•Lust of Innocence•

Busy from a few days of studying and taking some time off from volunteering to catch up in school had drastically took a turn when Nari thought of her best friend. In her state of mind, the brunette had been feeling that she has not taken the effort to make plans with Chae-rin lately. She knew the elder had just gotten married; the topic of which she quickly used the excuse to leave the couple alone in their honeymoon stages, however, began missing the idea of talking to her friend and felt it would be best to at least make a phone call soon.

Nari had been in her apartment that late morning, originally using that time to organize her textbooks and notes, along with cleaning up her desk to get rid of a stressful studying environment. When she had finished her tasks, she immediately washed her hands, made some tea for herself, and pulled out her phone from her back pocket to speed-dial Chae-Rin's number. When the other end picked up, Nari smiled to herself at the quick greeting.

"Morning, bitch. What brings you to ring up my cellular device this very fine day?"

"Good morning, Chae," Nari giggles, "I felt like calling to see if you wanted to catch up on life, because we have both been so busy recently."

Nari could hear her companion sigh into the phone, "Girl, you know I love to talk to you like any other best friend would, but I prefer us sitting down together in person to communicate," she admitted, "It's been so long! What do you think about hanging out today?"

The offer was perfect and Nari smiled widely, but it soon wavered when she remembered what she had already planned. She looks down at her shoes for a second as she took her cup of tea to the living room area, sitting on the couch while wondering what to say.

"I don't know if I'm able to, since I'm supposed to meet with my boyfriend for lunch." As soon as those words escaped her mouth, immediate regret filled up Nari's body. She stuttered, "I-I mean–"

"–Your what?"

"Well uhm," Nari mumbled, horribly flustered as she accepted her unavoidable fate, "I'm having lunch with Jimin this afternoon."

The silence lasted a mere few seconds before Chae-Rin's voice boomed through the phone.

"A boyfriend?!" The onyx-haired woman exclaimed in great shock as the other winces at the echo right in her ear, "Lee Nari, you have got to be kidding me! Jimin is officially dating you?! Since when? Why? How? Please tell me what the hell is happening!!"

Nari pulled the device away from herself as she could clearly still hear all the profanities spilling from her best friend's mouth. Shaking her head, the brunette slowly began to speak again to try reasoning with the elder. She softly said, "We made it official a few days ago. It's a lot of explaining..."

Chae-Rin was quick to reply, "Prepare an essay, then, my young one. I'm tagging along with the both of you today."

"What?!" Nari sat up and almost spilled her cup of tea, immediately setting it down on the coffee table before her. She pressed the phone to her ear in hopes she heard incorrectly. The worry and confusion plastered on her face as she waited.

"You heard me," The older woman retorted, "I'm coming with you guys for lunch so I can interrogate this Jimin kid. Ain't nobody laying a hand on my precious Nari without my blessing."

•••

Nari carefully opened the newly polished glass doors of BigHit's club, walking inside to the fresh air conditioning and the beauty of lacking a certain seaweed-headed waiter. With bags of food in her hands, they were set down gently on top of a nearby table in the main room. She had already texted Jimin when she had gotten into the parking lot, to which the latter replied that he would come out soon to greet her after his meeting was over with his boss.

Chae-Rin had soon entered with a pair of dark sunglasses that covered any sight of her devilish eyes, only her lips pressed together as she fought the urge to search for her target. She held the last few bags and joined her companion, taking a seat as she began to set up the food. Picking up some chopsticks from one of the bags, she opened a random box and dug into the steaming goodness, humming in satisfaction. Nari raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" The elder asked, throwing a challenging look at the brunette as she pointed down at her abdomen, "This stomach isn't gonna wait for that kid if he's late."

"I didn't say anything..." Nari quietly whispered, continuing to lay out all of the food and organize each meal. Soon enough, the office door on the other side of the room had been pushed open, revealing seven employees.

"Noona! You're here!" Jungkook peeked around his coworkers excitedly and waved his hand high in the air. Nari instantly smiled and returned the greeting while bowing her head to the others, "Hi, everyone. If it's okay, I brought food for you all to enjoy. This is my good friend, Chae-Rin. She was the drunk bride from when we first came here." She tried not to laugh at the last part.

"That would be me, yes." The girl beside her nodded.

Yoongi, as Nari predicted would eventually speak and groaned at the sight before him, "Christ's sake, there's two of them. Just kill me."

Chae-rin suddenly stabbed her chopsticks into the box, lowering her shades slightly as she made eye-contact with the man. Her gaze narrowing at him with a snake-like resemblance, "What was that, you dried up turtle-looking head?" She hissed.

