by: Free Bird
“Ladies and gentlemen welcome to Los Angeles,” said the pilot as they landed smoothly onto the runway of LAX. Usually the entire B.T.S. group would be excited for such an occasion, but RapMon and J-Hope had other plans.
They had both been longing for time away from work and performing. They felt that they deserved a much long needed break from the spotlight and the cameras. It had been far too long since either of them had the chance to just have a normal day in public.
“Alright J-Hope, just stick with the plan, and follow my lead.” While the entirety of B.T.S. equipped their face masks, J-Hope and RapMon put on sunglasses and hats to enhance their disguise. They weren’t trying to hide from the paparazzi, but their group, manager, and bodyguards. Escaping the first two may be simple, but getting away from their bodyguards… not so easy.
While they were waiting for the limos, J-Hope and RapMon used this opportunity to sneak away. “We need to go to the bathroom.” J-Hope feigned shakiness as his knees buckled. To RapMon it was obviously faking, but good thing their bodyguard was slightly dense.
“Okay, ten minutes.” The two of them cleared away from the group and headed back inside the airport.
Once inside the bathroom they did a muffled cheer trying to contain their excitement for the day ahead. Their cheering was cut short after they had forgotten to check if they were alone in the bathroom. They were not.
In front of them was none other than Big Bang’s G-Dragon. All three of them were frozen in place until G-Dragon broke the silence. “You’re trying to run away aren’t you?” He had a smirk on his face.
J-Hope looked at Rapmon from the corner of his eye, hoping he would say something. “Yes.” He stood more dignified. “We are.” G-Dragon smiled and sighed with relief. “Good, I’m glad I’m not the only one.” The B.T.S. duo smiled and felt glad that they had another friend along for the ride. They all did a small group hug and broke.
“Okay but first G-Dragon, you’re going to have to put this mask on.” RapMon handed him an extra face mask from his bag. “We have to be fully incognito.”
G-Dragon grabbed it but hesitated slightly. “Is this used?” RapMon groaned. “Yeah, like once.” He wasn’t too fond of the idea putting on the mask, but for the sake of getting out he had to.
“Alright, I’ll call this uhhh…” J-Hope struggled to pronounce it. “Ooo-berr” His face scrunched. “I hear Americans use this a lot nowadays to get around.”
They staggered exiting the bathroom to avoid suspicion and met near one of the exits to the terminal. They had noticed that some of the body guards had now begun to spread out and search for them. To hide they tried to huddle in with some people waiting for one of the buses. Soon enough people got behind them and they stood undetected.
They all sighed in relief as the coast became clear. “Did you bear? B.T.S. is just landed like an hour ago?” Some fans were gossiping over their phones next to them. All of them instinctively pulled their face mask higher on their faces.
Soon enough J-Hope received a notification that Raj is here in a red pick-up truck to pick them up. He signaled the other two and the trio walked off to the street. They scanned the area before spotting the vehicle.
RapMon stopped himself before he was able to get into the passenger seat. On it were piles of C-Ds and old cassette tapes. “Ah! Sorry about that! I have a habit of hoarding old music.” He chuckled. “There should be plenty room for you boys in the back.”
They all huddled in, RapMon and G-Dragon suffocating J-Hope as he sat in the middle. “Comfy?” Their driver asked. J-Hope gave a muffled “Mhm!” Raj smiled and took it genuinely. Everyone buckled up and they were on their way.
“So is this your first time in L.A.?” Raj asked the group. “Nah, we’ve visited numerous times before.” RapMon answered him. “Oh I see, where are you from then?” He looked at them through the rear view mirror. “Hard to guess judging by your masks.”
“Korea.” G-Dragon answered this one. “Ahhh Korea! I get lots of Koreans some times.” He chuckled heartily thinking of a story. “I always get these girls who are obsessed with K-Pop.” The group’s eyes became shifty.
“Do you know B.T.S.? They’re real popular here in Los Angeles.” G-Dragon chuckled while the other two averted their gaze away from the driver. “Yeah we’ve heard of ‘em. They’re alright in my opinion.” The duo elbowed G-Dragon in his sides. He winced and added onto his previous comment. “But I gotta admit, they sure are pretty popular.” RapMon and J-Hope looked content.
RapMon felt a little bad for acting slightly conceded. “Have you heard of Big Bang?” J-Hope took notice of what he was trying at. “They may be out of their prime but you should definitely give them a listen!” No one could see each others’ faces through the mask, but they were all smiling. “Is that so? I’ll have to see if they have any Korean CDs.”
As the drive continued they were further and further straying away from the big city part of Los Angeles to the outskirts. The buildings were much lower, infrastructure was less maintained, graffiti, and maybe a shady person every couple of blocks. “Alright this is your stop!” Raj unlocked the door and waved to them as he drove off.
Three Korean pop stars were now stranded in the middle of downtown L.A. with the sole goal of having a normal day. “You know I’m kind of having some second thoughts about this.” J-Hope stood behind RapMon and G-Dragon. “Did you have to choose such a dangerous part of the city?”
