After Yoongi left, the members exploded into words of comfort. “Don't worry, little sis.”

“He'll be back before you know it.”

“He's been on shows alone before, you know.”

“Here, come have breakfast.”

“Do you want to play video games with me after?"

The door opened and a stranger's voice called, “Min Yoongi?”

Everyone stood up as a man in his late twenties came into view. “I see that he already left.” His eyes rested on Seung Hee and he smiled. “Are you Lee Seung Hee? His wife?”

She nodded.

“Do you know why I'm here?”

She nodded again.

“Good. I'm Mr Shin, and I'm assigned with you. I'm like, well, your manager.”

“Manager?” echoed Taehyung, and all the members' faces filled with sudden understanding.

“You're not going to turn her into a public figure, are you?” asked Namjoon. “Because Yoongi would never agree.”

“She signed the contract,” said Mr Shin. “It will be best for all of you for her to be introduced to the public – and get accepted. The way things are going right now… it will get even worse if we don't do something about it.”

“But-”

“Do you want to stand on stage again as BTS?” Mr Shin was answered with silence. “If this goes as planned, you will be able to – so don't meddle in company matters.”

Mr Shin looked at Seung Hee again. “Did you just wake up?'

“I'm sorry, I'll go get dressed.”

“Hurry up.”

She scurried to change into jeans and a blue sweater, and when she got back, the members were smiling a little too hard and telling her words of advice, such as, “Listen closely to what they tell you!” and “Let Yoongi handle the talking, ok?'

Mr Shin beckoned for her to follow him outside, but just before he opened the door, he clutched her elbow and said, “Try not to look scared, ok? I'll be right beside you. Ready?"

She nodded nervously and he opened the door to reveal flashing lights, reporters, and the silent-protest fans. The reporters swarmed around them like moths to a light, and Mr Shin kept Seung Hee in his strong grip and guided her to the waiting van.

He got into the driver's seat and grinned as he got the van out on the road.

“Phew,” he said. “That was crazy – and you're taking it pretty calmly. You're a celebrity already!”

She didn't reply – she was still not over the shock of being almost crushed to death and almost being blinded by all the cameras.

“Min Yoongi does not know that you'll be appearing on the show,” said Mr Shin. “You'll appear ten minutes into the show, as a 'surprise' for Suga and the viewers.”

“Um, what exactly do I have to do?” she asked, her palms starting to sweat.

“He will probably handle most of the questions, but remember to always be very polite,” he said. “And remember that the viewers are the kings – you have to tell them what they want to hear. Your image has been taken care of, too.”

“My… image?”

“We have a whole concept for you. Since you look very young – younger than you actually are – we decided to make you look older using makeup, and you'll be going for a flirty but cute look.”

“What?” she asked, confused. “How-”

“You'll look flirty, but cute, too - you have this natural cute look because you're young.”

The compliment made her blush, and he laughed.

“See? Natural cuteness!”

Mr Shin kept explaining what she had to do, and cracked jokes to make her more relaxed.

There were no reporters waiting at the entrance, and a team of stylists and some people from the show rushed forward. There were no greetings, just, “Hurry, hurry!” and she was rushed into one of the dressing rooms. She would have panicked, but Mr Shin – the only person whom she knew for more than a second and seemed reassuring – kept in sight, talking to someone from the company on his phone.

Seung Hee kept an eye on him as her face was made up, but gradually relaxed as the stylists turned out to be friendly but they wouldn't let her look in the mirror until she was ready. The clothes were totally not her style – it was a white dress shirt with a deep v-neck, short sleeves, and a short black skirt. And black stilettos. Her nails were manicured and polished, and she now apparently looked 'so much older.'

When she asked why she needed to look older, the stylists laughed. “Won't it look bad if Min Yoongi's wife – even though she is basically a child – looks like a child?”

“It will be bad for his image, honey.”

“Oh," said Seung Hee, and brightened up when they said, “Ok, you can look now.”

Seung Hee looked – and the girl that looked back was not her. It was some glamorous girl who looked a little cute at the same time. She was wearing eyeliner, and a touch of red lipstick. Her face had been highlighted with makeup to make it look more sculpted and less round. The clothes fitted her body perfectly in all the right places and it made her body actually look good, and the shoes made her legs look longer. There was hardly a trace of the childish-looking girl she had been.

Seung Hee grinned and wanted to hug herself. And her hair! It hung in soft, tamed loose curls – none of that lank, dead thing anymore - and was shiny and bouncy.