Namjoon burst into uncontrollable laughter as Jin dramatically fell backwards into Hoseok's arms from the shock. Taehyung covered his mouth to let out any giggles and held onto Jimin's shoulders. Both Jungkook and Jimin smirked at Yoongi's face paling more and more by every second. Nari and Chae-Rin smiled at each other before fist-bumping.

"Proceed." Namjoon chuckled, wiping away the joyful tears. Everyone aside from the two girls and Jimin had gathered around at a larger table and brought their own chairs to sit down in a group.

The remaining three people moved towards a farther VIP booth closer to the stage. While Nari placed their meals down on the table, Chae-Rin pushed her glasses up to rest on her head, crossing her arms over her chest while staring down the man across from her. Jimin folded his hands neatly on his lap and sat up properly as he patiently waited for his girlfriend to seat herself beside him.

"Jimin, is it?" Chae-Rin began, taking her eyes off of him momentarily as she watched her best friend finally sitting down. She takes a sip of her soda and picks up her chopsticks again, picking at a piece of meat.

"Yes, my full name is Park Jimin. Pleasure to see you again." The orange-haired male bowed his head in respect.

"Likewise." The woman replied. She ate some more food for a few minutes before placing her utensils down. She pats her lips clean of any residue and continues to speak, "So, I have a series of questions I would appreciate you answering."

"I'm all ears, Mrs. Yoon." Jimin smiles. At his side, he reaches for Nari's left hand below the table, squeezing it gently before letting go to let her eat. Chae-Rin almost broke her expression at the mention of her and her husband's surname. She cleared her throat.

"Parents?"

"Alive and well."

"Financial Conditions?"

"Enough to treat my lady every week."

"Car?"

"Safe."

"Work?"

"Stable and busy."

"Home?"

"Apartment."

"Friends?"

"All here."

"Time?"

"Manageable."

"Future?"

"To be a professional singer and a good partner."

"Lee Nari?"

"My motivation."

Chae-Rin eyed Jimin closely for a long moment. After some time had passed and she quietly finished her food, she then let out a sigh, "You pass."

•••

It was when Nari was sitting in the driver's seat of her car with an older man in the passenger seat, and two others in the back that she started to feel quite antsy, yet somewhat excited. Due to the renovations that were taking place at the club, Boss Man-nim made it clear that the building wasn't the only thing that needed changing, but the employee's attire too, excluding the dancers because "the less clothes, the better," as the old man said. In order to achieve perfection in terms of clothing, he assigned Nari to go with Jungkook and Taehyung to the mall to find new outfits, but Seokjin was quick to demand to join the group. Since the girl was very grateful to Taehyung and his boss for offering her the volunteer job, she insisted on driving the bunch herself.

Since her taste in clothing was bland and screamed simplicity, she wasn't confident in her ability to help them find the perfect outfits for the bartenders and waiters, though she knew it was her duty to try her very best. While going on the 20 minute drive, she played some tunes, which Taehyung would dance to in his seat while Jungkook and Seokjin gave each other goofy faces in order to gain reactions from one another. To put it in simpler terms, Nari couldn't help but feel left out and slightly uncomfortable, but she felt as if this was a good opportunity to leave a good impression on Jimin's pseudo-family because she is his girlfriend now.

"Hyung, why are you even going with us? You're not even a bartender or a waiter," Jungkook was first to speak up.

The elder glanced at Nari and let out a dramatic sigh. He then animatedly rose his hands up in surrender and said, "Fine, I've been caught. I just came because I wanted the tea on Nari and Jimin."

The youngest slammed his head back against the seat and groaned in knowing while Taehyung screeched a high-pitched "hyung," which shocked the girl to the bone because his voice is notoriously deep and soulful. Seokjin simply shrugged and glanced at the girl next to him. Clearing her throat, she softly said, "Uhm, don't you think that's a little personal?"

The elder scoffed at her words and stared at her wide-eyed while quickly saying in a scolding-like tone, "Yah, you think I wasn't going to interrogate you about that shorty? I need all the details I can get so I can blackmail him in the future." Nari shot him a look of confusion when saying, "I'm not quite sure what you mean."

The man rubbed his hands together in interest while the two in the back seat were also confused. Nonetheless, he leaned in closer to her as the girl tried to back away as much as possible while trying to keep her eyes on the road. The man then said, "You're romantically involved with him now, so you know what he's like when he's trying to be disgustingly lovey-dovey. I want all of the embarrassing details about his antics so I can use them against him when he helps Jungkookie bully me."

Jungkook gave a blank face, but said, "I like this. Noona, tell us."

