Chapter 14 The Fair

I woke up the next day on the couch. Namjoon had stayed until late so we could finish the season. But I don't remember finishing the season or falling asleep with a blanket on me.

I looked around the room to see Murphy was laying on his doggy bed, fast asleep. On the clean coffee table was a note. I got confused, again. I don't remember cleaning up before I feel asleep. I grabbed the note and read it.

Ana, You fell asleep right before the last episode. I cleaned up the rest of the snacks. Be ready by eleven, I'll be back to pick you up. Can't wait to see you.

I smiled. That's right I had a date with Namjoon today. Once I remembered that, I checked my phone. I had texts from Captain and Jones. They both said me it was okay for me to not go to the interview and that Jones was okay to do it on his own.

Since I had some spare time, I spent my morning cleaning my apartment. After I had finished, I started to get ready for my date. I took a quick shower before I got dressed. I dressed a pair of dark wash jeans, a ribbed white blouse, and a brown leather jacket with matching ankle boots. I threw my hair into a messy low bun so I wouldn't have to dry my hair. I looked through my makeup bag trying to find anything that would look good. I quickly realized that I'm not good a makeup, so I only put on mascara, blush, and lip gloss.

I found Murphy at his food bowl. He was munching away at the food I put in there after I cleaned my apartment. I walked up to him. Once he heard me get close to him, he turned and looked my way.

"How do I look, Murph?" I asked. I spun around as if I was showing an actual person. "Is it too casual?" Murphy just stared as me as he ate. "Thanks, Murph."

I walked over to my bag that I take to work. I took out my wallet so I could take a smaller and cuter bag. I found a white shoulder bag that was in the back of my office closet to put my wallet, phone, keys, and lip gloss into.

I looked to the clock on the stove to see that Namjoon should be arriving soon. I turned to Murphy who just stared at me from next to his now-empty food and still-full water bowl.

"Okay, Murphy," I said. "I'm headed out soon. Remember Namjoon from last night? He's taking me out for the day. I'll be back tonight for our walk."

I picked up Murphy and kissed his head as he licked my cheek. As I gave love to my dog there was a knock on the door.

I placed Murphy down. I walked over to open the door. Namjoon stood there, and he looked as handsome as ever. He wore a beige top with vertical black stripes underneath a light wash jean jacket with matching light wash jeans, and blue and white Converse.

"You look beautiful, Ana," Namjoon said as he looked me up and down. "And I was beginning to believe that you didn't own a pair of jeans."

"Just because I've worn dress pants every time you've seen me, doesn't mean I don't have other things in my closet," I said.

"I've also seen you in pajamas. And as much as I would like to see what else could possibly be in your closet, we have a bit of a drive," Namjoon smirked.

"Okay, let's head out. Bye, Murphy!" I called as I closed the door behind me, locking it.

Namjoon and I left my building and walked to the car where JK waited in the driver's seat. Namjoon opened the door and gestured for me to enter. I smiled and watched as he jogged to the other side and got in.

"How are you, JK?" I asked as I put on the seatbelt.

"I'm good," JK said as he pulled into traffic. "But I could be better if I didn't have to drive you two lovebirds around."

"Yeah, I've been saving up for my dream car since I was sixteen," I said. "I'll get there soon enough."

"What's your dream car, Ana?" Namjoon asked.

"BMW X5. It's been the same car since I was sixteen, but college and an apartment were kinda forerunners," I shrugged.

"I would have thought that a dream car would be like a Lamborghini or Maserati," JK said.

"Yeah, well I think rationally. With my salary I would never be able to afford a car like that," I said.

"Do you know how much money we make?" JK asked. "A Lamborghini could be like pocket change."

"JK, shut up and drive," Namjoon snapped.

"Yes, hyung," JK said, obediently.

Silence fell in the car as JK focused on driving and Namjoon just looked out the window. The silence was almost suffocating me. I couldn't just sit here like this.

"So where are we going?" I asked to break the silence.

"Outside of town there's a Tri-County Fair. They're not open until Thursday, but I pulled some strings and they're opening it for the two of us as a sort of test-run for the employees," Namjoon said.

"You need to stop spending so much money on these dates," I said.

"You're worth spending money on," Namjoon said while he gave me a loving look.

"Sure I am," I whispered and looked out the window.

The rest of the ride was silent. But this time I let it suffocate me. Namjoon was on his phone for the rest of the ride and JK just drove in silence.

When we got to the fairgrounds, I couldn't help but smile at the Ferris Wheel, joy rides, and colorful tents gracing the skyline. Namjoon and JK got out of the car and I rushed to follow them. The silent car ride was worth it.

"I was going to open the door for you," Namjoon said as he moved to my side of the car.

"Sorry, seeing the rides got me excited," I shrugged as I bounced on my toes.

Namjoon laughed as he grabbed a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and slipped them on. He then grabbed my hand and intertwined my fingers with his. He lead me to the entrance. There stood a short, plump man in a sweat-stained white shirt and sweat covering his red face. It was kind of chilly out, so he looked out of place.

"I'm assuming you're Mr. Kim?" the sweaty man asked nervously. He held out a hand to Namjoon.

Something new I'm learning today, Namjoon's last name was Kim. It fit him, strangely. But I couldn't help but wonder where the alias RM came from if it had nothing to do with his name.

"Yes, I am. You're Joe Peters?" Namjoon asked as he shook the man's hand.

"Yes. I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Kim. Though, to be honest, I never heard anything about a girlfriend," Mr. Peters said. His eyes flickered between Namjoon and I nervously. That makes sense, he knows who Namjoon is and if terrified on him.

