Da Hee lay in bed, the clock next to her showing that it was almost four am, but her mind just wouldn’t shut off long enough to let her sleep. She rested a hand over her chest, convinced that the rapid beating of her heart should have calmed down by now. Yoongi’s words from by the river were playing on repeat in her head.

“You're not a jinx, Da Hee, you're a blessing.”

She rolled over and pressed her face into her pillow. “What the hell.” She muttered, her face heating up. She rolled back onto her back so that she could breathe again. She checked her clock again, but only five minutes had passed since she had last looked. “Screw it.” She mumbled as she kicked her blankets off and headed into the shower. She still had plenty of time before she had to go pick Yoongi up for work, and she knew there was no way she was going to get any more sleep, so she decided to spend the time editing the photos she had taken the day before.

She quickly showered and left her hair to dry on its own, too lazy to bother drying or styling it. She hooked her camera up to her computer and moved all the photos onto her hard drive. She lost herself in the photographs, editing them when needed. She had completely forgotten about Yoongi and his words from the day before until she reached the end of the photographs and a photo of him popped up. He was looking right at the camera, a tiny smile on his face, the sun shining brightly behind him, making him look like he was glowing. Her hand hovered over her mouse. “He’s perfect.” She mumbled before jumping back in her chair.

“It’s perfect! The photo is perfect!” she said as she got up and headed to the kitchen for another cup of coffee, even though she was sure that more caffeine was probably not a great idea as it was only six thirty in the morning and she had already had one cup. She half-filled her cup with coffee before returning to her desk. She looked at the photo of Yoongi for several minutes before moving it to her personal folder.

She picked Yoongi up a few hours later, her tiredness from not sleeping the night before finally starting to kick in despite the amount of coffee she had consumed. She yawned loudly as Yoongi got into the car. “You look exhausted.” He commented as she rubbed her eyes. “I didn’t sleep too well last night.” She admitted as she started driving. He frowned, concern filling him. “You should have said, I could have gotten a taxi.” He said, all the while thinking that his car would be ready to pick up that afternoon. She waved off his words. “Don’t be silly. This was our deal; besides, I have about a million and one things to do today.” She said, giving him a sleepy smile.

She pulled up outside his building and smiled at him. “Have a good day.” She said giving him a smile. “Are you sure you’ll be ok to drive home? You look pretty tired.” He asked worriedly. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” She said with a smile. He gave her one last look before getting out of the car, “Don’t push yourself too much.” He said before closing the door, watching her as she drove away. He couldn’t push away the nagging feeling that tugged at his thoughts. He couldn’t help but wonder what had kept her up to the point that she was that tired.

He tried to push his worries away as he brought up the song that he had been working on. He listened to it, convinced that he still wouldn’t be able to work it out, but as he listened, his thoughts returned to his mini road trip with Da Hee the day before and as soon as the song hit that part that he had been struggling to get right, he instantly knew how to fix it. A grin broke out on his face as he started making the adjustments, wondering how he hadn’t been able to find the solution before.

He worked for hours without stopping, determined to keep going until the song was one hundred percent complete. When he finally finished, a proud grin covered his face. He listened to the song again, a small part of him in disbelief at how good the song sounded. He leant back in his chair, the song and thoughts of Da Hee running through his head. “I should let her listen to it.” He decided. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent her message, asking her if she had some time to meet him later.

She replied a while later that she would be free around the time she normally picked him up. A grin covered his face as he re-read her message. He caught sight of his grinning reflection on his monitor and chuckled. He put his phone on his desk and quickly got up, suddenly feeling the need to burn off some energy. He started rearranging his already neatly organised shelves, carefully moving everything so that they were even more perfectly arranged than they had been only moments before. He didn’t know why he was suddenly so excited at the thought of Da Hee visiting him at his studio. He wasn’t even sure why he had suddenly invited her. He never usually let anyone into his studio.

He pondered on that thought as he pulled over the set of post it notes that he had on his table. He grabbed a pen and wrote:

Got out of the city for a few hours with Da Hee. I haven’t felt as calm and free as that in a long time…

He carefully peeled off the note and stuck it to his notebook, so that he wouldn’t forget to take it home with him to put into his memory jar.

When his phone finally rang that night, he almost pounced on it, elation filling him at seeing Da Hee’s name on his screen. “Hey.” He said, unable to hide the smile in his voice. “Hey, I’m outside the building. The security guards are terrifying.” She whispered. He chuckled as he headed out of his studio. “I’ll be right down.” He headed for the elevator, his foot tapping impatiently as he waited.

When he finally reached the ground floor, he waved at Da Hee through the glass doors. She eagerly waved back. He spoke to the security guards at the door, telling them that she was a friend and that she could come and go as she pleased. She smiled nervously at them as she entered the building. She looked around the immaculate lobby as they waited for the elevator to take them back up to his studio. “This place is so fancy.” She mumbled to herself in awe. Yoongi glanced at her from the corner of his eye, a small, proud smile on his face. They stepped into the elevator and it was only then he noticed the bag in her hands.

“What’s that?” he asked curiously. She held up the bag with a grin, “You haven’t eaten yet, right?” she asked, the delicious smell of food filling the confined space. Yoongi’s stomach rumbled in response to her question, making him blush and her laugh. “I forget to eat when I’m working.” He admitted as the elevator reached his floor. “I knew it. That’s why I brought this.” She said as she followed him to his studio. Her jaw dropped when he opened the door for her. “Woah…” she breathed as she tentatively stepped inside, her eyes roaming over the room, taking in all the little details that showed Yoongi’s personal stamp on the room.

