Chapter Text
Dispatch and sasaengs are used to trailing their idols at their studios, gyms, and of course the Itaewon clubs. But almost since H.O.T. and Sechskies fans duked it out in the SM Entertainment parking lot, the 8888 Membership Shopping has been the best-kept secrets of elites in Seoul.
They say that it started as a general goods store where affluent but stingy Korean women would have Parisian perfumes, designer bags, and special edition American snacks smuggled in. They were never seen going there of course, their assistants handled the orders for them.
Business was good, and then suddenly that neighborhood store became a three-storey building. It got a better lights, shelves, and an actual floor plan where the stock didn’t have to have its own logic and cramped together to be easily found.
The owner’s grandson who divided his time between their businesses in the Philippines and Seoul suggested, because of their VIP customers, to turn it into membership shopping. After all, the money wasn’t in the wholesale soju and snacks, it was in their small stock resales.
While fandoms loved speculating over who knew who and who were friends among their idols, it wasn’t unheard of for a lot of them to keep their friendships out of the limelight. Friendships noticed by the public made fans too excitable, it meant fun times became work, and suddenly even younger fans grew parental. Idols wanted none of that.
So yes, at the 8888, which BTS’ Jungkook had gotten addicted to. Part of it was the relief of being able to go around without feeling like anyone was watching. And well, where else can he get one mixed box of seasonal Cheetos from the U.S. at U.S. prices? And when he’s ready to share what he gets from groceries, he makes sure to order ahead at the 8888 for when the other stores run out of stock.
Jungkook had gotten his six bottles of industrial-sized Downy and 3 dozen bottles of his favorite kombucha. He was already grinning at the boxes in his cart, and he turns the corner and sees Ryujin Shin in the feminine products section.
For Jungkook, it was the stuff of kdramas – cue soft focus, angelic choirs, the weird urge to suddenly get down on his knees and propose to her ---
Even if she seemed way too relieved at a certain brand of tampons, and she quickly put a number of them in her shopping basket. As she put in what was her…fourth? Fifth box? She realized she was being watched. She turned and looked right at Jungkook.
“Oppa.” It was a greeting, but impertinent. Rude, for someone younger, from a competing label at that!
But she was also so cute with that scowl, Jungkook was enamored with her cherubic lips and even entertained the thought of being stepped on by her in those laceless converse shoes—wait, how did he even get that idea?!
“Are you perving on me?!” Ryujin demanded.
“Ah!” Genuine panic at that, “No, no…just…been a while, hello! Haven’t seen you since the shoot!”
She relaxed a bit at that, but there that was aura to her. He remembered Yugyeom describing her to the boys during their last sangyeopsal dinner with the other guys, “Ryujin’s our junior, but we have seen her make older idols step aside…and all she did was enter a room.”
“So, if you’re not perving on me…” Ryujin continued.
Jungkook blinked at her.
She turned back to her shopping, “What? Looking for something for your period?”
And then Jungkook remembered where he was. He gave a nervous chuckle and bowed, “Uhmn, just passing through… good to see you in good health.”
“Take care, Oppa.”
“You too.”
He backed his cart back up and wheeled it over to the checkout counter.
As they scanned his items though, he looked back, curious. And when he thought she was about to look in his direction, he quickly looked away. He looked at his phone too, and messaged Yugyeom, “Hey, Yugyeom, uh – do you know Ryujin’s KT?”