I woke up the next morning to a sound I didn’t normally hear: my alarm. I guess I must have slept lighter than usual if I didn’t sleep through it for a change. I pushed up off the couch and rubbed my neck, hoping I hadn’t caused a crick that was going to last all day, considering I’d apparently spent at least part of the night with my head hanging off the edge of the cushions. I switched off the alarm and spent an unusually leisurely morning getting ready for work, which generally meant showering and dressing so I looked somewhat decent and choking down yet another slice of what I tried to call toast but was more like some kind of charred sponge with jam on it. I’d never been very good at cooking, and this? This made prison food look like a preferable alternative. One of these days, I was just going to give up on trying to cook bread to crisp but unburnt perfection and instead just eat the damn stuff. Today was not that day.

An hour later found me stuffing my head back into that God-awful yellow ponytailed foam ball and grabbing my basket again. The boss gave me a hearty pat on the back and shooed me out the door with all the finesse of a mother sending her child off to their first day of middle school. With a sigh, I focused on the fact that at least no one I knew would see me. Most of them lived on the other end of the country, and the ones who did live nearby either didn’t shop anywhere near here or I just didn’t give a damn if they saw me. And at least I’d be earning a nice bonus if I did as well today as yesterday. That knowledge spurring me on, I started handing out flyers and lollipops like my life depended on it, being as cheerful as I knew how to be. Granted, that wasn’t very, but it was something.

The morning passed in relative calm and I was glad when the boss came to let me take my lunch break. I was about to head inside when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and almost jumped out of my padded underpants when my costume’s nose embedded itself in the business end of a roll of kimbap. Stepping back, I brushed off the few grains of rice that were stuck to the felt and allowed my eyes to focus on what turned out to be a paw holding the kimbap out to me. I held out my hand gingerly and Winnie dropped the roll into it before skipping away. I still couldn’t get used to that image.

Shaking my head, I wandered into the store’s back room and sank down onto the bench there. I managed to pull the head off with one hand and took a closer look at the kimbap. It looked pretty delicious. Tons of vegetables in it, just the way I liked. Deciding to take the risk, I took a bite. It really was delicious. Apparently the bear was either a really good cook or knew someone who was. Granted, rolling rice and veg inside seaweed wasn’t exactly cooking, but if a chef could chop up raw beef and put it on a plate and call it cooking, I could justify using the term for this. I looked down. It took a few seconds to realise that in the time I had been debating the definition of cooking with myself, I’d virtually inhaled the kimbap. Sighing at the loss of my new but dearly beloved friend, I grabbed my lunchbox from my bag and fished out the ham sandwich I had brought with me. It was no kimbap but it was something, and it finished off the rumbling in my stomach nicely.

I couldn’t help feeling like I owed Winnie for the kindness, and I had a look around the store while I was still on my break. It was hard knowing what to get when I didn’t even know what gender the bear was. I mean, the skipping kind of made me lean towards a girl, but the dancing made me think it was maybe a guy. Finally, I settled on a box of fudge that I had seen a lot of people buying the day before. It looked pretty good so I figured it might be a decent thank you gift. I paid and tucked it into my basket before putting the costume head back on and heading back out into the mall. Sure enough, Winnie was waiting and hurried over. We hadn’t said a word to each other yet and it seemed like the bear wasn’t going to break the silence, It tilted its head at me as if to ask how the kimbap was. …..I was starting to read bear sign language. Things were more serious than I thought. I nodded emphatically and the bear did some weird bouncing thing that I swear was a jump for joy. Weirdo. I fished the box of fudge out of my basket and held it out to Winnie. It stared at it for a couple moments then looked at me. I gave a small nod and shook the box a little. Finally it took the box and hugged it, moving from side to side like a little child that had received a stuffed toy. I rolled my eyes and held up my basket to show that I needed to get back to work. Ninja-bear nodded and we both turned and went our separate ways, me with my head reeling as I tried to figure out when I stepped into an episode of Barney and Friends.

I didn’t ‘speak’ to Winnie for the rest of the shift, and when I left for work, it was nowhere to be seen. Not that I looked, of course. That would be dumb. I just took a peek around to make sure there was nothing out of place anywhere between our store and the one 4 stores down. By the time I got home, I was starving again and I had just made myself a plate of spaghetti when my phone vibrated. I debated ignoring it for a while, then gave up. It could be important. I checked the screen and saw a message from the same number as the day before. I unlocked the phone and read the message.

