Part One    

               Getting tickets for this event was a royal pain in the , but three pulled strings and $1000 later she was standing in the hallway with about fifteen other people, post concert waiting to be shown upstairs.  Hi-touch tickets were difficult to get regardless, but she had just about sold her soul to get her hi-touch experience one step higher.  Though, with her new job, it was almost too easy to get these tickets.  The strings were easy to pull since they all were in her new company.  Meeting the boys of Bangtan was no joke and she didn’t want to just shake hands with them and move on with no time to even say “hello” or “thank you.”  With this, she had about thirty minutes with the boys before they were sent downstairs to greet the throngs of screaming, crying girls who had scored the other hi-touch experience.

She stood there in the lobby of the concert venue after three hours of standing and jumping around during the BTS concert.  It had easily been the most amazing experience of her life.  She hadn’t exactly been close to the stage, but she was close enough to just make out faces.  Just at the thought of watching her biases face scrunch up when he sang that particularly growly note sent fire into her cheeks and she pat them to try to cool off.  And that one song with all the hip s that she had not prepared for in the slightest made the flames dancing on her face burn hotter.  What was wrong with her?  She desperately shook her head to try to forget, but those moments were burned into her mind like the blush was burning on her cheeks.

“You okay?”  One of the others in the small group took notice of her strange behavior.

“Yeah, just...”

“Remembering the concert in frighteningly vivid detail?”  The other girl guessed and she nodded.  “Me too.  I’m Sana, what’s your name?”

“Ah Reum.”  She offered her hand to Sana, who took it for a few seconds.

“Who’s your bias?”  Sana inquired further, looking Ah Reum up and down and finding no article of clothing or marking that outwardly expressed love for a particular member of the group.

“Oh, um...”  Ah Reum paused, eyeing Sana’s clothing and immediately determining that she would die at the sight of Kim Seokjin’s beautiful smile.  

“Let me guess...” Sana held up her hands to step the other girl from continuing.  “Jungkook.”

“How’d you guess?”  Ah Reum’s eyebrows shot right up her forehead and Sana laughed.

“It’s written all over your face.  Well, not literally.”  

“Yeah... it’s Jungkook.  I just feel a little weird about liking him so much since I’m older than him.  I wish I could call him ‘Oppa’ like the others, but...”  Ah Reum sighed and Sana nodded knowingly.

“It happens.  I was like that while I was Jungkook biased, too.”  Sana admitted.

Just as Ah Reum opened to ask Sana something else, someone in a staff t-shirt appeared in the lobby and told the small group that it was time.  The boys were ready.  Ah Reum bit her tongue to refrain from screaming with excitement, but she knew she had to remain cool.  She could do it.  She could actually talk to the members of her favorite band and be cool about the whole thing.  Sure, she paid so much more than she should have for these 20 or 30 minutes than she probably should have, but surely once she spoke to Jungkook for the first time it would all be worth it.  As the group grew closer to the room where they would meet Bangtan, Ah Reum found herself searching for Sana’s hand to hold onto instead of the hem of her dark red skater girl skirt.  The thin material of the skirt wasn’t as good as the warm, reassuring squeezes Sana was giving her hand.  However, when the staff member opened a door to reveal the seven beautiful boys on the other side, Ah Reum dropped Sana’s hand and held her head high.  She could do this.

The group was divided into two groups, each with about seven or eight people in it.  Sana and Ah Reum were separated suddenly and the two girls stared at each other with wide eyes.  Immediately, the two girls made a grab for their phones and exchanged numbers, Kakao numbers, Facebook’s and Tumblrs before the staff was pulling Ah Reum into the room.  Just before she turned the corner, Ah Reum straightened her back and neck once more before stepping into the room.  

For a hot minute, she was blinded by all the beauty in the room.  The boys of Bangtan stood there in all of their sticky, sweaty, post-concert glory and for a second she had to wonder if they actually, literally had wings on their backs.  No, Ah Reum quickly realized, the blinding white light that was clouding her vision was just J-Hope’s smile as he greeted her.  Ah Reum’s face broke into a huge smile when she realized that he was smiling right back and gesturing for her to move closer.  As if she was in a dream, she glided through the room until she was standing in front of the one and only Jung Hoseok.

