"Why did it have to be so early?" Jin stretched and yawned as he got out of the van.

"Because that's what time they made the reservation for." RM was finishing off his coffee hoping it would wake him up.

"Oh come on guys, you got sleep on the flight yesterday. You just need to move around and get your blood flowing." Alex was throwing mock punches in the air like a boxer. She had them rolling their eyes as she laughed. They had landed in Sydney the day before. This morning they had scheduled a whale watching tour. She really hoped they saw some or it was going to be a huge let down.

"Yoongi, control your woman." Even Ji-Hoon had woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

"Excuse me, sir." Alex looked over at Yoongi and wiggled her eyebrows after saying his famous line from Bon Voyage. "His woman is just excited to see some whales. Now lets go get on the boat." They all headed over to load onto the boat and took their seats as the captain sailed off.

They were cruising through the waves with the sea air hitting their faces. The water was dotted with a handful of other tour boats looking to catch some whales in action as well. The guide had said it was a guarantee they would see some. After an hour, everyone was starting to doubt the guarantee, and they still had three hours left before the tour was over.

Suddenly, Jin rocketed off his seat as a ginormous whale crested out of the water blowing water through its spout. Everyone rushed to grab their phones and started taking pictures. It was the most amazing thing to see in person. Pictures and videos online didn't begin to encompass their actual size. Everyone watched as more whales joined the first one and swam around their boats as if they were craving the attention.

When the first set of whales had swam on everyone began chattering about how cool it had been. They ended up seeing two more groups before the tour ended and they headed back to dock. When they got to the cars Alex walked up to Jin and ruffled his hair, "See, aren't you glad you got up early?" She poked the end of his nose with her finger then hopped into one of the cars.

________

Back at the hotel, Alex was in her room working on her computer when she got a call from her mom.

Hey mom, what's up?

Alex, do you even look at social media anymore? Have you seen the article that came out today?

No not lately, we just left Mexico City yesterday, now we're in Sydney. What did I miss?

"American seen hanging with BTS is believed to be dating one of the members. They are calling her the mystery girl. ARMY responds in defense of their Bangtan Boys." The comments aren't exactly in your favor Alex. When are they going to release the documentary teasers? At least then they'll know who you are and won't question your presence with the guys.

Not for another few weeks mom. I'm sure it'll blow over with the next big headline.

Maybe, just make sure you're not in that one too.

OK, I gotta go, I'll talk to you later

She ended the call and stared out the window. This was the very thing she had been trying to avoid. Granted those rumors would be squashed when the teaser trailers came out, but then there would always be another tabloid, another story to follow the last one. She thought she had been careful, but maybe she would have to put in more effort to distance herself from the guys outside the hotel. She refused to cause them any unnecessary drama during their comeback.

________

That night, Yoongi was laying in his bed while thinking about the article the guys had shown him regarding Alex, the "Mystery Girl". He knew it would have bothered her, but she wouldn't say anything to him about it. They all knew the talk would die down once the teasers were released, but that didn't stop the fact that they would be under a microscope even more until then. This was going to hinder his time with Alex, which aggravated him.

Their relationship was just taking off, and he was still navigating the ins and outs of it while being an idol. How could he show her that they could still be a normal couple while avoiding the media? Even he didn't have an answer for that, but he was going to do everything he could to try. He grabbed his phone.

Ignore it

What?

That stupid article. Forget it even exists.

But it does, and we'll have to be more careful

I know, but we've got this

🙂

He wasn't convinced she was listening to him, but he would just have to bide his time until she got used to the way things were for now. They were walking this path together. He got under the covers and threw the blanket over his head, for tonight there was just sleep.