“Tiger Eye – 8pm?~

Tiger Eye was a club I’d only heard of, mostly because it was tough to get in. I texted back, saying I didn’t have any way of getting in, only to get a message instantly, like Winnie had known I would say that. Winnie would get me in. I didn’t know how a hiphop bear would get me into one of the most exclusive clubs in the city, but curiosity got the better of me and I replied, saying I would be there.

Virtually gobbling my spaghetti, I finished the meal in record time and slipped into something more comfortable: jeggings and my favourite tank top. Casual, yet cute, and definitely easy to dance in. I checked the address online and, when the clock hit 7:30, I headed out. It didn’t take long to get there and I was soon in the line at the door. I realised as I was waiting that I didn’t know how the heck this was going to work. When the bouncer called me forward and asked my name, I almost gave my real one, but then remembered the bear didn’t know my name. I decided to take a risk and gave my name as Sailor Moon. He raised an eyebrow at me, clearly questioning my sanity, but checked the list. The other eyebrow joined and he stepped back, speaking to someone behind him. They unhooked a rope beside Eyebrow and gestured me through, guiding me to another door next to the main one.

I was starting to wonder if I’d been tricked, but a woman inside led me toward a table near a stage to the ‘front’ of the club. I sat down and ordered a glass of juice, not wanting to risk anything alcoholic while things were already surreal. At the of 8, the lights dimmed even further and a group took to the stage. I stared as the lights raised again and they started dancing and singing, praying my jaw wasn’t going to land somewhere between my feet and the table legs. On the stage were 7 extremely good-looking guys. After a few moments, things got really interesting as they pulled their shirts up, showing off some amazing abs, one set in particular. A couple of them rapped (not really my thing), and then one stepped to the front to take his turn in the lead. I could hardly take my eyes off Abs-man for the rest of the song and only occasionally looked at the others, though there were definitely a couple who were pretty close to him in the toning department.

The performance went on for a good half an hour until finally, it was over. I say finally, but I would happily have sat through a couple more hours of that kind of entertainment. How I’d ended up with a ‘front row’ seat, I didn’t know, but I’d have to thank Winnie if the bear ever showed up. I was looking around, trying to catch one final glimpse of Abs before the group left, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and found myself face to face with him. I opened my mouth to speak but he gestured to keep quiet and grabbed my wrist, leading me through the crowd to the back of the stage. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but if it meant Mr Muscle was holding my wrist, I didn’t mind much. Sadly, as quickly as it had begun, it was over and he let go when we reached a door. Asking me to wait where I was, he opened the door and slipped inside, closing it after him. I heard a few voices inside the room, and then, a minute later, he returned, bringing with him most of the group. Each of them bowed a greeting, all of them giving each other sneaky grins, before they hurried away and into another room, one of them turning at the last second to wave me into the room they had just left.

To say I was confused would be an understatement. I didn’t think my vocabulary was big enough to have a word that described how confused I was. Nevertheless, I pushed open the door and stepped inside, closing it behind me. It was dark. What. The. Hell? I reached out, trying to find a light switch, but hit my hand on the wall instead. I groaned and grabbed my hand.

“Please don’t turn it on. Not yet.” I froze. There was someone else in there. A guy. I slid my foot back a fraction, getting ready in case I needed to kick someone in the jewels.

“Why not?” I hoped my voice would come out sounding tough, and wanted to kick myself in the jewels for how wimpy it sounded instead.

“I wanted to at least hear your voice first. I didn’t know what it would sound like.” He sounded shy, and that just upped the confusion scale by a whole heck of a lot. “It’s pretty.” I could hear a little bit of a smile in his voice and I felt my cheeks warming a fraction and scowled to myself to counteract it.

“Yours isn’t too bad…but who are you?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest, partly so I could tuck my hand inside my elbow to calm the throbbing in my knuckles.

“Winnie” came a soft reply, as if he was scared I’d freak out. I kind of did, mentally. For some reason, I had come to terms with the idea that Winnie was a girl, and to find that it…he…wasn’t, well, it was a bit of a mindf….it messed with my brain. To add to that the fact he had a pretty cute sounding voice meant that I wasn’t entirely upset.

“You’re Winnie?”

“Yeah. You’re Sailor Moon, right?” I nodded, then facepalmed as I realised how stupid that was.

