Bonding Desire

“I hope you realize I can make your life really miserable.”
“You already are,” he mumbled.
“All I have to do is reveal that I’m a girl. Wouldn’t that be a fun cover story. We look like we’re holding hands with these stupid handcuffs. I’m pretty confident people would just eat that gossip right up.”
“You know you can’t do that,” he hissed through gritted teeth.
“The only thing stopping me is my sense of generosity for people I care about. Something you seem to be lacking.”
“I’m not lacking anything.”
“That’s debatable.”
“No it’s not!”
“You’re right, it’s not. You definitely lack many things.”
“Aish! Is getting on my nerves the only thing you know how to do?”
“Why, am I good at it?” I asked cheekily.
“I don’t think I’ve ever despised someone’s presence so much.”
“Really? I quite enjoy my presence. Better than yours, that’s for sure.” He rolled his eyes.
“There are thousands of people who would pay money to be in my presence.”
“Well I’m sure once they were actually in it, they would want a refund.”
“I thought you said you didn’t hate me.”
“I don’t. I don’t naturally hate people. If I don’t like someone, I won’t waste my time hating them. It’s unproductive, causes unnecessary drama, and just leads to a negative lifestyle. I channel that energy towards strengthening my relationships with people I like and want to be around.”
“What about me?”
“You’re just really fun to mess with,” I smirked.
“You really don’t care that I’m an idol do you.”
“If I cared about that, I would’ve died quite a while ago.”
“But I’m still your bias,” he smirked. “Oh, am I your ultimate bias too?” My face grew hot. Yes, this numbskull was my ultimate bias. But his head would grow the size of a planet if I told him that.
“No I don’t prefer idiots that much.” His smirk turned into a disapproving scowl.
“I’m not an idiot.”
“What’s the log of one? Without a calculator,” I added as he reached for his phone.
“How the heck am I supposed to figure that out without a calculator?” I snorted.
“It’s zero,” Namjoon called out from the seat behind us.
“The log of one is always zero.”
“It’s been like two years since I’ve taken a math class.”
“But if you don’t know it now, did you really know it then?”
“Ooh she got you Kookie.”
“Cake 13, Kookie 2,” Taehyung announced.
“Cake?”
“He’s the Kookie, you’re the Cake.”
“Wait, what even is your name?”
“Cathleen”
“Cath reeeeen.” I snorted at the way they pronounced my name.
“We've been with her this whole time and we never asked her what her name was.”
“What are you even keeping score on?” I asked
“And how is she so far ahead of me?!”
“You’ve been dissed several times my friend.”
“I’m impressed you actually got two on me,” I smirked
“Cake 14, Kookie 2.”
“How was that even considered a diss?!”
“We’re landing soon, and we’re gonna be surrounded by fans at the airport. Our highest priority is keeping Cathleen safe. Our careers and her life all depend on keeping her identity secret. I’m removing the handcuffs out of concern for her safety, but Jungkook, you’re in charge of her. We’re counting on you to keep her safe.”
“Yes sir.” We all turned around to sit normally in our seats and began packing up our stuff.
“You didn’t even argue with him about how you’re in charge of me.”
“There would be no point. Besides, I don’t trust any of them to keep you safe.”
“Aw, you’re actually worried about me?”
“I’m worried about my career.” I clicked my tongue at his selfishness. As soon as the flight attendant announced that we were safe to leave the plane, we stood up and headed straight for the exit.

