#Under(the)mask | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kmpac · 2 years ago

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➸ Rated All (For part 1 at least)

➸ Summary: You have work to do, but a certain mascot keeps dropping in to brighten your day. OR how you fell for a professional football mascot.

➸ Word count: 7K

➸ Pairing: JK x reader

➸ Genre: Rom Com Meet Cute stuff, but will get spicy later

➸ Warnings: I don’t limit my language, and so my characters don’t either. Awkward OC. Takes place at a blood drive…?

➸ A/N: So this is kind of based on real life events, if they got flirty. LOL.

______________________

It was just your luck that all the parking spots on the street were already taken.

You weren’t one to mindlessly rove the aisles to find the closest spot to park. Usually, you just pulled into the first spot you came across and walked from there, with little regard for how far away it was. However, when you were going to the stadiums, it was either park on the street or you may as well park a million miles away for how long you had to foot it. And this wasn’t an ordinary day, anyway. Forget the fact that you were at the local football stadium, which was a rare event for you anyway (not that you didn’t like attending games, but gosh those tickets were expensive), this was a unique situation for many reasons.

Parking a million miles away, you turned off your car and could already hear the wind and feel it whipping your car. Checking your watch, you were right on time, which really meant you were 15 minutes late because of the walk you had ahead of you, so you decided to pull up your big girl britches, as your mom would say, and fling the door open.

Before you were even fully out of the car the obscenities were already flying and you didn’t have the energy or the interest to check to see if anyone was around to hear you. You were here in a work capacity, but you always had that toxic trait that extreme discomfort always overrode any other considerations in your brain.

The street parking was looking even better about now, as you flung open yet another door on your car to grab your overlarge satchel bag, the yard signs, and your backpack from the backseat. Fumbling as you normally do, you did your best to perform as though you had ten arms instead of two as you tried to hold your composure and look perfectly put together like the boss bitch you were. Unfortunately, it very quickly crumbled when you reached to grab your keys to lock your car and everything fell out of your arms.

“Great, y/n. Nothing like being bent over the dirty cement in a skirt with 90 mile per hour winds,” you grumbled to yourself. Completely on brand, you managed to drop everything 3 more times before you got fully situated to make your way to the door in your sensible heels.

For about the 50th time since you took this job, you wondered if you would have taken it had you understood what all it entailed. I mean, sure, you worked for the leading Children’s Hospital in the Tri-State Area, for the head of Marketing and Communications, in a field and for an organization that saved people’s lives, and not just any people, but babies! It was incredibly rewarding work and meant that you went to bed each night feeling accomplished and emotionally fulfilled. That was never the problem. It was more the side effects of being a clumsy, ridiculously awkward, annoying introvert and working as the personal assistant to the most glowing and un-awkward human alive. And you swore, the harder you tried to act normal, the weirder you would act and the more embarrassing you would be. Like Elyse Meyers, but not as charming.

Today was an important day though, because your boss was hosting a blood drive in partnership with the local sports teams for an informational initiative surrounding sickle cell patients. Your hospital was the smoking gun because children always spoke more profoundly to the public. You all were expecting hundreds of donations of blood before it even struck Noon.

By the time you made it to the building your fingers were numb and your knees were knocking, but you immediately started thawing upon entry, only to be mauled by your boss.

“Where have you been?” Before you could answer she was launching into more commentary as you sat your things down on the entry desk next to your teammate who obviously arrived before you and looked smug. “The editor of the Times is already here, as are all 4 main news affiliates. You should have been here before them. You know this.”

“I’m sorry, I had to run back to the office to get all the materials. Then, I hit traffic and once I got here all the front spots were gone and I had all of this to bring in,” you said, indicating the signs and tools for the check in table.

“Those aren’t in the ground yet?” Your boss practically yelled at you when her eyes landed on the signs.

“That was the next thing on my list of to dos!”

“Please, I’m begging you. Get it done immediately and get back in here. We have interviews and I need you taking photos for our Facebook and IG pages. Go!”

