"There she is!" I heard someone shout from outside the restaurant. I turned to look towards the door where Georgia and Alice were walking in from. Alice wore a cheerful smile of satisfaction and Georgia looked around the store casually, taking in little details as she fixed her snapback. There was a loud hit on the table as she leaned her weight into it, Georgia began, "We spammed you asking where you were and so Grace just sent us to wander around everywhere."
"I was the one who said we should check here," Alice said quite happily, pointing her finger up at the ceiling.
"Nice to see you guys," Georgia said quickly, bowing to both Suga and J-Hope who were still standing next to the table seeming ready to go but never leaving.
Suga gave a little nod back of recognition while J-Hope made a gummy smile, then quickly turning towards Soon as everyone's gazes shifted to the new person. (except Suga of course, who was still slowly arranging the things in his backpack) Suga began talking more about some music-related things that they were going to do tomorrow as Alice held out her hand to Soon.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Alice and this is Georgia." she said, introducing herself and then gesturing towards the girl on her right.
"Nice to meet you," Soon looking down, "I'm Namsoon but you can just call me Soon." As she looked up she turned towards Georgia with a smile, who's face quickly rose with a light pink filter over it.
"S-sorry?" Georgia asked quickly, obviously cringing at her unneeded stutter.
"My name's Namsoon, but I go by Soon to clear up confusion since it sounds a lot like my brother's name." she explained, then widening her eyes a little as Alice raised her eyebrows. "Your brother?"
I almost wanted to interject before she spoke and dug her own grave of questions, but Soon confidently began, "Yeah, Namjoon. Namjoon, Namsoon, they're hard to tell apart, right?"
"A little, yeah," Georgia agreed to make up for the lack of response from Alice, who made a slow chuckle.
"Oh God, imagine Lily when she gets here..." Alice sighed, laughing under her breath.
"Pardon?" Soon asked seeming very confused.
"Nevermi-, actually, you deserve to have safety and security," Alice began, then laughing at her own exaggeration. "Lily - this short little blond girl, you'll see her in a few minutes - she's somewhat obsessed with BTS."
"I'd say she's getting better at not going crazy," I added in the her defence, trying not to scare the newly invited friend who'd have to deal with us for multiple hours.
"Oh, okay..." Soon trailed off, trying to make sense of the situation. Georgia had her phone out and was staring at it during most of the conversation, beginning, "Grace says Lily is here and they're gonna meet us outside of the restaurant."
"Alright," Alice said simply, looking through the glass window for a second before turning back to Soon and I. "Don't worry, we'll make it not awkward."
"Lily and Grace are the crazy ones." Georgia said, immediately being interrupted.
"I'd think you would classify too, weirdo," Alice smiled, flicking the other's head.
"Everyone is kinda unique, but don't worry, they're really nice." I said, responded by a simple nod from Soon.
There was a loud noise of Suga pushing in the chair next to him under the table and all heads turned towards him. "We're gonna head out, have fun." he said, throwing the bag over his shoulder seeming more determined to leave this time.
J-Hope, who took a quick glance at his phone before looking up, began, "Yeah, have fun; Namjoon says to not be an idiot and to buy him shampoo...?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Soon replied, dismissing the topic a little as she looked at her phone. "Oh great, he sent me a list."
I couldn't help but laugh, and Soon joined me which invited the others to find it amusing too.
"Well see you later," J-Hope said for perhaps the fifth time today, then opening his arms for Soon. She rolled her eyes, stepping a few steps forwards slowly, beginning, "You really need to stop treating me like a ba-"
"Mhm," J-Hope mumbled, grabbing her in a hug and seeming to squeeze her tight, for her arms slacked down his back a little bit. "Take care of yourself."
"Sure." she answered simply, letting go and brushing herself off a little.
"Promise?" Suga asked from behind them, raising his eyebrows in a little in serious questioning.
"Yes, yes," she said hurriedly, glancing at Alice and Georgia. "Go, go," she shooed them away.
"Of course, see you both later," he said, then tapping his back. "Thanks for the sweater back."
This time it was me who glanced at Alice and Georgia in nervousness. "Yeah sure, no problem." I replied vaguely. Bye... I tried to say to them telepathically, Don't make this awkward for both of us...
Suga seemed to make a little smirk, as if he knew what he was doing. I subtly got my phone out, typing quickly "boi you better stop" to him. He glanced at his notifications as his phone buzzed, then quickly putting his phone back in his pocket.
(A/N: Credits to my friend for writing a portion of the story below)
"There they are!" someone shouted from outside the restaurant.
All of us simultaneously turned our heads towards the direction of the voice, but not before someone slammed into us with a bear hug.
"HAI GUYS IT'S YOUR FAVE LILY!" Lily screamed into our ears, squeezing tightly.
"Why aren't you guys answering? I thought you guys would be excited to see me..." Lily pouted, still suffocating us.
"You know...maybe we could answer...if you'd freaking get off us... " Alice mumbled, taking giant breaths in attempt to get her message out. The others grunted in agreement. Lily laughed, then quickly released us.
