WHEN THE SUN SETS [JJK]

04

PART FOUR
OF RINKO & JEONGGUK'S STORY

"Rinko's pretty, isn't she?" The older boy mutters, an audible amount of distress is noted within his vocal range as he sputters unsaid thoughts out for Jeongguk to almost smile at.

Rinko definitely is pretty. From the way her eyes widen at the smell of her favourite pasta that Jeongguk knows of now and to the way she scans things carefully before making a move to do what's best for everyone.

"She is one of the prettiest I've ever met so that really says something," Jeongguk smiles, not directly at Jimin but enough for the older boy to slow down from his steps and glance. "but why are you asking?"

"Can't a best friend analyze Rinko's options?"

"You must be really close to be able to trust each other with such tasks."

This time, Jimin's the one smiling. A lifted up spirits from the downfall of earlier topics he shouldn't have gotten into. But nonetheless, a sigh of relief is released out of his chest as he notices that Jeongguk, is in fact, not a serial killer or in worst case scenarios, undeserving of Rinko because even he can't get himself to hate Jeongguk. Not even one bit of cell in his body tells him to do so. And he hates it.

"Growing up together was. . .rough. I never would've thought that the girl that always made my blood boil in swim meets would be the reason why I'd come to Busan again." Jimin sighs, his eyes focused on the ground as he carefully avoids small rocks that would eventually cause mishaps, leading to a few bruises and bandages stretched along his porcelain skin.

"But can we start this again?"

The younger boy is holding out his right hand for the Jimin to shake, but this time, they introduce themselves.

"Jeon Jeongguk, your soon-to-be entertainment for a limited time only!"

Jeongguk laughs a little too genuinely that Jimin almost thinks it's fake. But really, it's just how the younger boy expresses his gratitude towards anyone new or just to someone that deserves a permanent spot in his life. A thank you note in the form of laughter.

"Park Jimin. Your local burning-hot-spicy hotline that is only a message away when you need him."

The air is filled with a sparkle of light over brimmed darkness under the moon light. A soft melody brings joy to their ears as if the strings of their hearts were to produce such thing.

Jimin hums to the tune of the guitar player sitting steps away from blowing everyone away while Jeongguk stares in awe at the feelings portrayed.

"You can sing?"

The older boy nods and nudges at the younger one to continue walking as if to say that they should head home. Maybe it was the people he didn't really recognize in the streets of Busan or the ones that looked a little too suspicious, but Jimin just doesn't feel safe especially when the stars are ready for midnight. Everyone thinks he's the party pooper of their friend group, always wanting to be safe in times of need, but maybe he's right. There's no reason to end up dead like his friend that didn't care about what he said. A seventeen year old boy found dead in the outskirts of Seoul.

As branches from trees stumble their way to Jimin and Jeongguk's path, it wasn't necessarily that hard to get to Jeongguk's place. Hidden raccoons here and there, possibly looking for a hide out would sometimes scare the living shit out of them when they were met by rusty old pine trees. Jimin figures that there's really no way of telling when an animal has a home to come back to or not unless they're out in the dark, searching for a temporary home unlike them. He thinks that there's always something to be thankful of like the short-term roof hanging above his head for the next couple of days, thanks to Jeonguk.

"Thanks for letting me stay here, by the way. Means a lot."

"Don't mention it." Is what Jeongguk says before Jimin closes his eyes, passing out on the sofa bed gifted by Taehyung in case he crashes over at his place from all the soju stocked in Guk's fridge. Even grabs one from his stash to possibly have a better night's sleep.

He's taking his phone out of his pocket to scroll through unecessary life updates from people he doesn't really care about when he finds it strange to see two messages on his lockscreen when usually, there's none. One was from his Mom, checking on him as per usual, but the other one was just from a number. This takes him a little too much time to figure out that he'd given his digits to Rinko a while before Jimin came and interrupted whatever was going on.

667-543-3322: meet me at the diner @ 4 pm tmr.

Jeongguk finds it weird to receive such message that doesn't contain anything other than the place and time. He doesn't know if he should be scared or excited to see Rinko again, but the thought of something special coming up scares him in a way a flu shot would be scary, but it's something that needs to be done in order to be safe from all the viruses because instead of landing in a hospital bed with needles pinned up against his skin like everyone else, he's enjoying his life to the fullest.

The soju finally kicks in and as the boy with brick walls built to keep everyone out finds comfort rising through crook of his neck, Jeongguk might as well drown to let everyone in again.