CupCake.

16

His hand shook as he tried to unlock the storage room. Next to the room, was his mother's name. It made his heart ache. I am sorry, mom. Yoongi gripped the handle at the bottom of the door and took a deep breath, using all his strength to pull the door upward. Once he finally pushed it the rest of the way, he took in the small storage room. It wasn't even a minute since he opened the door when he saw it. a pile of gifts wrapped in different paper. Ninja Turtles, Anpanman, and Spiderman, among others. The last time he had seen his mother, he was 5, Penny was at least 3 or 4. But there was more than 7 presents in here. Easter in the U.S, Christmas, Lunar Year, and so many other holidays.

He finally took a step in, each step more heartbreaking than the next. There was a box labeled YOONGI'S CLOTHES. Some were small, some looked as if he can still fit into him. Yoongi's mother thought he'd grow into them someday. If he was anything like his father, they'd last him well past his late 20's. He noticed there was some in postal packaging with a big RETURN TO SENDER on the front. 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003. She did try. Another was labeled tapes. There was video casettes. About 15. Each labeled with different birthdays plus occasions. What surprise him is these went past the year his mother died. Yoongi's entrance exams, Yoongi's graduation, Yoongi's first day of college. She had spent every moment till her dying breath trying to get as much words as she could to give to Yoongi. He wiped his nose with his sweater and tried looking on the other side of the room. More gifts, some shoes, movies he could recall he'd asked for, a basketball and the jar of money his sister mentioned. But it wasn't just one. There was 5, each one bigger than the last. The last one wasn't even a jar. It was a water jug of 5 gallons with coins.

And there was still more to go as he continued to rummage through the boxes.

Penny eyed her brother continuously. He was just quiet with red and puffy eyes. He hadn't said a word and that's all she wanted. "I'm fine, Yoonshim-ah." He mumbles, feeling her eyes almost irritating. She looks away from her brother and fumbles with her sweater. "Imma head to school. I have practice today." Without saying a word, Yoongi presses the red stop button on the bus and gets off at the next exit before he can miss it. Penny watches as he steps off the bus with his earphones in and pulls up his hoody.

They stand in silence on bus, Penelope worried about Yoongi and Jimin worried about both of them. Then he hears her stomach growl and he smiles. "How about you and I have a little date?"

After about 5 stops pass, Jimin presses the STOP button and pulls Penelope along as it comes to a stop. Swiping their card, Jimin looks both ways from where they got off and decides to take her to this nice tteokbokki restaurant. "Where are we going?"

"There's this great place in Samcheong-do that makes some bomb tteokbokki, you'll love it!" Penelope giggles.

Along the way, they stop for some pictures in some places till they come across this vintage door with some vines covering the doors. Jimin insisted on giving Penny her own photoshoot till she finally relaxed and did as she wished. Her pearly whites with that velvet tint on her cheeks as her eyes sparkled made Jimin's heart crinkle with joy. She looks just like Yoongi.

His smile dropped along with his heart. He couldn't believe himself. Penelope had gone off to a wall that looked pretty beside a church and kept rambling on as Jimin just internally beat himself for the thoughts that went through his head. "Jimin?"

He looked up, forcing away the bad feeling and smiling bright. "Are u ready for some food?" She had called his name 2 times before that but pushed away the uneasiness and smiled. "Yeah." The trotted off, while Yoongi was on the other side of town, in front of JaeHee's door. "Yoongi?" she hadn't heard from in a few days and was wondering if everything was ok.

"JaeHee-ah." He fidgets with his feet and finally looks up. "We need to talk." She nods and sighs shakily. Her hand had started to shake as she gripped the doorknob to close it behind her. "JaeHee?" she hummed, crossing her arms and looked at her shoes, fidgeting from one to the other. "Look at me." she shook her head. "I guess you already know what's going on?" she nods, cleaning her nose that started to run, with the end of her sweater sleeve. "I think it's only right that I skip to it." he takes a deep breath as he rubs the nape of his neck and bring the hand over his hair. "It's over, JaeHee." She nods. "Why though?" she croaks, finally the courage to look up. He looked emotionless. Its as if he's thought about it before but he hadn't. Barely a few minutes ago before he decided to make a quick stop before going to Jimin's. "Yoonshim and I have some shit going and stuff to figure out and I realized that while we were doing that, I didn't once think about you or gave you a call. I have no time for someone else at this moment. I need to focus on myself and my sister till our problems subside. My decision only includes you because I don't want to neglect you." And I kinda slept with my ex. "Okay." She sniffles. "Hope everything works out." Before she could cry in front of him, she rushed inside and slammed the door, running down the hall to her room. Yoongi stared at her door, sighing heavily and shrugging, turning around and walking back to the bus stop.

Jimin woke up to Yoongi poking his head with a finger, gesturing towards Jimin's kitchen while Penny slept on the couch beside him. Jimin yawned slowly moving from the couch to stand, stumbling and almost falling on his face but settling for Yoongi's chest. Giggling nervously, Jimin catches a grip and pushes himself off. "Should I tell her to go to my mom's room?"

"No, she likes to sleep on the couch. Has had a habit of it since she was a kid." Yoongi helps his sister lie down, placing a pillow under her head. "If we move her, she'll wake up and take a while to go back to sleep and be in a bad mood in the morning. Gimme the blanket." Covering her up, he pushes Jimin out of the living room and turns off the light. They walk into the kitchen and Jimin gives Yoongi a bottle of water. "Holy shit, its almost 12! Where'd you go so late? Extra practice?" Jimin takes a sip of his water when Yoongi answers, "I broke up with JaeHee." He almost chokes but only holds the water in his mouth then swallows. "How'd that go?"

"I figure she saw it coming, she wouldn't look at me and didn't say much."

It's silent for a bit. Jimin drowning in his thoughts, blaming himself and wondering if he should do the same with Penny. They weren't official OFFICIAL but—

"Don't do that," Yoongi mumbles. "Don't beat yourself up. This had nothing to do with you. It has to do with this issue with my dad. If it wasn't for you, where would we be?" he walks up to jimin and cups his face. "Thank you." Yoongi kisses both of his squishy cheeks. "I think it's time for my daily payment." His hand slides down his arms and grip Jimin's hands, pulling him towards the room and shutting the door. Yoongi had to keep him quiet from his sister down the hall that was sound asleep.