For the hundredth time that night, Seung Hee cast a desperate look at the clock. It was 10:00PM – why wasn't Yoongi home? He had been out for eleven hours. And she had to give him something.

She had bought them on impulse. Tired of being cooped up indoors, Seung Hee had gone out for a walk and found herself in one of those shops that sell cheap jewelry, shampoo, makeup, and so on. And that was where she had seen them.

There had been a large display of rings on offer – buy one get one free. Yoongi had wanted to wear those wedding rings, but would he be willing to wear one like that? The rings were just a plain steel band, but they were nice. They were cheap but of good quality. It would be nice if they could wear it – it wasn't a wedding ring, thank God, but it was a ring anyway. Seung Hee had bought them, but had to guess about Yoongi's size.

Now, doubts kept resurfacing. How could Min Yoongi wear such a cheap thing? What had made her think for even one second that he would agree to wear it? He was pretty snobby, now that she thought about it - “I can't use any old dye!” and “I can't go to any old bakery!” He would probably say, “I can't wear any old ring!”

Her phone buzzed and she jumped on it – yay, it was Yoongi!

“Yah!” she cried. “When are you coming?”

“Sorry, kiddo,” he said, and he sounded tired. “I… well, there are some issues going on.”

“Are you in trouble?”

“No, nothing like that. See, there's some complication with a contract about some company's product I have to advertise."

“What happened?”

“Never mind, it's too hard to explain.” Yoongi's voice became a bit sharper. “I won't be coming home so just go to sleep – I haven't finished filming yet.”

How had he known that she was waiting for him?

“How...”

“It's obvious. Did you have dinner yet?”

“Not yet,” said Seung Hee, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. He wasn't coming home that night – and she had waited the entire day...
“Eat something good,” he said, and it sounded almost like an order – he was so bossy! “Don't eat ramen, have rice. And call me if something happens, ok?”

“Ok…. Yoongi, I-”

“I have to go now,” he said hurriedly. “Night, Seung Hee.”

“- love you,” she whispered, but there was no one at the other end to hear her. She told herself not to be too disappointed – there was always tomorrow, right?

 

* * * *

 

Namjoon hurried along the pavement, his hands buried in his coat pockets to keep them from freezing – he had been in too much of a hurry to remember to take them, and he was totally regretting that now.

He checked the address on his phone – he was on the right street, so number eight was around here somewhere. He realized that house number eight was right in front of him. And it was the right house, because Choi Ha Na came running out of it and grabbed his hand and started jumping up and down, squealing, “You came! You really came!”

“Of course I did,” he said, grinning. “But how did you know it was me?”

“It's so obvious,” said Ha Na, her eyes shining. “Whenever I see someone wearing a hat like you do, and shades, and a scarf to cover the mouth, or a mask, I always think, 'hey, there's an idol!'”

“Really?”

“Yup! And you know what? I'm always right!”

“But how do you know it's an idol?”

“Only an idol would go around with his face half-covered in public. You know, you should think of another way to not get recognized, because this method really doesn't work.”

“Yeah, well, not everyone is a crazy fan-girl like you.”

“Being a fan-girl is hard!” she exclaimed. “It's so stressful but at the same time life is suddenly exciting and everything is so fun and-”

She stopped talking because Namjoon was laughing. “Are you laughing at me?” she demanded

Namjoon struggled to look serious. “No... it's just that I never really though about what being a fan-girl was like-”

“That's why you should love your fans,” said Ha Na. “Because we really love you guys.”

He chuckled. “I can't believe I'm actually dating a fan.”

“Why?” she demanded. “Fans are very loyal!”

He chuckled again. “I know, and you have to tell me more some day.”

“Tell you about what?”

“About being a fan-girl. It's like you guys live on another planet-”

“You're right! And sometimes people really think we're crazy!”

“You are crazy.”

“Not as much as you.”

“Why are you going away for a month?” asked Namjoon, suddenly becoming serious. “That's such a long time...”

“I know.” Ha Na made a face. “My grandparents live in Busan and yeah, that's why I have to go. Can I call you?”

“You better!”

“You won't, like, not answer or anything?”

“Why would I do that, you crazy thing? But you better not ignore my calls! Or my texts!”

Ha Na laughed. “Ok! Promise!”

They crossed pinkies and Ha Na's mother called from the porch that it was time to go.

