Idol Next Door

24

"Oh, hyung? What are you doing here? Where's Chim?" Taehyung asked curiously upon entering the room he was supposed to share with Jimin.

"Well, there has been a change of roomie plans earlier and Jimin's with Hoseok now." Yoongi sat by the transparent glass windows of the room, his fingers elegantly gripping on a wine glass. The blinds were drew wide open, revealing the beautiful nightlights of Osaka. He was enjoying the view. "The manager hyungs were looking for you, where have you been?"

"Just went to the café, uh, below." Taehyung's words were timid, taking his coat and shoes off, switching to the typical Japanese slippers the hotel provided.

A deep chuckle resonated from the pale rapper. "I'm pretty sure the café doesn't sell takoyaki." Yoongi eyed the paper bag Taehyung held. They were the street food he bought from the night market. "Come on, you can make a better excuse than that."

"Ah. This was supposed to be for Jimin. Okay, you got me," Taehyung raised his palms in surrender. "I went to Shinsaibashi."

"Hm. Alright." Yoongi downed the remaining dregs before placing the glass on the table. He stood up and drew the curtains close. "It's time to sleep, we'll be leaving early tomorrow."

Taehyung followed his hyung's movements with his eyes. "Aren't you going to nag at me for leaving without permission?"

"Nah. I'm not Seokjin," Yoongi replies simply. "Besides, you're old enough to decide for your own. And old enough to sneak out the hotel, despite clearly having been told not to, and go on night dates in a foreign country where there's a great risk of getting caught, but that's a different conversation."

Taehyung opened his mouth to say something, but he could only purse his lips and look at his hyung in slight surprise. Of course, he sees through him. Why did he even lie to the all-knowing Min Yoongi?

"Don't worry, I won't tell the managers," Yoongi assures.

"Don't misunderstand, hyung. There's nothing between us."

"I know and it's confusing me."

Taehyung quirks a brow, darting the older a questioning gaze.

"You never take such risks for someone who's just a friend, Taehyung-ah."

• • •

The girls line up, posing perfectly with varying hand gestures as the music comes to its end.

"Call for break. You guys worked hard," the choreographer claps. The girls said their thanks and bowed to the choreographer as well as other staff present in the room. They scurry off to their water bottles and rest their tired bodies on the practice room's couch. Dahyun practically laid on the floor, limbs sprawled out to different directions as she was puffing short breaths.

"My body feels like jelly right now," Momo huffs out, lying beside her.

"How about dinner?" Nayeon suggests, earning statements of approval from the other members. "There aren't many restaurants open at this hour. Let's see what food we can order." She taps on the delivery app on her phone and scroll through available restaurants. The other girls, too lazy of touching their phones, gathered around their eldest member.

"Sana, can you hand me my phone?" Momo asks, still lying beside Dahyun, then reaches out her hand to Sana's direction.

Since Sana was the one sitting close to their pile of bags, she rummages through Momo's bag, finding her phone, and finally handing it to the owner.