Chapter 12

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When Jimin and Sun-Hee entered the apartment there was no one in sight. They put their sunglasses, hat, and purse on a table inside the door. Then went and flopped on the couch.

Jimin turned on the big screen TV and navigated to Mario Kart. "Time for our rematch baby girl! No holding back this time, I have a Koopa shell with your name on it!" 

Jimin and Sun-Hee played several rounds. They made a rule that after each game, the winner had to choose a different character. They had both switched characters several times but Jimin was on a winning streak now. He had resorted to some devious tactics. Every time he got knocked off the track or got spun by a banana peel he would distract Sun-Hee by tickling her or holding her arms down. "You are such a cheater boy! Get your hands off me and play fair or I'll call you 'Cheaty Jimin' or 'Chimin' from now on! It isn't fun to win if you don't win fair and square!" Her accusations didn't stop him at all.

Taehyung came into the living room and Sun-Hee called out for help. "Tae Tae, come avenge my honor! This boy is beating the crap out of me in Mario Kart! And Chimin is cheating!"

Tae laughed. He was good at video games, certainly much better than Jimin. The only one in the house that could usually beat Tae was Jungkook. Tae took the controller from Sun-Hee and pulled her to sit between his legs. The deepness of the couch allowed them to sit comfortably this way. Taehyung was much taller than Sun-Hee so he comfortably rested his chin down on her shoulder, and put his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. "I missed you today."

Sun-Hee settled back against Tae enjoying how comfortable it was to snuggle him. These men were certainly physically affectionate. She had seen them hug and hang on each other also, so she didn't read much into it. She decided to just enjoy it for what it was. There were worse things in life that being hugged constantly by gorgeous men.

Taehyung soundly beat Jimin several times. Jimin complained that he wanted to play against Sun-Hee again. But just then, Namjoon walked into the room. He smiled at the group on the couch then asked Sun-Hee if she wanted to go out and talk on the balcony. 

Upon hearing that Tae grabbed her tighter and pouted. "No Joonie! I just got her! Don't take her away yet!"

Jimin smacked Tae on the arm and said, "Don't be greedy, let her go talk with him!" There was a meaningful look behind Jimin's eyes that Sun-Hee couldn't understand. And to her surprise, Tae said, "Oh, yeah. Okay." and he let her go.

Namjoon smiled at Sun-Hee as he held open the glass door to the balcony. His dimples were on full display and Sun-Hee sighed despite herself. The two on the couch were like affectionate puppies, but Namjoon had some alpha male qualities going on. When he had his eyes on her she felt a little squirmy. It was a bit like being watched by a hawk when you were a mouse.

"This view is amazing! I could look at nothing else for the rest of my life and I'd still be happy!" Sun-Hee gushed. Namjoon chuckled at her exaggeration. But he agreed that the view was stunning, both Seoul and the beautiful girl next to him.

They stood quietly looking at the view for a moment, then Namjoon turned to Sun-Hee and spoke in English, "I'm sorry we were so awful to you last night. We all really regret how rude we were. We had a good conversation late into the night about how we wanted to treat people, and we are going to try to do better in the future. We want guests to feel welcome in our home and it isn't fair to assume something about a person without letting them show you who they really are. So, thank you for challenging our prejudices and stereotypes. And please know that we intend to be better people in the future." He gave a little smile at the end that made him look young even though his words showed he was mature and wise.

Sun-Hee was taken aback by the thoughtfulness of Namjoon's words. "Thank you for saying that. I am just fine, no need for you all to feel guilty. Tae, Hobi, and Jimin have been very caring friends to me today."

Namjoon chuckled, "Yes, the younger ones and Hobi show their love more freely. But I hope you know that us older ones are also glad to be your friend too. We will show you, given time."

They turned and looked at the view for a few long moments then Namjoon turned to Sun-Hee again and said, "I almost forgot! My friend owns a gallery in downtown Seoul and she invited me to an informal preview of their new exhibit tomorrow night at 10pm. I was wondering if you wanted to join me."

Sun-Hee's eyes lit up. "I would love that so much! Thank you!" Her hands cutely came up and did a little clap in front of her chest. 

"I'll come by your apartment around 9:30 to pick you up if that is okay. Dress casually because it will only be us, so we may as well feel comfortable. Oh and I wanted to give you this." He took a deep breath and thought: Ok, here I go, I'm going to touch her. Please be my soulmate, please be my soulmate!