I was immediately overwhelmed at the sight of all the fans waiting for BTS when I stepped off the terminal, and froze.
“Just ignore them, I promise they won’t hurt you,” Jungkook whispered in my ear. We continued to walk through the airport, security guards surrounding us at all angles.
“Who’s that hobo walking with them?” I flinched.
“Is that the new manager?”
“They said it was a guy, but that’s a pretty feminine looking guy.” My hands were shaking at the thought of being discovered.
“They’re targeting her more than I thought they would. Jungkook get her out of here.” He nodded at the leader before looking at me.
“Ready?” he smirked. We broke away from the group, taking four security guards with us.
“Why are they separating?”
“Do you think they’re dating?”
“Would that make Jungkook gay?” I snorted at the completely awry assumption. I looked up at the red maknae’s face. The fans, opposite of what was planned, decided to focus their energy on us. An arm made its way through the security guard barrier and grabbed on to my sweatshirt. I was pulled back roughly causing my sunglasses to slowly fall off my face. Panic coursed through my body. The hand was pulled away from me, and my face was stuffed into Jungkook’s chest to hide my eyes. A new pair of sunglasses was slipped onto my face before he grabbed my wrist and began to run.
We were quickly led into the car before the fans could hoard us once more. The car was filled with our rapid heartbeats and panting as we tried to catch our breaths.
"I’ve never heard of a manager who makes an idol run for their life on their first day,” Jungkook said between pants.
“Well I guess there’s a first for everything.” In a split second, I was once again face to face with Jungkook’s chest, his arms wrapped around my body. Was he hugging me?
“You’re safe,” he whispered. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” Frozen in this position, I fought to regain my thoughts before lightly pushing him away.
“What...” I started before the car door opened.
“Well that was invigorating,” Namjoon chuckled. I took one last glance at Jungkook before turning my attention to the other members getting in the car.
“Definitely was not expecting the fans to go that crazy over our new manager.”
“Maybe they thought she was hot.”
“I mean they wouldn’t be wrong,” Taehyung smirked. A glare appeared on Jungkook’s face for a split second before returning to his normal bored expression.
“Oh yeah.” The familiar click caused the two victims to groan as we were once again connected by the handcuffs.
“They thought Jungkook might be dating me, so they targeted us.”
“Even though you’re a guy?”
“Yup.” I saw his face grow red out of the corner of my eye.
“I’d rather not discuss that right now,” he mumbled.
“Did anyone see her?”
“I don’t think so. Her sunglasses were knocked off, but I covered her face before anyone could get a good look.”
“And then proceeded to give her your sunglasses?”
“So that’s where those came from,” I muttered. I slide them off my face, and handed them to him.
“Keep them, I don’t want your face oils to give me acne.”
“You can just wipe them off you know.”
“You need a pair anyways. Just take them and stop whining about it.”
“I’m not whining!”
“Really? Cause I thought there was a baby in here for a second there.”
“Jungkook’s making it up the ranks. Cake 14, Kookie 5.”
“Hyung, I swear.”
“Oh maknae’s gettin feisty,” the older member teased.
“Can we please just go home,” I mumbled. I felt the stares of all the members directed towards me.
“Good idea. I’m sure we’re all tired from the plane ride,” Jin agreed.

“You’re sleeping in this room. Sorry it’s small, but you’re the only one not sharing a room.”
“I’m used to it. I’ve been living in a dorm for two years.” Seokjin waved before closing the door behind him, leaving me alone in the empty room. A simple bed and desk were the only pieces of furniture. “Gonna need to liven this place up a bit,” I mumbled, blankly staring at the pale white wall in front of me. I was too tired to even change out of the clothes I was in. Plopping onto the bed and crawling under the covers, I quickly fell asleep.

Jungkook

I cracked the door open, half hoping she was asleep, half hoping she was awake and I would get to talk to her. The first half won, her small frame snuggled in the covers, sleeping soundly. I sighed. She hated me, and I didn’t want her to, but I couldn’t just have a sudden personality shift. She had met me when I was in one of my really bad moods and I was cursing myself for letting her see me like that. For letting any of the fans see me like that. Now she thinks I’m just rude and annoying. I felt a pang in my heart as I remembered her frightened look from before in the dressing room. That look was directed at me. Just me. There was no monster behind me. I was the monster. But there was nothing I could do about it. She was growing on me. I quietly walked over to stand by the bed. She had no family. We would become her family from now on. I leaned over to place a light kiss on her forehead.
“Sweet dreams,” I whispered. I quietly closed the door behind me, and turned around, coming face to face with an amused looking Seokjin and Namjoon. I cursed under my breath.
“I called it,” Seokjin chirped, holding out his hand. Namjoon grumbled and slapped $20 into his hand. “Yes! American money! Oh and you’re never going to live this down Kookie,” he mused. My cheeks flared as I quickly stepped around them and went straight to my room. I really didn’t want morning to come.

