Untitled, 2018

Chapter 42: Photoshoot

That evening Jimin messaged me asking whether I could make the photoshoot.

Me: Yesssssir. I can.
Blue Hair: Ah. What's your address?
Me: ___ _____ ___. What's yours?
Blue Hair: Pssh. You could look mine up online.
Me: Not the exact apartment. What if I accidentally rob someone else's house?
Blue Hair: Don't worry. Even if you knew, you'd never get past front gates.
Me: 😠

And sure enough, the next morning, his manager showed up to the hotel and called me to let me know he was picking me up. I was so confused but also so delighted that Jimin cared enough to be this friendly with me. I made sure to wear one of my better dresses today, this felt special. His manager mentioned that he was glad to be asked to do some fun stuff for Jimin, who normally was too much of a goody-two-shoes to whine to him and ask for favors like this. As it turned out, I learned that many friends drop by when artists do these activities randomly just to support them, if they're free. Some had more frequent visitors than others, and I was the first Jimin had gotten his manager to drive. I thought about it. He did seem like a busy and focused person, even if he was outgoing. And with his schedule... I bet the boy overworked himself, tsk tsk.

I didn't know what to bring other than a smaller camera and my laptop, so I'd bought some small packs of snacks the night before in case that helped? But once I got there, it was initially so streamlined and busy that I just sat quietly at a distance, ate some of the snacks myself, worked on my laptop, and watched. When they came out of the dressing room they looked so charming I had no words. Scooting closer to the processing photos on a laptop, I looked as each group photo taken popped up on the screen one after the other. There were so so many photographs; It must be a nightmare to choose. In the meantime, I even acquainted myself with some other guests who had stopped by to say hi: a friend, a couple of idols, a celebrity relative with time on their hands, etc.

I plopped on a chair by the photo monitors and ate some chips when I felt the bag ruffle and a hand on mine. I pulled away in surprise. The second hand that had dipped into the bag of chips rustled around and grabbed a fistful. Jimin's head popped up to my right. "Hiya. Cute dress! For me?"
I wasn't sure whether he meant the chips or the dress, but I was too embarrassed to ever imagine he meant the latter. So, I handed him the bag, "All yours. I already finished one cuz I was bored."
"Bored?" He gasped. "Then just imagine how we feel." He laughed.
"Being photographed seems way more fun."
"Is that so?" He stuffed the chips in his mouth and took out his phone to pretend he was taking pictures of me. I rolled my eyes but played along and posed anyway.
Jungkook was the first person being photographed solo, so the other members eventually joined us in our fooling around and chatting about things, except Namjoon, who was off talking to a friend.

Jimin sat next to me to explain a Korean game to me, when I heard a loud, high-pitched voice excitedly squeal several feet behind our group: "Jimin!"
We all turned, and I swear, Jimin turned to stone and dusted away right then and there.
In all her dirty-blonde extensions and hot pink lipstick might stood Baek Hee.

__________________________
Hoseok

A voice rang out behind me and I turned to see a very pretty girl... no, I knew her— Baek Hee. She was an idol in a newer group; I had spoken to a couple of her band mates in the past. I moved my head back to see Jimin, who looked both surprised and mightily uncomfortable. Next to him, Riti sat with her mouth hanging open, looking starstruck, as her eyes darted between Jimin and Baek Hee. The rest of us just looked at Jimin for a response. With a small voice he replied, "H-Hello." Any sign of a smile on his face disappeared and he stood up and started shuffling towards her. From my angle I saw Riti grab his sweater at the small of his back to hold him back. He glanced down, and Riti had a slight smile on her face. However, her eyes were wider than usual, and she shook her head very slightly, then cocked it to the right.
With Jimin, I too turned to look, and saw three of our managers whispering while looking directly at us and Baek Hee. Jimin gulped and stood still, putting a small smile on his face too.
"How did you end up here?" He asked Baek Hee.
"Oh, a friend told me." She said sweetly.

Taehyung looked at Jimin, said a barely audible greeting to Baek Hee, and walked to the other side of the commotion to me. I exchanged a confused look with Yoongi and Jin as we all said hello to our guest. Riti just got up, bowed a little and hid behind Taehyung and me.

"Why did you come here?" Jimin asked through an uncomfortable grin.
"I wanted to say hi... I missed you."
If Jimin could choke on air he would've right then, because his face went deathly pale and he almost stumbled back.
Missed you? Does this girl have a crush on him? None of us knew what to say, and I saw Jimin's head working overtime as he walked past her to the door muttering that he needed a water break, and that Baek Hee can feel free to join him if she wants. Jimin was usually quite the smooth talker, so it was weird seeing him awkward around a girl.

She waved at us with a big grin on her face before bouncing on out the door after him. Jin broke the awkwardness by walking closer, automatically making us stand in a quiet huddle. "What the f***— she looks familiar. Who is she?"
"Baek Hee. I don't like her. I've spoken to her a few times." Taehyung said, pouting.
I turned to look at Riti, who was looking nervous. "You know her?"
"Me? No... I mean, yeah I've seen her group once at a music show. I think she said something random to me once but I never introduced myself."
She didn't seem to be lying. But it definitely looked like there was more to the story...

We tried talking about other things, but at the very least Riti and Jin seemed very distracted. Riti kept glancing over at the managers, who were whispering too. After a long long wait, Taehyung was already halfway through his solo photoshoot, and Jimin walked back in with Baek Hee behind him, both smiling.

Baek Hee walked behind me straight to Riti, who was kind of hiding again, and grabbed her hands. In alarm, I saw Jin step to help Riti from the possible psycho, but Baek Hee spoke first. "Hey! I know you! From the studio! Jimin's told me so much about you. Did you know you got my head manager fired?!"
What?