III.

Kim Yugyeom wasn’t the type of guy who lacked confidence. He got shy from time to time but his temporary uncertainty and faint coyness never stopped him from achieving his goals. He believed in himself and his accomplishments proved him right.

However, when it came to the matters of the heart, he was one unbelievable guy. He was like a grown-up baby, a toddler dressed up as a skyscraper. He could get jealous at every little thing that average people didn’t even notice, let it be a half-smile, a wince or a mere sentence that was supposed to sound friendly, not flirty.

As a result, it came as no surprise that the dinner turned out to be pretty disastrous. For both couples.

“Hi! I’m Kim Sojung but feel free to call me Sowon. But I guess you already know that because you’ve bid on me,” his partner bowed a little as a sign of respect as soon as they sat down at their reserved places.

Unfortunately for Chungha and her Gucci boy and fortunately for the restless boyfriend, the two couples were seated right beside each other since all pairs took seats at one giant table. He had to admit that it really gave of a group date vibe and part of him blessed the organisers for the arrangement of the couples while his other part wanted to strangle them for ever thinking about organising such an event. Not like he wasn’t the one who wanted to drag Chungha there but he started to feel like it was the biggest mistake of his life.

Despite the cheerful aura of his own partner, Yugyeom’s eyes were fixated on only one person: the guy next to Sowon aka Chungha’s bidder. Yugyeom made a bloody good attempt to pierce into his soul with his stare. When Chungha who was on Yugyeom’s right caught him staring, she slightly smacked him in the chest. This way, she could snap him back to his senses but didn’t turn both of them in since the table hid her little act.

“What’s your name?” he heard Sowon’s question but didn’t feel the need to answer because he was too immersed into the conversation of his girlfriend and her partner’s.

“Oh my gosh, is your name really that long?” Chungha chuckled freely after she had heard that long name of her date. Oh gosh, was it really that interesting that the Kunpi and whatnot boy had a long name?

“Yeah but you can just call me Bambam,” he grinned smugly. “And it’s not even that long. I’m from Thailand and lots of Thai people have even longer names than mine,” the Gucci boy shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing but Yugyeom already foresaw what was coming.

“I’ve always wanted to visit Thailand.”

“Just give me a call when you get there. I know all the cool places,” he suggested matter-of-factly much to Yugyeom’s dismay. He almost fell off his chair after hearing his words, only Sowon was the one who could stop him from doing so. Though she probably had no idea what kind of internal turmoil was bubbling up inside of him because she just wanted to get him speak.

“Uhm, hello stranger!” the girl waved her hand in front of Yugyeom’s face, obviously not getting why her partner was acting so oddly.

The boy had no other choice than to shift his attention back to Sowon as he should have done in the last few minutes. After all, he wasn’t the one who should feel guilty, right? He didn’t flirt with someone else’s girlfriend unlike that Boomboom guy! He should act like he’s not Chungha’s jealous boyfriend but a guest who’s dying to know his pretty partner. That’s right. He can do this. He can act like a normal person.

“I’m Yugyeom,” he forced a sickeningly sweet smile onto his face as he promised himself that he would do the opposite of what he had done in the previous minutes.

“Nice to meet you, Yugyeom,” Sowon returned his smile, her shoulders slumping in ease. It seemed like she sensed that something was off with him but didn’t have the heart to ask questions. On top of that, she didn’t look like someone who would pry into his life, so he was actually thankful for her lenient attitude. “So I guess you like kids since you are here,” she chattered joyfully, trying to bring up a topic that they might like.

“Actually, I love kids but they don’t always like me back,” he jested as he thought back of the last time when he visited his 3-year-old little cousin whose favourite activity was hitting him with a plastic hammer.

“That’s the thing with kids. They need time to open up. You seem like that type, too,” Sowon added with a giggle and he was about to say something witty as well when his girlfriend’s enthusiastic exclaim interrupted his train of thoughts.

“Oh really?” Chungha gasped dramatically as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and chin in her hands. “I’m exactly the same. I can go through a store without picking anything out and then going back when I don’t find clothes anywhere else.”

“I can tell that you have a great sense of fashion,” Boomboom complimented casually. Yugyeom was sure that he had hundreds of other pick-up lines like that and he had already told thousands of girls the same. He tried to stay calm but when the guy clapped his hands like the greatest idea of all time suddenly hit him and decided to share it with Chungha, he couldn’t shut his mouth. “We should go shopping sometime. I’m sure it would be fun.”

“Oh great! Shopping together? What are you? Her boyfriend?” he growled petulantly, earning glares from all three of them. Even Sowon couldn’t put her hands on his behaviour.

“Uhm sorry, are you talking to us?” Boomboom furrowed his eyebrows in question but he swiftly shrugged it off. He tried to look as deadpan as possible, even though he was about to burst like a balloon.

“No, I’m talking to myself. Don’t mind me,” he waved his hands dismissively and turned back to Sowon. “Where were we? Oh kids yeah. I actually have a little cousin whom I love a lot,” Yugyeom managed a coherent and not-jealousy-related sentence out.

