[ 4 ]
Jimin helps Seokjin, who is still busy preparing breakfast today. Jimin washes the dishes with a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Seokjin hyung, I’m talking about our young lady.”
"Yeah, why our young lady?"
"You haven't been to school since middle school. Are you sure you're okay? Are you still afraid of crowded places?"
Jimin's worries became Seokjin's worries. Seokjin definitely felt that it wasn't right to leave the young lady like this.
"Namjoon. Come here for a second."
"Why are you calling?"
Namjoon walks into the kitchen without hesitation at Seokjin's call, and Seokjin whispers something in Namjoon's ear, saying that a good idea has come to him.
.
"What should I do today? Should I ask Taehyung to play with me?"
Spending every day at home is all I can think about, so getting through the day feels daunting. Of course, I don't feel lonely or bored because I have housekeepers, but there's definitely a sense of emptiness.
'Your mother abandoned you?'
'Abandoned?'
'A piece of trash that can't be compared.'
It's not like I'm completely indifferent. Other kids are probably in high school by this age, but I'm really doing nothing. I'm lucky enough to be born into a wealthy family and receive love, but this, too, is a source of fear for me.
"Because I never know when I might be abandoned. Even here."
A deep sadness, unspoken, etched across Yeoju's face. While she was lost in her thoughts, a knock was heard at the door.
"Come in."
In response to Yeoju's answer, Jimin peeks his head through the open door.
"Miss, come down for a moment!"
"why?"
"You must be bored if you stay like that. Hurry up!"
I was definitely bored. I obediently followed Jimin's instructions and walked downstairs. There, the butlers stood, neatly dressed in their uniforms, exuding a refreshing air.
"What are you guys doing now?"
"Miss, you should try it on too!"
Taehyung hands me a school uniform he was holding and pushes me into the bathroom. Wearing a school uniform is something I've always wanted to avoid, but with the butlers so excited, I couldn't just kick them out because of my mood. Wearing a uniform doesn't necessarily mean going to school. I console myself, and now that I'm wearing it, I feel strangely happy.
.
"Young lady, you really look like an innocent high school girl!"
Taehyung exclaimed in admiration the moment I came out of the living room in my school uniform. The other butlers were also watching me with fatherly smiles, unbeknownst to anyone else.
"Where on earth did you get that school uniform?"
"I'm going out to play with the girl."
"Wear this with me? Where?"
At my question, the butlers exchanged glances and smiled meaningfully.
.
The place I went with the butlers was near a nearby school. Perhaps because there were so many schools there, I occasionally saw students leaving school. This kind of place with so many students was not a pleasant place for me.
"Miss, let's go do something fun."
Taehyung grabbed my wrist and led me off somewhere. The butlers followed suit. Since I'd always done as they told me, I followed them without question this time, too. Following Taehyung, we arrived at an arcade bustling with students. The loud noise of the arcade machines made the place feel unfamiliar and terrifying.
"Miss, let's play a brag car game!"
Jungkook puts coins into an arcade machine with a car steering wheel attached. Wait, I've never done anything like this before.
"I don't know what to do."
"Just turn the steering wheel as if you were driving."
Jungkook. So, first of all, I've never driven before. I tried to tell Jungkook that I absolutely couldn't do it, but Jimin and Taehyung made me sit in the chair, so I ended up trying to drive for the first time in my life. I underestimated it as a game and got a big nosebleed. The sound of the car engine when the car is actually moving and the road that made it seem like it was coming at me made me scream and twitch the steering wheel wildly. As a result, the car I was driving started crashing into the nearby buildings with the force of destroying all the buildings. Jungkook was turning the steering wheel with a very relaxed expression and without even using his hands.
"Miss, this game won't be fun."
I hate you. Jeon Jungkook. I hate you.
"Jeon Jungkook. Do it again!"
As I signaled Jimin to insert a coin, his fighting spirit burning, Jimin stumbled and put it in the arcade machine. In the second round, he played more consistently than the first, but Jungkook, already a god at this game, couldn't easily defeat him. All I could see was me chasing Jungkook. At that moment, Taehyung blocked Jungkook's view with both hands.
"Who am I?"
"Kim Taehyung, aren't you going to clean this up?"
Due to Taehyung's interference, Jeongguk lost his pace and I naturally won the comeback.
"Wow! I won."
"Yay! The young lady won."
"Miss. That's amazing!"
Jimin cheered, rejoicing over my victory as if it were his own, and Seokjin smiled happily at my delight. Namjoon applauded silently. I smiled triumphantly at Jungkook, receiving cheers from the butlers. Jungkook seemed pleased by my smile, and responded with a bright smile.
"Oh, Didial? Do you still have this?"
"Should I show off my skills after a long time?"
A showdown unfolded between Taehyung and Jimin. The song was Beethoven's Symphony. Taehyung and Jimin's feet naturally found the hard mode and pressed it. As they pressed the yellow pedal signaling the start, a swarm of arrows poured out on the screen. Jimin and Taehyung's feet moved dazzlingly to the uptempo of the song, as if they were playing sheet music.
"Wow. How long does it take to do something like that?"
Even as I gaped at the battle between Taehyung and Jimin, students inside the arcade began to flock to the scene, one by one. It seemed as if this was no ordinary match. The result was a triple S for both. They said it was a high score, a feat rarely achieved in that game.
"Hey, it's a tie."
"Miss, we can have one more round. Would you like to try it?"
"It's okay. I've never done this before."
"I'll help you, miss."