You rushed off to do your boss's bidding. You knew it would be hell to pay when you got there. Your teammate, the aforementioned smug-faced bi…brat, also known as Jane, had left behind the packet of materials the last time she was in the office and called you with zero time to spare to ask if you could stop by to get it because you lived closer to the office than she did. You couldn’t argue with the logic, though you wondered how much of an “accident” it truly was. You weren’t generally a grudge holder, but you were going to watch that one.

As Jane had been assigned front desk duties for today, she sat quietly gossiping with Event staff, while you were taking 3 signs out to put in the ground to indicate to donors where to enter.

The wind hadn’t calmed even slightly, but you only had enough time to partially thaw anyway, so what difference did it really make anyway? You found a good spot and started working the sign into the frozen ground to the best of your ability. Struggling, more like, as you also tried to hold the other two signs under your arm as you shoved the first with all your might into the ground. The cold metal burning through your skin like a brand, but you ignored the pain in favor of the goal.

You finally decided to throw the other two to the ground as you jumped up on the cross rungs on the first sign to try to use your own body weight to push it into the ground. No dice.

With another rough gust of wind, you finally got the first sign in the ground, just as the first two took flight from the gust and began running away from you across the street.

“No!” You shouted feebly, until a hand reached down and caught the two signs and lifted them toward you.

Staring down at you from a short distance, was a ridiculously tall silent visitor with the head of an animal and giant googly eyes.

“Oh, hi Wolfie,” you said in introduction to the man in the mascot costume. This particular mascot face was as familiar to you as the team he represented. As a local for your whole life, it was a welcome and calming face to see, even frozen in a fake smile. “Thanks for your help.”

You reached for the signs and as you took them he mimed shivering to indicate that you must be cold.

“Yeah, it’s a bit chilly, but I’ve got to get these in the ground before donors show up. Are you staying for the event?” You asked. Wolfie ignored the question. Instead, he took one of the signs back from you and started walking to the other side of the street as though to continue your work for you.

“Oh, that’s nice of you but you don’t have to do that!”

But there was no deterring him. You had to admit though, after determining the best place to put it, it took him less than a second to get it into the ground, as opposed to your own struggle to do the same.

“Wow. That was impressive.”

At that he rushed back over in his oversized shoes, with the wolf gloves on his hands to take the other sign from you and quickly march over to the other side of the sidewalk to input the third sign. He pointed to one spot and then another and then another spot again and then tipped his head in question in a way both hilarious and adorable and you showed him where to go though you objected to his help even as he was putting it in the ground. His antics had you giggling, and he seemed to enjoy it because he continued to act silly to make you laugh.

After he was done, he ushered you back toward the building with aplomb, and with a laugh you preceded him in. The staff and your teammate sitting inside seemed surprised to see you laughing and chatting away with a 7-foot-tall mascot, especially as he continued to stay silent but for the sound of his googly eyes shaking. The instant self-consciousness returned and before you even had time to mentally process it, your whole being had already transferred back to professional mode. Checking your watch and finding the nearest staircase, the anxiety of the moment returned and a To Do List repopulated in your brain.

With anxiety in every pore of your body you remembered your priorities and went diving in your bag for your phone and clipboard of photo consent forms and talking points, so you could get back to work.

Just before you left to take the escalator behind the front desk, you glanced back and saw Wolfie there, still smiling the fake mascot smile, but somehow you read deeper thoughts going on behind those googly eyes. He had helped you, graciously, kindly. He hadn’t needed to. He simply did. You always knew you liked that adorable wolf face, but now you knew the person behind it was a sweetie too.

You smile and wave and say, “see ya ‘round, Wolfie.” And then you head off to get more work done.

