Backstage was as chaotic as it always was. Staff were running around everywhere, making sure everything was perfect. Park Jimin was just glad he was able to come to their dressing room so that he wouldn’t distract or disturb anyone. The staff already had enough on their hands. The dressing room was relatively empty except for a few managers and stylists. The rest of the members were all busy ordering food and taking glances of the pre-recordings. A wave of relief shot through Jimin as he found his way to the couch and sat down. He buried his face in his hands as he silently cursed himself. Typically, he wasn’t really awkward with other idols. He had a way of charming those around him. He didn’t understand why when he passed by her, he always froze. He further sunk into his seat as he relived the painfully awkward moment again and again.

He had come from watching a pre-recording with s. He couldn’t really remember which pre-recording he had watched because he didn’t stay for long. The past days had been physically tiring; they were busy practicing for and attending year-end shows and also busy preparing for their upcoming comeback. He excused himself to go back to their dressing room to take a short nap before the show started. The hallways were a mess; staffs, managers, and stylists were all running around. As much as he wanted to get to the dressing room as soon as possible, he couldn’t resist the opportunity of buying coffee when he saw a vending machine. He quickly put in some change he had in his pocket into the machine and ordered a can of coffee.  He needed a shot of adrenaline in his system. He quickly made his way to the machine to put in some change in his pocket. With a quick beep of some buttons, a satisfactory clang echoed through the hallways as the drink fell to the receiving area. He pulled up his sleeves as he crouched down to get his drink when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching his direction. He turned to see the source of the sound, thinking that it was one of s who followed him.

Boy, was he wrong.

Normally, Park Jimin can’t do anything but stare when he sees Kang Seulgi. But at that moment, as he watched the shy girl’s expression change when she realized that it was him, he found himself in complete and utter despair. He quickly stood up and bowed to her after she bowed to him.

“I-uh,” he stammered as he looked at her expectant eyes. “I-uh… You… Um… Vending machine, yeah?”

He put on an apologetic and embarrassed smile that made the girl only smile shyly in response. It took his entire strength and willpower not to react to it. She took a step closer to the machine and Jimin could feel himself completely unraveling from her presence. He quickly took a step back and bowed before waving and leaving her. He camouflaged himself in the sea of staff, hoping and praying that the older girl wouldn’t think too much of the encounter and let it become her impression of him.

He groaned at the memory. It was no secret that he had always had a thing for Seulgi. That kind of spread like wildfire ever since s, Taemin, and Kai found out about it. It wasn’t a meaningful crush or anything; he didn’t know her well enough to like her that deeply. But it was undeniable that he found her attractive. Ever since he laid his eyes on her and saw her dance, Kang Seulgi seized a space in Park Jimin’s heart. She was his happy crush, he supposed; she was only someone he admired from afar but never really had the opportunity to get to know. It was his fault, in all honesty. They’ve exchanged words in the past but it seemed like every time he spoke to her, he became more and more tongue-tied. Sometimes, he couldn’t even bring himself to wave at her.

He didn’t know the reason why he acted the way he did around her. He never had any trouble speaking around girls he liked before. He usually charmed them with his signature grins and sweet words. So why was he so different when it was her? He sighed as he closed his eyes and thought about it. Was it because she was a member of one of the most popular girl groups and getting involved with her would result in a heavily publicized scandal that they both couldn’t afford to have? Or was it just because there was something about her that would make it so easy for him to fall in love with her? He sighed as he slowly started to fall sleep with a certain someone still on his mind.

——

BTS’s dressing room had once more come alive as they started to prepare for their stage. The second half of the show had just started so they needed to quickly change into their outfits for their stage. Although they had performed countless of times, the moments before going on stage never failed to make Jimin nervous. He wanted to always make sure that he always gave his best on stage so that the performance would be as perfect as possible. The waiting room was noisy, a sign that the members were trying to calm their nerves down before they performed.

“Me likey, likey, likey!” Hoseok sang cheerfully as he danced around the room. Jimin laughed as he watched his hyung. Hoseok started freestyling playfully to the song as Jungkook and Taehyung started to join him. Soon enough, almost everyone in the room was chanting and dancing happily along to the Twice song. They were interrupted by a gentle knock on the door and the opening of the door to reveal the face of a certain Park Sooyoung.

“Joy-ah!” The boys called out as they welcomed her into the room. Among all the Red Velvet members, Sooyoung was the one most close and friendly with the BTS members. She had a bright and funny personality that made her easily get along with them.

“Aren’t you performing soon?” Jin asked the younger girl.

