1

“I guess I should be happy that you still remember my name,” Taehyung finally said after a few moments of silence.  

Your palms felt clammy.  You weren’t ready to face Taehyung within an hour of landing in Seoul.  Sure, you planned to meet with him to finally tie up the loose ends when you left for the US without saying goodbye, but you wanted it to be after you have settled down in the city and got your life organized.

“Taehyung..” you started to say, but stopped when he moved to sit beside you in the car.  You couldn’t look at him at such close quarters so you looked out the window instead and asked, “How did you know I’m arriving in Seoul today?”

“Your company signed my group as endorsers of your clothes a week ago,” he said. “I was informed they would have a new marketing staff coming from their US office to handle their new campaign.  When I heard your name mentioned, I had to check if it really was you. You can imagine my surprise when I confirmed it was really you, finally coming back to Korea.” He caught a lock your hair and started twirling it slowly around his finger.  You had no choice but to look at him.

“I would have contacted you eventually..” you said.

“Really? Five f—n’ years, I heard nothing from you,” he growled softly. “Did you really think I would wait a second longer?”

“I understand you may still be mad at me…”

“I’m furious,” he interrupted.

“Tae, I’m sorry.” You said.

“Sorry for what?”

“Sorry for not telling you my family was leaving for the US,” you replied.

“What else?” he asked.

“Sorry for leaving without saying goodbye,” you replied.

“What else?” he asked.

“Sorry for not responding to your emails.”

“What else?” he repeated.

You didn’t know what else to say. You already said all surely?

“What else?” he repeated.

You shook your head, still confused.

“What about- ‘I’m sorry for breaking your heart, Tae?’ and ‘I’m sorry for making you crazy thinking about where I was?’” he said. He let go of your strand of hair but he transferred his grip to your arm, tightly, as to almost hurt you.

You felt sudden tears in your eyes, all the pain of 5 years ago resurfacing in your mind.  You bit your lower lip to stop crying and closed your eyes.

“Ah, baby girl, don’t cry,” Taehyung’s voice immediately softened when he noticed your tears.

You tried to control your tears but they just continued flowing, as if a dam you put there years ago suddenly burst.  You felt Taehyung’s arms envelop you and his hand went to the back of your head to pull it towards his chest.  You felt butterfly kisses on your hair, your temple, and your cheeks.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” was all you could say. You repeated it over and over.

“Sssh, it’s okay. Everything will be okay now that you’re already here,” Tae said, consoling you, his anger all gone.  “We’ve arrived at the hotel,” he told you. “The chauffeur was instructed to go directly to the underground parking.  You can go up directly to your room.  Here’s the key card.”

You were too overwhelmed with your emotions so you did not question why he would be allowed by the hotel to check-in for you. You just nodded and took the key card from him. The room number was written on it.

The chauffeur stopped in front of the elevators in the basement and opened the car door for you.  Tae stepped out first and assisted you in getting out of the car. If the chauffeur noticed your eyes red from crying, his demeanor did not show it. He just quietly closed the car behind you and took out your luggage from the car trunk. A bellboy was waiting with a trolley for your luggage.

“I will pick you up for dinner later,” Tae told you as you went into the elevator.

You just nodded. You have a lot of things to discuss to finally close the past and it’s better to do it at once. Taehyung got in the limo again as the elevator doors closed.

2

The doorbell rang just as you put on your shoes.  You didn’t know where Tae will take you for dinner so you just wore a simple black jersey dress and your favorite suede ankle boots. You opened the door and were amazed at how good Taehyung looks. He was wearing a red sweater and tight leather jeans.  You recalled  the boy you dated 5 years ago who almost always wore an oversized shirt and baggy soft pants.  He looked good then; but he looked devastating now.

You gestured for him to come in. “Do you want to drink anything..?” you asked, a proper host.

“I’m fine,” he replied. “Are you ready to go?”

“I just need to get my bag,” you said as you proceeded to do just that.

You both walked out the door and took the elevator to the basement floor. The same limo and chauffeur were waiting for you when the elevator doors opened.

“Isn’t it too expensive to have this limo on standby for the day?” you asked when the car has started on its way to wherever Tae had planned to have dinner.

“It’s too much trouble to hire a different car,” he replied. “Confidentiality, etc.”

“Oh, I forgot you’ve become really famous now,” you said, mostly to yourself, but Taehyung heard anyway.

“Not famous enough to get your attention,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.

“Tae..” you started to say but he interrupted, immediately apologetic.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that,” he said.  “I’m trying to act cool about this but it still hurts, you know.”

You both stayed quiet until the car reached your destination. It was a small restaurant at the roof deck of a small building.  Tae has apparently rented out the whole place as there were no other diners besides you two. Tae assisted you to your seat as the waiter poured you a glass of wine each.

“Cheers,” Tae said, lifting his glass of wine.

“Cheers,” you replied, clinking your wine glass with his and drinking deeply. “What are we toasting about?” you asked afterwards.

“New beginnings?” Tae replied.