When she finally had the smarts to step away and look around at us she noticed the new person she hadn't included in the hug. "Oh, hi there," she began, "I'm Lily."
"My name's Grace," Grace said as she walked in slowly, unlike Lily who had run up at us just a few seconds ago. She exchanged a little fist bump with Georgia (who was still recovering her breath) before looking back towards Soon. "Nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand in greeting which Soon took quickly.
"Nice to meet you, my name's Soon." she said quickly, not explaining the whole "Namsoon" reasoning like she had for the others. Maybe her name sounds too much like Namjoon and she's taking Alice's warning... I thought, making a little smile.
"Well, I'll see you later, right?" Suga asked, suddenly standing closer to us than the door where J-Hope was waiting.
"Yes," I said trying to emphasize my point that my friends were here and ready to go. Does he feel the need to be a parent?
"Take care of Rona, yeah?" Suga asked, turning towards Lily looking for an answer as he gave my head a little pat. She froze up at the sudden acknowledgement while I let out a defeated breath. I ignored Lily's struggle for response and looked past her towards J-Hope who stood at the door. He immediately caught my message.
"Hyung," he called from the door in attempt to get his attention. Suga seemed to ignore it as if all he could wait for was someone in the group to speak. Alice gave Lily a little nudge while J-Hope called him for a second time.
"Suga-hyung," he shouted a little louder.
"Yeah, we'll take good care of her," Georgia interrupted, seeming annoyed at Lily's lack of answer but still wearing a forced smile. "Soon'll be fine too"
"Alright, coo-" Suga began, cut off by a loud shout.
"YOONGI!"
"I think J-Hope's in a hurry, I better get going." he said with the most fake shocked expression , making his way to the door casually. We watched as he approached J-Hope, who was immediately replied to by a flick to his forehead, probably for yelling his name without the added "hyung".
"I swear..." I grumbled to myself, heard by Soon. She made a snicker, biting her lip as she made a laughing grin at my annoyed expression. I looked towards the others, Alice defending Lily's failure of communication while Georgia went on about how all she had to say was "yes".
"Hey, hey, let's all be nice," Grace laughed, trying to calm Georgia's upset state down. "Where do you want to go first?"
"I don't care, where ever you guys want to go." I said, "But I've got to get some random groceries before we leave."
"I don't know where we're gonna find random groceries, but we can stop if we see some place." Grace replied, then looking towards Soon for a suggestion.
"Me? I just need to get, uh," she began, glancing at her phone, "...shampoo? Yeah."
"Yeah, sure, we can go to 'Bed Bath & Beyond' or something." Grace nodded, then angrily butted into the other's argument. "Will you quit complaining about Lily's problems and pick a place to go?"
"Let's start heading towards the 'Bed Bath & Beyond'. It should be pretty close to here anyways." Georgia suggested, already walking a few steps towards the door. We took the message and followed, walking down the giant paths that lead to the nearby stores.
"What type of shampoo are we looking for?" Lily asked, almost skipping as she walked.
"I'm... I'm not quite sure actually." Soon trailed off, grabbing her phone and quickly texting someone.
"I mean I always go with green apple. Smells good, tastes good," Grace began, cut off by Alice's hysterical laugh.
"Oh my God, don't tell me you eat shampoo." she cried, barely walking straight.
"Walk right you drunkard - and no, I'm saying green apple things taste good." Grace retorted.
"Green apple shampoo is a thing-"
"You know what I mean."
"Stop arguing, it's just shampoo." Georgia said simply.
"Yeah, but you use so little shampoo-"
"This isn't for me! I'm just stating my opinion!" Grace complained.
They continued walking a bit, Grace and Alice still bickering.
Stopping outside the store, I laughed and shouted, "Alright alright ladies. Maybe if you hadn't been bickering that much you would have noticed that you walked right past where we're going."
Grace and Alice looked back at the rest of us, who were trying yet failing miserably to conceal our snickers. They sheepishly grinned at us and ran back to us, pushing each other out of the way to see who would get there first.
Georgia sighed. "They never learn, do they?" She said, looking at Soon, who was growing more comfortable around them. She nodded, smirking towards the two. "It's almost as if they are a married couple." Soon replied.
I chuckled and walked in, strolling along the aisles until I spotted the "hair care" section of the store. I walked slowly along the aisle and squatted to take a closer look at the options.
"Soon, what type of shampoo were you looking for again?" I asked her.
"It really doesn't matter, I guess. Just make sure it isn't too expensive." She said, squatting next to me and looking at the bottle I was holding.
"Hey Soon! How does this one smell? The bottle says this is called 'Island Paradise'. Oh my God this smells amazing! You have to get this!" Lily exclaimed, sniffing the bottle another time.
Soon leaned over and Lily squeezed the bottle slightly to waft a little of the scent.
"It does smell nice..." She said.
"Why don't you get it?"
"Uhm...well..."
"SOON! SMELL THIS AND LET THE SCENT WASH OVER YOU LIKE COCONUT KISSES." Grace shouted from across the aisle, her hand waving around the bottle frantically.
