Chapter Text
Mika was on time. Until she wasn’t.
She had forced herself awake earlier than usual because traffic in Seoul was gradually getting worse, and this time — today in specific, she just couldn’t afford anything to go wrong. But it had gone wrong the moment her sister who was meant to give her a ride to her life changing meeting, had texted her from the comfort of her bed that she was feeling sick, as in probably caught the damn virus sick , so she would remain in bed until her PCR test arrived.
So, she was screwed. An hour ahead of schedule screwed. Because no matter how early she woke up it wasn’t enough time to run out of the fancy apartment complex that her sister called home, all the way down to the nearest bus station to go to Yongsan. With the typical Monday traffic there was no way she would make it on time.
So, she ran.
Mika skipped breakfast and ran out the door with her notebook bag flying behind her and her white as snow pup right on her toes.
“If we run, we can still make it —shit,” she stumbled into the elevator with quick bows and pleasantries to her sister’s neighbors and quickly grabbed a hold of Garam’s leash. She adjusted her mask and looked at anywhere but the judgmental eyes of the newlywed lady from apartment 13B.
It was nothing new to see Mika and Garam together 24/7. Her sister had to pay a hefty fee in order to keep a dog her size in the apartment complex given that pets weren’t allowed, especially German Shepherds.
Mika’s sister, Sora, claimed that it wasn’t a problem at all. She was already smitten with Mika’s 3-year-old companion, but that didn’t make Mika feel any less guilty about her sister having to pay extra and deal with the constant nagging from neighbors. Despite Garam being trained and friendly, she still caused fear amongst people due to her size. So Garam was always on leash —until Mika disregarded all rules due to being late, which honestly wasn’t often. Her sister took the trophy for that.
Once the elevator doors opened, Mika went flying again.
She had to make it on time. First impressions were a huge thing for her, and she was currently 15 minutes late, probably more. The second she started running down the empty street of the apartment complex with a quick annyonghaseyo to the security at the entrance and into the more crowded streets, Mika could see just how bad the Monday traffic was.
She debated hopping on a cab praying a nice driver would let her bring Garam with her, but she was just hoping. Mika was about to lose the opportunity that would change her life.
Mika didn’t go to college —despite her outstanding grades, Mika never liked school and the expectations that came after it. So, after finishing high school in Busan, she accepted Sora’s offer to move in with her in Seoul, albeit without really paying rent. Sora was 8 years older than Mika, already professionally respected and economically independent, of course.
Sora Martin was the Head of Marketing at Samsung Group and the pride and joy of the Martin family — to a certain extent, and Mika Martin was.... a struggling artist —that wasn’t really struggling anymore but was looking for something that would rekindle her love for her craft. And that something was in Yongsan in the sublevels of HYBE’s new building.
HYBE’s Insight Museum.
In 2020 Mika stumbled upon a music video by worldwide super band BTS. She was so enamored with the song and the visuals she decided that painting the 7 handsome members in a post-apocalyptic world after music died was the best idea she had ever had.
And it was.
She had recorded the whole process and uploaded it to her YouTube channel. While most people described the theme of the painting as too dark, the Management Team at Hybe Insight thought it was breathtaking, along with BTS’s astronomical fanbase. Mika gained a huge following a week after the video was posted and since then has taken a lot of inspiration from BTS and the long storyline they tell with their music. So naturally Mika became an Army, to the delight of her best friend Seungwa —long time Army and Kim Seokjin biased. She was definetly not on the level of her best friend, who was absolutely obsessed. Mika claims that if she didn’t have so many things on her plate, she would definetly make her army life a full-time job. But with a part-time job at the fancy music store a block down from her sister’s home, her art and whatever her adult life demanded of her, she had little time to watch every BTS content out there —that didn’t mean she didn’t try though. But it wasn’t until HYBE opened the museum that Mika knew just how much the big men at HYBE liked her art.
Sora had received a call one Sunday evening from her Assistant, an occurrence that never happened, and was immediately concerned. Because arguably, Mika got into a lot of trouble and she always forgets her phone somewhere, so contacting her was next to impossible. Therefore, her know it all assistant was the first to know if Mika had gotten in trouble —Sora had forced Mika to engrave her Assistant’s number on Garam’s collar as she was always available and strange enough, Sora’s assistant was the only personal contact Mika had on her socials. Sora to this day can’t believe how much she relies on Garam to keep her younger sister safe and begrudgingly thanks her Assistant for being a god sent.
