“How do you not know who Irene is?” Yoongi turned to gape at Jisoo in astonishment.

After the action-packed and (quite frankly) terrifying day they had lived through, the citizens of Donggyeong had decided to hold a celebration to welcome the Princess and thank the group for ridding their town of Mingyu’s corrupt officers. Since they could not reward the Princess with the weapons she sought, this party was their method of expressing their gratitude.

Apparently, in Yoongi’s strange and confusing mind, this was also the best time to claim his personal reward from Jisoo. He had pulled her away from the celebrations as soon as she had finished her meal for the date she owed him. The idiot didn’t even give her sufficient time to finish her dessert.

They had just exited the town’s main tavern, where the party was being held, when Jisoo happened to mention the mysterious ‘Irene Bae’.

She mirrored his expression, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise, “the question is, how do you know who she is?”

“Because I know everything, obviously,” he replied with a completely serious tone, causing Jisoo to roll her eyes. She seemed to do that a lot when she was with him. No one could exasperate her quite like Yoongi.

“Who is she, then?”

“Only the most famous Gisaeng in Goryeo. Everyone from the southernmost villages to the tallest mountains have heard of her beauty and influence.”

Jisoo nodded in understanding. Of course, Yoongi would be knowledgeable about the country’s most beautiful courtesans. Lord knows how many brothels he frequented in his spare time. Images of him surrounded by dozens of beautiful women flashed through her mind before she could control her thoughts, triggering a strange nauseous sensation in her stomach.

Could it be that Kim Jisoo was feeling a new emotion – an emotion she had only ever heard about and never experienced for herself. Was Kim Jisoo feeling…. jealous? Because of a man she thought she despised?

There was no way.

She shook her head vigorously in denial as they strolled side-by-side through the dark streets of Donggyeong, ultimately deciding to change the topic.

“Where are you taking me, anyway?” she glanced at him curiously, a warm summer breeze rustling through her straight raven-black hair, “and if I remember correctly, this was supposed to be a ‘dinner’, but we already finished our meal.”

“In that case, we are already halfway through the date,” he flashed her a rare, gummy grin, “I was being considerate of your time, my fair lady. Shouldn’t you be relieved to get this over with?”

Jisoo’s eyes widened in surprise, unable to formulate an immediate response. Technically, he was right. But, the fact that she actually felt slightly disappointed at his ‘considerate’ gesture was what truly shocked her.

“I mean,” she began to explain, tearing her eyes away from his sharp ones to focus on the dark, busy road ahead, “if you’re going to take me on a date, you better do it right.”

“Does that mean I should do this?” he quirked a brow up before suddenly grabbing her hand in his.

Jisoo jumped back, thoroughly startled to feel his cool fingers interlace through her own. She was shocked to say the least. Shocked at his boldness, at the way her hand fit so well in his, and most of all, how a light fluttering (instead of her usual disgust) had begun to grow in her chest.

She half-heartedly tried to pull her hand back and smacked his arm, “that’s not what I meant!”

“Well, deal with it for a few hours,” all the smacks in the world could not faze him as he clung onto her hand and continued to guide her down the loud streets, “because I’m not planning on letting go.”

She wanted to fire back a witty comment but, once again, she had been stunned. Kim Jisoo had never been wooed easily by romantic gestures or smooth remarks, but by some miracle she didn’t find herself particularly repulsed by Yoongi. Perhaps it was because she had been forced to spend the past few months in confined spaces with him, or maybe she had gone too long without receiving human affection. Regardless of the reason, it had become clear that Yoongi was beginning to make her feel emotions she would rather never feel.

Too bad he was still in love with Jennie.

“Yoongi,” she rolled her eyes, but allowed him to continue holding her hand as they continued to walk, dodging a few drunk men along the way, “we both know this is just your indirect method of making Jennie jealous. And trust me, I’m down to help you in that respect but –”

“Shut up,” he cut her off with a surprisingly stern gaze, “this has nothing to do with Jennie.”

She looked up at him in surprise, “then why would you want to go on a dat—”

“We’re here,” he announced suddenly, successfully diverting her attention.

Jisoo was surprised to see a small, quant house at the end of the road. A tidy stone pathway bordered with an array of fresh flowers led up to the polished wooden door of the one-story building. She sniffed the air, pleasantly surprised to smell the chamomile incense that the house exuded.

