Your thoughts swirling in your mind as you walked down the boardwalk in the direction of the cafe.
Maybe she just really likes mermaids, you thought, trying to reason with yourself as you pushed the doors open and walked into the cafe. You walked up to the counter and handed the flyers to the cashier.
"From Crystal Coral Souvenirs, its the flyers for the sales we're having this week. Soon-ja asked me to drop some off to you." You smiled at the cashier as she took them and nodded.
"She called us this morning too and told us to expect you, thank you for dropping them off to us." The staff member said, walking over to the other side of the counter to set them up. You turned on your heels and walked over to the booth in front of the large window, sliding into the seat and pressing the bell to call for the waiter.
"Hey there Y/N!" Chimed the voice of the lady who owned the cafe, "what can I get for you?"
You smiled sweetly at her, you had crossed paths with her every time you came into the cafe, she always put extra avocado in the salads you ordered because she knew you liked them best.
"The usual Jae-eun" you said to her, handing her the menu that was left out for customers who didn't already know what they wanted, "and an iced coffee"
She took the menu from your hands and nodded at you before turning towards the kitchen, "Coming right up sweetie"
You turned your attention to your phone, scrolling through emails.
Junk Mail
Junk Mail
Junk Mail
You sighed as you found nothing to reply to, almost missing the advertisement for a BTS concert in Seoul as you scrolled through the emails mindlessly. You paused, staring at the screen.
BTS CONCERT TICKETS - BEST PRICES ANYWHERE - STARTING FROM JUST 226,820 WON
That's like $200.00, you thought, exactly how famous are these boys?
Your mind flashed back to your quiz game with Jimin and how strikingly normal the other boys you met were.
Impossibly handsome of course, actual living-breathing angels, but normal none the less.
You resisted the urge to google them, deciding that listening to one of their songs was more than enough information.
You opened Spotify and began searching, typing their band name into the search bar and scrolling through the options. You chose the first one that peaked your interest and put in your earphones.
Mic Drop started blasting through your earphones, the deep bass and the english-speaking rapper taking you slightly by surprise. You couldn't imagine someone like sweet innocent Jimin being in a band that sounded so.. what was the word for it.... tough? Gangster? You couldn't describe it.
Once the boys started singing you found yourself staring wide-eyed at the screen, mouth hanging open.
Damn they're good, you thought as you started tapping your fingers against the table.
You were so wrapped up in the song you didn't notice two boys approach your table.
You felt one of your earphones get ripped out of your ear, spinning around to come face to face with Jin.
"What are you listening to Y/N?" He asked, winking at you and pulling the earphone to his own ear to listen.
You blushed wildly when he burst out laughing.
"No wonder you were so into it," he said, a smirk on his face before he turned to the person behind him, "she's listening to our songs Tae."
Your heart stopped at the mention of his name, watching the man in question appear from behind Jin.
He smiled at you, locking eyes. You heart quickened in your chest with every second his gaze was on you.
"Didn't know you were a fan." Taehyung said suddenly, breaking you out of your half-hypnotized state. A rush of relief hitting you when you realized he was still smiling and didnt look freaked out at the possibility that you might be a crazy stalker fan.
"It was my first time," you said looking down at your hands, blushing in embarrassment of being caught, "sorry if its strange."
Jin nudged your side to sit next to you, Taehyung taking a seat across from you.
"Its not strange at all honeybee," Jin said, "I'm flattered." He finished, winking at you. The new nickname making your cheeks burn.
The waitress came by with your food and coffee, pausing as she realized two people had joined you.
"U-um-Can I get you boys anything to eat or drink?" She asked, stuttering before regaining her friendly smile.
"I'll have a strawberry milkshake and a plate of fries, the stick in the mud over there will have a water." He said, beaming up at her before turning to hit Taehyung playfully on the arm.
"Sugar and coffee make my stomach hurt..." Taehyung said looking down and blushing, "you know that."
"Coming right up boys" she said, placing your food and coffee in front of you before turning to walk away.
"What are you guys doing here anyways?" You asked, shoving a forkful of your salad into your mouth.
"Exploring!" Jin replied quickly, "someone, not naming names, insisted on coming to the residents part of the island."
You nodded in understanding, not able to speak with a mouth full of food.
"Well I didn't want to be stuck watching Hobi try to flirt with the bartender at the pool all afternoon" Taehyung said, looking up from his hands and frowning at Jin.
You laughed at the exchange, noting that these two always appeared to be at each others throats despite the fact they seemed inseparable.
