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𝐒un rays beamed across the teeming city of Busan, coloring the tar roads a golden brown, while the sky above was reflecting strokes of orange and yellow hues; bearing navy clouds in its wake. Avians of multiple different breeds littered the masterpiece that floated above humanity's head, many of the birds holding small twigs and leaves between their beaks to build a home in one of the trees that scattered the grounds of Busan.

The city was bustling: cars either creating a harmony of hoots on the packed roads or mine workers walking home, who were often being stopped by the benign salesmen on the pavement that were selling either low-priced sweets or harvest that they had stolen from the fields that weren't too far from where they were situated.

Students were prone to walking home with their friends instead of being confined to the small space that the school buses held. It was safer to walk home these days, not much of the inhabitants of Busan were filled with malice, the select few either locked behind bars or living in another city hectares away from the city that was tenanted by Park Jimin.

If it hadn't completely been for the fact that Jimin's parents had asked him to pop into the store on his way home, then he wouldn't have been distracted by the message they sent to him letting the coin that he had already inserted into the claw machine get used by someone else, that being the boy that was using Jimin's coin to try and grapple whatever soft toy they possibly could.

Jimin wasn't a particularly timid boy; it came as no problem to confront the game-thief for stealing his chance of winning a cute soft toy and bringing it home to his little sister.

Jimin edged up towards the taller boy, lightly tapping his shoulder. It was evident that he was dead set on winning a plushie due to the beads of sweat running down his forehead.

"Hi, um... you're kind of playing on my coin so could you please, maybe... give it back?" Jimin teetered left and right, shifting his weight between both of his feet awaiting the stranger's response. The boy didn't so much as blink an eye at him, fully immersed on the mission at hand, getting that plushie.

Jimin wasn't going to stand for it and decided to tap the stranger's shoulder again, a little bit harder this time, to which the boy merely glanced at Jimin through the corner of his eye and mumbled a simple, "Wait".

He was shocked at the audacity of the stranger. He, first, took Jimin's chances at being able to bring a small gift home to his sister, and now the thief was telling him to wait!

He sighed with great irritation, forcefully exhaling that the hair in his face was momentarily blown up, only to fall back on his forehead. A slight smile reached the boy's lips as he managed to grab a toy, his eyes gleaming at the treasure he managed to seize.

The two watched as the claw slowly made it's way to the collection box to be dropped in, ready for collection.

Hurriedly, the stranger bent down and picked the pink fluffy bunny up, looking down upon his winnings with complacency. Jimin began to open his mouth to give the boy a piece of his mind on using his money to whine about how that toy could have been his if he got to use his coin. There was a pause of Jimin angrily waiting for an answer as the boy stared at the fluffy toy, and to his surprise, the stranger responded by giving the fluffy toy to him. Jimin's mouth dropped to the floor and the stranger smiled wordlessly before walking off.

Although shocked, he reached over his shoulder for his school bag, bringing it to his chest and unzipping it, tucking the bunny away as a surprise for later. He then proceeded to take his phone out of his blazer pocket, since he was in school uniform, and read over the short but important grocery list sent by his mother.

Eomma | 16:34

hey jiminie, please fetch some

rice cakes and noodles on the way

home, we're going to make

tteokbokki tonight! ❤

With that message, Jimin knew that it was his duty to get only the finest quality rice cakes in the shopping mart that he possibly could, which weren't much of a good quality, but adding a bit of fun to the missions that life held wasn't all that bad.

He was just thankful that he hadn't spent all of his money on kimbap and aloe water at school, to which he was very close to doing at the time.

Jimin walked through the store's aisles, inspecting shelf after shelf for the items he was looking for.

After a short fifteen minutes, Jimin came to the till with frozen rice cakes in one hand, and a packet of noodles in the other.

He set both on the counter and smiled at the worker that rang up the items, what was being a little friendly in such a gloomy world? Smiling costed nothing, after all, even if the giver wasn't receiving, which was true in Jimin's case. The teller just reflected an expressionless face as he gave him the total, encouraging him to leave by screaming at the top of his lungs, "Next customer please!"

♡

Jimin had burst into the doors of his home, his baby sister eyeing him with curiosity as her older brother panted, sweat soaking his school shirt and his face as red as a pepper.

