6.

"What is this?"

Turning to look at Minjun as he stood near a clothing rack, Bethany could see that he was holding up a sky blue v-neck tee that had winged pineapples on it. Bethany chuckled, moving to pinch the tag.

"It's called 'Dreaming of Hawaii'."

Minjun rolled his eyes as he shoved it back on the rack with its other oddly assorted companions.

"It is more like 'Dreaming of the Garbage'," remarked Minjun as he started flicking through the shirts again.

Bethany tsked and shook her head. Ever since taking Minjun down the escalator, through the food court, and into an oddly assorted clothing department named Marco's Polos, he had been a bit snarky towards every outfit he stumbled across. She understood that this was a far cry from the clothes he was used to, but he was being ridiculous about it.

"So, I take it nothing speaks to you yet then, hmm?"

"No. Thank goodness these psychedelic shirts and I don't share a telepathic connection of any sort," remarked Minjun. "Besides, isn't this store supposed to be called Marco's Polos? So far, I've seen two polos. Maybe."

"You're such a grump," said Bethany with an eyeroll.

"No, I'm not."

"Only grumps would say they weren't," said Bethany as she drew a hunter orange shirt off the rack. It had yellow starburst looking suns scattered all about it. "What about this?"

Minjun took the shirt, smirking at it from behind his mask. The smirk came with a snort of surprise, causing Bethany to raise a brow.

"What is it?"

"I feel like if I were to wear this shirt, I'd have to rename myself Sunny D."

"Sunny D? Like the drink?"

"Yes. I mean, do you not see all the suns on it?"

Bethany yanked the shirt he was now waving at her away from his grasp as she shoved it back on the rack. Minjun had a way of getting under her skin and making her want to explode. She didn't know how there was anyone out there that idolized the brat of a man standing beside her.

"You just need to expand your horizons and give things a chance," said Bethany. "Some things might seem like they won't work out until you try it."

Smirking, Bethany yanked the shirt Minjun renamed 'Dreaming of the Garbage' off the rack and shoved it at his chest.

"Go try that on."

"No."

"Do it."

"I'm not dressing in..."

Getting behind him, Bethany started to shove him towards the changing room area, cutting off the objection that had been in the process of leaving his mouth. He tried to shove his feet into the ground to stop, but Bethany's willpower kept him moving forward. Minjun was soon standing at the changing room area where a worker there looked at the both of them with an arched brow.

"He'd like to try this on," spoke up Bethany.

"Would he now?" asked the worker, looking at Minjun as if waiting for his answer.

Minjun looked from Bethany to the worker with a sigh as he nodded his head.

"Yes, I would please."

"Very well."

Grabbing a key from under the desk, she beckoned Minjun to follow her. Bethany couldn't help the small grin that twitched upon her lips as Minjun followed after the worker to one of the dressing rooms. Once the door closed, Bethany moved to sit on the small bench outside the room as she waited for him to change. The mirrors nearby reflected her face at the moment, causing her to come to a pause as she looked at herself. Despite how she felt internally from Minjun, she saw that her outward appearance was different. She looked happy. Bethany couldn't remember the last time she had felt that at peace and happy before.

"I hate this already," came Minjun's voice from behind the changing room door, breaking Bethany out of her thoughts as she turned back to face it.

"Oh stop it! Just come out so you can look at it in the mirror."

"There's a small mirror in here. I can see it."

"Well I can't, so come out."

"It's awful."

"Don't tell me you have stage fright."

"Stage fright? This isn't the same as..."

Bethany heard his voice trail off as he exchanged it for an exasperated sigh. Her eyes stayed glued to the door as it opened and revealed Minjun standing there. She couldn't help the small chuckle that left her lips. Even though part of his face was still obscured, she could see that he looked miserable. He wore the same look she had worn when she was a child and her mother had forced her to wear an old lady looking lacy dress for church. Despite the shirt being completely outlandish though, Minjun had a way of pulling it off.

'Though I'll never admit that to him,' she thought.

"It doesn't look like it belongs in the garbage like you thought," remarked Bethany. "You want me to tell you where it looks like it and the wearer belong?"

Minjun locked his eyes on hers, noticing the smirk on her face.

"The smirk tells me 'no', but go ahead."

"You look like you belong in a pineapple under the sea."

"You did not just call me Spongebob."

"I didn't. I merely suggested you belonged down there with him."

With Bethany chuckling, Minjun moved to walk over to her and grab her by the wrist. In doing so, he tugged her up from the bench and back through the store towards the rack of women's clothes. He kept one of his hands about her wrist so she wouldn't run off as he used his free hand to start shifting the clothes aside. His eyes soon lit up as he grabbed a shirt off the rack.

"That's it. You're going to try this on," Minjun said.

"Um no. Absolutely not."

"Too bad," he said as he dragged her behind him and back towards the changing room area where the worker still was. "Time to have a taste of your own medicine."

