IT WAS THE SECOND SESSION.
Jimin had brought one fourth of the value of what he had pickpocketed from the past week. It really wasnt a lot despite him bargaining with the pawn shop owner to pay him more for whatever he stole.
It was a shop that Jennie recommended. She had indeed mentioned that the shop owner could be a little cheap, but at the same time he was trustworthy because she knew he wouldn't snitch on them to the police.
Speaking of Jennie, she wasn't there yet.
Or maybe she's trying to approach me from behind and pickpocket me again, he thought with a pinch of salt lacing his tone.
Pickpocketing was a lot harder than he imagined. He truly admired the brunette for being so skilled at it. The first time he pickpocketed, he barely got away with it. And he, to be fair, is too much of a nice person. The lady had left her handbag open, one of its handles hanging off her shoulder, leaving it wide open for Jimin to take everything inside.
But as aforementioned, he was too nice. Too nice for a person who has such a poor financial background and had no choice but to rely on such means.
He couldn't afford to be so nice if he wanted to survive in this city with a roof on his head.
Of course Jimin learnt to brush off the guilt - at least by a little bit - after that. He didn't regret not stealing the phone and only stealing some money though, for the guilt would have eaten him alive. He wondered how Jennie does it without any hesitation.
"Hi"
There she comes.
"Hey"
"How's your progress been so far?"
"Well, lets see. At first, almost got caught, felt too guilty so I only pickpocketed $12 and didn't manage to pickpocket anyone the next day. But hey, I tried" he summarised and Jennie laughed.
"I mean, you were successful in pickpocketing at least. You'll get used to the guilt though" she paused to give a sad smile "you have to"
He pursed his lips, knowing she's right. Jennie sighed as well, recollecting her first experience, when she actually got caught.
That's when she met Hoseok, who somehow got her out of trouble. He was the one who taught her the tricks and quirks of the skill.
"Jimin" she said, catching his attention "why did Hoseok not teach you pickpocketing?"
She saw him hesitate and added quickly "If you don't mind answering, of course"
"Oh, I dont mind, I mean-" he tried to think of way to start "He didn't want me, Tae and Kook, the youngest ones in our friend group, to pickpocket. My other three hyungs too. So they did the illegal things for us - gambling and pickpocketing. They wanted us to have a good education and get a job but.. Yoongi and Namjoon hyung got caught last year for gambling illegal items, and you know what happened to Hoseok. So it's only me and Jin hyung left beside the younger ones, and while he can also pickpocket, he's actually the only one who has a cooking job at a restaurant. He took on extra shifts and can't teach me, so I tried to do it myself. I didn't finish studying anyway, so at least for Tae and Kook, I hope to help them"
Jennie's heart warmed up at the sincerity and fondness in his voice for his friends, and got reminded of her own. She remembered all the hardships and bullshit they had to do to have a place to live in, and she felt the familiar sting of oncoming tears.
How her parents ditched her and Jisoo unnie had taken her in. How Jisoo and Lisa gambled while Chaeyoung did street art for money. How no matter in what situation - whether it be having roof over their heads or not - they'd always stick together, sacrifice anything for each other.
She smiled at him, sincerely, "Jimin, You- You're a great guy, really"
He was slightly taken aback by the strong emotion in her voice, and felt his face warm up, causing him to whisper "You're making me blush, Jennie"
That made her smirk "When do I not make you blush?"
Pause.
"Fair enough" he muttered and she slapped his shoulder playfully "At least you seem more confident now."
"Yeah" he smiled back at her.
"Anyway for today, let's talk about diverting the attention of people"
Just like how you divert my mind whenever I see you-
"What was that?"
FUCK I SAID IT OUT LOUD?
"what?"
Play dumb, Jimin.
Jennie looked confused "No, um, nevermind. Just thought you said something."
"No, nothing. At all." He replied, cursing his voice for going an octave higher.
"You're lying" she pointed out, rolling her eyes "But whatever. Anyway, as I was saying, this skill is needed for pickpocketing things in the open. Many people tend not to notice the things right in front of them - as weird as that sounds. For example, they could take out their phone to check something and put it back, but if you ask them the time, they wouldn't have noticed that although it would have been right under their nose when they were unlocking it"
"Also, when I pickpocketed your bracelet, you didn't even notice right?" she smiled, a hint of cockiness seen "That's because I told you to calm down. Your attention would be to me, and not to your hands..."
No shit, someone could strip me naked and I'd not notice because I'd be too distracted by you.
What the heck, stop thinking like this Jimin!
But I can't help myself—
Pay attention, you MORON!
Jimin fought back a groan at his thoughts. How the fuck did his crush become so big in a week? Hell, he didn't even remember developing it?
"...and then the cat will eat the dog which kisses the rat. Jimin, I've been talking nonsense - you're not listening to me"
He snapped his attention back to what she was saying and panic took over seeing her expression "Huh? No- You're not- wa-"
"It's okay" she interrupted, "Let's try a demonstration instead" She grinned, taking out a book from her bag.
"Now I am going to purposely drop this book near you" She walked over, pretended to bump against him and dropped it at the same time. If he didn't know she was acting, he really wouldn't have realised this was all fake.
"Now, most of the people I pull this trick on are very courteous and pick it up for me." She continued "But when they bend down, I do too. Pretend you're them, so please bend down"
He did awkwardly, and took hold of the book when she also bent down and one of her hands held the book and the other his wrist.
"Then you apologise very dramatically like - Oh thank you so much! I'm so sorry!" she pretended to apologize profusely, getting up at the same time he did, her hands still on him.
"No problem?" he said, but realised that as she took the book back and retracted her hands, his bracelet was also gone.
Jennie twirled it around her fingers "This is all about timing and practice. You need hold their wrist naturally, not too hard. Thank and apologise dramatically, so all their attention is on you - your face. They won't even notice it go missing. But slip back into the crowd right after, just in case"
She returned him the bracelet, "Do you get it? Of course there are more tricks, but this is most simple and basic one."
"I guess so. How did you unclasp it so fast?"
She shrugged "Practice, really. Your bracelet's hook is really simple, you need to know how to unclasp it within a second. I'd say practise it with Tae and Kook first, before trying it out with strangers. Unless you are confident you know what you're doing, don't try this one." she warned.
He nodded, fiddling with the beaded bracelet around his wrist.
"Great!" she clapped once, smiling brightly "Now you try, I'll wear the bracelet."
His eyes almost popped out "Wait what?"
"Practice makes perfect" Jennie sang and he felt like cursing as he handed over his bracelet. How was he supposed to do it when he could barely think straight around her?
Well, time to embarass myself further, if that's possible.
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