It is 2015 and Kim Taehyung had just experienced the pressures of being a K-pop idol. His group, BTS, broke through the Korean mainstream media and was enjoying commercial prosperity. But with that success came with a price. To escape the overwhelmi...
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The man sitting at a table, half-hidden from the rest of the patrons, stared at the duo whose voices were, he deemed, loud and blaring. He was enjoying his own bottle of red wine, La Romanée-Conti until the noise interrupted him. He was doing his best to ignore the boisterous banter until one person caught his eye.
It was the same fellow he saw the previous day at the karaoke lounge hurling his contents out in the public washroom. What a coincidence! He must be a tourist like him, Taehyung thought as he jogged his memory of people whom he had met back home in Korea.
Curiosity got the better of him and Taehyung stood up from his seat, grabbed his bottle of fine wine and sauntered to the table in question.
"Anyoung haseyo!" he said, interrupting the group of three (Min-woo, Jung-kook, and the server).
The men glanced towards the intruder. One looked surprised while another became irritated at the sight of Taehyung, who stood smiling and continued.
"I couldn't help but overhear you talking about wine selections, and I brought over this bottle that I was enjoying before until you....."
"I don't need any assistance, especially yours," Jung-kook interjected, barely sparing the intruder a glance.
"What.... what do you mean?" Taehyung asked.
"Please leave before I say something unpleasant."
Taehyung became puzzled but stood where he was.
"Are you deaf or just plain stupid?" Jung-kook questioned as he glared at the man.
Min-woo, who was still star-struck from minutes before, finally opened his mouth: "Aya! Don't be rude to someone who helped you yesterday or you'll later regret it."
"I can treat him however I want, as long as he's in my space," Jung-kook retorted.
The server had left some time ago, leaving the three foreigners at the table so Min-woo had to play the role of a mediator, trying to keep both sides calm before they cause a scene that would reach Korea.
"I'm sorry, Taehyung-ssi, for my friend's behaviour but it's best if we could meet under different circumstances but now it's not really a good time," Min-woo explained.
"So you do recognize me.... I guess I shouldn't be surprised?" Taehyung said as he ran his fingers through his locks.
"Well, well, your big ego doesn't surprise me," Jung-kook snickered. "You think that by dying your hair and changing your clothes will make you invisible? If you really wanted to hide, why don't you just stay home?"
"What did I ever do to you??" Taehyung asked, now more curious than ticked off by Jung-kook's antagonistic remarks.
Jung-kook looked at Taehyung and said, "That's for me to know and for you to find out."
