Caged (Jimin BTS)

VI = A Lost Rabbit

"Just as I thought, I really need to-"

"Oh no you don't." And I slammed the kitchen's door at Taehyung's face. I heard a knocking sound from behind the door and Taehyung lowly cussing, before the doorknob rattled. "Naomi, open up!"

"You'll eat up all the tarts I'm going to bake! Why, pray tell me, that I must do it?"

It's Tuesday after school, and I just got back- raced back home with Taehyung. He lived just a few streets downtown from my house, so we just get back home together.

"At least give me something to drink." His rasped breath begged from behind the door. "My parched throat can turn into dusts if I didn't get anything to drink."

"It's your idea to race back from school. Don't blame me." And Taehyung wailed from outside.

"Naomi? Open up." Oh no, it's Seokjin. Brushing the dust off my skirt, I opened the door and Taehyung charged inside, whooping. Seokjin sighed and shook his head, apparently unable to do anything.

"Hello, Seokjin. Dia Namjoon invited you?" The tall guy stepped inside and put the bundle of clothe in front of me. "I need some remedies for my parents. Is he home?"

I nodded, and Seokjin smiled. "It's okay, I'll call for him myself. Thank you, Naomi." Patting my head, he climbed up the stairs and Taehyung stopped next to me.

"Don't be a puddle on the floor. It's hard to clean it up." Taehyung crinkled his nose at me. "When you're the mess, it's always hard to scrap it off."

"Says the liposucting pig." After flicking his forehead, I returned to my kitchen. "You're going to be in the way, so just sit quietly in a corner with my tarts or watch a movie or something."

Taehyung took my container full of my tarts and smirked. "Why choose when I can do both?" He dashed into the living room and I sighed, before he adds, "Hoseok-hyung coming over at 3!"

There's half an hour left. "Enough for a dozen more tarts." And then I started baking.

It's not really my strongest point, but after Mother passes away I just came to the conclusion that the housework is now on my shoulder. Being the fact that both Father and Namjoon are two klutz in a pod, I cannot let them have the kitchen and set fire to our house now, wouldn't I?

But I still have trouble if the process need some laborious works. Stirring the eggs with the sugar is the hardest part in making egg tarts. "Just when I needed a man for the job..."

The kitchen door slam open, and I looked up to see Hoseok standing there, grinning his My Neighbour Totoro smile.

It's not Hoseok.

For the first time in my life, I felt fear being in my own house. "W-Who are you-"

His eyes are wide and red, scanning the room with an urgency I cannot comprehend. And when his eyes fell on me, the guy slam the door close and jumped behind the counter. I backed away from him and he shook his head. "P-please..."

"What?" I stood my ground, crouching down a little at him. "What do you want?"

A deer in headlights, that phrase might be the one that fits him. But unlike the small and fragility of a deer, this guy is tall and have a good built. Yes, he seemed to be younger than me but he is almost as tall as Namjoon.

"Don't let them see me." He pleaded. I stepped closer to him.

"What are you talking about? Who-"

The commotion outside gave me my answer. I straightened on my back and pushed the guy by his shoulder to the floor. He sank with a loud thud, suggesting that it must have hurt, but didn't say anything.

A woman in her late twenties slam the kitchen door open again. "Did you see Jeon Jungkook walking by just now?"

That's his name! I remembered now. "No, I didn't. Sorry."

"Oh, it's okay." Yet her eyes still scanned the room for any sign of him. I saw his muddy footprint on the floor and focused on keeping the lady's attention. "Would you like some tarts? I can pack you some-"

The woman left before I could finish my sentence, slamming the door close and announcing her failure in tracking down the mayor's youngest son. I need to have Yoongi over to fix that door soon. When the group moved on from my backyard, I looked at the shaking boy on the floor.

"Here." I gave him a gingerbread man, laying on his side and holding a glass of cocktail while a sunglasses was perched on his nose, and he stared at it. "Might as well get yourself something to eat."

Jungkook stared at the cookie again, and stared at me again. "Don't mind the style, it's not me who shaped him into that. And he's fresh from the oven."

"Naomi, I heard something from upstairs. Is there something wrong-" Namjoon and Seokjin popped into the kitchen, just in time Hoseok arrive at the scene, along with Yoongi. Taehyung also swaggered into the room, and the five of them stared at the two of us.

Just as quickly, all hell breaks loose.

"Is that Jeon Jungkook? Oh my gosh, it's really him! In the flesh!"

"How the hell he get in here? Where's his bodyguards? The mayor's son can't not have his bodyguards!"

"Why is he on the floor? Is he hiding from something? Naomi, get him on his feet and someplace comfortable."

I held on his arm and pulled the guy to his feet. But he seemed clueless to his surroundings.

"Are you hurt? I think he's younger than all of us. Did something happened?" He blinked at Seokjin but said nothing. "Do you think he understands what I'm talking?"

This seemed to enter his ears instead of brewing thunderclouds around his head. "I can think and talk, if that's what you're emphasizing."

"Then answer our questions, boy." Yoongi shot back, and Jungkook glared at him. Their eyes seem to shoot electric sparks out of them for a while, but before we could enjoy some really cool electro performances Jungkook averted his eyes. Taehyung and Hoseok looked the most crestfallen at this.

"Thanks for the treat." He glanced at the cookie then at me, before leaving  the kitchen. All eyes trailed after him, but Yoongi didn't pay him no heed and quietly munched on an egg tart. "Ah, Yoongi, that's the overly sweetened ones. You can have the less sugar ones in the black container."

"Hurmph? Oh, shanks." He left the counter, and Taehyung grumbled after the arrogant boy. "How can he reject Naomi's cookies? That guy is not in his right mind."

"Yeah, no one can win against this." Seokjin cleared his throat, and Hoseok grinned apologetically at him. "No, I mean- For homemade cuisines. Yours even got people outside Omelas ordering them!"

"Guys. Focus, please. We need to get back on our topic." Namjoon clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, and they all sat around the counter.

"We need to discuss about the photo Taehyung took at the fiesta. The one that have Naomi's lost cardigan in it." Everyone nodded and a door in the house quietly closed.

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Aaaaannd,  there you have it! My apology for my lateness in publishing. The update will return to normal next week, don't fret it. And stay tuned for Jimin's appearance! What shall fall upon the group? What is the boy Naomi found years ago?

Your trying-to-be-mysterious-but-failing-epicly author