“Is this where you lure me into your slaughter house via incense only to kill me and steal my gold in the end?” she asked, semi-serious because she never really knew what to expect with Yoongi. He could either be the softest child or the most ruthless warrior, depending on the day.

He chuckled quietly at that and nudged her towards the entrance, “no, this is where I kidnap you and sell you for a hundred goats and a few chickens.”

She whipped her head towards him and stared at him with wide eyes, causing him to deadpan at her.

“I’m joking, Jisoo.”

“I can never tell with you!”

“Will you just get inside already? I promise you won’t die… although the prediction of me stealing your gold may or may not come true, just saying.”

With a groan, she turned back around and tried to run in the opposite direction, but Yoongi still had a firm grasp on her hand and would not allow her to retreat.

“Just kidding!” he exclaimed with another, this time deeper, laugh, “I swear that was the last one. You will be safe, I promise.”

“Wait,” suddenly Jisoo turned towards the building and began walking towards it with new found confidence, “I don’t know why I’m anxious. Even if you tried to kill me, you would be the dead one in the end, because I can beat your any day of the week.”

He rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything that would cause her to back down again.

With a sigh, she swung the door open and, for the thousandth time that day, was shocked.

A thin, rectangular mattress lay in the middle of the room with a series of scented candles scattered all around it, engulfing the area in a dim, orange glow. Confusion coursed through her as she attempted to deduce what purpose the mattress served and why Yoongi had brought her on a date there. It took her a good couple seconds, but when she finally realized what was happening, she was livid.

“What the , Yoongi, did you really bring me here to have  with you on our very first date?” she screamed, ignoring the party-goers that had turned to awkwardly glance in their direction.

His eyes widened, and he had the audacity to feign innocence, “no, that’s not—”

She began to repeatedly smack him as a form of discipline while he tried to explain himself over her curses and yells, “I swear, chivalry is ing dead. What the did you expect to happen? That I would just get in and accept you with all my heart? Unbelievable! Right when I was starting to like you too, you disgusting, selfish, arrogant, infuriating son of a –“

Jisoo shut immediately after noticing the surprised grin that had spread across his pale face, realizing what she had just inadvertently revealed to both Yoongi and herself. Although he didn’t acknowledge it right away, she knew that, eventually, he would never allow her to hear the end of it.

Yoongi took this opportunity to explain himself while he still could, “contrary to what it looks like, I did not bring you here for . Please don’t punish me for your dirty mind.”

“Then, why are we here?” she crossed her arms over her chest and glared daggers at him, prepared to dispute any excuse he provided.

“I have noticed how tense and stressed you have become lately, and you never ing stretch after your exercises, so I wanted to try doing something ‘nice’,” he scrunched his nose at the word, as if this was the first he had ever heard of it, before continuing, “so I was going to give you a massage.”

Shocked. Again. Jisoo’s surprise was increasing exponentially as the day progressed. She was beginning to get a headache from all the confusion.

Of course, she was on edge. Every single day posed a new set of challenges and hurdles for the group in order to complete their mission to overthrow the King. And it was getting more and more difficult to jump over those hurdles. Today’s events had only reiterated that.

The fact that Yoongi had taken the time to notice her weariness, and then proceeded to plan an event to alleviate her stress astounded her. Perhaps he was not as selfish as she had always assumed him to be.

“A massage?” she gaped at him in astonishment, surprisingly not hating the idea. Glancing down at the red mattress and silk covers, she could already feel her muscles beginning to relax.

He shrugged nonchalantly and began to walk towards the exit, “but it was a stupid idea, let’s just pretend it never happened —”

She grabbed his arm before he could reopen the door and pulled him towards the mattress, “ that, a massage is exactly what I deserve. And we are not leaving until all my stress has been relieved, understood?”

He chuckled, allowed her to drag him across the room with that same gummy smile she was beginning to become strangely accustomed to.

“Understood.”

~{❀}~

“Lisa, can you please make her slow down or something?” Taehyung asked, his forehead lined with concern as the two of them watched Chaeyoung chug down a large glass of wine from across the room as several men cheered her on. Seokjin was one of those men, much