“Yeah, I am. Can I turn the light on now? It’s kinda weird talking to a pitch black room.” I heard a quiet chuckle and then footsteps coming closer. An arm brushed past me and I squeezed my eyes shut tightly as a bright light hit them. “Holy crap! I didn’t think I was gonna be blinded tonight!” I hissed as I rubbed my eyes. The chuckle again.

I waited a minute and then gradually blinked my eyes open, looking around until I spotted an ear and jumped back, turning to find a face a few inches from where mine had been. “Geez! You even do that when you’re not in costume?” He grinned, and I felt my heart melt until I probably could have poured it out of my shoe. It was one of the singers.

“I like it. It keeps people on their toes.”

“Or asses” I muttered to myself, frowning grumpily. It didn’t last long, because a finger promptly pushed the crease between my eyebrows back up. I stared at the fingertip until an ache in my forehead made me realise I was cross-eyed. I blinked to get my eyes back to normal and stared past the hand at him. “What on earth are you doing?” The damn grin again.

“You’re prettier when you smile” he said, shrugging and lowering his hand.

“You’ve never seen me smile” I pointed out, one eyebrow raised as my arms crossed again in victory.

“No, but I can already tell you are.”

“Says the guy who skips like a schoolgirl” I taunted, stepping closer and smirking at him. He gave a slight snort and copied the motion.

“Says the girl who dances like a b-boy.” We were inches apart, and I felt a little nervous so close. I stepped back and turned away, snorting in amusement to cover the retreat.

“What’s your name anyway? I don’t think Winnie’s likely to be the real one, is it?” I glanced back over my shoulder, slightly curious what his reaction would be. I wasn’t ready for what it was. He ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck and muttered under his breath. “What?” I asked, unable to hear beyond a mumble.

“Jungkook” he repeated, loud enough for me to hear. I froze. I knew that name. Anyone who liked kpop knew that name. I turned slowly, staring at him. Now that I really looked at him, I could vaguely remember seeing that face on billboards, though I’d never paid much attention. I listened to my music and never really looked at who sang it, but now that I thought back, I realised I’d heard those voices before.

“Wait just one minute” I said, holding up a hand. I saw his shoulders flinch a little like he’d been expecting the reaction. “You’re telling me you’re in one of the country’s biggest music groups?” He nodded, not looking at me. “And you were singing in a nightclub?” He nodded again. “And you were dancing as a bear mascot?” Number three. “Boy do I feel dumb.” Nod number f- It stopped mid-bob. He looked up at me, eyes wide.

“What?” he asked, I shrugged.

“I didn’t even recognise you up there.” The eyes widened even further.

“You didn’t? You’re not a fan?” He seemed a strange mix of relieved, happy and disappointed.

“Well, yeah, just not a super-fan. I don’t really watch videos or go to concerts or anything, just listen to the music.” That seemed to be the right answer, because he grinned like all his birthdays had come at once.

“I’m glad. It’s nice to have someone know me a little without being obsessed” he said, stepping a little closer again. “Is it weird that I was looking forward to meeting you properly?” I shrugged, then shook my head. “Good, because I was so happy when you said you’d come tonight.” I blushed at the semi-compliment, and he smirked at me. Damn that smirk… I didn’t know why the hell something that was normally obnoxious on a guy looked so adorably y on him, but it did. I looked away, wanting to look anywhere but at him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him take a step closer. What the heck? I felt a touch on my chin as he turned my head back to look at him. It was hard, but I forced myself not to back down as he looked me in the eye. It was almost as if he was testing my resolve, and I was nothing if not up for a challenge.

Thankfully, I was saved by the bell, or the door in this case, as it swung open and the guys from earlier came racing in and skidded to a halt, staring at us. They started oohing and ahhing and I suddenly realised what we must have looked like. Stepping back quickly, I shook my head at them. “Chill guys,” I said, “It’s not what it looks like.” They looked at Jungkook in confusion and he too shook his head, looking almost disappointed. Did he want them thinking he was a player or something. Peer pressure strikes again. They calmed down, all of them having the decency to look sheepish, and I edged toward the door. Jungkook’s eyebrows raised pleadingly and I shrugged in apology. “Sorry Winnie, I have work early tomorrow again” I explained, feeling a little guilty at leaving him after he’d gone to such elaborate lengths. He sighed and nodded, looking at one of the guys as the guy patted his shoulder.