He strolled to the little girl, giving her rosy cheeks a little pinch before leaning down and kissing her forehead, to which she just giggled.

"How is my little princess doing?" Jimin babied her. He had an extremely soft spot for his little sister, often surprising her with whatever he possibly could; whether it be a small chocolate that he bought at his school's tuck shop, or a sticker that he had sneakily stolen from his teacher's desk, who often wondered where his stickers were all disappearing to. Despite that, Jimin continued to steal the stickers and wouldn't have done so for anyone else but his cute sister, Jihee.

"I've learnt how to count to yeol today!" she giggled, making grabby hands at her older brother who had yet to put his school bag down, which contained a little surprise for her that would have been revealed later.

Jimin's eyes widened and began to sparkle. He leaned down and put his hands under her delicate armpits, bringing her up to the side of his body, resting her on his hip.

"That's so cool, Jihee! Show me!" He tickled his little sister, making her burst into a fit of giggles.

"H-hana, dul, s-set— stop! I ca-can't say the n-numbers when you're t-tickli—" Jihee panted between giggles, barely managing to get her point across. Jimin suddenly stopped, stiffening upright like a soldier, nodding his head to give her the permission to proceed.

"Okay! No interuptsies! yaksokhisibnikka?" Jihee looked up desperately at her brother. Albeit she absolutely loved being tickled, she also wanted to show her older brother how much she had been learning.

"Yaksokhaeyo," Jimin gleamed, intertwining his pinky finger with jihee's much tinier one, leaning his forehead against hers before pulling back and letting her proceed with her counting.

"Hana... dul~... set~... n-ne..." Suddenly, she couldn't remember which number came after set, and that sent her into an absolute frenzy of emotions. Tears began to well up in her eyes that became glossy in a matter of seconds. She felt as though she had disappointed her brother. Jihee just so badly wanted to appear cool.

"No, baby. Please don't cry!" Jimin's eyes widened as tears were rolling down her cheeks, small sounds of sniffling escaping her tiny nose.

With that, Jimin knew what he had to do. He started kissing his sister's face all over, making her eyes gradually dry up and a growing smile as well as a growing blush appear on her face.

"I can teach you after we've eaten, how does that sound?" He offered to his little sister, planting one last kiss on her forehead, to which she just nodded. Then suddenly, as if fate had come together, his mother called him to the kitchen to bring the groceries and help with the preparation of the food.

Before heading to the kitchen, Jimin placed Jihee on the floor and watched as her small feet padded to the living room, plopping onto the cosy sofa and sinking into the fluffy pillows, grabbing ahold of the donut shaped one and hugging it closely to her chest. It was her favorite cushion. Jimin giggled softly while shaking his head, shimmying his school bag off of his shoulders and hanging it on one of the jacket hooks cemented firmly to the creamy beige wall that greeted one as they entered the house, making sure that he hung it high enough so that Jihee wouldn't get her clutches on it. He didn't want her taking a peek at her surprise before even receiving it, because what was the point of it being a surprise?

Jimin walked into the kitchen, dipping his head in his father's direction who gave him a thumbs up and a bright smile in response. One could say that Mr. Park was a complete softy and that he cherished his children, but the man still had a few flaws here and there, one being that he was quieter than the average person. Though, Jimin didn't mind... the only noise that appeased his senses was music.

"Jiminie! You're home." Mrs. Park rushed towards her son that she treasured, squeezing his cheeks between her hands and plopping a wet kiss on his forehead, to which the receiver's face scrunched and leaned back.

"Hi Eomma." Jimin dragged out the 'a', clearly frustrated at the sheet of saliva layering the small section of his forehead, quickly being wiped off with the cuff of his navy blazer's sleeve.

Jimin couldn't say that he was a diehard fan of physical contact, a few hugs here and there would have sufficed, but kissing his forehead was pushing it. It may have just been a teenage thing since he didn't mind littering Jihee's face with soft kisses.

"Did you buy the groceries?" Mrs. Park asked, looking at the plastic shopping bag that he clutched.

"Um... no, these are video games," he said, raising the bag and swinging it in front of his mother's face before laughing sheepishly and placing it on the island counter, beginning to unpack its contents.