Though his partner was trying hard to hide the disappointment appearing on her heart-shaped face, she couldn’t conceal her emotions. Seeing that she was hurt by his behaviour, he couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. He wanted to make up for it, so he talked so much during the next 30 minutes or so that he was getting on his own nerves. Sowon was such a good companion that they could talk about everything, let it be dance, university courses or favourite meals. Speaking of food, their dinner arrived not long after Yugyeom was on the verge of getting into a fight with the Thai guy, so besides chatting, they could satisfy their growling stomach as well.

Every trace of jealousy was beginning to ooze out of him when one of Boomboom’s sentence caught his attention.

“So you are a dancer,” he hummed, looking at Chungha challengingly. “Can you show me some of your moves? Or maybe a video?” he elevated his eyebrows in question while Yugyeom choked on the last bit of his cheesecake. He started coughing fervently, getting everyone’s attention around him, even the guy’s whom he hated the most.

“Do you need help, bro?”

“Oh no, I’m perfectly fine, bro,” he emphasised the word with a bit of irony, struggling to keep his rage at bay while he was still striving to gasp for air. He dismissed all the worrywarts, stating that he was fine but he immediately regretted his decision when Chungha turned back to the Thai boy.

“Yeah, sure. I have the latest choreo on my phone. Let me show you,” she fished her phone out of her pocket. Yugyeom’s heart started beating faster at the thought of the two watching the video together but instead of snuggling up to him, Chungha merely handed him the phone. A sigh of relief left Yugyeom’s lips.

Sowon and Yugyeom had a bit of a talk while those two were watching the latest video of the dancer, the choreography practice video for “Why Don’t You Know”, the one that she choreographed with two of her fellow members. He couldn’t have been more proud of her for such an accomplishment. Her choreography was the definition of perfection and the way she danced to the song… she was like a goddess.

“Oh girl, you got such great moves! They are so fluid but that booty shaking though…” he glanced at the girl who was blushing deeply, coyly nibbling her lips. That was when Yugyeom had enough and rose from his seat, pointing to that damn guy.

“Watch your mouth, Mr. I-know-all-the-cool-places-Gucci-boy-from-Thailand!” he shouted out of rage, small wonder why the addressed boy’s jaw dropped in bewilderment.

“What’s your problem, man?”

“Yugyeom, stop!” Chungha grabbed his wrist before he could do anything more inappropriate.

“Wait! Do you know each other?” Sowon suddenly managed to untangle the mixed strings, although Boomboom seemed to sense it first.

“I kind of assumed judging by his jealous expression.”

“Yes, she’s my girlfriend and if you hadn’t been such a jerk, you should have asked if she was single or not,” he finally voiced out his feelings, a spike of relief rushing through him as he said the words out loud. He didn’t know confessing could make him feel so… free? Delighted? Pleased?

“For God’s sake, Yugyeom! He had asked!” Chungha also rose from her seat, even though she still couldn’t be on the same eye-level with him. She needed to look up at him because she was so petite.

“What?”

“Right after I got off stage, he asked just to make sure that he stayed in his lane,” she explained, pure fury written all over her face. Maybe it was because of the fact that she got mad at him or because he was still in the state of jealousy but he got more furious than ever.

“Then how dare you flirt with her, knowing that she has a man?” he turned to Boomboom who immediately raised his arms in defeat.

“I’m not flirting with her. That’s how I act around girls,” he denied everything, his voice not even shaking. It crossed his mind that maybe the rich dude was really telling the truth but he still wasn’t convinced. “Maybe you should do the same, so you wouldn’t make your partner uncomfortable with your behaviour.”

“Don’t you dare to tell me what I should do! At least, I have a girlfriend.”

“Then you should have found another way to prove her that she is worth more than she thinks,” the Thai one counter-attacked, his voice still not rising, nor shaking. Every single one of his sentences were said in a calm manner unlike Yugyeom’s whose were filled with venom.

“Calm down, guys! There’s no need to fight,” Sowon tried to clear the tension in the air but they didn’t even care about the girls anymore; they started to stare at each other, neither of them willing to look away.

“There’s a man’s pride on the line,” Yugyeom muttered, his eyes already watery due to the long seconds of keeping the eye-contact.

“You two are both dumb,” the always polite and kind Sowon blurted out without any hint of guilt, earning the respect of the other girl.

“Sowon, do you fancy going outside a bit?” Chungha suggested enthusiastically and after an approving nod, they both headed out, leaving the guys alone. They stared at each other for the following seconds until Yugyeom had enough and looked away. As soon as he lost the battle, Bambam started laughing.

“They are right. We are so dumb,” he guffawed freely and Yugyeom soon joined in.

“We are,” he agreed, wiping the tears away with his thumb, both from the ridiculous staring battle and both from laughing.

Gosh, the dating auction was really the worst idea of his life. Like ever.

Hey lovely readers,

In my opinion, this part was the funniest, but you can tell me if you agree or not. ;) Nevertheless, we could get to know that Bambam was actually the Gucci boy, I hope you aren't too sad that it wasn't Taehyung. Bambam and his easy-going personality fitted the role better, to be honest. ^^

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it with all those awkward moments and Yugyeom's jealous outbursts. Let me know what you think about the story, it was my first ever crackish story, so I hope I could leave up to your expectations.

Thank you so much for reading! <3

Take care,

restless_maknae