_____

It is some hours later after interviews are over, donors are flooding in, photos have been taken, consent forms received from those photographed, that you are taking a quick break to get a bite to eat in the commons area. It is quiet at this time, since it isn’t anywhere near lunch time. You rarely ever eat during regular lunch hours anyway, so you feel right at home. You are watching a video on your phone about ancient aliens because you love conspiracy theory stuff even though you don’t believe any of it. You are eating a banana chip and humming lightly to yourself when you hear a crash in the kitchen/concession booth across from where you are sitting. You become aware that you aren’t alone and turn the volume down on your phone, but when you look up to see who it is, all you see is an empty room. That is until a familiar pair of googly eyes appear from above the counter to the concession booth.

You instantly laugh as he shakes his head making the googly eyes shake. The funniest part is knowing the man’s actual face is in the throat of the giant mascot head, meaning he is miming all of this without being able to see anything other than the back side of the kitchen counter. That thought alone makes you laugh harder, and his (actual) head clears the top.

In true professional mascot fashion, he plays to the laughter as he mimes one of his famous dances and rolls onto the counter. He then proceeds to fall off the counter in front of the kitchen and try to brush himself off and act cool. All of which has you in stitches, not least of which because you know it is all an act. He clearly carries himself like someone very coordinated and put together, who uses that performance gene to really play up his own physical comedy. You know this being someone who is not very coordinated OR very put together but has to actually try hard to look like you do. It is almost like a sixth sense to note the opposite trait in another person. Or maybe you are just able to pick up on his unspoken body language because you also know without doubt that he is smiling widely as you giggle at his display.

“How is your day going so far?” You ask, even knowing he won’t answer with words. He shows you the thumbs up and nods his head dramatically.

After helping you with the yard signs, you saw him often during the interviews and photo ops, because he’s the mascot, after all. He has to run around making everyone cheery and laugh and he was good at it. But every once in a while, he would look your way, and wave or do something silly to catch your attention and make you laugh. He even once distracted a group of reporters when you dropped your clipboard and scattered what felt like 100 pages of paper across the floor that you, embarrassed and ashamed, had to pick up and sort before your boss called you over for more photos. And he did that just to draw eyes away from you and let you wallow on the ground in peace.

“Gosh, you are positive,” you say in awe. “I can’t imagine it is very comfy inside that suit and you’ve been here as long as me…or longer, I guess. I don’t know exactly when you got here.”

He waves you off as if to say it’s no big deal.

“No, I’m serious! I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off and here you are enjoying yourself and being positive.”

He tips his head to his hand that rests on the table and just stares at you. It is at once unnerving, but also incredibly comfortable. A weird, unsettling combination.

“Well, anyway.” You smile widely in answer. “It’s a good reminder! And I appreciate it. I appreciated your kindness and positive energy this morning. It was a whirlwind and you helped make it less stressful.”

He stuck his hand out to give you a high five and you couldn’t help but laugh again before you enthusiastically smacked your hand against his.

As if to change the subject, he leaned across the table as if to see what was on your phone, without actually taking a peek, as if he was miming the question without actually intruding.

“Oh gosh, don’t tease me, but I’m watching Ancient Aliens. I love this show, it’s so weird and these guys really do their research, even though it is all hocus pocus…” you said as you continued to babble and showed him the phone, describing the latest episode and theories on the use of gold deposits to fuel ancient aircraft. He didn’t seem to mind, if anything he seemed quite comfortable listening to you babble, so you just kept going.

“Have you had lunch?” You ask him when you feel you’ve exhausted the subject and are probably annoying him like you do to everyone. He still makes no sound aside from the jiggle of his googly eyes, but he shrugs his shoulders in answer. “Just because you are in a mask doesn’t mean you don’t need to eat.” You pass him your uneaten cookie, “Here you can have my cookie.”

Something in your tone or demeanor seems to surprise him with that statement, as he nearly breaks character, turning his head and coughing. It’s the first indication of a voice from him and at least now you know it definitely is a male under there.

“If it makes you feel better,” you say in response to his cough, “I’ll look away so you don’t blow your cover.”

You laugh as you push the cookie across the table to him and cover your eyes. “Your secret is safe with me!”