So, Sora was told over the phone by her assistant on a cold Sunday evening about how HYBE was looking to commission Mika for one of their upcoming exhibitions two weeks ago. Her Assistant has always been straight to the point so there was no time to ask any questions as to Why when her assistant hung up the phone after telling her more of a When Mika was expected to accept or deny. Sora had looked at the colorful mess her younger sister had started an hour prior in her terrace and decided that she definetly needn’t to ask why when a winter landscape of a futuristic Seoul stared right back at her, albeit with a superman version of Garam flying around the Lotte Tower just because Mika had accidentally dropped white paint on that spot.
Mika had absolutely lost her shit when Sora had informed her over a steaming cup of spicy noodles and soju. She had demanded Sora to call back her Assistant and accept on behalf of her. Two weeks later Mika was late and running through Seoul’s traffic with her hand in the air in hopes to hail a cab. Garam never lost a step.
________________________________________
Mika was shivering and breathless by the time she arrived at the Hybe building. She had made it on the timeframe that she had calculated on the way here while reassuring the cab driver that Garam would not do a number 2 in the backseat and paying double the fee as a guarantee. Ridiculous, she thought, but there was no other way.
Walking to the receptionist at the center of the lobby with Garam shaking her new winter fur and her hands spreading the antibacterial gel, Mika was nervous. She was meeting with the Administrator of the Museum, someone by the name of Kim Minyoung, so that’s what she told the pretty receptionist and was told to wait down in the Museum’s entrance.
She was walking away when the receptionist noticed Garam and called for Mika again.
“Mika shi, I’m sorry but pets are not allowed.”
Mika looked down at Garam who had just sat down in front of her as if waiting for a command. “Umm...do you mind if I... leave her with you?” Mika asked sheepishly. There were not many places that allowed big dogs anyway, so she was used to leaving Garam tied to a bench while she did her business. There were very few people that paid enough attention to Garam’s vest to know she had her training patches on her sides.
The pretty receptionist looked back in shock at Mika’s question and seemed frozen for a second, “Does it bite?”
Mika snorted, “Not unless you tell her too.” Realizing it wasn’t a good response she tried to backtrack, “She’s trained. If you tell her to lay down until you tell her otherwise, she will.”
After some internal deliberation, the receptionist nodded.
Walking back to the receptionist, Garam immediately knew what she had to do. But just for the sake of the receptionist’s state of mind Mika looked at Garam and told her to wait.
“It will probably take a while. Are you sure she’s going to-”
Mika wasn´t one to interrupt but she was going to be late as it was. So, she reassured the receptionist with a warm smile and made her way down to the Museum section of the building.
Mika tried to read some of the footnotes on some of the art works to pass the time, but her Korean lacked the big words section in her dictionary. A big frown settled on her face. Her sister was better with the language than she was —she would probably be hearing one of Sora’s lectures about Mika refusing to partake in more Korean lessons growing up. Her answer: mingling would grant her more vocabulary than a classroom ever would. Mika was wrong with that statement as she didn’t have many friends and preferred home activities rather than mingling. Seungwa had the tendency of placing post it notes with words on Mika’s belongings to get her to expand her vocabulary, which usually helped. Most times Mika used the post its to doodle and the word was long forgotten.
James Jean’s Seven Phases was currently being displayed and Mika was in the middle of reading her Papago translation when a hand came to rest on her shoulders, successfully scaring her out of her wits.
Before she could utter a perfect string of curse words in Korean, the pristine looking woman in front of her introduced herself with a megawatt smile.
“Miss Mika? My name is Kim Minyoung-”
Mika was more confused at the English than at the group of men behind Kim Minyoung. She bowed deeply as she noticed how everyone was dressed too formal while she had put on loose white pants, a green tight top that showed a sliver of her abdomen and a jacket that definetly wasn’t enough for September’s weather. She could only hope that it wouldn’t come back to bite her in the ass.
“I’m sorry we were late; a meeting was holding us. Please if you could accompany us.”
“Yes...uhm. We can speak Korean if you’d like...I don’t mind...” Mika dragged on the offer. She didn’t want to be rude. But it was obvious Kim Minyoung was struggling to find the proper words and the hoard of men behind her kept their eyes on Mika making her second guess her breathing. So stiff.
She was never good with big crowds and the six men behind Kim Minyoung were doing little to ease her nerves.
“Oh, don’t mind them. They’re just here to report back to their respective departments,” Kim Minyoung explained, in Korean, as she led the way back upstairs to the lobby and straight for one of the elevators. Mika spared one glance at Garam, the white pup was uninterested in her surroundings and was looking straight at her owner, as if saying, you got this. Mika wanted to believe her, but as the elevator doors closed and she was surrounded by Kim Minyoung and her six stiff looking minions, she thought she probably should have brought Seungwa or Sora’s Assistant for support—legal or moral she didn’t know.
