CHAPTER THIRTY - TWO:
" The Soccer Jersey "
"HI ARMY!"
The now-worldwide known south-korean boy-girl group greeted their fans as they walked to their seats as they're holding a fan sign for their latest comeback, DNA.
Screams and happy shouts from the fanbase was heard as some of the members sat down on their seats and some went to greet their fans and say hi to the fancams,
"JEONGGUK OPPA, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!"
A fan shouted on top of her lungs as the audience laughed and some shouted encouraging words to her, saying that they love the male maknae as well and please accept their love,
The said boy is giggling by how cute their fans is as he nodded and sent flying kisses to everyone if that's possible that caused the fans, especially the ones who are Jeongguk-Biased.
Jaerin jumped off the small stage as the fans roared when she went in front of the fans but she kept distance so that it won't cause any troubles or issues,
"Can I borrow this?" she softly asked a fan, pointing at her ARMY bomb and her banner as the said fan nodded enthusiastically while gladly giving her the merchandise, squealing as she held her heart,
"Min Yoongi, I will sue you!" Jaerin shouted to the members, pretending to be a fan as she fake cried, making the members laugh due to her mischievousness,
It was a famous, iconic video when they held their fanmeeting back in 2014 during their promotions of Just One Day,
It stuck to the member's mind until today and it became a joke around the eight of them and sometimes Yoongi will be pissed off but sometimes he'll join the joke.
"Jeongguk Oppa!" Jaerin once again shouted using her high-pitched voice that she uses when she acts as if she's the campus queen in college who the lower rank students fear,
Jaerin placed her poker face in display and deepened her voice, trying to imitate Jeongguk's deep voice,
"I'm not your oppa." she laughed as Jeongguk glared at her, a small smile in his lips as the fans laughed together with her mischievousness,
"thank you!" she gave the fan the merchandises back with a polite bow as the fan did the same before the female member went up to the stage again to start the fan signing event,
Jaerin is in between Namjoon and Jeongguk, two of the tallest members and her being the shortest, she looked tiny that the fans squealed with the fact that the only female member is sitting with the two tallest of the group,
The first to sign the albums is Yoongi as he's the first one in the table, sitting at the rightmost part, beside him is Jimin who's waiting for Yoongi to interact with the fan and waiting for his turn,
Beside Jimin is Namjoon, then Jaerin, then Jeongguk, then Seokjin, then Hoseok then Taehyung at the end of the table, sitting at the leftmost part of the table, opposite of Yoongi.
As Jaerin is the fourth one, she waited for her turn by interacting with the ARMYs in front of her, taking countless pictures and videos while also waiting for their turn to line-up to get their albums personally signed by the members,
"Jaerin-ah!" a fan shouted as the latter looked up and tried to find the fan who called out to her while smiling as the said fan raised her hand as the girl smiled,
"Yes~?" she said as the fan smiled, holding her phone as she filmed the entire scene to keep ir forever not only in her memory but on a physical memory.
"You look so good in your outfit!" she complimented as Jaerin smiled and stood up, bowing to her as she sent kisses and a wink to her that made the fans scream again,
Her outfit is her outfit while filming their music video,
A white jersey shirt that's messily tucked into her faded blue ripped high-waisted jeans and a denim jacket that matched her denim jeans,
She's wearing her white doc marten's that she loves so much that the fans see her wearing it in every outfit, her airporr outfit, her run bts outfit and many more outfits that won't be complete with her precious doc marten's.
Her hair is tied up into a ponytail and her fringe is neatly combed on her forehead as the stylist intentionally placed some strands of her hair that dangled in front of her face.
"Thank You! You look good too!" she smiled as she looked down when she sensed that a fan is slowly coming towards her,
"Hello~." Jaerin enthusiastically said as the younger fan squealed softly when the female member smiled brightly at her, her braces showing,
"You look cute with your braces!" the fan complimented Jaerin as a slight pink tint in her cheeks appeared, flustered by the sudden flattering comment about her braces,
Since she got her braces, she's been insecure about it as until now, she don't know if it even looks good on her though there are countless comments on social media about her looking extra pretty with her braces on.
