“I’m so glad that you could join us for dinner today,” Jimin said as he casually flipped a piece of meat on the grill.

Before she knew it, Jieun found herself at a small Korean BBQ restaurant. She sat directly across from Jimin, who had brought Jungkook over for dinner. Jungkook excitedly smiled at Jieun, to which she awkwardly smiled back. In all honesty, she had no idea why she was having dinner with the two of them. The first thought was that one of them might be romantically interested in her, but she quickly rejected the idea and told herself that she was a fool for thinking of such a thing.

Besides I have Yoongi, she reminded herself. At least, I think I have Yoongi…

“This is Jungkook, BTS’s maknae,” Jimin said. “Isn’t he adorable?”

“Don’t say something embarrassing like that!” Jungkook exclaimed, turning slightly red. He turned back to Jieun and bashfully looked at her. “I’m a fan. I really love your songs.”

Jieun smiled awkwardly. “T-Thank you…”

“C-Can I get an autograph?” he asked. 

She nodded. He took out a sheet of paper and a marker, then handed the two items to her. As Jimin continued to grill the meat, Jieun busied herself with signing the paper. Once she signed, she handed him the items back, causing Jungkook to thank her three times before putting away the items in his backpack.

The group quickly fell silent again. Jieun waited for one of the boys to say anything, but neither of the BTS members seemed like they were willing to speak. Jungkook was obviously too excited to even think about talking, while Jimin occupied his thoughts with making sure that the food was well-cooked.

“S-So,” Jieun started, “do you guys don’t have anything to do?”

“I have nothing today, but tomorrow my schedule is packed,” Jungkook revealed.

“I have nothing,” Jimin said casually. He looked at her. “Do you have anything?”

“I’m working on my next single,” she revealed, smiling.

“Oh, cool,” Jimin said. Jieun waited for him to say more, but nothing else came out of his mouth. 

“Um, what’s it about?” Jungkook asked, realizing that there’s nothing else going on.

Is he really interested? she wondered. “It’s just a typical song. No big deal.”

“Well, it must be some sort of big deal. I mean, you’re doing amazing with your debut song.”

“Am I? It doesn’t feel like it.”

“You’ll get there,” Jungkook assured her.

“Yeah. We have a small company, too, but things just exploded with us,” Jimin chirped in. He looked up at Jieun. “The meat is done. Dig in!”

Jieun nodded her head and reached in to eat. The three were oddly quiet during the meal. During the silence, Jieun was trying to figure out why Jimin had called her out, while Jimin was wondering when it would be the best time to talk about what he really planned to talk about in the beginning. Jungkook, knowing that he was the third-wheel of the group, patiently waited for someone to generate a topic.

At one point, Jungkook noticed at Jimin was eying at him. It took him a while, but he later realized that Jimin was asking Jungkook to leave the table for a few minutes. Jungkook sighed and placed the chopsticks on the table, alarming Jieun.

“What’s wrong?” Jieun asked.

Jungkook forced a smile. “I’m sorry. I forgot to wash my hands. I’ll be back.”

Jieun furrowed her eyebrows while Jungkook left the table. She could sense that something was wrong, but she didn’t dare to ask. Instead, she kept quiet and watched Jimin quietly grill the meat.

“Hey,” Jimin finally said.

“Y-Yes?” she answered, slightly startled.

“You hate Yoongi, right?” Jimin asked. 

Jieun widened her eyes. She opened her lips to say something, but she wasn’t sure about what to tell him. After all, all she did was kiss Yoongi. There wasn’t anything official between the two.

“Uh…I—“

“It’s okay. You don’t have to lie to me,” Jimin said. He gave her a wide smile. “I hate him, too.”

At that very moment, she felt crushed. She only meekly nodded her head, unable to tell him the truth. Moreover, she told herself that she was just nodding her head to acknowledge what he was saying, not necessarily nodding her head to agree with him. 

I have a bad feeling about this, she thought to herself, swallowing hard.

“What do you think of teaming up? You know, make sure that Yoongi goes down and never gets back up?” Jimin suggested.

Come on, Jieun! Think of something! she told herself. She quickly cleared . “Uh, w-wouldn’t that be bad? I mean, this is Yoongi we’re talking about. If we crush him, then won’t that affect your career?”

“True,” Jimin said, nodding his head. “I guess I was so caught up with hating him, I didn’t think about how he’d affect me in a negative way.” He flashed another smile at her, causing her to feel extremely guilty. “I was right to choose you to be my partner! I’m really glad that you’re the one helping me out on this.” He leaned closer to her with excited eyes. “So, what should we do?”

“W-What?”

“You have a plan or two about how to piss him off, don’t you?” Jimin inquired.

“Not really…”

“Oh, come on! Don’t be shy! I outed my stupid idea. Out your idea,” he said.

“Wait, but this is really sudden—“

“Is it?” Jimin disappointedly sat back down on his chair. “I always thought that people had a whole list of how to make the person they hate miserable. I guess it’s just guys who do that.”

