Milk in My Tea

10. Strawberry

Namjoon’s POV

I woke up the next morning in Quinn’s bed, by myself. I blinked blearily for a few moments, adjusting to the sun’s morning rays in her room as I sat up, taking in my surroundings. Our pile of clothes from last night had been cleaned up, and new clothes were laid out on the edge of the bed in their place. To my surprise, they were actually my clothes from the dorm. As I climbed out of the bed, I noticed another new addition -- a shopping bag sat on top of the Quinn’s desk. When I went to look into it, there were clean undergarments and a pair of my sandals, also from my dorm. While I rummaged through the bag, I wondered how Quinn was able to get my belongings in here while I was still sleeping. I looked around the room for anything else new, and upon finding nothing else, took the shopping bag and clean clothes into Quinn’s private bathroom.

After I showered and brushed my teeth, I heard the bedroom door open and close softly. I was rubbing my hair with a towel when Quinn finally appeared, looking y and relaxed in a hooded crop top and knit pants that basically molded to her skin. The visual combination of her flat stomach, wide hips, and long legs made me completely forget what I was doing.

“I’m glad you finally woke up,” She told me with a smile, leaning against the dorm frame. Unable to stop myself, I grabbed her around the waist, kissing her fully on the lips without warning. Quinn giggled against my mouth, and I knew I could hear that sound every day of my life and never get tired of it.

“Wangbi-ah, how’d you get prettier overnight?” I asked her, my eyes never once leaving her beautiful body and gorgeous face.

Quinn laughed again, “They call it beauty sleep for a reason, right?”

I chuckled, “I promise I’ll let you get 8 hours every night,” I told her, but as I spoke my hands traced her body from her ribcage to her hips, “Then again, it’ll be very hard to let you sleep when you walk around like this…”

Quinn lifted an eyebrow, an amused look in her eyes, “Good thing we live in two separate places,” she replied with a giggle.

I faked a sigh of disappointment, “Ugh, why’d you remind me of that?”

We were both laughing when I heard a knock at Quinn’s bedroom door. Since we were both decent, Quinn opened the door fully to reveal Karissa on the other side, positively beaming at both of us.

“Good morning, love birds! I hate to interrupt but I need to debrief you on our battle plan.”

Quinn nodded, heading out into the living room. I followed with my bag of belongings, trying and failing not to stare at Quinn’s shapely backside as we went.

With the three of us gathered in the living room, Karissa told me about last night’s events, “So after you started the biggest media frenzy since Suga confessed his love to Niah on national TV, we’ve gotta figure out how to get you out of our apartment without being seen.”

I nodded, expecting some of Karissa’s news. I knew that several reporters and news sites were at the charity auction last night, especially with so many celebrities and socialites in attendance. Still, I hadn’t expected them to follow me all the way to Quinn’s place.

“The good news is the owner of our building refuses to let any of them come inside. So they’re stuck outside in the cold, waiting for you or Quinn to come out,” Karissa continued, turning on a tablet and handing it over to me. Quinn sat in her chair, sipping a cup of tea while I looked over the headlines. They were calling me a cheater and Quinn was being labeled as a “homewrecker”. So far, my company hadn’t reached out with a comment, which was good. I knew things were going to be bad, but I was still surprised to see so many hateful comments directed toward Quinn.

“Also, your phone’s been blowing up since about 5 this morning,” Quinn told me, sitting her cup down on the coffee table and handing me my cell phone, which was powered off, “I turned it off so you could sleep.”

I kissed her cheek gratefully, “Wangbi-ah, I’m-”

Quinn waved her hand nonchalantly, “It’s no big deal, Joon-ah. Just do what you always do. You’re the Leader, so I know you can fix it,” she told me with a resolute smile. I felt my chest tighten, touched by the fact that she believed in me and trusted me. We really had reached a new place in our relationship after last night.

“Right now, Niah and Suga-oppa are acting as a distraction for the reporters. He came over around 7 this morning to pick you up and bring your clothes,” Karissa said, pointing at the shopping bag in my hand. I nodded, handing her the tablet back and powering on my phone. “They’re giving them an exclusive interview on their relationship as we speak. Right now, no one knows that Queenie and Niah know each other. They know you’re in this building with a ‘the Jhang Hotel’s translator’ and that’s all.”

“So that means I need to leave soon,” I stated, standing as my phone buzzed with a bunch of notifications. My manager had been texting me every hour, on the hour, and the group members were all telling me congratulations in our group chat. I shot them a quick text, and then messaged Yoongi-hyung to let him know I was getting ready to head out.

Quinn joined me on my feet, “I’m off for the next two days, so I’ll stay home and do my best not to show my face. That should give you at least a day to try and get this under control. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you, ok, baby?”

The endearment warmed me from head-to-toe. I cupped Quinn’s cheeks with my hands, staring down into her hazel eyes, momentarily forgetting that Karissa was still there, “I just need you to stay happy and safe, Wangbi-ah.”

Quinn nodded, a soft smile spreading across her face, “I think I can do that.”

Karissa coughed and I grinned, pressing a light kiss on Quinn’s forehead before I headed towards the entryway. Karissa followed me, shaking her head, “Queenie, I’ll help him sneak out of here and then I’ll be back!”

Quinn waved at us both as we put on our shoes and when I was done, I kissed Quinn’s cheek one final time, “I’m