She turned in a full circle, not wanting to miss anything before her gaze landed on him. The door was just closing behind him, the bright, florescent lights highlighting his figure for a split second, similar to the photograph she had taken the day before, making her heart skip a beat. He pointed her in the direction of a small, leather couch next to a coffee table. She shook away the thoughts of the photograph and laid the food on the table, carefully arranging it for them both.

“I finished the song.” Yoongi blurted out. She looked up at him, a bright smile forming on her face. “Really?” she asked, the food instantly forgotten. He nodded. “You were right; I was so wrapped up in trying to make it perfect that I couldn’t see what the problem was. As soon as I came in this morning, I only had to listen to it once and I knew how to fix it.” He said, his excitement and passion flowing into his words. “That’s great! I knew getting away from it for a while would help.” She replied with a smile.

“I’d like you to hear it.” He said, a slight note of hesitancy slipping into his voice. “Really? But are you sure?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound too excited at the thought of being able to hear one of his tracks before it was officially released. He nodded. “It’s not a hundred percent yet. There's still a little bit of work needing to be done, but I’d love for you to listen to it.”

“I’d love to hear it.” He rushed over to his chair, his nerves building as he pulled up the file. “Ready?” he asked as he looked at her over his shoulder. She nodded, moving forward slightly on the couch in anticipation. He turned back to the screen and pressed the play button, his heart suddenly hammering in his chest. He kept his eyes on the screen at first, too nervous to turn around and see her expression. He eventually glanced around to look at her. Her eyes were on the ground, but they looked unfocused, like she was looking far beyond the floor at her feet. She was swaying in time with the music, her fingers gently tapping against her thigh along with the beat.

He rubbed his sweaty palms against his thighs as the song came to an end. He couldn’t work out why he was feeling so self-conscious and nervous. He looked at her expectantly. “What do you think?” he asked. She blinked a couple of times, her eyes focusing again. “That was amazing.” She said, her voice sounding almost breathless. “I can’t believe that you created something like that out of nothing.” She said as she stood up and walked up beside him, looking at the screen, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked at the complicated looking programs on the screen. “This makes no sense to me whatsoever.” She said with a chuckle.

“Do you want to hear it again?” he asked. She nodded enthusiastically. He pressed the play button and she stayed by him, one of her hands resting on the arm of his chair as she looked at the screen in front of them. Yoongi watched her as she listened, the smile never leaving her face as she listened to the song for the second time. Her hair lightly brushed against his arm as she bobbed her head in time with the music and he could smell the faint scent of her perfume. His eyes never left her until the song was finished.

“I can’t believe how good it is.” She said with a grin when the song came to an end. Yoongi smiled up at her, an unfamiliar feeling igniting in his chest. For some reason, hearing her praising him felt more meaningful than the praise he received from other people. She grinned down at him, “I think I should have bought something better to eat to celebrate!” she said with a chuckle. “What’s wrong with chicken?” he joked as they made their way over to the table, a playlist of some of the other songs Yoongi had produced playing quietly in the background.

She handed him a set of chopsticks and a can of coke when they sat down. “I probably should have grabbed you a beer, right? I just got coke cause I’m driving.” She said apologetically. “Nah, coke is fine.” He said as he opened the can and handed it back to her. She accepted the can, a smile on her face as he grabbed the other one and opened it for himself. “Are you feeling any better now? You don’t look just as tired as you did this morning.” He said.

“I managed to fit in a quick power nap earlier.” She said with a chuckle. “I’m probably gonna pass out as soon as I get home though.” She added. She only hoped that he wouldn’t be on her mind all night again so that she had a chance of sleeping. She wasn’t sure if she could cope with another night without sleep. Yoongi carefully selected a few pieces of chicken that looked good and moved them to her side. She gave him a curious look. “You need to eat more.” Was all he said, his eyes focusing on the food in front of them.

A smile made its way onto her face as a warm feeling spread throughout her. She cleared , “So, you said that you got into music when you were in middle school, right?” she asked. He nodded. “Yeah, it kinda started off as a way to rebel when I was a teenager then it ended up becoming a crutch for me to lean on.” She frowned at the serious tone of his voice. “I was really shy and awkward as a kid, I didn’t know how to express myself well, plus I had a lisp and I got bullied for it a lot. Some of the other kids were brutal. It didn’t help that I was such an easy target, I never fought back.” He said nervously as he remembered the torment of his childhood. “Composing and writing my own music became the only way I could express how I was feeling. I didn’t know who to talk to or how to say what I was feeling, so I used music as a way to get the feelings out.” He said as he looked up at her.

He was surprised by the look of understanding in her eyes. “I’m glad you found such a productive way to deal with your feelings.” She said, knowing that having a healthy outlet for your feelings could make a huge difference in your life. They sat in silence for a minute or two before Da Hee spoke again. “Thank you.” Yoongi raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. “For telling me that.” She clarified. “I know we still don’t know each other that well but you not only shared a song with me, you just shared a bit of yourself with me. I’m actually kinda honoured.” She said with a smile.

Yoongi chuckled, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. He had let her hear a song that was not only not released yet, it was also not one hundred percent complete, usually he wouldn’t let anyone hear his work until he was completely satisfied with it. Also, he had just opened up to her about his reasons for getting into music, something which he had only ever confessed to his closest friends and psychologist. He didn’t know why he felt so at ease around her, she made him drop his guard almost instantly.

They continued eating, the conversation at a minimum, neither of them feeling the need to fill the comfortable silence as they both lost themselves in their own thoughts and the music that played softly in the background.