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MARS MALL
"How about these?" I lowered my brows while holding up the black jeans.
"What kind of material is this?" Jimin asked as he oddly rubbed the fabric.
"That's weird, stop touching it." I pulled the pants from his grip as people were watching.
"Will it keep, you know—" Jimin leaned closer to whisper in my ear. "Everything in place?"
"It should do the trick." I nodded. "But shouldn't your underwear be doing that already? Are you wearing underwear?"
Jimin peaked under his pants before shaking his head. "Nope."
"You're disgusting." I scrunched my nose.
"I know." He shrugged his shoulders. "So, I should probably buy some boxers too?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "Please don't tell me you were planning on leaving here without any."
"I'm not gonna answer that." Jimin mumbled before grabbing the pants from my hand.
—
"That'll be thirty Marsi." The lady smiled.
"Damn, I only got two dollars."
"Shut it." I muttered through my teeth.
"Here." I handed her exact change, and she gave me the bag in return. "Thank you!"
"She didn't give you a receipt." Jimin lowered his brows.
"Why would I need one..." I held onto the bag.
"Incase it doesn't fit." Jimin shrugged his shoulders as he walked beside me.
"You can't return clothes that you've already tried on. That's disgusting." I scrunched my nose.
"We do it all the time back on Earth." Jimin proudly boasted.
"Of course you do." I crossed my arms. "Humans are just that predictable."
"Hey Layla." Jimin nearly touched my arm.
"Yes human?"
"It's Jimin." He rolled his eyes.
"Continue human."
"When am I gonna start to race?" He bit his bottom lip, and waited for my answer.
"Well, first we have to build our own hover car." I tried to explain. "But there is a guy that I know that owns a hover car that you can use to practice."
"Whatever that means." Jimin muttered. "Okay, I'm ready to start practicing. I usually drive on flat kind of surfaces, so sand is gonna be a bit different."
"His name's Taehyung." I walked alongside Jimin as we made our way to his house. "He races too, but he can't join this year's competition because of his leg.
"What happened to his leg?" Jimin questioned.
"Car accident." I pursed my lips as it became quiet.
"My parents died from the same thing." I broke the comfortable silence. "Racing is a really big deal on Mars. It's our way of entertainment, just like how earthlings have music and tv, we have race shows."
"I'm sorry." Jimin glanced up at me. "I know how it feels to lose someone you love."
"You lost someone too?" I tilted my head.
"My hamster died last year." Jimin lifted his sleeve to his face.
"Asshole." I nudged his arm.
"You touched me." He pointed like a five year old.
"Not with my skin." I argued, but he kept on whining like a baby. "Fine, I'm sorry for hitting you, but you deserved it."
"My sister died." Jimin smiled as he saw the disappointed look on my face. "I just thought it would be too depressing to mention, so my old hamster was the only thing I could think of."
"I'm sorry about your sister." I bit the inside of my cheek. "And your hamster, I guess."
"I'm surprised you know what a hamster is." He chuckled.
"I'm taking many classes that focus on Earth and it's popular trends." I turned to him. "And I can say that they really taught us wrong."
"How so?" Jimin faintly smiled.
"Not all humans are bad after all." She pursed her lips, before quickly walking away. "I still hate you."
"Aww." Jimin cooed as he followed behind me. "I can't believe you just complimented me like that."
"Stop." I covered my ears as he continued to tease.
"I really wanna hug you now?" Jimin sighed.
"What's a hug?" I mumbled as my shoes dug into the sand.
"A hug is when two people get really close, and hold each other tightly." He explained to me. "It's a way that us humans show casual love back on Earth."
"There's nothing casual about that.." I took a step backwards.
"Just try it." Jimin held his arms out.
"But then I'd have to touch you." I looked him up and down.
"You'd be touching my shirt." Jimin pinched the fabric with his fingers. "Come on, you don't know how relaxing it'll feel."
I nervously gulped, not knowing whether I should fake some kind of sickness or just make a run for it.
"F-Fine." I took in a deep breath.
"You're acting like you're about to run a marathon, loosen up." Jimin snickered as he watched me start mediating. "Girls are so dramatic."
"And boys are stupid, so it's fair." I gave him a sarcastic smile.
"You ready?" Jimin couldn't help but smile as my cheeks turned pink.
"Not really, but just go for it." I squinted both my eyes shut, and waited for the impact of his touch.
I was gently pulled into his chest, feeling his arms firmly wrap themselves around my body. I wasn't moving a muscle, in a state of shock from the odd affection. Jimin took notice of the tension in my body and lightly pushed my head onto his chest.
I hate to admit it, but I'm actually enjoying this, so called hug. Soon enough, my hands slowly moved up his back, until they rested on his shoulders.
"When do these hugs end?" I whispered, and Jimin broke into laughter.
I widened my eyes as he fell to the floor, holding his hand against his chest.
"I don't get it." I pursed my lips together.
"Y-You're so clueless." Jimin nearly choked. "It's just so entertaining to watch."
"I'm not clueless." I huffed. "And maybe next time, you should wear tighter pants before hugging me."
