freckles

* chapter twenty eight *

"Hypothetically, could you buy this restaurant?" Claudette crossed her legs, gesturing to the McDonalds building as they waited in the drive-thru.

"Yeppers." Jin smiled, scrolling through his phone to pick the next song to listen to. "I could buy the majority of the franchise in South Korea probably."

"Imagine having money." Claudette joked with a giggle, Jin feeling a little bad, but he had to drive forward a bit, his mind leaving the topic.

"Do you have a chicken nugget obsession like me or are you normal?" Jin waved a small goodbye to the worker, directing his question to Claudette.

"I uhm, this is my third time going to McDonalds."

"Oh my God you're a child." Jin circled around with his car, Claudette frowning as they went back in line.

"Uhm, what are you doing?"

"We're getting one of everything so you can eat the wonders of McDonalds."

—-

Once again, Claudette was laughing so hard her stomach hurt. She's never laughed so hard before, but when you're alone with World Wide Handsome, you'll understand.

"I just-" She couldn't form a sentence, falling onto her back as her and Jin's laugh collided.

They were in a park, the time being two am, and sitting beneath a tree. Jin had found a blanket in the car and spread it out, them laying on it with McDonalds beside them.

It was like a date. An expensive yet simple date.

"How are your legs?" Jin asked after their laugh attack was finished, the two at a much calmer state now. "I haven't seen you put on the Aloe Vera lately."

"Oh shoot I forgot." Claudette covered her mouth, setting down her chicken nugget. "I have really bad memory shoot shoot shoot." Claudette pulled out her phone, Jin watching her pull up her Reminders and writing it down.

"Well lucky for you, I've been the eldest of Bangtan for 7 years and I'm quite good at thinking ahead." Jin reached for his bag, shifting through it. "You would be so surprised to see how often Taehyung and Namjoon forget things."

"Thank you Jin." Claudette smiled, accepting the bottle from him and rolling up her sweatpants. "Do they look better?"

Jin turned the flashlight on on his phone, shining it at her legs. He was expecting peeling skin and the gross color of raw skin, but, "Wow, it actually looks really good."

"Really?" She leaned forward as well, looking down at her legs. "Yeah, they don't hurt really at all."

"Well, just in case." Jin pulled out the over-the-counter pills. "Do you want one or two?"

"I'll take one." Claudette held out her hand, Jin handing her the pill and the water they ordered. "Thank you, by the way." She nodded after swallowing the pill, Jin smiling with a nod as well.

"I just don't want you to be in pain or uncomfortable while you're with us." Jin shrugged, picking up the fries. "But, seeing how this is all going, I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other a lot."

"R-really?" Claudette sat down the water, looking at Jin with wide eyes. "You guys will stay in contact with me?"

"Yes of course." Jin chuckled. "You're our friend now."

'More than a friend to some.'

"The stars are really pretty tonight." Claudette leaned back, tilting her head so she could see past the tree branches and into the sea of sparkles.

"Just like me." Jin sighed with a proud smile, laying down on his back to look at them as well.

"Yes." Claudette giggled, looking over at the man beside her. "Just like you."

Her laughter slowly died down until it was silent between the two of them. Jin turned his head slightly, checking on Claudette. She kept her eyes on the stars, her fingers holding the locket that hung from around her neck.

"What's that?" Jin sat up on his elbows, pointing to the locket with two fingers.

"Oh this?" Claudette looked down at her locket. "It was around my neck when I was dropped off at the orphanage." Jin stayed silent waiting for her to continue. "I think it was my mother's."

"Is there anything inside?" Jin rolled onto his side, getting a better sight of Claudette.

"A photo." Claduette nodding, opening the locket. Jin sat up, scooting closer to Claduette and taking the locket into his hands to look at the picture.

"It's you." Jin frowned at the photo, a man standing beside her and a baby in her arms. "Who's-"

"It's my mom, actually." Claudette smiled sadly. "She doesn't have freckles, but my father did."

Jin pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight, seeing the freckles now on the man. "Wow."

"I got her hair though." Claudette touched her curls. "And her features obviously."

"She was beautiful." Jin slowly let go of the locket, Claudette taking it from his fingers and closing it gently. "I'm sorry you never got the chance to meet them."

"That's just how it was supposed to be I suppose." Claudette let go of the locket, the heart falling onto her chest silently. "I was meant to be alone."

"No." Jin whispered to himself. "No no, that's not true." Jin cleared his throat. "No one is meant to be alone."

"I haven't had family in 22 years." Claudette laid on her back. "I live in the attic of a theater because the owner pitied me. I'm alone."

"Well," Jin laid beside her, folding his hands behind his head. "I'm with you. Does that make you alone?"

"Not now, I suppose." Claudette mumbled.

"When you were with Jungkook out that walk, were you alone?" Jin smiled at the stars, his points coming together perfectly.

"No."

"When you're with us, when you're with Bangtan, you'll never be alone. Never again." Jin promised, his smile slowly relaxing as the silence sat between them again.

'Did I say the right things?' Jin's eyebrows slowly creased. "Claud-"

She hugged him, keeping him on his back just as he was about to sit up. Her eyes were closed, the side of her face squished against his chest while her arms were barely able to wrap themselves around Jin.

"You always know what to say. Thank you."

sorry this was supposed to be out yesterday but i fell asleep in the middle of writing and didn't have enough brain power once i woke up again.

i plan on updating every day at most, but every other at least. i'll try my best, but i am only a sophomore with a job so things may pop up!

also, last time i updated i had maybe 20 reads per chapter and now there's like 600 excuse me-