Tae's P.O.V
Why was it so amusing to tease her, Tae pondered to himself, and why was it so easy? After Gemma left with that traitorous Jimin, Taehyung took it upon himself to empty her pot of burnt ramen into the trashcan, and then placed the thing in the sink.
He too liked McDonald's, but Gemma would probably have his head if Taehyung had insisted on tagging along. He just hoped the two would be safe and not run into trouble.
Gem's P.O.V
When I joined Jimin outside, he was wearing darkly tinted sunglasses and had matched his black woolen shirt with a black cap. He looked up at me from his phone, checked up and down the hallway, and asked me what my number was. He explained to me this is how we were going to communicate so we wouldn't be seen together. I nodded my head and gave Jimin my local number, instead of my U.S contact.
"I'm going to go first, pull my car around ahead of the building, and I'll text you." Jimin whispered. Being aware of the precautions we had to take, I acknowledged "Okay, I gotcha."
I asked, "What will you say? Let's use a code name." He chuckled and replied, "How about J? The English letter, so you'll know it's me." I agreed, and with that, Jimin walked towards the elevator, waving at me as the doors closed.
I stood there, wondering what Taehyung was doing inside. I still couldn't believe he took my fork.
Before I knew it, my phone buzzed. A "J" appeared on the screen, and two other messages in Korean. They read: "Parked in a red car in an alley on the right side. Remember to be sneaky."
I wrapped my scarf to be positioned high up on my face, and I even pulled my hat further down. Striding over to the elevator, I felt adrenaline streaking through my veins. In my entirely bias opinion, this was kind of thrilling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rush of cold greeted my exposed skin as I stepped outside. Like Jimin instructed, I located a narrow alley to the right, adjacent to the building. There was a red sports car, which I slowly crept up to while on the alert for any curious onlookers.
Once I was sure no one was around, I approached the driver's side, and found Jimin slouched in his seat, out of view. As soon as he saw me, he pointed to the back. In response, I opened the door and practically flew myself in.
Jimin turned around and what he said next astonished me. "Please don't hate me, but I need you to somehow lay on the floor, just to be safe." I stared at him, not really surprised. "Whatever you say." I climbed to the back, and fit my limbs between the seats, grateful for my small stature.
The idol took one peek down at me, and burst into a fit of laughter. "You know, it's not really funny," I said, resting on my back. I clasped my hands onto my stomach, and Jimin began to laugh even harder, due to my serious facial expression.
I tried. I really did. But when I locked my eyes with his, my forced cold demeanor melted and I started to crack up. There was something about Jimin's laugh that was so infectious, I loved it. "Vroom vroom!" I called out, ready to go eat.
We lurched forward and Jimin initiated conversation. "So, Taehyung and I were talking about how you guys met during the time you were gone. He said that you charged in the bathroom while he was taking a shower, is that true?" I stared up at the car's ceiling as I spoke. "Yes, it is. At the time, I had no clue I would be sharing my living quarters with someone else. When I heard the water, I freaked. I admit I didn't exactly read the conditions of the contract thoroughly enough."
Jimin was silent. Ah, he wants to know. "And just if you were wondering, no, I did not see anything I shouldn't have." He exhaled in relief and changed the topic. "Your Korean is impressive, when did you become fluent?" Shoot. I'm going to have to confess. "Well," I replied, feeling shy, "I started learning independently after I became a fan of k-pop. Specifically, BTS." I'm guessing we were at a stop sign or a red light because Jimin turned against his seat belt, and leaned over his armrest to look at me.
"Really?" "Really." A blush crawled up my neck.
My driver tilted his face to the side and puffed the space under his lips, which were turned up in a prideful manner. "Hehehe." Jimin returned to driving, leaving me with a sheepish smile.
I must have dozed off, because I awoke to something soft and circular tapping my face repeatedly. "Oh Gemma~" I heard my name being sung in an airy voice. Guardian Angel, is that you?
Opening my eyes, I caught Jimin in mid-throw, his eyebrows raising in surprise. I sat up, bringing my knees to my chest. "What in the world were you throwing at me?" I concentrated on his pink hair, trying to stay awake. Jimin flushed as he played with his collar. "Sorry, I wasn't sure if you were okay with me touching you. Oh, and we're in line, so do you know what you want?"
I blinked at him, recognizing his thoughtfulness and realizing how sweet he was compared to Taehyung. "Don't worry," I consoled Jimin in English, knowing he would understand the words. He smiled and motioned to the McDonald's food sign. We were currently third in line. "Do you want coffee?" He asked. "I'm getting that and I was thinking we could split the two cheeseburger meal." I scrunched my nose at the mention of coffee. "Yes to the cheeseburger, no to the coffee. Can I get a hot chocolate instead please?" I pouted my lips and folded my hands together.
