Day 5

Jimin took me on our first official date. When he'd told me that we were leaving the palace for the first time in nearly a week, panic ran through me as I thought about being around the people of Seoul again. My confidence had barely survived all the horrible things I heard said about my body or clothes. I didn't need the reminder of the trauma of the Allocation Ceremony as my memories of that day were enough. I had actually burned my yoga pants and crop top; relief filled me knowing that the clothing would never see the light of day again.

But I should have known that he wouldn't want Seoul's women to know he was a Seed Bearer. Like the guys from BTS did whenever they were out and about, the two of us wore hats and masks as disguises. I was worried about how we'd explain the need for masks because the air quality here was not contaminated like it was in my universe. Upon seeing my hesitation, Jimin assured me that masks and hats were worn to prevent sun damage to the skin.

The two of us strolled along the Han River like one of those couples I saw in K-Dramas. I noticed so many things that reminded me I was not in the same place as the Seoul I saw on television. People rode on horseback. They also drove horse-drawn wooden buggies and carriages as they crossed rustic-looking structures that spanned the river. Bicycles and carts pulled by people joined the carriages in harmony on the roads. Couples with matching black hair sat on picnic blankets. Sporadically we would see a family with a small child. While this wasn't uncommon in my universe, what struck me was the fact that everyone I saw had black hair.

The conversation flowed like the river beside us. For the first time in my life, I was able to speak to someone of the opposite sex without feeling self-conscious that I'd sound like an idiot and scare them off. My cheeks felt on fire as an elderly woman stopped to comment on how we made a cute couple in our matching clothes. I hadn't taken note of the outfit I'd pulled from my wardrobe, which seemed like it was increasing in options every morning. My beige midi-skirt with a loose white t-shirt that was tucked in the front matched Jimin's white short-sleeve button-down and beige chino shorts. The both of us had inadvertently also worn white shoes; I had on strappy sandals, while Jimin wore canvas sneakers.

I was thankful my mask kept them both from seeing my mouth gape open as he told her that I was the one who made him look good. "She's right, you know," Jimin whispered into my ear once we were alone again. Goosebumps formed at the feeling of his hair brushing against the exposed skin of my cheek. "We do look cute today. I'm sorry I didn't tell you how pretty you look in a skirt."

My brain short-circuited upon hearing his words. He thinks that I'm pretty? Me... the woman who had nearly 30kg on his size. Me... the woman who had never been told by my exes that I was beautiful, attractive or even pretty. Me... the woman who hadn't felt like a real woman for the past seven years since my surgery.

꧁♥💜♥꧂

We only stopped on our promenade when our stomachs began rumbling. The little restaurant we found was cosy and quaint, especially the private room we were able to eat in. I allowed Jimin to order for the both of us. I might be able to understand the language because of some magic, but I still had not experienced traditional Korean meals that were not cooked by the chefs at the palace.

"What's this called?" I asked as I picked up another piece with my chopsticks.

"Makchang if it is beef, Gopchang-gui with pork," he replied between bites.

I was glad that I never asked what he had ordered until after I had tried all the dishes. If I had known the one I liked most was grilled beef offal, I would have probably baulked and thrown up in my mouth at the thought of eating the intestines and rectum of an animal. The tender yet chewy dishes were most delicious when doused in the spicy Ssamjang sauce. And everything tasted better when it was paired with the soju Jimin had ordered.

I didn't know I had this kink until I witnessed it for myself. There was something so arousing about the way Jimin ate. The way his fingers twisted around the chopsticks made me wonder what they would feel like on my body. How his mouth moved as he chewed, and the licks his tongue made to catch any drips, were kind of beautiful and erotic.

I realised during the meal that it had been five days since my last orgasm. I thought of trying to give one to myself tonight, but I hated the thought of using my fingers. I could never get myself off that way.

⊱ ───ஓ๑💜๑ஓ ─── ⊰

Day 9

When I came into the library this morning, I squealed in glee. There, on the table, nestled between my favourite Chesterfield armchairs, was a sketch pad. Along with it were some coloured pens, both in bright and pastel shades. There was only one person who could have put these there; Jimin was the only one I'd talked to about my hobby of drawing cakes that I wanted to make. The blonde man had been spoiling me over the past few days, and it seemed like today was going to follow the same course.

Since our date when we walked along the Han River, Jimin had been taking me on a romantic excursion each day. We'd had a picnic in a field of wildflowers. We had been to a farm. Jimin had overcome his incorrect assumption about cows, and we both loved playing with the frolicking spring lambs. Yesterday, he took me to the theatre, where we saw a traditional Korean play performed. Afterwards, we went to a bakery where I got to try out different traditional sweet treats.

As I flipped open the book, I wondered what he had planned for today. I didn't think anything could top our trip to the bakery yesterday; it might have been my perfect date if I had gotten to play in the kitchen. I missed my oven and creating sweet delicacies that I could share with the people I loved.