“You better get going,” said Namjoon – why hadn't he gotten here earlier?

“But I don't want to go!” she protested.

“You better go – and Ha Na, you really can't tell anyone about our relationship.”

“I know that,” she said indignantly. “You don't ever have to worry about me telling anyone. I've been a fan long enough to know those things. “

“Maybe dating a fan has benefits, after all,” teased Namjoon.

“Of course! But only a real fan.”

“Are you a real fan?”

“Yup – because I won't tell anyone about you.”

“Good,” said Namjoon, affection spreading through him.

“Oh, I wanted to ask you something,” said Ha Na. “Do you like it better if I call you Rap Monster or Namjoon?”

“Those two are different people,” said Namjoon slowly, not sure how to explain – what if Ha Na lost interest in him because he told her that he wanted her to see him as a person?

“Rap Monster is the idol. Namjoon is the real person.”

“Then I'll call you Namjoon all the time,” said Ha Na.

“Don't you like Rap Monster better?” he asked, surprised

“But I like Namjoon even better!”
He smiled – he finally understood what Yoongi kept on talking about. To be recognized as a person and not as an idol…. there was something truly gratifying about that. And this was Ha Na, ultimate fan-girl.

She was a fan, which meant she loved him a lot; she was a fan, which meant that she knew without him directly telling her that he liked to be called Namjoon; she was a fan, which meant that she was fully aware of how he had to be careful about his image. And Namjoon was glad that she was a fan.

Ha Na's mother called again, and he said, “This time, you really should go.”

“I'll miss you, oppa!” cried Ha Na, surprising him with a sudden hug. “You have to call or text me every single day, ok?”

“You too,” he said, gently pushing her away. “Call me when you get there, ok?”

She nodded. “Bye, Namjoon oppa!”

Ha Na ran back up to her house, turning around once in a while to wave and Namjoon couldn't stop his goofy grin. She was so cute and bubbly! She was totally different from when she tried to act strong, and he could see that she really was happy – happy to not date some guy and then hate herself for getting bored.

She wouldn't get bored of him would she? Of course not! He was different from all those guys – he was older and more mature. And he really, really liked her. And he could feel that she really, really liked him, too.

 

* * * *

 

Seung Hee woke up freezing. No wonder, because someone had pulled off her share of the blanket and hogged it all for himself. Yoongi was wrapped up in the blanket like a caterpillar in a cocoon, but his feet stuck out. And he was still wearing shoes.

Even though she was cold – freezing – it didn't matter. Because finally – finally! - Yoongi was home. He was lying on his side, his back facing her.

Seung Hee got up and took his shoes off gently, careful not to wake him, and pulled the blanket to cover his feet, which were cold – had he just gotten back?

Yoongi's arm was hanging off the edge of the bed, and he hadn't removed his denim jacket. When she crouched down and put his arm under the covers, she saw his face. He hadn't removed his makeup, either. There were soft smudges of dark eyeshadow around his eyes and even a bit on the pillow. He must have been so tired that he just went straight to sleep…

“Did you work all night?” whispered Seung Hee. No answer and she hadn't been expecting one anyway.

She brushed his red hair off his forehead – it was stiff with styling products. Yoongi didn't need makeup or styled hair – Seung Hee found him to be the handsomest when his hair fell across his forehead naturally, and his eyes were already so intense they needed nothing to highlight them. And he looked kinder with no makeup on.

“Yoo,” she whispered. When she had called him that the other day, he had seemed a bit startled but he didn't seem to really hate it – darn, she had to find a name that annoyed him. Anyway, she chanted, “Yoo Yoo Yoo-” but stopped when his eyes opened.

“Sorry!” she said. “I didn't mean to-”

“What time is it now?” he asked, yawning and stretching his arms.

“It's seven. Are you tired?”

“I'm going to sleep some more so don't bother me again.”

“You should really take off your jacket.”

He groaned. “Don't start nagging me!”

He sat up anyway to take the jacket off.
“Give it to me.” She reached forward to take it, and Yoongi caught her hand and pulled her towards him. She fell against his chest and his arms wrapped around her tightly.

“Yoongi….”

“Just one minute,” he mumbled.

“I missed you,” she whispered. She loved it when Yoongi was like this and he held her, she loved hugging him.