“New beginnings,” you nodded as you sipped your wine again. Tae did the same.

The first course arrived and you both started eating.  You felt that the mood has lightened somehow and you were able to smile genuinely for the first time that day.

As the dinner progressed, Taehyung told you stories of his years of training as an idol and their eventual debut. He told you about his group members and the hardships they went through as they fought for a place in the competitive entertainment industry.

You told him about your experience studying in the US and breezing through college in only three years. “I didn’t have a lot of friends in my first 2 years of university,” you said, “so I enrolled in a lot of subjects and spent all my free time studying.  It was only on my last year and a half in college that I was active socially. Joined school clubs, went on dates, etc.”

“Dates?” he asked.

“Well, you know, mostly set up by friends.  I usually went once and didn’t meet the guy again. I’ve only had two long-term relationships in college; that is, if you can call 6 months long,” you chuckled.

“Why would you go out with other guys and have relationships when you already have a boyfriend here?” Taehyung asked, his voice becoming very deep and low.

You stared at him confused. “Boyfriend?  But we broke up!”

“When?” he asked.

“5 years ago!” you told him.

“I assure you, no such thing happened. I specifically remember that no one said anything about breaking up,” he said, maddeningly.

“Tae, we haven’t talked to each other in 5 years. Surely, that means we’ve broken up.”

“What I know is that I have a girlfriend who disappeared for a while but now she’s back.”

“Tae, stop joking.” You pleaded, but somehow the idea of picking up where you left off 5 years ago felt right to you.

He continued, “Now, my girlfriend is going to do everything she can to make up for all the years she’s been gone.  She’s going to make up for all my emails she ignored by emailing me twice a day, every f—n’ day. She’s going to make up for all the tears I cried for her by spending every waking hour of her day thinking of me.”

“Tae..” you tried to interrupt.

“She’s going to make up for being with other guys by looking at only me for the rest of her life.” He looked at you intently, daring you to disagree.

As you looked back at him, you realized that what he said was true.   The reason you wanted to go back to Korea was him. The reason you couldn’t make your relationships in the US work was because of you kept comparing them to Taehyung and found them lacking. The reason you couldn’t let anyone else into your heart was because he still occupied it.

But 5 years have passed and a lot of things have changed. He’s an idol now and you were not as innocent as you were then.

“Tae, we are different people now from who we were 5 years ago.” You said. “We may no longer suit each other now.”

“Do you still love me?” he asked.

The moment he asked, you knew the answer was an overwhelming yes. You nodded.

He stood up, walked to you, and pulled you up for an embrace. “Then we better spend every moment now relearning each other, don’t we?” He then kissed you hard and all thoughts flew out of your head.

3

An hour later, you were back at the limo.  You noticed the car wasn’t heading to the hotel.

“Where are we going?” you asked Tae who had his arms around you and was dropping kisses on your cheek, ear and neck.

“To my dorm,” he replied in between kisses.

“Tae, I am not spending the night with you,” you said, pushing him back.

“That wasn’t what I meant. I just want you to meet my hyungs.” He went back to nuzzling your throat. “But I won’t object if you want to stay. Or better yet, I can stay with you at the hotel.”

“Not gonna happen tonight, Tae-bunny,” you said with a laugh. “I have to report for work tomorrow and I have to prepare.”

He stopped kissing you as he heard you use your old endearment for him. “Say that again,” he requested.

“Not gonna happen tonight?” you said, with a slight laugh, pretending not to know what he meant.

“Not that! Call me your Tae-bunny again.”

“Tae-tae, my weird bunny,” you said as you dropped a quick kiss on his lips.

He returned the kiss but stopped abruptly as he noticed the car was no longer moving. “We’re here,” he said. He opened the door himself and helped you get out. 

“You’ll love the hyungs,” he said as you rode the elevator. “They’re all different personalities, but they’re all cool.”

“I’m sure they are, Tae-bunny.”

He smiled as he heard you call him that again. He ruffled your hair a bit and you felt happiness filling your chest.

He stopped to open a door with his key and motioned for you to go in. As you entered the apartment before him, you saw 6 pairs of eyes look at you, confused and alarmed. The six men inside the apartment visibly sighed in relief when they saw Taehyung come in behind you.

“Tae! I thought the house has been trespassed by a reporter,” a guy you know from their videos as Yoongi, aka Suga, said. “Sorry about that," he said to you.

"Who’s your friend?” Jimin asked Tae.

“Everyone, gather around,” Tae said loudly as he shut the door behind him. “Meet my girlfriend,” he added as he introduced you to each one of the guys.

“Are you really hyung’s girlfriend?” Jungkook, the youngest, asked.

“We’ve been hearing about his girlfriend for years, but we all thought he was joking,” Namjoon, aka Rapmonster, said.

“Or imagining things.” Hoseok, aka Jhope, added with a smirk.

“Hyung!” Tae protested.

You laughed and confirmed Tae was your boyfriend. As you said it, you felt like the whole world finally fell into place. You looked at Tae and he winked at you. Yes, all in place, you thought happily.