The New Managers

Chapter Four

Published: April 8, 2019
Word count: 2126

Mina gasps. "Oh my. Hoseok-Nim are you alright?"
Hoseok look up at the mention of his name and smiles his bright smile, bowing to the girls a little. "I'm okay. Sorry. Didn't see you." He assures in broken English.
"It's okay, Hoseok-Nim. Have you been practicing?" SuHee asks.
He nods and looks down for a moment. "Not right."
Mina is relieved that he's alright, but frowns. She reaches up and pats his shoulder. In Korean, she tries to comfort him.
"I'm sure you were doing amazing. Don't get down if you mess up a little. You're a very talented dancer."
He looks at her and smiles again. "Thank you." He bows a little. "Oh, I forgot to respond to the text. I'll be there tonight. It sounds fun." He assures and SuHee smiles a little, not understanding what they're talking about.

The elevator opens again and he exits. Mina can't think of anything to say, so just smiles and waves as he goes.
"He's coming tonight."
SuHee nods, staring at the floor numbers. "That's good...." there's a moment of silence and SuHee sighs. "I get the vibe even more after meeting him in person."
Mina leans against the wall. "I do too...that underlying rift of sadness?"
SuHee nods and watches the numbers for the floor change. The door opens again and she steps out, grabbing Mina's hand.
"Where are we headed, anyway?"
SuHee hesitates. "Oh yeah... we were just looking for Hoseok-Nim...." she looks at her friend and shrugs. "Just getting our steps in I guess."
Mina squeezes her hand. "Lighten up. He'll be alright. We'll help him. Promise."
She takes a deep breath and nods. "Right. Now let's find some juice!"
The older girl chuckles. "Lets."

After a while, the girls teach a cafeteria area and find Jin and Jungkook eating at the far table. Jungkook looks up and sees them both.
"NOONAS!" He yells, scaring a couple staff who he bows to.
Jin laughs loudly and Jungkook waves the girls over. Mina waves back excitedly and walks quickly to their table.
"Nice to see hyung and maknae getting along so nicely." She says in Korean.
Jin smiles a little, mouth stuffed with food. Jungkook scoots over to make room for SuHee and Jin motions for Mina to sit by him. Mina flushes slightly, but sits. Jungkook grins happily and points to his food.
"You want.. bite?" He offers SuHee.
SuHee smiles at his broken English and nods, taking a piece and happily chewing. "Thank you. It's good!"
The maknae looks extremely pleased by this. "Good good!" He claps once and then stuffs some noodles in his mouth.

SuHee can't help but laugh at his childish behavior and struggles not to choke on the food. Jin looks at Mina and smiles, motioning towards his food openly. Her stomach rumbles, reminding her that she had only snacked around today. She awkwardly pokes a piece of unidentified meat with a toothpick and pops it in her mouth. She is pleasantly surprised when it tastes much better than it looks.
"Mmm!" She hums, chewing.
Jin grins and sends her one of his famous winks.
"I like Korean food." SuHee announces and Jungkook nearly chokes on his food, making Jin burst into laughter.
SuHee bites her lip, realizing the Maknae had taken it wrong. Mina covers her mouth to keep from laughing. Jungkook recovers quickly and laughs it off, then runs his fingers through his hair, making it messy.
SuHee looks at his hair and smiles. "You guys look best with your natural hair color." She announces, teasingly tugging on a strand of Jungkook's undyed hair.
Both men look confused and glance between Mina and Suhee until Mina realizes they didn't understand the English and quickly translates.
"Ooh!" Jungkook nods. "We like it too!"

SuHee smiles and Jin turns to Mina. "Your Korean is good." He praises with a heart-warming smile.
Mina bows her head to him. "감사합니다 (Thank you). I've been learning for years."
He starts to say something but yells loudly when Jimin appears on his other side. Jin's scream brings everyone to laughter and he huffs, pouting for a moment before giving Jimin an annoyed look.
"I want to hang out with the new managers too. Don't be selfish, Hyung." He whines in Korean, laying his head on the older's arm and giving him an adorable pout.
This causes SuHee cover her mouth to keep from fangirling at the adorable sight. Jin looks at the boy for a second and sighs, tilting his head slightly.
"Fine, but don't steal their attention." Jin warns quietly in their mother tongue.
"We're running out of room here." Mina chuckles.
"Don't worry!" Jimin cries, running over and taking a chair from an empty table. He drags it over and sits with a happy huff. "How your day?" He asks cutely.
SuHee glances at Mina, almost pleading for help. The boy was being too cute and she really wanted to practically baby him.
"It's been good. I'm happy to work with you." SuHee answers, trying to talk a little slower than normal.
Jimin's eyes practically disappear when he grins widely.