How To Be A Hoe

18 | A Ratatouille Of A Date

"Jimin!" The word was a half-scream of excitement from you as you bounded towards the said boy with more happy energy than usual.

"Woah, calm down." The silver-haired boy raised his eyebrows when you hugged him, but there was a smile on his face. "What happened?"

"Thank you so much!" You leaned over to press a short kiss to his cheek, a gesture that was enough to make his eyebrows disappear into his hairline.

His heartbeat picked up pace, and he touched his chest in disbelief. This is not supposed to happen. "Why?"

"Taehyung!" You grinned, circling your fingers around his wrist. "He asked me out on a date!"

Jimin's smile faltered.

Too soon. It was way too soon.

"That's great, kitten." He smiled anyway, ruffling your hair. "I knew he wouldn't be able to resist."

You smiled up at him widely, not letting go of his t-shirt. "I can't believe your dumbass advice actually worked."

"Is that ungratefulness I hear?" He tried to smile, he really did. "But you still have too much to learn."

"Oh, yeah," you said sardonically, the effect of which was ruined by the fact that you had smiled through the entire sentence. "There's so much to learn."

"Always be thirsty for knowledge...and me, of course."

You scrunched up your nose, eyes still sparkling like an anime character's as you looked at him. "I'm just so happy. It kind of sucks that I don't have anyone to fangirling about this other than my constantly horny roommate."

It was unbelievable how close you had gotten to the boy in such a short span of time, despite the hectic days when you had come back to the apartment with five hundred pages to read for the week and an annoying roommate to face as you did it.

Despite all that, you were grateful to have him by your side as a henpecked freshman, and usually weren't afraid to show it. As reserved as you were used to being around men, Park Jimin was definitely someone you didn't want to lose, even if the reason was as uncommon as a friends-with-benefits-with-a-side-of-education situation.

Jimin chuckled, reaching over to ruffle your hair again, as playful as ever even when his mind was abuzz with confusion. Do I like her? Is this a crush? How long does this last? "You'll learn to love having me around soon enough."

"Sadly, I think I will."

|

"Woah." You breathed in awe when Taehyung uncovered your eyes.

He'd been hell bent on tying a black sash over your eyes so you wouldn't be able to see the 'surprise' he had planned for you. The effort was much appreciated on your side, but you wouldn't say that the thought of him being an axe murderer hadn't crossed your mind.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He smiled at you, and it wasn't like you didn't notice the arm wrapping around your waist as he guided you to the lone table. "I thought I'd reserve a private table."

"This is amazing." You smiled. "Thank you, Taehyung."

"It was my pleasure." The boy grinned at you, brushing his dark bangs away from his forehead. "I thought you'd like this kind of scenery."

"I don't just like it," You stared at the beautifully decorated interior of the diner as you sat down on the chair he pulled back for you. "I love it."

Taehyung's smile widened at your words, happy because of your excitement. "There's not just the view to feed on, though." He winked at you, tapping the menu as he took his seat opposite you.

Not the winks again.

"Well, of course," you said, briefly smiling at him before turning your attention to the menu.

Your smile faltered.

Jimin hadn't prepared you for this.

The list of food items on the menu were like the ones you'd hear of only while flipping through cooking show channels and in the movies. You couldn't pronounce any of them. So much for a scholarship student.

Calm down, your thing is biology, not French.

"You okay?" Taehyung frowned, a little concerned. "You look a little pale." He bit his lip. "Ah, I should have known this would be too overwhelming for a first date, I apologize if this feels too suffocating for you—"

Though disheartened by the problem at hand, you managed a weak smile in his direction. "It's nothing." You reassured him. "I'd just like to use the washroom for a moment."

"Yeah, sure." He looked slightly worried. "It's over there, by the corner."

You nodded, giving him that one awkward, tight-lipped smile that everyone had at their disposal as you got up and rushed to the women's toilet. The smile slipped off your face as you entered the place like an inexperienced skater slipping on ice.

Thankfully, it was mostly empty, save for a woman who smiled at you kindly as you held the door open for her. As soon as you were inside, you whipped out your phone and searched up 'Daddy' (blame Jimin) in your contacts, and pressing call.

He picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Chim? It's me, Y/N. This is an emergency," you spoke, frantic.

"What?" His voice was immediately alert. "Don't tell me your time of the month decided to make an early appearance."

"No!" You snapped, looking down at your dress in paranoia. "He's brought me to a French diner and I can't pronounce the names of the dishes!"

There was a pause.

Jimin burst into loud, obnoxious laughter on the other side, and you couldn't help but imagine him doubling over the way he always did when something embarrassing happened to you. "Jimin!"

"Yeah, okay, okay." You could still hear the smile in his slightly shaky voice. "I'm sorry, this is too good."

"This is not funny!"

"It kind of is," Jimin amended. "But just go for soufflé or a ratatouille. They usually have them in all the restaurants."

A ray of hope returned to your black heart, though you weren't sure that those were all French. "Okay, great." You exhaled in relief, fully aware that this was probably the dumbest situation you had ever been in. "Thank you!"

"Anything for my kitten." Jimin smirked on the other end of the line.

You rolled your eyes, muttering a vicious bye before hanging up. Straightening your dress, you looked into the mirror, giving yourself a not-so-reassuring mental pep talk before heading out again.

"I'm sorry, I think I drank too much water," you said breathlessly, as you slipped back into your seat opposite your worried-looking date.

"It's perfectly fine." Taehyung smiled, eyeing you with concern. "Are you sure you can eat?"

"Yes," you muttered, skimming through the menu with your fingers crossed on your lap.

And then you saw it.

Ratatouille.

"Yes!" You whisper-yelled excitedly, internally crying tears of humiliated joy as you spotted the word in fancy text at one remote corner of the page.

"Y/N?" Taehyung looked at you weirdly. "Are you absolutely sure you're okay?"

"Uhm, yeah." You smiled sheepishly at him, slightly pushing the menu toward him, your finger on the dish. "I'll have a ratatouille, please."

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