After spending an hour and a half of shopping, I returned to the hotel room and got cleaned up. I grabbed one of the bags and pulled out my new black backpack with a built-in charger and filled it with my wallet, charger, bottle of water, and glasses case. I grabbed my other bag that had the outfit that I was going to wear out tonight. I bought a pair of black shredded jeans with chains on the sides with a mesh design on the back pockets. My shirt was black with short white sleeves with a gold heart on the front. I got dressed and put on my black and white converse chuck taylors before putting on my black choker collar that had a silver heart hanging from it. I brushed and combed my hair, the red covering up most of the black, and put on some makeup and my black rimmed glasses. I took a few pictures and posted them online with the caption, "dinner night with my new friends" and put my phone in my pocket. I made sure that I had everything, grabbing my black jacket before walking out of my room and got on the elevator, riding it downstairs. I pulled out my phone and sent a message to the group chat saying, "Hey all. I'm headed to the restaurant. Your ride will be there soon. I've already got our table waiting for us. Can't wait to see you guys!" I walked outside to where my ride was and got in, the driver driving me to the restaurant.
Changkyun's POV:
Changkyun felt butterflies in his stomach as he got dressed after his shower. He was nervous about having dinner with Ashley, but he didn't know why. It's not like it was just them two alone, the entire group was going. He fixed his hair as someone knocked on the door. He opened it and Jooheon smiled. "Ready to go, man," he asked as Changkyun grabbed his phone. "Yeah. Ready as I'll ever be," he said before stepping out of his room. "Are you nervous? Relax, man. Tonight will be fun," Jooheon said as they got into the elevator and rode it to the lobby. Changkyun felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he pulled it out as Jooheon grabbed his and saw Ashley's message. "I think that we have a friend for life," Jooheon chuckled as Changkyun saw a notification for Twitter and checked it. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her pictures. "Wow, she dress like you," Jooheon teased as Changkyun rolled his eyes and they got off the elevator and joined the others who were hanging out in the lobby. "Finally! Everyone ready to go," Shownu asked and everyone nodded, "then let's get going."
Everyone walked outside and got into the van and took off to the restaurant. "I can't wait to see where we're going," Minhyuk said. "I wonder what's it like. Ashley said that she was a regular so it has to be good," Kihyun said. Changkyun stared out the window, looking at each building they passed, hoping to spot Ashley in front of one. "I.M. is so ready for tonight," Jooheon teased. "Yeah. He's trying to spot her before anyone else," Wonho chuckled. "I think that it's only fair if we let I.M. sit next to her," Hyungwon said and everyone agreed. Changkyun blushed at the thought of sitting next to her. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a lone figure with black and red hair and knew that it was her. "There she is," he blurted out, making everyone laugh as the driver did a U turn and stopped at the curb. Ashley was looking down at her phone, not noticing that they had arrived. They thanked the driver as they got out and started walking towards her, Changkyun growing a little nervous with each step closer to her. "Just relax and have fun," Wonho whispered to him, patting his shoulder. He took a few deep breaths and nodded as Jooheon walked ahead of everyone, reaching Ashley first.
Ashley's POV:
I hummed to myself as I played a game on my phone. I was standing in front of the restaurant waiting patiently for them to arrive. I stopped my game when I felt like I was being watched and looked up from my phone and turned to see Jooheon making a beeline towards me, arms wide open. "Hi, Jooheon," I giggled as he hugged me, picking me up and held me up like a prize. "I found her," he yelled out as everyone walked up. "Why are you like this," Kihyun sighed as Jooheon put me down. "Again, I love hugs so he's not bothering me," I giggled before hugging Kihyun, Minhyuk, Hyungwon, and Shownu. "Thank you again for inviting us out," Wonho said before hugging me. "It's no problem. I was free and you were free so I figured that we could hang out and enjoy dinner together," I said as I walked up to Changkyun and hugged him. "This will be fun," he chuckled nervously. "Relax. It's dinner with friends," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder, "we'll have fun and good food so I hope you guys brought a big appetite." "We're always ready to eat," Shownu smiled as I walked towards the door. "Trust me, the food here is amazing and I know that you guys will love it." Changkyun walked up next to me and reached for the handle. "Wait. I had a quick question," Kihyun said as I turned to look at him, "what's the limit of food we can order?" "No limit. Order whatever you want. They'll even make plates that you can take back to the hotel. I do it all of the time. That's how good the food is."
