"So you and Namjoon are dating?"
"Yes. Officially."
"So what were you doing before?"
"Just hanging."
"Hmm," my mom folded her arms, furrowing her brow in thought. “And he knows about this?”
I chuckle out an “Of course, mom. It’s a mutual agreement.”
“And you’ll be doing this…in public?” I don’t know why this is unbelievable to her. SHe practically pushed me on the man every chance she got.
Huffing I answer, “Yes, mom.”
She sits for a bit longer, processing, I suppose.
“And what about the mutt bi-…umm…the other girl? The one you got into that fight with? Is she still around?”
“No. ANd I better not catch her anywhere near Namjoon or they both are getting it.” My mom told me a long time ago, fight the one you’re fucking. And although Namjoon and I aren’t having sex, if I even hear Sun-mi was in the vicinity, he’d better run.
“That’s my girl,” my mom says with a smile. “Welp,” she slapped her hands on her thighs before standing from my bed. “I guess I will leave and let you get ready for your…date.”
“Thanks, mom,” I waved, glad that she was finally leaving. We both heard a knock on the door and I was pretty sure I was running late.
“I’ll get it,” she said and headed out the door. Hearing Namjoon’s voice, I quickly stripped out my robe. Pulling the towel from around my still wet hair, I quickly dried as much as I could before sitting on my bed and slathering myself with lotion. At my dresser, I pulled out my undergarments, some light blue shorts and a pink tank top and slid them on. I thought of putting on my sandals but as I had no idea where we were going, I decided to go with my converses.
Looking myself over in the mirror, I looked casual enough. Nothing fancy, as he had told me. My hair still damp, I pulled it back in a loose bun and sprayed on a bit of perfume. Grabbing a necklace, I hooked it around my neck and headed out the door. Namjoon and my mom were still conversing in the living room, a smile on his face and an all out cackle from her.
He turned to see me approaching, making my mother turn as well.
“Hey,” his voice sounding jovial but his features, more predatory.
“Hey,” I say back knowing my mom is watching our every interaction.
“I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Mom!”
“I know, i know,” she throws her hands up. “You two kids go on and get this dating thing started. Have fun,” she practically pushes me out the door. Namjoon and I get through the threshold and down the steps before she decided to take a quick quip at us.
“Just know that, even though you two are now officially dating, bedroom trips in the middle of the night are still officially prohibited.”
😭
“Oh, god, that was embarrassing,” I cover my face as we walk up the street, away from my mom. I turn to see her still standing on the porch, leaning on a post, watching us walk away.
“It’s okay,” Namjoon says beside me. “I kinda deserved that.”
“Anyway, where are we going,” I quickly change the subject, my mother not a topic I want to start our first official date on.
“It’s my safe haven. A place I go to when I want to get away from everyone and all the BS,” he smiles wickedly.
I laugh and slightly lean into him. “Are you kidnapping me? Taking me somewhere you can have me all to yourself?”
“Oh, you wish,” he plays along. “But you made me promise moderate touching so that kinda defeats the purpose. You’ll just have to wait until I can call you my official girlfriend to have that.”
I put on a pretend pout and cross my arms. “Daddy’s being mean today.”
“Hey! None of that. That’s unfair and against the rules!”
“I said we couldn’t touch, not flirt.”
He looked down at me with a wagging finger before a taxi pulled up in front of his house.
“Let’s go.”
"Joon, you're almost 20? Why don't you have a car?," I asked as I climbed into the back seat with him crawling in beside me.
He not so discreetly passed the driver a paper before turning to answer me.
"Did you forget how easily things break around me?"
I covered my mouth trying not to laugh because, yeah, for a second, I had. This man could trip over lint and somehow end life as we know it.
"Yeah," he conceded. "That. I think, at least for now, I'll stick to my two left feet, my bike, and an occasional taxi. Trust me. It's for the greater good."
Laughing with no filter now, I nodded my head in agreement. "You might be right."