There was a brief pause. For a second, Jieun hoped that the conversation had ended, especially since Jungkook made his return. Feeling a bit more eased, she continued to eat dinner.

“So,” Jungkook started after sitting down, “what did you guys talk about?”

“We’re thinking of ways to make Yoongi miserable,” Jimin blurted, shocking Jieun. “Have any ideas?”

“You seriously want to do that?” Jungkook asked. He sighed and looked at Jieun. “Do you really hate Yoongi hyung?”

Jieun froze, unable to answer his question. She wasn’t sure if it was a good thing, but Jimin decided to act as her voice throughout the remaining conversation.

“Sure she does,” Jimin said. “That’s the only thing we have in common.” He elbowed Jungkook’s arm. “Want to join us in our little scheme?”

Geez! How many people hate Yoongi? Jieun wondered. Yoongi, what did you do?

“No thanks,” Jungkook said firmly. “I’m not even on Yoongi hyung’s bad side. I don’t see the point in plotting some sort of dangerous plan with you guys.” He stared at Jieun and Jimin. “If anyone asks, I wasn’t involved in your sneaky plans, okay?”

“Tch. You’re no fun,” Jimin murmured. 

“Was I supposed to be fun? I always thought Hoseok hyung was the fun one. Taehyung hyung is pretty fun, too,” Jungkook said innocently. He reached for a piece of meat, but Jimin used his chopsticks to intervene. “What?”

“Go back home if you’re not going to be part of this,” Jimin told him.

“I would, but did you forget why I had to be here?” Jungkook asked. He pointed at Jieun. “Remember, she can’t stay alone with you in public.”

Jimin scowled and removed his chopsticks, allowing Jungkook to eat to his heart’s content. He then looked over at Jieun, noticing how odd and quiet she became.

Maybe she’s a fan of Jungkook? Jimin wondered, glancing at the younger boy. For some reason, he felt even more peeved just at the thought of Jieun being interested in some other guy.

Wait a minute. He stopped himself, then looked down at his clenched fist. Why am I feeling pissed off?

“Hey,” Jungkook said, kicking Jimin’s foot. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

“H-Huh?” Jimin asked, his cheeks growing slightly red.

“Jieun asked you a question,” Jungkook said.

Jimin quickly looked at her and blinked his eyes while forcing a small laugh. “S-Sorry! What were you saying?”

“I was just wondering why you hate Yoongi so much,” Jieun said in a small voice.

“I told her that it’s because he doesn’t give you a lot of lines,” Jungkook informed him.

“It’s not just that,” Jimin said. “His attitude is terrible. I have never seen a guy like him. He has a terrible mouth. I remember the first time we met. God, I wish he’d die at the spot.”

“That’s…harsh,” Jungkook murmured, feeling uncomfortable.

“Sorry, Jungkook. You can go back.”

“Are you trying to cause trouble for your new partner?” Jungkook asked.

“Oh, right. You can’t leave. I forgot,” Jimin mumbled.

“B-But he must have a reason, right?” Jieun asked. “Yoongi must have a reason for being so mean!”

“That’s what I always thought,” Jungkook said. “Except, I never really asked him about it, so I just keep quiet and try to get on his good side. It works perfectly for me, but Jimin hyung can’t do that. He’s kind of short-tempered.”

“Am not!” Jimin denied. Is he trying to make me look bad in front of Jieun?

“Exactly! There has to be something that caused him to be so cold,” Jieun agreed. A few seconds later, she slowly withdrew herself and bit her bottom lip. Then, in a barely audible voice, she muttered, “and that reason might be because of me…”

“What’d you say?” Jimin asked.

She gasped and looked up. “No, nothing!”

“Honestly, it doesn’t sound like you hate Yoongi as much as Jimin does,” Jungkook said. Jieun tensed up while Jimin scoffed.

“That’s because she’s better at hiding her hatred towards him. I bet if I get closer to her, she’s going to go on a massive rant on how much she hates him,” Jimin said in a convincing tone.

But that’s not going to happen, Jieun thought weakly, because I’m not the one who actually hates Yoongi that much.

“Still. You should be a little more open-minded, Jimin," Jungkook said. He looked at Jieun. "You, too. You need to realize that Yoongi isn't a bad person."

Jieun widened her eyes. Does he think that I hate Yoongi?

"Blah, blah, blah. You just sit there and eat, okay? Leave the important conversations between me and Jieun," Jimin told him.

"Whatever," Jungkook said, rolling his eyes.

"Ignore him. He's just upset that I finally found someone who understands me," Jimin said. He smiled at Jieun. "I'm really glad that I met you, Jieun. Honestly, I really am. I hope we can continue to be good partners and find a way to show Yoongi that the world doesn't revolve around him, and that it actually expands to everyone else."

Jieun forced a fake smile and let out an extra loud laugh. As she pretended to enjoy Jimin's company, she couldn't help but notice the guilt-ridden feeling growing inside her small chest, stabbing her lungs every time she widened her lips and forged out a comical giggle.

Ah, I'm in a sticky situation now, she realized in between her short breaths and small chuckles. Oh boy. This is going to be the death of me.