She wasn’t told exactly what kind of commission Hybe wanted, Sora had just said that they wanted Mika to lead the next exhibition starting in March the next year. She kind of accepted on a whim before asking the important questions.
Everyone walked off the elevator into a hallway, several doors lining the walls until it opened into what looked like an office space with meeting rooms at the very back. Mika just followed like a lost puppy trying not to be left behind by Kim Minyoung’s fast walk. There was a lot of commotion going on at the very back of the spacious area —a huge filming crew and equipment was being moved around like pieces on a chess board. She really couldn’t see much due to the amount of equipment.
Mika quickened her step when she noticed she was next to the men in suits rather than next to Kim Minyoung.
I take the meeting won’t take long, she thought as she walked into one of the meeting rooms and everyone immediately got down to business. Mika was startled to see the walls holding several photos of her work: clients, art pieces and sculptures. Everything that she had done after her Black Swan painting was being displayed. Her walk faltered. She didn’t know if feeling impressed or intimidated at their extensive research was the right way to go.
Mika’s butt wasn’t even on a chair before one of the men dropped a manila folder in front of her. She stared at it so intently, she swore she saw smoke.
“We´re going to be honest with you, Mika shi. You’re too young-”
Mika couldn’t help but reel back at her words. That was one hell of an opening statement.
Kim Minyoung raised her hands. “Don’t get me wrong. Talent has nothing to do with age, but we initially were a bit worried about your ability to compromise for a project like this.”
“Oh, that’s not an issue—never was. I-”
“We know that now. We talked to some of your clients, we had enough feedback to take to the CEO that eventually settled it. Bang Sihyuk wants you to do whatever you want as long as the theme is BTS and their influence in the music industry. Few rules though, no nudity or gore.” she looked pointedly at her.
Mika’s eyes went as big as tennis balls, “I don’t do nudity...or gore.” Her throat suddenly refused to function causing her to choke on her words. Gore was off-limits when it came to her art... nudity though. Her private sketchbook will have to be relocated.
“Good. You will have until the beginning of March to complete everything. You will have 3 visits from me to see how you’re doing, and you will be expected to work here—”
Her eyes were roaming all over whatever contract was in the manila folder that she only heard the last of whatever was just said. She should probably pay attention to Kim Minyoung first, but the lettering was so professional and small she was starting to feel scammed. Isnt this how sketchy contracts are drafted?
Mika wasn’t a stranger to contracts. Sora had forced her to draft a simple contract for her commissions with the help of her Assistant to avoid any issues in the future. But her contract was straight to the point and two pages long... this contract was around thirty pages and that was just what Mika could see without touching the stack of papers.
“Work here?” Mika paused. “What do you mean...work here?” She made eye contact with the scariest of the minions and immediately looked back to Kim Minyoung. Way more appealing to the eyes.
Her handler or client?... she didn’t know as Kim Minyoung ´s aura was friendly but her face screamed authority —She lets out an exciting sound suddenly that made Mika jump. “As you probably know, one of our artists stumbled upon the timelapse of your Black Swan painting. We want to do the same thing with this exhibition so we can display it as a full circle process, so as you can understand, it would be significantly harder to do that wherever your art study is—”
Mika didn’t know one of their artists had been the one to watch her video first. She did know that filming at her art studio, aka her sister’s terrace was a big no. She had gotten in enough trouble last time when one of her paint buckets made the drastic decision to just...end it. Let’s just say black trees look more artistic in a canvas.
“—You will be required to keep the work here, so it can be recorded. You can take work home, but the majority must be done here. One of our filming studios will be reserved just for you until the commission is done. We will pay for everything you need so we will need a list of materials. At the very last page of the contract is the payment offer from HYBE Insight —it can of course be negotiated. Nothing can be disclosed outside this building as we like to keep our artist’s identity a secret until the exhibition is announced. Everything is detailed on the contract...”
That was obvious for Mika the moment her sister uttered HYBE. The not telling anyone part, only Sora and her assistant knew of this—she had been dying to tell Seungwa but not as much as her desire to avoid a lawsuit.
For the first time since Kim Minyoung started rambling, Mika looked up from the contract. She was currently on page 3, section 3d. Everyone in the room stared expectantly at her when she raised her eyes.
“Can I... take it home?” Mika had never signed anything in her life without reading it thoroughly after Seungwa was scammed out of her PC collection. Who signs a shady piece of paper and pays after agreeing to partake in a PC auction? Seungwa.
“You need legal counsel anyway, but we need an answer by Friday to have time to set everything up. You’re 18, right?” Her new client looked around pensive, locking eyes with the men in the room for confirmation.
Mika felt slightly uneasy at the question. “19.” she corrected; her eyes casted down.
