Jimin lunged forward, ready to take on someone twice his size, but his hyungs held him back. His devotion to protecting my honor was heartwarming.

 

  Micah sprang to his feet at the sight of us. “Where have you been?? I have been trying to call you all afternoon!”

 

  “We were busy. What do you want, Micah?” I asked coldly. The emotional surge of anxiety was overwhelming again. I refused to cry again in front of everyone, but I could feel the stinging tears threatening to fall.

 

   “Are you mad at me?” He paused, genuinely sounding confused.

 

  “Yes, she is mad at you, you good for nothing rotten loser!” Taehyung shrieked in Micah's face, making him wince and take a step back, while the others in the group tried to hold back their maknaes.

 

  “But…” He looked like he was going to cry. “I don’t understand…”

 

  I rolled my eyes. Is he this good at acting or is he just clueless? “I hope you and Liz have a nice life.” With that, I walked past him heading into my house.

 

  He reached out to grab my arm. “Liz? That evil lying brat? Is that what this is about?”

 

  His words made me halt. Evil lying brat? That’s what I liked to call her…

 

  “She tried to get her manipulative hooks into me, but I told her I was already taken.” He took another step towards me, closing the gap.

 

  I blinked and looked up in confusion. “So... you don't like Liz?”

 

  He chuckled. “Absolutely NOT! Even if she and I were stuck together on a deserted island, I would use her as a raft to get back to you!” His fingers gently brushed my cheek. “I thought I had made my intentions known, but I guess not…” Micah leaned down and kissed me for real this time.

 

  My heart froze and then sped up all in one swift moment, making my head spin.

 

  “Will you be my girlfriend?” He pulled away, watching my reaction.

 

  I don’t think I ever said yes faster in my life! Grinning like a Cheshire cat, he kissed me again, accompanied by loud cheering from the Bangtan squad.

 

  The next morning, I awoke to a strange smell and loud noises coming from downstairs. I traipsed down the steps to see what was going on. The entire group was trying to concoct something in the kitchen without supervision. Oh yes, this will end well.

 

   “What’s going on?” I asked, wrinkling my nose at the strange odor.

 

  “We were hungry!” Jimin confessed.

 

  Hoseok whacked him playfully with a spatula. “You know that’s not the reason.”

 

  Jimin pouted and wandered off. “But I really am hungry…”

 

  “We wanted to make you something special to celebrate your new love life!” Namjoon said happily, poking at a pack of canned biscuits with a fork.

 

  Suddenly, it popped open with a loud bang, spraying dough everywhere. Yoongi, who is terrified of explosions, let out a wailing cry and fell backwards, ducking for cover behind the kitchen table. Namjoon looked up and sighed, bits of dough stuck to his face and hair. A tiny piece hanging off his eyebrow fell and landed on the floor. I couldn’t hold back my laughter.

 

  Jackson came up behind me a squeezed me in a bear hug. “Congrats chingu! I knew you two crazy kids were meant to be! We heard about yesterday!” He cheered.

 

  I started coughing from lack of oxygen.

 

  “Bro, don’t squeeze her so hard!” Youngjae complained, smacking his arm.

 

  “Yah!” Jackson dropped me to glare at him, spazzing into a blur of flailing arms. He absolutely hated being hit by Youngjae. The two took off running down the hall after each other.

 

  Peeking my head in living room, I found the rest of the members watching Love Rain on TV. Jinyoung was sniffling. I plopped down next to him on the couch.

  "Jinyoung, are you crying?"

  "This is my favorite drama." He blew his nose in a tissue and sniffled again, not taking his eyes off the screen before him.

 

  Chuckling, I grabbed my laptop off the coffee table and turned it on; staring thoughtfully at the screen before me, then I began to type.

 

  Feeling sentimental, I gazed around at the faces surrounding me. New friends that I never expected to meet. They completely changed my life for the better. They taught me what it means to be a true friend and that I don’t need to change myself to make others happy. I am beautiful in my own special way. A small smile appeared on my face as I recalled all the happy and hilarious moments we had shared so far, and the many more that were to come...

 

  Mark noticed me looking around. He cocked his head as if to ask if I was ok. I nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.

 

  In the kitchen, we could hear Yugyeom’s random screams. Something about the the tofu being ruined. I chuckled and shook my head, going back to typing.

 

  Sunhyeok cringed. “I don’t want to even think about the mess they are making.”

 

  “It’s fine. I figure I will be calling for takeout soon anyway.” I let out a small laugh.

 

  Youngjae walked in and glanced over my shoulder. “What is this? Is that fanfiction?!”

 

  I blushed and tried to hide the screen with my hands.

 

  He leaned over the edge of the couch to get a better look, pulling my hands away and scanning the laptop curiously. A smirk formed on his lips. “About us!”

