1 Breathless

Listen to my heartbeat

It calls you whenever it wants to

Because within this pitch black darkness

You are shining so brightly

Give me your hand~

"Save me save me~" Iris softly sang. On this mildly cool night, BTS's song, Save Me, felt like the perfect song to sing. Having attended their concert yesterday for their Wings album, BTS still lingered in the forefront of her mind.

Iris shivered, partially from the slight chill of the night air and the giddiness upon remembering the passionate intensity that riveted the entire audience yesterday. BTS had a stage presence like no other K-pop group she knew. The synergy and synchronicity of the seven young men stole her breath and all of their fans. They were the ones who had brightened her weary days and made her want to be her best self. She had truly learned how to love herself and be confident through them.

With her head in a daze, Iris hardly realized that someone was quickly approaching from behind the corner. Before she knew it, she was suddenly falling forward. Her lungs felt like they got kicked, and for a moment, she couldn't breathe. Out of reflex, she began extending her hands to cushion her fall, but it was too late. She slammed onto the concrete, skinning her forearms and then her side as she toppled over. She let out a groan and held her head from whiplash. Meanwhile, her fuzzy brain tried rendering what the person who had knocked into her was saying.

"Aii!! Mianhae, mianhae! Gwaenchana?"

The voice was masculine but youthful, perhaps due to peppiness. Not having retained her senses back, Iris only glared at the man who was bent over and looking at her with apologetic concern. Upon seeing blood dripping from her arms, the man's eyes widened and tried helping her up from the ground frantically.

At suddenly being touched, Iris let out a little cry of surprise. Although the man was modestly assisting her up, she still felt wary. She blinked her eyes, trying to get the blurriness to fade from her eyes. Since it was nighttime, it added onto the difficulty of discerning the man's face. Realizing that he was wearing a sanitary mask, she started back in shock. 'This man...is Korean?' She was all too familiar with the classic mask Koreans wore even out on the streets, so that was the first thought that came to mind. No one else would wear such masks in the United States!

"Gwaenchana?" The man repeated seeing her flabbergasted expression. This time, Iris understood him. He was definitely Korean! He was asking her if she was okay! Although she wasn't fluent in Korean, she picked up various phrases from K-Pop and K-dramas.

Since she hadn't responded since falling down, the Korean man suddenly realized and remembered that he wasn't in South Korea. "Oh oh! Arr you OK?"

Hearing the man trying to talk to her English, she couldn't help giggling to herself internally at his cute accent. '....Wait...doesn't this man sound and look rather familiar..?' With her senses back to normal, and the man's face somewhat close, she scrutinized his face. 'HOLY CRAP!!! Is this J-HOPE?!' Iris's eyes popped open. 'No way, I bumped into a member of BTS! Damn, how many years of luck did I just use on this encounter!'

Iris could already feel her heart beating faster and her mind blurring again. 'Stay calm, stay calm. Don't scare the poor guy away.' She flicked her eyes around, searching for any other fans that might spot them. She didn't want the guy to get caught up in any scandal. The last thing she wanted was seeing Sunshine Hobi on some newspaper about knocking a girl down in the middle of the night in a foreign country. Suddenly cautious and concerned, Iris tried her best letting the man know she was ok.

"Ah, Gwaenchanayo!" Iris felt proud for remembering to add the polite ending -yo to her statement that she was ok. She was younger than all the BTS members except for Jungkook after all.

A flash of happy surprise crossed Jung Hoseok's face. "Joneun hanguk saramieyo?"

Slightly distressed, Iris waved her hands. "No, ani! I'm American." She enunciated her words carefully and hastily tried thinking of a way to say that she understood a little Korean. "Hangul, cho-kum!" It was broken Korean, but she knew he would understand.

As expected, the man understood and nodded with his mouth open a little. Iris had to restrain herself from smiling at the cute reaction. She then thought she should take this chance to thank J-Hope and all of BTS. If she wasted this opportunity, she knew she'd regret it forever. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, a commotion sounded from behind her.

"Ahhhh~~!!! OMG, is that Rap Monster?!"

"No way! I can't believe we actually met him on the streets while BTS was touring!"

"Come on, let's get his signature!"

Noticing his fellow bandmate, J-Hope quickly pulled Iris and him around the corner. He acted reflexively knowing that being caught alone at night with a girl who was injured was probably not the best situation to be in. "Mian," he apologized before correcting himself, "Sorry, sorry."

"It's OK," Iris assured, feeling rather fretful herself. For once, she was upset seeing other Armies. 'Ugh, now what?!' On one hand, she was excited to possibly meet Rap Monster, but most likely she wouldn't be able to now. And J-Hope probably would leave too before she got a chance to properly thank him and BTS. She just knew that there'll be a catch to her spontaneous luck!