There were murmurs of approval from the staff, and from the mirror, Seung Hee could see Mr Shin give her a smile and a thumbs up. Everyone, including her, was happy to see that the child in her was hidden.

Would Yoongi be happy? Seung Hee could hardly wait until he saw her. She imagined his eyes widening, and he would think that she was glamorous and beautiful – and grown up. He would be so surprised and pleased.

Her train of thoughts were interrupted by Mr Shin coming to say, “You look really pretty, Seung Hee. You can stop looking in the mirror and follow me – it's time for you to go on air. Remember to be very careful, it's live.”

Violent butterflies zoomed around in her stomach, and went suddenly dry and it was impossible to say anything.

With each step Seung Hee took, she was one step closer to the recording studio – and the closer she got, the more she wanted to run away. But she couldn't; she had to help Yoongi. And the other members...

The recording studio was a large white room filled with people and cameras on one side. On the other side were three plush chairs, with a man Seung Hee recognized as Kim Min Wook the interviewer. On the other side sat Yoongi – and her heart gave a little skip to see him. He was sitting elegantly, his legs crossed. His red hair was brushed to the side, and his eyes burned without any makeup. He was in a suit, his natural looks and charms even more striking.

Seung Hee suddenly felt overdressed, and more than anything wanted to run and hide, but she stood frozen, her legs not able to function properly when he looked at her. His expression had been neutral, but when he saw her, it flashed with anger only to be quickly masked with something unreadable.

Mr Shin had gone discreetly to stand with the other staff after leading her a little forwards, and she didn't know what to do – everything Mr Shin told her went out of her head. Should she go and sit or wait until she was announced or what?

Kim Min Wook saw her panicking, and said with a wide smile, “Suga, is that Lee Seung Hee standing over there?”

“Yes,” said Yoongi in a strange tone. “It is...”

“You must be surprised that she is our special guest. Now, why don't you bring her here and we can continue our conversation?”

Yoongi stood up slowly, his eyes never leaving her, and slowly walked to where she stood.

And then for a second, Seung Hee forgot about all the people around her, the cameras – all that she could see was Yoongi. But why was his expression so strange?

“Yoongi,” she whispered, and was about to reach out to him, but his warning look made her remember where they were.

“What are you doing here?” he whispered. “And what's with you clothes? And your makeup?”

Seung Hee smiled a bit – she looked so different!

“I don't like it,” he whispered, frowning slightly, and she wished that the floor would open up and swallow her. Yoongi didn't like it after all...

He seemed to sense what she felt, because he said, “You look beautiful, though.”

“Not to you?”

“You always look beautiful to me – but I prefer the girl in the hoodie,” he replied softly. His hand brushed hers and he could feel how cold it was. "Don't worry,” he said urgently. “I'll handle everything.”
He held her trembling hand for just a second before letting go, but that was enough – Seung Hee calmed down and knew that everything would be all right. Yoongi had said so, and he would be right next to her.

She sat down in the plush chair in between him and Min Wook, and she was asked to introduce herself.

“Good morning,” she said, inclining her head just like Mr Shin had told her to do. “My name is Lee Seung Hee.”
“How old are you, Seung Hee?” asked Min Wook.

“I'm eighteen.”

“So you were in high school when you got married. Your friends must all be jealous – this is the age that girls love idols! But don't you think there is quite an age-gap between you two?”

“Not really,” said Yoongi. She looked at him, confused; hadn't the question been directed towards her? Then she realized that he was fulfilling his promise – he was going to handle everything.

“Really?” Min Wook laughed. “Eighteen and twenty-three is not much?”

Yoongi smiled the way he did on all shows – a smile that did not reach his eyes. “I mean age doesn't matter.”

“I see. You are quite protective of her, I notice.”

“What kind of man isn't protective of his girl?”

“So you consider her as your girl?”

“Is there something else I should consider her as?”

“No, no, that's fine,” said Min Woo. “Except I heard that you two don't get along very well.”

Yoongi did his fake smile again. “That was in the beginning, when we didn't know each other. We were both surprised since it happened rather suddenly.”

“The marriage must have been a nasty shock, eh?” said Min Woo, laughing, and Seung Hee pretended to laugh along which brought the attention back on her.

Min Woo turned to her. “I heard that you married Suga because of your grandfather – he was dying, am I right?”

Seung Hee's stomach clenched – to have her grandfather talked about like that, so casually…

Yoongi reached over and took her hand. “We got married so that she would have someone to care for her.”