Seung Hee pulled back a bit to look at him, and rubbed away a smudge of eyeshadow on his cheek. To have been so tired that he didn't even take off his shoes…. She felt tighten a bit but ignored it – she was not going to spoil the moment by crying.

“It's not good to sleep with makeup on,” she said. “You'll look even older if you do – so next time, ask one of the stylists to remove it before you leave.”

“Wow, this kid even gives advice now. And I'm not old!” He released her and half-smiled.

Why had Seung Hee never seen him really smile? It was always a smirk, a grin, and occasionally, these half-smiles. Once in a while, the corners of his mouth twitched, and she thought that he was going to smile – but he never did.

Yoongi laid back down and pulled the covers over his head. “I can't sleep if you're here.”

Seung Hee tugged the cover off his head, grinning. “Why not?”

“Aish, you keep talking so go away!”

“Fine,” she said, pouting. “Night, then.”

There was no reply: Yoongi was already fast asleep.

 

* * * *

 

Every half an hour, Seung Hee would go and see whether Yoongi was awake yet. Finding him asleep each time, she would try to get on with her homework – there was too much for her to be wasting her time like this.

Yoongi slept through the entire day, appearing at around six in a blue sweater and jeans, his hair wet from the shower. Every trace of makeup was gone, and in spite of having slept for so long, there was this exhausted look about him.

She had her head on a textbook when Yoongi made his presence known by ruffling her hair.

“Yoongi!” she cried. “Finally, you're up!”

He grinned. “Aw, did you miss me that much?”

“Not really.”

“Yah!”

“Fine, I did.”

“You're just saying that.”

“No, really, I did!”

“What did you do all day?”

“I got you something,” said Seung Hee.

“What did you get?”

Seung Hee took something from her pocket. “Tada!” she cried, holding out the ring she had gotten for him.

Yoongi looked at her, then at the ring, then back at her. “What is that?”

“Can't you tell? It's a ring!”

“If you wanted a ring so badly I could have bought one for you.”

“But this is for you! See, I have one, too.” She raised her left hand to show him the ring that she was already wearing. “It's a couple ring.”

Even though he was snobby, Seung Hee had expected Yoongi to be surprised and maybe even a little touched – instead, he said, “How cheesy! This is something on your list, isn't it? People only do this sort of thing in dramas!”

“But you wanted it first,” she said defensively.

He blinked. “Me? When-”

“Yes, you! You got so upset about the wedding ring!”

“That was different – that was a real ring. These are just… they're not even silver, are they?”

But they were still nice, Seung Hee wanted to say, and got mad. “Fine! Don't wear it!”

“I'll wear it.” He said it so quickly that it was hard to understand.

“What?” asked Seung Hee, glaring.

“I said, I'll wear it.” Yoongi held out his hand. “Well? Aren't you going to put it on for me?”

Was this his idea of a joke? She looked at him suspiciously, but he seemed dead serious.

“Hurry up!” he ordered, and Seung Hee slipped the ring on his finger. She half expected him to take it off and laugh in her face, but he looked at his hand and actually half-smiled.

“It's not bad when you get used to it,” he said. “Of course, everything looks good on me, though.”

“Oh, please-”

“What? It's the truth. And I'm starving right now, so let's-”

“Let's go out!” she cried.

“Huh?”

“Let's go out and eat.”

“Wait.. you mean like a… date?”

She blushed. “Um, I didn’t think of it that way – you're hardly home and we've never gone anywhere together. Jungkook used to take me out all the time.”

“WHAT?!” yelled Yoongi, snapping to attention. “Jungkook took you out on dates?!”

“All the time,” said Seung Hee, trying not to laugh – her plan was working! “Let's see… we've gone to hundreds of restaurants, the movies-”

“Hah, that's so childish,” scoffed Yoongi.

“Why?” asked Seung Hee. “Do you have anywhere better to go to?”

“Get ready to leave immediately!” he ordered. “The movies – hah! What a cliché!”

Seung Hee hid a grin as she got her coat and red Converse highs. Yoongi was already waiting by the door, his face hidden by his hat, scarf and shades.

“Is that all really necessary?” asked Seung Hee.

“It's cold!” he yelled.

“Gosh, no need to yell like that – it was just a simple question.”

“Get out!” He propelled her out the door – for a guy who wanted to stay home, he sure was enthusiastic.

“Where are we going?” she asked – why was he so eager?

“You'll see.”