“Hello.”  Ah Reum threw herself down in a full ninety-degree bow, but she wasn’t there for long before J-Hope’s hands were on her shoulders and he was pulling her up.

“Hello, there.”  He was grinning and Ah Reum couldn’t look right at him no matter how hard she tried.  “What’s your name?”

“Ah Reum.”  

“Ah, it’s nice to meet you, Ah Reum-ssi.  You live up to your namesake, you beauty!”  As his sudden comment, her face turned as dark as her skirt but instead of outwardly showing just how flustered she was, she gripped the strap of her purse and smiled through the pain of her heart racing.

“Thank you, Oppa.  You know, I listened to your mixtape when it came out and it’s really good!  I listen to it all the time!”  Ah Reum praised him, making sure to enunciate the word Oppa just loud enough for someone else to hear.

“Wow, really?  Thank you, that means so much to me!”  J-Hope beamed, clasping his hands together like a giddy five year old.

“Really!  I love it.  You really should work on releasing more music.  The fans would love it!”  Ah Reum beamed right back at him.

“I’ve been trying to release more music, but I’m similar to Suga hyung in the way that I want everything to be perfect.”  J-Hope mused.  

“Well, I hope you can figure something out!  You know that no matter what you release, everyone will love it.  If nothing else, you know I’ll love it.”  Ah Reum shot him a wink and J-Hope laughed.  

It was time for the line to move, so J-Hope gave Ah Reum a quick, sweaty hug.  She loved every second of it and she hated to move down the line.  That was, until she came face to face with the dimples that belonged to none other than Kim Namjoon.  He greeted her, asked her name and cooly thanked her for attending the concert.  His smooth, deep voice sent shivers down her spine and red darkened her cheeks once more when he commented on the gooseflesh that was appearing on her skin.

“Are you cold?”  He smirked, lifting his burning hands and set them on her biceps.  He moved them up and down her arms in an attempt to “warm” her, but it was doing nothing to help her.

“N-no, I’m just fine, Oppa.”  Ah Reum made no move to push Rap Mon away.  Who would in her situation?  His eyes traveled down her body all the way down to her black converse before moving slowly back up her entire body to land on her eyes.

“Of course you’re not cold.  You’ve just been standing in a hot auditorium for three hours!  You’re totally hot, aren’t you?”  Rap Mon exclaimed, taking his hands off of her.  In the same moment, he his bottom lip partly into his mouth and winked.  The smirk on his lips was enough to tell her what he was thinking right now.  Ah Reum had to close her eyes for a few seconds so she could force down the fangirl inside her.

Then, before she knew it, he was thanking her for coming again and shooting her another wink as she moved down the line.  Admittedly, talking to Seokjin kind of went by in a blur.  Namjoon’s wink was still making it’s way through her mind and her entire body.  She vaguely remembered hugging Jim and telling him how amazing and important he was or something embarrassing like that but she didn’t forget to make a big deal out of calling him Oppa.  Ah Reum wanted to mention that her friend outside, Sana, was a fan of his but ultimately decided to keep quiet about the whole thing.  Sana could handle herself.  

Next was Suga.  Ah Reum had to admit, she found herself a little starstruck in front of the idol.  Her clammy hands found purchase on her purse again and it took her a full two minutes to greet him, introduce herself, and thank him for the amazing concert.  Yoongi raised an eyebrow when his gaze landed on her and his eyes widened slightly when she told him her name.  What?   and her brain were both running a million miles an hour and there was no way for her to make a coherent sentence.  He grinned that famous gummy smile of his and held his hand out to her so that she could shake it.  It took her a second to realize what he was offering, but the second in clicked in her head, her hand was slipping into his easily.  It took her another second to realize that this, quite possibly, was the hand that wrote the best mixtape ever written.

“I know you’ve probably heard this a million times, but I loved your mixtape.  It was so cool!  I’m very impressed.”  Ah Reum beamed at the rapper.

“Thank you.”  he chuckled.  “That means a lot to hear you say that.  You sure live up to your namesake, don’t you Ah Reum-ssi.”

“Um, I guess?”  She trailed off, unsure of how to answer that.  It was the second time one of her favorite idols had called her beautiful.  Well, three if she counted Rap Monster calling her hot indirectly.

“What was your favorite song off of the album?”  Suga asked suddenly and Ah Reum’s back straightened once more.