“Get legal counsel and get back to us.”
Mika nodded in agreement; she didn’t have a lot of legal knowledge anyway. That would be Sora and her Assistant. But she did have a lot of advice coming from adults since everyone around her was older.
She had several questions running free in her mind, but the most important was, “Will I have free reign or...will I eventually have to cater to the client’s opinion?”
By client, she meant the pristine looking men behind her. There have been times where Mika had to finish a commission disheartened after hearing the client requesting so many changes —it meant they didn’t like her art style, they just wanted someone to decorate whatever empty space they had in their home at a cheap price. Mika’s price tag had definetly gone up since then, but it still makes her feel disheartened when clients ask her to redo her work.
She had a peculiar art style, she knew. Sometimes it could get too dark, but her pieces always end up being described as breathtaking and unique.
“You have free reign. I will only drop by to monitor the process—”
A Cheshire smile fought its way on her face but dropped as soon as Kim Minyoung said her closing statement.
“If you ever encounter one of our Artists in the building, you have strictly prohibited to approach them.”
“I’m not-” Mika stumbled over her words, stunned at the sudden change in topic.
“-It will happen eventually, given the circumstances. We have a full house, so it’s bound to happen. Some may approach you as they’ve seen your work, so we ask that you keep it professional.”
Mika’s heart started pounding. “Nobody knows my face though.” That, was Mika’s biggest unplanned secret. Her Instagram account was mostly her art, she had a few highlights where she shared things about her personal life, but if she could recall, she had never uploaded a selca or anyone close to her for that matter. If there’s a side profile somewhere in her timelapse videos, she honestly didn’t mind, if her face wasn’t on full display. Which made her wonder if HYBE knew just exactly who she was related to. Her last name wasn’t common in Korea. If HYBE knew, they didn’t let it know.
“They don’t know who you are precisely. We would like to keep it that way to ensure your privacy and safety. There’s nothing to do about the small glimpses in your videos —I’m sure no one can identify you from that.” Kim Minyoung, for the first time, looked way too serious for Mika’s carefree personality, and she was wondering if Kim Minyoung was talking about the public no knowing who she was or everyone at HYBE.
She also had a vague idea of who she was referring to but as much of a fan as she was, only food can make her lose her composure and going berserk in front of the people that inspire her on a daily basis wasn’t the way she wanted to act the day she meets them. Seungwa on the other hand would probably dig her own grave just to have her stone say: death by Bangtan.
“Actually, I... would like it if I’m not interrupted while I’m working —And I doubt I will be touring the building”. She had phrased her thoughts poorly— but she was also slightly offended at the implication that she would go around hunting the members down. Also, Mika didn’t want to work at Hybe, she wanted the comfort of her sister’s terrace or her living room. She was what many would describe as a shy painter. Few people were allowed to watch her create whatever was on her mind, and the thought of having a filming crew behind her all the time had her nerves on a wire.
But Sora would never allow a camera crew in her home, she was strict about who could enter her home and more importantly why. So even offering to work from home so she could feel more comfortable wasn’t a possibility.
Sora was by no means famous —Mika didn't believe presenting during Samsung’s Unpacked events was something major, but she was well known because of her work for Samsung Group and her friendship with the KBS news anchor. She was apprehensive of people, and rightfully so.
And by looking at Kim Minyoung’s face, she knew negotiating the location would earn her a flat No.
“You won’t be bothered; we will just install cameras around the studio.” Kim Minyoung assured her. Mika might as well start trusting the woman she will be seeing the most, so she smiled back. “I will see you on Friday. Same time, same place. You can sign the contract here if you would like. We would also advise you to bring in a lawyer so we can clear all legal doubts—”
Everyone was starting to get up, so Mika hastily did so too. The men in the room started to file out the meeting room and she couldn’t help but frown slightly. Was that all?
Then Mika understood that this was more of an assessing her than signing her, since she would have to come back on Friday. She thinks she might’ve passed whatever test this meeting really was about when she turned to look at Kim Minyoung after bowing deeply to the men exiting the room.
“Formalities aside Miss Mika,” she started in English, “We are excited to have you. I’m a big fan of your work and I know we will have amazing results. After this commission, I have a personal request to ask you.”
She froze. “What kind of request?” She asked back in Korean. Mika rarely spoke English in front of other people, out of respect and her need to keep practicing the language. She wasn’t bad at it, she just didn’t have many opportunities to converse since well, she was kind of a hermit. And work technically didn’t count since the exchanges were always the same.
