Friday Fix

♚ | seventeen

HALFWAY through Jungkook's third drink of the night, three boys walked into the bar sniggering. They caught Jungkook's attention firstly because they were loud, but mostly because he recognized one of them as being a Ryuk-il student.

"Did you hear his voice though?" The boy who Jungkook recognized spoke. "Damn, he totally sounded like a girl at that point!"

"Guys," his friend mimicked with clear mockery. "This isn't funny!"

"Ah, I wished we'd stayed behind to see his face though. Especially since we dumped a bucketful of syrup right on him."

"Well there's no way for him to join the cosplay competition now. Especially since we also took his clothes." One of the trio waved a maid cafe costume in the air. "Dorm C boys for the win!"

Slowly, the glass that had been in Jungkook's fingers thudded quietly on the bar top.

"He was dressing up as a girl, huh?" A scoff. "No wonder Yugi was so confident in his odds of winning. If he'd pulled it off, they'd have been the winner."

"Well his figure is kind of feminine - "

Jungkook walked up to them. "Excuse me?"

The boy holding the costume turned. His eyes lit up. "Yo, Jung - "

Jungkook punched him straight in the face. There was the distinct crack of a nose breaking and the boy howled, dropping the costume.

"What the f**k, dude?" his friend yelled.

"I'll take that," Jungkook said coolly, picking up the outfit.

The friend tried to sock a blow to Jungkook's gut, but Jungkook dodged it easily and brought his knee up to slam it into the other boy's chest. The boy wheezed.

“Where is sh – he?” Jungkook asked quietly.

The last boy standing backed away hastily. “What the hell are you talking about – ”

With a lunge, Jungkook brought his elbow up to the boy’s throat and pushed while moving forward. The boy’s back crashed painfully into the edge of the bar top, and he started choking as Jungkook pressed forcefully downward onto the Adam’s apple.

Still, Jungkook’s voice remained calm and unruffled. “Where is Lee Haneul?”

The boy looked as if he might pass out. “T-toilet near h-hall.”

Siwoo and Jay chose that moment to reappear from the crowd on the dance floor, and stopped dead when they saw the scene. Jungkook let the boy go.

"Hey Siwoo?" he called out casually as he walked back to his chair.

Siwoo eyed Jungkook carefully. To any other stranger, Jungkook might seemed to be at ease, perhaps just a little breathless from the punching. But to Siwoo who had known him for most of high school, Jungkook told a different story. The throbbing vein in the temple, the way his fingers clutched so tightly around the cafe costume until all the knuckles had turned white . . . Jungkook was not just angry, he was beyond pissed, and Siwoo knew it.

"Yeah?"

Without breaking stride, Jungkook grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and swung it over his shoulder. As he walked past Siwoo and Jay, he said,

"Take out the trash, will you?"

Siwoo looked from Jungkook to the three boys. His eyes gleamed.

Jay began slipping on rings.

"With pleasure," Siwoo said, walking toward the boys even as Jungkook walked out of the bar.

♚

Yugi gazed frantically at the stage, where all the cosplay participants were lining up under the spotlights. Pushing through the aisle of seats, Isaiah took his place next to Yugi, who turned to him immediately.

“Where is Haneul?” he yelled over the sound of the thumping background music.

“I don’t know! I went to find him in the changing room but they told me he never went there!”

“What do you mean he never went there? I specifically told him to go there!”

“No one saw him! And I can’t find him!”

Yugi gritted his teeth. He didn’t like the fact that Haneul had gone missing 10 minutes before the competition was due to start, and he liked it even less that the Dorm C boys five seats down seemed to be openly gloating as they looked at him.

He slammed his fist down on his chair in frustration. “Where the hell is he?”

♚

It was five minutes before eight when Jungkook skidded into Ryuk-il’s grand hall.

The stage had been completely redecorated, with the lights above casting red and orange strobes around. There were people lined up in costumes – cosplayers – and as Jungkook’s eyes roamed the audience, he caught sight of a head of curly hair he knew, and just beside him, the smaller frame of Yugi.

There was a blast of feedback and an announcement.

“Ladies and gentlemen! We have five minutes until the competition starts, I repeat, five minutes. May all participants come to the stage please!”

As the crowd applauded, Jungkook ran out of the hall.

♚

I peered out of the toilet. There was no one there. The coast was clear, and I could leave now if I wanted to.

But how can I? Helplessly I looked down at myself, clad in nothing but a bra and long pants. The red liquid had poured down and soaked into every inch of my skin – it was some kind of syrup, and sticky as hell. I was a complete mess.