“Um, yours or Bangtan’s?”  Ah Reum ventured.  She had answers for both.

“The mixtape.”  

“Definitely ‘So Far Away’.  Those lyrics really spoke to me on a personal level.   For so long, I had no idea what to do with my life but since your mixtape, I think I have something of an idea.”  Ah Reum admitted, suddenly worried that she was loading him with too much information.  It’s not like he’d remember her face tomorrow.

“Oh, really?”  His eyebrow quirked up.  “What do you want to do.”

“Produce music.”  Ah Reum grinned and the smile that appeared on Yoongi’s mouth was like the sun.

“I look forward to collaborating with you, Ah Reum-ssi.”  

“Me too, Oppa.”  Ah Reum was suddenly glad that she had her phone in the pocket of her skirt (skirt pockets!) and the voice recorder was on (she had everything they said to her on tape!).  If that hadn’t captured this conversation, Ah Reum was prepared to break down and cry.  Even if it was just out of courtesy, Suga actually said that he wanted to collaborate with her?  Of course he was just being nice, he’d never heard her work before.  Still.

Suga opened his arms a little, silently offering her a hug before she moved on to the next member and she accepted it.  She stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around his sweaty torso, vowing that she would never wash this shirt ever again.  Now it had sweat stains from four of the boys of Bangtan.  Ah Reum always thought that she wouldn’t be that type of fan who obsesses over a group like this, but there she was in the arms of Min Yoongi and silently declaring that she was never going to wash this damn t-shirt.  When Suga let go, he shot her a wink before he turned to the next fan and greeting them.  Ah Reum shook her head in disbelief as heat started at her cheeks and spread through her whole body.  She clearly wasn’t playing it as cool as she thought she was, was she?

For about half a second, Ah Reum’s eyes moved down the line passed Taehyung and Jimin to look at the boy at the end.  Jeon Jungkook stood there in his ripped skinny jeans and white t-shirt, looking like he’d just come from the runway instead of a concert stage.  His hair was slightly damp with sweat but he was still smiling brightly, his bunny teeth sticking out and his eyes lighting up when he laughed at something the fan in front of him was saying.  However, for the half second she was looking at him, he was looking right back at her.  There was smirk in his eyes as well as his mouth but she wasn’t really looking there.  Jungkook and Ah Reum locked eyes for a second and he raised an eyebrow.  It was almost a challenge, but what was he challenging her with?

The next thing she knew, two large hands landed on her shoulders and brought her back into her current reality.  And what a beautiful reality it was.  She was met with the bright, boxy smile that belonged to no one other than Kim Taehyung.  Just at the sight of his bright face, Ah Reum couldn’t help but to smile.  There was something about Kim Taehyung that could make her smile no matter how ty she was feeling.  He was always so bright, innocent and happy and that vibe was enough to make her feel better no matter the situation.  Without any prompting at all, Taehyung pulled her against him in a rib-crushing hug.  She had no other choice but to hug him back but she was happy to do it.  More sweat to add to her shirt and more warm memories of their touches to help her sleep when it got too lonely.  

“Your name is Ah Reum, right?  I heard you telling Suga hyung.”  Taehyung asked once he had released her from his grasp.  Ah Reum could only nod, still shaken from his sudden hug. “Thank you for coming to the concert, Ah Reum-ssi!”

“Thank you for doing it!  You made a lot of people happy today, Oppa.”  

When Ah Reum addressed Taehyung as Oppa, her eyes flicked over to Jungkook who tensed up the moment she uttered the word.  It was well known that Jeon Jungkook didn’t like to be called “Oppa” but something about his demeanor towards her was off.  He was conscious of her and every move she made.  For the life of her, she had no idea why but by the end of this meet and greet, she was determined to figure out why.

“Of course, that’s why I love doing it!”  Taehyung grinned wider, if that was possible.

“Ah, Oppa, I’m really looking forward to watching your drama!  I think it’s so cool that you get to work with Park Seo Joon and Min Ho oppas!  I can’t wait to see you act!”  Ah Reum clenched one of her hands into a fist, digging her nails into the skin.  She begged herself to stop talking or at least stop sounding like an annoying, gushy fan who couldn’t keep her composure around idols.