Taehyung took my hand and led me up to the Didial platform. The eyes of the crowd gathered around me naturally turned to me.
"When the arrow appears on the screen, just step in the direction of the arrow. Since this is your first time, I'll take one space."
Taehyung naturally touched one of the boxes marked with a blue arrow with his hand.
"Then, since this is your first time, let's go with easy mode."
Jimin chooses Apink's Mr. Chu, the easiest level. Unlike when he chose Beethoven's Symphony, the arrows move up the screen slowly. This one seems even more chaotic. While Taehyung was creating a combo with the blue arrows he was controlling, I accidentally stepped on his hand. A short groan echoed from Taehyung, unable to hold back his efforts.
"Taehyung. Are you okay? I'm sorry. I was so flustered."
As I lower my body to Taehyung's eye level and take his hands in mine, Taehyung watches me blankly as I look up at him.
"It's okay, miss."
"Look where."
As I was stroking Taehyung's reddened hand and blowing my breath on the reddened area, Taehyung lowered his head with a pale face, as if he couldn't bear to watch me like that.
"Taehyung. Are you really that sick? Your face is bright red. You're not crying, are you?"
"No, Miss. I don't think I can stand it any longer. Could you please let go of my hand?"
"Huh? What can't you stand?"
The moment I opened my eyes wide and made eye contact with Taehyung, he hugged me tightly into his arms.
"You're so cute, I can't stand it. Can a real person be this doll-like?"
"Kim Taehyung, execute him."
Taehyung was left with both arms held by the other butlers at the direction of Yoongi, who was watching the situation.
.
After a wild night of fun, I was feeling hungry. There was a snack bar near the arcade, and the lady there was stirring tteokbokki soup with a ladle. Oh, come to think of it, there was a snack bar, wasn't there? I didn't have any friends, so I just passed by it every day.
"Miss, would you like to eat some tteokbokki before you go?"
Yoongi notices my gaze heading toward the snack bar and points to it with his hand. "Yeah. I'm wearing my uniform today, and the butlers are with me for once, so it's okay."
"Yeah. Let's eat tteokbokki. I'm hungry!"
"Yahoo! Long time no see."
As I entered the snack shop, the butlers also got excited and entered the snack shop.
"Ma'am, please give me 10 servings of tteokbokki."
"Oh my. Why are there so many handsome bachelors here? The young lady is also very pretty."
The snack bar owner looked at me and the butlers and greeted me with kind words, as if she were her own grandchild. Yoongi seemed pleased when she complimented me on my beauty, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Right? Our young lady, isn't she pretty?"
"Min Yoongi. Stop it."
I was embarrassed and tried to dry my hair, but this time, Jeongguk fixed my messy hair.
"Why? It's true that our young lady is pretty."
"The young lady is receiving a lot of love from young people."
I feel embarrassed to face the lady for some reason. They're housekeepers, so they're nice to me.
"Ma'am, I'll go. Can I use this ladle?"
Seokjin got up from his seat and helped the woman, as it seemed difficult for her to carry ten servings by herself.
"Brother, give it to me."
Jimin helps Seokjin and Jungkook naturally carries the water in a cup.
"This is something I should be doing. I feel so sorry."
"No, ma'am. Please take a moment to catch your breath."
"Handsome young men have kind hearts too."
The old woman looked at the butlers with warm eyes, as if she were looking at her own son.
.
"Miss, please try it."
As I stared blankly at the tteokbokki right in front of me, Yoongi picked up a piece of rice cake with a fork and brought it to my mouth. I naturally accepted the tteokbokki and began to savor it, slurping it down.
"it's good."
The butlers all picked up their forks at the sight of me enjoying myself.
"Brother first. Brother first. Get out of the way."
Seokjin knocks away the forks of the other butlers and holds his fork out in front of me. I eat the tteokbokki like a baby bird receiving food from its mother. The butlers watch me munching on the tteokbokki with pleased faces.
"miss."
"huh?"
Jungkook's gaze met mine for a moment.
"How long do you plan on being cute, Miss?"
I almost spit out the tteokbokki I was eating at Jungkook's sudden question. His mouth was forcibly sealed by Taehyung's fork. Jimin followed suit, shoving a piece of tteok into Jungkook's mouth.
"Jungkook is like a hamster."
As I adored Jungkook's chubby cheeks, Taehyung began shoving tteokbokki into his mouth. Taehyung's eyes were shining brightly at me. It was obvious to anyone who saw him, as if he were seeking praise.
"I'm cute too."
"Kim Taehyung, eat and talk!"
"Too much."
Maybe it was because Taehyung ate too much tteokbokki, but the tteok was sticking out of his mouth as if it was going to explode at any moment.
"Hey. Kim Taehyung. Get your face out of here!"
"Don't look at me. Don't look at me!"
Jungkook and Jimin were busy pushing Taehyung's face away from each other on either side. Watching the three of them, I laughed, and Namjoon and Seokjin, who had been watching me, looked at each other and smiled softly.
.
On the way home after finishing all my schedule, I felt like I'd grown attached to the uniform I was wearing.
"Miss, how was your day?"
Seokjin cautiously asked me how I was feeling. I felt a little closer to my school uniform today. I used to hate everything about school, but now I have some pretty good memories.
"It was really good."
As I gazed at Seokjin with a cheerful expression, the other butlers joined in, sharing a satisfied smile. I don't know if I'll ever forget that day, but I'm much less afraid of the uniform now than I was this morning. Is this all thanks to the precious butlers by my side?