Cathleen

I woke up to a huge ruckus coming from outside my door. I quickly got dressed, and smoothed down my bed head before heading towards the noise. When I got to the kitchen, all I could do was stare blankly at the sight in front of me. Seokjin and Jungkook were clad in very feminine aprons, mixing a pale yellow mixture in a glass bowl, and surrounded by many cracked eggs. Had to admit Jungkook looked good. Jimin and Hoseok were by the stove having a pancake flipping contest, surrounded by many limp pancakes on the floor, and some on the ceiling, that apparently didn’t make the cut. Yoongi was cooking bacon, which smelled amazing. Taehyung and Namjoon were banned from cooking and were stuck setting the table. I watched Namjoon balancing eight plates, and had a horrible gut feeling that this wouldn’t end well. The top plate somehow made its way off of the pile and onto the floor. I dashed over to pick up the mess before anyone stepped on the glass. Almost done, I proceeded to slice my finger on a piece of glass, because no one can ever pick up glass without cutting themselves, and yelped at the sudden stinging sensation and flow of blood. Jin rushed to my side with a towel and first aid kit, quickly taking care of the wound.
“How could you be so careless?! What made you think you could carry eight plates without dropping them!?”
“Yah Jungkook, calm down,” Jimin said.
“He’s your hyung, you can’t yell at him like that,” Hoseok jumped in.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s my hyung or not, Cathleen’s hurt!”
“It’s not like he meant for her to get hurt.” Jungkook was fuming.
“Jeon Jungkook!” I yelled. I watched him cringe slightly at my stern tone. “I’m fine. It’s just a small cut. No reason to go haywire. Apologize.” He looked at me reluctantly before turning to Namjoon and properly apologizing to the older member.
“Well he is right. I don’t know why I thought I could carry eight plates at once. I’m sorry Cathleen.”

I deeply sighed and plopped my body on the couch. The boys had left for rehearsal, leaving me alone in the huge dorm. I almost had to go with them, but thankfully Jin came to my rescue.
“She’s our manager. Doesn’t she have to come with us?” Taehyung brought up as we were eating breakfast and discussing the plans for the day.
“Let’s give her a day off. I’m sure this change is pretty stressful on her,” Jin suggested. I threw a grateful look towards the older member. I was still feeling the jet lag from yesterday.
“We don’t get a break. Why does she?” My eyes narrowed at the maknae.
“Because we didn’t just move to a different country last minute. And we’re used to being on long flights.”
“What about our handcuffs?” Oh for crying out loud.
“I’ll hold them off for one day. We’ll give Cathleen a break.”
And here I was, lying on the couch, taking advantage of this glorious break. I picked at the band aid on my thumb. Why had he been so angry when I cut myself on the broken glass? Then not even five minutes later, he was back to his annoying, rude self. I wanted to hate him for being so rude, but something hung in the back of my mind telling me not to. Plus, he was my bias. I couldn’t just hate my bias. My thoughts were interrupted as the doorbell rang. Wait. The doorbell rang. I began to panic, not knowing what to do.
“Yah! We know you’re in there!”
“Come out before we make you.”
I called Jin, hoping he would know who it was. No answer. I tried Namjoon, same thing. Why was no one answering? I immediately dialed the next person who came to my mind.
“What? Bored already?” his annoyed voice rang in my ear
“Jungkook,” I cried in fear.
"Cathleen what's going on?" He asked, his voice filled with panic.
"There are people at the door. They know I'm in here. They're telling me to come out or they'll force me to." I heard him curse under his breath. "I know you don't like me much, but I'm really scared and don't know what to do."
"We saw the boys come out. We know you're in there alone."
"Go hide. There is a secret room in my closet behind the shoe rack. We're calling the police so just hide in there until they come."
I ran to his room and quickly found his closet. I pushed the shoe rack aside to find a small hole in the wall. I crawled through and found myself in a small room with a bean bag, bookshelf, and a small lamp. "Everything will be ok, I promise," he soothed over the phone.
"How did they know I was here?"
"I don't know, but I do know they won't hurt you. I'll personally castrate all of them if they touch one hair on your head," he growled. I heard a huge bang outside the small room.
"You can't hide!"
"Jungkook they're in the house."
"They can't find you there. I'm the only one who knows about that room."
"She was with Jungkook at the airport. Check his room." They entered his room, slamming the door open.
"They're in your room," I whispered in panic.
"Cathleen don't worry. They won’t hurt you. I won’t let them."

Notes