A broad grin grew across Jimin's face. "Taehyung likes hot chocolate too... I'll also get him a cup." Jimin remarked. Noted.
I picketed through my purse and took out my cute wallet. Jimin shook his hands at the sight of my money. "Aniyo, aniyo! This is my welcome gift, or meal, so no need." Ugh, my heart. " Okay, well thank you Jimin, I appreciate it." He broke eye contact and pulled up to the speaker thing, about to order. I took it as my cue to lay back down.
After Jimin received the food at the second window, he drove somewhere and halted, putting the car in park and pressing the ignition button off. Once again, I sat up and looked out the window. It was now heavily snowing, and the big fluffs prevented me from seeing where we were exactly located.
Jimin got out, opened my door, and extended his hand toward me. I accepted his offer of assistance and stretched my legs, relieved from my claustrophobic bondage.
I looked around, taking a neighborhood full of old houses into account. "Where are we?" I asked in wonder. Jimin told me to follow him up the cracked driveway of a small, shambled excuse for a home. "This used to be my great-grandmother's house, which I've gained possession of recently. I often come here to just get away from everything going on and relax. This particular area is usually pretty quiet, so it's easy to think without a lot of noise." Jimin opened the door after unlocking it and I stepped inside, quickly studying how traditionally styled the home was. It wasn't much warmer in here, but it was a place devoid of prying eyes. "In other words," I began, "this is your secret hideout?"
He nodded his head vigorously. "You promise not to tell?" Jimin requested with a shy smile. "Of course." I grinned. The Korean led me over to a rather dusty table where we grabbed our small meal out of the McDonald's bag and munched.
We chatted away for at least an hour before Jimin's phone rang in his pocket. He glanced at the caller I.D, said it was Taehyung, and answered.
"Hello Tae, what. Oh. Mhmmm, mhmm. Well I don't think-" All of a sudden, Jimin warned me that Taehyung had wanted to facetime to verify our whereabouts. He tapped a few times, and waved at the screen. "Gemma is sitting right across from me Taehyung, want to say hi?" Jimin teased. I rolled my eyes. "Annyeong," a deep voice poured out of the phone. "Hello there." I responded, copying Taehyung's low register.
Jimin laughed and his friend thought it would be funny to mock my "hello there" in a high-pitched voice that was probably meant to resemble my own normal one. I sighed, fighting a smile.
"Jimin-ah, where are you guys? Show me." Taehyung demanded. Jimin let out an irritated grumble and stood, waving his camera up and down and all around town. I puffed my cheeks and jutted my right hip, hands on sides. "Jimin, seriously." He laughed and whispered loud enough for Taehyung to hear. "He's kind of needy, but don't tell him I said that."
"Hey! Hajima! Jimin!" Jimin looked over at me and rolled his eyes.
I started to clean up after the two of us when Jimin turned the phone on me. I squeaked and covered my face with the McDonald's bag, hating the sudden attention.
"Yah! Gemma! Stop hiding, I called Jimin to let you know that Yeontan may or may not have found one of your...um, personal items from your suitcase." I hesitantly walked up alongside Jimin to see what Taehyung was talking about. Jimin looked away with pink cheeks, and I understood why when I peeked at the screen in confusion.
My pricey, lavender bra was hanging by its strap from Yeontan's little mouth. "Oh God bless America Taehyung, hurry and take it before it rips!" I cried out in English, my body heating from embarrassment. "But where do I grab it?" He laughed. Jimin handed me his phone and sat in the chair, hands cupping his red cheeks.
"I don't know, just try to get a grip on the other strap!" Taehyung's phone focused on his battle with Tannie, while I was slowly turning white in the small box on the bottom of the screen. Tae's large hand came into view as he latched onto my bra and started to pull towards him. But Yeontan would simply. Not. Let. Go. "Don't pull on it too hard! That bra was expensive!" I lamented. "Gemma, I'm trying! He seems to really like--" SNAP.
The loud sound made Jimin look up at me with his lips spread apart. "Oops," Taehyung muttered on the other side of the screen. I inhaled. "Oops? Do you realize how much that cost me? I'll tell you how much, forty-five dollars!" Taehyung was quiet as Yeontan scampered away with my useless bra.
"I am deeply sorry about your female thing, and, uh, I'll see you when you get back." Taehyung announced, quickly ending the call.
"Can you believe him?" I asked Jimin, returning his cellphone. He replied, "I mean, at least he tried?"
I scoffed as I turned to leave. First the fork, then the bra. Can't wait to see what's next.
Don't forget to vote! Thanks for reading!