“How sweet!” exclaimed Min Woo. “Tell us, Seung Hee, does he care for you?”

She nodded, not having forgiven Min Wook for mentioning her grandfather like that yet.

“I'm sure that this is the topic that will interest the viewers the most, don't you?” said Min Woo, and Seung Hee longed to say no. “So, Seung Hee, how does he care for you?”

Yoongi was about to say something but Min Woo laughed loudly – his laugh was beginning to get on her nerves – and said, “Hold on, Suga! Give her a chance to talk! So Seung Hee, tell us about an incident when he was sweet. We all know that he's a pretty cold guy, and the fans are curious.”

She didn't feel like answering – honestly it was nobody's business - but then she felt Yoongi's hand in hers – and remembered that she was doing this for him.

“Well,” said Seung Hee slowly. “At first, he was mean-”

“Yah!” cried Yoongi, and Min Woo laughed – this one seemed real, though.

“How mean was he, Seung Hee? Very mean?”

“Very mean!” she said, starting to relax – this wasn't as bad as she had first thought. She could do this! “He used to ignore me and treated me like a kid!”

“Is he still like that?”

“He doesn't ignore me, but he still treats me like a kid sometimes!”

“What's wrong with you, Suga?” exclaimed Min Woo. “Ok, Seung Hee, what's the first nice thing he's done for you?”

She smiled slyly. “Um, nothing?”

“Nothing?” cried Min Woo, really laughing, and Seung Hee laughed too – this was fun.

“Nothing?” echoed Yoongi.

“I'm joking,” said Seung Hee. “Ok, so he went away on his World Tour, and when he came back, he gave me a pair of Converse highs. And that was soon after our wedding.”

“Wait, back up a second,” said Min Woo. “Suga actually did that? That is really unexpected since that was a time you two didn't get along, am I right? Now I'm curious, too, just like the fans! Tell us more.”

“We went to the aquarium once,” she said.

“Ah, yes – we all know about that,” said Min Woo, as behind him, on a screen Seung Hee hadn't noticed before, a picture of her Yoongi holding hands in the aquarium appeared.

She felt Yoongi's grip on her hand tighten. Why was he getting worried? There was nothing bad going on...

“He really seems protective over there,” commented Min Woo, and glanced at their intertwined hands. “Over here, too. Seung Hee, I've done shows with Suga often, and I've never seen him like this.”

Seung Hee smiled, and for a second she thought that Yoongi was going to glower at the interviewer, but his mask did not crack.

“So Suga, you're known to be a cold guy, so can you tell us what about Seung Hee broke through that icy heart of yours?”

Yoongi didn't even have to think. “Her vulnerability, innocence. She's childlike, different...”

“I see. You're the type that likes to look after a girl, aren't you?”

“No,” replied Yoongi. “I hate looking after people – it's burdensome.”

Min Woo laughed awkwardly. “Don't be so serious...”

“I look after her because I'm all she has – and she's all I have. Except sometimes, I can't protect her.”

“That's just your feeling, I'm sure.”

The staff were beginning to shuffle about, and the director began making frantic hand-motions.

“No,” said Yoongi. “If I had really been able to protect her, she wouldn't be sitting here in the first place.”

The studio went dead silent because for once, Min Woo did not know what to say. Fear gripped Seung Hee again – Yoongi had said something bad, the staff's shocked faces told her so and the director was pulling out his hair.

Min Woo tried to get the show back on track, but Yoongi wasn't finished and continued, “She is young, she's a normal high-school student. I didn't want her to get exposed to the public because then her life would get disrupted because of me. You asked me what had broken through my 'icy heart,' right?”

Min Woo did not try to cut him off, and was listening closely – in fact, the entire room was listening, spell-bound. Even the director had stopped ripping out his hair to stare at Yoongi as though he had never really seen him before.

“When she looks at me,” said Yoongi. “She doesn't see me as an idol – she sees me as a human being. She is the first to love me as a person, and not because I write great songs or because I rap. Nothing has given me greater happiness. That is why she is different from everyone else, and that is why I tried so hard to protect her from all this. A.R.M.Y, I'm sorry, truly I am. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to hurt you. I understand that you're angry, but can't you understand me? Please let me keep my happiness.” He bowed his head.

Min Woo struggled to find his voice, and the director started waving his hands around hysterically so he said, “That was very touching, I'm sure your fans will forgive you. Thank you viewers, and we now conclude this week's show with Suga and Lee Seung Hee. Good luck to both of them.”

The camera stopped recording, but everyone stood frozen in silence.