Regret Me Not | 김석진

Eighteen(II)

Dining Room 10:34 PM

Hoseok and Namjoon immediately went for the snack table that was against the wall behind the dining table and chairs. They were practically drooling at all the delectable foods that Jin had prepared.

"Ah...amazing," Hoseok beamed before grabbing a plate and not hesitating to start compiling heaps of food onto it.

Jin came up behind him and placed the japchae fork back into the dish. "Leave some for the others!"

Hoseok frowned. "But...you put this here for us to eat."

"Look at your plate, Hobi."

He looked down at the mountains that were close to breaking the paper plate. "Oh..."

"Just wait a bit," Jin requested while patting his back.

Hoseok gave a quick tilt of his head. "Yeah, well I'm impatient so I'll be in the kitchen."

Namjoon laughed as he pushed open the kitchen door. "I love how everyone is nowadays..."

"Yeah," Jin agreed, a wistful smile leaving him. "Victoria and Iseul have really changed things around here."

"I'll second that." The genius scanned the food before him. "We really have to wait?"

Jin narrowed his eyes. "Yes."

"Hyung, what are we waiting for?" he whined, stomach growling at the sight.

The oldest laughed and patted his shoulder. "For others to get some, too. You and Taehyung eat the most out of us all so I need to keep an eye on you two."

"Man, first you try to get me to stop smoking and now you keep me from my precious food..."

Jin scoffed. "I'm trying to be fair!"

"It doesn't feel fair at all, Hyung! In fact, this feels very unfair!"

A scream from the kitchen silenced them both. Hoseok opened the kitchen door with a panicked smile. "It's fine! Everything's fine!" He went back inside.

Jin and Namjoon only stood there, unsure of what to do. "That sounded like Victoria," Jin fretted. He was about to go in when Iseul and Jimin rushed in from the living room and proceeded to the kitchen.

"I'm sure it's okay," Namjoon assured him before picking up a spring roll that he knew Jin was too curious to notice since his eyes were fixed on the kitchen door.

Not too long after, Hoseok rushed out of the kitchen and began stuffing the spring rolls into is mouth. Jin only stared in horror. "What are you doing? I thought we agreed to wait!"

Hoseok tried talking around the rolls in his mouth, but he only spit a piece of lettuce onto Jin's shirt. The older sighed and picked it off. "I guess I should put some food in the living room." He pushed his way into the kitchen.

Namjoon's brows drew in. "Dude...you good? What happened in the kitchen?"

He only shook his head and tried to choke down the food. Namjoon waited for him to finish, but by the time he swallowed, Jin exited the kitchen and passed through to the living room, an extra spring in his step.

Hoseok watched him before turning back to the table and shaking his head. "This night is crazy..."

"What are you talking about?" Namjoon pressed. "Seriously, did something happen?"

"Shut up, Jimin," Iseul said as they made their way to the snack table from the kitchen.

Jimin nodded. "Okay."

"Yoongi's shlammered," she continued to Namjoon and Hoseok. "Why is he so drunk already?"

Namjoon shrugged and grabbed another spring roll. "He's more of a smoker. Doesn't drink much as far as I know."

Jin passed through the room to the kitchen again.

"This is weird..." Hoseok shook his head and stuffed some japchae into his mouth. "This is a weird night."

Jimin tilted his head. "Is everything okay, Hyung? Seriously."

"Mm." He nodded, mouth full of food.

Victoria burst out of the kitchen and rushed straight into the living room, ignoring Jimin when he called out to her.

Jimin furrowed his eyebrows. "What's her deal? She was fine a second ago."

"Don't ask!" Hoseok begged after swallowing. "For God's sake, don't ask..."

Namjoon narrowed his eyes. "What do you know?"

"I mean, really." Iseul huffed. "What's going on? Clearly something's happening."

Yoongi came out of the kitchen just as Victoria entered the dining room with Taehyung in tow. The older two shared a look as they passed each other. Victoria only stood there holding onto Taehyung's hand while Yoongi stumbled into the living room. She was staring off into nothing, but snapped out of it when Taehyung tugged her hand.

She led him to the snack table and grabbed Jimin's wine glass before chugging it.

"Whoa," Jimin exclaimed. "Noona, what's wrong?"

Hoseok kept his head down and continued stuffing his face. He knew he couldn't let on what he knew. It was such a burden on himself that he could hardly stand it. He wished he'd never gone into the kitchen at all.

Namjoon placed a gentle hand on her arm. "Are you okay?"

Iseul stared at her with concern, waiting for an answer.

"I'm good," she slurred and stalked to the kitchen.

"I told you not to ask," Hoseok muttered, head still down.

Taehyung laughed nervously. The tension was almost too much to bear for his heart. "Hey! Guys, let's play a game, yeah?"

"Not now, Tae Tae," Jimin sighed.

"Come on! How about kai bai bo?"

Namjoon raised an eyebrow. "That's not really a game?"

"Okay." He stopped to think before snapping his fingers. "Mafia!" he beamed. "Let's—"

They all went silent as Jin slammed the door to the kitchen, his anger tainting the air. He was about to head to the snack table, but the sound of something hitting the wall vibrated through the entire apartment. Jin rushed to the living room, Namjoon and the rest of them hot on his heels.