Dua Lipa for 730.no magazine and Red Bull Sound Select at Brazzeria, a restaurant in Oslo, while she was there for her performance at Parkteatret in 2016.
Charges were dropped against Australian activist Danny Lim for displaying the word "cunt" on a public sandwich board after the appeals judge ruled the word is "prevalent in everyday language" in Australia. – WTF Fun Facts
Thank you so much for your submission! I really appreciate it and it was very brave of you to do so! I personally thought it was really cute and hope you continue it. Keep up the good work!
A/N: Sorry this starts in the middle of everything with no background whatsoever. It’s something I wrote last year. Gah… I’m so nervous ;-; *hides under a rock at the bottom of the sea* Also, sorry about the end, it didn’t really know how to end it properly ;-;
~~~~~~~
“Sorry, Jae, I have to leave you and the boys in Kayla’s care for today.” I told JaeBeom through the phone.
“I don’t understand why you can’t be with us today.” He replied.
“It’s a family thing, okay. I’ll be back home later tonight.” I repeated. “Okaygottagobye!” I hung up before he could say anything else.
“Tricia, let’s go.” My brother called from the front door.
“So, where do you guys want to go first?” Uncle asked from the driver’s seat.
“Let’s eat lunch first Ricky, I’m so hungry already.” Auntie said.
“Alright, but that still doesn’t answer my question.”
“Can we have Japanese food?” My sister asked, beside me.
“Paulo’s allergic to seafood Sienna.” I deadpanned.
“What about Chinese?” My brother spoke.
“Chinese.” I seconded.
“Chinese it is.”
While we were waiting for our table, I got another call from the boys.
“Yes, Mark?” I greeted.
“Soooo…” he dragged, “where are you?”
“Mark, you have a day off with the boys, under Kayla’s watch today. Just go hang out somewhere. I’ll be back home tonight.” I told him the same thing I told JaeBeom.
“Well, we should at least know where you are.”
“Kayla knows where I am. She’s the only one who needs to know. Now, please, just take the day off.” And like with JaeBeom, I ended the call.
Not even five minutes after hanging up the call with Mark, he appears before me. I can feel Uncle’s and Auntie’s eyes on me.
“Hey, honey, didn’t know you were gonna be here today!” Mark greets me, topping it off with a kiss on my cheek.
I squint my eyes at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I was out with the boys, and we bumped into Kayla while heading here for lunch.”
“Tricia?” Auntie says, reminding me they were still there.
“Oh, sorry. Auntie, Uncle, this is Mark. Mark, this is my Auntie and Uncle, my dad’s siblings.” I introduced.
“Hello, sir, ma'am, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Mark, Tricia’s boyfriend.” I chocked on air at the mention of boyfriend.
He said what now?
“Oh, hi!”
“Nice to meet you.” The siblings greeted, shaking hands with my so-called, self-proclaimed boyfriend.
“And you’re with your friends?” Auntie asked.
“Yes, ma'am. We were over there waiting for a table, and I spotted my cute little auburn-haired bunny.” Again, being so extra; pinching my cheeks.
“Why don’t you guys just join us?” Uncle offered.
“No!” I exclaimed.
They gave me weird looks.
“I mean, there’s eight of them. And seven of them eat a feast every meal. And besides, today is our day.” I tried to pull off, taking Auntie’s hand.
“Why not? It could be fun.” My sister said, oblivious to the entire situation. I looked to Kayla for help, but she only replied with a helpless shrug.
“Besides, the more the merrier.” Auntie chimed, patting my hand in hers.
Mark called the rest of them over and they all introduced themselves.
“You all seem very lively. What is it that you do?” Uncle asked.
“The boys are actually not from here. They’re a Korean music group called GOT7. They’re here for the next few weeks to do some photoshoots and film for a music video.” Kayla explained.
“Kayla and I work for the lady that brings Korean artists here, so we’re normally in charge of taking care of their living necessities during their stay.” I finished.
“So your relationship is pretty much just a fling?” Auntie cocked her head to the side.
“Oh, we’ve been together for a while actually. We met several years back, and started dating two years ago.” Mark answered.
What the hell are you talking about you dang tuna!
“Oh that’s good then!” Auntie exclaimed, clapping her hands a bit.
“What kind of music do you do?” Uncle asked.
JaeBeom, being the leader he is, took it upon himself to explain. And just like that the conversation flowed. Mark still kept an arm around my shoulders though.
When I wanted to sit after standing for so long, he sat down first, and then pulled me into his lap. At first it was really awkward, but as the line shrunk for the tables, I grew comfortable with the amount of skinship, and how intimate it was.
“Mauricio, party of five?” The hostess called.
“Hi, that’s us.” Uncle replied. “Would it be okay to add eight more people to our group?”
“Oh, that’s fine. It’ll just take another ten minutes, if you don’t mind.”
The wait wasn’t that long. I watched the boys play around while waiting, and Mark and my dad’s siblings were talking; getting to know my “boyfriend.”
“So, how is it?” Kayla asked, from next to Mark and I.
“How’s what?” She gestured to how Mark and I were seated. “Shut up.”
“Who chose this place anyway?” She asked knowing full-well that we would have never eaten at a place like this if it were up to the two “adults.”
“I don’t know. We said we wanted Chinese, so here we are.”
“Mauricio, party of thirteen.” The hostess called.
Lunch went on. I was more focused on the boys, making sure they weren’t too over the top. Mark was seated next to me due to his self-proclaimed “boyfriend” status, and even then, an arm was kept snaked around my waist.
“Babe, what do you wanna eat?” He asked, pulling my attention away from the others.
“Huh?” I turned my head only to be met by his face just inches from mine.
In that moment, everyone was quiet, as if frozen in time. I felt their stares burning holes through me.
