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

EMBARRASSED

Cornered off in the back of the restaurant, the group was given three tables to fully accommodate the large party. They were sitting at the typical BBQ restaurant tables - silver grill in the center with the smoke chute overhead. The overhead lightening was dim, which only added excitement to the members about to dig into a meal of pork belly and hanwoo beef. 

Hae Mi, Kyung Eun, and the manager sat together as BTS sat among their own two tables, laughing and having a good time together, without the watchful eyes of the public on them. Taking part in the conversation at her table, Hae Mi was trying not to fall victim to the cocktail party phenomena. Which was difficult to do, especially when BTS got onto the topic of dating and first loves. It was a conversation topic that Hae Mi found strange for such a public setting. 

Am I being pranked again? 

It wouldn't have been the first time the group tried to pull something on her since she started working at Big Hit and she had the feeling that it certainly wouldn't be the last. The mini dance competition was only the first of many trials the group made her face. There was also the case of their "welcome gift" - an autographed shell of their latest album, with no CD, photo book, or poster found within the container. Or there was the time they had called her over to their dorm due to an emergency, just for them to need her to kill a spider for them because they were "too afraid" to deal with it themselves, even though they could have easily asked their manager to deal with the insect, who was simply resting in his own room. 

Hae Mi tried to not listen in on BTS's conversation - she really did - but it was hard to resist when all of the members were being so blatantly obvious with the subject at hand. 

"Out of all of the hyung's, we've never heard about the first love's of Jimin and Suga," V said, drawing the attention of BTS from their own individual conversations.

"You're right," Jin chimed in.

Hae Mi was struggling to keep her attention trained at the table in front of her instead of peering over Kyung Eun's shoulder to take a look at the table neighboring her's, where the conversation was much more interesting. 

"Tell us, tell us, tell us," V chanted as he bravely faced off with his older group members.

Suga and Jimin both made pained faces as they stared at V and Jin. They were the two quietest members of the group and by far the most private. Silently, Hae Mi joined in on their reluctance. It was often like that back in Chicago when all of her friends got boyfriends and bugged her about not dating anyone. It wasn't that she didn't want to date anyone, it's just that she was saving herself for the right person and the right time.

"Tae Hyung, not now," Suga snapped as if he, too, were wondering why this conversation had to happen at a public dinner table.

V whined, "But I want to know hyung!"

It was at that moment Kyung Eun waved her hand in front of Hae Mi's face, pulling her back into the conversation at her table. "Where have you been for the past few minutes?" she asked. "It looks like you've been daydreaming."

"Oh, sorry," Hae Mi said and grabbed a bite of pork belly from the grill. The dripping fat made the grill sizzle and pop as the manager took over the job of grilling the meat for the two dance directors. "It's been a long day, so I got a little distracted there."

"Clearly," Kyung Eun chuckled as she made a lettuce wrap and shoved it into Hae Mi's mouth. "At least eat a little more. You're grazing worse than a cow."

Hae Mi wasn't sure if that was meant to be an insult or a compliment, but she let her friend's words wash over her. "I will, I will. What, are you my mother or something?"