"Didn't you guys have a photo shoot today?" You asked once you had swallowed your mouth full of food.
"We finished already, we had to wake up at 5am for it," Jin said, dramatically leaning his head on your shoulder and faking a yawn.
"HEY" he shouted suddenly, shooting up straight and scowling at Taehyung, "why did you kick me?"
You looked over to Taehyung who was now frowning in the direction of the boy beside you.
"Stop flirting with her." He said sternly, eyes narrowing.
Jin scoffed and threw an arm around your shoulders, pulling you into his side.
"No way Tae," he said, squeezing your shoulder, "its not like she's your girlfriend and besides, I think she likes me."
You heard a thud under the table and looked beside you to see Jin holding his knee and groaning in pain.
"Seriously Tae, cut it out, our manager will kill you if you leave any marks on me!"
Jin seemed to listen to Taehyung though, as he had now removed his arm from around you and moved a little further away.
You shifted uncomfortably in your seat.
Why was Taehyung so protective of you? As much as it made your heart flutter like crazy you couldn't wrap your head around the logic of it.
Soon after the boy's orders arrived you quickly ate, no other violent outbursts from Taehyung took place for the duration of the time you were eating. You chatted about the photo shoot they had that morning, laughing when they told you about Namjoon getting a mouth full of sand thanks to the wind that picked up on the beach. Apparently he had spent the rest of the photoshoot complaining about it and earned himself a new nickname, "Cry Baby Joonie". Jin insisted that you call him that next time you see him.
Shortly after your plates had been taken away Jin excused himself to the bathroom, leaving you and Taehyung alone for the first time since you saved his life on the beach.
"So..." you started, kicking your feet under the table nervously, "What are your plans for the rest of the day?" You asked, trying to keep the focus on casual conversation.
Taehyung narrowed his eyes at you before answering, "Ah- well I dont know. Probably go check out a museum or shop on the boardwalk..." He paused, looking down at his hands as if he was thinking about something before looking back up to meet your eyes.
"Have we met before?" He asked suddenly, seriousness washing over his face.
You almost choked on your iced coffee, racing in your mind to come up with a good answer to his question.
"We met last night." You said, wanting to kick yourself at how stupid that sounded. Of course he knew that you met you last night.
"No I mean..." he started, looking off to the side and unable to look you in the eyes, "I- I swear I've seen you before last night."
You twiddled your fingers, looking down at the table. You felt so guilty about lying to him, which was a first for you considering you never had trouble lying to keep your secret before.
"Maybe we passed each other in the hotel," you offered, hoping to ease his mind a bit.
"No" he said sharply, startling you enough to look up at him and see the seriousness in his features return before he dropped his head and sighed.
"Sorry," he said suddenly, "I don't know what I'm talking about. Never mind."
You sighed internally as he let go of the conversation just in time for Jin to return.
"So what do you say we all go out for ice cream?" He said happily, sitting down beside you again.
"Didn't you just eat?" Taehyung questioned, raising his eyebrows at him.
"Yeah well I'm ready to eat again" he replied, shrugging his shoulders as if the mountain of fries he scoffed down was just a small snack.
You laughed, you never would have expected someone as slim as Jin to be such a pig.
"What do you think Y/N?" Taehyung asked, perking up on the other side of the table.
It surprised you that he addressed you after the awkward conversation you had when you were alone.
"I-uh- I want to but I should probably head home." You finished, trailing off at the end and feeling a little bad when you saw disappointment wash over both of their faces.
"Its probably for the better, you don't want to hear Taehyung go off about mermaids again anyways" he said, laughing and swatting at Taehyung from across the table.
"What?" You spat out, regretting the words as soon as they left your lips.
"Mermaids. Taehyung has been talking non-stop about the mermaid who apparently saved his ass after he fell off hi-"
"Shut up Jin." Taehyung said sharply, cutting him off mid sentence, " Y/N doesn't care about that."
You tried not to notice how sad and defeated Taehyung looked as that topic was brought up, the feeling of guilt you had in your stomach from seeing him like this almost making you confess in front of everyone at the cafe.
"Okay okay, chill" Jin said whilst he stood up and dragged Taehyung out of the seat on the other side.
"We'll catch you later Y/N" he said, waving and smiling at you.
"Yeah I'll see you guys tomorrow!" you offered back, smiling at him in return before looking to Taehyung.
He was staring at you and muttered a barely audible "bye" before following after Jin and leaving the cafe.
You sighed at their departure, still feeling guilty about how sad Taehyung looked.