"Bubble tea!" Taehyung cheered, running up to me and Jungkook as soon as he saw us approaching. He glanced at each of the cups, Jungkook using his head to gesture towards the cup in his left hand. Taehyung excitedly took it and nearly sprinted away, stopping a step later. He went back to Jungkook, helping him move the cup that was lodged between his arm and chest into this empty hand.
"Thanks bro," Taehyung said, holding up the cup he was referring to. After Jungkook gave a quick nod and said "you're welcome" the older waved as he ran back to the group. Unsurprisingly he was still talking to Baekhyun and Chanyeol, also gathering some other people into the group so that when he arrived again there was a large greeting for him. I couldn't help but smile at his magical friend making as we passed them, Jungkook handing one of the cups to Hoseok. He received another thank you and pointed me towards Namjoon.
"That one's Hyung's." he said, taking a sip of the bubble tea in his hand since he had finished his delivery task. I nodded, heading towards the Namjoon, Soon, and the girls. I smiled a bit when I realized that Grace and Alice had come back from changing into their dresses. I started speeding up my pace, Jungkook following behind me, until Taehyung called my name from the side. I turned, the younger making a gesture for me to come over. As I walked towards them I noticed his protective action to stop some of the childish others from trying to snatch the cup from him.
"Pleaseee?" Baekhyun pleaded, and I noticed the tall dancer from earlier was with them too.
"If you're giving him some then it's only fair if we all get a sip," the boy, Jongin, pointed out. Taehyung tried to let out a sigh, yet the tenseness of protecting his drink made him let out a "Yah!" as Chanyeol slyly tried to reach under Taehyung's arm.
"You guys got extra straws, right?" Taehyung asked, and I nodded, gesturing towards the hand with a cluster of extra straws and my own bubble tea. I held the straws between my fingers, trying not to drop them as I moved my hand around.
I nearly had a heart attack at the suddenness that Baekhyun used to push is way towards me, grabbing one of the straws from my hand out of eagerness and unwrapping the plastic around the straw, dropping it before holding the straw up next to Taehyung's cup.
Chanyeol followed the same pattern while Jongin walked in a calmer manner, picking up the plastic from the grass and smiling as he carefully took two of the straws from my hand, leaving one left. Jongin handed Sehun a straw - I hadn't even noticed him due to his lack of interest in the "battle of the tapioca balls" - of which he accepted with a little humored nod.
a/n: please don't attack me for making Baekhyun (and Chanyeol) as well as Taehyung and any other character overly-childish - it's not supposed to represent exactly how they act in real life and characteristic changes/exaggerations are just in good fun! :]
After the fact I was left with one extra straw and luckily my drink hadn't spilled due to the plastic lid that carefully held everything together. Slowly from my right, Jimin appeared. He must've been talking to Jungkook before he approached me because he finished up a sentence from his previous conversation (walking backwards in a sense) before turning around towards me.
He seemed awkwardly shy, holding up one finger. "Can I take the last one?" he asked with an innocent smile. A gave an instinctual smile back, rotating my fingers to hand the straw towards him. Jimin took it, tripping over his own foot as he turned around towards Taehyung.
I let out a laugh, Jimin turning around towards me with a more entertained expression, raising his eyebrows at me as if asking "What?"
"Nothing, Clumsy." I jokingly replied, looking off to the sky as I waited for his reply.
"At least I can dance," he shot back with a playful smile, sticking his tongue at me.
I blew up my cheeks with air, letting it go as I shrugged, "That's debatable."
"Then why don't you teach me to dance, huh?" he asked, making me smile back at him. He turned the other direction towards Taehyung, making sure to stick his tongue back out at me before his face escaped my vision.
I turned towards Jungkook, the voices of the people fighting over the drink getting louder and more easily heard due to the MC's beginning to talk.
The introduction of a group called "NU'EST" flew past my ears as we escaped the large of groups in replacement of the other, more "calm" group of the older people. When we arrived, however, Namjoon's attention instantly snapped away from the conversation and lit up in a child-like excitement as I handed him the milky bubble tea from my left hand.
"Thanks," he said, immediately pulling the straw to his mouth. After commenting on his single sip, Soon pulled the cup down in front of her own face, taking a sip. She nodded, agreeing with her brother who simply stared at her with a knowing look, holding the cup closer to himself. I guess Bangtan was really into bubble tea?
Suho, who was standing next to Namjoon, looked at the drink with interest. Immediately after noticing, however, Namjoon held it closer to himself and the other laughed, understanding.
"Oh, here," Jungkook said, pulling out the change from his pocket and handing it to Namjoon, who shoved the moved into his own pocket. "Thanks for paying, I owe you." Jungkook said, making the older nod.
"No problem." Namjoon replied after a long sip of the drink which had left a moment without words.
