Chapter Text
Morgan’s POV
I stood outside the building address Felix had sent me, double checking to make sure that I was in the right spot. It was a small cafe off of a side street called ‘Aussie Delights!’ It made sense that Felix would want to meet here given that he and Chris were both from Australia, but it seemed……..well, Felix said to dress nice and I was. But this palace was clearly a family friendly joint, made for families and college students looking for a sweet treat or caffeinated drink.
Plus, I saw no signs of Felix yet, despite him telling me it was incredibly important to get to the cafe at 2 on the dot. I figured it was a reservation thing, so I made sure that I was getting dropped off at exactly 1:57, giving three minutes to spare.
But, it was now 2:02 and Felix was nowhere to be seen and I was feeling a bit cold in the sundress I had on. When Jimin had dragged me out to shop for the party, I ended up with a couple of nice outfits and I decided on the jade green, long-sleeved sundress I’d gotten for today.
The weather wasn’t exactly sundress weather yet, but it was sunny and I thought we’d be inside most of the time so I didn’t think it’d be too cold. But now it was windy, I was getting goosebumps, and I was confused why my messages to Felix were left on read.
Let’s take a step back and retrace the steps that brought me here, because it’s been a few weeks since the party.
So, after the party, I started to text with Felix, which turned into a groupchat with the rest of the Stray Kids. They were fun and chaotic and clearly in love with their jobs, so we got along well. There were some professional moments when we’d discuss the actual possibility of me working with them, but in the end it was decided that any collaborations would have to wait until after BTS’s comeback.
Anyways, I soon found myself in an easy friendship with the group. They were closer to my age than BTS so we had more similar senses of humor, watched the same tik toks and memes, and all that good stuff. I was in a main group chat with all of them, but I built individual friendships with each member.
Felix and I exchanged memes we created of Stray Kids and BTS from our photos. Han and I gossiped about the celebrities we’d met or worked with. Changbin and I talked about music and our favorite artists. Minho and I discovered we shared a love of reading and talked constantly about books. Hyunjin and I liked to talk art and he often set over pieces he created to get my opinion. Seungmin and I liked to team up and tease everyone else. And I.N. and I shared our grievances about being the youngest of each of our groups. (Well, I wasn't technically the youngest member of BTS but you know-)
And then there was Chris.
We connected so easily at the party, and I hoped we could continue to talk and become better friends. But I seemed to hear from him the least out of all the members in the groupchat, and I hadn’t had a one on one conversation with him since the party.
He was busy, I knew that and I wasn’t angry or upset that he wasn’t able to talk. It was just…..well, it ached a bit. I didn’t really know why, but it did.
So, when I mentioned this fact a few days ago after Felix asked me how talking with Chris was going, I hadn’t expected Felix to go offline for an hour before resurfacing and asking me to meet him at the cafe at the very specific time.
Which leads me here, back to the present. Where I was staring up at the sign for the tenth time to double check that I had it correct.
Bitinng my lip slightly, I debated on whether or not I should just go and sit inside as I waited for Felix. It was getting cooler, so I was starting to go from chilly to freezing much faster than I’d prefer.
“Morgan?”
That was not Felix.
I turned around slowly to see a wide-eyed Chris standing a few feet away, a bouquet of flowers in one hand.
“Chris,” I said, shocked. What was he doing here?
“What brings you here?,” Chris asked, walking towards me so that we were only a foot or so apart. An unexpected warmth went through me and I relaxed a bit.
“I’m supposed to meet Felix here,” I said, taking a look around the pretty much empty street, “He was really insistent I get here at 2:00, but I don’t see him anywhere…..”
From the corner of my eye, I saw a look of realization wash over Chris’s face and he bit some lip, looking to the sky and muttering something under his breath.
“Ah…Yeah, he-um,” Chris mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, “He wasn’t able to make it last minute and-um about that- and, ah, screw it.”
He took a moment to breathe before smiling at me shyly and holding out the flowers. “For you, milady,” he said softly and I took them slowly, bringing them to my face to take a deep inhale of the floral scent.
