"Think about it and let me know if you're interested." -Kim Namjoon

Chapter 1: Sleeping Beauty and her Beastly Reading

“Park Hamin wake up this instant!” a male’s voice roared through the house. Hamin painfully opened one eye, then let out a breath as soon as she saw the time: 7:30 AM. 

“It’s Saturday; are you kidding me?!” her voice cracked from sleeping as she closed her eyes again. Within a few seconds, the door burst open and in came a man, dressed in his suit and tie. With his hair perfectly gelled back and his plump lips shining with gloss, he made his way towards the sleeping creature. Of course, who else would wake Hamin up so early on a Saturday morning other than her oppa, Park Jimin himself. 

“Min-ah, you need to really do something about your sleeping habits or your memory...or both,” he began to nag. He walked over to the window and pushed the curtains to the side, allowing a ray of sunshine to blind Hamin’s eyes. She squinted. 

“What are you talking about? It’s your memory that’s messed up. Don’t you know Saturdays are my catching-up-on-the-sleep-school-robs-from-me days?” she retorted, her tone full of annoyance. Jimin laughed shortly before shaking his head, “Yes, and I thought you were willing to sacrifice one of those days in exchange for some money.”

“Money..?” Hamin finally opened her eyes and sat up. She eyed her brother as she scratched her head. Then last night’s memories flooded into her brain. Oh that’s right, she thought. I’m supposed to go to work with oppa today. 

“Come on out Minnie Mouse,” Jimin ruffled his sister’s messy hair before turning around and walking out. He closed the door behind him, leaving Hamin to blankly stare at the wall. 

“Minnie Mouse,” Hamin repeated under her breath as she finally got up. Ever since she was little, Minnie Mouse had been a character Hamin loved, given that her parents and brother would often call her ‘Minnie’ for short. As the young Hamin grew up she also grew a love for characters in general, and even impressed her brother with her talent of creating characters from scratch. She was a professional in designing believable figures at any time and her drawing skills were outstanding enough for it to be no surprise she currently studied graphic design at her university. 

Hamin quickly washed herself up, stepped up her makeup game, and even styled her hair with an iron. She then slipped into a pair of grey slacks and a white blouse before spraying herself with a peachy mist. She took one last look in the mirror before stepping out. 

“Min-ah…” Hamin heard a deep voice to her left as soon as she set foot into the kitchen.

She grinned.

“Hey Taehyung oppa,” she waved brightly, making the tip of Taehyung’s ears a light pink. When she turned to actually face him, she nearly laughed at the sight of him: black-framed glasses, grey knit turtleneck under a pink apron, brown hair neatly pushed to the side, spatula in one hand, and body frozen with jaw dropped. His wide eyes followed her as she made her way to the fridge in search for orange juice. 

“I thought you said you’re taking her to work, not on a blind date,” Taehyung glared at Jimin after watching Hamin gulp down a glass of juice. Jimin looked at his sister from head to toe as he stuffed down the last of his eggs on toast. 

“What do you mean man?  She looks like a plain office worker to me, which is exactly what we’re going for,” Jimin said as he cleared his plate, making Taehyung argue otherwise with his eyes. Hamin just laughed at the two. 

Kim Taehyung nearly lived with the Park siblings, especially after their parents moved abroad. He was Jimin’s childhood friend, and with the two of them being the same age, it was easy for him to become a protective oppa (brother) to Hamin as well. Some could say he was almost even more protective over her than Jimin himself. After graduating university with Jimin, he had opened up a cafe nearby the Park’s house, which was Hamin’s go-to place every time she didn’t have classes. Jimin on the other hand, worked as an art director in a gaming company. And that’s why he needed Hamin today: she was going to help sketch some of the characters in their most recent game project. 

“Min-ah, you don’t have to look so good when you’re just going to help draw some dumb characters,” Taehyung ignored Jimin’s remark, making Jimin nearly shout, “Excuse me? Dumb? You’re the dumb one!”