"So no clues as to where we're going?," I prodded as the ride went on.
"I told you, it's my, well, one of my many escape destinations. I have a few. But this one is probably my fav. But you'll see when we get there."
I playfully huffed, crossing my arms and turning away from him, my focus on the many trees and buildings we were passing by.
"Fine. Be that way then."
I could see in my reflection, the evil grin that spread over his face.
"Someone's being a moody babygirl today," he slinked closer to me to whisper in my ear.
Damn!
I could see why our pet names for each other might not be fair play.
I fought and failed to not react but didn't turn around. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had affected me. At least not until he tapped my shoulder and called me that one more time.
"Babygirl," a melodious tone with a question at the end.
"Hmm," my weak ass turning to see what Daddy needed from me and finding my lips and nose smashing into his. He laced his fingers around my neck and kissed me deeply before pulling away with a slight chuckle. Our noses still rubbing, he looked me in my eyes and whispered, "Patience."
😋
We ended up at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Unbeknownst to me, Namjoon was a true art fanatic. Watching the way his eyes would light up in front of a particular exhibit was truly mind-blowing. I saw glass bottles hanging from the ceiling. Hanging at different lengths and in different colors, yes, but nothing spectacular. He saw the symmetry in it. The uniqueness of it.
“I’ve always stood in awe of how an artist could rearrange common household or street items and make them into something magnificent,” he said as we stood in front of a fish bowl filled with tiny trees and a makeshift river. A little cabin stood in the middle, one of the lights on in the window, a shadowy figure writing in the fog.
We walked around for hours, enjoying one exhibit after the next, and I began to see why this was his safe place. It was quiet despite hundreds of people walking around the place. It was a reverence here. No one dared to disrupt it.
“How long have you been a fan of art?,” I asked as we were seated outside the museum grabbing a bite to eat.
“For about as long as I can remember,” he replied after gulping down half his bottle of water. It was still so hot in Seoul.
“My mom sent me a postcard when I was, I think, five. She had a business trip somewhere and was gone for a while. She wrote this long note on the back. I can’t even remember what she said. Something about missing me and she’d be home soon but, on the front was a painting of a phoenix. It was coming out of a volcano, the sunset a brilliant backdrop in reds, yellows, and oranges with just a hint of purple. The phoenix had its wings outstretched as if it was finally free, its plumage opening and letting the wind breathe through. I stared at the card for weeks.”
Namjoon was smiling at the fond memory.
“When she finally got home, I asked her where this painting was and she said she didn’t know. That she had just grabbed it in the store. Kind of broke my heart actually. I think at that age, I was expecting her to come in the door with it,” a shoulder shrug.
“I held on to that postcard for a while but somewhere along the way, I lost it. When I got to be about eleven, I started looking for the original painting and it led me down a whole treasure trove of all things art. Modern, contemporary, architecture, paintings, sculptures, abstract, I could go on. Eventually it even led me to my love of music."
"Really? It led you to Expensive Girl," I teased him.
"Hey! You liked Expensive Girl," he retaliated. "But Nooo," his tone, humorous with an even funnier face. "Believe it or not, I found classical music. Beethoven, Mozart…stuff like that. Listening to the complexities of their pieces made me want to try my hand at putting music together."
"So you started producing?," I asked between taking bites of my sandwich.
"Yeah. And as I got older, with today's music, l started doing hip hop beats."
"And that's how you started rapping, right?"
"Yeah. And I was a beast," he boasted proudly.
I laughed.
He pretended to be shocked. "Well, at least I thought I was."
"No, you were," I assured him. "Just, for me, nothing compares to Expensive Girl. I guess…" I shrugged. "...I kinda…wanted to be that girl."
He eyed me up and down before shaking his head and biting his lip.
"Anyway," he gave an exaggerated sigh. "Let's finish this tour before I surpass 'moderate'.
Huffing, I replied, " Okay, okay. Fine.”
He stood but stopped just as quickly. With a sharp turn, he was facing me, quite literally stopping me in my tracks.