He held out a key card to their apartment. He took her hand and placed the key card in it. He waited for the fireworks to go off,  but much to his disappointment, there were none.

Sun-Hee saw that he was putting a key card in her hand. "Oh, no... I couldn't.... You can't..." She pushed the card away and looked up to see severe disappointment in his face. She didn't realize that his look wasn't about the key card but about the lack of fireworks. "I'm so sorry. I'm not rejecting you. It is just that you hardly know me. You can't give a key to your apartment to someone you just met yesterday. It isn't safe."

Namjoon handed the card back to her. "We have to go back to work tomorrow. We will be gone a lot from now on and I want to know that you can look at our view any time you want. It really would make me happy for you to have this." She took the card and put it in her back pocket to appease him. But she had no intention of taking their key card. It was too much, too fast.

Inside in the living room Hobi had joined Jimin and Tae and they were all watching what was going on out on the balcony with avid interest. Tae said "If he kisses her, then we know they are soulmates!"

Jimin didn't know how he felt. If Sun-Hee was Namjoon's soulmate he would be really jealous. But it would also mean she would be around a lot, and that made Jimin feel happy. How could she not be Namjoon's soulmate? He remembered during dinner last night the two of them had conversations about school and art that showed how compatible they were. If she is Joonie's soulmate that would certainly explain why we all like her so much, Jimin thought.

They saw Namjoon take her hand and give her something. From their angle they couldn't see either's face because Namjoon's back was blocking Sun-Hee. They talked for a bit more then they turned to come into the house. Sun-Hee came in first and they saw Namjoon's face behind her. His mouth was in a straight line and he shook his head slightly to let them know it wasn't him. 

Jimin felt more regret than he thought he would. When she does find her soulmate she probably won't hang out with us like she did today. It was a sad thought.

Tae smiled. I can call her my girlfriend now, he thought.

Jin and Yoongi had started cooking dinner while Sun-Hee had been out on the balcony. She greeted Hobi on her way through the living room to the kitchen by patting his head as she passed him. "Hi friend."

"Hi pretty girl." Hobi gave her one of his signature smiles.

Sun-Hee entered the kitchen and Jin enthusiastically greeted her. "We have some new dishes for you to try tonight! We hope you like them!"

"I'm sure I will love them." She smiled at Jin and walked over to Yoongi. 

"I had the most delicious lunch today. Thank you." His hands were messy with chopping kimchi so Sun-Hee gave him a little rub up and down his back to show her appreciation.

Yoongi smiled back. "You are most welcome, dear." 

She turned to Jin and gave him a tentative look, "I would really love to help you cook as long as you don't think I would get in the way. One of my goals while I'm here in Korea is to learn to cook a few traditional Korean dishes. So if you don't mind me underfoot, I'd love to help. But maybe I could avoid any foods that have a death wish out for me."

Jin laughed at her comment. Which brought her eyes to his mouth. His lips looked positively kiss-swollen. He looked like he had spent the last hour making out with someone and now his lips were swollen by those kisses. 

What was wrong with her that every time she looked at Jin's lips she thought about kissing? 

His comment pulled her out of her thoughts. "No lions or bears? Just rabbits and... squirrels was it?"

"Okay. Alright. I think we need to all forget that analogy. I was extremely tired last night, and might have said some things that didn't make a whole lot of sense."

Jin chuckled, "Come over here to the stove. You can stir the sauce while I add the ingredients. And I will tell you what I'm adding as we go. Yoongi can tackle the onion tonight."

The first ingredients were soy sauce and white sugar. She stirred them over low heat until the sugar dissolved. Then Jin added a little vinegar and water. After that reduced a while, he added grated fresh ginger and grated fresh garlic. She really appreciated Jin showing her how to make the sauce. He gave her tips on incorporating the different parts and adjusting the heat, etc... 

She was lost in her thoughts, stirring the sauce, when she noticed that at the other end of the counter Yoongi was holding an onion. He had just washed the cutting board and knife from cutting the kimchi. And he opened the drawer in front of him and took out some sort of face shield. Her jaw dropped.