"thank you," she shyly said as she intertwined her fingers with the fan's surprisingly larger ones as they conversed as if they are long-time friends,
That's one thing fans love about her, she talks to fans comfortably and that made the fans comfortable around her, as well.
It's like when they're around Jaerin, they can talk about their problems comfortably without being judged as the said girl radiates that kind of aura around her, it is as if she's one of their safe places, one of their magic shops together with the boys,
"What's your name?" Jaerin asked as she signed the album and wrote short yet meaningful letters below her signature, heart and star doodles to make it look cute.
"Hong JinHee," the fan answered as she took out a cute black basket that's labelled with, jaerin unnie's lovely basket.
"I have a gift for you! It contains your favorite snacks and things!" she cheerfully said as Jaerin excitedly gasped, looking at the basket's contents as she saw some of her favorite snacks and things,
She let out a laugh when she saw a Funko POP! toy of Jeongguk as she took it out and showed the said boy who's sitting beside her who also giggled when he saw the figurine version of himself,
"thank you! i'll take good care of this, jinhee-ssi!" she said as she waved goodbye at the girl who went to Jeongguk with a big smile, taking out a similar box that she got that's also filled with the boy's favorite snacks and things,
It was so thoughtful of her to buy the member's favorite stuffs and give it as a gift, she might have a hard time finding the right things and it even came with a cute basket that matched their favorite colors.
Time flew fastly and Jaerin could now see the end of the line that their fans made to get their albums signed as she heaved out a slightly sad sigh, sad that their little interactions with the ARMYs are slowly coming to an end,
Jaerin is now free as the next fan is taking her time conversing with Namjoon, she smiled when the fan is literally talking with hearts and sparkles in her eyes, she loves Namjoon so much and it's very obvious with her actions though she thankfully didn't crossed the line and respected their privacy,
"Jaerin-ah! Did you really got your braces with Jiminie?" a fan asked as the latter brought her microphone to her lips as a smile crept up to her lips, nodding as she unintentionally acted cute.
"Hm! Jimin hyung accompanied me to the dentist and he took many pictures of me for blackmail!" Jaerin laughed as she stretched out the word many, making everyone laugh.
She placed her microphone down and smiled when the fan slided in front of her, smiling brightly as she took a lion headband from the paper bag she's holding and placed it on top of Jaerin's head as the female member leaned her head down so that the fan won't have a hard time putting it on her hair,
"Jaerin, you're so pretty and my whole family likes-no! they love you so much and your posters are all over my room and my sister's room and my older brother has a crush on you and I'm so lucky to attend this fanmeeting-wait, am I being too talkative? aigoo! sorry!" Jaerin let out a loud laugh, throwing her head back slightly as she signed the album and placed notes as usual.
Just like with the other fans, she converses with her as she got more excited when she saw that the next fan is a boy, she find fanboys cute as it's very rare to see them especially as their fans are mostly girls.
"Hello!" Jaerin greeted the fanboy enthusiastically as she smiled, her eyes reducing to cute crescents as the fanboy gave her the halfly-signed album,
"What's your name?" she asked as she tried to make eye contact but his cap is covering his eyes, as if he's on disguise.
Their bodyguards that are watching them intenty from their back got alerted when they saw the suspicious fanboy wearing all black from head to toe,
Wearing a baseball cap that hid his face together with his black disposable mask that covered his lips and nose, a black leather jacket and a plain black shirt underneath it,
Black ripped jeans and black boots that resembled the ones that Jeongguk owns.
"Aren't you feeling hot? It's kind of hot here," Jaerin asked with concern especially when she saw the forming sweat in his neatly trimmed sideburns,
Jaerin was about to reach for his gap when he gently gripped her wrist to stop her, making her let out a soft gasp that caught the attention of the members and the bodyguards,
The fanboy seems flustered as he let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head,
"I'm fine, Jaerin. I don't feel hot, the room's air-conditioned so you don't have to worry and my name is.." he stopped for a while as he nervously gulped and shut his eyes gently,
"YeonBin." he answered as Jaerin looked at him for a moment before she nodded and wrote another note and drew little doodles around her signature,
"I have a gift for you, by the way." he said as Jaerin clasped her hands together, nodding as she smiled, waiting for the fanboy to get her gift.