Somehow it didn't surprise me to see Jimin next to me again, this time nudging me softly. He whispered carefully, "Can I have a sip? The guys over there aren't sharing Taehyung's tea."
I gave a small chuckle, pulling my straw out of the honeydew flavored tea in my hand. Jimin gave a gracious smile, sticking his own straw in. I let him enjoy it in peace, looking around. I noticed Suga seeming focused on the performance that had just begun, enjoying the tension before the beat drop that never actually occurred until several seconds later. Once it dropped though, he looked to the side towards me. I gave a smile towards him, the older tilting his head to watch Jimin hand me my drink back after pulling out his own straw.
"You're actually the-" he began, pausing for a very short but noticeable second before continuing, "Thanks Rona."
"Yeah, no problem," I replied, turning back him and noticing his slightly refrained smile.
"I'll see 'ya around," he said, pointing towards Jin and the direction he was heading. He walked past Suga, the older stopping him for a moment to say something to which Jimin shook his head to, patting the taller's shoulder.
I turned towards the girls as I heard a high pitched and excited call of my name.
When I approached the girls I heard Alice let out a groan as Lily pulled my arm to drag me to the group at a faster pace than I was walking earlier.
"Well you all look awfully cute!" I commented optimistically, replied by two more pessimistic replies.
"Awfully cute?" Grace jokingly asked, emphasizing the negative adverb with a tilt of her head. I let out a breath, correcting myself with a knowing point at her. "Extraordinarily cute."
"That's the problem," Alice had replied to my original comment, sneering a bit at the shining jewel embellishments that were at the top of her dress. She poked at one them, seeming heavy-hearted.
"You don't have to wear the dress if you don't want to," Lily said when she realized her tiredness, the shorter girl holding onto Alice's arm. Alice simply shrugged, which made Grace nod in agreement.
"You really don't have to wear it if you hate it - I'll go with you to change if you want." Grace offered.
Alice let out a tired sigh. "Don't worry about it, I've already changed." I couldn't help but feel like she had some sort of reason for not wanting to change other than the inconvenience, but I didn't say anything about it.
Soon after I noticed Sayeon whisper something to Georgia. Immediately Georgia smiled, untying the black and white flannel around her waist. She playfully threw it over Alice's head, which seemed to surprise her a bit. When she shook the cloth off of her head and into her arms she looked back at Georgia with interest.
"You can tie it around yourself if you want, it'd match nice." Georgia suggested, Alice immediately agreeing with the idea. I found myself simply watching the conversation as Grace helped her, Lily going on about how rather than cute, Alice looked stylish and chic even with the obvious embellishments.
Simply listening drew my attention to another listener - Sayeon, who watched with a slightly amused expression, still being lost in her own thought. As I took a sip of bubble tea the sudden "silence" that only existed in my brain was immediately interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. I jumped a bit, Suho laughing when I turned around.
"What'cha doing over here? Thinking about the meaning of life?" he asked, making a gesture to my somewhat lost-looking appearance. I shook my head with a little smile.
"Just listening." I replied simply. I looked back towards Sayeon, but she seemed to be looking over the heads of people in the crowds, seeing something in the distance. I was going to stand up a bit taller to do the same out of curiosity but Suho asked for my attention again.
"What flavor is that?" he asked, pointing towards my cup.
"Honeydew," I replied, it being almost obvious he was eyeing it for a reason. I held the cup up towards him. "Want some?"
Suho seemed hesitant, nodding a bit before taking the cup from me. He waited a few seconds and I quickly pointed towards Taehyung and his group.
"They took all ten thousand extra straws we got - I don't really care if you drink from my straw."
Suho nodded, and as he took a sip the audience began clapping for the performance that had just ended. As he looked around, turning behind us to see the rest of Bangtan, he seemed to see something and immediately turn back towards me, choking on what was in his mouth. He handed my bubble tea back quickly, coughing a few more times before giving a weak and awkward smile.
"Is it bad?" I asked, raising my eyebrows from the somewhat entertaining act.
"I mean, if you hate honeydew it is," he said, rubbing his tongue on the roof of his mouth, obviously trying to get the taste off of his tongue. I laughed at him, to which he simply gave me an annoyed look.
"If you hate honeydew then why'd you drink it?" I asked. Suho pointed towards his throat after he coughed once.
"I'm just thirsty - plus I usually like bubble tea."
I gave him a judgmental look, wondering how he drew the conclusion that he wouldn't notice the flavor with the tea. I found myself looking the same direction he was looking, Suga giving a little wave when I made eye contact. I wasn't sure what Suho was looking at, but he turned back towards me as I waved back and made a smile even though my mouth was still around the straw.
"Hey, can I have another sip?" he asked suddenly. I tilted my head with a little laugh, handing the cup over.
