Two Parties and a Funeral (Sequel to Resurfaced)

Chapter 6

''Why don't you go for turquoise?'' I said, eyeing the bright red sweater Jungkook had chosen. He has an amazing sense of fashion, but when it came to shopping for women, he was as much of a dunce as he could get. 

''Nah, that looks better,'' Alex replied, attempting to cut me off for the umpteenth time that day. I cursed under my breath and wondered what his deal was. Ever since he arrived, our fate was sealed; we were sworn enemies for reasons no one could comprehend, ourselves included. 

''It's only the first store,'' Jimin added helpfully. ''We can look for more stuff there.''

It was difficult enough for the nine of us to choose something for Nina, but when seven are famous K-pop celebrities, things can get pretty crazy. Did I mention that the boys looked quite like high-fashion, overly rich ninjas? In order to hide their identity, the boys took a number of precaution, but I have to give it for the fans, I think they actually possess the ability to recognize the idols from their behinds. I am not even kidding! In the third store, Namjoon was going through some language books. He decided that he might as well take use of the time shopping to get some material to help me and Nina out with our poor Korean skills. Apparently I had accidentally told a doorman to shut himself out, instead of thanking the poor man for his service. Well hey! Making mistakes is learning. Anyway, two teenage girls kept looking at him, despite the fact that it was his behind that faced them, and that it was only his eyes visible anyway.

The girls screamed. Very loud. one burst into tears, and the other looked ready to pass out. It was with a lot of soothing words, and a selfie or two that BTS managed to get the girls calm down. ''Bloody hell!'' I said at the exact same time Alex did. for once, we agreed on something. 

''Jane,'' V pursed his lips and looked at me. ''You haven't bought anything yet. What are you planning to get her?'' 

Noting J-Hope's eyes on me, I simply winked mysteriously. ''You'll see.''

''Yah, Hoseok!'' Suga liked his arm with the latter. ''You owe me. I can't believe I am shopping for a woman. It's only because of you that I sacrificed my sleeping time.''

J-Hope regarded the boy with his mouth open for a few seconds. ''I never asked you to get anything for her!'' he protested. ''You wanted to come along.''

Suga smacked Hobi. ''Yah! Can't you take a hint? What I mean to say is, since I am spending so much time to get your girlfriend something for her birthday, you should get me something extra daebak for mine.'' Yoongi smiled sweetly and jogged ahead to join Jin, who was eyeing some ice-cream. 

Another thing I was not previously warned about was how the skinship thing worked over here. There are these two young guys in office, who are very good friends. For some reason, they kept touching each others buttocks, and one fine day while they were playing around, I walked into the coffee room to see one of them seated comfortably on the other's lap. I quickly excused myself from the scene, which to my inexperienced eyes looked like an intimate moment. Much later, when I found out to my utter confusion that they both had girlfriends, and were in serious relationships, I understood that skinship was an important part of friendship in their culture. 

''Where are you going? Wait for me!'' V said with passion and walked further down the pavement. I glanced around and saw no one. ''Where are you going?'' he repeated. ''I need to get something really pretty for Nina. It's her birthday soon. Any ideas?'' The poor bird chirped in response and wagged its tail. ''Me too,'' V nodded. ''I'll see what I can do.'' 

When the bird flew away, Jungkook whistled at it. V whistled back, and the two ended up having a competition. I have to admit, Jungkook's one sounded impressive. The kid is good at everything. He dances perfectly to all girl group dances, with the entire lyrics in his head! He can even spin a bottle up, and get it to land perfectly, the right side up! And then there was V... the sweetest ever. But when I discovered him talking intently to a paintbrush, I did question his sanity, and mine. 

''Yo! Rapmon!'' Alex cried and pointed out towards a beautiful red arch, before a building of similar structure and hues. ''The gateway of Japan.''

Everyone stared at him for a few seconds, before bursting out laughing. 

''Duuude!'' Rapmonster chortled. 

''You are in Korea,'' Jin snorted. ''Why would the Japanese gateway be here.''

''I didn't know that you were actually as dumb as you looked,'' I commented with as much sarcasm as I could muster. ''Wait, I did.''

''Ha ha,'' Alex replied, unamused and very much embarrassed. ''Yo, V! Why do you look so happy.'' Just like he said, V was smiling contently to himself, looking around joyfully. 

V glanced at Alex and flashed his teeth at the latter. ''I am happy,''

''Why?'' Jimin asked with curiosity. We were all waiting intently for his reply.

''No, I thought that I was the dumbest person here, but then Alex came along. So I am not. And so, I am happy.'' V grinned at the speechless Alex and ruffled his hair, while the rest of us watched on, thoroughly entertained.