“Thank you,” I whispered, looking up at Chris with a wide smile, “They’re gorgeous, but how…….?”
“Um well,” Chris laughed, face flushing slightly, “I think Felix set us up?” I blinked once, then twice before making a mental note to smack Felix in the head next time I saw him (and to give him a huge and bring him a huge bag of candy).
“He asked me to meet him here at exactly 2:05 with flowers,” Chris said, shaking his head, “Definitely not his weirdest request and we do eat here often so I didn’t really think about it too much but now……”
I giggled at Chris as the usual calm and cool leader was flustered and stumbling over his words. He relaxed at that and laughed with me, both of us exchanging shy grins.
A strong gust of wind blew past us and I instinctively shivered, arms going around each other as I hugged myself.
“Oh shit, you must be freezing,” Chris said, immediately pulling his hoodie over his head and offering it to me. “Oh no, I couldn’t, then you’d be the one freezing,” I protested, but he swapped the flowers in my hands for the hoodie with a proud smile.
“I’ll be fine, promise,” he said and I debated for a second until another gust hit and I was pulling the hoodie over me.
It was definitely way too big for me and the sleeves hung over my hands by a few inches. It seemed to swallow me up, but it was so warm and smelled too good for me to care.
I sighed contently, accepting the flowers back from Chris. “Thank you,” I said softly as he looked over at me.
“It-um,” he whispered, “It looks really good on you.” It was my turn to blush now, and I ducked my eyes as my cheeks went pink.
Chris chuckled at me, but offered his arm out.
“Well, shall we?”
I joined our arms and grinned.
“Lead the way, good sir.”
“Hm, what do you recommend?,” I asked as we looked over the menu. “Well, if you want something sweet, I definitely recommend their house fairy-bread. It’s the closest fairy bread I’ve found to my mom’s,” Chris said, a happy smile on his face, “My mom used to make it all the time for me and my siblings when we were younger. And I swear, she used actual magic.”
He told me about a few other things on the menu, along with a small story or two about his childhood in Australia with each food. I found it hard to remember the foods as I was too wrapped up in the way Chris’s eyes lit up everytime he talked about his family. It was too sweet.
A waiter eventually came over and I told Chris I’d trust his judgment. He seemed a bit nervous as he ordered and when the food arrived, I saw him watching me discreetly (not that discreetly actually).
I took a bit of the fairy bread and immediately hummed in happiness as the sugary treat hit my tastebuds. “It’s delicious,” I praised and he beamed as we dug into the rest of the spread.
With the food came the same type of easy conversation we had at the party, only this time it was much quieter and we talked more about ourselves than our work lives.
“Wow,” I gasped as Chris finished the short version of his journey to Korea, “You’re amazing Chris, you know that right?” I didn’t think his face could get anymore red and I giggled as I snapped a picture to send to Felix later.
“Well, not as impressive as your journey to Korea,” Chris laughed, “And don’t be humble, I’ve heard how difficult BTS tried to make the application for a new producer.”
“You know, I keep telling people they’re secretly monsters and no one believes me,” I sighed, “It took me five hours of coffee-induced action to fill that thing out!”
“And yet, you’re here,” Chris said. “Against all odds and all expectations,” I smiled, “But I’m happy to be here. Korea is so beautiful.”
“It is,” Chris agreed, “I miss home a lot, but I can’t deny how much I love it here. The countryside, the city…..all of it.” “I wish I could see more,” I chuckled, “But with work and the fact that my friends here are all famous, I haven’t really been able to find a guide.”
“Are you busy this weekend?,” Chris asked out and I scrunched my nose as I thought. “Not really,” I realized, “Actually, outside of working on the track, I’m pretty free.” “So, potentially, if someone were to ask you out on another date, you might say yes?,” Chris asked with a shy smile.
Pause. Reboot. Blush hard and stutter.
“This-um- we,” I stammered, face burning, “This is a date?” “I don’t usually talk about my childhood and bring flowers to a girl for a casual lunch,” Chris chuckled, “But now I realize I wasn’t clear, and given that we were both set up…..”
