Never Ever

(BTS: J-Hope)

Red = Korean

Blue = English

“I am your hope, I’m J-Hope,” he said, making a heart with his hands.  I rolled my eyes and swatted away his outstretched heart.  He gave me a false hurt look and turned back to the wall-length mirror.

“Knowing how to say ‘I love you’ and that other catchphrase of yours in English isn’t going to get you anywhere,” I lectured my boyfriend.  I’m American and my native language is English, but I’m fluent in Korean as well because of my overseas studies.  I didn’t even know what K-pop was until being asked out by the handsome devil twisting and turning in front of the mirror.  I almost stormed away from our first date when he told me who he was, thinking it was for publicity, but he proved me wrong; thank god.

I watched him dance happily, his forever-present stupid grin etched across his soft features.  I smiled and bit my lip, wondering how I had survived before without knowing him.

In ignorance…  I decided.

“Hey, are you awake?” he asked, and I realized he had been talking to me.

“Hmm…?”  I blinked, looking up at him from my seat against the wall; he walked casually over and extended a hand.  I shook my head.

“You of all people should know I don’t dance,” I told him, but he only smiled and wiggled his fingers.  “No.”

“You are so going to dance with me.”

“”No way Hoseok,” I huffed, trying not to look up into his puppy-dog eyes.  But with two fingers under my chin, he tilted my head back and gave me a quick peck on the lips.  He smiled at me and pouted, making it almost impossible for me to form words.  So with reddened cheeks and a fumbling tongue, I mumbled an ‘ok.’

“Told you I could get you to dance with me,” he exclaimed happily.

“Well you also told me that you’d attempt to learn some more English if I came with you,” I complained in English.  He stared at me blankly with yet another dumb grin as he positioned my left hand on his shoulder, already lacing our fingers together in his right hand.

“You know I have no idea what you’re saying,” he whispered as a slow song came up, playing from his iPod dock.  I chuckled and swayed with him, whispering back an ‘I know’ in English.  He huffed and pouted, shaking my slightly.

“That’s not fair Sabrina,” he whined, letting go of my hand to wrap both arms around my waist.  I linked my fingers together behind his neck and smiled sweetly.

“Maybe I‘ll just leave you for Rap Monster, he speaks English almost as good as I do,” I , and he only hugged me tighter, allowing me to rest my head on his shoulder.

“Never, never, ever, ever…” he protested, swaying me off the beat and instead to some imaginary tune in his head.  “Never ever,” he reiterated.

“Yah, I know,” I whispered.  “Never ever.  I was just joking anyways.”  I could feel him laugh and bounce up and down.

“Teach me how to say it in English!” he insisted, pulling away to ask me.  I looked up at him in surprise.

“Never ever?  In English?” I asked just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

“Yah, of course!” he continued, grabbing my hands and swinging them back and forth.

“Great!” I exclaimed.  “Don’t worry, it’s easy.  Try saying ‘never.’”  I pronounced the word very slow, allowing him to hear the different sounds.  He scrunched his eyes and his lips.

“Naw-ber,” he said with a heavy accent.  I giggled and pinched his cheeks, feeling high on his adorable engrish.

“Cute, but no; try ‘ne,’ you should be able to say that, it’s Korean,” I instructed.

“Ne.”

“‘I don’t know if you were agreeing with my earlier comment, or saying it, but either way, you said it.  Next try 'ver,’ not ‘ber'.’”

He nodded happily (why does he always have to be so happy all the time!) and spoke.  “Vvvver,” he said, dragging out the sound to get it right.

“Really, you can’t pronounce a ‘v’?  For heaven’s sake, Taehyung’s stage name is ‘V’!” I exclaimed, lightly punching his arm.  His smile faltered.

“Sorry,” he muttered, squeezing my hand.  I quickly shook my head and wrapped both arms around his neck again.

“Jeez, don’t take it so seriously, I was joking.  But if you want to make it up for me, try saying ‘never’ all together now,” I reassured him, throwing in a little request.

“Never,” he said in near perfect English, besides his heavy accent.

“Good, that’s great; now you just have to say is ‘ever.’  All you need to do is say ‘never’ without the ‘n’.  It becomes ‘ever’.  Try saying it all together; ‘never ever’,” I explained, rubbing circles into his back and resting my chin on his shoulder, watching us move to the song in the mirror.

“Never eber,” he said happily, and I had to stifle a laugh.

“Never ever.”

“Never ever, never ever, never ever!” he shouted gleefully, celebrating his victory.  I pulled away and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Nice job Hoseok!”

“Never ever!”

“I said ‘nice job’.”

“Never ever.”

"..."

“Ok, let’s get you back to the dorm, you need to relax,” I said, grabbing his elbow.  He happily obliged after snatching his water bottle, following me out of the dance room and up the two flights of stairs to the dormitory.  I guess working in the big company building had its perks; one being able room at the very place you practices.  Or at least the boys did, though I was over enough to take advantage of it.

“Never ever,” he would occasionally mutter, a bit too happy with his accomplishment.  Finally we made it to the door, and I rapped my knuckles against the wood.  It was immediately opened by ‘V’, or Taehyung.  He stared at us for a moment, probably taking in our wrinkled clothes and thinking things through a little too much.  His eyes squinted and opened his mouth to speak.

“No, no, no,” I began.  “We were just~” but the door was slammed in my face and I could hear Taehyung’s shout through the door.

“Guys, our playboy and his bunny are home!” he called to the others, and I could hear the scuffle of feet against tile.

“No way, Yoongi’s already here and I don’t see Alex,” I heard Jungkook tease, followed by a swift yelp.

“I am not a playboy, and Alex is a respectable, beautiful woman.  You’re just jealous that your girlfriend can’t come over as much,” Yoongi retaliated.

“Shut up,” he countered.

“You’re not a playboy either Hoseok,” I assured the boy next to me, who was banging on the door.  He turned to me and spoke his first words since learning ‘never ever’.

“I know, you wouldn’t have gone out with me if I was,” he said, sneaking his long arms around my waist and pulling me closer.  “Aren’t I lucky,” he murmured before leaning in for a kiss.

He pressed his lips to mine and held me even tighter, making my heart beat fast.  I smiled against his lips.  But the boys chose the perfect moment to let us in, and the door was yanked open.

“EWWW!” Taehyung screeched, slapping a hand over his eyes.  I pulled away from Hoseok, blushing madly, but he kept me pinned to his side.

“Come on Taehyung, you do the same thing with Natalie, lighten up,” Yoongi said as he rolled his eyes.

“Never ever,” Hoseok said, and everyone stared at him.

“Never ever what?” Namjoon asked, fixing his cap.

Hoseok smiled and waltzed into the room.  “Never ever,” he repeated, and the solely-Korean-speaking members looked at each other knowingly.

Things such as “she taught him a new word again,” and, “remember last time,” circled the room, and I received several glares.  I shrunk beside him, embarrassed.  But Namjoon smiled reassuringly.

“So another new word, huh?” he spoke in English.  “But he still doesn’t understand, poor Hyung.”

Hoseok hugged me tighter to him with his free arm, his smile fading, and I realized he must be thinking about our earlier conversation.  I poked his side and grabbed his hand, lacing our fingers together.

“You shouldn’t worry so much Oppa,” he smiled at the term of endearment.  “Like I said before, never ever…”