＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

Adorned in the same black tracksuits they wore the first time I spotted them, the Black Swans meet our eyes immediately. I recognize each one of their faces from the countless videos I've watched, so much so that if they were to say one word behind my back I'd probably be able to tell who it is by just the tone of their voice.

But the boys don't know them. That's evident enough by the way they continue to stare even though the Black Swans have noticed.

"Who are they?" Jungkook whispers, eyes still trained on the men who haven't moved an inch, adamant about winning the staring contest.

Jin shrugs, patting around his plate for a french fry before popping it into his mouth. "Tourists?"

The host shows them to a booth conveniently close to ours and we all slowly rotate our necks as they walk. To my surprise, Taehyung pays me no mind, casually planting himself on a seat and beginning to look over the menu.

I can see his knee eagerly bouncing up and down, before he swipes his tongue across his bottom lip. Then, as if he can't control himself any longer, he abruptly closes the menu and stands.

Everyone at our table is caught off guard and the boys scramble to make it look like they weren't staring. Namjoon looks out the window, Jin and Yoongi pretend to stare in fascination at the ceiling fan, and Koji and Jungkook look forward at me before taking a giant sip of their milkshakes.

When Taehyung finally gets to us, his brow furrowed in confusion at our awkward poses, he presses his palms on the edge of our table and studies our faces, his eyes lingering on mine.

"You're Korean?"

Namjoon tears his gaze away from the window and smiles politely at the redhead. "Korean-American."

Taehyung returns the gesture and I'm taken aback by how quickly his devilish features convert into innocent ones at the appearance of a boxy smile. "You speak it?"

Everyone except Koji and I nods and at that Taehyung begins to speak his native language. They all converse and I'm trying my best to catch at least one word that can serve as an indicator at what they're talking about. Koji is in the same boat, being Japanese-American, his eyes bouncing from person to person and lips parted in awe, brow furrowed in frustration.

It isn't until the table begins to laugh at something Taehyung said that Koji finally snaps.

"Hey! Hot Cheeto, not all of us speak Korean!"

I snicker and Taehyung's eyes cut to me, sending me a challenging glare.

"I was just introducing myself and my team to your friends."

"Seemed like a lot more than that," He grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest and sinking back into his seat. Jungkook slaps his chest, reminding him to be polite. "Ow!" He whines, "what team?"

"The Black Swans, we're competing in the California Tournament."

Everyone exchanges puzzled looks. Jungkook starts, "but, how-"

"They bought their way in." I interrupt, my eyes piercing Taehyung's brown ones mercilessly. "They just want the clout and money to open some stupid club here."

A hush falls over our table, the atmosphere notably darkening but Taehyung is quick to pick it up.

He drops his head and sighs heavily, alarming all of us. "That's what the owners of our club want, but we don't. We think it's just as wrong as you do for us to enter a tournament not meant for us," he gazes at us sentimentally, "we don't want to rob any California team of their rightfully earned win."

Everyone's eyes soften but Namjoon turns to me. "You know them?"

I inadvertently shift in my seat, eyes still locked with Taehyung's and I catch the corner of his mouth twitch up. "Um-"

"We met earlier at the dome," he allows his lips to fully curl into a smile, only this time it looks much more wicked.

"Yes, he is a Korean person I talked to." I emphasize the word and nod my head in his direction and Namjoon's mouth forms an O. Namjoon purses his lips a bit, most likely recalling the memory of the phrase the mystery person, who he now knows is Taehyung, rudely said to me.

"Do you wanna join us?" Jungkook pipes, mesmerized by how suave Taehyung is.

How he seems.

Taehyung regards him with a smile. "I'd love to, really, but I have to get back to my team-"

Jungkook cuts in. "You can pull up a table!"

Everyone wearily exchanges a look but before we can object, Jungkook is shouting something at the table in Korean and waving them over. Everything happens so fast and before I know it, a table is connected to ours and we are sitting alongside the Black Swans.

