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A/N: sorry, the chapter is shorter than usual

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"That's a wrap, guys!" The director yells and smiles, satisfied, as he goes through the rest of the MV footage they just shot. The sparkle in his eyes tells the band members that he is more than satisfied with the recordings and that they are done shooting. A round of applause erupts in the shooting area of the amusement park, mixed with a few cheerful interjections.

The band members give each other a high five before receiving their manager's proud pat on the shoulder. Even Jeongguk feels full of positive energy today and can't wait to see the result of their MV. It will be the only one for now, as they now have more or less time to rest and take the chance to collaborate with other artists on their own.

This is something he's extremely thankful for when it comes to their manager and record label. They rarely get fully packed schedules. It allows them to breathe, which is also only possible due to the fans. If they didn't continuously prove their interest in them as a band, Jeongguk doesn't think it would be possible to keep the numbers of sales high.

"From what I've seen, this will turn out great, like always. You did a great job, boys!" Their manager praises them and Jeongguk feels his body buzzing with happiness, relieved the shoot is finally over. The corners of his mouth curl into a shy smile as the thought of taking Jimin to this amusement park enters his mind. Does he even like amusement parks? Maybe one day they could do that...

Jeongguk looks over the footage from before and nods approvingly before going to his trailer, where his make-up artist is already waiting for him. He sits down on the chair with a court nod and a few seconds later she gets to work.

Not much later, as she is about to remove the make-up around his eyes, the door to his trailer opens and two taller and familiar people stumble in and sit down on the sofa diagonally behind Jeongguk.

As soon as the make-up artist moves over to his forehead, he dares to open first one eye and then both. He raises his eyebrows questioningly, but his band members wave off his question with a waving hand gesture. Both his friends and Jeongguk remain silent until the make-up artist disappears from the trailer. He's the first to break the silence as he watches them through the mirror.

"Why are you here?"

Minsu, to Jeongguk's confusion, looks first at Youngjin and then speaks up, "We wanted to remind you of the after party in two days. We will go, but we think if you don't go, no one will be angry either. Sure, we are important people in the sense that we should be present, but-"

"Why are you guys really here?"

Jeongguk interrupts Minsu's rattling off of words by turning to them and giving them a raised eyebrow. He knows him too well that he knows that's not the real reason they both got into his trailer. Minsu is obviously beating around the bush.

Jeongguk's gaze falls on Youngjin, who is sitting on the armrest of the sofa with his leg bent. Both look a little silly, as he has clearly seen through them.

"To be honest, that's not why we're here—"

"Oh, don't say." Jeongguk snorts, watching in anticipation as they visibly grow more nervous with each passing moment. Jeongguk is not stupid. He can guess what the topic will be about. He has already wondered when they would bring it up.

"Have you spoken to Jimin?"

Jeongguk huffs and crosses his arms. I knew it.

"I did and unfortunately or not, he can't wait to meet you in person." Jeongguk playfully rolls his eyes as anticipation burns in their eyes. He is unsure why an uncomfortable feeling in his chest accompanies his words. It irks him to think how excited everyone is to meet the other. Is he afraid that Jimin will like his friends more? He met Jimin first...

Minsu rests his hands on his hips and looks at him in bewilderment. "What do you mean by 'unfortunately'?"

"Well, you don't even know each other, and you talk about each other like you're meeting a famous person."

"Of course he's someone famous for us! He is someone you let into your life and grew close to in such a short time. If that's not having a special bond, I don't know what is," Minsu states and frowns. "Jeongguk, I don't know if you've realised, but you're not really open towards other people apart from people you're close with...like us. You let Min into your life thinking he was a wild animal and from what I've seen you're literally so close that you can't let him go anymore, and I can only imagine from what I heard that it's not any different when it comes to Jimin as a person."

Jeongguk swallows. He has realised that, but never looked at it from this perspective. He had wondered why he felt so at ease with Jimin while he was still a red panda, but it may have been because it hadn't occurred to him that Jimin could be a hybrid. Jimin had the opportunity to be distrustful. He, however, wasn't. Jimin has earned his trust. Jeongguk thinks this might be why he didn't feel uneasy when he shifted.

"Alright." Jeongguk nods but doesn't comment further. Instead, he changes the topic of the conversation back to the after party. "About the after party... I haven't told Jimin about it. I will do that once when I get back."

"You still have some time to decide," Youngjin says, asking, "Did you get the details from Hwan?"

"I did." Jeongguk nods and grabs his phone from the makeup table, reading over the message he received from his manager. "The after party is tomorrow evening in our agency building."