“Look, realistically we would get noticed instantly if we were in the main part of L.A.” RapMon gave J-Hope a gentle nudge away. “Besides we can hold our own. Right guys?” He smiled trying to instill confidence into them. They grimaced, knowing full well they may or may not be capable of handling things. “Oh boy.”
To be continued….
The California sun beat down on them hard. While RapMon had been used to the harshness of the climate, J-Hope and G-Dragon were both unused to it. As they continued to the nearest hotel it didn’t take long for them to ditch their outer layers. They felt confident that no one would recognize them in this part of town.
All three of them now had simple tees on and felt very content feeling the breeze on their skin. Almost immediately they had grabbed the attention of the L.A. people, in particular the women. It wasn’t often a group of vibrant young handsome men, especially Korean ones, casually walked around these parts.
As they continued walking they had noticed the stench of the streets. Unlike the cleaner and more maintained streets of their home country, downtown L.A. was more of the opposite. There was tobacco and smoke. The sidewalk was cracked and uneven. There was graffiti on stopped trains and they all held onto their pockets as they walked past some shady people. There was less fear however, as they were somewhat enjoying this newfound thrill of the true “streets”.
Their gamble that they would remain anonymous had worked. It seems that the light of K-POP had not shined too brightly in these areas. However they still had to be on guard now.
“Hey guys check this out!” J-Hope opened up his phone to his social media was kind of freaking out. People were finding out two members of B.T.S. and Big Bang leader G-Dragon were missing. Their sweat of heat then turned to worry. “We have to find a place to stay ASAP.”
They finally turned around the block and entered a family owned hotel joined called Oasis. To the boys it seemed very inviting from the lit bright blue sign, offers of a pool, and most importantly of all, air conditioning.
It was euphoric getting that initial blast of cool air from the inside after spending nearly two hours in the California sun. All three exhaled a single “Ahhh…” in unison. After they had acclimated to the temperature of the room they stepped forward to the front desk where a young girl had fallen asleep on the front desk. Her nametag read “Kim”.
J-Hope dinged the call bell once to no reply. He then hit it multiple times in succession to finally awaken the receptionist. “Oh! I’m so sorry I fell asleep,” She fixed her hair and clothes. “It’s just we usually don’t get customers these days.” She stood up to look attentive and put on a genuine smile. “How are you today? Are you looking to stay?”
RapMon answered with his best English, “Yes we are. We want to stay for a night.” Kim replied “Of course! We’d be happy to have you three tonight.” She registered them into her computer and handed them their keys. “Before you go don’t forget we have our house-made lunch and dinner.” The boys were also then reminded that they have not had a single bite to eat since they landed and were rightfully starving.
“We will definitely try it after we settle down.” The three of them proceeded to their room, which was the closest to the reception area. In fact this hotel was quite small. There were only six rooms, none of which were occupied.
They opened their door and were greeted by a cozy little place. “Hey! At least the view is nice.” J-Hope ran to the window showcasing their view of the graffiti wall of the adjacent building. Both G-Dragon and RapMon gave him a death stare.
G-Dragon made a judgment of the room. It was quite well maintained yet undisturbed. He felt a little bad as it seemed that she ran the entire place herself. He collapsed into the bed and was surprised by the soft embrace of the mattress. “I haven’t felt this kind of comfort since I was home…” He closed his eyes and imagined his mother coming in to tuck him in. Had it not been for J-Hope jumping on the other bed he would have certainly dozed off for hours.
“This is so bouncy!” He was jumping like a child. He however wasn’t small like one. RapMon pressed into the mattress synchronized with his jump. “Ow sh.t!” J-Hope’s head smashed into the ceiling and made a small indent. Dry wall and dust fell onto the bed.
“Woops…” RapMon covered his mouth with regret while J-Hope was rubbing the spot on his head where he hit the ceiling. G-Dragon was fully aware at this point and was rubbing the bridge on his nose.
They all looked up and noticed the profound indent J-Hope’s head made. “We can pay for that.” RapMon said. “Uh no. You’ll pay for that.” They chuckled. There was a knocking on the door from Kim. “Is everything okay in there?”
They all beamed at the door. “We are okay! Everything is good!” RapMon assured her. “Are you sure? That sounded kind of bad. I should come in.” She began to unlock the door with her master key.
“No no!” G-Dragon held the door knob shut. RapMon yelled, “We are naked!” Kim immediately unhanded herself from the door and ran back. “I’m so sorry please take your time!” She covered her flushed face.
Kim usually kept her manner when attractive men came through. But whenever she came close to them when they were indecent, she would lose her cool. And these boys she could tell were Korean. And little did the boys know, she was quite the K-POP fan.
“Phew, that was a close one…” G-Dragon turned around to a half-naked J-Hope and RapMon. “Why are you…?” He looked at them with confusion. They hurriedly pulled their clothes back on. “Just in case, if she actually came in we would actually be naked!” G-Dragon sighed.
“I don’t know about you guys, but some food sounds real good right now.” RapMon rubbed his stomach. “I need some ice.” J-Hope’s head still hurt from the jump. G-Dragon put his arms around the two of them and huddled them in. “C’mon! Let’s fuel up and get ready for our night in L.A.!”