But the silence that meets your laughter is followed by a pair of fuzzy gloves grabbing your hands to pull them away from your eyes and when you open them, you see his head tilted to the side in question. The warmth of his hands in his gloves combined with his quiet confidence and calming presence stops the giggles and you can’t look away from where you know his eyes are looking back at you. His actual eyes, not the googly eyes.

There is something in the silence like understanding, from both sides, that is charged with some unnamed energy that at once makes you nervous but equally makes you want to laugh, because, I mean, he’s a grown man in a wolf costume.

But is he a grown man? Maybe he’s a teenager or a college kid, or any level of immature man baby, you don’t know. You don’t even know what he looks like under there, but somehow it doesn’t even matter because the way he has treated you today has been spectacular.

It seemed like every time you saw him so far this morning, he had gone out of his way to brighten your day, and it had worked. So did it really matter what he looked like? Not really.

“Y/n, are you in here?” You heard your boss’s voice from the entry to the commons. Your head and Wolfie’s both swiveled around together to see your boss rushing toward you in haste.

“I’m sorry, I know you are on lunch break, but the players just arrived and Channel 8 wants an exclusive interview between Paul and the players. We need more marketing coverage for the website and socials, and Jane has already left for the day.” Honestly, how does that girl still have a job, you thought, but would never say out loud. Paul, meaning the CEO of the Hospital who had arrived only a few hours ago and who literally held your entire career in his hands, waited for no one. Lunch or not, it was time to get back to work, which meant leaving Wolfie once again.

You acknowledged your boss with a “I’m done anyway.” A lie. And proceeded to throw the rest of your uneaten food back into your bag. Wolfie gave you judgmental eyes through it all, which you could feel, though you wouldn’t be able to see it, even if you looked at him. But just before you left, he waved in front of your face and when you looked at him, he drew a smile with his fingers in front of his real face, breaking character for sure this time, and you smiled at the sentiment.

Smiling widely to reward him for his efforts, you grabbed your bag to leave. Resting your hand on his arm in thanks, you took your leave in the same silence he inhabited.

____

It was another hour or so before the talent and your C-Suite level boss left and you could finally breathe. Not only were you in the presence of your skip skip skip level boss, but you were also star struck from the players in attendance. A Hall of Famer that you grew up watching on TV as well as one of the hottest new players on the current team were in attendance and donating too! It was all quite overwhelming for you and your humble sensibilities.

You had also spent time talking to donors and hearing stories of how donations had impacted their own lives and it reminded you of why you loved what you did for a living, even as it overwhelmed you. Your boss had talked at length with you about the stats and impact of the work you all did today so far, and you could tell. It was amazing how each time a news station went live on TV you immediately felt the impact in the boost to walk-ins.

It was nearly 10 hours into the day and there had already been 4 pickups of donations when you and your boss were finally taking a load off at the front desk. You hadn’t quite kicked up your feet or anything, but you may as well have for how relaxed you both got. Your boss could be tough, but she was equally easy going when the times called for it. Slouching in your seat and closing your eyes for a while was not only encouraged at this point, she equally participated in it.

Event staff for the stadium made up the background music as your eyes were closed. Their quiet laughter soothed your mind as they discussed the autographs they got from the players who were on site. It was like a family barbecue rather than a job as they discussed different players they had met over the years and different funny anecdotes from each encounter. You couldn’t help it, but you were almost asleep after the long day, and the quiet chatter. It was like a lullaby to your exhausted mind.

“What the heck is he doing?” Your boss asked in a whisper, not necessarily to you, but close enough that your curiosity got the better of you.

As you opened your eyes, you saw her looking through the windows that looked into another entry space of the stadium where a group of people were looking around confused as if trying to find something in particular. But suddenly you saw your friend Wolfie running up to them, waving his arms and doing his signature dance moves. The group were clearly laughing and waving phones in the air in a way that meant they were asking for photos with him.

“Oh, Wolfie is so nice.” One of the staff said. “They do tours of the stadium, but Korey Ann was running late for her shift, so I think he is keeping them busy until she gets here.”

