[CONTENTID1]Girls Day Out[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]A SELECTION OF CHOCOLATE-BOYS[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

The mall was bustling with energy. Charged electricity surged in the empty spaces between each individual as they trundled along, gripping shopping bags and cartons of beverages.

Suzy met her friends there outside a newsagent, where Nana was chattering about the field trip they were to attend the following day.

"This is gonna be like, the best thing ever!" she exclaimed, inebriated with giddiness, “And tomorrow is the field trip! I can’t wait.”

Suzy was reluctant about the little getaway, especially after Taekwoon had abandoned her. The sheer memory of him agonized her emotions and left her engulfed by a sea of darkness. The field trip in the mountains was just something that Nana told her that morning.

Apparently, the science society was going trekking in the mountains, and Sungyeol wanted the Sweety gang to try it out.

She wouldn't  have decided to go if it hadn't been for the recent message she received from Taekwoon. He mentioned something about sending a bodyguard to replace his duties, a man who went by the name Jackson. Jackson was apparently from a group called GOT7, who were also bodyguards for young people.

"Where's this new bodyguard?" Krystal asked, surveying the place with her hawk-like eyes.

"I've asked him to meet us here," Suzy drawled, inspecting every face that passed by.

She had Krystal's stalking abilities to thank for finding Jackson on social media. His profile picture was rather unprofessional; she recalled seeing him adorned in medieval armour and wielding a plastic sword as if he was attending Comic-Con.

"Look." Jieun pointed for a brief second before adjusting her thick framed glasses.

Suzy followed her gaze and then spotted the man who was to be her new knight in shining armour. A tide of disappointment washed over her.

Jackson was walking towards them, but his face was glued to a Nintendo screen that he held firmly. His attire was a stark contrast to Taekwoon, choosing to wear a filthy, grey pullover and ragged pants.

He would have walked right passed them in his trance if it had not been for Nana screaming out his name.

"Jackson! Yoohoo!" She waved, grinning broadly.

The man's head snapped back and he glared at them, vicious eyes of a curmudgeon popped out of their sockets.

"When will I get paid?" he demanded, stopping to stand before them and resuming his game.

The girls paused and stared amongst each other. That was rather rude of him to suggest. They thought Jackson would wait for an answer but he squealed as he glanced back at his nintendo and resumed jamming his fingers on the buttons.

“Dammit Mark Tuan! I told him to play Monster Hunter today! Where is that idiot?”

Suzy sighed in dismay.

-

Suzy glimpsed a pop-up shop hanging idly by a corner. It's kaleidoscope ring of coloured circles caught her attention.

"I've never seen that one before." She squinted her eyes to read the misspelled words on the sign.

"Bubble tea!" Nana exclaimed, squealing like a fangirl.

Her clamorous friend grappled Suzy's arms and dragged her inside without even listening to her pleas and protests. The other three decided against the idea of following, and lingered outside.

To her surprise, inside was Himchan, waiting impatiently to be served. His arms were folded and he was tapping the floorboard with his shoes, the incessant sound resonated in the tiny store.

As if her sticky situation couldn't get any worse, Suzy then spotted Woobin on a chair that seemed too miniature for his body, donned in a puffy jacket that made him look as if he was ready for hibernation. His long legs were crossed and stretched out so far, they took up the majority of the tea shop.

The half-giant's mischievous eyes shifted from his phone and up to Suzy.

“Buttercup!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet as a glimmering smile danced across his sculpted lips. "It’s a pleasant surprise to see you."

Suzy recoiled in Nana's grasp, betraying her inner disgust with a deep frown. Fate was playing a twisted game with her it seemed. She was trapped in a cup of bubble-tea with a cheeky monkey who spoke a foreign language of failed pick up lines, and an egocentric alien whose life revolved around Himchan and Himchan only.

Luckily, the latter was too engrossed scrutinizing his own reflection to notice anyone else around him.

“Come here, snicker doodle!” Woobin gestured, opening his arms wide.

“Omo!” Nana whispered into Suzy’s ears, releasing her hold and gawking at Woobin, head to toe. "Minnie, he's, like, even hotter in natural lighting!"

Before Suzy could flee, Woobin had taken one giant stride to reach her and pulled her closer to him. His embrace surprisingly emitted a consolidating warmth and his big, strong arms seemed very protective when wrapped around her frail body.

The world around her melted away and she was stunned momentarily, wanting to stay within the vicinity of his protection forever. However, a second voice in her head said otherwise and Suzy squirmed out of his cuddle, her cheeks burned like a hot oven and flushed an incarnadine hue.

