“See, if they decided to leave the palace in order to save her…” Taehyung was waving his hands around in the air when he turned to his side and realised Chorim wasn’t walking beside him for what probably was the 100th time that night. They were heading home from their weekly night grocery trip which had become an unspoken chore between the two. He turned around and saw Chorim checking herself out in the reflection of a window. She wasn’t particularly dressed up or anything nor had she put on any makeup. She had chucked on whatever clean clothes she could find in her mess of a home - an embarrassing but highly comfortable pink velvet hoodie and black leggings with a small hole on the inner thigh. She even wore white socks with Taehyung’s chunky sandals which had velcro straps and were way too big for her. Needless to say, it wasn’t a flattering look but Chorim was confident no one would recognise her since she was wearing her wonderful cherry blossom face mask.
“Why are you so obsessed with that thing?” Taehyung asked, “You’ve been wearing it all week.”
She pulled her mask down to her chin and grinned, “Isn’t it pretty?” Her nose had healed up quite nicely over the past week and the bruising was very faint. Regardless, just as Taehyung mentioned, Chorim had an unhealthy obsession with wearing the mask wherever and whenever she could.
“I got it as a gift.” Chorim stopped Taehyung’s in his track by taking a step in front of him and leaning in, “Wanna know from who?” She knew Taehyung wouldn’t know who Jin was (or care) but she really just wanted to share it. It was from thee legendary Kim Seokjin, after all.
“Not really.” Taehyung moved her out of the way with his arm and continued walking. “Obviously not from someone who likes you though. You know what a face mask gift means, right?” He smirked, “It’s saying ‘Please cover up your face, I don’t want to see it’.” He chuckled as the infuriated Chorim tried to whack him over the head.
“Excuse you, there are plenty of people who like me for your information.” Chorim flipped her unruly hair like a diva, “I have lines of guys waiting for me. You’d be surprised.”
“Oh trust me, I’m very surprised.” Taehyung commented. Chorim sneered at his snarky remark and grumpily followed behind him. He then stopped in front of a store that was still open and urgently looked through the window. Chorim noticed it wasn’t a particularly interesting store and was quite empty. From what she could tell, it sold a lot of art and craft supplies.
“You go ahead, I’ll catch up to you in a few minutes.” Taehyung said, already opening the door to the store. Chorim waved him off, still annoyed at him, and continued walking.