"Grace! Do you have to always draw attention to us whenever in public?" Alice complained in an angry whisper. Everyone came to where Soon was standing with different shampoos, and handed her their options.
"These are all pretty girly scents..." Soon said, trailing off.
"Yeah! They'll make you smell great!" Lily exclaimed.
"Yeah but..." Soon began as Alice grabbed something off a nearby shelf.
"I mean there's some other stuff," she began, quickly rotating and reading the label on the bottle.
"Right..."
"You can get something simple if you want. Vanilla still makes you smell good and doesn't make you smell like a damsel in a rose garden." She suggested.
"Actually, uh, I'm getting it for my brother-" Soon began, replied by a loud and commutative "Why didn't you say so?" by most of the group, especially Grace.
"Then go to the men's section," Grace began, already on her way to a different side of the store. We followed, Soon replying, "I did, but then everyone walked over to the other side..."
"How about this then?" Alice asked, pulling out some cinnamon product.
"Or this?" Lily added, holding up another bottle that which she put her nose above and immediately made a distorted snort while shaking her head. "Why's manly stuff so strong..."
"How about some gender neutral Head and Shoulders? My dad uses this stuff." Georgia picked off a bottle and handed it to Soon, who nodded.
"Smells alright too. Ok, I'll take this." She said and headed to the checkout area.
"Why don't you want something fancy?" Grace asked as she followed Soon and the others. "I mean, I could see why your brother would want something not-so-girly, but... well.."
"Namjoon isn't all about fancy hygiene. I almost force him to wash his hair when he comes over to-" Soon explained, then quickly cutting herself off. "I mean, mom and dad tell him to do stuff like that too so..."
"Why do you have to buy him shampoo instead of your parents?" Alice asked tiredly, "I'd be way too lazy to go buy my brother random things. And that amount of trust? To trust your sibling not to buy strong scented flower shampoo?"
"Well Namjoon likes to have multiple bottles all over the place. I doubt he's out of shampoo right now." Soon stated. Upon the second mention of his name Lily looked up from the colorful gift cards that hung on display a few feet in front of the checkout.
"Uh, don't mean to be random," Lily politely interrupted, "Is your surname Kim?"
Soon simply made a little nod, then carefully studying the other's expression.
"Oh, uh..." Lily trailed off, not sure what to say.
"Namjoon, uh... Rap Monster, as you call him..." Soon began, her sentence immediately finished by Alice. "-he's her sister."
"Oh," Lily breathed. I held my breath, almost afraid of her response, but she didn't burst. In fact she made a smile as she continued, "Really? That's so cool!"
"She's not screaming..." Grace whispered to herself and the people around her. Soon moved up to the counter and set the shampoo on the table, pulling out a bill of crumbled cash and straightened it out before handing it to the cashier.
"Yeah, he's cool I guess," Soon laughed a little, nodding at the cashier's question before turning back to Lily. "I'd assume you like his music?"
Lily made a simple nod, replying, "Of course, he's really talented."
Soon made a slow nod in agreement. "He's a special guy, yeah." She took the bag from the cashier and thanked them as we followed her out of the room.
"Is he a nice brother?" Lily asked curiously. I tuned out of Soon's answer as Georgia began, "Where to now?"
"Let's go shopping for something wearable - I wanna go look at cute skirts or something." Grace said. I gave a little nod, adding, "Sure, we can look for some new jackets since winter is coming."
"And the Fall Music Festival," Grace butted in, "We've gotta get something nice to wear to that."
"It's just a music festival," Alice sighed, "And it's in November - it's gonna be cold. Can we not just wear some jeans a big hoodie-"
"No! You have to wear something nice!" Grace protested. Georgia immediately sided against Grace, mumbling, "Define 'nice', Grace. I'm pretty sure everyone's definitions are different."
"Like, appealing clothes. Let's go buy some dresses for you all." Grace said, already dragging Alice down a few stores.
"I'm am not wearing a dress to a concert."
"Why not?"
"It's going to be freezing!" Alice complained, bumping into Grace as she came to a sudden stop.
"Then wear leggings!"
"Grace, we're gonna be dancing at the festival anyways, why change?" I asked.
"You want to walk around in some uncomfortable clothes that will match with everyone else?" Grace asked, almost overtaken with shock.
"Well not necessarily, but it seems like a lot of work-"
"Let me do this just once," Grace asked, holding her hands in a simple begging position for only a few seconds. "I wanna show Alice her own hell."
"Wha-" Alice began, cut off as Grace dragged her into the store on her left. Georgia and I looked up at the store's sign, Soon and Lily finally catching up with us.
"I live in on my own and he-" Soon cut herself off as she noticed everyone looking up at the store sign.
Georgia made a little sigh, taking a few steps forwards to follow them in. She waved back to us to gesture us to follow as we looked down from the sign back to her. "Well, if anything's gonna torture Alice, it's being dragged into 'Victoria's Secret' with Grace. Let's at least try to bail her out the best we can, right?"