CHAPTER 7- OUR SECRET HIDING PLACE

IRENE POV'S
    Me and my cousins decided to sleep in my house. Since Seulgi and J-Hope's reunion we have been hanging out more with the 7 boys , we missed being together just the 4 of us.

    "Oh, I'm so dead," wailed Wendy.

    "Waeyo?" I asked as I prepared the ingredients for the food  we will be preparing.

    "Suga asked me out tomorrow. I still haven't decided what to wear." She placed her  head on her hands.

    "You and Suga-oppa?" Joy and Seulgi said in unison as they sat in front of Wendy. "Yah, you always fight. You are like cats and dogs. Like seriously?" Seulgi was incredulous.

    "Yeah, I am annoyed by him in class. He always bothers me it makes me crazy, but he kinda confessed that that was because he likes me," Wendy smiled and turned red around the ears.

    "Really?" I asked, finding in funny. "So that was because he was trying to catch your attention. That is so Yoongi-like."  I washed the ingredients and started slicing them. Seulgi and Joy were cutting the meat while Wendy was starting to boil the water for our stew. "Well, he seemed really cool after what he did for J-Hope and Seulgi."

    "Nae, I heard it from Hoseok. Made him realize a lot of things." Seulgi stared at Wendy. "He seemed to be a good catch Wendy." 
    
    "Stick with your Hoseok, Kang Seulgi." Wendy said, sticking out her tongue at Seulgi. "Oh possessive with your Min Yoongi, Wendy Son?" Seulgi retorted. They started bickering again. Seulgi's mood has been up the past few days and we were so happy about it. J-Hope really was trying his best to catch up with her even with their busy schedules. She was more than happy though.

    My attention then went to Joy. "Eonnie."

    "Didn't you say this is the last month you will be having your braces?" Joy asked.

    "Mhm, my dentist said we will take it off next week." I took the meat that Joy and Seulgi cut and put it inside the boiling water. " Now that you mentioned it, I'm starting to miss my braces already"

    "Hehe." Joy laughed. "You'll look really good without the braces. I'm starting to imagine it right now. Pretty, pretty eonnie." She wiggled her shoulders acting cute.

    "Yah, Park Sooyoung. I know your already cute, our favorite maknae." I pinched her nose and continued doing the stew.

                    **********

    I was heading toward the laboratory to check up on my experiment when I received a call from Seokjin.

    "Yeoboseyo."

    "Joohyun-ah, can we meet afterwards? I need to go somewhere with you." Seokjin said on the other line.

    "Ah, nae. I'll meet you up after class." I said.

    "Okay, I'll go fetch you up. You'll be in your lab right?"   He laughed on the other line.

    "Haha, when you find a mad scientist inside, that would be me," I laughed. "Nae, see you."

    Two hours passed by and I heard a soft knock on the door. "Is a mad scientist by the name of Irene Bae here? Here equally crazy friend Jin is here to fetch her." I looked up and adjusted my glasses.

    "Annyeong! Just wait a little bit, Seokjin-ah. I'm just finishing some calculations." I returned to being silent again and continued doing my job. He sat beside me and just watched. I felt his hands suddenly tuck some loose ends of my hair behind my ears. I stopped with what I am doing and looked at him.

    "When you have such a handsome friend sitting beside you, those loose ends should not be blocking even your peripheral view." He smiled. "We're a good pair. A handsome and pretty duo."

    "You are such a narci, Seokjin. And correction, I'm not pretty. You are pretty. Like really, I'm not pretty." I said while cleaning up my area.

    "Why do you keep saying that you are not pretty, huh? Yah, Bae JooHyun, you are beautiful. Yah look at me." He grabbed my arms and made me face him. "From the top of your head. To your eyes, nose, lips down to the sole of your feet, you are beautiful. Even your brain is beautiful. Take note of that and also take note that I, Kim Seokjin, said that to you." I looked at him. Did he just say those words? I was surprised. How could such person, a beautiful as him, say I am beautiful? Oh, maybe something is wrong with his eyes. I never thought I am pretty, nonetheless, beautiful. I look like a geek to be honest. I was a wallflower at school. I was never confident when it comes to looks, actually I was never confident.

    "You're touched, right? Haha, ppali. I want to bring you somewhere." He took my bag and took me by the hand.

    "Yah! Where are we going?" This hand thing is becoming a habit.

    "Just follow me.". 