I was turning toward the door when I had a sudden of inspiration. I wasn’t about to make out with a guy I’d never met real face to real face before, but I could at least make him look a bit cooler to his friends, especially after what he’d done. I grinned to myself, picturing the look on his face, then turned. Marching over to him, I took hold of his chin with my thumb and forefinger and pulled it down to my level, planting a kiss firmly on his cheek. “Thanks for the evening. I had a blast.” Winking at him, I headed for the door, almost bursting out laughing at the chorus of back-slaps and laughs from the others and the deer-in-headlights look he had given me.

In the short time it took to get home, I had already heard my phone beep at least 4 times, and I was about ready to throw the damn thing into traffic. I had a sneaking suspicion it was my boss asking me to go through with one of the crazy schemes she’d talked to me about that day (Sailor Moon Cupid? Seriously?) and I was not opening that can of worms. I tossed it on the couch when I got into my apartment and went for a cool shower, partly to calm the blush as I thought about the fact I had, less than an hour ago, kissed a freaking stranger, and partly to calm the absolute agony from my foot. It had started killing me on the way home and by the time I got to the door, it hurt to even put weight on it.

Eventually, I couldn’t put it off any longer, and I had to get out of the shower. Forcing myself to keep the swearing to a reasonably low level, I limped my way out to the couch and flopped down on it, remembering just in time to grab the phone before my rear connected with where it had been resting a moment before. Sure enough, there were 4 messages from my boss asking if I was up for the idea she had mentioned. Why the woman couldn’t just put it all in one message was beyond me. I texted her back saying I would speak to her the next day, and checked the last messages I had received. I was surprised to see that, in the time I had been in the bathroom, I had been added to a group chat in one of the apps I used and I started scrolling through what I had apparently missed.

“JK - Why did you do that?!”

“T - What?”

“JK - You know what”

“JM - You mean add your girlfriend?”

“JK - She’s not my girlfriend!”

“T – Not yet”

“JK – Yah! She can read this!”

“J – I think that’s their idea”

“JK – Hyung… Please tell them to stop”

“J – You really think they’d listen? You heard them after she left”

“JK - *sigh* I know…”

“JK – Moon, when you see this… I’m so sorry you got dragged into this chat”

“T – Moon? You don’t even know her name yet? Idiot…”

“J – Aish… Be nice. Just because he doesn’t flirt with everyone like you do”

“T – I don’t flirt. I appreciate.”

“JK – Next time, try appreciating with your eyes instead of your lips”

“JM – Isn’t that going too far?”

“SM – Um…hi” I cut in, hoping to at least stem the tide of fighting that seemed to be going on, since my phone was starting to sound like I was using it as a maraca. The messages stopped for a moment before flooding in.

“JM – You’re here!”

“J – I apologise for the children -_-“

“T – Why apologise? We’re adorable”

“JK – Aish… OTL “

“S – Hi Moon. I’m staying out of the crazy”

“JH – I’m already crazy, but I’m still staying out :P “

“RM – I leave it to Jin when they get like this”

“SM – So you’re all in BTS then? You’re the group?”

“RM – Yep. Sorry about earlier. We didn’t mean to interrupt”

“JK – Hyung! I told you, you didn’t interrupt!”

“SM – He’s telling the truth. We were just talking”

“T – ‘Just talking’? Much longer and we probably would have had to go home without Jungkook”

“SM – Huh?”

“T – Well, I don’t think you two would have been out of that room for a while”

“SM – Shut up”

“JK – THANK YOU!!!”

“SM – As fascinating as this is, I need to get some ice and some sleep”

“JK – Ice? Are you okay? What happened?”

“T – Aigooooo! Look at the worried boyfriend”

“JK – I’M NOT HER BOYFRIEND!!!”

“SM – I’m ignoring that. I just hurt my foot or something, it’ll be fine by morning. Night all”

I didn’t wait for a response before setting my phone aside. Hopping to the kitchen nook, I grabbed a tea towel and filled it with ice, heading back to the sofa and strapping the bundle securely to my ankle with my handbag strap. Ignoring the constant buzzing of my phone, I curled up under my blanket and went to sleep quickly, exhausted from the insanity of the evening.

 

 

A/N - I know, lots of dialogue! I just couldn't resist. Something just screamed at me to do it and I had to. Hopefully the much longer update will make up for it, and the delay.