"Ahh, Jimin. You're always so naughty!" Mrs. Park's smile could be heard through her speech.

Jimin knew that he had a nice family and he had never taken them for granted. His parents were buoyant and understanding adults although he knew that even their knowledge of himself stretched up to a certain point.

There were just some things that adults and teenagers could not possibly have a clear understanding of, whether it be why Jimin's earphones were always in, or why he never did any extra murals. Jimin always brushed both off by either playing his music louder or saying that his school had no entertaining clubs to join. Even though he wouldn't have known since he had never taken the initiative to check any of the clubs out, often coming up with the whole 'tomorrow' vindication. 'Tomorrow' was always a passage of time that never seemed to have a set date, but no one really bothered him about it anymore, so he wasn't all that pressed.

"Help me with the dinner please, baby boo." Mrs. Park cooed, to which Jimin cringed lightly before making his way to the counter and taking the ramen out of its packet, getting ready to prepare some tteokbokki.

♡

By the time Jimin had cleaned up the table, Jimin's parents had gone to bed. He was then summoned into Jihee's pink blanket fort, who was anticipating the 'pleasant surprise' that her brother had alluded to in the conversations held at the dinner table.

The fluffy toy was currently hidden behind his back, Jihee often standing on her tip toes to try and see what treasure he kept behind his back, soon growing frustrated that her legs were just too short.

She then resorted to tackling her unsuspecting prey that was Park Jimin, to which he gasped, feeling betrayed, and having to quickly slip the bunny away from the landing spot to which his back was about to occupy in order to not break the bunny before even giving it to Jihee.

"Ah! You wounded me!" Jimin fake cried, Jihee quickly rising to her feet and rubbing his arms as if to compensate for his 'fake' injuries.

"I-I'm sorry Jiminie... I just wanted to see my surprise..." she mumbled, bottom lip turned downward as her eyes remained trained to the floor.

"Hmm... do you forgive her, Bunny-ssi?" Jimin raised his eyebrow, then grabbing the bunny and turning it into his puppet, replying with, "Only if Jihee-noona promises to love me forever and ever!" Bunny-ssi replied, to which Jihee sprung up and grabbed the toy from his clutches.

"I promise to love you forever and ever and ever and ever!" she giggled before planting a soft kiss on her brother's cheek. He was smiling from ear to ear.

"Thank you so much, Jiminie! I love you so so much!" she said, slipping back into her hypnotized state that came about when she first laid eyes on Bunny-ssi.

"No problem, Jihee. I hope you like it." Jimin said, pinching her cheek before slowly getting up to resign

from the blanket fort and take refuge in his own room, where he had to return to the 'real world' and finish his very 'real' assignments.

"Where are you going?" His sister sulked.

"I have some work to finish up with, but Jiminie promises that he'll talk to you tomorrow. How does that sound?" The boy suggested, one hundred percent certain that Jihee would say yes.

She nodded and hugged his leg before he almost reached the door.

"Oh yeah, Jiminie~. Why were you so red when you came in? You looked like a tomato!" Jihee giggled. He rubbed his neck, a tad bit embarrassed. "Umm... the stray dog chased me on my way home." With that, Jihee burst into a fit of giggles, falling to the floor with Bunny-ssi held tightly to her chest. Jimin sighed and leaving to his room.

He had so much homework that he just didn't complete, coming up with the idea to rather finish it at school. Surely one of his friends would have had the answers for him.

With that revelation, he switched off all of the lights and snuggled into his bed, slowly dozing off, thinking of nothing else but the mysterious stranger at the claw machine. The same question running through his head that arose at the time he saw the stranger:

How did he manage to grab something on the first try?

───※ ·❆· ※───

Glossary

eomma (엄마) - mom

tteokbokki (떡볶이) - a korean dish comprised of rice cakes, noodles and vegetables / protein of choice

kimbap (김밥) - a korean dish very similar to sushi

yaksokhisibnikka (약속하십니까) - pinky promise?

yaksokhaeyo (약속해요) - pinky promise

yeol (열) - ten

hana (하나) - one

dul (둘) - two

set (셋) - three

bunny-ssi (번니씨) - mr. bunny