I hadn't heard Jimin come into the library, nor was I aware he had sat in the armchair across from mine. I was so entranced in my own little world that everything melted away; I got like this when I was drawing. For the first time in what felt like forever, my hands had been set free to lay down the designs swirling in my head.

"Nell?" he asked, waving a hand in front of my face. I jumped, the paper and pen clattering to the floor. "Sorry, I thought you heard me when I came in."

I pouted in his direction, putting a playful glare into my eyes as he continued to laugh heartily. "What did you say?" I cringed at the whinging tone that my voice had to it.

"I asked if you were ready for today." Jimin bent down to pick up the drawing equipment that had scattered. "Wow, these are so good. Are they things you've made?"

I studied the blonde Seed Bearer's face as he flipped through the sketches. His lips twitched into a smile as he took in different parts of the drawing. I tracked his tongue as it licked his lower lip before he bit it. I wondered what it would feel like to have him look at me the way he looked at my sketches. Would he look at me like I was a delicious treat he couldn't wait to taste?

I shook my head at that thought. I had to tell myself once again that I was not attracted to the blonde man in the room—I was just sexually frustrated.

"I can't decide which one I like better," he said, handing me the four pieces of paper back. "They all look so good. What are they for?"

It was my turn to do a double take. "They are wedding cakes. Do you not have cakes when people get married here?"

He shook his head so slowly that it was like I was watching the action in slow motion. "What are they for?"

"Cakes have been seen as symbols of good luck, prosperity and fertility right from Ancient Rome," I said, moving my chair to sit closer to his. I grabbed the sketchpad and angled it so he could watch as I put pencil to paper. As I drew a cake that popped into my mind, I told him about the lore of wedding cakes. "Back in medieval times, wedding cakes were first popularised in England. Guests would each bring a small cake that the bride and groom would stack on top of each other until there was one large cake. The couple would try and kiss over the cake without it falling or collapsing, and if they could do so then it was seen as good luck for their marriage."

In no time, I had sketched the foundation for the ivory four-tier round cake. I began outlining the decorations as I continued, "So as the tradition continued to take off, bakers began making bigger and taller cakes. The bigger the cake, the more expensive it was. Thus, the cakes began to show how opulent a wedding was. Today, they symbolise the bride and groom's commitment to each other. Many married couples keep the top layer to enjoy on their first anniversary as good luck."

I looked over to Jimin to find him completely entranced, both with my words and what my hands were doing. He tracked the lines the pencil drew, and I could practically see the cogs turning in his mind as he tried to work out what I was designing.

"Cakes can do all of that?" I nodded. "What are they made of?" he asked, looking into my eyes. I found myself falling into his obsidian pools of mystery. If I fell into his eyes, I wouldn't even care if I never came out. There was something so hypnotising about them.

"An-anything you want," I stuttered. I forced my eyes back onto the paper. My fingers started shading the design, adding highlights and contours to the decorations. "Vanilla, lemon and chocolate are the most popular flavours, but people also like other fruit flavours."

"What's your favourite flavour?"

I had to think about his question for a moment. There were so many flavours of cakes I liked, but in the end, only one reigned supreme. "It's the one that I keep wanting to make again because it was so good: a lavender cake with vanilla buttercream. It was floral, a little bit lemony and really unique."

"You eat flowers where you're from? Do you not have enough good food to eat?" I glanced over and burst into laughter at Jimin's horrified look.

Calming down from my laughter, I took a deep breath to try and ease the stitch that had formed on my side. "Not every flower is safe to eat." I shuddered at the thought of how many children were rushed to the hospital because of ingesting poisonous plants. "Some flowers add fragrance or flavour. Rose petals add a soft floral note that compliments berries, while jasmine is lovely in teas.

"The key to making cakes taste delicious is finding a harmonious balance between the sweetness, the richness of the frosting and the flavour of the cake. Kind of like how in kimchi jjigae there's a balance of the spiciness of the gochugaru and gochujang, the sourness of the kimchi and the umami of soy sauce and shiitake mushrooms. That dish is the perfect example where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And it's the same with cakes."

"You know, it's unfair how you know what my favourite food is like," he pouted adorably, "but I don't know how this flower cake you like tastes." I had to restrain myself from squishing his puffy cheeks. Sure, we had spent nine days together but we were nowhere near close enough for me to lay my hands on his face yet.

Instead, I placed the paper in his hands, showing him what I had designed in the span of our conversation. When I had a design in mind, I could get it down on paper quite quickly now. The ones that took me the longest were cakes where I had to think outside the box, either in terms of design or decorations.

"Well, maybe we can bake it together one day." I noticed that Jimin was rendered speechless as he perused the page.

"This is incredible," he finally breathed out, locking eye contact with me. I felt something zinging between us, but what that was, I had no idea. I hoped I wasn't feeling things about this Jimin since I knew I couldn't stay in this universe.

