Caught in a Lie (Jimin's Heart #1)

SKIT: R U HAPPY NOW?

BTS collapsed on the ground after a four-hour long practice session. Their clothes were drenched with sweat and they had gone through half a case of water bottles. All of the members were drained of energy to the point of being unable to speak to one another. Both Hae Mi and Kyung Eun were impressed by the effort the group had showcased in the rehearsal and they were quick to notate that within their daily summary. 

Hae Mi worked on dismantling the camera and uploading the rehearsal files to the laptop as Kyung Eun covered her endnotes from the rehearsal. She listened in on her supervisor's comments silently, learning as to how best to wrap up a practice in the hopes of applying those methods to her own rehearsals at Big Hit Entertainment.

"So, does this mean dinner is on you and Hae Mi noona?" V teased, leaning back on his elbows.

Kyung Eun stared at the idol, groaning inwardly. "And here I thought you had forgotten about the bet we made."

"For the record, you did make the bet yesterday with the knowledge that we don't mess around when it comes to food," Suga chimed in, grinning wickedly at the two dance instructors.

Hae Mi stared at the group in bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh-ho-ho, you didn't spill the secret with Hae Mi noona?" V asked, shaking out his sweat-damp hair. "Kyung Eun noona made a bet that we wouldn't be able to hold out for the full four hours without making one complaint. If she lost, she said you two would buy all of us dinner."

Hae Mi thought back on it, but V was right. The group hadn't made a single complaint, which was unusual for them.

"I thought you all were being unusually quiet today," Hae Mi said. "Wait. Unni, why did you drag me into this? I wasn't even present when you made the bet!"

Her supervisor smiled sheepishly. "If one of us goes down, we both go down."

Hae Mi knew how expensive feeding BTS could get to be - they teased Jungkook about it all the time, ever since he graduated from high school. But her bank account definitely couldn't afford a dinner for seven grown men and their manager. Hell, her bank account could barely afford to pay off her rent and feed her on a monthly basis.

"Go get cleaned up and meet us in the lobby in an hour," Kyung Eun said.

Hae Mi shook her head. She couldn't go - there was no way she would be able to help Kyung Eun foot the bill. Glaring at the computer screen, Hae Mi isolated herself from everyone in the room as she shared the rehearsal footage with Bang PD. 

"Are you mad?" Kyung Eun asked when they were alone. She worked on gathering together the technology to take back to the office. 

Hae Mi grabbed the broom and mop, preparing to do a quick clean up of the room before the janitor's returned for their night shift. "I don't know..." She bit down on her lower lip. "Yes."

Kyung Eun rubbed her eye. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the bet, but I had to do something to motivate the group today. They haven't been in the greatest mood lately and I don't know why."

"I just wish I had a heads up, especially since I don't have the money to afford to feed BTS right now," Hae Mi sighed.

"Who said that we would be the ones paying?" Kyung Eun waved around a credit card that she had been hiding in her folder. "Bang PD said that if they were good today and actually engaged in the rehearsal, he'd pay. So here we are."

Hae Mi's foul mood instantly dissipated with the sight of that black rectangle of plastic. "And suddenly dinner sounds amazing right now."

Kyung Eun laughed. "Hurry and clean up and meet me in the office. We got to make ourselves look presentable if we're going to be out and about with BTS. You know how the tabloids are."

Kyung Eun patted Hae Mi on the shoulder before leaving the room. With cleaning supplies in hand, she made short work of the chores, this time looking forward to the feast that was about to come her way. Korean BBQ. Pork belly. She was feeling generous, so maybe she would even treat herself to a bottle of soju. It was a Friday night, after all, and she wasn't expected at Big Hit again until Monday morning. Besides, it was always a good thing to treat herself every once in a while.

*****

BTS was ecstatic as they arrived at their favorite Korean BBQ restaurant in Gangnam. Hae Mi had made sure to call ahead to warn the staff of BTS's arrival and to get a room for themselves. But, by the time they arrived at the restaurant, the fans had somehow caught wind of the group's arrival and were crowding the front entrance. 

"Are you sure we want to go in here?" Hae Mi asked from where she sat next to Jimin. The group had a spacious ten-seater van, which made it perfect for this dinner outing.

"Yes!" J-Hope and V screeched from the backseat, where they had been torturing Suga for the duration of the thirty-minute drive to the restaurant.

Kyung Eun turned around from where she had been sitting shotgun next to their manager. "If Hae Mi and I get swallowed up and eaten by your fans, our deaths better be on your conscience," she teased, preparing to get out of the car. "I'll go see if they'll let us in a back door." She hopped out of the car and disappeared into the roiling crowd.

Hae Mi watched Kyung Eun with worry in her eyes. She knew how dangerous crowds such as these could be, especially if they were desperate enough to get close enough to touch their favorite idols. As if also feeling the pressure of the fans, BTS's manager pulled away from the curb and took a circle around the block a few times, waiting for Kyung Eun to reappear from inside the building.

Sometime during the trips around the block, Jimin had silently reached over and was touching the back of her left hand. Nonchalantly, Hae Mi turned her head to gaze out the windshield and then over to glance at Jimin. He had a smile dancing across his lips as he drew with his finger on the back of her hand, much like they used to do to each other when they were younger.

Hae Mi tried to hide the hitches her breath was making as he finally wrote one last message on her hand as they pulled to a stop at the curb. I missed you. He returned his hand to his lap as Kyung Eun climbed back into the car.

"Pull around to the alleyway and we can go in the employee entrance," she said, trying to catch her breath after facing off with all of the fans. "I think we may need to find a new BBQ restaurant to go to after today, though. They aren't thrilled about the number of fans that caught wind of BTS coming here today."

"Fair enough," RM said from behind Hae Mi.

Cautiously, they drove around to park at the back of the restaurant and slipped inside, greeting the employees as they went.

*****

Looks like more chaos is about to be unleashed! Dinner + BTS = a most likely recipe for disaster for our Hae Mi. Please look forward to the next chapter!

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