“I’m excited to show it to you!  It was really fun working with the hyungs on the drama.  I think you’ll really like it, Ah Reum-ssi.”  

“Is there anything you could tell me about what to expect?”  She bat her eyelashes at him and made a big show of flipping her hair.  This only made him laugh, which made her laugh right along with him.

“No, you’re just going to have to watch it!”  

“I got it, Oppa, I will.”  

One more rib-crushing hug later, it was onto Park Jimin.  Her gaze lingered on Taehyung as he waved her goodbye, his contagious smile spreading onto .  Jimin greeted her with that eye-smile that Ah Reum knew too well.  Her best friend, who got the other hi-touch, was Jimin biased.  She could only imagine the jealousy that was burning in her best friend’s stomach right now.  Considering how pure she was, she would only be upset about not getting to see this dazzling smile up close.  

It was hard work, not looking over at Jungkook as Ah Reum greeted Jimin and thanked him for all of his hard work.  Jungkook was just out of the corner of her eyes and every time he moved she had to fight the urge to look over at him.  Her eyes were naturally attracted to the movement anyway, except she couldn’t look.  It was Jungkook and she couldn’t seem too eager.  She was clenching her fists again, her nails digging into her palms to distract her.  So, she turned every ounce of her focus onto Jimin, who apparently also knew her name already.

“Thank you for coming, Ah Reum-ssi!”

“Your solo was really good, Oppa.”  Ah Reum praised him and in the same moment, Jimin blushed and Jungkook tensed.

“No, not really.  It was embarrassing!  I don’t like performing it.”  He admitted, covering his face with his hands.

“Ah, I’m sorry you don’t like to perform it.  It must be stressful for you, then.  Even so, I really liked it.”  Ah Reum fought the urge to place a hand on his shoulder to try to sooth him.  Instead, she clenched her fists tighter.

“What are you doing to your hands?”  Jimin gasped suddenly, lifting her hands into his and pressing his thumbs between her nails and her palm.  His eyes widened when he saw all of the dark red, crescent shaped indentations on her hands.  “Are you okay?”

“Of course!  I’m just reminding myself that I’m not dreaming, that’s all.”  Ah Reum smiled softly, not really wanting Jimin to drop her hands just yet.  It was too entertaining to watch the muscles in Jungkook’s arm muscles clench and release as Jimin’s thumbs ran over her palms, pressing onto the marks as if to soothe them.

“Well, I can assure you that you’re not, so don’t do this anymore, okay!”

“I won’t, Oppa.”  Ah Reum assured him with a smile.

“Promise?”  He took one of his hands away from hers to offer her his pinky and she had to laugh at the gesture.

“Of course, Oppa.”  Ah Reum linked her pinky with his and pressed their thumbs together.  Keeping her eyes off of Jungkook during this moment was easily one of the worst things that she’d ever had to do.  “Thank you so much for doing this concert, Oppa.  It means a lot to a lot of people.  Myself included.”

“Honestly, I’m glad we could.  It’s our job to make you guys happy, so I guess we did our job pretty well.”  Jimin admitted, a bright smile growing on his face.

“You did an amazing job.”  Ah Reum reciprocated his smile.

“Thank you.”  

Jimin pulled her into a hug that clued Ah Reum into the fact that her interaction with Jimin was coming to a close.  That meant that as soon as Jimin let her go and bid her farewell, Ah Reum would move to speak to Jeon Jungkook.  That meant that she had less than thirty seconds to think of something to say that wouldn’t make her sound like an idiot.  She’d done a pretty good job with the other six, but those topic of conversation had been recycled from one boy to another.  With Jungkook, she didn’t think she could do that.  Ah Reum knew that no matter what there was no way for her to make an impact on these boys, especially her bias.  These guys saw enough fans and new people every day.  There was no way that they would remember her the next time she saw them.

When Jimin released her, Ah Reum’s gaze landed on Jungkook immediately.  He was already looking her direction and when she was close enough, he offered her his hand to shake.  She forced herself not to hesitate and gave him her hand.  His handshake was firm and his hand completely enveloped hers.  Ah Reum had hoped that his hand would be bigger than hers and she smiled at the realization that it was.  His hand was warm and slightly clammy, but Ah Reum shrugged it off and still being warm from dancing for three hours.  Jungkook opened his mouth and was about to speak but Ah Reum spoke first.