 

  “She’s writing about us???” Jungkook leaned around from the other side of Jinyoung and  put on his shook face.

 

  “It’s nothing bad, I promise.” I blushed even more. “I just wanted to remember all the good times we’ve had, so I took Micah’s advice and started writing it all down.”

 

  Namjoon entered with a dejected expression. “Cooking is not our thing. Mianhaeyo.”

 

  “Hey! Why don’t we go out to eat?” Jungha suggested thoughtfully.

 

  “Where do you want to eat? You pick!” BamBam asked, making everyone’s attention turn to me.

 

  “I’m in the mood for kimchi.” I grinned. “I think there’s a little Korean place next door to where Micah works! Let’s go surprise him!”

 

  The bell above the door dinged as we entered the convenience store where Micah and his friend RJ were working.

 

  “Annyeonghaseyo! Welcome to Taste of Seoul.” A guy about our age greeted us from behind the counter, glancing up. His eyes just about jumped out of their sockets at the sight of all of us.

 

  “Omo! BTS...and GOT7 in my shop??? What did I do to earn this privilege?”

 

  The groups bowed and said hello.

 

  “Hello, I’m Rae Jin. But you can call me RJ.” He bowed politely. His eyes landed on me and he smiled. “And you must be the beautiful amazing wonderful girl my chingu has been speaking so much about!” He took my hand, stooping to kiss it, making me blush. “Micah talks about you all the time.”

 

  “He does?!”

 

  He nodded with a smirk.

 

  “Yah! RJ! I think we need to order some more….” Micah came out from the back room and halted. “Oh hi guys! What are you doing here?”

 

 “We came to surprise you!” I bashfully waved. “Hi.”

 

 He grinned. “Hi.”

 

  Jin spoke up. “We’re celebrating! Want to go eat with us next door?” I could tell he was chomping at the bit to start eating.

 

  “Oh? What are we celebrating?” Micah looked like a lost puppy.

 

  Jackson sighed happily, clasping his hands dramatically in front of him. “Young love!”

 

  RJ cackled. “You pabo, didn’t you just pop the question last night? They’re here for you!” He checked his watch. “It is almost lunch time. Head on over and I’ll close up shop and meet you over there.” He slapped his friend on the back and headed back behind the counter.

 

  All twenty one of us headed next door where the delicious smell of kimbap and gogi teased our growling stomachs and the hot food steamed up the glass windows. It was a small cozy restaurant with just enough tables for all of us. A tiny Korean girl came out and bowed, taking our orders, and then scurried back to the back of the shop. We heard fangirl squeals coming from the kitchen.

 

  “Ah, we found a fan.” Mark giggled.

 

  RJ entered the establishment and sat down one the other side of Micah, just as the waitress came back with our drinks. She set them down in front of us and pulled out a pen.

 

  “Can I get signatures?” She asked bashfully, glancing over at Yoongi and Jimin.

 

  The boys grinned, passing around the pen and her notepad for each member to sign.

 

  “So, when’s the wedding?” RJ spoke up, looking over at me with a smirk. Suddenly everyone’s attention was focused on me.

 

  I coughed a little on a piece of kimchi at the unexpected attention. Micah patted my back and handed me the glass of water, which I promptly downed to try and hide the fact that I was embarrassed and caught off guard.

 

  “What kind of question is that?” Micah scolded.

 

  “Sorry, I was just asking.” RJ shrugged and went back to eating his bibimbap.

 

  Micah leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Don’t worry about RJ. He likes to tease.”

 

  I shook my head. “Gwenchana…” Then I turned back to my food and spoke louder so RJ could hear. “I don’t know about marriage, but I could use a part time job. Know of any place that’s hiring?”

 

  “As a matter of fact I do! We need an extra stocker. Micah gets lonely back there.” He winked.

 

  I could feel my cheeks getting hot again. Glancing up at my boyfriend, I noticed so were his. Aww. How cute. “When do I start?” I asked.

 

  “How about Monday?”

 

  “Sure thing, boss!” I saluted.

 

  After the delicious meal, all the guys argued amongst themselves over who would pay the bill. Finally, it was decided the bill would be split between all three groups. We said goodbye to RJ and Micah as they headed back to work.

 

  On the way back home, Yoongi put his arm around my shoulders. I looked up in surprise.

 

  “I approve.” Was all he said.

 

  “Ummm...” I glanced around awkwardly. “What are we talking about?”

 

  “Your new bae.” He gave me a big gummy smile; his eyes squinting at the corners.

 

  “Oh! Thanks!”

 

  “Wow Yoongi, I didn’t think you liked anybody!” Hoseok commented.

 

  “I don’t. But Micah is cool.” He gave me a side wink.

