She refused to shed another tear for him that night. Holding back her tears, she put on a bright smile and approached the group of 6 who had been waiting for her. “Sorry for being late!” She waved as she ran towards them, “Jihyun’s treating today~” Jimin sang while she pouted, “Hey! It was only five minutes.”

“I’ll treat today.” Taehyung interrupted and the group was filled with “oohs” and “ahhs”. “What? I wanted to introduce Jihyun to you guys, and besides, we haven’t had dinner together in a while.” He rubbed his neck shyly while the group chuckled, “Well, we didn’t say anything.”

“Where’s Jungkook?” RM asked and the group shrugged, “He has something on tonight.” Jin said and Hoseok raised his eyebrows, “Another girl?” Jin remained silent as he snuck a look at Jihyun’s face - she seemed expressionless.

Just then, a loud roar from a passing Mercedes sports car boomed into the silent night - it was Jungkook and the girl. He didn’t bother sparing a glance at the group as he continued staring straight on the road, and the two disappeared into the cold night. “Well, there he goes again.” Jimin shrugged and Jihyun noticed that the members didn’t seem surprised at all.

It’s okay, Jihyun, you’ll be fine.

Arriving at the barbecue restaurant, she settled down between Taehyung and Jin. The younger of the two was excited to cook for her, and Jin had been extremely friendly from the start. She knew he was looking out for her, and he seemed to know something. She shrugged off her feelings, thinking that he was just being nice.

Throughout the dinner, she got to know the members better, and the group had also taken a liking to her. They had been hearing Taehyung talk about her non-stop, describing her as one of the most genuine people he had ever met, and how she was always so happy and cheerful that she could make the saddest person smile. 

They were curious to see who the girl was - Taehyung rarely talked about anyone this way and chose his friends carefully, he was normally a pretty good gauge of character.

True to his words, they realised that Jihyun was indifferent to the fact that they were celebrities and treated them as if they were normal people - something which was extremely special. They also saw the way she was always so genuine and cheerful, she treated them as if they were friends, and not superstars. 

She wasn’t concerned about how much money they have, nor their fame nor riches, she was 100% present and happy to engage in a genuine conversation to get to know them better.

“Thanks for inviting me today guys.” She said with a wide smile and they let out a loud laugh, “You’re welcome to join us anytime, Jihyun.” Suga said and the rest nodded, “We enjoyed your company. It’s nice to have a girl join us sometimes, we’re surrounded by too much testosterone.” Jimin joked and the group laughed in unison.

“I’ll send her home and see you guys back in the dorms.” Taehyung said while the rest nodded, “Bye Jihyun!” They called out before disappearing into the black van.

“Thanks for tonight, Tae.” She gave a bright smile and he grinned, “I hope you’re feeling better.”

“I am.” She said truthfully. Being around the rest of the band had made her feel lighter and happier - she hadn’t laughed so hard in a long while.

“Jihyun.” He stopped in his tracks and she turned to him, “Hm?”

“I know you’re not comfortable with talking about what happened just now, but please, please don’t pent up all your feelings, okay? You don’t have to be strong when you’re around me, I will always be here.” This reassurance was new to her - she hadn’t felt so secured in a while. Taehyung gave her a comforting feeling, as if this time, she could actually lean on someone instead of suffering by herself.

“I appreciate it, Tae.” She gave a genuine smile before leaning in to hug him, “This means a lot to me.” He smiled into the hug, glad that he could make her smile again.

“By the way, these are for you.” He said as he pulled out two concert tickets for her. “We’re having a concert soon and I wanted to invite you. You can bring Junghyun along!”

She stared at the tickets and widened her eyes in surprise.”I would love to go, Tae! But I don’t think I would be able to bring Junghyun into such a huge crowd.” She said and he shook his head, “Of course not, I’ll get you front-row VIP seats, you don’t have to worry about it at all.”

Truthfully, she wasn’t worried about the crowd - she was more worried about the fact that there was a high chance that Junghyun and Jungkook might meet, and she definitely didn’t want that to happen.

“Tae…” She hesitated and Taehyung interjected, “I want to see Junghyun again, and I’m sure she’ll love the atmosphere!”

“She’s too young to know what’s going on.” She chuckled and he shook his head, “Not true, she’s six, she loves music - I played “Boy With Luv” the other day for her and she danced along to it!” He said excitedly as he showed off his dance antics, earning another melodious laugh from Jihyun. “Okay, fine. I’ll see you there.”

“I’ll text you then.” He said and she nodded, Bye Tae!” She waved backwards and he grinned, “See you soon, Jihyun!” He called out as she disappeared into the shiny white doors.

--

It had been two weeks since she had last seen Jungkook, Taehyung and the rest of the members. She busied herself with work and Taehyung would drop her texts regularly, but the one person who hadn’t left her mind since their last encounter was Jungkook.

The door knocked all of a sudden, interrupting her reading time with Junghyun, who was already drifting off to sleep.

“I brought some soup for you.” The door creaked open, revealing her mother holding a bowl of her favourite tonic soup. “Hey mom.” She smiled as she covered the blanket on the young girl and pointed to the living room after turning off the lights. Settling herself on the sofa, Jihyun realised that she hadn’t talked to her parents much since she came back due to her busy schedule - she went out early in the morning and only came back at night, any free time she had was spent with Junghyun, and she barely had any time to do anything else.

“Sorry, I haven’t been spending much time with you lately. I’ve been busy trying to adapt to work and spending time with Junghyun at the same time.” Jihyun said while taking a mouthful of soup, “Don’t worry about it. Are you free tomorrow? I was thinking we should go shopping and spend some time together.” Her mother said excitedly and she internally groaned when she realised the concert was tomorrow. 

“Shucks, I’m going for a concert tomorrow.” She said and her mum raised her eyebrows, “Who are you going with?”

“Taehyung invited Junghyun and I to his concert.” She said nonchalantly and her mother looked puzzled, "He's a singer?"

"He's in a band called BTS." she said and her mother let out a small smirk, “Is he interested in you?”

“Oh, come on, Mom. He’s an international popstar and I’m just an editor who happens to be a single mother. Think about that, it doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, he seems like a nice guy.” Her mother made a remark and Jihyun realised she hadn’t had the time to update her mother. “Jungkook’s in the same band as Taehyung.” She said softly and her mother’s face turned sour. “What?”

“You’re going to see Jungkook tomorrow?” She asked in surprise and Jihyun nodded, “Actually, I have met him a couple of times since I came back to Korea.” Her mother looked perplexed and she reached out to assure her, “I’m okay, Mom.”

“You’re okay? You’ve spent the last six years crying over him, and then you see him again and you’re okay? Ji, you’re not okay.” Her mother retorted and Jihyun knew she was right. “I’ll be fine, Mom.”

“And what if he sees Junghyun and asks about her? Are you going to tell him?” She questioned and the girl shook her head, “He’s never going to find out, I’m not going to let him.”

--

She arrived at the concert venue while carrying onto Junghyun, who looked ecstatic as she heard the loud music blaring outside the concert hall. As the security glanced at her concert tickets while she queued up, they pulled her aside, and she thought she was in trouble.

“What’s wrong?” Jihyun asked. “Are you friends or family with the members? This is a VIP ticket.” He asked and she nodded her head, “Yes, I’m a friend.” The guards pulled a couple of purple lanyards out and hung it over the two, “You can visit them backstage after the concert, just show the pur