The Reluctant Manny

Episode Nineteen

Jin, Taehyung, and Jungkook walked out of the movie theater in unusual silence. Rather, two of them were in silence, while the other was all smiles and giggles, radiating unadulterated excitement.

"That was AWESOME! Thanks for going with me to see it. I've been dying to see it for three weeks, just haven't had the time to go." Jungkook stretched his arms up over his head, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"So much..." mumbled Taehyung, eyes wide, face pale.

"Blood," said Jin, finishing his brother's sentence.

"Wasn't it great?! The makeup was top notch, and those special effects?! I wouldn't even know they were used if I didn't know a human body couldn't actually bend like that."

Jungkook threw his arms around Jin and Taehyung's shoulders, practically bouncing as he walked between them.

"No offense, Kook, but you should have warned us," said Jin, looking more green than pale.

"How did I know you two were so squeamish?" Jungkook snickered.

"The poster looked so tame..." whimpered Taehyung.

"I thought it was a suspense thriller," whispered Jin.

"We should have done some quick research." Taehyung shook his head again, violent images flashing in his mind.

"I'm starving. Are we going to go get some food?" Jungkook turned his grin from one brother to another.

Taehyung slowly shifted his gaze over to the boy beside him and stared at him in horrified disbelief. "You...you can eat...after watching that?!"

Jungkook seemed to ponder the question for a split second before simply nodding and replying with a short hum.

"I don't think I'm hungry seeing as my lunch is coming back up for a visit," groaned Jin, rubbing his eyes as if he could rub away all the horrifying images he had just put into his brain.

"It was kind of funny to see you startle and scream so much," said Taehyung, trying to keep a smile off his face but failing miserably.

"You're both brats," snapped Jin.

"I feel like I need to watch some cute puppy videos to wash my brain clean," said Taehyung.

"Okay, okay!" said Jungkook, holding up one hand. "I will buy your dinner as an apology for making you sit through that film. Good?"

His eyes darted between the two brothers, who also seemed to be studying each other. After a few seconds of exaggerated contemplation, the brothers agreed to Jungkook's show of goodwill.

"Okay! Good! So, the next question is where do we eat?" Jungkook had dropped his arms and was now rubbing his hands together.

"We were thinking of Yoongi's chicken place," said Taehyung, his stomach letting out a loud growl.

The trio shared a small laugh and Jungkook then agreed it was a great idea, plus it would be easy on his wallet. The three friends took the bus to the other side of town, getting off one block away from the restaurant.

They walked in and every one of their mouths began watering, all disturbing images now replaced with crispy, crunchy chicken pieces.

"Hey, guys," said Yoongi, standing behind the counter, a black apron, splotched with batter and flour, tied twice around his thin waist.

"Yoongi! Good to see you," smiled Jin.

"So, you replaced the two rugrats with two bigger rugrats?" A sly smirk pulled Yoongi's mouth up at one corner.