Yoongi looked at her slightly apologetically as he put the shield over the top part of his face. It completely covered his eyes and nose and had some sort of rubber or foam seal that went around his face to protect it from the fumes. Yoongi cringed a bit waiting for the reaction he was sure was coming. But Jin had his back turned to them and was completely caught off guard by the protest.

Her default was English because it still took her a lot of thought to speak full time in Korean. "Are you serious right now?!? Are you frickin' kidding me?!?" Jin jumped several feet in the air and turned around with a shocked look on his face.

Sun-Hee turned at the same time to face Jin and switched to Korean, "Really?!? There was a face mask that you could have let me use last night? I had no idea of the depths of your evilness Kim Seokjin! You let a poor girl suffer through all that, and you could have handed me a face mask?!?" To his credit, Jin looked duly guilty.

He made his way over to Sun-Hee. She expected his apology would follow and waited but instead he said, "Don't stop stirring the sauce." And turned her around to face the stove.

Her mouth dropped open and she turned back around to face him with her wooden spoon pointed right at his face. "Ohhhhh! How. Dare. You. I'm in crisis over here because you have been revealed to be enemy #1, and you are worried about the sauce? Kim Seokjin, you apologize immediately or so help me God, I will..."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so terribly sorry. Let me give you a full and appropriate apology." But his actions defied his words as he turned her around and helped her hand go back to stirring the sauce.

She continued to stir as he wrapped his arms around her from behind to hug her shoulders. He pulled her close and placed one of his feet between hers so she could feel the full length of him from her shoulders to her ankles. "I fully regret my evil ways of last night. I'm sorry that the depths of my sinfulness have been revealed to you. I can only tell you that I have been reformed and I plan to mend my ways. I will endeavor to be a better host in the future. What I did was terrible and I will work for the rest of my life to make it up to you. So please don't be mad at me beautiful girl."  He stepped back just a bit so he could rest his chin on her shoulder. He then said quietly in her ear, "Do you forgive me?"

Sun-Hee wasn't giving in too quickly, "I'll think about it. I want to see some of these reformed ways before I decide." She heard a giggle to her right and turned on Yoongi next.

Pointing the spatula down the counter at Yoongi, she said, "You're not off the hook either, giggle boy. Do you seriously think I haven't figured out that you knew there was a face mask and yet you didn't offer it to me. Time for your groveling now, young man!" 

Jin guided her spoon back to the sauce and helped her stir again. He was still leaning on her with his chin on her shoulders.

Yoongi turned towards Sun-Hee and did a deep bow. "I greatly and deeply apologize for my lapse in judgement. It was the biggest regret of my entire life and I have emerged from the incident a changed person. You will see the improvement to my behavior and know how deeply sorry I am." He looked up at her with a hopeful look, his mouth open in a smile and his eyes bright as if to say, 'Was that good? Do you forgive me now?'

Sun-Hee said, "I forgive you." and Yoongi beamed.

Jin however thought this was unfair, "Yah!! How can you forgive Yoongi and not me! I am just as reformed as him! Please say you will forgive me too!"

"Oh for Pete's sake, you are both forgiven! Now get off me and stop screaming in my ear!" Jin smiled that he was forgiven and stood up to step away. "All you Korean men are so physical! Sheesh! American men would never hug on a girl so much."

Jin smiled, "Well, American men are missing out because it is the nicest feeling in the world."

Sun-Hee turned and smiled at Jin. She raised her eyebrow. "The nicest? Are you sure, the VERY nicest feeling? Nothing nicer hmm?"

Jin waggled a finger at her, "We'll have no sexual innuendo in this house, young lady!"

Yoongi chimed in at that, "Except for Jimin. Jimin is the king of sexual innuendo."

---

The four boys in the living room were in tears they were laughing so much. The conversation in the kitchen, this girl taking Jin and Yoongi to their knees with apologies. They had to keep hushing each other so they could hear it all. 

And they kept smiling and laughing randomly way after the scolding was over. Tae started laughing again, "Did she really call Yoongi 'giggle boy'?!"

Namjoon nodded, "Her reaction when Jin reminded her to keep stirring the sauce. I really wish I could have seen her face."

Jimin especially liked the way Sun-Hee ended with a sexual innuendo. So, now he knew this girl spoke his language.

Hobi wiped tears from his eyes from laughing and turned to the other three boys, "I can't wait for Jungkook to meet her. He'll be home in just a couple hours."



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