“If something burns your soul with purpose and desire, it's your duty to be reduced to ashes by it, any other form of existence will be yet another dull book in the library of life.”
—Charles Bukowski

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Asher stood there with his mouth agape. Jimin could hear slow footsteps approaching the restroom. He had to hurry, but he wasn't sure if the man even knew him or if he was just mesmerized because he was handsome.

Jimin wasn't a narcissist. But come on, he was an Idol, he had worked a lot to build that body and muscle. If anything, he knew he was attractive.

“Earth to . . .?” He made a face that screamed excuse me.

“Asher.” The man finally came back to reality and turned around to notice several footsteps very close to them. He didn't know what to do, so instinctively, he grabbed Jimin's hand and dragged him into a cabin with him, signalling him to shut up.

He saw that the shoes were of a man, but were too big for the person wearing them. There were slow movements as if the person found the restroom a new world whatsoever. Or maybe he wasn't there to use the bathroom, he could feel his heartbeat quickening.

He remembered they could see two pairs of shoes from below the cabin. He quickly leaned into Jimin's ear, who was pressed against the wall, trying to keep as much distance as he could from Asher.

The close proximity made him forget about the whole situation. Suddenly, he was too aware of the closed space he was in.

He was too close.

Way too close.

Asher leaned in and whispered, “I'm really sorry for touching you before asking but I really hope you understand that there's no space for me to move away unless you want to get caught.”

He leaned a little back just to see Jimin shaking his head in a 'No'. He whispered again.

“They can see two pairs of shoes from below. So, if you can . . . um . . . can you hold onto my arm and pull your feet a bit up?”

“I'm heavy.” Jimin mouthed.

“Don't kid with me, you're light as a feather. Now do it before we start a scandal here.”

Jimin softly sighed and put one arm on Asher's waist and the other on his shoulder, getting a strong grip. Asher didn't look like a build or workout type to him, so he tried his best not to grip too hard.

They could hear two women whispering outside. Asher stayed still, but Jimin was slipping down . . . there was a limit to his hands, and without Asher's hand supporting him, he was slipping down.

Asher couldn't hold this awkwardness anymore, these people had to leave before he reached his limit . . . and Jimin fell on the floor. Asher quickly pressed the flush button with one hand and cleared his throat loudly.

He heard rustles outside but he didn't hear the door closing.

He knew someone was still in there.

He leaned into Jimin, “Your phone, where is it?”

“My pocket.”

He looked down and then turned his head up to look straight at the wall blankly. He quickly got his phone out of pocket, and opened it with Jimin's face lock.

Dialled his own number.

His phone rang loud and clear in the closed space; he quickly picked it up and started talking to himself.

“Hello.”

“Yes, I heard there's a loud crowd outside. Fucking awful, I know.”

“I'll be a little late; the parking is shut off, too.”

Jimin understood a few words here and there, but otherwise, he just stared at the man.

“All right, I'll be there.”

“Bye.”

Then he hurriedly twisted the knob, and that's when he heard quick footsteps leaving, the door closed and shut.

And Jimin leapt down. His legs were all sore from hanging in the air for too long. They both got out of the cabin and Asher bowed down hurriedly.

“I'm really sorry, for all that.”

Jimin stared at him in disbelief. Why was he apologizing? If Jimin hadn't stopped him and got him into all these facades, he would have happily left by now. So why was he apologizing?

“You need to change, by the way.”

“Like you normally don't dress.”

Jimin was questioning himself. How was it that he hadn't said a single word and the man had all the things clear and a plan ready? Even Bighit's Security team wasn't so efficient.

With quick hands, Asher took out some hair gel and with soft skilled hands, he curled Jimin's hair ends as if he had gotten a fresh perm. He took his tie and shirt off, and Jimin stepped back to turn around, flustered. But Asher quickly grabbed him and pushed his shirt and tie in his hands.

“Change quickly, and yup, fold the ends of your pants.”

“Are you going out half naked?” Jimin blurted out in awkwardness.

“Of course not; I don't want to be on Tomorrow's Tabloids either.”

Why would it matter so much to end up in the media? Jimin thought confused.

“I have a spare T-shirt; it has some paint stuck on it . . . but it'll work.”

Jimin nodded and entered the cabin to change. The shirt was a bit oversized on him, but he wore it anyway; fashion could be anything.

When he came out, Asher was in a black t-shirt with white and blue strokes of paint here and there. He also had a beret in his hand which he passed to Jimin.

Asher came closer to him.

“May I?” he asked softly and waited until Jimin nodded to lay his hands on him.

He loosened the tie, folded the sleeves of the shirt, bent down to fix his pants, and then fixed the beret on the back of his head.

“All right, wear these glasses. And well, try not to look through them but keep them on the bridge and look up, so your eyes don't hurt.” With that, he put his mask back on and fixed Jimin's mask too, picking up his stuff along.

“So, just act like we're partners. And no matter what, keep your mouth shut.”

Jimin scowled inside, that was too demanding.

Asher took a deep breath and gave Jimin his arm, which he hesitantly took.

“All right, let's get this through.”

And suddenly, Jimin was smiling while looking at how nervous Asher was, even more than Jimin was a moment ago.

But he still held his composure.

Which Jimin was really amused about. He chuckled lowly and stepped out of the restroom with him.

Towards a crowd that he knew would kill to get a close look at him.

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a/n:
so now that they've finally met, what do you think this clumsy little start will lead to?