She nodded in reply. “I actually escaped my manager to pay you all a quick visit.”

The boys shook their head. “We aren’t claiming responsibility for this visit,” Taehyung teased as Sooyoung rolled her eyes.

“Oppa,” she said. “I’ll just charm my way out of it like I always do.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Hoseok said as he looked at Jin’s direction. “She learns this from you, hyung.”

Jin quickly defended himself and two ended up bickering. Sooyoung rolled her eyes. These boys were way too childish for how old they were. It wasn’t like the other male idols she was friends with weren’t but one would expect that a group as respected as BTS would act like adults behind the scenes. That wasn’t the case at all. 

“What are you doing here anyway?” Jimin said as he turned away from his bickering members.

“I came here to talk to you,” she replied with a knowing look. 

The attention of the rest of the members quickly shifted back to the younger girl at the mention of her statement. Devilish and teasing grins quickly made an appearance on their faces. Jimin quickly looked at the girl apologetically as he knew what was about to come.

“The boldness of our Park Sooyoung is truly on a different level,” Namjoon commented.

“She’s all grown up,” Hoseok teased as he mock cried.

Sooyoung rolled her eyes at them. “I have no ulterior motive, guys. There’s just something I need to tell him without all of you butting in and making things complicated.”

“Well, you better make sure that you don’t have ulterior motives. Sungjae won’t be happy if he finds out,” Taehyung said and the younger girl blushed furiously at the mention of Sungjae. They all knew that the two still had a thing going on, despite them not strictly dating. 

“I guess a certain member of Red Velvet won’t be pleased either,” Jungkook added as he nudged Jimin. It took all of Jimin’s willpower not to slap the grin off of the younger’s face. 

Surprisingly, it was Yoongi who voiced out the name everyone in the room was thinking about. 

“Kang Seulgi-ssi!!” 

 Everyone turned to see Yoongi joining the maknae in teasing Jimin. The two gave him knowing looks as they nudged him. He could only let out a frustrated sigh in response. At the rate s were going, it wouldn’t be long before the entire South Korea would find out about his crush on Seulgi.

Sooyoung only smiled and laughed along at the teasing of the boys. “OK, enough. I need to talk to him now or my manager is going to kill me.”

After a few more seconds of teasing, the boys finally exited the room to let Jimin and Sooyoung talk in peace.

“What’s up?” Jimin asked. 

Sooyoung looked at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. “‘I-uh… You.. Um.. Vending machine, yeah?’ Really, oppa? That’s the best you can come up with?”

Jimin felt his stomach sink upon hearing the younger girl’s words. He didn’t imagine that it would’ve left such a big impression on Seulgi. Then again, he was a complete idiot in front of her. At this rate, he didn’t even need s or the rest of the SM idols for the news to reach Seulgi. He was doing a good job of being so obvious about his little crush by himself.

“I completely froze!” Jimin explained as he covered his face with his hands. “One moment I saw her approaching and the next I was running away. I completely out!” He sat down and sighed. “She probably thinks I’m a complete fool.”

Sooyoung laughed. “Not really. That unnie is worried that she did something wrong. She doesn’t know you too well so she couldn’t confront you herself.”

“I don’t know how exactly I should tell her that I get tongue-tied around her because I like her without telling her I have a crush on her,” Jimin explained.

“Well, you better think of something because I only came here to inform you that I’m going to tell her that both of you should meet up,” Sooyoung said casually with a devilish glint in her eyes.

Jimin stood up immediately upon hearing her words. “There is no way I’m going to be able to tell her anything! You know I’ll just end up embarrassing myself in front of her.”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes. “You’ll do well. Come on, just run your hand through your hair and show off your eye smile or whatever. Charm her. You’re good at that. You’re an idol, for crying out loud.”

“Joy,” he begged. “Please don’t torture me like this.”

Sooyoung sighed as she walked towards the door. “Oppa, I’ve seen the way you look at her. Any girl would honestly die to be in her place. You aren’t going to get any opportunity to talk to her as golden as this. Just talk to her. I’m not asking you to ask her hand in marriage. I believe in you oppa!” She gave him a reassuring “fighting” pose before exiting the room and leaving Jimin all alone in a state of panic and surprise.

How was he supposed to perform now?

---
 All throughout the night, Park Jimin’s mind was only consumed by one thought: the meeting between him and Kang Seulgi. It terrified him but at the same time, he knew that he was happy he finally had an excuse to talk with her. He had always tried to get closer to her but he just couldn’t bring himself to. 

