ten

You watched the entire video, your heart pounding. When it ended, you watched it again this time with the captions on, so you could see what the lyrics meant. And you cried. Like a baby.

~ ♡ ~

You sat on your bed, not sure how to feel. They were all in the video, all seven of them. You weren't exactly sure who was singing what part, but you recognized Taehyung's voice, and there was Namjoon singing near the beginning.

You clicked on a live video performance, hoping that would give you the chance to see who was singing each part. You sat there with your mouth opened, eyes glued to the screen, as you watched them not only sing, but dance. They were dancing... beautifully, so in sync it was unreal. You had goosebumps. Your heart was pounding, and your chest noticeably rose and fell.

You clicked on some other videos, different songs, and you were blown away. Who were these guys? Why had you never heard of them? You could only guess it was because they were Korean. But Tae had said BTS were popular in the US as well. You had never heard of them, or heard their music playing anywhere. Then again, you really didn't listen to music all that much anymore. You were too busy working, and merely existing.

You kept clicking on videos. Mostly music, but also others, videos that made you laugh. You shook your head, trying to comprehend everything. These guys must be huge. The videos of their live performances, some concerts, others appearing to be awards shows, the crowds were unreal. How? How did you end up in a conversation with one of these guys, only to end up having met all seven?

You spent the next 3 hours watching videos, all kinds of videos. These guys had debuted in 2013. Five years ago. The same amount of time you had been attemting to make life better for yourself, only to end up existing just to exist.

The time went by without you even realizing it had been over three hours. It was 6:55pm, and you were immersed in the video of a song called mic drop, when you thought you heard your phone ding. You let the video finish, and reached for the phone, unlocking it and hitting the message icon.

Taehyung: Meetings finally over, did you eat dinner yet? 🥡🥠Tae

You took a breath. What should you do. You were a tiny bit upset that he hadn't told you about BTS in a little more detail, like maybe the fact that he was part of it. Especially after you had asked who sang that song. But maybe he had a reason for not telling you.

'I haven't. Are you inviting me to dinner? 😏 y/n' You hit send.

Thirty seconds later there was a knock at your door. You looked up from your phone, and let out a breath. You closed your laptop and got up, knowing it was him, and wondering if you should let on that you knew.

You decided not to say anything right away, and see what happens. But you knew that at any point in time, you could decide to bring it up, and knowing you, you probably would.

You opened the door, a smile on your face. "Hi. How was your meeting? Besides long..."

You knew this was a perfect opportunity for him to fill you in, if he chose, but you didn't think he was going to. And honestly, it's not like he owed you any explanation anyway. You really had no reason to be upset.

"It was boring. Just... work stuff." He shrugged, making a face.

"Work stuff...I feel bad now. You've been so nice to me, taking care of me, and letting me carry on about my problems, and I never even asked you anything about yourself."

"It's no big deal. Let's get something to eat. You like take out? We can stay here and eat tonight instead of going out and dealing with the crowds." He was scrolling thru his phone, and hadn't looked up.

"Sure, that actually sounds nice."

"Great, I'll order. Anything specific you want?"

"Just surprise me. I haven't put anything in my mouth that I haven't liked since I've been here, and I wouldn't have a clue what to order anyway."

He smiled, and hit the call button on his phone. You listened to him order, not having a clue what he was saying. He hung up, and said "it'll be here in 15 minutes." Then he sat on the bed, continuing to look at his phone. You watched him for several minutes, waiting to see if he would look up. He didn't, and you wondered if he regretted coming now. Since you had kind of asked him about himself, he seemed a little uncomfortable.

"Thanks Tae." You hoped he knew how much you appreciated him. You couldn't even imagine what you'd be doing right now if you hadn't met him.

"For what?" He looked up at you questioningly.

"For continuing to take care of me. I don't even want to think about what I would be doing right now if I hadn't met you guys, but especially you. I'm sure I would have gotten lost and not been able to find my way back to this hotel more than once already if it weren't for you. And I'd have probably forgotten to eat. And the clothes...I can't thank you enough."

You sat down next to him, and he leaned towards you, bumping your shoulder lightly with his, pushing you in the opposite direction.

"I bet someone would have come to your rescue, and you'd be fine. But I'm glad it was Namjoon you ended up in a conversation with."

Just then there was a knock at the door. He got up, and opened it, taking the bags and paying the man. He took everything to the table, and started pulling containers out. "Come on, come sit."

You sat at the table, and watched as he emptied the bags, and opened the containers, sticking something in his mouth from one of them. He picked up the chopsticks, and handed them to you, and you took them, laughing a bit.

"What's wrong? Why are you laughing? Do I have something on my face?" He reached up, feeling his chin, and around his mouth.

"No. It's just...I don't know how to use these."

He broke out into a smile. "Oh, I can teach you." And he tried, for about 10 minutes. But you just couldn't get the hang of how to hold them. He finally gave up. "I'll just feed you."

And he did. He would give you a bite, and then take a bite himself. He told you what everything was, but you knew you wouldn't remember it. It didn't matter what it was. It was all delicious.

"So, Tae, what do you do... for a living?"

He looked up at you, looking uncertain. "Nothing special. I work... uh, in the entertainment business."

"Mm, okay. That sounds like it could be exciting."

"Not really. One day is the same as the next."

"Oh come on, the entertainment business.. it's gotta be more exciting than that, I mean..."

"Its not y/n, okay. It's not exciting. Why do you even wanna know? Aish!" He stood up, walking over to the bed, and turning around to look at you.

You sat there, looking at him, feeling a bit hurt that he snapped at you. You looked down, not wanting him to see the hurt on your face.

"I'm sorry y/n, I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just tired. It's been a long day." He sat on the bed, flopping onto his back.

"Yeah I'm sure it has," you said quietly. "If you wanna leave, I understand. You'd probably rather be home sleeping."

"Y/n..." he sighed, sitting back up. "You're mad at me now. I can tell. I'm sorry. Look, I just, I don't like talking about my job." He was looking at the floor, obviously feeling guilty about keeping it from you.

"Its fine. I'm not mad, honest. But seriously, you do look kinda tired. Maybe you should just go home and get some sleep Taehyung... or...should I call you V?"

He slowly looked up, sighing deeply, his eyes meeting yours, his lips pursed. "You looked up the song." He said flatly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" You asked softly.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked, a worried expression on his face.

"No, actually, it isn't." There was confusion written on your face.

He huffed out an impatient breath. "Y/n, do you know how hard it is to make a friend who just likes me for me? I'm not talking about other idols, or celebrities. I'm talking about, just a normal person. Everybody wants to be my friend, because I'm an idol. I just wanted a friend who was my friend because they liked me, and enjoyed hanging out with me. I didn't want to ruin anything by telling you who I am."

Your face softened. You walked over, sitting next to him. You reached for his hand, curling your fingers thru his.

"Tae, you haven't ruined anything. Knowing that your famous doesn't change anything for me. I was your friend before I knew. I'd still be your friend even if I hadn't found out, or if you weren't an idol."

You looked at him, and could see a small smile forming on his lips. He turned to you. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I could care less if your famous. I love spending time with you. We've only known each other for...gosh, we still haven't hit the 24 hour mark yet. But I feel like I've known you for years. I feel safe with you, and I trust you."

He looked at your hands that were curled together. "That means a lot. Thank you." He squeezed your hand.

"Don't thank me. Just, if we're going to be friends, then promise not to keep things from me, ok?"

"Ok, I promise not to keep things from you, but you have to make the same promise." He stuck out his pinky, and you looked at him blankly for a second, then smiled. A pinky promise was the real deal. You hooked your pinky with his. "I promise too, Tae."