“How about this one?” Taehyung asked, holding up a long, conservative, navy dress with full sleeves and a neckline so high that it was practically a turtle-neck.

It was the morning after the camping trip and Chaeyoung, Taehyung, and Jungkook were at the mall, shopping for Chaeyoung’s ‘new look’. Jennie, not wanting to waste any time, had forced both of the men to accompany Chaeyoung to ensure decent items were chosen.

Chaeyoung smiled at him while Jungkook scoffed, “how is anyone supposed to seduce someone in something like that?”

“Chaeyoung could wear a garbage bag and still be able to seduce anyone,” Taehyung said, but, nevertheless, put the dress down. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a blush creeping up Chaeyoung’s cheeks and hid a smile while examining another dress.

Jungkook rolled his eyes but didn’t disagree as his eyes skimmed the racks of clothing in front of them.

“Now, this is a dress,” Jungkook said, holding up a short, black, sleeveless dress with large, lace cut-outs along the side.

Chaeyoung’s eyes widened with a mixture of fear and distaste as she took the dress from him to examine it, “for who? A stripper?”

Taehyung laughed at the sarcasm in her voice. He was pretty sure she liked Taehyung’s pick better, and that gave him a sense of satisfaction.

During the camping trip, he’d begun to see how close Chaeyoung and Jungkook had gotten. Although they tried to be subtle, Taehyung still picked up on the cues. The way his body immediately perked upon seeing her, the way his mood improved whenever she was around, the half-smiles he always tried to hide when he talked to her, the way he looked at her like she was a delicate work of art – he was clearly in love with her. Taehyung knew because it was the exact same way he also behaved around her.

He couldn’t blame Jungkook for falling for Chaeyoung, any smart man would. But, for once in his life, he was jealous. He was jealous of the way she became flustered when he was around and the way she conversed with Jungkook so naturally, almost the same way she did with Taehyung. He wasn’t angry at Jungkook, or Chaeyoung – but he was angry at himself, for not holding onto her the way she wanted to be held onto. He was angry at the world for introducing him to her as a friend first and making a romantic relationship between them almost impossible from the very beginning.

Taehyung always thought Chaeyoung deserved better than him – but, now, he wanted to fight for her. He wanted to be that better person for her.

“I like this one,” Chaeyoung announced, causing Taehyung to blink out of his thoughts to shift his attention to the dress in her hands. It was a short, black dress with an open back and long, lace sleeves that had hints of gold specks along it. Just imagining her in it was enough to awe him, so he feared how he’d respond if he actually saw her in it.

A quick glance at Jungkook revealed similar thoughts as he nodded in approval, “you’ll probably give Mr. Hino a heart attack and then we won’t even need the sedative.”

After another hour, Chaeyoung had a whole row of dresses lined up for her in a large, VIP dressing room at the back of the store. She went inside the room with a sales associate to assist her, while Taehyung and Jungkook waited outside.

They were sitting down beside each other on a posh, velvet sofa as they waited in front of the lavender curtains of the dressing room, an awkward silence surrounding them. Both men were undeniably displeased to have to share the time and affection of the woman they admired. No amount of small talk would help them through this agonizing wait, so they were grateful when one of the sales associates came by with drinks and small appetizers for them to immerse themselves in.

After a few sips of cocktail, Chaeyoung finally stepped out, causing Jungkook to almost choke on his drink while Taehyung stared at her wide-eyed.

She was wearing a skin-tight, long-sleeved, sweater dress that came to her mid thigh and hugged all her curves perfectly. Her wavy, dark-chocolate, hair had become messy in the change room, so she ran a casual hand through it while she walked towards them – making her appear extra y.

“What do you guys think?” she asked, twirling in front of them and sending a whiff of her characteristic, floral shampoo towards them. Everything about her was lethal. Needless to say, Taehyung was having a hard time remembering to breath.

“I think that dress should be illegal,” Jungkook responded, his voice a little too breathy.

“No,” Taehyung shook his head, starting to push Chaeyoung back into the change room, “it’s too y.”

“Tae,” Chaeyoung laughed in astonishment, “I’m barely showing any skin.”

“You don’t have to,” he responded before closing the curtain.

The next dress was even worse. It was a deep-red, off-the shoulder cocktail dress that revealed her feminine collarbones and long legs. As soon as she stepped out, Taehyung and Jungkook’s jaws dropped and Taehyung closed his eyes briefly, praying for the strength to get through the rest of this shopping trip without dying.

With his peripheral vision, he could see Jungkook massaging his temples like he was fighting an internal battle, “holy Chaeyoung, please never wear red again.”

“Is it that bad?” she asked, turning to check herself out in the mirror, “I think it looks fine.”

“A little too fine,” Taehyung said, causing her to wrinkle her nose cutely as she slowly walked back into the dressing room.

Taehyung sighed and leaned back on the sofa while Jungkook downed the rest of his drink.

“Are they all going to be like this?” Jungkook muttered, mostly to himself but Taehyung felt obligated to respond.

“I hope not.”

When Chaeyoung stepped out of the dressing room next, Jungkook and Taehyung groaned in frustration. This time, it was a champagne-coloured dress that – although longer than the rest – had a plunging neckline that drew all the attention.

Before she even had a chance to walk towards them, both men shook their heads.

“Definitely not,” Jungkook said, gesturing for her to turn back around.

Chaeyoung narrowed her eyes at them, beginning to grow irritated, “okay, you’re the ones who told me I have to ‘look the part’ and ‘seduce Mr. Hino’. Not to mention, you guys chose most of these dresses, so you can’t just reject every single one.”

Taehyung clenched his jaw and looked away, not being able to maintain eye contact with her for long when her chest was right there – no sane man could.

Apparently, Jungkook wasn’t sane though, because he was staring directly at her, his eyes raking her body from top to bottom. Taehyung felt the urge to punch him but restrained himself when Chaeyoung re-entered the dressing room with a frustrated huff.

Taehyung and Jungkook tried to keep an open mind for the next couple dresses, but they were all either too tight, too short, or too revealing. Although she looked y as hell in everything, they couldn’t physically allow her to wear them in public. She would be a threat to society if she did.

The last dress she revealed was the one she had hand-picked for herself – the black one with the open back. Taehyung couldn’t take his eyes off her when she walked out, her beauty awe-striking and her radiance blinding. It was the perfect mixture of elegance – with its long sleeves and high neckline – and y, with it’s open back that showcased Chaeyoung’s flawless shoulder blades and upper back. Although, in Taehyung’s opinion, it was still too revealing, it would have to do. After all, it wasn’t the dresses that made Chaeyoung look y, but Chaeyoung, who made the dresses look y.

Unanimously, they decided to buy the last dress and walked toward the t