The fanboy took out a medium-sized box, neatly wrapped with a spider-man gift wrapper that made Jaerin really happy, she was about to tear it open when the fanboy stopped her with a smile growing in his lips,
"Do me a favor? Open it when you get home, it's a little big surprise so you might want to open it at home, hm?" he said as Jaerin nodded before giving her a bright smile, adjusting the cat-ears headband on top of her head,
"It's nice meeting you, YeonBin-ssi! Have a great day!" Jaerin said as the fanboy nodded and went to the next member, but unlike with Jaerin, it seems like he only brought a gift for the only female member.
The fanmeeting ended happily and the boys and a girl went home, carrying lots of gifts from their lovely fans.
"Hyung! Someone gave me banana kick! I haven't ate this for so long!" Jeongguk cheered as he tore the snack packaging open and munched on the snack happily, memories of his childhood going back in his mind.
Jaerin is holding the wrapped gift, not wanting to break the favor of the fanboy, she's only holding to the gift, can't wait to come home and open it.
Suddenly, a man ran past Jaerin that made her stumble and fa backwards onto the ground as she let out a small shriek,
She landed a little harshly on the ground due to the force when the unknown man pushed past her.
"Are you okay?" the members asked as she nodded and brushed her palms, only for her to hiss at pain when she realized that her palm is bleeding due to the fall.
The rocks must've wounded her plus the rought texture of the ground.
"I'm fine, don't worry, it's just a small scratch." she said as she picked the gift up from the ground and continued walking to the van,
"Give me your palm, Jae." Hoseok said as he took out his black plaid handkerchief and wrapped the cloth in the youngest's bleeding palm to stop the bleeding.
"Why don't you open the gift, Jaerin?" Jimin asked as Jaerin shook her head slowly, curious of the box but she has to fulfill the favor of the fanboy.
"I have to open it at home, it's a favor from the fan." she explained as Jimin nodded and shook the box gently, not wanting to break the gift if ever it's something fragile.
"It doesn't have a sound though, maybe it's clothes or something light?" Jimin guessed as he gently placed the wrapped gift back to Jaerin's lap.
Once they arrived home, Jaerin quickly opened the gift as she tore the gift wrapper open after so many hesitations.
She was reluctant to tear the wrapper as it was spider-man themed but she tore ir anyways as curiosity is killing her inside.
Jeongguk appeared behind her as he sat down on the floor beside Jaerin who's busy opening the package-like present.
Jaerin took out the present inside the box, smiling brightly but her smile faded and her breathe hitched when she saw what the gift is.
I
t's a worn-out soccer jersey, her old soccer jersey to be specific.
Her name is largely printed in the back with bold and capital letters, same goes to her jersey number that she remembered picking after thinking for a week.
The black and white striped jersey that she used to wear every friday whenever she go to their soccer practice,
"Oh? A soccer jersey? Wait-is this yours?"
Jeongguk asked as he looked at his bestfriend who has a bothered expression in her face,
"Jeongguk-ah, this soccer jersey is mine and this is kept in my closet back in Busan. I haven't touch this nor anyone hasn't touch this since I quit playing, but the fan... he personally gave it to me and I don't remember showing it to anyone, I clearly remember that I left it there in Busan."
Jaerin's brows are furrowed and so is Jeongguk's as he suddenly felt like a detective who has to solve a case, but this time, he's solving the case of the mysterious soccer jersey.
Jeongguk connected the dots while staring at the soccer jersey as a bulb appeared behind his head as he let out a sofr gasp, unbelievable theories forming in his mind but in conclusion, only one of his many hypotheses was accepted and believable.
"Jaerin-ah, you told me that the fan was a boy right? He's the one who gave it to you personally and told you that you should open the gift here at home," Jeongguk cleared as Jaerin nodded slowly, scared to whatever's forming on her bestfriend's dumb yet sometimes, smart mind.
"Can it be.. your brother?"
© staerryniights
- kookarchives