Nowadays, since her inspiration had taken a vacation leave, she thinks it’s better to go out with Seungwa —whenever Seungwa wasn’t buried under a pile of school work —rather than imprinting herself on her sister’s really expensive couch. She was still dwindling in her watercolor paints every time a viral photo of BTS went viral on her feed, as per request of her 145k Instagram followers, but that was it. She hasn’t pull out her big canvases out of her closet in 3 months — more time has passed if you asked Sora.
Last week she had just finished a commission for one of Sora’s coworkers (The Winter Seoul painting) after having to re do it when she lost her marbles and painted Garam next to the Lotte Tower. She was afraid to say out loud that finishing that commission had physically pained her. So, she was scared that this lady Kim Minyoung, now the representative of her new client, had a request that will make it difficult for her to complete. There was nothing worse than having to paint something specific for a client with no creative freedom on the artist part — like that futuristic Seoul in the middle of winter at night with the Lotte Tower front and center “refrain from adding people”, “I want the city nightline but with the sun setting 3/4 from the Lotte Tower” ...
She had to stop her train of thought before she unprofessionally rolled her eyes in front of Kim Minyoung. Sora’s coworker basically gave her a list of how the painting should be and she felt more like an Assistant than an Artist. She knew she had to stop accepting those type of commissions, but she needed the money. She wasn’t loaded like her sister and there were many things she wanted to do. And of course, money was required for her to do what she wants.
“I’ll tell you more about that in a couple of months. First, let’s finish arranging this exhibit.” Kim Minyoung smiled knowingly. Mika just stared, because honestly, she was really pretty, and her brain was already thinking all the possible ways she could set her sister up with her new client. Would that be unprofessional, her eyebrows almost left the vicinity. Yeah, I think it is.
Kim Minyoung picked up her phone from the table, elegantly sprung up from her chair and started walking to the door. Mika got the gist that the meeting was over and rushed to get all her things together.
Mika was already out the door when the voice of her sister’s possible new love interest stopped her. “Oh, and Mika shi, we will need a rough pitch of what you would like to do for the exhibition.”
“This Friday?” she hadn’t even signed the contract. Her confidence must be high. She must think Mika will sign the contract once she gets home without reading it.
Kim Minyoung nodded, “It doesn’t have to be a concise idea. Just what the company should expect for the exhibition.”
She already had a few ideas for the exhibition since Sora told her about the call. She actually had spent the whole night brainstorming ideas on her sketchbook. But none of those ideas were something she liked completely. One thing she was sure of, she was going to paint on glass —several, to gradually tell a story. She just had to decide on the most important parts of the story and how the hell she was going to execute that.
So, she was halfway there. With a confident Yes, Mika followed Kim Minyoung back down to the lobby while having a mindless chatter about deadlines and rules. Mika should probably, again, give her full attention to Kim Minyoung, but her stomach had started to feel heavy due to the lack of food. She shouldn’t have skipped breakfast this morning. The last thing she wanted was to throw up on Kim Minyoung’s expensive heels.
Mika was out of the elevator, getting ready to thank her for her time when she noticed a dark shadow walk past her.
“I will see you on Friday, Mika shi.”
She deeply bowed and thanked Kim Minyoung for her precious time as another shadow walked behind her.
“Bam! 이리와!( iriwa/come here!)”
Both Kim Minyoung and Mika turned to look at the owner of the voice — a tall young man with a black bucket hat and a black mask, basically an all-black ensemble. Mika didn’t stare long due to the concerned look in the young man’s eyes. She quickly turned to look in the direction he was looking —and walking rather quickly and noticed a brown Doberman pup approaching a sleeping Garam.
The young man gathered the attention of the few people in the lobby, especially the receptionist that was watching over Garam.
Mika didn’t register Kim Minyoung’s stressed call to the young man nor the wide eyes of the receptionist or the huge man following the young man’s path.
Her eyes were on the curious Doberman pup crouching in front of a sleeping Garam with his tail wagging from side to side, provoking a giggle out of Mika. Everything was calm until the receptionist gasped loudly successfully waking up Garam, who instantly got startled at the newcomer in front of her and unavoidably let out a warning growl that scared the soul out of the receptionist.
Chaos ensued.
Garam immediately started looking for Mika, but Mika was still near the elevators being blocked by a pillar.
Mika rid of her smile caused by the curious pup and calmly approached, trying to avoid startling more the pups, or well the people in the lobby.
“Bam, get back.”
The young man’s voice wasn’t loud just firm—which Mika was thankful for— and heavy with an accent she was all too familiar with having grown up in that city, but he was tense and Garam noticed that. So Garam tensed too and started backing away, the warning growls not stopping. Since Garam could only see a stranger approaching and no sign of Mika, the white German Shepherd thought Mika was in danger. The receptionist was close to crying as she climbed on her chair. The curious pup, called Bam, was completely unaware of the situation.