They begin to introduce themselves, but I completely tune it out. It's entirely too repetitive. But as they speak it gives me the chance to assess their features and I'm surprised that they all wear the same childish smiles Taehyung did. If I didn't know any better, I'd believe they were actually enjoying talking to us. Yet I can't shake the tiny voice in the back of my head telling me this is too much of a coincidence.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts when I feel Jin nudge my shoulder. I look up and I feel a heat rush to my cheeks as 10 pairs of eyes stare back at me.

"I-I'm the team manager, Lai-"

"Laila," Hoseok finishes for me with a soft smile. Noticing our confusion, he chuckles. "Sorry, uh Taehyung-ah mentioned who you were."

My eyes cut to Taehyung who sits at the end, staring daggers at Hoseok.

"You embarrassed him, Hobi hyung," Jimin, who sits next to Hoseok, giggles.

Seungri, who hasn't said so much as a word since I've seen him, reaches out to ruffle Taehyung's red tresses. "It's okay, Taehyung-ah."

"You're very young to be a manager, no?" Jaein asks from the other side of Jin. He's gorgeous. Sculpted jaw, honey skin, full lips. They all are. No wonder they're such a hit in Korea. "How old are you?"

"I'm only 20."

"Ah Taehyung is 20 too, he's our maknae," Seungri goes to pinch his cheeks to which Taehyung swats away his hand. It makes me smile although I'm still apprehensive about the group. They seem to get along very well.

"I'm the maknae too!" Jungkook beams.

Koji side-eyes the overly excited bunny boy and clears his throat. "Um, anyways Laila's the best. Girl puts in WORK and I would have never gotten better at defense if it wasn't for her. This whole team owes a lot to her."

I'm slightly taken aback by Koji's endearing words. That's the first time he's talked so sweetly about me without mentioning something perverted.

"Plus sometimes she changes in our locker room and let me tell you," he tilts his head and whistles.

There he is.

The Black Swans' eyes widen at his boldness and they turn to me to read my expression to assess whether they should chuckle or not. Taehyung arches a brow. "You date your players?"

I roll my eyes playfully while Yoongi does what I can't and slaps the back of his head. "No, Koji just walked in on me changing one time."

"AND THE BITCH NEVER LETS ANYONE FORGET IT," Jin groans.

Everyone joins in, including me, in complaining about Koji's twisted fantasy about me in the locker room to which the cheeky boy just sits back and basks in the glory of everyone acknowledging it.

"You guys are just mad I saw what you never will."

I scoff. "You saw a glimpse of the bottom of my bra and my belly button!"

"And that was all I needed to see."

Jungkook's brow furrows, "all you needed to see for what?"

Koji sighs before wrapping an arm around the younger's shoulders, "my dear Kookie, I'll leave that to your imagination."

Namjoon buries his face in his hands, probably exhausted by how much we've embarrassed ourselves in front of the foreigners. "Um, haha, back to Laila. She is young but we are very dependent of her. Especially when it comes to games, I still don't know how she's able to record everything we do without even looking at the paper."

"OH YEAH," Jimin points at me before shaking Seungri's shoulders. "I saw that, her hand was moving so fast and her eyes never left the game!"

"You watched our game?" Jungkook asks, delight lacing his tone.

Jaein nods, his Adam's apple bobbing as he gulps down a sip of water. "Against the Vikings, very close game."

I can feel Jin's body tense next to mine at the reminder of what he just worked so hard to overcome, so I cut in. "But they won! Because they worked very hard and deserve it more than anyone!"

"Of course!" Hoseok smiles, "we stumbled on your game on accident actually. We were originally supposed to meet the coach of the Vikings to discuss our practice situation."

Yoongi's brow lowers. "Practice situation?"

Taehyung smirks at the sight of our confused expressions and perks up. "Ah yes, this is exactly what I wanted to talk to your team about." He glances at me and winks, "although we are very popular back in Seoul, here not so much. So, lately it's been difficult to find a gym willing to let us practice for the upcoming tournament."