“Annyeong, Jungkook-ah!”  She greeted him with a smile and in an instant the cockysmirk was wiped right off of his face.  Ah Reum had spoken informally to him.  She had been speaking formally, or at least politely to the others since they were older than her.  However, since Jungkook was younger, even if only by a few months, she could speak comfortably to him.  In an instant, she’d caught him off guard and now he was forced to speak to her formally and call her... noona.

“Oh, hello, noona.”  He bowed towards her like she’d done to the older boys before her.  He was in something of a panic when he heard her informal speech and suddenly he didn’t know what to do with his hands.  Out of courtesy, she bowed back.  “Thank you for coming to the concert, uh, noona?”

“Thank you for doing it, Jungkook-ah.”  Ah Reum beamed up at him and didn’t correct him.  She attempted not to break her neck and she looked up at the tall boy in front of her.  “Your dancing was really good today!  I enjoyed your solo, also, it was very moving.”

“Thank you for saying so.  It means a lot for you to say that.”  Jungkook slipped into formal speech easily, though he was rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet.  He kept starting to say “noona” to address her, but he couldn’t seem to get the word out.

“Why are you so nervous, Jungkook-ah?”  Ah Reum tilted her head to the side, eyeing the fidgeting boy in front of her.  “It should be me who’s nervous, right?”

“Oh, I’m not nervous.  It’s the adrenaline.”  Jungkook lied easily, a small smile appearing on his lips.

“If you say so.  I’m still feeling the excitement, too!  The concert was very fun, Op-”  Ah Reum stopped herself mid sentence.  Jungkook raised an eyebrow.  “Jungkookie.”

“What did you almost call me?”  

“Nothing, Jungkook-ah.”  She smiled brightly at him.  Her mind was scrambling to think of something else to say, but nothing was coming to mind.  What else could she say to Jeon Jungkook to make him squirm?  “You don’t mind that I’m speaking informally, right?  I am older than you and you remind me so much of my little brother!”

“Oh, do I?”  Jungkook’s smile was forced while hers was bright.  She’d hit the mark, but she still couldn’t figure out why this was upsetting him so much.  

I thought he didn’t like being called “Oppa” but he doesn’t seem to like that I can speak informally to him, either.  What’s his deal?

“Jungkook-ah, are you okay?”  Ah Reum raised an eyebrow.  

Out of the corner of her eye Jimin caught wind of her question and eyed the maknae up and down.  After a decent once-over and a curious look from the older boy, Jimin shook his head and turned his attention back on the fan in front of him.  So something really was off about Jungkook, it wasn’t just her imagination.  There was only one explanation that Ah Reum could come up with for why Jungkook was acting so uncomfortable around her and tensing up when she addressed the others as “Oppa”.  He wanted her to call him that, too.  Right?  That was honestly the only explanation at this point in the game but it was also impossible.  

“Yeah, just a little tired, that’s all.”  He shot her a grin, rubbing the back of his neck as if he was checking for sweat.  “Well, anyway, thank you for coming to the concert!  It means a lot to me-  Um, to us.  It means a lot that you would come.”

“Of course, I’m so thrilled to have gotten the opportunity.  Also, thank you for putting on an amazing show and releasing such brilliant music.  I’m sure in the future, you’ll do even more great things.”  Ah Reum praised and Jungkook’s face brightened into one of the most genuine smiles she’d seen all night.

“Thank you.  I’m sure I will.  It was great to meet you.”  Jungkook held out a hand for her to shake, which she coolly took.  

She was prepared to leave with nothing more than a handshake, but Jungkook easily tugged on her hand, pulling her closer.  When she was close enough, he dropped her hand and pulled her into a warm, sweaty embrace.  In this position, with her hands gently resting on the backs of his shoulders, she could feel every muscle tense and relax.  His arms tensed, pulling her against him more.  His back muscles flexed under her fingers and she bit her lips to conceal a gasp.  Her chest wasn’t quite touching his, but she was about 99 percent sure that she would be able to feel his abdominal muscles if she was even just an inch closer.

As quickly as it had begun, the hug ended.  Jungkook released her.  Ah Reum regretfully left his embrace, though she was longing to just stand in his strong arms forever.  Instead of outwardly showing her disappointment, she smiled up and Jungkook and gave him a quick wave goodbye.  He waved back, his smile blinding her more than J-Hope’s had earlier.  