Chorim made an unexpected turn into the block that the HOPE gym was located out of habit. She could have avoided the place but was too lazy to take the longer route home. Chorim quickened her pace as she guiltily walked past the HOPE gym with her plastic bags full of snacks and candy. She was also worried she would bump into the mighty three which would be an absolute disaster considering Jin would be able to recognise her from the face mask right away. She barely made it past the building when she crashed into someone rushing out of an alleyway. The guy had his cap pulled right down to eye level and a black face mask on. He seemed startled to see her as if he recognised her right away despite her face mask, and attempted to run off. As soon as she caught a glimpse of the blonde hair, she pulled him back by his hoodie and knocked his cap off.
“Yoongi!?” She cried out loud which, luckily for the guy, was muffled by her face mask. Yoongi suddenly covered with his hand and pushed her against the wall. She noticed the fresh phone and wallet in his hand which clearly wasn’t his. Realising what she had just walked into, she used all of her strength to push him away and then pulled him back into the alleyway.
“Are you ing serious?” She barked at him, trying to restrain the volume of her voice, and glanced at the phone and wallet. Yoongi’s bored gaze was elsewhere at first but then his eyes returned to her, highly uninterested, and he pulled his face mask down.
“Look, let's just pretend that you were never here, alright?” Yoongi warned with a threatening smile on his face. Of course, even if his usual threats worked with other people, he was forgetting who he was dealing with. Chorim attacked his shin with a deadly kick and roughly pulled his face mask back up for him before dragging him deep into the alleyway by his collar. She found the victim who was still cowering in fear beside one of the dumpster bins.
“Come on a**hole, give back his phone and wallet.” Chorim warned Yoongi and pointed towards the victim. Now, Yoongi wasn’t the type to be bossed around by just anyone at all but he considered unpredictable and rash people like Chorim a nuisance to deal with in the long-run. Also, considering she lived right next door and was friends with Jimin, his gaming friend, and the alluring Seulgi, there was no way of completely ignoring her existence.
“You’re ing lucky this b*tch lives next door to me.” Yoongi growled at the victim and threw the phone and wallet onto the ground with so much force that there was a cracking sound. Chorim was about to angrily yell out Yoongi’s name but was able to stop in time and instead, whacked him over the head and shoved him away.
“Hey, are you alright?” Chorim squatted down to console the poor victim who was clearly quite shaken. She picked up the wallet and the phone, which now had a huge crack on the screen, and handed it over to the guy.
“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine.” Even though she was right beside the victim, her eyes were on the fuming Yoongi who was walking away with a hunched back. He then turned around and aggressively put both middle fingers up at her as he slowly walked backwards. Chorim just rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the guy.  She realised he was weeping quietly and was wiping his tears away with his sleeve so she just sat there awkwardly. Okay, maybe we should get out of this creepy alleyway first... He startled her when he yelled out “NO!” all of a sudden and held his two fists up in front of him.
“Jung Hoseok, get yourself together. You need to toughen up.” The guy passionately said to himself even though his clenched fists were trembling.
Chorim immediately pulled him up and dragged him to the entrance of the alleyway where she could see his face properly with the street lights. SH*T. She made sure her face mask was up to her eyes and turned her face away so he wouldn’t be able to recognise her. WHY IS IT HOSEOK OUT OF ALL PEOPLE? He narrowed his eyes at at her, sensing she looked familiar, but quickly thought he was being rude and then formally bowed to her.
“Thank you so much for your kindness!” He yelled out. Hoseok loves to thank people, doesn’t he? Chorim patted him on the shoulder, urging him to straighten up.
“No worries.” She said, careful not to fully use her voice. Noticing that he had started staring at her intently, her eyes wandered around crazily as she tried to think of a plan and then she said “stay safe” before bolting off at full speed, sure that he wouldn't follow her. Phew...lucky escape -

“WAIT! MISS, WAIT!”
Chorim peered over her shoulder and saw Hoseok frantically running after her. WHY IS HE CHASING ME!? Chorim was determined not to be caught  and made a run for it at full speed. However, she was slowed down significantly by Taehyung’s sandals and had to take them off mid-way and carry them as she ran away from Hoseok in her socks. Despite his weak demeanour, Hoseok was surprisingly fast and was right behind Chorim until she made a sharp turn. My feet hurt!!! She didn’t realise she was doing a circle around the block and coincidentally saw Taehyung coming out of the shop he went in before.
“Oh Chorim...” Taehyung said right before she jumped forward and cupped his mouth. He stumbled as she quickly dragged him backwards into a small hidden alleyway. Hoseok ran across the street and cluelessly searched for Chorim, passing the alleyway she was hiding in. Taehyung was on his knees whilst Chorim closely hugged his head with her hand sealing his mouth as she leaned forward to scan the streets for Hoseok. Taehyung was struggling to ignore the fact that his cheek was being squished against Chorim’s warm and soft chest and that he could clearly hear the quick and heavy thumping of her heart from all the running she did. However, the more alarming thing to him was that he was conscious of his own heart rate strangely increasing for some unknown reason. Taehyung gulped nervously with his eyes darting back and forth, struggling to reason with himself as he slowly ran out of air. Why is my heart beating so fast?
After she was sure Hoseok was no longer around, Chorim abruptly let go of Taehyung and sat on the ground. She pulled down her face mask to her chin, sighing with absolute relief. Taehyung tried to catch his breath and straighten his back after being tightly held by Chorim in such a back breaking position.
“What is wrong with you seriously!?” Taehyung yelled angrily, pulling her in by the collar. Chorim put both her hands up in the air and sheepishly smiled at him, trying to look as innocent as possible.
“Sorry, sorry. It was an emergency I swear.” Chorim tried to awkwardly laugh it off. Taehyung for some reason couldn’t even handle directly looking at her and lightly shoved her away before gathering all the grocery bags off the ground. Chorim brushed his overreaction off as him being temperamental and quickly put the sandals back on as he walked off. For the rest of the trip, Taehyung was purposely walking ahead of Chorim, actively trying to get away from her in case his heart started acting strange again.

