The Gyeongbokgung Palace
Behind the Mask [Bangtan]Zhen walked silently beside Jungkook, who was horsing around with V. The group had split into two. Zhen was paired with Jungkook, V, and J-Hope. J-Hope had wandered off to find a map, leaving Zhen and the other boys to wander around aimlessly in waits for his return.
V had commenced trying to kick Jungkook to ground, who leapt out of the way skillfully and fake kicked his friend in the back. V played along, pretending he was really hit.
“Found one,” J-Hope declared, appearing at Zhen’s side. Zhen smiled and turned to take the map from him. “Are those two leaving you out?”
“No!” Zhen said, shaking her head. “No! Of course not! I just…”
J-Hope smiled. “You’re not that into horsing around? I understand.” He said, turning towards the other two. “Are you two coming?” He asked, and they both responded by moving towards Zhen. “Is there anywhere you two want to look at first?” J-Hope asked, directing his question to Zhen and Jungkook.
Jungkook shrugged. “How about that Jagyeongjeon?” Zhen offered.
“Sounds good.” J-Hope said, wrapping his arm around V’s neck and then pulling the unsuspecting boys head down and dragging him along. “Come on Taehyung.” He teased, rubbing his fist in the boy’s hair.
This left Jungkook and Zhen alone, which Zhen figured what J-Hope’s reasoning. They walked in silence for a few moments towards the pavillion before Jungkook turned to Zhen. “So,” He started. “Mallory mentioned her friend Zhen earlier,” Zhen stiffened. “I was just wondering if that was one of her modeling friends, or someone who went to our school. I feel like I’ve heard that name before.”
He had. When Cho Hee saw the girls, she always called Zhen by her Chinese name, Zhen Ai. “Uhm,” Zhen said, looking down at her hands. Even though it was hot out, she was wearing her fingerless gloves. “Look,” She sighed, looking over to Jungkook, who looked concerned. “My name is Zhen. I just go by Jin Ae to,” She sighed. “I don’t know, make things easier?”
Jungkook chuckled. “How hard is it to go by your real name?”
“When you’re name is Chinese and your parents are Korean, there tends to be some questioning.” Jungkook was silent at first. “Go on.”
“Go on what?”
“I know you want to ask me something.” She said, coming to a stop and turning to face him. “I won’t be upset. Tell me.”
Jungkook shrugged. “I don’t really have anything to ask.” Zhen made a face. “Okay, how about we just pretend that I didn’t ask that question.” Zhen shrugged and turned back towards where J-Hope and V were headed. “So do I call you Jin Ae, or Zhen?”
“Whatever you prefer is fine.”
“What does everyone else call you?”
Zhen shrugged, pretending to inspect her camera. “Everyone at school calls me Jin Ae. Cho Hee calls me Zhen Ai. Mallory calls me Zhen. It’s really whatever rolls off your tongue first, I guess.”
Jungkook nodded. They walked in silence until he said “Zhen Ai. That’s a cute name.” And then he started forward, past her, and towards J-Hope and V.
“Don’t your heels hurt?” Jimin asked, walking calmly beside Mallory. He stood to Mallory’s left, and Suga stood to her right. Rap Monster walked ahead of them, searching hopelessly for the Geunjeongmun, which Mallory had said interested her. Jin had been with them, but his phone rang, and he’s wandered off, telling them he promised to find them later, and that he would return with the picnic basket. “I mean,” Jimin continued. “They’re really high, and you’ve been walking in them all day.”
Mallory shrugged. “You get used to it.” She said lightly, lifting the camera Zhen had given her and snapping a picture of Rap Monster as he reached forward to ask a tour guide for directions. When she pulled the camera back and looked at the picture, she found it came out rather well. Rap Monster’s mouth was open, but not in an unflattering way. The tour guide was turning towards him, concerned, and Rap Monster had one hand on the tour guide’s shoulder. It was cute, actually. “They aren’t so bad.” Mallory said, looking down at her black suede booties. “Why don’t you help your poor leader? He looks so lost.”
Jimin shrugged and strode forward, leaving Mallory with Suga. She pretended to be absorbed in the camera. “Do you really prefer heels over plain street shoes?” He asked simply.
Mallory shrugged. “Yes,” She said, looking down at her shoes again. “I like to feel elegant, and classy compared to trashy. It’s not really about comfort with me.” She shrugged again. “Do you prefer your hair red or brown?”
Suga laughed. “It’s not really about color with me.” He said, turning to flash her a smile. She found her lips twitching into a smile, and stopped herself. When he smiled, all of his top teeth were revealed, and he had a small line on either side of his face where his smile met his cheekbones. His eyes were slitted, almost closed as he squinted against the sun to look at her. No wrinkles formed on his face from his smile. Mallory envied him for that.
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