Prepared To Hate You

The Surprise

"Thank you for coming with me. It's nice to go to these places with someone who appreciates them."

"You mean no one else would go to a museum with you."

Namjoon chuckled at her statement. This was why he liked her. Not only did they share common interests, but he admired her work ethic, her determination, and her kind and forgiving personality.

"That might be true... but I wanted to go with you."

While he couldn't outright declare his intentions or feelings, as he had made a promise to Yoongi, that didn't mean that he couldn't drop hints.

His words made her think back to what both Yoongi and Tao had said to her. Was it possible that Kim Namjoon had more than friendly feelings for her? It mattered because if he did it could affect the group, and the last thing she wanted to do was mess things up more than she already had.

They had spent a lovely day together. Namjoon impressed her with his knowledge of everything they saw. It had been fun to spend some time together outside of a work setting and it also made her feel less like he was just her leader and not someone who could be a friend.

She had always had issues seeing those in a higher position than her in a friendly way. Although Namjoon was a year younger than her, his experience and role as a leader made him seem older and wiser.

She didn't say anything to his comment, and eventually, he moved on to a new subject as they made their way back to the hotel.

Namjoon walked her back to her room, but when she opened the door, she found someone waiting inside.

"Yibo!"

She ran inside and wrapped her arms around the boy who had stood up to greet her. Yibo looked over her shoulder at the leader who was standing in the doorway and made a show of wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.

With a shake of his head, Namjoon closed the door as he left, leaving the two to get reacquainted.

"I'm glad you're still happy to see me."

"What? Of course, I am! But what are you doing here? And where have you been?!"

"The filming location didn't have any signal and we weren't allowed to contact anyone. Top secret military base, you know. I asked my assistant to send word to you, but apparently, that didn't happen."

"So, Tao was right. It's okay. It couldn't be helped."

"It's not alright. I know you were worried. And you were hurt! I saw the news and came straight here. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. All healed now. Did... did you see the picture?"

"Yes."

"I thought you might have seen it and gotten the wrong idea and that was why you were ignoring me."

Looking into Yibo's eyes, she saw the guilt there.

"You did... It wasn't at all what it looked like! I promise. I told you before that there's nothing between -"

Yibo grabbed her face with his hands.

"I know. I believe you. I do. It was just a moment where I... I doubted you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You're here now and that's all that matters."

He ran his thumb along the new scar across her cheek and smiled sadly.

"As much as I hated seeing him all over you, I'm glad you have someone to protect you."

...since I'm not around to do it myself.