Hidden intentions, thanks little voice.

"You seem like a very genuine team, and with the utmost respect and courtesy of your club of course, we were wondering if you'd be willing to let us use your gym for the time being."

I side-eye Namjoon, expecting the usual pursing of his lips whenever he hears something funny. But all I catch is a thoughtful expression plastered on his face, in cahoots with the other four players. Even Koji has warmed up to the Black Swans after they let him recount his favorite locker room memory.

"I'd have to talk to our Coach," Namjoon politely smiles, "but I don't see why not."

I can't even believe what I'm hearing. Do the boys not understand they're literally fraternizing with the competition?

The Black Swans collectively let out a sigh of relief, as if Namjoon's words were their cue to breathe.

Taehyung smiles, stretching his arm out from across the table to try and reach Namjoon's. Namjoon starts to return the gesture but is intercepted by Jungkook who is eager to finally have an excuse to touch the man he has not so secretly been admiring all night.

Along the way, his nimble fingers just barely graze the glass struggling to sustain his overflowing strawberry milkshake yet the movement is enough to topple the obnoxious dessert. And it makes a beeline for the unlucky soul sitting directly across from him.

Me.

Too sandwiched in to even attempt to move out of the way, I gasp at the sudden feeling of cold, sticky wetness enveloping my lap.

"Ahh Laila, I'm sorry!" Jungkook hastily begins to pick napkins from the dispenser and throw them at me.

"Oh noooo, guess you'll have to take off your pants," Koji gags and we all glare at him.

Everyone attempts to help, Namjoon and Jin quickly moving to allow me to stand while the others offer me napkins and cloths to pat myself dry. Hoseok even runs to find a waitress to help clean myself up, ignoring my insistence that no one should be bothered.

"Hoseok please it's alright, let me just go try to clean up in the bathroom."

Jungkook springs up from his seat. "Let me come help, it's my fault-"

"Don't worry about it, Jungkook." I smile, "I'll be right back."

And with that I trudge to the restroom located in a little hallway off to the side. I dampen a paper towel and begin to pat it on my lap in an effort to get as much of the milkshake residue out as possible. The faint fragrance of artificial strawberries and overwhelming smell of drying milk starts to fade a bit but it still makes me scrunch my nose in disgust.

That and the thought of having to share a gym with the Black Swans.

Past experiences have taught me not to rely so much on my own judgement but the thought of them still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Well, at least Taehyung does. He's acted the sketchiest and there's something about his ominous aura that leads me to believe his words have double meanings.

But maybe it was just that. He was just warming up to us to use our gym and I can't blame him. The clubs in this city are ruthless and hosting a Korean team for the biggest tournament in the state will not appeal to any of them. And it won't hurt to have our biggest competition accessible enough to keep tabs on.

I sigh in defeat as I push the hand dryer on and stick as much of my torso as I can under it. The unreasonably loud buzzing echoes, serving as a vacuum for any other sound in the white tiled room. As if there could be any, most patrons have left as its nearing 1:30 a.m. but I haven't noticed. It's always been hard for me to fall asleep.

The pressured air dries most of the wetness but the strawberry syrup only hardens and makes my jeans stiffen into an uncomfortable crunchy crease.

"Shit," I let out, grabbing another wet paper towel to try and get it out.

Someone snickers behind me and I freeze.

"You get frustrated very easily, Laila." A rich voice rings out behind me and I should've already known who it was by the snicker.

I turn to see Taehyung propped up against the wall, hands stuffed in his pants pockets and eyes trained on me.

"What the hell are you doing in the women's restroom?" I huff, my hands unknowingly moving to cover the giant wet stain on my pants.

He looks around condescendingly and shrugs. "There's no one in here."

"Doesn't mean you can just walk in!"

He chuckles, "I just wanted to help."