“You guys are so loud,” Hamin shook her head and thanked Taehyung when he handed her an omelette, made with cheese and ham—just the way she liked it. 

“When will you be back?” Taehyung dismissed Jimin, who was still upset about his company’s characters being called dumb, and followed Hamin to the table. He sat down in front of her as soon as she did, watching her take her first bite and even opening his mouth like her mirror reflection. His eyebrows were lifted upward and his eyes were questioning.

“Um, maybe around four, right oppa?” Hamin said and gave Taehyung a thumbs up for the omelette. Of course it tasted good. Taehyung grinned and reached to pour her a glass of water. 

“Yeah, if you behave and get work done fast, that is,” Jimin affirmed Hamin’s answer as he walked towards the living room, giving Taehyung a slight push as if that was his little revenge for earlier. Taehyung couldn’t care less.

“Will you come to the cafe?” Taehyung rested his head on a hand as he watched Hamin eat the rest of her breakfast, a smile not leaving his face. 

“Maybe. I’ll see,” Hamin shrugged and Taehyung nodded in response. It didn’t take long before Hamin finished and got up to put the plate in the sink. Taehyung immediately followed. 

“I’ll take care of the dishes; you guys go on out,” Taehyung rolled up his sleeves.

“Thank you for breakfast oppa,” Hamin gave Taehyung a light pat on his shoulder, making him freeze for a brief moment. You know I could make breakfast for you every day for the rest of— he thought but cut it off by managing to say “It’s no problem” instead. 

“Come on let’s go,” Jimin called out, grabbing his bag before making his way to the front door. Hamin scurried after her brother and the two of them yelled their goodbyes to Taehyung in the kitchen, “See you!”

“See you,” Taehyung muttered, already worried about Hamin. Why’d she have to look so good? What if guys there hit on her or something? Taehyung shook his head in hopes to wipe out his thoughts and speedily washed the dishes.

***

“She’s so good, where’d you find a gem like her?” one of the members on Jimin’s team looked at Hamin in awe. Jimin shrugged, arms folded across his chest, “She’s my sister.”

“No way!” his teammates exclaimed as they all eyed Hamin through the glass window of the studio. It had been about half an hour since Hamin came in and began to brainstorm for a few of the characters, and already her creativity bubble had burst, oozing with originality for each figure. With her hand moving rapidly to match the speed of her thoughts, she flexibly sketched multiple versions of each character, added detail, and even surprised everyone with a touch of coloring. She was a natural and she was enjoying it. Before long, the whole team was staring at her and her papers with their jaws dropped. 

“What do you think about this one?” Hamin asked as she finished a sketch. She held up her most recent work and looked at Jimin and his crew, who had all entered the studio, with hopeful eyes.

“It’s amazing!” one of the team members exclaimed, giving her a thumbs up. Everyone else nodded and clapped in agreement. Jimin rolled his eyes but soon found himself smiling and giving her a nod as well. Hamin let out a sigh in relief. At least they liked what she was doing.

“How old is she?” one member asked Jimin quietly, and immediately Jimin shot him down with a “Too young for you dude.”

“Aw come on,” the member groaned playfully. He was a man in his late twenties, decent-looking and known for his nice manners. But Jimin knew his messy history of girls and didn’t want his sister who was still in college to be a part of it. Jimin was used to this; everytime his sister was acquainted to some of his colleagues or friends, there was always a few that were interested and showed it by asking Jimin for “help.” And Jimin was a master in saying “no” to those. 

Jimin looked at Hamin again and narrowed his eyes. It was true his sister was pretty cute(sized), with her long hair, sun-kissed skin, round eyes, and plump lips just like himself. But to him, she was still just a baby. And that’s why it was easy for him to be protective over her, but hard for him to understand why guys saw her as a woman they were attracted to. She’s just a baby, he thought, And besides, the only guy I’ll ever