“God, this is delicious!” Jin exclaims as he stuffs another steamed shrimp dumpling into his mouth, leaving his mouth open to let out some of the hot steam.

The BTS members were enjoying a nice meal of Dim Sum after their final concert in Hong Kong. They were situated in the top floor of a skyscraper at a fancy restaurant that overlooked the city. The dazzling view of Hong Kong's skyline was amazing, and the concert was a success so they were treating themselves to a feast.

“I don’t get how you don’t get fat,” Jimin says, while watching Jin stuff a massive amount of food in his stomach as usual.

“His stomach is a bottomless pit,” Suga says while putting his chopsticks down and rubbing his stomach, signaling he was full.

“Guys, give yourselves a well deserved pat on the back” RapMon says. “The concert was amazing, if I could say so myself. A perfect end to our year long tour.”

“Yeah, especially our Jungkookie here” V says, while patting Jungkook on the shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him perform so passionately. Vocals on point and dance moves as emotionally perfect as ever.”

“What are you talking about? I’m THE Jeon Jungkook, the lengendary GOLDEN maknae, when have my performances ever been a disappointment?” Jungkook jokes, making the rest of the members laugh.

Although he was genuinely happy and joking around, there was only one thing on Jungkook’s mind at this point, and he hadn’t forgotten the leader’s previous promise.

“Ya, Kookie, you’re not eating as much as you normally do” JHope comments. “Still recovering from the adrenaline from the concert?”

“Jungkook-ah, I know what you’re thinking about, but lets take this one step at a time ok?” Rap Monster says, putting his elbows on the table. “The truth is, I asked the manager about where Minchan’s new job is, but he said she left Korea and he doesn’t have her contact information.”

“Aren’t there any other staff members she was close with?” Jungkook asks desperately. He’s almost falling off the edge of his seat now.

Rap Monster slowly shakes his head. “But don’t worry, we won’t give up, right guys?” He turns to the other members who nod in agreement. Although they reassure Jungkook that everything will be all right, Jungkook still isn’t completely satisfied. He had built up so much anticipation, looking forward to seeing to again, and frankly that little glimmer of hope was what had gotten him through the last few months of the tour. But now it was all crashing down, like a house of cards.

After a long moment of silence and the members giving Jungkook some space, V clears his throat.

“Fate has a way of bringing people together.” V says. He’s not even looking at Jungkook but instead just staring into space. The young maknae looks up at the older boy confused, but he doesn’t say any more.

After another moment of silence, JHope perks up and suggests they go to a bar.

“Are you serious?” Suga says, doubt written all over his face. He was looking at JHope like he was crazy. 

“I can’t sleep yet, the night is young and we deserve a break to let loose after a series of concerts” JHope says, convincing Rap Monster that it was the best way to end a successful world tour and enjoy Hong Kong while they were still there.

The leader finally agrees, falling for JHope’s irresistible charms and cute antics.

…

“Ha! She was useless. I don’t even understand why the boss even bothered to let her come on this trip.” Your coworker sneers as you listen while sitting in the bathroom stall. It was obvious they didn’t know you were there and probably just assumed you were still interacting with businessmen at the dinner party.

“It only because he doesn’t want her father to lose face” You hear someone else say. “How embarrassing would it be if the CEO found out his daughter was nothing but an errand running intern?” The sound of laughter echoes throughout the bathroom, and you try to close your eyes and block it out. After tonight, I’m done with this . You say, trying to quell the anger building up.

When they finally leave, you sneak out of the bathroom and go back to the fancy party where everyone was dressed in fancy clothing and talking about materialistic things. It made you sick to your stomach. You just hover around the snack table and try to enjoy your alone time, but that doesn’t last long because your coworkers come over with their fake smiles plastered to their faces and invite you to go to the bar with them.

At first, every cell in your body resists and tells you to refuse to go, but then you figure there’s nothing else you can do and they were your ride home, so you basically had no other choice. Good thing, Jia Min was there with you because she was really the only person at work who was at least somewhat nice to you.

When you enter, you hear the sound of Kpop playing at the bar, which is strange because this was Hong Kong and you didn’t know Kpop was so popular here. But you shrug it off as you walk in as see people dancing and drinking alcoholic beverages.

Your group of coworkers situate themselves at a round booth and start talking. The females flirting with the males and drinking the night away. You weren’t particularly fond of alcohol so you don’t even order a drink, but one of the guys insists he buys one for you, and when you try to politely refuse, that same female coworker who was talking about you in the bathroom decides to in and push your buttons.

“She’s only likes guys with plastic noses” She laughs, the sound disgustingly shrill and clearly already drunk.