"Correct." Youngjin gives him a thumbs up and then shifts his hand to Minsu's head, tousling his hair. "Well then we better go. Come, puppy, let's leave."

Minsu's eyes widen, disbelief flashes through them, and it doesn't take a second for him to stand up and push out his chest. "Who are you calling a puppy, huh?"

"You, obviously, with the big eyes you just made." Youngjin grins and smacks jokingly on his chest. "Now come. Jeongguk wants to get changed, and I want to go home too."

"There's no way I accept you calling me a puppy!"

"There, that's what I mean! Quit crossing your arms and pouting. Right now, you only make it worse."

Minsu huffs, offended, and throws a glint at his bandmate before turning around to Jeongguk with a smile, saying he will go now. Not two seconds pass by, and he stalks out of the trailer, followed closely by Youngjin. Jeongguk shakes his head as he can vaguely hear Youngjin's voice in the background saying, "Minsu are you really offended now? You know I'm only teasing."

Later in the day, after packing his things, he makes his way to his car with his personal driver, to whom he had already written a message a few minutes ago. They both get into the car and drive off with some radio station playing a song in the background. On the way back to his penthouse, Jeongguk thinks about their conversation and the past days more intensively. There's this scene which comes into his mind immediately.

Jeongguk decided to cook dinner yesterday and briefly went down to a mart to do a week's shopping. Soon after, he started cooking while Jimin went into another room. He didn't think anything of it until Jimin eventually called for him. Turning around, he saw Jimin standing in front of him in nothing but leather clothes. It was obviously his leather jacket and pants he threw on. Even the belt that kept his pants in place was his. Jeongguk was more amused than mad.

It drew a smile on his face as Jimin stood at the kitchen's door with messy hair and one hand on his hip while the other was in his hair and his eyes closed.

"I believe I can qualify to be a member of your band too," Jimin said with a certain confidence in his voice, oblivious of Jeongguk refraining from laughing. He eventually cracked a smile when Jimin got no reaction and opened an eye, which made him burst into laughter. Jimin was right. It did make him look somewhat like another member from the band. He must have seen the stage outfits from the performance day, on which he hid in his bag.

"You certainly can. Gosh, how did you find those clothes?"

Jeongguk shyly grins, recalling the scene. He certainly can't wait to get back to his apartment, and ask Jimin how he's feeling and what he did when he wasn't there. Is he too much looking forward already?

As soon as he gets home, Jeongguk gets rid of his jacket and shoes. He's surprised to not see him in the living room.

"Jimin, I'm back!"

Only a few seconds later, Jimin steps out of the bedroom with dishevelled hair and tired expression. Jeongguk notes he's dressed in one of his big jumpers and some shorts as he steps out of Jeongguk's room and not the guest room. Jeongguk might never get used to Jimin wearing his clothes and if they go to the after party will need his own clothes, considering how small his body frame is compared to Jeongguk.

"There's something I have to talk about with you."

"Oh, oh..." Jimin cutely furrows his brows and plays with the hems of the jumper, making him appear almost innocent. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You didn't." Jeongguk shakes his head. Did his tone of voice give rise to this? "I just need to ask you something."

"Okay," Jimin nods hesitantly and takes a seat on the sofa next to Jeongguk, who has already sat down in the meantime. "What is it?"

"As you know... We finished shooting today, and usually our team has something like a celebration a day or two later, and I guess what I'm trying to ask is, would you come with me? Minsu and Youngjin are coming too. That would give me the chance to introduce you."

"I'd love to."

"Jimin, this is not a small party, the whole team that was on set will be there, if not more. You don't have to go. If you decide to stay here, I won't go ei-"

"I've never been to a party, but you said Minsu and Youngjin are there too. I wouldn't mind going, just... can I wear a hat or something to hide my ears for now?"

Jeongguk nods. What he doesn't understand, though, is why Jimin seems so willingly to go to a party when he said he's shy. It doesn't bother him when there are lots of people?

"I haven't told anyone about you, and you know it's not like I want to hide your true identity, but maybe it would be for the best, at least for this evening. I still have to talk to my manager. Let's go shopping, so we can also get you your own clothes." Jeongguk eyes the fluffy ears on Jimin's head, his fingers itching to reach out and touch them. It would be rude to do that now, no?

Jeongguk clears his throat instead and gets himself and Jimin a fruit from the fridge, his head resting on the backrest as he stares up at the ceiling and spaces out. He has to rest a little first until they go out again. Now a little rest and then they can go out shopping.