The nervousness gradually disappeared upon seeing the faces of his fans. Being on stage felt so natural for him. Everything always seemed to disappear and for a few minutes, he felt nothing but bliss and adrenaline running through his veins. It was this feeling that made all of it worth it. All the hardships and struggles, all the rules and lack of privacy. He accepted everything because he loved these moments where he could just let go and be himself.

But all good things come to an end and the moment passed and ended.

It wasn’t long before the ceremony ended and he was faced with the reality that he would have to face her sooner or later. As he walked through the hallway with the rest of the other performers, Sooyoung turned and gave him an encouraging smile before pointing at a small corner, private enough so that no peeping eyes could see but public enough for people not to get the wrong idea. He thanked her quietly before entering his dressing room with the rest of s. 

The venue, once filled with fans and the sound of heated chanting and screams, was empty and silent. It always gave Jimin an odd feeling, knowing the venue completely filled. There was a sense of burden and gratitude that he felt upon seeing the empty venues and knowing how the people who filled up the seats where the reason why he was where he was today. He was distracted by these kinds of thoughts that he failed to notice a certain girl approaching him.

“Jimin-ssi,” Kang Seulgi called out in a soft voice and Jimin snapped back to reality.

“Ah,” he gave her a nervous smile. He bowed before her as he apologized. “I’m so sorry for how I acted earlier. Joy mentioned how you felt about it and I just wanted to clarify that you didn’t do anything that caused me to act like that. I was just… nervous and excited because of the new year so I didn’t greet you properly.” He continuously bowed as he talked, refusing to make eye contact with her in fear of how he might react. “I didn’t mean to cause any disrespect. I’m so sorry--”

Seulgi cut him off with a small laugh. He looked up at her to see the same shy smile on her face. He had seen the smile so many times before but never was it directed at him. His heart skipped a beat and he couldn’t help but smile back at her. 

“It’s okay,” she assured him. She fiddled with her fingers as she spoke. “It was just… I was worried that there was a misunderstanding that I caused for you to act like that. I just wanted to talk to you about it.” 

Jimin almost blushed at her words but he made sure to maintain his composure in front of her. He didn’t understand the effect she had on him even if she was just standing there. To say he thought Seulgi was beautiful was a complete understatement; in his eyes, she was completely stunning. He didn’t understand how the shy girl in front of him could completely transform into a charismatic performer on stage. 

“I’m sorry for making you think that way,” Jimin added awkwardly as he bowed once more.

There was an awkward moment of silence that followed where both of them were unsure of what to say next. 

“I really enjoyed your performances, by the way,” she told him as she avoided eye contact. “Joohyun-unnie and Seungwan really enjoyed Go Go but I personally enjoyed Mic Drop. It was the first time I got to see the dance break with my own eyes. We missed it during MAMA.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I liked your stage too. I wished that you had performed Rookie and Red Flavor as well though, It would’ve made the other members really happy since they love those songs.” He looked away from her as he ran his hand through his hair and started to rub his neck. A slight blush crept on his cheeks as he uttered his next words. “You did really well today.”

He glanced at her to see a flash of awe and (if he wasn’t mistaken) admiration in her eyes. What he failed to see was that his small mannerisms have made the girl’s heart beat a little faster than it had before. Upon making eye contact with him, Seulgi quickly looked away from him and directed her eyes to the floor as she lifted her shoulders in an attempt to hide the fact that she was blushing. 

Jimin quickly walked over to get closer to the girl to make sure he was okay but before he could get any closer, she reached into her coat and extended her arm to reveal a can of coffee. He looked at it questioningly before glancing at her.

“You...You left this at the vending machine a while ago,” she explained as she still refused to meet his eyes. “You forgot to get it when you saw me.”

Jimin gave her an embarrassed smile as he took the drink from her. He bowed once again. “I’m really sorry about that.” He ran his hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck once more. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

The girl could only stare at him with a faint blush on her cheeks in reply before she cleared . “I have to get going now! Please enjoy the drink and dress warmly because it’s cold outside. Happy New Year!” she greeted as she bowed to him and ran off before Jimin could say anything in reply. 

“Happy New Year as well!” he shouted as she ran through the hallways. “And thank you!”

He went back inside the corner as he let out a breath and leaned on the wall. He slid down before finally sitting on the floor and staring at the coffee in his hands. It was still warm, despite the fact that he had ordered it hours earlier. He examined it carefully before spotting a sequence of handwritten numbers on the bottom of the can. 

A phone number.

With a stupid grin plastered on his face and a heart warm enough to brace the Korean winter, Park Jimin made his way back to s and only thought of the high hopes he had for the incoming year.