⊱ ───ஓ๑💜๑ஓ ─── ⊰

Day 14

I was relieved when Jimin told me what he had planned for today, it was such a sweet and thoughtful idea for our next date. I had been so stressed about meeting the other Seed Bearers, aka the members of BTS from my universe. I was also nervous about meeting their assigned females because I was so different to them. I'd found out four days ago that tomorrow would be the first big group get-together, and I guess I hadn't been hiding my anxiety well. Jimin had been patient with me and had even organised thoughtful, sweet dates to keep my mind occupied.

Because both of us were quite sore from our gardening date yesterday, Jimin had organised for us to have a spa day at the palace. It was the perfect idea to help relax our weary muscles and I knew it would help ease my anxiety about tomorrow. I could have kissed him when he led me out onto one of the courtyards where two pedicure baths had been set up side by side. I loved getting pampered, especially with a good foot massage.

Even though this universe didn't have so many of the things mine did, I was pleasantly surprised that they had invented nail polish. After a careful perusal of the colour options, I settled on my favourite colour—emerald green.

As we sat there, side-by-side, we talked about our dates over the past few days. On my 10th day here, Jimin took me on a date to the plant wholesaler so I could create my own vegetable garden. He said he had seen how much I loved being in the gardens at the palace. To other people, they might see this as a chore or something boring to do. For me though, it was one of the most romantic days I had with Jimin. It showed that he had been listening to what I had told him and was thinking about how to make my time as his assigned female less daunting.

The day after we purchased the plants, we worked together to plan out where the garden beds should go. While I would have loved to have constructed the beds myself, Jimin said the gardeners would handle everything while we went on another date. He'd laughed at my pout before I was turned around and escorted inside; he must've known that I would have run back outside to oversee the creation of my visions instead of getting myself ready. The date was amazing and not a single thought of the gardens or the palace came into my mind. I had never had time to go to a Korean cooking class, let alone one where 1/7th of my favourite band acted as my sous chef. How he pulled off closing one of the most prestigious restaurants for us to play in the kitchen for a couple of hours was beyond me.

Two days ago, we had taken a carriage ride around the city. Seeing Seoul all lit up at dusk had been on my bucket list for years—I just didn't realise I would tick it off in another universe. As the driver steered the horse along the quiet cobblestoned roads, Jimin and I snuggled up together as we people-watched. Being in the carriage allowed us the anonymity to not have to worry about masks and hats. I loved watching his smile light up his face whenever he saw something interesting. It made me realise that, like Jimin from my universe, this one wasn't able to come and go freely; because of his hair colour, he always had to be protected so women didn't try and take advantage of him so they could fall pregnant.

Yesterday was spent planting out the vegetable garden. I found that Jimin and I worked well together. We laughed and joked with one another, and we talked so much that there were never any awkward silences. Constantly, I had to remind myself not to think anything more about our situation. As much as I was finding myself being drawn to the platinum blonde Seed Bearer I was assigned to, there was no point in allowing myself to envision a future together. I would never see past a year of being here. I would never fall pregnant, and I'd be sentenced to death when it came out that our union was unsuccessful. I found myself having to bite my tongue a lot more now that I was opening up to the man. I couldn't allow myself to let slip anything that could signal that I wasn't from this universe. As much as I liked Jimin, I still didn't know him well enough to know what he would do if the truth ever came out.

꧁♥💜♥꧂

"I feel so much better now," I sighed as Jimin and I finally made our way back inside after our last spa treatment of full body massages. "Thank you for this, Jiminie. I really needed it."

I looked over and found the handsome man had beet-red cheeks. I know he hadn't been given a happy ending from the male masseuse since we were lying in beds beside each other, and I would have heard that. I had no idea what could have made his cheeks tinged like this and I hoped he wasn't coming down with something. There was no way on earth that I would be going tomorrow all by myself.

"Yeah, I could tell," he whispered so quietly that I missed it.

I stopped, placing my hand on his forearm to get him to turn towards me. "What's going on, Jimin? Are you not feeling well?"

His cheeks flushed even brighter if that was possible. I watched him lick his lips and run his hand through his hair. I was about to ask him another question when he stepped towards me.

"I'd told myself that I needed to do this at a special time, but I can't stop replaying your moans in my head and the way your breathing changed." I was so confused because I had fallen asleep during the massage. "I should be the only one making you sound like that," he whispered as he lowered his head towards mine.

My breath hitched as I watched Jimin's eyes flick down to my lips and back up to my eyes. I didn't have a chance to ask what he meant when I felt his plush lips brush against my own.

Park fucking Jimin was kissing me and instead of kissing him back, I was frozen on the spot. It wasn't until an annoyed groan came from him as his hands settled onto my curvy hips that I was broken from my spell. I began to kiss him back with vigour. I felt his lips turn up in a smile as I matched his pace and intensity.

I swore I could feel tingles running through every nerve at the feeling of his kiss. The only words to describe it were life-changing, addictive and fucking incredible.

"Wow," he breathed out in a quiet whisper as we parted. "That might not be my first kiss, but I sure hope it's my last first kiss."

'Fuck. What are you doing to me, Park Jimin?'