"Snicker doodle..." Himchan mimicked, snorting to himself noisily. When he turned and found himself facing Suzy, his expression transmogrified from that of amusement to exaggerated shock.  

“Well, well, if it isn’t--loser!" he gruntled, displaying an arrogant look of petulance "Can't have enough of me, can you?”

"Is this lad a friend of yours, dumpling?" Woobin asked, tilting his head and staring down at Himchan who appeared rather inferior when standing next to the giant.

She had no response for that question and the more she thought about it, the more grim her answer became.

Suzy glanced over at Nana for help but her friend had a cheeky expression playing on her face, a look of hunger that was to be satiated with a meal she had been craving for weeks. She was savouring every minute of their company, or perhaps she was overly occupied ogling at Woobin.

Why was she always caught in the middle of so much turmoil? Suzy wondered for once, pitying herself more than anyone else. She would have loved one day, one single day without her head splitting in half. With Jackson being a new additive in her life, her wish seemed as far as the next galaxy now.

"Pfft!!" Himchan honked impulsively and his physiognomy twisted. "I don't befriend losers!"

The silly top model turned to face the unoccupied counter and banged his fist against the table.

"Aigoo! Hurry up back there!" Himchan demanded, gritting his teeth like he was about to growl through them. "I have a photoshoot in ten flippin' minutes!"

Woobin merely raised his eyebrows at the discourtesy and suppressed a bewildered chuckle. When his gaze met Nana's, the charismatic grin reappeared on his handsome face.

"I'll buy you two beauties your drinks," he opted, the radiant smile had now reached his eyes.

Nana giggled and flickered her eyelashes in a coquettish manner that no doubt made any man swoon. It was evident to Suzy that her charms had brushed against the giant because he favoured her friend with a flirty wink.

For a sliver of a moment, an intense burn of envy poisoned her thoughts and Suzy detested the way Nana was a mortal danger to all men. She was like a trap set by nature, a sweet perfumed rose in whose petals Cupid lurked, waiting for an ambush. Suzy despised the way Nana instilled grace in every common thing and divinity in every careless gesture. But more than anything else, she loathed herself for having such thoughts.

Himchan scoffed behind them. "Hagrid's desperate for a girlfriend."

"What?" The words came out muffled, as if he was talking underwater. Woobin turned to face the other man, laughing quietly into his knuckles.

“Himchan, that’s not very nice!” Suzy chastised. His behaviour was infantile beyond words but rather than being insulted, Woobin appeared a lot more amused. She could decipher his thoughts through the genial glint in his eyes.

“It's true," the conceited man sniggered. "All he’s missing is a shaggy beard."

"I think this little man is just getting jealous," Woobin smirked, imperturbable as he patted Himchan's shoulder. The pompous man smacked his arm aside with a sharp jerk and scowled fiercely.

"Jealous my !" he protested, glancing down at an ostentatious watch strapped around his wrist. "That incompetent worker, did he run away?"

No, of course he had not fled, Suzy wanted to tell him. Perhaps he was just hiding at the back from Himchan's poisonous ego.

“You know, Suzy and I have our own fair share of intimacies." Woobin placed an arm around her slender shoulders and she could feel his ribcage rising and falling against her chest. It was no wonder Himchan thought of Hagrid from Harry Potter, the only difference being that Woobin had the appearance of a model.

"Ain’t that right, cheesepuffs?” he asked, giving Suzy’s shoulders a tight squeeze.

Himchan gifted him with a sidelong glance, suspicious of what Woobin was implying.

"I hate cheese…” he finally delineated and Suzy had to wonder if he had a walnut for a brain. “Unless it’s in a cheeseburger...”

“V-vanilla bubbletea!” A barista reappeared at the counter, shaking like a pudding of jelly. Sweat beaded his forehead and his clammy hands were clutching a cloudy drink filled with balls of tapioca.

Himchan snatched it from the worker’s fingers and stormed out of the store without saying any goodbyes.

Suzy watched him leave and contemplated why her stomach swelled as if twisted from the inside and why her heart became hard like a drum. Did he really just display jealousy? He was sequestered from society and never found love. What was existence without love? There was no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life.

She chewed the inside of her cheeks, lost in pensieve until the taste of blood tickled her tongue. It was a ludicrous thought. Himchan had just marched out after Woobin shattered his pride.

“Two for these pretty ladies.” Woobin’s alluring voice interceded her thoughts and when she looked up at him, she found his eyes penetrating through her soul, oozing in effortless charm and glory.

“You didn’t have to,” Suzy murmured under her breath.

“For you, baby, I’d do it a thousand times over.”

-

As they slurped their bubbletea on the way out, Krystal asked for someone to enter the gym with her. Na