"Wow! Nice car!" Maddie exclaimed as Jungkook opened the door of the gleaming 1969 Chevy Camaro for her.

"Thanks. I asked the manager at the rental place for a convertible and he gave me his wife's car."

"HAHAHAHA!" she let out one of her loudest laughs again, piercing Jungkook's ears. When he didn't crack a smile, she gave him a serious look. "Wait, really?"

"Yup." He replied, popping the 'p', as he reached down to buckle his seat belt without thinking of helping Maddie with hers.

"...And that was the last time we ever saw her." Cleo sighed deeply as she and Taehyung stared through the café's large floor-to-ceiling windows, watching as Maddie and Jungkook literally drove off into the sunset together.

He grimaced. "Please, Cleo. He's not even her type."

"No. Rich, famous, handsome, ass like cement... You're absolutely right, not her type at all." Cleo bit her lip sensually.

Taehyung turned his face away and strode back towards the bar counter, wanting nothing else than to escape this hurricane of thoughts taking place in his mind.

***

"Thank you." Jungkook nodded politely at the waiter as he placed their drinks on the table.

Maddie's eyes darted around the tiny diner uneasily, taking notice of the nosy glances being thrown their way. She couldn't help but notice how everyone in the café was craning their neck to have a better view of their table. This was a relatively small town, and rumors ran fast. By the end of this lunch, literally everyone in a hundred miles radius would know Jeon Jungkook was paying a visit to the Win-A-Date girl, and most probably they would be all over the tabloids by tomorrow morning.

Jungkook seemed to be unbothered by the overwhelming attention. However, it was not the same for Maddie.

"I still can't believe you're here." She gawked, her fingers tightly clutched around her Sprite.

"Of course I am, baby," he threw one arm over the backrest, spreading his legs. "That was something I just had to do."

"Sure. Fly across the country to have lunch with me in this god-forsaken town." Maddie giggled timidly.

"I just couldn't let the other night be the last time I ever saw you." Jungkook declared earnestly, making something shift in Maddie's heart.

"Okay, can I just-" she spluttered, placing her hands on the table. "Can I just remind you of one thing?"

"Yes." He said deeply, assuming a serious air.

"I'm nobody." She mumbled. "Like, how can you even be-"

"Maddie," he cut her off, leaning closer. "Nobody is nobody." His hand found its way to lay over hers.

She flushed instantly, avoiding his gaze. "Okay."

"I just followed my gut," Jungkook went on, making her look at him again. "Sometimes you have to do that even if what you're doing seems crazy. Because in the gap between what prudence says we should do and what our hearts tell us what we must do, Maddie, therein lies our humanity."

Maddie stared at him blankly for a couple seconds before letting out a scoff of disbelief.

"Those are the lines from 'Surprise, I Impregnated Your Sister', one of your most famous movies." She accused quietly.

"Well-" he puffed his cheeks, awkwardness washing over him as Maddie's intent gaze fell on him. "Wow, you really are a big fan, aren't you?"

"Um, yeah," she confirmed half-heartedly before she narrowed her eyes at him. "Is that how you get women? You steal lines from your own movies?"

"Um... not anymore." Jungkook suddenly couldn't bear to look her in the eye and lowered his face guiltily.

"I hope not. Because that would seriously threaten your credibility." She declared.

"Okay, Maddie, look," he sighed. "The truth is, that when we went on our date, you said something that really resonated with me. You said you were sure I had enough common sense and had my priorities straight. But, here's the thing. I don't. I really don't. My entire life ever since I was a teenager I've wanted to be successful," he took a pause to turn around and casually sign a t-shirt handed at him by the waiter before he resumed.

"To be... to be this thing that I am now. And you were right, it really is unsatisfying. I need a positive influence, I need somebody with solid and substantial qualities, someone who seems to understand life and how to live it in a good and happy way, like you. I just wanna be around you. I want some of that goodness to rub off on me."

Maddie was lost for words. "Do you mean goodness in a romantic way?"

"No, I mean a platonic goodness. And I mean that very seriously, no funny business."

Maddie's smile fell as something clasped at her throat.

"Did I say something wrong?" Jungkook questioned.

"No, no, no, no," she hurriedly denied. "So, um, are you gonna be in town for a while then?"

"I think I might have to!" he enthused. "If I'm gonna reset my priorities, I need to get out of Seoul. So what do you say?"

She paused for a second before grinning widely. "I say... Yikes!"