~

“And then the girl came in and was like ‘A*SSHOLE! GIVE BACK HIS PHONE AND WALLET OR ELSE I’LL KICK YOUR FACE IN!’. I’m telling you guys, she was an angel sent by the heavens to save me.”
“AND THEN!?” Namjoon was absolutely intrigued by Hoseok’s recount of last night’s incident. Namjoon, Hoseok and Jin had gathered at a high-end restaurant overlooking the city skyline for lunch.
“The guy cowered before her and gave back my phone and wallet. Then, she threw a punch at him, kicked his a** and cried out ‘DON’T LET ME SEE YOU AROUND HERE EVER AGAIN!’ Well, she didn’t really say that, but it’s something she should have said.” Hoseok exhaled deeply and looked at Namjoon, “I got goosebumps seriously. I’ve never met anyone like her before.”
“Was she pretty? I need to know.” Namjoon’s eyes were fixated on Hoseok, impatiently waiting for the answer.
“I didn’t get to see her face. She had a face mask on.” Hoseok sighed and looked out of the window, pondering on his thoughts, “Like a superhero. It was very unique, the face mask. A cherry blossom branch with petals scattering across…it was all embroidered on too.” His description immediately grabbed the attention of Jin who briefly slowed down his chewing. Jin had been listening the whole time but didn’t make any comments because there was food in front of him which he considered a priority. Cherry blossoms? Whilst the image of cherry blossoms was not unique, Hoseok’s description was too accurate for it to be just a coincidence. Jin kept it to himself and quietly drank some water to wash down his food.
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter if she’s pretty or not, I need to see her again.” Hoseok said with determination.
“You want to meet a mystery girl with a cherry blossom face mask? Good luck with that.” Namjoon leaned back into his chair, “I suggest checking the CCTV from the building and tracking her down. Works like a charm.”
“Isn’t that illegal?” Jin said without moving his gaze from the skyline. Jin knew very well that Namjoon had a tendency to think he was above the law.
“Kim Seokjin, it’s not illegal if we use the CCTV from Hoseok’s very own gym.” Namjoon directed his attention to Hoseok, “You said this happened in the alleyway near the gym right? Too easy.”
“Yeah, it did but I’m not going to check the surveillance cameras. She was dressed very casually so she must live in the area. I’m sure I’ll bump into her if it’s meant to be a fateful encounter.”
“Hah, fateful encounter…” Namjoon scoffed at Hoseok’s naive remark and drank the rest of his white wine.