You couldn’t hide your fondness from your smile, nor did you want to.

“By the way, did you find his…um….gift from earlier?” The same staff asked, looking directly at you. Confused by the question, you looked around trying to find who they might be talking to but found only other faces looking directly at you and laughing.

“Gift?”

“Check your photos on your phone.” Another staff shouted from across the lobby.

Confused, you pulled out your phone and unlocked it, and immediately saw exactly what they were referencing.

Your camera app was still open because you had been taking pictures all day, but in the preview in the bottom corner you didn’t see a thumbnail of a donor or your CEO or even one of the players who came to donate.

No.

The picture was of Wolfie. Wolfie holding up two fingers like a peace sign in a typical selfie pose.

“Oh god,” you said as the room around you started laughing, even your boss. You couldn’t open your photos fast enough. What greeted you were probably hundreds of selfies of the Wolf mascot, in various locations in the stadium hall.

“You really shouldn’t leave your phone unlocked and unattended,” your boss said with a laugh.

“You knew?” You asked her. She only laughed in response. You thought back to the few times throughout the day that you placed your phone down whether to grab something, help someone, or do really anything that required more than one free hand and you immediately put all the dots together. You had long ago set your phone to have no timeout mode from inactivity, so if you sat it down without locking it, it would just remain open indefinitely. It was a setting you deliberately chose because you spent so much time reading on your phone and the timeout drove you insane. It was a setting you now instantly regretted.

Your phone was FULL of photos of the mascot. Each one was funnier than the last. Some photos were of him alone, others included staff of the stadium or the hospital; some were posed, some candid. No wonder everyone knew about it except you. The more you looked through the photos, the more incredulous you got. And yet, conversely and somehow equally, the more you looked the more impressed you got. How did he manage to get this many photos? Your phone wasn’t unattended THAT long. Not to mention, the difficulty of using the touch screen in a pair of thick wolf gloves!

You glanced into the adjacent entryway to see Wolfie silently miming a cackling laugh as he covered his mouth with his hand and raised his shoulders repeatedly in an over-dramatization of laughter. Clearly, he was witnessing your discovery of his little present.

You over-dramatized anger back by pouting and putting your hands on your hips aggressively. This only seemed to make him laugh harder, but this time much more naturally as his shoulders and posture relaxed back and he rolled onto the heels of his feet.

The room around you laughed as well and erupted into stories of how he narrowly missed getting caught by you on multiple occasions. You couldn’t take your eyes from the man in the Wolf suit, though. He was trying to mime to you to keep looking through the photos, but you were more interested in getting him to come over to answer for his crimes. His responding miming indicated he was a bit busy with tour groups. You couldn’t help but be even more endeared by it. Damn him.

Even as he was waving his hands around to show he was busy a little girl came up tapping him on the leg to get his attention. He instantly went into entertainment mode: making his googly eyes jiggle, doing his game day dance, and patting the little girl’s adorable cheeks with his fuzzy gloved hands.

You melted at the look on the little girl’s face, a look both nostalgic and magical, remembering your own personal feelings upon meeting mascots when you were a little kid. And Wolfie was perfect, just as he should be at that moment. He made the little girl laugh at just the right moments, and posed for endless photos with the little girl, letting her practically climb all over him as he sat on the ground to be at her level. Her parents scolded her for doing so, but he waved them off, clearly enjoying the adorable display.

You felt your (admittedly imaginary) irritation disintegrate, and you were left with only feelings of fondness and curiosity. You can’t believe you are even thinking it, but you think you have a crush on a man in a 7-foot Wolf costume.

Just as the thought enters your head, his eyes swivel to yours, but you aren’t looking at the googly eyes, you once again are drawn to where his true eyes are, hidden in the mesh at the neck of the Wolf costume. It snaps you out of your trance and you hop up. Cutting off the laughter of those around you, you act (emphasis on the word act) as though you are cool as a cucumber.