You take a deep breath and try to ignore her comment, but it keeps coming.

“Plastic people only fall for other plastic people. She’s delusional, probably waiting for some Korean celebrity to come and marry her.”

The guy next to her is starting to feel awkward now. You were about to swing a fist at her face when the music suddenly stops and the DJ requests someone to go up on stage and sing.

You feel Jia Min tug on your dress.

“Hey, you can sing in Korean. You should do it!” She says excitedly, giving you a little nudge toward the stage.

“She probably can’t even sing because of all the surgery she’s had” The coworker sneers, crossing her arms and making a disgusted smirk.

At this point you’ve had enough of her degrading comments and before you even realize what you’re doing, you find yourself walking up to the stage, requesting to sing Taeyeon’s Time Lapse. You were going to prove her dead wrong.

Taeyeon’s Time Lapse was the best songs that described everything you felt when you thought of Jungkook. And the thought of Jungkook was about the only thing that was stopping you from punching that woman square in the face right now and starting a huge catfight like the ones you see in movies. But the dazzling image of him, his youthful energy, and his overflowing passion, was able to keep you sane and composed.

Just like in the song, it’s true that up until today, when you hear his name, your eyes still well up with tears. They are filled with a mixture of happiness from the time you spent with him, a feeling of pride that he’s led such a successful life, and a hint of bittersweet longing, still hoping that you would meet again one day. You were grateful that Jungkook was a part of your life even though it was fleeting, the world that he showed you was better than you could’ve ever dreamed of. In all your 23 years of life, no guy was ever able to capture your heart the way Jeon Jungkook did. The fact that he probably never had feelings for you was not the main part that saddened you; it was the stubborn thought that you could never live up to being the worthy of even knowing someone like him. He gave you so much, but in return, you felt that you had nothing substantial to offer him.

But at that moment, you just close your eyes and sing with all your heart. The world around you dissipating and your voice filling the entire room.

…

Jungkook and the rest of the members walk into the bar, when all of a sudden he hears the sound of a familiar voice he can’t quite put his finger on. It’s a sound that soothes his ears, and then he hears V’s voice ring in head, “Fate has a way of bringing people together. “

That’s when he knows, and he rushes to get a clear view of the girl sitting on the stage, holding a mic with both of her hands, eyes closed, singing Taeyeon’s Time Lapse.

He stares as if he’s in a trance, and the members slowly show up behind him, curiously looking at what Jungkook’s attention is preoccupied on. They stand there, unable to believe what’s going on, but even more impressed by your voice. V smiles and looks at Jimin, Jimin smiles back, his eyes turning into crescent moons. Rap Monster and Jin sigh and nod, realizing this what it’s like to witness the workings of fate. JHope is standing with his mouth wide open, in which Suga has to manually close it to protect his “human rights”.

Then the song finally ends and the crowd begins to cheer. You still have your eyes closed because you don’t want the tears to slide down your face.

Before even thinking about it, Jungkook navigates through the crowd of people surrounding the stage and hops up to where you were. You open your eyes and see a person walking closer to you, blurred by the dampness in your eyes. You were looking at him, unable to register what was really going on, and thinking maybe you passed out and this was all a dream because there was no way Jeon Jungkook of BTS was standing a foot away from you right now.

The look in Jungkook’s large doe eyes was determined, like the look he has on stage when he performs Blood, Sweat, and Tears but there’s also a hint of tenderness and longing like when he performs Butterfly and Save Me. And for a moment you think maybe he’s come up here to dance or sing, but he sweeps you off your feet and kisses you. And that’s when everything around you just pauses, like the whole world came to a stand still and it was just you and Jungkook, his soft plump lips melting with yours. It was like the sun breaking through the clouds after centuries of rain. With the familiar smell of his fruity floral perfume lingering in the air, as he cups your face in his hands and kisses you slowly and gently, like he’s done so many times in his dreams.

When he releases you, the sound of whispers and gasps start making their way to your senses. You slowly peel your gaze away from Jungkook, who by the way looks so beautiful and handsome under the lightly colored stage lights, and look at the crowd now beginning to cheer and whistle. You’re so confused and dazed, but you look back at the person standing beside you, his hair a deep chocolate brown, just the way you remembered it, but this time it’s fluffy and swept across his forehead, revealing more of his beautiful features.

He was so handsome that it nearly took your breath away. Jungkook’s lips curve into a warm smile, the smile you were oh so familiar with, but for the first time it didn’t hurt to look at. Instead, it was like snuggling next to a fireplace during a cold winter snowstorm, and it literally melted the heart you had kept frozen for the past year.

.......