“Umm…I haven’t really told anybody else about this. You know, a playboy can’t be looked upon as an art nerd. It kinda fucks with our reputation,” he laughed.
“Promise I won’t tell a soul,” I leaned in and kissed his wet lips.
“I don’t mind if you do. If things go my way, I’ll be hanging up my player's cap for a real piece of art,” this time he was leaning into me.
I mushed his face back from mine, both of us laughing now. “Stop being a cornball, Joon.”
The rest of the day went pretty much the same. Namjoon dragging me around pointing to different paintings, sculptures, and artworks, telling me little tidbits of information about the artists. I found out his favorite artist of all time was Leonardo Da Vinci. But after some ridicule, on my part, he owned up to a more modern artist named Kre8.
(Legit saw this artist works in Vegas and thought they were amazing!!)
"It's the splash of color in a seemingly dreary world for me."
At one point, we were walking behind a couple, also enjoying the museum, and Namjoon noticed that her hand was almost constantly in his. Even when she or he would unravel them to point at something or laugh, they always returned to each other's hands. Taking a cue, he reached over and grabbed my hand, smiling down at me with his beautifully dimpled cheeks.
“Boyfriend things, right?”
I smiled and gave him a nod. He didn’t let go for the rest of our tour.
🗿
“So is this the part where I walk you to your door and kiss you goodnight?,” Namjoon asked as the taxi dropped us off back in front of his house. It was late. A little after sunset. I rolled my eyes and sighed in an exaggerated way.
“I suppose.”
He took my hand again and we walked the little bit of ways to my house. On the porch we stood in front of each other, Namjoon reaching up to place a stray hair behind my ear.
“What do you want to do on our second official date?,” he asked me.
Being sarcastic, I replied, “Who says you’ve earned a second date, Joon?”
He smiled down at me and replied, “Did you not enjoy yourself today?”
“Hmm, maybe,” I shrugged one of my shoulders. “I mean this guy just kept going on and on about beautiful art, he barely paid any attention to me.”
“You had my undivided attention and you know it,” he poked me in the gut making my coil up with my head in his chest. He took the opportunity to wrap both arms around my waist and I, in return, wrapped mine around his neck.
“Next time, you can show me something you like to do. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like a plan, Mr. Kim.” I was speaking into his muscle, loving the way it felt against my cheek, his heartbeat going strong. He laughed at my obvious reluctance to let him go.
“Cool. Get the plans together and let me know the date. I’ll be ready.” He began prying my arms from around him, stepping back to look down into my face. I’ll admit, I was pouting.
With a finger under my chin, he asked expectantly, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“If you’re good,” I stuck my tongue out at him. “Now kiss me and go.”
“With pleasure,” Namjoon chuckled before pulling me in closer to him. What should have been a simple peck of a kiss, was never that between Namjoon and I. We wrapped ourselves up in each other and he had his tongue curled with mine before I could even close my eyes. Before we could get too deep though, he was pushing me away.
“Moderate,” he mocked me and I hated him for the smallest bit of a second. He chuckled and kissed the tip of my nose. “See you tomorrow, babygirl.”
He released me and began walking down the steps. I watched him as he strolled down the pavement to his house, taking glances back at me ever so often. When he got to his door he gave one final look my way and waved. I waved back as he opened and entered the door.
I admit, I sighed girlishly as I took in the atmosphere of where I was standing. I had just been on a date with Kim Namjoon, my all time crush. And this was only the beginning.
Out of nowhere, the door behind me was yanked open and I was being pulled inside. The assailant didn't stop there, instead pulling the back of my shirt until we were inside my room and the door shut tight.
"Tell me everything," Sow said to me. Right before she pushed me on the bed and got comfortable beside me.
😆
I am seriously struggling with this one readers. Trying to buy a house...job is closing down...trying to figure out how to never work for someone else again...sibling drama...just to name a few of the things going on in my life. Thank you for still being here.
Enjoy! 💋💋💋