JIN'S POV

    "Just follow me," I told her. We ran and hailed a taxi.  I was excited. I have been preparing this for quite a while and I wanted to surprise her. I kept fidgeting in my seat. She must have noticed.

    "Hey, what is this? You seem so excited." She looked at me.

    "You'll know it when we get there."  After about ten minutes we got to our destination. It a small rainforest around the city . "My Dad used to take me here when I was young, but now that I am busy with schedules, we rarely go here together anymore."

    "So, why did you bring me here?" I guided here thru the trails.

    "I wanted to show my special place to my special friend." I turned to face her and smiled. "Plus I have a surprise for you." Why is it like this? Everytime I'm with her, I'm so happy.

    I walked behind her and covered her eyes with my hands. "Yah, Seokjin-ah, do you really have to do this?"

    "I told you its a surprise right? Come on, just follow my steps," We walked a few steps more until we reached our destination. "Okay, I'll open it in one, two, three!"

IRENE'S POV

    "Okay, I'll open it at one, two, three." Jin took his hands off my eyes. I looked around and saw it, a tree house.

    "Whoa! What is this?" I asked.

    "A tree house of course." Jin chuckled and pinched my face. "Ow, why are you so cute?"

    "Ouch, that hurts," I said and he apologized. "Pabo, of course I know that. But why?"

    "Wow, you have the guts to call me pabo now, huh? Haha, anyways its okay. I'll let it slide because we are friends." He paused and put his hands in his pocket. " This tree house, let's just say this our secret hiding place, where we can stay away from the watchful eyes of the students at school and our fans."

    I was touched by his effort. "Its beautiful, Seokjin-ah."
    "Wait till you see what's inside." He took my hand and helped me climb the ladder to the tree house. I was amazed at how spacious it was inside. It was simply made with a carpet, and two tables. The ceiling was just enough for both of us to stand. Some stuffed toys and pillows were placed in a mini sofa.

    "Mario and Maple Story?" I stared at him. He scratched the back of his head. "Those are my favorite games."

    I smiled and went back to looking at the place. It was homey and cozy. "I also brought sleeping bags here." Jin was busy introducing to me all that was inside the tree house, running here and there. The place also was decorated nicely. Not too fancy not too empty.

    "Seokjin-ah," I called him. He was still busy talking introducing every corner. I called him again, "Seokjin-ah!"

    He turned to me. "Nae? Waeyo? Is there something you don't like? Tell me. I'll change it."

    "Seokjin-ah, don't worry. I don't just like it." Seokjin suddenly looked worried.

    "You don't like it?" He sounded disappointed. 

    "Ani, I don't like." I paused and took his hands. "Seokjin-ah, I love it. It's wonderful. Thank you."

    "Jinjja?" Hi face lit up again. He spread out his arms. "I think I deserve a hug, right?"

    I was so shy when he requested for a hug but it seemed like I don't have a choice here, right? I slowly walked to him but he got closer and wrapped me closely to him, placing my head on his chest. Oh my, what good deed have I done in my past life to deserve this? And wow his chest is so firm. He's so gorgeous in and out. Huh, oh my Irene? What were you thinking? Erase, erase!

    "We can study here together, talk, laugh, watch movies, literally everything Joohyun. I always wanted to talk to you privately but I can never do that with people watching my every move. At least here we can be free." He sat on he sofa and tapped the space beside it telling me to seat beside him. We freely talked just like we did in the amusement park but this time not afraid that people might recognize him. It was really good because there was no pressure, just the two of us. We got to know each other better and got more comfortable with each others company.

    "Pink? You say like pink? Even Jinhyun is pink" I laughed. "You're not gay right? Cause that will really be disappointing."

    He suddenly advanced on me, his face just a few inches away from mine, I moved backwards, shocked by his sudden actions. As he spoke, I can feel his breath on my face, "Why you find me gorgeous? Not because I like pink I'm already gay. And Jinhyun, is that the name you gave the teddy bear?"

    "Uhm, Seokjin. Can you move away a bit? You're too close." I felt so awkward, I swear I felt my face heating up. He moved away and sat properly. "Nae his name is Jinhyun. Like a combination of our names, Seokjin and Joohyun, since you gave him to me." I added

    "Jinhyun, hmm, I like it."  He smiled and I saw him get something from his pocket.

    "Here you go." He handed me a key. "Its the key for this tree house. Its just you and me. Promise me, its just you and me who knows about this. Not even the boys or your cousins should know. Okay?"

    I stared at the key on my hand and smiIed. I raised my right hand. "I promise."