The girl felt three pairs of eyes narrowing at her, and her hold on the steering wheel tightened. Giving them side glances, she couldn't help but feel intimidated by their burning gazes. Not to mention, she wanted to be on their good side, so she said, "Uhm... h-he basically called himself hot when he confessed to me." There was a long moment of silence after she made that statement, and it was almost as if the reaction of the three men was far too delayed. However, they bursted out laughing in hysterics, Taehyung hitting the top of her seat, causing the girl to raise her shoulders in near fright.

In between laughs, the youngest wiped an imaginary tear and said, "Wah~ Jiminie-hyung is never going to hear the end of that."

Brake checking at a red light, Nari whipped around and yelled, "Jungkook!"

•••

"Jungkook-ah, stand against that aesthetically pleasing wall please," Taehyung quickly demanded the younger one while whipping out his phone to take a picture. The youngest jogged over to the pastel blue wall, put his hands in the pockets of his black hoody, and looked to the side to show off his sharp jawline in the picture.

Meanwhile, Nari and Seokjin stood from afar and watched the two. The younger girl was watching them with a small smile on her face while the elder looked down at her for a moment. He gave a wide grin and nudged the shorter woman. She looked up at him with question written all over her expression as he said, "Ya know, as Jimin's eldest hyung, I wanted to thank you."

She tilted her head to the side and widened her eyes a bit when saying, "Thank me?"

The man directed his attention back at the two younger ones and sighed before responding, "He's a kind soul and that kindness truly outshines every one of his flaws," Nari's gaze hardened in the most admirable way possible, and he continued, "I'm sure you're aware of his financial troubles, and the fact you're allowing yourself to be committed makes me very happy," he turned to look down at the girl, "He deserves the best, and I'm glad you're willing to offer that. So thank you."

She chuckled and looked down, feeling a little shy, but nonetheless said, "He's a sweet guy. I'm glad he has friends like you to look out for him."

From across the street, the two heard Taehyung yell, "And... done!" However, Jungkook's head was still turned to the side as his gaze stayed glued to a shop from afar. He noticed the designs posted on the wall and could nearly hear the buzz of a needle as a man imprinted art on another individual's skin. Biting his lip in deep thought, his daze was cut off when Taehyung threw his arm around his shoulders and dragged him off towards Seokjin and Nari.

•••

"How about this?"

"Dude, there's a fucking bejeweled butterfly on the back!"

"Oh, you're right."

Jungkook put the shirt back on the rack and sighed in exasperation. Shortly afterwards he said in a whine-like tone, "Can we just go to the food court?" Seokjin shook his head and tsked while still flipping through the hangers of clothes. Taehyung glared at the youngest and said, "Boss Man-nim trusts me to do all of these renovations with sheer perfection. There's no time for food."

"But there's always time for food."

Nari blocked out their bickering and narrowed her eyes at a mannequin that had on attire that she thought would be perfect for the glow up that Boss Man-nim wants. Glancing back at Jungkook, whom was leaning against a wall and whining like a child, she called his name, gaining his immediate attention. His eyes lit up a bit as he walked over towards the girl, and looked at the outfit that obviously caught her eye.

Glancing up at the man, she asked, "What's your clothing size?"

•••

"Hurry your ass up!" Seokjin groaned, checking the time on his watch and tapping his food on the ground in impatience while saying, "I'm hungry."

Right then, Jungkook walked out of the dressing room, radiating confidence because he knew he looked good. The top was a black dress shirt with a gold button-up vest covering the entire chest and torso, along with a gold tie underneath, and black dress pants. He took a look at himself in the mirror once again, clearly impressed with the fit of the entire outfit. Even Nari blushed a bit because he looked very grown up and mature.

"Oooh sexy~" The eldest teased him and poked his side, causing Jungkook to wince and push the dark-haired man away from him.

"This is perfect, Nari," Taehyung started while looking her way with a grin plastered on his face, "We are trying to become as sophisticated as a strip club can get, so this outfit is perfect." The girl humbly shook her head in embarrassment, but still felt pride bubbling up in her chest. She didn't have much confidence in her ability to properly assist in fashion, but the outcome turned out to be in her favor, and she was incredibly glad for that.

However, a thought popped in her head, and she looked at the three with utmost curiousness and asked, "Sophistication? Does that mean the weird hair colors are done for?"

•Lust of Innocence•

•••~ If you miss 4:20, just do 4:22 because it's 4:20 too. Catch me in the comments and let me know what you guys think of the story so far! :)

•••~ Ash here~ we are obviously feeding you all well, right? Hope you enjoyed!