“Jungkook shi, be careful!”
At Kim Minyoung’s words Mika almost tripped over air. Shit.
She started walking faster, bypassing the young man who she now knew was Jungkook from BTS. Seungwa was going to kill her. She was definetly losing this commission.
Mika didn’t notice Jungkook’s head snap her way as she all but flew by him, she also didn’t register the surprise in his eyes at her voice.
“Garam, come!” Mika pointed next to her.
She said the command loud and clear. Garam snapped her big white head in the direction of Mika’s voice and broke into a sprint. The receptionist almost fell out of her chair at the sudden movement. Mika would’ve laughed if it werent for the circumstance.
Unfortunately for Bam’s dad, Bam followed Garam completely ignoring Jungkook and took a stand behind Garam, who had sat in front of Mika with her leash in her mouth.
“Good girl,” Mika whispered to Garam as she took her leash, giving her a full scratch behind her ears. Behind Garam, Bam was playing with her tail and despite the embarrassment she was feeling from all the attention she smiled at the pup.
Situation half diffused.
“죄송합니다 (jwesonghamnida/I’m sorry).”
“정말 미안해요 (chongmal mianheyo/I’m so sorry)”
Both Mika and Jungkook said simultaneously as he reached his pup, deep bows following almost bumping into each other’s heads. Mika didn’t even have to try and suppress how starstruck she was, the situation was successfully doing it for her. She couldn’t suppress the shiver that raked her body at Jungkook’s voice though despite him sounding slightly annoyed —Mika couldn’t determine towards who exactly, but she could guess.
She was avoiding looking at him and decided that staring at Kim Minyoung's arrival was better.
Ok, maybe the situation wasn’t diffused at all.
She snapped her head back to Jungkook, who was now carrying his Doberman pup in his arms. He seemed to be looking for something to say as he looked from Mika to Garam calmly sitting next to Mika’s legs.
Most of his face was covered, so Mika couldn’t read him properly. Mika was thankful for her mask as she was sure she was beet red, from multiple reasons. One, Jungkook was an enormous presence standing in front of her despite Mika being tall. Two, the receptionist had made a huge spectacle of the situation —Mika understood her fear, but it only worked to worsen the situation. Three, Kim Minyoung's stiff posture as she stood next to Jungkook.
She was fired and she wasn’t even officially hired yet. You exceeded expectations this time, Mika. Trust yourself to get in trouble in front of Jungkook of BTS.
Reluctantly, she locked eyes with Jungkook’s who was already looking at her with a deep frown visible from under his bucket hat. What she could see from his expression only made Mika feel worse.
“I’m sorry for the...” Mika didn’t know how to label what had happened, so she settled for the honest truth, “—Misunderstanding. She’s trained, not dangerous at all—”
“Jungkook shi, I apologize. Is everything alright?” Kim Minyoung expertly interrupted Mika’s poor excuse of an explanation.
Jungkook started nodding and then switched his attention to Kim Minyoung. Mika didn’t really hear their exchange at all. Sudden worry about not being able to do the commission dwelled deep in her belly. Since she got Garam, they’ve never been apart unless absolutely necessary meaning the times Garam had to go to the training center. She was a certified emotional support dog, and if she couldn’t bring Garam with her to work, she wasn’t going to do the commission. Effectively losing her big chance.
She wasn’t exactly sure as to why Kim Minyoung was apologizing —maybe for allowing Mika into the building with Garam and successfully giving the receptionist nightmares that will last her months or maybe, definetly, for scaring the whole lobby about a dog fight. Impossible, Mika thought, it might’ve looked to the spectators as if Garam was going to fight the pup for intruding her space but Garam was only giving a warning to Bam. Garam was mainly focused on finding Mika.
Mika unconsciously tightened her hold on Garam’s leash. Naturally, Garam started licking her hand gaining Jungkook’s attention.
“I—” Jungkook started but was interrupted by a familiar voice.
Jungkook’s voice brought Mika back to the present, and so did the huge group walking behind him.
“Jungkook-ah!” The voice that had previously interrupted Jungkook became louder. “Is everything ok!? We must go!”
Jungkook, to Mika’s surprise, started to look torn. It was then that she realized maybe he was more annoyed towards the situation he couldn’t control rather than at her and Garam.
He was looking between the voice calling him and Mika like a broken record. He looked apologetically into Mika’s eyes, “I’m sorry for causing you trouble. Bam is just getting training and he’s...well he’s curious about everything—”, Mika was taken aback as much as she was confused. “I’m so sorry, I must go. Have a nice day.” With a deep bow, Jungkook of BTS started walking away.
