A Modest Proposal (Kim Namjoon/ BTS) (#SerendipityAwards)

14. Danger

Say, Ji Ah-yah, do you believe in soulmates?

I don’t, Joon-ah. But I do believe that once in a lifetime you come across someone you want to wake up beside every day.

Sunlight flitted in through the parted curtains, spots of light dancing on Ji Ah’s eyelids as they fluttered open. She was lying on her side facing the windows, yawning and stretching her arms as she twisted around.

Still in the haze of semi-consciousness, Ji Ah smiled sluggishly when her gaze landed on the sleeping form of Namjoon, his mouth slightly open, snoring softly and squirming on the small space the pair was encumbered in.

“Ha! I’d have to be incredibly drunk to have such a crazy dream,” she mumbled, her voice sounding raspy. “Though I wouldn’t mind it at all.”

Ji Ah reached out to touch Namjoon’s cheek, shifting uneasily when her cold skin came in contact with his warm flesh. “No way…” Her eyes travelled over him, slowly inching upwards and widening at the sight of the handcuffs. Ji Ah sat upright at this, the sheets rumpling with the movement.

Kim Namjoon was handcuffed. To her bedpost.

This can't be happening.

Relieved that they were clothed at least, Ji Ah prodded the sleeping young man furiously, trying to maintain her calm. She had no idea how they had gotten into such an unbelievable position but she had to wake him up. Now.

“Namjoon!” She nudged him when the rapper failed to budge. “Wake the hell up! How can you be sleeping so soundly in this situation?”

Ji Ah was aware of the speed at which her heart was racing and willed the galloping organ to slow down. Once it did and when a semblance of composure settled over her, she looked down at Namjoon’s serene face, peaceful in the security that sleep provided and wondered if he was dreaming.

But she winced when she looked at the handcuffs restraining his left arm. That's gotta be uncomfortable.

But Ji Ah couldn’t do anything about it. Not until So Min got back at least. She tried to invent a plausible reason for Namjoon having, from the looks of it, spent the night sleeping next to her when the man stirred, his eyes opening to meet Ji Ah’s now calm ones.

“Good morning sleepyhead,” she greeted him and batted her eyelids innocently. Namjoon’s head snapped up instantly, trying to scuttle away. But the action was constrained by his position and he almost toppled to the ground when Ji Ah held him in place.

“Good morning? What could possibly be good about this?” he questioned vehemently, rattling the handcuffs and waving his arm to indicate the tangled forms of the two of them.

Namjoon still couldn’t grasp the situation he found himself embroiled in, hoping that Ji Ah would remember the events leading up to it and save him the task of reminding her. But she didn't.

“Well, why don’t you enlighten your bedfellow by telling her why the hell is your arm handcuffed to her bedpost?” She raked her eyes over him and Namjoon blushed, the word bedfellow ringing in his eardrums like a clamoring bell.

The rapper jingled the limb shackled to the wood, looking at her pointedly. “Well, this is all courtesy of you. You’re the one responsible for this.”

“I’m responsible?” Ji Ah scoffed. “What are you talking about?”

But her embarrassment knew no bounds when Namjoon explained the circumstances of his detention. “I had to call Jin Hyung and tell him to leave without me. And you have no idea how difficult that was. The boys have probably reached all kinds of far-fetched conclusions by now.”