"I don't need your help," I dryly say, going back to furiously scrub at the stain with another paper towel. Noticing my struggle, he smiles to himself but swallows his laughs, as if finally realizing how much it irks me. He stalks towards me, hands still nonchalantly tucked in his pockets, and I panic. "Get out!"

Ignoring my pleas, he swiftly grabs a paper towel and turns on the faucet to moisten it before handing it to me. "The water alone will not help, you need to wash them."

I blink at his amused face, cheeks flushed from the embarrassment of my state. Snatching the towel from his hands, I shake my head, "then why are you giving me this?"

"It's funny to watch you struggle."

I watch him smirk through my lashes and frown at the confirmation of the evil man I initially suspected he was. He's sick. He doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

"What the hell do you want with my team?" I say through gritted teeth, tossing away his superficial gesture.

Clearly annoyed, he rolls his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why do I keep seeing you? The game, the dome, and now this cheap diner at 1 in the morning!" I take a step forward and drill my finger into his not so surprisingly hard chest, barely moving him an inch. "What do you want with us?"

"Is it always this hard for you to trust, Laila?" He tilts his head with a smile.

"And stop saying my name like that!"

"Like what, Laila?" He raises his eyebrows.

"Like that!" I point at his lips, "Like you've known me my entire life or something!"

There's a beat of silence, like my words are floating in the small space between the two of us refusing to be absorbed by him. When he doesn't respond, replying only with the tonguing of the inside of his cheek, I sigh. "Did you lie?"

Not expecting the question, he kisses his teeth. "About what?"

"About needing our gym."

Showing the first crack in his cool facade, he goes to rub his neck, eyes finally averting mine. "No."

"You don't want anything to do with my team?" I look up to meet his towering form and he slowly shakes his head.

I sigh again. "Then can you stop acting creepy?"

"Creepy?"

"Following me? Smiling at me? Hell, look where you're standing."

His usual smirk is back and he chuckles. "I just think it's wise to keep you all close. Especially you."

"You see," I point at his lips again, "that's creepy!"

He rolls his eyes, more playfully this time and nods his head towards the door for me to join him. I go to move but the stiffness of my jeans reminds me of why I'm in the bathroom in the first place and my cheeks grow hot at the thought of facing everyone with this ridiculous stain again.

Taehyung holds open the door, only turning when he notices I'm still lingering by the hand dryer, pulling down my tank in an effort to conceal the stain. His eyes bulge when my small cleavage is now almost entirely on display and clears his throat, prompting me to look back at him.

"Here." With one hand still steadying the door, he bites the collar of his team jacket and pulls down the zipper with his free one, as always locking eyes with mine. My breath hitches, the scene before me seeming to play out in slow motion. The entire night it has oh so conveniently slipped my mind that this man has more sex appeal in his left pinky than I do in my entire body. I can't even seem to rip my eyes away from the compression training shirt now tightly hugging his sculpted pecs and abs, every ripple now available for me to gawk at.

And man do I.

It's not until he tosses the jacket at me that I come back to Earth, scrunching up the sheer fabric in my hands and eyeing it suspiciously.

"Put it on. You're tiny so if you zip it up it should cover that," he points at my lap.

I snort. "You think I'm tiny?"

Fed up by my stalling he lets go of the door and starts towards me. "Or you can just go back out there looking like that-"

"Okay, okay," I slip on the still warm jacket, holding my breath in an effort to refrain from inhaling his intoxicating vanilla scent before mumbling out a 'thanks.'

"Ah, so you are capable of accepting help."

With his jacket draped down past my hips, I mimic him before sticking out my tongue and scampering out the door with him in close pursuit.

"Wait, when can I give it back?"

He rakes a hand through his cherry locks before shooting me an obvious look. "When I see you next practice, Laila."

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Just in case that jacket thing wasn't clear this is the only video i could find of it 😌😌

and yes it was a tiktok that i turned into a gif hehe