Mika was simply staring at Jungkook’s retrieving form, mouth agape.
“Excuse me!” Mika immediately cringed; her voice was too loud. “I’m sorry— Excuse me?”
She had gained his attention the moment she opened her mouth. Surprised, Jungkook turned back around, the people behind him waiting anxiously. Jungkook extended his hand out as if telling them to wait a little longer and gave his full attention to Mika, who had no idea why she stopped him in the first place.
Mika swore under his breath and crouched to Garam’s level. She opened a small compartment on Garam’s vest, pulling out a thin leash that Mika used to reinforce some of Garam’s off-leash commands. Jungkook was watching curiously, his big eyes glued to Mika’s movements.
Mika walked the remaining steps and stopped in front of a confused Jungkook, standing an arm’s length away to respect his space. “Here, I don’t like putting leashes on pups either, but most times it’s necessary.” Mika offered the thin leash to Jungkook, her comment by no means rude nor critic towards Bam’s lack of leash. Bam looked to be barely 4 months old, and Mika would be lying if she said Garam went out to the park with a leash at that age.
She thought maybe Jungkook took offense to her comment as he hadn’t made a move to take the leash. “I’m not— I wasn’t being rude...just— not many dogs respond nicely to pups.”
Mika knew this from experience. She had seen adult dogs injure pups just because they came too nearby. She was also told during Garam’s training that no matter how much training a dog gets, instinct will always be more dominant.
“I-”
“Thank you,” Jungkook took the leash gratefully just when Mika was about to apologize, again, for most likely intruding in a matter that didn’t concern her. “I actually forgot his leash this morning.” Smile crinkles appeared around his big sparkling doe eyes and Mika sagged in relief. Seungwa would die when she hears about how Jungkook does have stars in his eyes.
Mika smiled slightly, but no one could tell due to her mask. “No problem.”
The next few seconds were awkward, as Mika really had nothing else to say and Jungkook just openly stared at her so intensely she was starting to feel self-conscious.
Suddenly Bam started to get antsy in Jungkook's arms and Garam thought it was a good idea to approach and smell Bam’s rear. Mika gently pulled Garam’s leash, “Sorry, I guess she changed her mind.”
Jungkook crouched to Garam’s level and to Mika’s bewilderment offered Bam’s bum to Garam.
Mika snorted so loudly; she was sure the group waiting for Jungkook heard. But she was so entertained by his actions to look forward, instead watching as Jungkook held Bam’s bum right on top of Garam’s nose comically.
“Jungkook-aahh!” The same voice from before called, “I’ll just wait for you in the car!” Mika watched as the group exited through a back door and wondered why Jungkook chose to ignore whoever was waiting for him. Mika didn’t want to start guessing who that voice belonged to, she would lose it.
“Can I touch her?” Mika looked back down to Jungkook still crouched in front of Garam and suddenly, the situation dawned on her.
Kim Minyoung was waiting patiently where Mika was standing before. She was furiously typing away on her phone while the huge man that was tailing Jungkook also patiently waited a few feet behind him.
“I-yes, sure.” Mika started feeling extremely informal and remembered Kim Minyoung’s warning. She had broken the main rule minutes from being told. But looking at Kim Minyoung, she didn’t seem angry at her interaction with one of Hybe’s main artists.
How the fuck am I keeping my sanity in check, Mika thought. She realized that her intimidation and embarrassment was still very much prominent, denying her of the expected fan behavior that probably led Kim Minyoung to warning her in the first place.
She knows, as much as she prides herself in her ability to keep her emotions in check, that she would be asking for an autograph if the situation were different. Truth was, she was a fan —an Army as BTS calls their fans, for almost two years now. And this was the first time she was seeing a member of BTS. Seungwa had described them to her endless times as she had gone to many of their concerts while Mika busied herself with a painting of a viral photo of one of the members.
But as Seungwa had told Sora countless times, Mika was definetly more a fan of their music, than of all the content they produced for the fans. So, if you asked Mika what Jungkook talked about during his most recent Vlive or when was the last time she saw a Winter Package or a Bon Voyage, she honestly wouldn’t know.
Mika was aware of all the content that was out there, and she did try to watch it sometimes with Seungwa, but she was often busy doing this and that, she hadn’t the time to sit down and voluntarily watch. She did play their music when she worked on an art piece and knew their lyrics back-to-back —she often bragged to Seungwa about her ability to rap all of Suga’s mixtapes, but she was unaware of all that happened during their trips or banter amongst each other. Their performances though, she never missed them.
“Mika shi—” came Kim Minyoung's voice from behind them. Jungkook was still occupied making the introductions between Bam and Garam that he perked up at the use of Mika’s name.”— I must leave for a meeting. Will I be seeing you this Friday?”
