too, dialed Peri's number. 

"Ok, how do you do this thing? It says slide. Ok, now slide. Slide. Slide!" Jimin started to chuckle as he heard Peri struggle to switch the call. Jimin imagined her focus face as she tried to apply the right amount of pressure from her finger to slide the icon from one side of the screen to the next. He heard his side of the line go dead and turned his head to the other side of the room, where her voice picked up again. "Hello? Hello? Did I do it? Hel-Hello?" All the boys were silently laughing at Peri now, thanks to Jin putting her on speakerphone as he carefully dropped one egg at a time into each muffin tin. "Ah, crap! Alright, I'm just going to hang up."

"NO!" They all shouted, trying to stop her from hanging up the phone. Jimin started to laugh even harder, imagining Peri standing still with her eyes wide in surprise. 

"Peri, where are you?" Jimin called out while looking over at Yoongi to prove a point.

"Ummm, well, I was at Han River Paradise. You know, over where the swan boats are. I wanted to practice taking some shots of the Wonhyo Bridge at sunrise."

All of the boys collective knew where she was. It was the place that hosted the fireworks displays for all the summer festivals. BTS even had their own dedicated slot for their anniversary. The night sky would be lit up with a purple burst of color every June 13th. 

The question that remained, though, was how in the fuck did she get over there so quickly? It was miles away from their apartment. She must have been up long before sunrise to make that trip on her own. 

"What time did you leave?"

"How long are you going to be out?"

"Did you eat breakfast?"

A barrage of questions came her way. Peri couldn't answer one without another one popping up. "See you in ten," was all she responded before she hung up the phone.