They soon arrived back at the changing room area where the same worker was still watching them with a bit of amused interest.

"She needs a changing room too," said Minjun as he let go of Bethany's wrist then to shove the shirt at her.

"I hate you."

Chuckling Minjun said, "The feeling's mutual" before heading back to his changing room as Bethany was led to the one next door. She could hear Minjun making quick work of changing back into his original shirt before his door opened up. She looked down and could see his feet leaving the changing room.

"Are you dressed yet?" he soon asked. "I'm waiting."

"No."

"Well come on now. I don't have all day."

"Good then. I'll just wait until you don't have any more time for me and then come out."

"Scaredy cat."

"I'm not a scaredy cat."

"Are too," he teased with a laugh filled voice.

Mumbling under her breath, Bethany hung up the shirt he'd handed off to her on one of the hooks as she worked on changing. By the time she was finished, she came up short of unlocking the door.

"I don't even know why I did this..."

"Just open the door."

Unlocking the changing room door, Bethany stepped out. Minjun was sitting on the bench she had been previously with his legs crossed.

'His long legs,' thought Bethany, shaking herself from her thoughts when his laughter filled the air. It caused her cheeks to heat up with a blush as she looked down at the neon pink, broomstick littered shirt that she was now wearing.

"This is worse than your shirt."

"No, it's not," he said, "Though you know where it looks like you belong?"

"Where?"

"A witch's rave."

"Laugh it up now," she said as he chuckled, "but I'm not the witch here."

"Now you see how I felt wearing the ridiculous shirt you picked out," he said, "We are even."

"Even...listen to you..." she said with an eye roll. "Just go pick out some clothes that you actually like so we can get out of here. I'm going to change."

Minjun got up from the bench with a small chuckle still leaving his lips and walked off towards the clothing racks while she re-entered the changing room to change back into her own clothes. As she got dressed, her mind kept replaying his laugh. The more she thought about his laughter - and the infectious grin he was hiding - the more her irritation began to dull.

'Stop it this instant,' she internally chided himself. 'You are being ridiculous.'

Stepping out of the changing room after having changed, she noticed that Minjun was near a rack at the front of the store and that he had a few shirts draped over his arm. She was about to move to go over to him when she accidentally bumped into a man coming back towards the changing rooms.

"Oh! I'm sorry," said Bethany. "Excuse me."

She tried to duck around the other side of the man to get away from him, but he shifted to the side so she couldn't. Lifting her head, she studied the face of the man before her. He was wearing a black neck gaiter that covered up most of his face. A black baseball cap was crammed onto the top of his head. His outfit was just as dark as the rest of his getup, making the eyes that Bethany was looking into just as dark. Looking her up and down, the man moved to grip her wrist before putting a finger up to his lips in a cue for silence.

"Come with me the easy way," he said, "You wouldn't like the hard way."

Bethany's mind was on overdrive then. She knew that she had to get away from this man, but she wasn't sure how to. Her idea of possibly screaming for help was soon dismissed when he moved to put a hand on the small of her back, causing her to feel the icy cold touch of a blade that he had just slide partially out of his sleeve.

"So, what do we say, princess? You gonna play nice?"

Bethany's eyes shot about her surroundings. There was unfortunately no one around. The worker that had been in the changing room area was gone at the moment. Her eyes soon landed on Minjun again as he was continuing to look through the clothes. His focus currently wasn't on her. The man - seeming to see where Bethany's gaze had landed and was staying - let out a deep chuckle.

"They were right. It is a two for one."

Before Bethany could try to wrap her brain around what that meant, she felt the tip of the blade press into her back a bit more as the man made her start walking forward.

"I'd suggest you walk and don't cause a scene," said the man as the two of them walked towards the exit, "because if you do, I can promise you, it will not end well."

Bethany couldn't fight away the fear that was building inside her. She didn't know what this man planned to do to her, but Minjun was really the only hope she had at the moment. She knew that she needed to catch his attention somehow before the man took her out of the store completely.

'Look at me, you idiot,' thought Bethany.

Minjun - meanwhile - had been shoving shirts aside as he tried to find a few pieces that he thought looked more tolerable. The entire time he looked though, his hand kept straying back towards the pineapple atrocity of a shirt. He kept his fingers on it, looking it over as Bethany's laugh filled his mind.

'Stop thinking about her,' he chided himself internally.

As his head looked up, he noticed the woman that was slowly occupying more and more of his thoughts being semi-briskly led towards the exit of the store by a man that was dressed all in black. Even though Minjun didn't know Bethany all that well, he could tell that what was going on was suspicious. It was specially made more evident when they made brief eye contact right before she disappeared out of the store.

'That was a look of panic,' thought Minjun.

Discarding the few shirts that he did have in his possession over the top of the rack, Minjun moved to leave the store and follow after them. He had to figure out what was going on with Bethany and where this odd man was taking her. Minjun had a bad feeling that she was in danger, not realizing yet the own danger he was about to find himself in.

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