Mika halted, unsure if she should ask the nagging question eating her away. But she had to ask. Leaving Jungkook and Bam to Garam, she fully gave her attention to Kim Minyoung and bowed, “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding...I- Will I be allowed in the building with Garam?” Mika couldn’t help the doubt that filled her voice, “It’s just that I never go out without Garam and since I have to do the commission here— after everything that just happened— maybe I won’t be allowed—”
Kim Minyoung looked confused at Mika, “Mika shi. You can bring Garam to work. We were notified by Lee Hyeri —your representative— that you own a service dog, so we made all the proper arrangements. I’m sorry to you and Jungkook shi for the unplanned meeting —I should have notified the building. For that I’m sorry.”
“My representative?” She really needed to process the full sentences because she was more startled by the word Representative than her apology for something she probably had control over but at the same time didn’t.
“The person I talked to on the phone?”
Mika racked her brain for any representative until realization dawned on her. Sora’s assistant! She rarely called her Representative since Mika always called her ‘Sora’s Assistant’ or when she wanted to tease her “Hyeri”. She hated being called by her name during work hours, so Mika just usually formally addressed her as Unnie.
She needed to send her a gift, she was indeed a god sent. “Right! right, yes. I- thank you for understanding.” Mika probably was on the tenth bow of the day and should just leave already since everyone in this building was probably always busy.
“I’m sorry again. I will just exit now—“Another bow, “ Thank you so much for your time and—” she turned back around, fully expecting Jungkook to still be crouching but instead found herself looking at his knees, she quickly raised her head.
Jungkook laughed at Mika’s sudden head movement, catching her off guard. Damn, he’s taller in person.
“—And I’m sorry too, for the inconvenience.” Mika finally finished bowing in all directions, even at Jungkook’s shadow still standing a few feet behind him still waiting, and at the scared receptionist who never once diverted her eyes from them.
“Nice meeting you, Mika shi.” Mika’s eyes widened at Jungkook’s acknowledgment of her name. She could feel the lack of beating from her heart but smiled when he also said his goodbyes to Garam. She didn’t have time to process Jungkook petting Garam’s head goodbye or the way he bowed to her, because Kim Minyoung was already escorting her out.
There was one thing she did acknowledge...
Jungkook’s apparent recognition in his eyes.
---------
When Mika arrived back at her sister’s home —which was eventually her temporary home too, she dropped her notebook bag on the entrance and just stood there for what felt like hours.
She was trying to process her whole morning, failing at understand what exactly had transpired. She had the commission in her bag and met Jungkook of BTS albeit not in the way she would have wanted. She did imagine about going to one of their concerts with Seungwa and “meeting” BTS in the normal, typical fan-artist way. But concerts aren’t a thing currently due to the situation. Yet, until today, she knew meeting them face to face was impossible. Until today.
Forgetting about that for a minute, Mika remembered almost dropping dead from starvation after having walked home with Garam because apparently the only way she could calm her nerves was by walking 2 hours from Yongsan to Gangnam.
It was now 2 pm.
And thank God she had ordered take out when she was just a few blocks away from the apartment complex because there was really nothing she could eat at home. Sora and Mika havent gone grocery shopping or seen each other at all due to Sora’s extremely packed schedule, which reminded Mika that Sora had eventually gone to work after her PCR test came back negative. At Sora’s informative text, Mika couldn’t help but sigh in relief that it was just her workaholic sister’s body telling her to rest.
Sora Martin was a workaholic, but her golden rule had always been to never work on weekends. She sometimes slept at her office if she had a pile of work, but she never showed up to work during the weekends. Sora Martin had a good balance between her work and personal life, something Mika was extremely grateful for as her big sister was a huge part of her life.
So, when Sora was being drowned in work, Mika usually had lunch and dinner alone. Sora tried to have breakfast with her but since the kitchen was empty, that hasn’t happened in a week.
Mika really wanted to tell Sora first about the meeting, so she pushed her shock from today’s morning at the back of her mind and sent her a quick text asking if she could drop by with dinner. Her sister will probably reply when she could, given that Mika assumes she’s busy.
She proceeded to remove Garam’s vest, her shoes and headed straight for her closet. She needed to change, she was cold and uncomfortable in barely any clothing in September.
Her takeout arrived 5 minutes later. She thanked Korea’s excellent delivery service and gave a tip to the young kid that saved her from starvation.
With a sudden surge of inspiration that was rare lately, Mika got to work. She unplugged her iPad from the charger and started digitally sketching her ideas for the exhibition. She will take them to Sora tonight along with the contract as an excuse to spend time together.
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