The two of you ate and made idle conversation over the meal. You smiled as Bobby seemed to gain more and more energy right before your eyes until he was back to his normal, energetic, bouncing self. Bobby ate two bowls of rice, three bowls of seaweed soup, half a cow of bulgogi, and almost all the rolled egg. You had no idea where he put all of it, but you were glad he was eating. Eventually he set down his chopsticks and nodded to himself in satisfaction. 

"That was delicious," he annouced. 

You smiled at him. "Good," you replied. "You seem like you're a lot more energetic now."

Bobby smiled back at you. "Eating is my happy time," he chuckled. "There's no way I can be in a bad mood while I'm eating."

You laughed and began to clear the table. You looked pointedly at Bobby as he tried to get up to help you. "Don't even think about it," you threatened. "You just sit there for a minute, okay?"

Bobby stared back at you as he slowly lowered himself back into his chair in defeat. 

You smiled triumphantly and cleaned up quickly. You simply put away the left over food in the fridge then hastily put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. You checked your phone. It was 11:45. Fifteen minutes. You slipped your phone into your back pocket and closed the dish washer before wiping your hands on a towel and sitting back down across from Bobby. He was gazing at you steadily and you squirmed a little in self-consciousness. "What?' you asked. "Is there something on my face?"

Bobby was quiet for a minute before replying. His gaze was fixed on your face and a look of utter concentration filled his eyes. "You look different today," he stated simply. 

"I'm not wearing any make up," you suggested. Your usual foundation, eye liner, and lip color had been washed away in the shower earlier and you hadn't bothered reapplying. You actually hadn't even thought about it until now. A small bit of regret slipped into your mind. 

"No, it's not that," Bobby replied unphased. "I've never seen you with your hair down," he commented. 

You automatically brushed your hair back out of your face. You always wore it back out of your face for work or just to keep it from annoying you. Today your medium length hair fell free around your face and you looked up in confusion at Bobby. 

He smiled back at you ran his hand through his messy fop of hair. "It looks good down," he stated simply. He leaned back in his chair and smiled wider and you pulled it over to one side over your shoulder. 

"Thanks," you murmured bashfully. You pulled out your phone again and checked the time. Ten more minutes. 

"What do you keep looking at on your phone? Bobby asked curiously. "You keep checking it like every five minutes."

"Hm?' you asked as your eyes left your phone to look up at Bobby. He was smiling cheekily at you. "It's nothing," you said hastily. 

"Boyfriend?" he asked mischeviously. He quirked an eyebrow at you. 

Your heart thudded loudly in your chest and you could feel the burn of a blush flaring across your cheeks. "Um... no," you stuttered. "I don't have a boyfriend." 

Bobby laughed. "I'm just joking," he enthused. "I'm sure if you did have a boyfriend he wouldn't be too excited about me visitng." He leaned in put his elbow up on the table so he could cradle his chin in his palm. 

You nodded a little bit but smiled a little to yourself. Your heart still pounded in your chest, but suddenly you wondered to yourself if you were the only one feeling this way. Did Bobby's heartbeat quicken when you said certain things or made prolonged eye contact? For some reason, you didn't think so and your heart plummeted into your stomach. You shook the feeling. Just be his friend. That's enough, isn't it? "What have you been doing recently?" you asked curiously trying to change the subject. "How have promotions been going?"

Bobby nodded. "Good," he replied. "There's all these end of the year specials and variety shows and then award shows in January, so it's been really busy." He sighed heavily and shook his hair out of his face. "Do you mind if I don't talk about it? I just want to enjoy my normal time."

"Normal time?" you asked perplexed. What did he mean by that?

Bobby smiled crookedly at you. "That's what I call this time I get with you. It's the only time when I can just be normal. Not a celebrity, not a singer, not an idol. I'm just Bobby, the person, the boy. Does that make sense?" 

You nodded.

"It's so peaceful here," Bobby continued, "I don't have to worry about other people seeing me or bothering me. No fans. No paparazzi. Even at our dorm, the other members are there. They're my family but also coworkers. Sometimes I just want to get away from it all. I'm so glad I found someone like you." He smiled at you and your heart leapt from your stomach to your throat. "You're like my guardian angel," he chuckled. 

"Not even close," you laughed trying to ignore the way your heart bucked like a mustang in your chest. 

Bobby just continued to smile at you. 

You checked your phone again. It was time. "Oh," you exclaimed pretending to be surprised. "I have dessert," you said to Bobby. "Do you want some?"

Bobby laughed. "I can't say no," he replied. 

"Okay, but it's a surprise, so close your eyes," you told him. 

"A surprise?" he said in confusion. "For what?"

"For our friendship," you said without missing a beat. "If I'm you're guardian angel, I'm going to take care of you," you laughed at what you were saying. 

Bobby laughed but closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. 

"No peeking," you warned. You got up hastily and pulled the cake box out from the fridge. You took the cake out the box. It was a small milk tea flavored cake with smooth white whipped cream icing, chocolate decorations and gold detailing. There was a small rectangle of chocolate that had "happy birhtday" written on it in gold. You smiled as you put in two large candles and lit them. Yyou grabbed two forks quickly before setting the cake in front of Bobby and sitting back down across from him. "Okay," you murmured. "You can open your eyes." You watched as Bobby uncovered his eyes and blinked adjusting to the light before his eyes fell on the cake in front of him. "Happy birthday," you said. 

Bobby's eyes raised to yours in realization and all you could do was smile.