"Yes, it's not something that I like to announce to just anyone," Namjoon said. "So I hope that you can keep this quiet."

"Of course," Mr. Peters nodded quickly. "My lips are sealed and so are my employee's. The two of you have a total run of fair. Any ride you want to go on or any game you want to play is open for the two of you. And I just have one question."

"What is it?" Namjoon asked, slightly annoyed.

"Who's he?" Mr. Peters asked as he looked directly past us to JK who stood a short distance behind us.

"My bodyguard. He's going to be following us. I don't want any of my enemies to try to attack us. It's just a precaution," Namjoon said, coolly.

"Of course," Mr. Peters nodded. "Well you two have fun. Let me know if you need anything, you have my number."

"Of course," Namjoon said.

"Thank you for this," I said.

Mr. Peters smiled and nodded at me before rushing off and out of sight.

"What do you want to do first?" Namjoon asked me with a smile. His tone was such a drastic change from talking with Mr. Peters.

"Let's just start with the closest ride then we can work to the back of the fairgrounds," I said.

"Are you sure you don't want to eat something first?" Namjoon asked.

"And risk throwing up on a ride? No thank you. We can eat after a few rides," I said.

"Okay. You're the boss today, Ana."

"I'm always a boss," I said with confidence. "Come on."

I pulled him into the fairgrounds and looked for the closest ride. It ended up being a ride called the Tornado. The ride had us strapped in a sphere-like position and in the middle of sphere was a disk that you spin to spin the sphere while going in a circle.

Namjoon and I strapped ourselves in, waiting for the ride to be started by the employee.

"How fast do you want to spin?" Namjoon asked.

"As fast as possible. It's been so long since I've been to a fair. I've missed this feeling," I said.

"As you wish," Namjoon said as he placed his hands on the disk. He smirked at me and I smiled at him.

The ride started and we began to spin the disk as quick as possible. As we reached the highest speed I started screaming in joy and Namjoon began to laugh. I could help but to stare as he laughed. He laugh was the happiest sound I've ever heard. I could listen to it for hours on end and not get bored of it. Just watching him smile and laugh while on this ride made me fall for him a little bit, though I wouldn't admit it to him.

As we got off the ride, I couldn't walk straight. Namjoon laughed as he held onto my arms to keep me from falling over.

"Careful there, Little Detective," he told me.

"Stop calling me that," I said as I straightened myself. "Who knows what people might think of when they hear that."

"I don't care," Namjoon said. "I think it's a cute nickname for a cute Little Detective." I looked at him, scrunching up my nose. "How about this? I'll call you Little Detective in private and when we're around you're co-workers."

"I can live with that, but if you call me it around anyone else and I'll-" I stopped talking to try to think of a good punishment for him.

"And you'll what?" Namjoon teased.

"Let me think about it," I said. "The only thing I can think of so far is not text or call you, or let you in."

"Yeah that won't work," Namjoon said. "If anything, I would just bust your door down and buy you a new one. Nothing in this world would keep me from you."

"Well, until I think of a punishment, let's go on that ride," I said. I pointed at the next ride, dragging him along with me. After the ride was over, I looked around and saw a cotton candy stand.

"Ooh! Cotton candy! Namjoon!" I squealed.

"What are you a child?"

"No, I just want cotton candy. Please?"

"Yeah, of course." We walked over to the stand and Namjoon and I picked up one each. He picked blue and I picked pink. The stand worker nodded to us, not saying a word.

"Hey, JK. Do you want some?" I called back to the boy who was fifteen feet behind us.

"I don't like sweets too much," JK called back.

"That's a lie," Namjoon called to him. "Take some JK."

"Okay, hyung," JK said before he shook his head and walked up to us.

"I've been meaning to ask, what does 'hyung' mean? JK always calls you that," I asked.

"It's what younger Korean men call an older brother or close friend," Namjoon said.

"Okay that makes sense," I said.

"Yeah, and I would call you noona, Anastasia," JK said, taking a bite of cotton candy. "It's what a younger male calls an older female."

"What would a female call someone older than them?" I asked.

"If it's a female, unnie," Namjoon said. "And if it's a boy, like me, you would say oppa."

"Do you want me to call you oppa?" I asked.

"No."

"Not even a litt-"

"No. God no. If I wanted my girlfriend to call me oppa, I would date a Korean girl. You on the other hand can call me anything besides that. Babe, Handsome, Stud, Daddy-"

"That ride looks fun!" I interrupted him pointing at a ride called Zipper.

"Why do you do that?" Namjoon asked. He pulled me to a stop . I turned to face him.

"Do what?" I wondered.

"Whenever I try to say something romantic or sexy, you always deflect it, changing the subject," Namjoon said. "It's starting to get annoying. I want to flirt with you and have you flirt back. I want to hear what you want to do to me. What you feel about me. Why can't you just be honest?"

"I don't know what I feel towards you Namjoon," I said I hid a bit behind my cotton candy. "It's something. But I don't know if it's a crush or love. I've never had a crush on someone before, never mind being in love. I only know what love feels like towards my family. And all I can tell you is that this feel different than that. You may see it as me playing hard to get, but I see it as trying to figure this out."

Namjoon smiled down at me. He raised a hand and stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers. "And I'll be with be around as long as it takes." I leaned my head into his in thanks. "Now, race you to the Zipper!"

He ran off and I followed right after him. My legs may be smaller than his, but they move faster than his. I barely beat him to the ride. I laughed at him as he gave me an unbelievable look.

"Well, get in, Handsome. I'm not going to wait forever."