"Yikes, as in...?"

"Yikes, as in sometimes life surprises you and there's no way but forward." she said.

"So, is that a yes?" Jungkook stupidly asked, as always not catching up to her antics.

"Yes!!"

***

"It's room eight." The motel's receptionist, a blond well-built young man in his mid-twenties said as he handed Jungkook the keys to his room. His gaze lingered a little bit too long on Jungkook's crotch as his tongue traced his lower lip.

"Thanks." Jungkook tried not to seem to weirded out but it was really difficult when he was being stared at as if he were a delicious meal waiting to be devoured.

"You just go to the door marked eight." The male receptionist chuckled.

Jungkook glanced down at his name tag. "Thanks Jimin."

"Just past seven and if you find yourself in front of nine, then you've gone too far." Jimin purred.

"Got it," Jungkook nodded. "And no visitors please. I would appreciate it if you kept me staying here on the down low."

"Okie-dokie," Jimin chimed, stretching his whole upper body on the desk. "Have a great night."

"Yeah... you too."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Jungkook exhaled. "Great."

"I'm in room eleven!" Jimin shouted after him.

'Don't care,' Jungkook thought as he shuffled over to his room.

He plopped down on the creaky bed, scrunching his nose as he realized how dusty everything was. It looked like no one had slept here in a while. In at least a decade, to be exact. Everything seemed so old and over-used that he felt sick. He wasn't used to such living conditions and was grossed out to even touch the furniture.

The things I do for my image.

Groaning exhaustedly, he reached over for his phone and dialed reception.

"Yes?" Jimin's melodic voice answered after the first ring.

"Yeah, uh, it's me. Do you guys have any other rooms? Or how about suites?"

"Oh! Well, yeah, we've got some sweets. We got some lollies here by the register, you can come down and get some if you'd like." he offered in a flirtatious tone.

"No, I mean," Jungkook grunted, shaking his head. "Something a little bigger, or newer?" his eyes scanned the room disapprovingly. "Bigger and newer?"

"Yes, I, uh, understand," Jimin sounded apologetic. "And no, uh, we don't have suites."

"Okay, that's cool," Jungkook nodded understandingly but his pent-up frustration was boiling in his veins. "That's cool I guess. So uh... you guys wouldn't happen to have a masseuse on staff, would you?"

There was a small pause on the other line and Jungkook could swear he heard a muffled squeal.

"Uhhh, no, but I am a very fast learner, and I could-"

Jungkook hung up.

He threw himself on the bed, his eyes squeezed closed as his fingers raked through his raven black hair in a frustrated manner. Before he could have a moment to himself, his phone rang again.

"I swear to fuck-" he cussed under his breath, rummaging for his phone. His hostility was short-lived once he saw who was on the other line. "Oh hey Namjoon."

"You actually flew out to a town that's the size of your penthouse to frequent a place called Buttercup Café?"

"I can explain-"

"And you're staying at a motel to nail the Win-A-Date girl?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Jungkook was outraged. "I don't wanna nail her. Please don't put it in those terms."

"Oh, forgive me lord Jeon." Namjoon mocked in a faux British accent.

"I wanna be around her, you know?"

"Mhm."

"She has a goodness about her. There's a lot I could learn from her."

"Right." Namjoon sounded unimpressed.

"I'm just trying to feed my soul, okay? I'm trying to find a way to actually be happy." Jungkook confessed.

"You wanna be happy now?!" Namjoon exclaimed loudly on the other line.

"This is big for me, Joon!"

"Oh, God. Every single time you do this, Jungkook. You pretend you want to reset your life and every single goddamn time you regress back to your old ways."

"This is a turning point for me." Jungkook persuaded.

"That's what you think today. But by the end of the week, when you've nailed her, you're going to feel differently. And what do you suppose happens then?"

"I- I don't, I-" Jungkook stuttered.

"I will tell you what happens then! You break her heart, her pure heart, and when the press finds out about it, all the good shit that was done by the Win-A-Date promotion is washed away! And," Namjoon made a tense pause. "Bong Joon Ho will never consider you for his movie. A person like you cannot have a relationship with a girl that works in a place called Cupcake Café!"

"It's Buttercup." Jungkook growled.

"Whatever it is!" Namjoon shouted, making his client jolt. "Oh and if we don't land that movie, Jeon Jungkook, Ang is gonna leave me for someone taller, richer, more handsome and I just can't let that happen, okay?"