He cleared his throat before giving me another shy and charming smile.
“I’m kind of an idiot with a crush who thought you were out of my league,” he confessed, “And I really thought you wouldn’t be interested so I was again dumb and tried to be just friends and um- Well…..” He took another breath.
“Morgan? I think you’re one of the sweetest, most honest, and prettiest women I’ve ever come across and I really like you. And I’d really love to consider this a date. But if that makes you uncomfortable, would you perhaps go out again with me this Saturday and we can call today a casual meet-up?”
Pause. Reboot. Reboot again. Process.
“I-um,” I whispered.
Error. Error. Wait, surge of certainty.
“I’d love to call this a date,” I smiled and Chris' face brightened, “And….I’d love to go out again this weekend.”
Chris had a dance practice that night, but walked me out to my bus and left me with a promise to not be an idiot and text me. I just laughed and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before boarding, leaving him beet-red and smiling. (And if I didn’t stop smiling and smelling both Chris’s hoodie and the flowers he gave me on my way back to BigHit, then that was my own business-)
But back at Bighit, I got a call from Yoongi as I entered the lobby, asking him to meet him in his studio.
I was all smiles on my way up and even started humming under my breath as I got to the Genesis Lab. Knocking twice, I didn’t have to wait long before the door opened and I was surprised to see the entire group hanging out inside.
“Morgan-ah,” Yoongi greeted as I walked in, “How are- wait, you looked fancy.” I just smiled wider and plopped down next to Jimin on one of the couches.
“That’s a new hoodie,” Jin committed, eyes narrowing, “And you have flowers…..”
“YOU WERE ON A DATE!!,” Hoseok screeched and I went beet-red again as the rest of the boys' jaws dropped.
“Oh my god, YOU WERE!!,” Jimin squealed, grabbing my hand, “Spill! Who were you with!? Where’d you go!? What base did you-”
“Jimin, Taehyung said, his voice overly sweet and high, “I’m quite sure Morgan didn’t do anything like you would.”
I just giggled as Jimin pouted before answering his questions.
“Well, it wasn’t planned,” I smiled, looking down at my flowers happily, “But apparently Felix was tired of Chris not getting it together and set us up. We went to a cafe and it was really nice.”
“Bangchan,” Jungkook said, a tight smile plastered on his face. Namjoon coughed and elbowed the maknae in the side.
“That’s great Morgan,” Namjoon smiled, “Sounds like you had a good time.” “I did,” I blushed, “He’s a really wonderful person.”
“Aw, Morgan had her first date in Korea,” Hoseok chuckled, ruffling my hair. (First date ever but he didn’t need to know that-)
“I think we need to visit Stray Kids soon, don’t you hyung,” Taehyung laughed forcefully. “Oh most certainly,” Jin agreed, a strange glint in his eyes.
“What’s with them?,” I whispered to Jimin. “Oh, they’re just weird,” Jimin brushed off, “Now, when are you guys seeing each other next?? I want to help you plan your outfit.”
“Saturday,” I replied with a dopey grin, “But I’m not sure what we’re going to do, he said it’s a surprise.” “Awwww,” Hoseok cooed, “And he gave you his hoodie!?”
“ He gave her his hoodie hyung ,” Jungkook said, giving Jin an incredibly tight smile, “HiS hOoDiE.” “I’m aware of what a hoodie is Kookie,” Jin said calmly, “Do you want me to wash it Morgan? Get all the germs off?”
“What?! No way,” I gasped, hugging the hoodie to me. Jimin looked ready to burst at the seams given that he was smiling so hard, while his boyfriends looked ready to burst at the seams given that they were so tense.
“Morgan’s got a boyfriend,” Jimin sang, poking me in the side as I continued to smile.
“Not until she’s 25,” Jin hissed.
Namjoon rolled his eyes. “Oh please Jin, do you want me to go down the list of things we’d accomplished in our relationship by the time you were 25 ?”
“NO!,” we all shrieked as Namjoon cackled happily at his boyfriend’s beet red face.