I turned around and saw a large, muscular man headed towards the door with a smirk on his face. He held out his hand to push open the door where Changkyun was still standing at, not caring that someone was standing there. I grabbed Changkyun's hand and pulled him towards me as the door swung open, hitting the wall hard, barely missing Changkyun, and bounced back. "Oops. Shouldn't have been in my way," the man chuckled as I glared at him. "Are you okay," I asked Changkyun who nodded as I turned my attention to the man who had his phone in hand. "Ashley! Can I take a picture with you," he asked, completely ignoring everyone around us. "You almost hit my friend that you clearly saw standing there and you have the nerve to ask me for a picture? Don't flatter yourself, honey. I suggest that you apologize to my friend, right now," I demanded, stepping up to him as Changkyun grabbed my arm. "It's okay. I'm fine," he whispered in English as I stared the man down. "You mess with my friends, you mess with me. Just because you're bigger than me doesn't mean anything. I can and will floor you right here, right now," I threatened, making the man shrink back. "I-I'm sorry, man. I didn't mean to do it," he stuttered. "Now, I suggest that you get out of my face right now." The man hurried off, not bothering to ask about a picture again. I sighed, shaking my head before looking at Changkyun with a smile. "You can let go now," I giggled as he looked down and realized that he was still holding my arm and let go. "Wow. I knew that you were fearless, but not that fearless," Wonho said. "I'm not going to sit around while people like that bully others. I just hope that little scene didn't ruin tonight for us," I said and everyone shook their heads as I sighed with relief. I turned to Changkyun and looked him over. "And you're sure that you're okay," I asked, patting his shoulder and arm. "Yeah. You pulled me away just in time. Thank you," he chuckled. "I have fast reflexes. That's very important in the wrestling business," I said, grabbing his hand before opening the door, keeping it open with my foot, "now let's enjoy dinner. I already know where our table is at so just follow me." I walked inside with Changkyun in tow as we walked towards a private area of the restaurant.
I waved to the familiar staff and a few customers who recognized me as I walked through the large restaurant. I opened a door that was away from the large crowds of people to reveal a private room that was only used for VIP customers who wanted peace and quiet while they ate. There were three large flat screen TVs on the walls and a large table with eight chairs in the middle. "Seat wherever you want. I'm going to go see the owner real quick and I'll be right back," I said, smiling at Changkyun before releasing his hand and walked away.
Changkyun's POV:
Changkyun watched Ashley disappear into the restaurant before walking into the room, shutting the door. He still felt the warmth of her hand on his as everyone sat down. "I.M., you'll sit here," Minhyuk said, pushing him towards a chair and forced him to sit in it. He looked over and saw an empty chair next to him, followed by Wonho, Hyungwon, Minhyuk, Shownu, Kihyun, and Jooheon sitting next to him. "That was crazy outside wasn't it," Jooheon asked. "Yeah. I'm just glad that no one was hurt, especially you, I.M.," Hyungwon said. "Yeah. She has some serious catlike reflexes," Wonho said. "I can tell that you two are hitting it off pretty well," Kihyun said, stating the obvious, "she held your hand all the way inside." "She was just worried about me. That's all," Changkyun said as the others laughed. "I think that you were more worried about her beating that guy up," Wonho chuckled. Changkyun pulled out his phone and went to YouTube, pulling up a video before showing the others. It was a compilation of Ashley's move sets in the ring. "Wow. She's awesome. Look, she knocked out that guy," Minhyuk said as they watched the video. "Note to self, don't make her mad," Kihyun said and the others agreed as Changkyun set his phone down as the door opened.
Ashley's POV:
I hummed to myself, carrying a tray full of drinks in one hand and menus in the other as I opened the door and walked inside. "I'm back with drinks and menus," I said as Shownu took the menus from me and passed them out to the others while I passed everyone drinks before taking a seat between Wonho and Changkyun, hanging my backpack on the back of my chair, "thanks, Shownu. I actually used to work here when I went to college, that's why I love it here. Everyone here is like my family." I stretched and grabbed my phone, using the camera as a mirror to fix my hair before Wonho leaned over with his phone in front of mine and took our picture. "First picture is free. Next time, I have to charge," I teased, sipping my drink. "I'll remember that for next time," Wonho chuckled as Changkyun cleared his throat, holding up his phone. I smiled and moved closer to him as he took our picture. "Send all pictures to me. I definitely want to have all of us together as my phone background." There was a knock before our waiter showed up, ready to take our orders. "Order whatever you want, guys. My treat so don't hold back," I told them before looking at the waiter, "I'll have my usual, please." "Are you sure? We could pay for our meals," Kihyun said and I nodded. "Of course I'm sure. This is a celebration to new friendships so let's have fun," I said as everyone gave their orders which Changkyun and I translated.