"Wow, she's really got you by the balls."

"Well, she's my wife so yeah, I'd rather she has me by the balls than someone else."

Jungkook had no idea how to make sense of that behavior. He had never been so whipped for a woman. "What, is she some kind of witch? Does she have a magic vagina or something?"

"I refuse to disclose details regarding my wife's vagina to you, kindly shut the fuck up please."

"I'm just curious."

"It's called love, you dumbass. I fucking love her. I can't let her leave me."

"See, that's what I want. Love."

"You can't have that now. No offense but frankly you're not emotionally mature for that yet. And please, don't lead that poor girl on into thinking something might happen between you two."

"Why not?!"

"You're too different," Namjoon explained calmly. "Your values are different. For example, she has them."

"No, no. This can work. I can assure you."

"It can't!" Namjoon cut. "And when it ends very badly, it would inflict awful damage to your career."

"There are more important things than a career, for God's sake." Jungkook gritted.

"I don't even know who I'm talking to now. Hello, hello, is this Jungkook? What have you done with Jungkook?"

"I gotta go, okay?"

"No you don't! You do not gotta go! What you gotta do is understand that you're going through some kind of a phase, like late puberty or something. Some kind of an extreme version of your normal in-between jobs insanity. And it has a hold on you. You need to come back to LA, have a bourbon, go out with an actress looking to advance her career, and end all this self-destructive behavior."

"I'll talk to you soon." Jungkook sighed.

As he removed the phone from his ear, he could still hear Namjoon's yelling before he hung up.

***

"He wants your goodness to rub off of him?" Taehyung asked skeptically as he stood in front of Maddie, arms crossed in front of his chest and brows furrowed.

"I know, right?!" Maddie gushed in an overly excited manner that made his irritability flare.

"I see." He nodded, rubbing his chin. "And you actually believed him?"

Maddie's enthusiasm evaporated as if someone had thrown a bucket full of ice cold water over her.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Wow, Maddie, wow. There's innocence, there's child-like, and then there's just pure stupidity."

"Okay, Tae stop-"

"He wants your goodness to rub off of him?!" Taehyung snapped, balling his hands into fists. "He wants your ass to rub off on him!"

"Oh my God, stop this!" Maddie cried out, offended and upset.

"Yeah, whatever." He said in the same sharp tone. "You can't go out with him tonight."

She scoffed, eyebrows raised and mouth agape. "Excuse me?! What do you mean I can't?"

Taehyung didn't reply and instead spun on his heel and stomped past her, leaving her to scramble after him.

"What is that supposed to mean, Taehyung?!"

"It means that I need you!" he suddenly turned around, making her halt in her place. His jaw was clenched and he cleared his throat. "I need you to stay longer for the late shift."

"What?!" she was incredulous. "But Cleo has it covered!"

"Uh," he adjusted his collar. "Cleo is sick. I heard her cough today. She has a bad cough."

"She does not," Maddie stared at him in confusion. "She's perfectly healthy."

"Uh yeah, she does, duh."

"She's not sick!"

"Well, not yet," he clarified. "But uh, she's definitely coming down with something."

"CLEO!" Maddie screamed as she glared at Taehyung. Soon enough, their quirky best friend's head peeked from the storage room.

"Cleo, would you please come here for a second." Taehyung asked. When the waitress shuffled over, he looked at her seriously. "Cough for me."

On command, Cleo coughed.

"See?" Taehyung quirked a brow. "God, it's all up in your lungs."

"What is?!" Cleo became panicky.

"Nothing Cleo, you're fine." Maddie reassured her.

"Uh," Taehyung interjected, raising his hand next to his face. "Kindly don't tell my employees whether they're fine or not. You're not a certified practitioner and giving out false medical information could be illegal."

"She's fine!" Maddie raised her voice at him, folding her arms in front of her chest. Groaning with frustration, she glided past him, shouldering him in the process, before she turned. "And even if she weren't, you'd have to find somebody else to take the late shift because I'm going out on a date with Jeon Jungkook!"

With those words she stormed off, leaving both Taehyung and Cleo to stare after her in an awkward silence.

Cleo coughed again, clutching at her chest. "Perhaps I really am coming down with something."

"Stop that." Taehyung glared at her.

"You know, I did feel something in my lungs!"

"You're not getting tonight off, Cleo!" Taehyung told her with a frown, stomping past her angrily.