“Well, it is nearly quitting time, boss,” you say in a forced casual tone to your lounging boss, who looks back quizzically at you with tired eyes. “I’ll get the signs and forms from all the tables and the yard signs from outside. Should I grab anything else to bring back to the office? I’ll just stop there before I go home.”

“No, I think that should do it,” she answers as though she is asking a question, seeming confused at your sudden change. She goes to stand slowly, but you wave her off and tell her you’ve got it covered.

“You should head home.” You tell her. “You’ve been here since 5am.”

She nods in agreement and starts to slowly get out of the chair as she pulls together all her things and puts her coat on that was folded neatly on a shelf behind the desk.

“See you tomorrow?” She asks and you nod once quickly before she thanks all the event staff for their help and then proceeds out into the cold night air.

You decide to rush off to get the numerous remaining information materials you had scattered about in the building. Phlebotomy staff would truly clean up the drive, but all the marketing materials and additional promotions were all your responsibility. You flitted from table to table, trying not to think about the absolutely absurd butterflies in your stomach each time you thought about the man in the mascot costume.

How sad are you, y/n? You asked yourself. Has it been so long since you’ve been in a relationship that even a man you’ve never seen, nor spoken to outside of soliloquy can make you feel like this?

Another part of your brain raised the possibility that if he could make you feel like this without words or an actual FACE, then GOD, what a freaking MAN he could be.

Your pessimistic nature wouldn’t let that sit, though. You had learned in life that things were generally too good to be true, so instead you told yourself, louder - to your inner monologue, he could be a real uggo.

At this point, though, who were you kidding, ugly or the most gorgeous man alive, it didn’t really matter. You were smitten with googly eyes!

“What a fucking weirdo.” You whispered to yourself as you turned to grab the last of your materials, only to find Wolfie standing there. Silent as ever.

“Shit.” You said surprised by his sudden appearance. “You scared me.” You said as you tried to hide your blush and avoid his eyes, busying yourself with your tasks. You felt embarrassed by your thoughts, feeling transparent, like he could read you like a book with little effort. If you had looked up, you would have instantly noticed confusion in him, though you couldn’t see his face. You somehow had become attune to him. A fact that made him not just curious but fascinated with you.

It was weird. Jungkook had been a mascot for several years. He started when his college rock band went under and he needed a way to pay his bills. He was always an athletic guy and liked the idea of it when his roommate’s brother mentioned he had the right build for it and how much it paid.

Nowadays, Jungkook only performed as Wolfie when he decided to pick up an event on the weekdays since his career as a professional dancer had really launched. Despite his parents’ predictions, he had consistent jobs thanks to his skills and his good reputation. He never wanted to give up Wolfie, though. It was fun getting to be faceless and silly with absolutely no regrets. Anonymity has an odd power to liberate, and he never felt freer. Plus, he was addicted to the stars in people’s eyes when they saw him in the suit. Not just kids either. Adults were just grown-up kids too when faced with a mascot. It was a special kind of magic that he got to wield when no one could see his face.

Today was the first time in all these years that he regretted any of it. Of all the things he agreed to when he put on the costume, he never realized that the clause about protecting the character’s mystery by not revealing his face or voice at any time during his shift would be the hardest to fulfill on this particular day.

He had heard about the event and knew he would do anything to be there. The cause was one he was passionate about. He had been volunteering in the cancer ward of the Children’s hospital since he was a kid and his father used to bring him along to teach him “civic responsibility”. He liked going these days for story time to read or sing to the kids. So when he heard the event was for the hospital, he signed up immediately without even paying attention to how long of a day it would be.

A few hours was a long day in the costume, so originally he had been meant to leave in the early afternoon, but you had changed all his plans.

When he first saw you out in the cold and the wind, he had mostly been entertained and curious about you. He could not for the life of him figure out what you were doing as you struggled to wrestle the yard signs under one arm while forcing with sheer will to get the other in the frozen ground. Your outfit was so incredibly out of place in these conditions too, with your blazer and flowing skirt. Even your sensible bun knew that it wasn’t in the right place as it fought to escape the coif you had put it in. He had outright laughed at the vision of you. He was charmed immediately. Especially when you cursed loudly into the wind.

