My Idol 3: Part Three
My Idol From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My Idol is a South Korean competitive reality dating game show. It currently airs on Saturday nights on Jae-bummer’s blog. First broadcast in 2016, the show offers the opportunity for a lucky fan to go on seven blind dates with seven idols. The idol plans the date with the show throwing in a specific mission to complete during the day. At the end of the initial dates, the show opens up an audience vote to decide what four idols will move on to the second date.
My Idol 3: The Series
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You nuzzled your face into Jungkook's neck and sighed. Adjusting your arms so they were wrapped more tightly around him, you heard his quiet purr of approval. He pressed a light kiss to your forehead before resting his cheek there.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked groggily.
A shiver ran down your spine at the gravelly tone he used when still half asleep. That was something you could get used to.
"Better than I have in days," you rasped.
"Wonder why that is?" he chuckled, running a calloused finger down your bare thigh. Your skin sprung to life with the simple motion, a trail of flame coursing in it's wake.
You giggled as well, looking down at your body. Dressed in nothing but Jungkook's shirt, you felt more beautiful than you had in your entire life. He just had that effect on you.
"Y/N," he sighed grumpily, beginning to untangle his body from yours. "We have to wake up."
"Who says?" you croaked, looking up at him in mock annoyance. You didn't want this small moment to break. You didn't know when the next one would be.
"The good people of My Idol," he muttered with a side eye. "You have to get ready for another date."
"Another date," you repeated quietly, trying to make it make sense. There were no other dates. All that existed was him, his warm bed, and your bodies curled around one another.
"Mmm," he sighed. "Go handle things and come back to me, okay?"
Just as you were about to argue, the microwave from the 7-Eleven began to beep loudly in your ear. No, not the microwave, something much worse: your alarm.
Slapping irritably at your phone screen, you rolled over to what was a shockingly cold sheet. You dug your palms into your eyes and tried to shake off the dream. How could your brain run completely wild with the idea of a guy you had only met for a few hours?
He wasn't just any guy though, said the little voice in the back of your head. He was Jeon Jungkook and he was absolutely lovely.
And there were still six other men to meet, you countered to yourself. You could not simply call it quits after going through one date. That would be completely counterintuitive to both yourself and this experiment. You recognized how terrifying and insane this whole concept was, but part of you was so incredibly excited by the possibilities that you weren't going to deprive yourself of the process. Sure, it would be nice to end up with someone you had forged a connection with, but more than anything, you wanted to prove to yourself that you could do it (even when you didn't think you could).
Since you had been casted, you had found yourself wondering if you were really the right person for this. Were you someone even capable of becoming Korea's sweetheart? Dating idols wasn't going to make you a likable person in any fan base, but were you at least strong enough to win over people that you otherwise would have no reason to? You wanted to see how resilient you were and you wanted to prove that you were the one who was lovely, damnit. These men should be privileged to date you!
Yeah, that was your affirmation for the day.
Trying to phase back in to reality, you let out a big yawn, and eased up from bed. Your door buzzer going off sprung you into an even more heightened state of awareness as you glanced to your phone, panicked. The crew shouldn't be here for a pickup already.
Sliding into your slippers, you shuffled across your apartment, and hit the button near your door. "Yes?"
"Delivery," a deep voice grunted.
"Come on up," you sighed, hitting a separate button to allow them into the building. That was odd. You didn't recall ordering anything in, but maybe the My Idol staff was sending something ahead.
After about five minutes of waiting, you stuck your head out of your apartment door and looked from one end of the hallway to the other. No one appeared to be heading up or had dropped anything off. Weird.
Shaking your head, you tried not to think too much into it. Maybe whoever it was had gotten the wrong apartment number. Either way, you made a mental note to ask the staff about it later, just in case.
You had more important things to handle. Obsessing over the delivery person wasn't going to help you get ready for the day.
..
"Where is this place?" the driver grumbled, circling the block for what had to have been the fifth time.
"Does your GPS not work?" one of the camera man shot back, pointing out of the window. "I see the sign right there."
"I see the sign too!" the driver gasped. "But do you see the actual building or are we letting our contestant out into alleyways now?"
"I mean," the other camera man muttered, glancing to his cohort. "That could make for good TV."
Your jaw dropped as you looked back and forth between them. "No."
"It was just a thought," the second camera man answered moodily before looking away. These two seemed to be the ones who were assigned to you at all times, while the rest of the crew were in different vehicles. Glancing wearily between them, you sighed.
"Jangwu," you said, trying to remind yourself. "And Woosik was it?"
"Wu," the first one corrected. Followed by the other one muttering "Woo."
"Great," you hissed, glancing up at the ceiling of the SUV in a silent prayer for patience. "Wu and Woo. I know you have set directions from the producers, but something I noticed on my first date...inadvertently or not, things can be made more difficult for me on these dates."
"What is she talking about?" Wu muttered, dabbing at the ever present sweat on his forehead.
"The basket thing with the snacks," Woo nodded, sweat stains already appearing near the arm holes of his shirt. "That could have been great TV."
"Great TV aside," you grumbled. "Can we maybe, at the very least, care about my general well being and...not drop me off in darkened alleys?"
"I feel like we're being pigeonholed into an impossible agreement here," Woo grunted.
"I agreed to no death and serious injuries," Wu agreed. "They said nothing about creepy and less than ideal locations."
"Wonderful," you sighed, setting your focus back onto the window of the vehicle. "I feel so reassured."
"What's the guy supposed to look like?" the driver called over his shoulder. "I think I see him."
