Chasing Butterflies

Friends

Just as Namjoon unlocked the boys' apartment door and tossed the keys back to Jin, Izzy's phone buzzed in her pocket, for the second time that day. The boys stampeded into their apartment and tumbled down onto the couch and floors, falling easily into conversation as Izzy pulled the phone from the turquoise pocket of her jacket. She made sure to check the caller ID this time, and was a bit confused to see "Horshoe Cafe" painted across the screen.

"Hello?"
"Oh Izzy! I'm so glad you picked up. How are you doing? Are you alright?" Mrs.Lee rambled off at a hundred miles a minute. Izzy couldn't keep up, much less breathe fast enough to answer the questions that were being shot at her like fireballs.
"M-Mrs.Lee, hi. Um yes, I'm doing just fine now, and I am so, so sorry about this morning, I just—"
"Oh sweetie please, you don't have to explain anything. I was just worried that I was working you too hard at the cafe," the older woman paused long enough to gasp in a lungful of air. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes, Mrs.Lee. I'm doing much better than this morning, thank you." Izzy sighed in relief, glad that the woman wasn't mad about her basically skipping out on work today, and that it looked like she would keep her job after this episode.
"Well good, I'm glad. But I want you take the rest of the day off," Izzy opened her mouth to protest but didn't get the chance. "Don't you worry about your afternoon shift, I'll take care of everything here, just get some rest today. Alright?"
"Uh o-okay. Thank you, Mrs.Lee."
"Not a problem, feel better," the line cut off before Izzy had the chance to say anything else.

Izzy put away her phone, blinking away the strange feeling of somehow being behind the curve, a feeling that always settled in after she talked with Mrs.Lee. Her theory was that Mrs.Lee talked so fast that space and time actually couldn't keep up and therefore bent in on themselves, which resulted in the weird feeling of being left in the dust. It was a working theory, not to mention that Izzy had come up with it when she was high, so it probably wasn't a hypothesis that should be followed up on.

"Well," Izzy caught the attention of the pile of boys in the living room, "It looks like I have the rest of the day off." She slunk up to the couch hesitantly. Sure she had been here before— spent the night even— but knowing that she now lived there made her feel strangely shy.
"Good! You need to rest today, and we're gonna make sure that you do. Don't think we forgot about this morning." Jin gave her a stern glance and Izzy shrunk under the deep brown flames that seemed to shoot right out of his eyes.
"Hey! She made a mistake," Jungkook was quick to defend her. "We all have, so don't make her feel any worse about it than she probably already does." Izzy scratched at the bend of her arm, suddenly finding great interest in the streaks of paint on the brick wall behind the couch. "Give her a break. Besides, we helped each other and we'll help her. You're not alone, Izzy." She bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep it from quivering. That was possibly the longest, sweetest thing Jungkook had ever spoken to her.

"Hey, hey, don't cry. Please don't cry! Oh sh— please, please don't cry!" Izzy pressed her curled fists against her eyes in an attempt to hold back the waterworks. Jungkook sounded so panicked that it seemed as if he might burst into tears as well. She let out an easy laugh, shaking her head a bit to swallow the tears. "I'm not crying, I promise. I think one break down per day is my limit," Izzy pulled her jacket a bit tighter around herself and smiled at the boys who now sagged with relief, probably glad that they wouldn't have a crying girl on their hands... again.

"Come on Izz, you sit by me today," grabbing her hand, Jungkook yanked Izzy down onto the couch beside him and threw an arm around her. Neither he nor Izzy noticed the narrowed eyes of an orange haired boy who sat stiffly on the scratched up wooden floor. Jimin's jaw clenched, a small crease folded between his eyebrows as he stared unblinking at the two figures on the couch.