Reality Check 

'What now? Please don't make me do something ridiculous.'

“What do you want?” she asked with a bad feeling in her stomach, which been crunching for the past few minutes, ever since he mentioned that one condition.

“Nothing much, really.” He said sitting in his previous seat, in front of her.

“Then say it…” she raised an eyebrow hoping his request would not by a bad as she thought it would be.

“Do the laundry for a month after your ankle is healed—“

“Are you crazy?” Nara exclaimed. “Why should I do that?” she asked, putting both of her hands on her hips.

“Haha… Just kidding. I know you won’t do that, because it’s not your style, right?” he said with chuckle.

“I thought you were being serious!” she frowned.

“But, I do have one condition” he stated.

“Then just tell me already…” she whined.

“I’ll save it for later…” he said.

“Why can’t you just tell me now?” she cried.  

“Ahh… I’m tired.” Taehyung stood up and stretched his arms, “I’m going to take a nap…” he easily slipped between her fingers and didn't respond to her question.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated, surprising her, her eyes were hurting from the sunset that was blazing through the car. She took her phone, unlocked it and saw the pop-up reminder that tomorrow is Jungkook’s birthday. She threw her phone and sighed, 'It was too good to be true, no wonder it was a dream. Why did I even dream about him?'

She remembered for sure that she didn't know when his birthday was and never put a reminder in her phone. The only reminder she had on her phone was her own birthday and her parents' birthdays. Looking at the reminder again, she felt like she had to do something for his birthday—because it’s his special day and he was her only friend.

The sun was setting and Nara was still sitting in the car. Suddenly, someone tapped the window twice, she looked up and saw that Taehyung was there.

“Get out. I need to go to the convenience store…” he stated and crossed his arms waiting for her to get out.

She unlocked the door and walked out, giving him the keys and waking up to the door without saying anything. She saw him drive away before entering the house silently. She wanted to do the things that she dreamt about before, but she heard noises from the living room and decided not to go there. Her father saw her and told her to meet his friends from work. She walked slowly towards the living room with her injured leg and smiled bitterly.

“This is my daughter Nara,” he stated and Nara bowed respectfully.

“Is she the wife of the boy that we just met a few minutes ago?” one of his friends asked.

“Yes…” her father responded simply.

“Well, in that case, we have nothing to worry about. They actually look good together. They’ll be great icons. When can the shooting start?” his friends asked again, while commenting at the same time.

“Maybe next month, let’s talk about this matter in the office,” her father announced.

Nara curled her eyebrow; she was confused with the idea of great icons. She smiled at them once again and tapped her father’s shoulder twice. They went to the stairs to talk privately.

“Dad, what does he mean by that?” she asked, carefully.

“It’s nothing, you don't have to worry about it…” he dodged Nara’s bullet easily.

“It doesn't sound like nothing. I heard that he said, they’d be great icons…” she restated what his friends said. “They, means us right?” she asked cornering her own father. ”They” means Taehyung and me, right?

“Sweet heart, you don't have to worry about it. It’s just a company’s matter…” her dad her head and went back to the living room.

Without thinking about it too long, she went upstairs and threw herself onto her bed. She did remember that she had to put ice on her ankle, but she didn't care. She curled herself up with the blanket and turned off the all the lights. It had been a while since she could sleep lightless, since Taehyung always came in, there was always one light that had to be , he said he needed a light to go to the toilet.

“Whoa…whoa!” someone opened the door and light came into the room, breaking between Nara’s eyelids and she was forced to wake up. “I can’t see a thing here!” he exclaimed.

Must be Taehyung.

She turned her back to the door and pretended not to see him, covering herself fully with the blanket.

“Nara, are you there?” he shouted, looking around with the help of from the hallway light.

She kept herself quiet and invisible. Finally, Taehyung palpates the wall to find the switch button. After searching fo quite long, he finally found the switch and turned the lights on.

“Nice…” he said to himself, “You suffered so much in the dark, Taehyung!” he was proud of himself; the he went to see who was in the bed. He pulled the blanket down and exposed Nara who was trying to hide herself, with eyes still merged together.

“I knew you we’re here!” he exclaimed, “Why didn't you answer me?” he asked, with a tone of complaining.

“I was sleeping,” she answered simply. ”I didn't know you came…” she responded with a lie.

