-Chapter 26-

The next day, the eight of them went to Dongdaemun since the clothes there are within their budget. Ji-Hyeon was rather forced to tag along, dragged out of the bed early in the morning by Jungkook and greeted by their overly happy mother in the morning. "I can't believe Ji-Hyeon finally will go to a school event! I'm so happy!" was their mother's remark when they were about to walk out the door.

"Guys, it's still early. And do you guys really need to have new suits and stuff? You don't even have dates," Ji-Hyeon said after they entered Dongdaemun. And of course, being the time was only 10 a.m, they were practically the only ones there.

"Which is good for us. There's no one and we don't have to rush to get the best ones," Namjoon said, being the expert in this matter as he led the group directly to a suit store. "And this is basically where we always get our suits. We rarely buy from other stores," Jimin asked as he looked through the suits displayed.

Ji-Hyeon's presence there was bassically invisible as they picked and gave each other remarks on the suits they chose. Even Jungkook ended up picking a nice jet black suit which perfectly suits him. Jin on the other hand picked a champagne coloured suit which suits his complexion perfectly, and he stood out from the rest of the other boys who picked darker coloured suits.

Ji-Hyeon couldn't take her eyes off Jin. Her heart seemed to stop and she seemed to forgot how to breathe before she managed to inhale a big gulp of air. 'Why am I being like this?' she screamed in her head. She thought that the feeling was unreasonable for her to be experiencing at the moment. But all the boys seemed to clean up fine, to which Ji-Hyeon couldn't help but to stare since she never saw them wearing anything as fancy as that before.

"Noona, you need to come back to earth," she heard Jungkook whispered in her ear before she turned to look at her brother's dark brown eyes. She closed which she never realised was open.

"Good thing you didn't drool Hyeon-ah," Jimin said as he came out of the fitting room with his preffered suit. Ji-Hyeon just rolled her eyes as she missed the chance to counter back a witty remark. The other boys just chuckled and made their way to the cashier to pay. Jin managed to steal a glance to Ji-Hyeon and noticed the slight blush on her cheeks. He smiled to himself at the way she acts and let out a sigh. 'If only I was the one who asked her to the ball'

*****

They looked at five dress stores and none of them seemed fitting according to the boys. Mostly what they said was the fact that the dresses didn't bring out Ji-Hyeon's charms. Ji-Hyeon was surprised to know that they have this much knowledge about female fashion to give all those remarks to more than twenty five dresses that Ji-Hyeon had tried.

"Come on guys. It's not because the dress doesn't look pretty on me. It's because I, myself am not pretty!" she said as they entered another dress store.

"Do you realise what you said Ji-Hyeon? How can someone say to self that they are not pretty?" Hoseok said in disbelief while Namjoon already set out to find the perfect dress and Ji-Hyeon stood there awkwardly. Jin, too, was going through the dresses on display and saw a sky blue a-line dress that caught his eyes.

"Here Ji-Hyeon. Try these on," Namjoon gave about five dresses and shoved Ji-Hyeon to the dressing room.

"Wait, you have to try this one too," Jin added the blue dress to the pile in Ji-Hyeon's arms before strolling in the store.

Dress after dress, the boys still didn't manage to find the one that suits Ji-Hyeon. It was exactly noon when Ji-Hyeon tried on the blue dress that Jin picked for her. She looked briefly to her reflection in the fitting room mirror before going out. It seemed to suit her complexion well. She was satisfied with it. But will the boys be?

"Alright guys. This will be the last dress I'm trying on. If we're not buying this one, I'll skip Christmas ball," she said as she opened the fitting room door. The chatter was now replaced with silence as the boys looked at her figure.

"Hyeon-ah, I think we've found the right dress for you," Taehyung said as he applauded, accompanied by his forever best friend, Jimin.

"I have to agree. This goes well with you. Can you let down your hair Ji-Hyeon?" Yoongi asked acting like a high-class designer.

Ji-Hyeon did as she was asked and let down her wavy, slightly brunette hair that barely reached her waist. Jungkook on the other hand did the task of taking off her glasses.

"Yah Jeon Jungkook! You know I need that!" she snapped at her younger brother as her hands was balled into fists. She couldn't see anything now, but the others stood in awe. To them, she looked perfect.

"Yah Jeon Ji-Hyeon, I think I'm falling for you," Jimin managed to say before he got his ribs nudged hard by Jin. The others just managed to nod, not taking their eyes off Ji-Hyeon.

"Alright Jungkook, give her back her glasses. We need to make a stop at the optometrist before we can go home," Namjoon said as he shoved Ji-Hyeon back into the fitting room again. "Take that dress," he added as he closed the door behind her. Jin on the other hand was stunned, and needed the help of Hoseok to shake his body back and forth to regain his consciousness.

"Now you know what you'll be missing Hyung," he added.

That day, Ji-Hyeon bought her first ever party dress and contact lenses, while all the while Jin was frustrated in himself. Frustrated that he didn't have the guts to actually ask the girl he likes to something as simple as a ball.