By the time he saw into your fathomless eyes, he was a goner.

So by 2, when he was supposed to go home, he decided to stay instead. It was a weird thing being in the hot heavy wolf costume for 10 hours, but at least he had the locker room to himself when he needed a break or to take a leak. He just knew, with complete certainty, that he absolutely could not leave without getting up the courage to talk to you. To REALLY talk to you. Not mime at you to make you smile that gorgeous winning smile you had. Or distract people so that you could get a moment's peace and he could make your day. Because he knew that if anyone deserved to have their day made, it was you.

He had watched you all day, and it had convinced him that he had figured you out. He watched you help donors with such care and kindness as you rarely sat down for the whole 10 hours of the drive. He watched you place yourself wherever you were needed, working hard and effectively, juggling multiple tasks with an air of professionalism he admired. He had even watched you make a fool of yourself on occasion with your clumsy adorable antics as your face went beet red. So he knew you were a good sort of person, and one who was damn good at your job. He had always been attracted to people who were good at what they did, so it was no surprise that his eyes were glued to you, and not just because you were pretty.

Because you were definitely pretty.

But the most important things he learned about you were when he was up close and personal with you. As a mascot, he was used to people treating him a certain way. Not in a rude sense, but when you had a cartoon face and googly eyes, people tended to talk around you rather than to you, like you were an object rather than a person within the costume. It was one thing when kids did it, but adults would do it too. It was a weird automatic knee jerk reaction type of thing. You weren’t like that though.

From the moment you met him, with your shining eyes and beautiful smile, you addressed him like a person. You asked him questions, even when you knew he couldn’t answer in so many words. You made considerations for him like worrying if he had eaten, offering him your cookie. Though, admittedly, that particular offer had him blushing at the dirty thoughts it conjured in his head thinking of other sweet things you might have to offer him.

Probably most profoundly though was how you looked him directly in the face when you spoke with him. You probably weren’t even aware that you were doing it or how unsettling and oddly sexy it was. All his years as a mascot, people always looked at the face of Wolfie: that giant foot-tall cloth head that sat upon Jungkook’s actual head like a hat.

But not you. No, you looked directly into that obscured disguised mesh neck of Wolfie that offered Jungkook’s view out into the world. You looked directly where his eyes were, to the point you made him feel almost naked to your gaze, like you could see him in his totality. Like Wolfie wasn’t there at all.

And all day long he had been drawn to you like a moth to the flame at the absolute magnetism of that steady, kind, understanding gaze.

Little did he know you were having the same problem as him. Feeling self-conscious, and inadequate. I mean, you were feeling silly for liking a guy you had never seen or heard speak but imagine being the guy in the suit right. Never in a million years would he imagine you would be crushing on him as much as he was on you.

But here you both were. Two fools in “like”.

You were almost done collecting your things and there was a certain energy to your movements that spoke of hesitation. Jungkook could feel his window of opportunity closing and he was nothing if not an action taker. So despite his nerves, and despite his feelings of inadequacy, he was ready to shoot his shot.

You both were in a more secluded area of the event hall that led to a narrow hallway to the suites and donors were mostly gone anyway. The only people left at the venue were event staff for the stadium and hospital staff cleaning up in the main area of the blood drive, so you were both effectively alone. The day was over, so he wouldn’t be breaching contract by speaking to you or removing his mask, though it was still fairly frowned upon to be in a public space revealing his identity while still in the wolf suit. It was a risk he was willing to take though because he knew he didn’t have time to go back to the locker room to change. If he did, you would be gone by the time he got back.

So he took a deep breath, and cleared his throat so he wouldn’t squeak or do something equally stupid after not using his voice for a full day. Your head immediately came to attention at the sound of his voice, and he knew it was now or never.

