Kim Dae moved in with her two older brothers to save money for college while they renovated a house. The house in question came with more than loose floorboards. Now it's up to her family to help previous residents move on.
Dae held her composure as she stood on the doorstep hesitating to press the button. She didn't really want to involve the two next door but she didn't want to go back home yet either. It would be like admitting defeat and she wasn't ready for that. Before she could make up her mind either way, the door was pulled open.
Jimin looked down at the girl in confusion. "Dae? Are you here to see Jungkook?" He hadn't heard her knock. He stepped back to allow her inside. "I was just going to check the mail but that can wait," he said slowly. Jimin took in the way her eyes were rimmed with red, the slightly watery look that seemed like she could burst into tears at any moment and how her arms were wrapped around her as though holding herself together.
"Sit down, I'll make you a cup of tea," he ushered her to the couch.
Dae sat there in silence thinking about what had just happened at her house. The timing was all wrong. If Mrs. Sinclair got her way, they wouldn't be able to help the boys. All the promises she had made would be lies. They would be let down again. She shuddered at the thought. Fresh tears were getting closer to spilling.
Jimin sat the tea down in front of her and took a seat beside her. "Now, what has you so worked up?" he asked softly. He spoke to her with the same voice he used when he would find a scared animal in his garden, like he was afraid she would run away any minute.
"Jin's going to sell the house," she mumbled into the cup of tea. She took a deep swallow letting the warm liquid wash her feelings down her throat with it. "Mrs. Sinclair made a bigger offer with a shorter deadline. They're probably packing right now."
Jimin leaned back against the couch and ran his fingers over his lips. "That is a problem. How much of a choice does he have?"
Dae shook her head in defeat. "Not really much of a choice at all. It's either he sells the house to her or she ties it up in court because she has a better claim to it. Of course we can't afford a long drawn out court battle so she would most likely end up getting the house either way. If he sells, then we have money. If he doesn't sell then we end up broke and homeless. Neither situation allows us to help the boys."
She sat the cup down to bury her face in her hands. She shouldn't have yelled at him. She had taken a stressful situation and made it worse. Jin had one of the biggest hearts out of everyone she knew. Of course he wasn't going to want to give up on helping after they had all promised they would.
"She has the better claim?" Jimin grinned as he stood up. "I don't think so, hang on for a moment. Kookie!"
Jungkook poked his head from around the corner to the hallway. He was carefully hiding whatever was in his hands against the wall. "Yes?"
"Where are those papers from the courthouse? The ones you were going to make copies of?"
He looked lost for a moment before remembering what Jimin was talking about. "The ones you had when we were going to build a pool?"
"Yeah, where did you put them?" he asked.
"They're in the important business box. Why?" His eyes finally landed on Dae who was halfway hidden behind Jimin. "Are you guys going to build a pool too?" It was impressive to Dae how he could go from being the absolutely gorgeous stereotype of the boy next door to a child in a matter of seconds.
"Focus Kookie. Bring me the papers and stop trying to hide your bowl of ice cream. I can clearly see it on the corners of your mouth." Jimin shook his head and waited until Jungkook had went to get the papers before smiling. "Please tell me you don't eat ice cream for breakfast as well."
"Nope. Jin would lose it if he caught me doing that." She couldn't help the small smile at the thought of one of Jin's fits when he caught her eating junk food instead of actual meals. He really had been looking out for her which made her feel even worse.
"Got it!" Jungkook threw himself over the back of the couch to land between Jimin and Dae. "All the papers are still in order," he shoved the bundle towards Jimin.
He sat quietly for a moment before finding the page he was looking for. "Here we go," he held it out to Dae. "You'll notice the two properties are ours and yours. There's the lines that divides the properties. Now, as you can see," he leaned over Jungkook to point out a thick blue line, "this one goes from the treeline out back down to the road. That's the left side of our property. This blue one," he pointed to the other one," goes from the treeline, straight through your house, down to the road. Technically, we own half your house," he sat back with a triumphant grin.
Dae sat there in slight confusion. "Okay but what does that mean?"
"Our land, our house," Jimin smiled bigger causing his eyes to turn into little crescents and clapped his hands together. "The Sinclair's built the house without consulting the property lines. Our parents were kind enough to not say anything at the time since it wasn't like they were using the land anyways. Since she signed off on the documents at the courthouse, we can sue her. Keep her tied up in court at least until after the cross over day. Or I'm pretty sure we could take all of her legal rights to the house," he finished with a shrug. "The important thing right now is you go burn those boxes before they can pack them because you're not going anywhere." He offered the papers to Dae who wasted no time sprinting next door.
"I might as well try out for cross country with all this damn running," she grumbled to herself as she threw the front door open. "Code red! Family meeting!"