She was almost sad to leave the room but it was only a matter of time before she saw them again.

 

~!~!~!~!~!~

        “Why are you so upset, Jungkookie?”  Jimin chided, swinging his arm over the younger's shoulders.  Jimin beamed innocently at the maknae, but he knew exactly what was wrong.  After spending nearly every day with this kid for almost four years, it wasn’t that hard to pick up but maybe Jimin just wanted to hear him say it outloud.

“It’s nothing, hyung.”  Jungkook shrugged Jimin’s arm off and turned away in search of a water bottle.  Jimin, however, wasn’t going to let him off that easily.

“It doesn’t look like nothing.”  Jimin cooed.  He was hot on Jungkook’s heels, no matter how much the younger tried to get away.

“I’m just tired.”

“I know what it looks like when you’re tired.”  Jimin countered, earning him a glare from Jungkook.  “I agree, Jungkookie.  She was pretty.”

“Yah.”  Jungkook snapped, making the rest of the boys turn to look at him.  “It’s not about a girl.”

“She was really pretty!”  Taehyung joined the conversation easily, sliding his arm around Jimin’s waist.   

“Charismatic, too.”  Yoongi interjected from the other side of the room and Jungkook glared at him, too.

“Yah, hyungs!”  Jungkook pouted.  Jimin and Taehyung snickered behind their hands at the maknae who was entirely in denial.

“Aww.”  Seokjin cooed, locking Jungkook in a headlock before the boy could even make a retort.  “Does our little Jungkookie have a crush on a fan?”

“No!”  Jungkook wrestled Seokjin, pushing on his arms and his torso in an attempt to get the oldest to release him.  None of Jungkook’s shoving was any match for the older boy who was somehow keeping him well out of his reach.  “I don’t have a crush on a fan, you do!”

“That sounds like someone who has a crush says.”  Yoongi’s eyes twinkled mischievously and Jungkook tried to lunge at him, but Seokjin was doing a good job of keeping him still.

“I don’t have a crush!  Sure, she was pretty but she’s a fan and she’s-”  Jungkook stopped himself mid sentence.  

Moments later, Jungkook was out of Seokjin’s grasp and the boys were sitting him down on a rogue chair somewhere in the room.  Immediately, he was surrounded by the other members of his band.  All of them were standing in front of him with their arms crossed and interested gazes.  Even Yoongi seemed curious.  Jungkook scowled, looking at each of the boys in turn.  They had to get ready to go downstairs for the other high touch so there wasn’t a lot of time.  If Jungkook could just stall until the staff ushered them downstairs, surely he would be off the hook, right?  

“She’s what, Jungkookie?”  Hoseok was beaming.  “Wait, we’re all thinking of the same girl, right?”

“Yeah, of course!”  Yoongi assured the other rapper.

“The one with silky hair and a red skirt, right?”  Namjoon confirmed.

The other boys nodded in confirmation and Jungkook found his head moving, too.  Before he realized that he was confirming their suspicions, six pairs of eyes were on him.  Jungkook’s eyes widened and he halted his movements.  He winced, preparing himself for the tsunami of questions headed his way.  There was a moment, a collective breath in the room that brought silence.  To Jungkook, it didn’t last long enough.

“So, what else was wrong with Miss Beautiful?”  Hoseok crossed his arms.  

“Someone being a fan never bothered you before.”  Taehyung mused.  “Why is she different?”

“Come on, Jungkookie, just tell us.”  Jimin prodded the younger boy.

“I... I don’t know.”  Jungkook spoke up.  “Honestly.  There was something about her that just...”

“See if you can put it into words.”  Namjoon urged.

“Well, she was calling you guys ‘oppa’ a lot and that word kind of bugs me in general, but when she got to me and she didn’t call me ‘oppa’ it kind of threw me off.”  Jungkook rambled and the others nodded knowingly, scrunching their eyebrows in fake concern.

“So... what?”  Taehyung questioned.

“I guess I kind of... wanted her to be younger than me.”  Jungkook admitted.  “The word sounded so nice from , I guess I thought it would be nice directed at me.”

“Who are you and what have you done with our Jungkook?”