The following day, Alex was once again pulled out of her sleep by knocking on her door. Except this time, it was a mix of three or four different knocks. She rolled out of bed and hurried into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt as the knocking continued. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" She walked to the door and flung it open.

All of the guys stood outside of her doorway, smiles frozen on their faces as they took in the sight of her. Her mascara was running under her eyes, her hair was knotted on one side and sticking out, and she had put her shirt on backwards.

Jungkook pasted a fake smile on his face, "Oh. . . . Nuna . . . . you look so pretty in the morning."

She glared daggers in Jungkook's direction. "I told you all this was a bad idea." Alex peered over Tae's shoulder when she heard Yoongi's voice from the back of the group. He leaned around Tae, "I promise I told them not to wake you up, but they wouldn't listen."

Alex walked back into her room and went into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and cringed at her reflection. She grabbed a makeup remover cloth to clean her face up, then hurriedly switched her shirt around. When she came out, the guys were all still huddled in the doorway. "So what exactly are you all doing here this early in the morning . . . . awake?"

Jimin cleared his throat then proceeded with caution, he had the feeling he was dealing with a grumpy bear, "We wanted to take you out to eat with us. It's actually not that early, it's already the afternoon, and we just got done with practice."

"Oh." She smiled sheepishly at them. "Give me a few minutes and I'll be right out."

They waited in the hallway after she had closed the door on them. RM looked over at Yoongi, "Bro, I'm not going to lie, but that was a little scary."

Yoongi's shoulders were shaking from laughter. He knew she could get testy when she didn't get enough sleep. He replayed the image of her flinging the door open with only one eye open, her hair and clothes a mess. "I know. Isn't she great?"

A few minutes later Alex came back out. Any remanence of her former scary self had disappeared. Her hair was pulled up and she wore a long maxi dress with sandals. She crossed her purse over her shoulder then looked up at the guys with a bright smile, "OK! I'm ready."

They headed out on foot to a nearby street with food and shop vendors. The food tents were beckoning to Alex, she was starving. They found several things they wanted to try, so they bought 5 of everything and shared. Mortadella sandwiches, Brazilian hot dogs topped with cheese and mashed potatoes, pizza pastels, and churros. It sounded like a lot, but when you had seven grown men tagging along, nothing was left in the end.

They headed down to the shop vendors to see what kind of goodies they could find. Alex was perusing a jewelry stand while Jin had stopped at a table with wooden carvings of different statues and figurines. One of them caught his eye and he picked it up to look at it closer. He looked to the older woman who was running the stand, "What is this?"

"Ah, that is a creature from our local folklore. It is called Caipora. It can take the form of man or woman. It's job is to protect the forests and the animals of our country. They can even control the animals and resurrect injured wildlife. It is believed that if man upsets the balance, Caipora will lead them through false trails out of the woods or howl to scare them away. "

"Wow!" Alex had been standing beside Jin while they listened to her story.

Jin told the lady he wanted to buy the figurine. After paying, he turned to Alex and held the small statue out to her, "Here."

"Thank you, but what's this for?" She took the small figure from his hand.

"It reminded me of this morning when you came blazing out of your room. I figured if we must all share that scary memory, it's only right you have something to remember it by too."

Alex gave him a dry look as Hobi, who had been walking by, burst out laughing. "Thanks Jin, you really know how to make a girl feel special." Jin blew her his WWH famous kiss as he walked away to scout out the other stands.

Alex shook her head and chuckled as she put the figurine inside her bag. She looked around to see where the others were when she spotted Yoongi at a fruit stand. She walked over to him and peered over his shoulder. "You should buy some of those grapes."

His face almost hit hers when he turned to look at her. "I don't want grapes though."

"But I do." She smiled at him sweetly while fluttering her eyelashes.

He rolled his eyes and grinned, "Ok, grapes for the pretty lady." He paid for his items then they headed down the street. He pulled a grape off the stem and tossed it in the air above Alex's head. She was quick, and caught it in her mouth as it came down. Yoongi was impressed, "Nice!" He gave her a high five.

They found the rest of the guys huddled around a stand full of sunglasses. They were all choosing a couple of pairs and modeling them to decide which ones looked best. Yoongi strolled up to the table to see if there were any he liked, while Jimin snuck his hand into Yoongi's bag and stole some grapes. He caught Alex watching him and threw her a wink.

Alex felt her phone vibrate. It was Ji-Hoon.

How far did you guys get? I'm finally out of that meeting.

Head over to the second street with all the vendors.

We're half way through, just after the fruit stand.

A few minutes later Ji-Hoon had caught up with them. He grabbed something to eat at the next food stand they passed. The guys were ready to head back to the hotel, but Alex felt bad Ji-Hoon had just gotten there. "You guys go ahead and go back, we're going to keep looking for a little bit longer." Yoongi gave her a wink as he walked passed her on their way back.

She turned to Ji-Hoon, "So, how are things going on your end? Are the editors making more progress?"

"Yes, thankfully. They have the fourth episode roughed out already. They'll send us a copy to go over when it's ready." Ji-Hoon stopped to look at some paintings by a local artist before he moved on. "What about you? How are things on the love boat?"

Alex gave him a sarcastic smirk, "You know very well love is not in the equation. We're just feeling things out still, but it's going good."

Ji-Hoon knew better than to look at it from Alex's perspective. He had been watching the two of them together for weeks. Whether they wanted to admit or not, or maybe they hadn't realized it yet themselves, they were falling in love. He hoped for the both of them that it worked out. They were good for each other.

They came to the end of the street and decided to head back to the hotel. Alex felt guilty about spending so much of her time with the guys lately. She made plans with Ji-Hoon to get lunch one day next week when they were in Rio.

________

That Saturday, after the final concert in Sao Paulo, Alex was in her room packing to leave for Rio De Janeiro. Her phone vibrated on the night stand next to the bed.

Are you asleep?

Not yet, just finishing up some packing

I have something to ask you

. . . . I'm waiting in suspense

Will you go to dinner with me?

When we get to Rio?

😯

Yes!

Good, then it's a date

Night Lex

Night Yoongi

Alex wondered what had gotten into him. They hadn't really talked about dating before, even though she knew things were moving right along between them. Maybe her patience had finally paid off, and Yoongi was finally opening up.

________

You awake?

Yep, what's up?

:

Go check out this local article: estado.com.bra/world/entertainment/bts

:

OK

Alex already had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach as she clicked on the link. The page was an article about BTS in Sao Paulo, but specifically focused on a picture that was taken of Jin in the market the day before, handing an item he purchased to an unknown woman. Her back was turned to the camera so you couldn't see who she was, but it was enough to spark a headline. Alex slid down in her chair. "Ugh, why? Why?!"

OMG, Jin, I'm SO sorry!

OK, I forgive you.

Why am I forgiving you for?

Because of that article with you from the market yesterday!

Oh, that? Just ignore it. We're used to things like that.

Just ignore it?! But I feel horrible

It's not your fault, its just a part of our world.

It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last.

The trick is you just don't sweat it.

OK

It's what happens when you're world wide handsome, you know?!

😂