You watched in awe as Wolfie removed his giant Wolf head with a flourish to reveal a head of dark, wet hair. You had a moment only to process the thought that his hair must be wet from sweat from being in that suit all day. And then, the man attached to the head of hair looked up.

To say you were surprised would be an understatement. Looking back at you were the biggest brown eyes sparkling with what looked like galaxies within them. Beneath that was a straight nose with gentle curves on the end. Beside that were two soft high cheekbones that were currently standing out as the pretty mouth beneath those was smiling. It was a mouth full of the cutest teeth that seemed to want to escape his pretty curved lips that wrapped around them. It reminded you of a bunny somehow. You were struck by tanned skin and two beauty marks, one on the bridge of his nose and one just below his bottom lip. And you were frozen in time as you looked upon the prettiest male face you had ever laid eyes on.

Inappropriately and somehow perfectly in character, you followed the beat of silence with an awkward laugh at the completely irrational turn of events. Slapping your hand to your mouth in embarrassment instantly. You could already feel your cheeks blushing, but you rushed to explain so you wouldn’t offend him.

“I don’t know why I laughed just now, you just surprised me, I guess…?” You babbled as he opened his mouth as if to speak. But in true y/n fashion, you couldn’t leave well enough (or embarrassed enough) alone. “Like, wow. You have an actual face!”

“Yes, I do.” He rushed to get a word in edgewise, but you were really gone by now and couldn’t seem to stop the word diarrhea that had to escape.

“And what a face!”

Great, y/n, going for full embarrassment today. Lovely.

“Sorry. That was…I don’t know what that was,” you said as you felt like your entire body was going to erupt. What was wrong with you? Why couldn’t you shut up?

But he was moving closer, tucking the mask under his arm all the while and smiling bigger with each passing word of stupidity you uttered.

“I just mean that I’m surprised! Normally, you would think a guy who wears a full body costume for a living would have something to hide, but that is definitely not true of you!” Ever your own worst enemy you couldn’t help but notice his strong shoulders and forearms too as he took off the gloves and unzipped the front of the costume to get more comfortable. GOD he was hot. Maybe that was why you were so effectively making a fool of yourself.

But he didn’t seem to mind as he giggled and extended his hand toward you, revealing a hand full of tattoos.

“Are you shitting me? Hand tattoos?! Hot AND cool, how is that fair?-“

“I’m Jungkook,” he said with a laugh as he effectively shut you up. “I’m going to save you from yourself here and just offer that we save the rest of the ego boosts for our first date. What do you say?”

His hand was still extended to take your hand in introduction and somehow your brain couldn’t process words but moved your hand to slot into his by route memory alone as you sounded out the word: date.

“Yes, date,” he said to what you thought had only been a question in your head, but obviously was spoke out loud.

“What do you think? Will you give a guy in a Wolf costume a chance at a date with you?”

“I guess that depends.”

“On?”

“Will you be wearing the suit on the date?”

“Which answer will get you to say yes?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then, sadly, the suit will be taking that night off.”

You paused for a full beat, in complete disbelief at the turn of events of the last few minutes. An hour ago, you were embarrassed to say you had a crush on a man in a Wolf costume. Now you are being asked out on a date by 2023’s “Sexiest Man Alive” winner, as far as you were concerned. It was a little too much to handle, but then again…

“So are you free this weekend?” You asked in a moment of boldness. He just smiled and told you to open up your photos again and look at the first photo he took on your phone.

Turns out he had originally stolen your phone for a purpose besides just making a joke by filling your phone with selfies. The first photo he took was of him holding up a piece of paper with a phone number on it and in a rushed script below it, he had written:

“Would love to meet you face to face. Friday?”

You huffed out a laugh but didn’t answer in words, as you navigated out of your photo app. After a few soundless taps on your phone screen, a buzz sounded from somewhere within Jungkook’s outfit. When he pulled out his phone, he saw a text from an unidentified number on the screen.

“Friday sounds great. Drinks and Dinner?”

#fics by me #under the mask #jungkook #jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook #jungkook fluff

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