“I… I was asking what you wanted to get.” Mark said.
“Oh.” I let out a breath that I didn’t even know I was holding. “Just choose something for me.” I told him, turning back to YuGyeom who was on my other side. I let out another breath as I tried to calm my heartbeat.
I turned to Kayla who was across from me. She raised a brow, questioningly. I shrugged my left shoulder, and frowned.
The food came, and the conversations stopped. That lasted for just about ten minutes.
Mark held a piece of meat between his chopsticks, waving it in front of me. “Say ‘ah’.” He sing-songed.
I stared at him, wondering what the hell he was trying to do. And when I still wouldn’t “say ah,” he poked my side, causing me to jump.
“He-” I was cut off with Mark force feeding me food.
I glared at him and got innocent smiles in return.
“Oh, you guys are so cute!” Auntie squealed. I couldn’t help but feel as if she was mocking us.
“No, it’s just my little bunny that’s cute.” Mark said, tapping my noise.
I sighed. “Sorry, excuse me, I have to go to the restroom.”
In the safety of the restroom, I let out sounds of frustration.
“Hey, you okay?” Kayla asked, walking through the door.
“I’m fine. I just cannot wait ‘til you guys leave.”
She gave me a playful mad face.
“I love you Kayla, but you have to drag Mark away after this stupid lunch ends.” I told her.
“I know, I know.” Kayla walked into a stall to fix her clothes.
In that same moment, the door swung open once again, and in came Auntie.
“Tricia,” she said, “that young man is very kind. You look very good together, and I’m glad that you seem happy.”
“Please, just get to the point.” I cut in.
“Break up with him.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me, break up with him.”
“And why should I?” Mark and I weren’t even really together, but somehow being told to break up this fictional relationship made my heart clench.
“Because he is in the way of my and your Uncle’s plan.”
“What?” I didn’t like where this was going, but it comforted me that Kayla was still in the bathroom and heard everything.
“If you don’t break up with him, by the end of the day, he will be the one breaking up with you.” The thought of it shattered me.
“I don’t follow.”
"We already have someone who you’re going to marry, whether you like it or not.” With that she left.
Kayla came out of her stall. No words were exchanged, they weren’t needed. She just silently wrapped her arms around me, and I let myself lean into her feeling weak at the information.
“What the hell is going on Kayla?”
Was this why they wanted to take me and my siblings out so suddenly? We never saw each other unless it was during the winter-holiday season, and the only reason to meet then was because they wanted to buy back our affection.
“I don’t know, but I won’t allow you marrying anyone you don’t like.”
We washed up and returned to the table. The atmosphere was ambient, the boys were enjoying their food deliciously, and the conversations were animated. I slipped back into my seat wordlessly. No longer feeling hungry, I pushed my food around with my chopsticks. I was left to drown in my own thunderstorm of thoughts.
“Hey,” Mark whispered in my ear.
“What?” I whispered back.
“You okay? You’ve been quiet since you got back from the bathroom.”
“I’m fine.”
“Please excuse me, I’m gonna take a breather outside for a little bit.” He spoke towards the siblings. “Come with me for a bit, honey? He dragged me back out of my chair, and out the door.
"Okay, obviously there’s something wrong.” He said as soon as we got out of earshot from the entrance of the restaurant.
“It’s none of your business, Mark.” I said, not facing him.
“As your boyfriend, it is.”
“And who said you were my boyfriend?” I turned around and swatted his hands away from me. I could’ve sworn a look of hurt crossed his features, and I broke a little more inside.
“I did.”
“Mark you came out of nowhere declaring you were my boyfriend in front of my dad’s siblings. That doesn’t count.”
“Okay, then.” He took smalls steps towards me again, and took my hands in his. “Will you be my girlfriend?”
Tired of the child’s play, I roll my eyes and pulled my hands away. “Enough already Mark. I have other things to worry about than this stupid game you’re trying play at.” I walked past him to head back to the restaurant.
“Please,” I heard him say, “I’m not playing around.” Suddenly his arms are wrapped around me.
“Mark, stop.”
“Can’t we at least give it a try?” He pleads, pulling me closer to him.
“It’s never gonna work.” I turn around, keeping him an arm’s length away.
“How do you know?”
“Because I just know!”
“Do you not like me? Am I not good enough?”
The mere question broke my heart to pieces, and I finally understood. How could he think that? If anyone wasn’t good enough, it would be me. I wasn’t good enough for him. Tears stung my eyes but I refused to let them fall.
“Mark.” Kayla appeared, followed by the rest of GOT7. “That’s not what Tricia means.”
“Then what is it?”
“I suggest you sit. No one is supposed to know this.” Kayla gathered the boys around.
“Auntie and Uncle already have someone for me to marry, and I’m pretty sure that’s why they brought me and my siblings out today, so we could meet the guy.”
“No, I won’t let it happen.” Mark exclaimed.
“Mark, shut up.” I pulled him back into his seat and he curled up to my side. I giggle and patted his head, soothingly.
“I suggest we stay with Tricia and her siblings for the rest of the day.” JaeBeom declared. The boys nodded and made sounds of agreement.
“At least that way Mark and Tricia get to have an unofficial date, and we can keep an eye on the other guy.” Kayla added.
“You’re all crazy.” I looked at each and every one of them.
“But you love us, and you’re grateful that were here to help.” Jackson and Kayla said in unison, high-fiving with each other.
“We should get back before they start looking for us.” I got up, Mark holding tightly to my hand. “Come on, you big baby.”
“Your only baby?” He asked with a cute pout, still sitting in his seat.
“My one and only big baby.” I pinched his cheeks, and I’ve never seen him smile so big.
He pulled me into another hug, burying his face in my tummy, rubbing his nose in. I laughed and ran a hand through his hair.
