Stranger | Jikook/Kookmin

9 | Molt Icebergs

"You have yet to catch me, loser."

Jungkook snickers, buckling up the cardboard box in his arms as he makes the last turn to Jimin's street. It's honestly wearing out to have to be legging to Jimin's house, well trailer, every time he has something to do with the man. Especially when it's a darn clown outfit he is bound to carry around, although the content up for the change is what he really cares about at the moment.

"You don't have a mascot show to run, dumbass. Of course, you get ahead of the game, playing 24/7," he mocks his gamer friend, Eunb-bi, currently busy making inhuman noises as she works on taking down a particularly handy player. "Just use your rocket hammer," he comments, picturing the game in front of his eyes but Eun-bi suddenly breaks into a roar to which Jungkook very well relates.

"Yes! Yes, baby! That's what I call pro-gamer!"

Jungkook scrunches his nose, Jimin's house at sight in the authentic petite line-up. "You wish."

It smells of rain-wet daphne flowers, hang from the various green walls connecting gates of the houses together, a unique feature Jungkook observed in this neighborhood. He straight up gets the feel that it's the perfect place for senior citizens: calm, quiet and safe. He might be right too. All 50 houses inhabited by over-50 year-olds and a Jimin in a trailer.

He giggles at the thought.

"You know you suck for leaving me hanging today, don't you?" Eun-bi complains, seemingly settled into her focused mode again. Her voice comes soft and calculated, but Jungkook knows better than taking her gentleness personally. That's how she gets right before she ambuscades and once she settles a new target she's start fidgeting in her seat, sometimes even somersaulting on her bed to match the action of her hero character.

"And you know I have something important to do. I never missed a game until today, mind you."

"We could have kept our strike, until Mr. Mascot decided to miss a tally and here Song Eun Bi is. Battling on the field all by herself."

She is a lil' manipulative shit. Jungkook knew that the moment she betrayed him in their first coincidental Overwatch game, though after they established a friendship, she has stuck with Jungkook to the point that they decided to game every Wednesday regularly. So far, they've been having a blast, until according to Eun Bi, Jungkook broke the strike.

He's thinking of a comeback until he notices a movement at Jimin's gate, small but noticeable.

Shoot, is it Jimin?

He fastens his steps.

Eun-Bi has changed the topic already, telling Jungkook about her day at the barber's shop where she works part-time. If it weren't for the reveal of a little boy in front of the door, Jungkook would be really interested in hearing how she dyed a man's beard into hot pink but he is busy figuring out what the child is carrying in his hands.

He is holding a bunch of black trash bags, each much bigger than his size but not weighty enough to immobilize the 3-year old. Now that Jungkook carefully looks, he recognizes the boy as Jimin's neighbor. They had met (well, seen each other) the first time they came over with the squad. It's cute, the way he struggles to fit his little fingers around the rolled handles of a plastic and loses balance of the other two in his other hand.

He finally gives into his weakness and decides to carry one at a time. He drags the bag through the pavement and into the road, lips full on pouting as he pulls and pulls on the plastic, walking back on his heels to make his way faster to the huge trash can sitting on the opposite side of the road.