"Ashley, can I ask you a question," Minhyuk asked while we waited for our orders. "Go ahead. I'm an open book," I said, looking up from my phone. "What's the most craziest thing that you've done in your career," he asked. I sighed, chuckling as I thought about everything throughout my career. "Hmm. Let's see. Well, I jumped off a steel cage, landed on a steel ladder, I've been thrown in metal thumbtacks, and I've been through a lot of table," I named off from the top of my head, "oh! I've also had a cracked rib and still finished a match. I've gotten ran over by Big Show and Kane before. I've also dislocated my shoulder, popped it back into place and finished a match." Everyone looked at me in awe as I nonchalantly pointed out different parts of my body that I've had an injury as waiters came in and put down our orders until the table was completely full. Shownu took pictures of the food before we began to dig in. "Have you ever been to Korea," Changkyun asked and I nodded. "Plenty of times. It's one of my favorite places to visit and perform at. Wrestling takes us all over the world and different cities. Like tomorrow night, I have to catch a flight to Georgia for Monday Night Raw and I have to go to Florida the next week," I explained, "but luckily for me, I have a break coming up. I've been working my butt off and," I sighed, "no one really knows this, but I've been kind of working hurt so before it becomes any worse, I've asked to be written off which basically means that I'm being taken off TV for a while and I'm going to focus on myself for a while and then, I'll return to work soon." Changkyun sipped his drink as Jooheon cleared his throat, smiling. "Then how about you come hang out with us then," he suggested and Changkyun coughed and I pat his back. "I'm okay," he cleared his throat, trying to play it off, "why would you ask her that? She just said that she was hurt and need to take it easy." "It's fine, Changkyun," I giggled, "it's just a sprain, hopefully. I'm going to the doctor soon to check. Plus my version of taking it easy is staying busy as much as possible. I would love to hang out with you guys, but I don't want to like get in the way or anything like that." "You won't. It would be kind of cool to hang out with a wrestler a little while longer," Kihyun said. "I think the fans would love an interaction between us," Minhyuk said. "I think it should happen. She speaks perfect Korean and she could always translate and speak English to her fanbase," Hyungwon said. "Maybe we can suggest it to the Director," Wonho said, "but that's only if you say that you would want that." All eyes fell on me as I thought about it, Changkyun looking extremely hopefully. "Sounds like I have a trip to plan," I said and Jooheon stood up, walked over to me and hugged me. "My new partner in crime," he said, Changkyun immediately pouting. "I thought that I was your partner in crime," he pout. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to steal Jooheon from you," I giggled. "This means war," he declared as everyone laughed at us.
After dinner, we grabbed our to go plates and walked outside where our rides were already waiting for us. I put on my jacket as we prepared to say our good nights. "Thank you so much for dinner. That food was delicious like you said," Hyungwon said before hugging me. "Anytime. I love the food here, but if you want some mouthwatering food, you should let me cook for you," I giggled. "Only if I can cook with you," Kihyun said, hugging me. "Of course. I love having help in the kitchen." "I know that you said that you're leaving tomorrow night, but I was wondering if you had anymore free time to hangout again tomorrow. I feel like you're one of us," Minhyuk chuckled, hugging me. "I'm free all day tomorrow so I can hang out any time tomorrow. Doesn't matter what we're doing because I'm down for whatever." "Hmm. If that's the case, how about a little challenge," Wonho asked with a smirk as he gave me a hug. "I'm listening," I said as Shownu gave me a hug before Jooheon hugged me. "I want to see you do one of our dances with us," Wonho said as I hugged Changkyun and froze. "Are you serious," I said, hiding my face in his shoulder. "Yeah. I think that it'll be fun. We could each take turns dancing with you and recording it and letting the Monbebes vote on the best dancer with Ashley," Wonho explained as I moved away from Changkyun. "You know that I can't turn down a challenge," I sighed, "fine. I'm in. I have a studio that I go to for photoshoots and videos." Jooheon put his arm around my shoulders. "We will win," he said confidently as everyone laughed and declared that they would win. "Well we will see. You guys have a good night," I said, waving as I got into the car and was driven back to the hotel.
Changkyun's POV:
Changkyun watched Ashley get into the car and the car pulled off the curb, driving off. Jooheon put his arm around his shoulders as he turned him around and they walked towards the van. "That was fun, wasn't it," Jooheon asked as they got into the van and was driven back to their hotel. "Yeah. It was a lot of fun," Changkyun said with a smile. "And you get another full day with her tomorrow," Kihyun smirked. "Wait. Wonho, did you plan this," Changkyun asked. Wonho didn't say anything as he gave him a huge smile as Changkyun rolled his eyes and turned his head, hiding his smile from the others as they reached the hotel. They got out of the van and went inside, riding the elevator to their floor. "Good night, everyone. Get plenty of rest," Minhyuk said as everyone went their separate ways and went into their rooms. Changkyun showered and got dressed before getting into bed and looked at his phone. He smiled at the picture of him and Ashley, loving the beautiful smile on his face. "You really like her don't you," Hyungwon asked, sitting on the other bed. "I'm trusting you to keep this between us," he said and Hyungwon nodded, "I'm honestly thinking that I'm falling for her."