~

Chorim was walking around campus arm in arm with Seulgi who had decided to visit the university to have lunch with Chorim during her break. Seulgi was having quite a good time, enjoying the hoards of eye candy that S University was famous for.
“So you’re moving out next Monday?” Chorim asked, “That's so soon.”
“Yeah, so unfortunate right? I won’t get to see Yoongi often.” Seulgi pouted, knowing it would irritate Chorim.
“Do you need help? I’m free that day. I can ask Taehyung and Jimin to help out too.” By 'ask', she meant 'force'.
“No, I’ll be totally fine. Just give me a super big housewarming gift when you visit okay?” Seulgi grinned and hugged Chorim's arm. They were busy chatting and walking along when Chorim suddenly slowed down. Seulgi spotted the person she was looking at and leaned in, “Is that the almighty Jin?” Seulgi whispered to Chorim.
Chorim nodded with a huge smile on her face as she casually waved at him. Seulgi had heard of Jin not only from Chorim but from other friends as well.  Jin was quite the hot topic in the college community, being the perfect eldest son of the KIM group who was still single. There were even malicious rumours that he was gay but they were most likely spread by bitter girls who failed to get close to him or were ignored by him. Jin was surrounded by a group of girls who must have been fresh first years vying for his attention when Chorim and Seulgi spotted him.
“Daaammnn girl, he’s hot. You’ve shown me photos before but he looks even better in real life.” Seulgi carefully eyed him, “I mean he looks too high maintenance for my taste but still really really hot. I approve.” Seulgi nodded with acknowledgement. Her eyes suddenly widened and she tugged on Chorim’s arm, “Sh*t, he’s coming over.” The first year girls turned their heads to see who could have possibly gotten Jin to smile so easily. It was none other than Chorim who they were all well aware of as she was the famed ‘angel’ of the campus. They bitterly whispered amongst themselves as Jin broke away from them and walked up to Chorim himself.
“Look who has decided to showed her face on campus.” Jin teased. Chorim had been going to class but was always wearing the face mask to hide her injury. Chorim chuckled and then gestured over to Seulgi, “This is my friend, Seulgi. Seulgi, this is Seokjin.”
Seulgi confidently held out her hand, “It’s very nice to meet you, I’ve heard all about you from…” Chorim discreetly pinched Seulgi’s arm before she could finish.
“Nice to meet you too.” Jin firmly shook her hand with a charming smile. He then quickly checked his watch and looked rushed, “Sorry, I have a class on the other side of the campus. Just quickly, are you free tonight? For dinner?”
Chorim nodded, trying not to show that she was ecstatic over being asked out for dinner. “Yeah, of course.” This occasion seemed a lot different from previous outings for some reason.
“Oh,” Jin had completely forgotten about Seulgi who was standing beside Chorim, “Would you like to join us too?” He did only want to eat with Chorim but was asking Seulgi out of courtesy. Seulgi burst into laughter and held Chorim by her shoulder, “Are you kidding? Don’t be silly. Chorim would kill me if I went.” Jin chuckled heartily as Chorim looked at Seulgi absolutely astounded and flustered by her comment whilst Seulgi continued to cheekily giggle.
“Alright, I’ll see you tonight then.” Jin said with a warm smile.
“Yeah, see you tonight.” Chorim said, trying to contain her excitement.

~

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Chorim could physically feel her soul escape after reading the sign pasted on the door saying that the restaurant was closed for renovation as Jin pulled up to the curb. She wanted to continually smash her head against the car window and let the embarrassment consume her. She had so confidently recommended this seafood restaurant for dinner to Jin and was pretty excited since she found out he had never eaten there before. It was actually one of her favourite places to eat but it had been a while since she last went.
“I am so sorry. I should have checked before.” She said with apologetic eyes. I trusted you, seafood restaurant, I ing trusted you.
“Ah, it’s alright.” Jin smiled. No, it’s not alright. NOTHING IS ALRIGHT. Chorim tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down. She refused to let the bad vibes ruin the extra effort she had put into looking perfect for tonight. It’s okay Chorim, there are plenty of other places to eat in this city...
“How about we go back to my place? I’ll cook something for us tonight.” Jin suddenly suggested.
“Yeah sure.” Chorim nonchalantly uttered without much thought, still hung up on how the restaurant had let her and her poor stomach down. Chorim's mind eventually registered Jin’s words as he was driving back onto the road. She suddenly turned her head and pulled her body away from Jin in shock. WAIT, WHAT DID HE JUST SAY!? WHERE ARE WE GOING!?
 

A/N: Hahaha.



Will be back soon, love y'all.