 

  That evening when my mother got home from work, she wrinkled her nose, looking towards the kitchen.  “Why does the house smell like burnt tofu?”

 

  “Um, yea….about that…” I chuckled nervously. “I got hungry and accidently left the stove on too long.”

 

  Shaking her head, she disappeared into her bedroom to change clothes. Then she headed to the kitchen to make dinner.

 

  “Need any help?” I asked, coming to stand next to the kitchen sink.

 

  She looked up at me from her spot at the stove and smiled.

 

  “I’m just warming up leftovers. Nothing too involved. Did you have a good day?”

 

  “Yea. We won the court case! My life can go back to normal for a while.” She chuckled and gave me a tired smile, handing me a steaming plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

 

  She brought her plate over to the breakfast table and sat down across from me. “And how is that cute little boyfriend of yours?”

 

  I blushed, remembering the prior evening’s events. “Mooooom….”

 

  “That’s my name.” She teased.

 

  “He’s fine.” I tried to hide my reddened face behind my glass of Coke, mumbling the last part inaudibly into my drink. “He asked me to be his girlfriend last night.”

 

  “Awwww! How cute!” She let out a little dolphin squeal. “My baby is growing up so fast!”

 

  “Mom! Hajima!” Covering my face with my hands as she continued to laugh. I couldn’t handle so much teasing, especially from my mother.

 

  “Did you hang out with your friends today?”

 

  I gave her a blank look.

  “You know, your rowdy Kpop friends.” She smiled knowingly.

  Pretty sure I looked like a fish out of water with my mouth hanging open. “How did you know?”

  She let out a little chuckle and shrugged. “I've known for a while. It's kind of hard for a group of hyper boys to stay hidden.”

  She does have a point. I laughed with a shrug. “True.”

 

   When I woke up on Sunday morning, Chanel was curled up at my feet purring away. It was then that I noticed a handwritten note laying on top of my comforter. I picked it up curiously.

 

   Hey chingu,

 

   We are glad to have been able to meet you and become your friends. We will always cherish the times we got to hang out. Hopefully we will see you again someday. Congrats again on you and Micah becoming a thing! We are so proud of you. Remember you are beautiful. You don’t need to change to the world’s standards. Always stay true to your heart and love yourself.

 

        We love you,

                       all the boys

 

  By the end, I was in tears. My heart clinched.They were gone as quickly as they has appeared.

 

  Mom came running. “What’s wrong?” She looked down at the note in my trembling hands. Picking it up, she read it quietly, then looked up at me with sad understanding. “I’m sorry….” She hugged me.

 

  1 YEAR LATER

 

  Micah and I had grown closer since that day, especially since we worked together at the shop. He, RJ, and I had become like the three musketeers. We were inseparable. I was getting better at speaking Korean. RJ had been teaching me.

 

  Korean Thanksgiving was coming around and RJ and his family were going to visit their relatives in South Korea. He invited Micah and me to go along. We would be staying with their family in Daegu for a week.

 

  “Well, it is our one year anniversary!” Micah hugged me.

 

  “You’re so cheesy.”

 

  “Yes but as I recall, you love queso.” He grinned cheekily, making me laugh.

 

  “Hey look at this!” Micah exclaimed, checking his phone. “BTS is doing a concert in Seoul the day before the three day Chuseok holiday starts! We should go see them!”

 

  After getting off the plane in Seoul, RJ led the way as Micah grabbed my hand and pulled me down the terminal towards the baggage claim. “Bballi bballi! We don’t want to be late when they open the doors!” I swear he was more excited than I was! To be honest, I was nervous. Would they even remember me?

 

  “I can’t believe we’re actually here.” We had been to Korea once before for the GOT7 concert but that was in the dark and we weren’t staying so we didn’t get to really enjoy the culture. The city was bustling with Chuseok decorations and festivities. People everywhere were dressed in brightly colored traditional hanboks.

 

  After eating a quick meal at a local cafe that RJ new the owner of, we arrived at the concert venue. It was already packed. We had a little less than an hour before the concert started. But the static electricity of the crowd was already pumped.

 

  Micah wrapped his arms around me  from behind and leaned his chin on my shoulder.

 

  “Do you think they will remember us?” I asked quietly.

 

  “You maybe, me not so much.” He kidded.

 

  I elbowed him playfully.

 

  “Seriously though, how could anyone forget a wonderful person like you?” He pecked me on the cheek.

 

  I blushed. “I think you are bit biased.”

 

  “True.” He grinned.

 

  After the concert, we stayed for the meet and greet, waiting in the long lines until it was our turn.

 

  As soon as we got up to the table, we heard, “Long time no see chingus!”

 

 

 

--THE END--