before you love me | jjk

chapter fifty-one

All of a sudden it made sense to Narae why Asa had said see you later earlier on in the day. Narae had thought she had just misspoke, but it was because she already knew about the birthday surprise in advance.

Jungkook looked up when she didn't respond and saw her crestfallen expression, "You okay? You don't seem too happy. Did you not want to go?"

She bit her lip as she looked away from him, fighting to keep her displeasure off her face, "I do! I just thought you'd be the one coming with me. I was looking forward to spending time with you that's all."

He dropped the items and strode towards her, slipping an arm around her waist and using the other to tilt her chin to face him. "I'd love nothing more than to be there with you. But you know how it is. The fans wouldn't be happy if it got out that we were taking trips together. I want you to enjoy your day without stressing about them. I thought you would appreciate that."

Narae didn't want to point out that he seemed to be the one that was stressed about their opinions and instead let out a deep sigh. Her conversation with the girls the day before came to her mind again but she pushed it to the further recesses of her mind. He was doing a nice thing for her on her birthday – she should focus on that instead.

She might not be going with who she thought she would, but it didn't mean she didn't enjoy spending time with Asa. In fact, it could be seen as a re-do of the previous year when Asa had to leave early because she was sick.

With her new resolve cemented in her mind, she schooled her face into a happy expression. "I do appreciate it and you're right – it's not worth the hassle. I'm sure I'll have an amazing time regardless!"

"Exactly." He kissed her nose before nudging her back towards the closet. "Now go pack your stuff, you don't want to miss your flight."

✩ ✩ ✩

Hours later, Asa and Narae were eating dinner after attending the live show.

As Jungkook had outlined, they'd been taken on a tour around Brussels, visiting the famous landmarks like the Atomium and Mini-Europe, as well as the main film locations of Poirot like the Brussels Town Hall, Arcade du Cinquantenaire and the Grand Place amongst others.

Of course, when in Belgium, it was completely necessary to try the beer, which is exactly what the girls had done at the beginning of the tour. Asa had drank hers happily, whilst Narae took a sip and immediately gave up. It seemed that no matter the country that made it, Narae would always hate beer.

Narae had had the time of her life when they went inside Choco-Story Brussels, a museum where they learnt about the history of chocolate and also got to try pralines made right in front them. As a chocolate lover, it was one of her favourite parts of the day and she had purchased so many bags of them at the gift shop to take back for the others to try, that she had been unable to carry them herself.

After the tour, they had made a very quick and rushed pit stop at the hotel to drop their stuff, change and head out again for the show. If Choco-Story had been an amazing experience, seeing David Suchet live on stage had completely blown that out of the park. She got to hear first-hand from the man just how he'd entered the industry and perfected his craft, as well as hear little anecdotes about his time filming Poirot. She had left the event feeling energised and inspired by his passion.

Now they were at a quaint Belgian restaurant, recommended by their tour guide, enjoying the various famous delicacies of Belgium. 

"How are you finding today?" Asa asked her in between mouthfuls of food.

"It was so lovely! I loved it so much, thank you!" Narae beamed at her.

"Don't thank me, I just showed up – Jungkook is the one that paid for everything." Asa said.