This immediately peaked your interest, causing you to once again concentrate on your surroundings. There did appear to be someone standing a few yards away.
"I don't know," Wu sighed, ticking off his fingers. "Tall? Good looking? Generally sunshiny disposition?"
"Well," you gasped, your tone thick with sarcasm. "You could be describing any of the three of you in the car now."
Wu smirked. "Compliments aren't going to get you anywhere, sweetheart."
"I wasn't-" you started, but already recognized your joke had been disregarded. "Okay."
"Here we are," the driver said, finally pulling the SUV to a slow stop. Looking out of the window again, you realized your date had stepped inconspicuously behind a cafe sign. Of course you couldn't have any information as big as his identity before even stepping foot from the car.
Taking a deep breath, you placed your fingers against the door. You could do this. You had already gone on one date, what was another?
Another...
Another personality to learn. Another situation that was completely unknown to you. Another ending where you wouldn't be sure what would happen next.
All of the terrifying possibilities aside, you thought back to your date with Jungkook again. You promised yourself you wouldn't fixate on the magical, little time capsule that your brain had created, but it was difficult. That one date had set a standard and an example of things to come. Even though the two of you hadn't done anything that you would deem too exciting (aside from the overarching show as a whole) you had seemed to carve out a genuine connection. While not all of these guys were going to be as giving and open as Jungkook, the idea of forming another bond had butterflies unfurling all over again.
At least they weren't the vomiting kind. One vomiting incident per season was more than enough.
You shook out your hands before grabbing the handle again. Giving it a gentle pull, then push, the door creaked slowly open. Before you could even make your way out, Wu and Woo shouldered their way around you and out onto the pavement.
"Anytime you're ready!" one of them called.
Trying to wipe the annoyance from your face, you gave yourself a gentle nod. This would be fine. You would be fine.
Stepping down from the SUV, you looked up only to find your date's face covered by his advancing cell phone.
The shuttering sound of the phone's camera going off caused you to blink in surprise. Shuffling backwards again, your unidentified date smiled down at his screen.
"New memory," he said softly before looking up, a small smile painting his plush lips.
"I'm sorry," you managed, narrowing your eyes at him. "What?"
His soft smirk quickly melted into something more attune with embarrassment. "Sorry, I just - uh, sorry."
"No, no," you chuckled, trying to backtrack on your previous judgement. "New memory?"
"My members," he continued quietly, a fondness in his eyes as he looked away from you. "They call me the memory collector...in new situations, I get a bit scared to miss a moment. And I knew I didn't want to forget this one..."
He paused before he looked up at you with wide eyes. "In hindsight, memory collector totally sounds like the name for a serial killer and I am so sorry for not realizing that earlier."
You let out a surprised huff of a laugh. You knew that in the wrong context this would immediately be considered a bit creepy, but his initial sentiment was very sweet.
Plus, you had dated weirder.
"That's kind of adorable," you grinned. "Not the serial killer part. I'm choosing to forget that comment."
Remembering your manners, you gave a small bow. "I'm Y/N."
"Hongseok," he said, bowing in return. "I promise I don't have plans to wear your skin or anything. Have I made this awkward enough already or should I continue?
"Oh, please continue," you smirked. "I'm having a blast."
"Perfect," he chuckled. "I love when my date sugarcoats how bad things are going."
"Makes it much more palatable when I'm already picturing the true crime documentary about my disappearance," you teased. "I hope all of this footage will be used."
"I'll make sure to tell them that you lit up every room you walked into," he nodded, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Your penchant for murder aside," you continued. "It's very nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too," he said, this time opening up with a full and genuine smile. "Do you want to head inside?"
You nodded, taking Hongseok's elbow when he offered it. While he looked vaguely familiar to you, it was hard to nail down exactly which idol group he was a part of. With your career, most of your life circulated around the entertainment industry, so it was hard to keep up with who was who.
You did know, however, that he was incredibly attractive. The camera men were correct in their general assumption of tall, handsome, and sunshiny. The man beside you was absolutely gorgeous. Dressed simply in a grey hoodie and corresponding grey shorts, he was the picture of comfy casual, and damn, did he pull it off.
As he eased you up the stairs, you couldn't help but notice the light hammering and drilling sounds trickling down from wherever he was leading you.
"I have to say," you whispered. "After the conversation we just had, the sound effects are not comforting."
This cause Hongseok to laugh loudly as he patted the hand still placed in the crook of his elbow. "I promise I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay?"
While you recognized he was still a stranger, his words made your heart tug just a tiny bit. It was a completely silly comment you made in an environment where you knew nothing would really harm you, but his small solace was appreciated.
Finally stepping onto the platform housing the shop, you looked around in wonder. "What is this place?"
"It's a jewelry cafe," he hummed. His expression was pleased as he looked around as well. "I hope you don't think it's too forward, but I thought we could make each other rings."
Your mouth parted slightly as you reassessed the room with this new information. Various couples were crowded at small work stations, pounding at small pieces of metal and leather, giggling happily to themselves. It was a heartwarming scene, even more so when you realized you could soon take part in it.
You were never really one for couple's items, but as the warmth spread across your chest, you couldn't help but get excited. This was an incredibly sweet idea.
"We don't have to make them match if you don't want to," Hongseok said quickly. "I just...well, admittedly wanted to show your future dates that I was here and I have no plan of going elsewhere."
This caused you to chuckle as you looked up at him. "Staking your claim then?"
"In a way," he smiled. "But that sounds a bit barbaric, don't you think? I like to call it, establishing what's mine...or what's ours, rather."
"What's ours," you hummed. "I like it."
To Be Continued.