"As long as you don't puke in it, I guess," I commented, Suho looking back over to his left shoulder to where we were looking earlier. I followed his line of sight, Suga turning towards Jin, who stood next to him.
Suho took a long sip, thinking to himself. He squinted a bit at the taste, chewing on a tapioca ball as he continued, "Have you ever gotten a deadly case of Mono* or something?"
*Mononucleosis, spreads by saliva; "kissing disease"
I ruffled my eyebrows at him, shaking my head.
"Okay, yeah, he definitely has a thing for you." Suho said casually, handing me my drink back. "It's kinda cute, I'd ship it."
I gave him a concerned look, not sure why he was bringing the topic up as I took the drink back.
"I think you're overthinking it," I replied, my mouth half on the straw as I decided to brush off the statement and enjoy my drink in peace. As Suho opened his mouth to begin his retort back and reached for my drink, I pulled it back closer to my chest.
"Why don't you go take Namjoon's drink if you hate honeydew so much," I said, the poke coming out a bit harsher than I had intended. Suho raised his eyebrows in surprise and I gave myself a proud smile for switching the conversation to such an interesting topic.
Suho immediately shook his head. "You want me to ask to share a cup with Namjoon?" he asked in disbelief, adding, "You're crazy."
"Aren't you the one who wanted to become best friends with him?" I asked, looking past him towards Namjoon and his half-filled bubble tea cup.
"Well yeah, but he's like, a whole other thing," Suho tried to explain, his wording making me judge his thought process. "Okay, and plus he shared it with his sister and not anyone else."
I squinted my eyes at him, making a blunt gesture to the drink in my hand. When he didn't get it immediately I made an even blunter gesture towards his mouth. It took a few seconds more, as well as an obvious signal to my own mouth for him to let out a breath and shake his head.
"Okay, well that's different," he tried to argue, making me gape at him in disbelief. I put on a funny smirk, poking him in the chest.
"You're just scared to ask."
"No I'm not!" Suho nearly shouted back, the suddenness in his reply showing his obvious concern towards the topic. I couldn't help but laugh at him, resulting in a harsh hit in my arm.
"I dare you to ask," I smiled, giving him a little nudge. "It isn't that hard."
"He'll think it's weird to-"
"Here, take the straw and pretend it's an extra or something. Or I can-"
"GUESS WHO'S HERE!" A loud, familiar voice shouted from a few feet away. It wasn't sudden enough to make me jump but it was definitely unexpected, stopping my suggestion in its tracks. I guess Suho was happy to be let off the hook because he immediately called out to one of the boys approaching with a loud and friendly "Jackson!"
Though the boy who had shouted the sudden greeting happened to be BamBam, I noticed Jackson give an equally enthusiastic and friendly "Suho!" towards the boy next to me who had given up on stealing my "horribly flavored" bubble tea.
I suddenly noticed Jinyoung, my cousin, within the group. He and his mom had already left our house and somehow I had forgotten that he was staying the area for more than just a few days like usual.
"Jinyoung!" I instinctively shouted, attracting the attention of the friend next to him. I recognized him as the dancer from Ms. Minji's studio as he pulled on my cousin's arm, pointing towards me. He shouted something to Jackson, heading my direction with Yugyeom, the dancer. I was surprised when the rest of their group came with them, Jackson running quite fast towards us and slowing down only when he was a few inches away, nearly running Suho over.
"Aye, how've you been, Suho? I rarely see you around," Jackson began, giving the other a hug with a pat on the back. I smiled towards Jinyoung as he got closer at a more regular walking pace. Before the others arrived, Jackson looked around urgently in contrast to his "laid back" (but definitely not calm) greeting.
"Have you seen Sayeon?" he asked, pointing towards the group of girls nearby, "They said she was around her somewhere."
I glanced around, scanning the area where Lily and the others were standing earlier, yet Sayeon didn't seem to be watching their conversation like she usually would be.
"I don't really know..." I trailed off, now scanning other clearings nearby where she may be standing. When I didn't see her nearby, I shook my head and Jackson let out a sigh of defeat.
She was just here a minute ago, and she wouldn't leave without telling anyone - but where was she?
a/n: hey everyone!!! I'm highkey screaming bc we're really close to 100K reads/"eyeballs" on Teach Me To Dance! I actually didn't have this chapter ready at all this week but I really didn't wanna disappoint, especially since we're hitting this milestone, so I got this chapter ready for today! Hopefully it's free of mistakes (I finally edited it lol) and you all enjoy it!
ps: I'd love to do something for you all for 100K but I'm not sure what, if y'all have ideas and wanna suggest them, feel free! If I have the time I'd really love to give y'all a gift for this milestone.
Thanks so much! 💕
@TheWinterSawsbuck