How the hell was I supposed to leave looking like this? I couldn’t possibly make my way back to my dormitory without a single person spotting me. I looked like a giant red warning sign!

Loud footsteps clattered outside the cubicle. I froze.

Slowly, I backed up.

Dear Lord, please let the lock on the cubicle door hold.

Without warning, the door shook violently. I couldn’t help it, I screamed.

The door stopped shaking. “Baby girl?”

It took a moment, and then relief washed over me like a tidal wave. “Jungkook?”

“I’m here.” His voice sounded like a choir of angels singing in salvation. “You need to be out there, baby girl, they’re going to start soon.”

“I know, but I’m covered in this icky mess and I lost my costume.”

“Is there a shower in there?”

I looked up. “Yes. Why?”

“Shower. I have your costume with me.”

My eyes widened and I took one step closer to the cubicle door. “You have my costume? But how?”

“No time for explanations, baby girl.” Jungkook’s voice took on a shade of urgency. “You’re running out of time. Shower, quick.”

“Okay, okay.” Hurriedly I turned on the tap. God, the water’s freezing! I made quick work of stripping off my soiled clothes, washing them briefly to get most of the syrup out before hanging them over the top of the door.

“I’m done. But” – I swore – “I don’t have a towel to dry off.”

There was a faint rustling outside. Then a plain white T-shirt flicked over the door.

“Use this.”

I took it. “What is this?”

“My shirt.”

Jungkook’s shirt? “Wait – you’re letting me use your shirt as a towel?”

“Well, I was debating letting you use my pants, but I thought you might not appreciate it.”

I failed not to smile. Towelling off, I said absent-mindedly, “It smells nice. Like you.”

Shit. s**t s**t s**t, why did I say that?

A teasing tone crept into Jungkook’s voice. “And you’re the expert on how I smell, aren’t you, baby girl?”

“Shut up,” I muttered, glad he couldn’t see the flush on my cheeks.

I hung Jungkook’s damp shirt over the door. “I’m done.”

A slight pause. Then my maid café costume peeked over the top of the door, steering clear of the soiled clothes, and I grabbed it gratefully.

“Thank you.”

“Hurry up, you’re late.”

I slipped into the costume. Ack, the fake boobs are clammy. The skirt refused to go down any lower and I gave up. I’ll just have to not bend over for the rest of the night. The wig was itchy on my head and the shoes a wee bit too tight, but overall I felt alright.

As my hand went to the door, I hesitated. This was a rather suggestive look I was wearing right now, and letting Ahn Jungkook see it hadn’t been on top of the list.

What if he doesn’t like it? Right on the heels of that thought was, why should it matter whether or not he liked it? I was wearing this to win a competition, not go on a first date!

Clearing my throat, I opened the door with much bravado as I could muster.

The first thing my eyes landed on were Jungkook’s bare torso under his leather hoodie.

Damn.

My gaze shifted to my feet, not daring to look up at his face, and suddenly I felt as if I didn’t look good enough. That this was a silly get-up, that I wouldn’t have been able to pull it off when I was a girl, let alone a boy, and that I probably looked really, really awkward right now.

Words began rambling out of my mouth. “I don’t usually wear this kind of thing and I know I look weird in it, but Yugi picked it and said it would work, but obviously now it doesn’t work, and maybe I really shouldn’t – ”

“You look so goddamn fuckable right now,” came the whisper.

My breaths stilled.

“Look at me, baby girl.”

I looked at him. The way he was looking at me made every single nerve ending in me twisted and set themselves on fire.

“f**k. You’re not touching me and you’re killing me already.”

The brightest blush in the history of blushes ever was making its mark on my cheeks. “I uh, I should go. Thank you for coming.”

His eyes had darkened with lust and his fists were clenched like he had a hard time controlling himself. “It was worth it.”

I want to kiss him so bad, I suddenly thought.

But I restrained myself. As I made to push past him, he grabbed my hand. Tenderly, he took off my wig.

“Don’t hide your pixie cut, baby girl.” He winked. “It’s my new favorite kink.”

The butterflies in my stomach morphed into a screeching zoo. Flustered, I tore my hand out from his grasp and blurted out, “Maintain five-feet distance!”

I took off. Behind, Jungkook laughed and shouted, “You’re welcome!”

❈

Short chapter today! And my apologies for the late update.

Yours in seduction,

Lady Godiva.