They didn't really talk much during the night. She was in bed and Taehyung was busy playing his phone. The next day, she was already brushing her teeth at 6 AM and Taehyung was forced to wake up because she was so noisy. He looked at the space next to him and he saw that Nara wasn't there, so that means she was the one that made all the noise.

By the time she got out of the bathroom, her hair was brushed perfectly and applied her make up to look as natural as possible. She went to the wardrobe and scanned around to find the perfect outfit for the day. She smiled, feeling satisfied with her choice. Taehyung who was sitting on the bed kept watching her walk around the room, taking things from everywhere.

“Where are you going?” he asked crossing his arms with his eyes following wherever she went.

“Somewhere…” she responded between her busy ritual.

“Going somewhere?” he asked again to make sure, “With that ankle?” he emphasized with his eyes looking at her from head to toe.

“I’m taking the bus…”

“Still you need to walk to the bus station. Duh!” he said, stating the obvious.

“I’m not going to listen to you. Bye-” she stormed off and slammed the door.

She walked outside and went to the bus station, but before she waited she decided to buy a cake from a nearby bakery. Choosing the right type and flavor, she smiled as she brought the box to the bus station. After waiting a few minutes the bus finally came, the bus driver helped her getting on and drove off when she was properly seated.

She arrived at her destination and walked in the sidewalk, looking for the exact number that she had on the note. Her energy was depleted; half of the energy she used was to drag her injured ankle all the way. She smiled once she reached  the house that she was looking for. She straightened up her hair and rearranged her clothes, to make sure she looked nice. She pressed the doorbell once and waited for someone to open the door. Finally, the doorknob clicked and someone opened the door.

“Hi!” A girl greeted with a big smile on her face.

“Hello, um… excuse me, but is this Jungkook’s house?” she asked nervously.

“Yes, this is his house. Umm… Let me guess, you must be his friend Nara, right?” she asked while pointing at her. Nara responded with a light nod.

“Hyein! Who are you talking to?” someone asked running towards the door, then he saw Nara. “Hey—Hi, what are you doing here?”

“I’ll leave you guys alone…”Hyein said with a mischievous smile on her face.

“So, um what are you doing here?” Jungkook asked for the second time.

“Happy birthday?” she gave him the cake box, feeling forced to smile.

“Thank you. How did you remember?”

“There was a reminder on my phone, I think someone put it there” she explained. “So, here I am!” She exclaimed pretending to be excited, knowing her surprise was a failure.

“Huh! Well, thank you, again for this. Umm… My whole family is here, you should come in and meet them” he said while opening the door wider, wide enough for her to come inside.

“Okay…”

“You came all the way here, even when your leg is still injured?” he asked while closing the door.

“It’s fine. Besides, I want to celebrate your birthday…”

“If you say so.” He replied and walked towards the dinning room.

When they entered the whole table was looking at them, expecting Jungkook to introduce the young lady.

“Hey, guys so this is my friend Nara, can she join dinner?” he asked, without explaining anything more.

“Sure, pull up a chair…” his mother replied, “Oh, dear what happened to your ankle?” she exclaimed.

“Oh, I fell at the school camp a few weeks ago…” she stated.

Finally, she got her own seat and Jungkook went to his seat next to Hyein.

“So, Nara tell me about yourself…” his mother trying to open a conversation.

“Well, umm…” Nara was nervous, she didn't know how to respond, it had been a long time since she actually talked about herself. The only things that she could think of were: I’m weird. I like to dance by myself in my room, I complain.

“Well, I—I enjoy music…” she said with an unsure tone in her voice.

“Jungkook has told me so much about you, but he said that you’re more of a silent type, kinda girl…”Hyein blurted.

Nara smiled nervously, because what she said was true.

“Well, I think you’re okay and Jungkook thinks so too…”she placed her hand on Jungkook’s chest and looked at him.

“I’m sure…”

Jungkook sense the awkward atmosphere was filling the room and he decided to break the awkwardness. He stood up and brought his plate.

“May I be excused, please? I’ll give Nara the tour of the house.” He stated and dragged Nara out of the dining room.

“Where are we going?” Nara asked.

“My room—“

“What?” she asked again.

“I want to blow the candles and celebrate my birthday with you” he explained with a smile.

“But, I didn't bring any candles.” She stated.

“Don’t worry, I took the candles from the cake that my family brought me…” he took the cake box that he left outside the dining room, “Now, c’mon!” he grabbed her hand and took her upstairs.

“Hmph… Those lovebirds…” one of the family members commented.