"Everybody, it's been a while since we embarked the journey with FM the 9th Hour. From 30 minutes every Friday, we upgraded to 60 minutes and broadcast in both office radio and livestreaming format. During the journey, what motivates me the most is your sharing. It could be happiness, could be sadness, could be a welcome or even a goodbye. But everything all drives me forward to keep it up every Friday to spread positivity and energy. So, thank you!"

I finished the line with a satisfying smile. It'd been two weeks since my last broadcasting, so I was glad to make a live comeback, instead of a pre-recorded one. Yet it was not only me that looked forward to this one hour in the small meeting room which was transformed into a broadcasting "station" aka my own territory. Taehyung was also here today, his first time being my radio partner. Well, not Taehyung. "Remember, I will go by V on the radio." That's what he'd been reminding me since the morning. He also shared his plan to hide his identity as V by pretending to join a weekly meeting with the regional team, which I assumed to align with his plan to evoke people's curiosity. Okay, he could do whatever he wanted, just please try not to ruin my show.

"And talking about togetherness, I believe that we all want someone to keep your company in every stage of our life. Companions like family, friends or colleagues, they help us create a colorful and meaningful patchwork of our life journey. I'm grateful that FM The 9th Hour has been one of your companions and even more grateful that from today, I will have a new companion on my journey with the show."

When we discussed the script flow, Taehyung wanted to add some drumroll sound effect to create tension at this moment and hand clapping sound for excitement when V was introduced. I rejected right away as it didn't match the mood and more than that, I had an even better plan to surprise him.

"Usually when we first meet, what should we do?" I could feel my soothing voice was all over the office as I went on. "We might exchange name cards in business setting or we bring along gifts, right? Understanding that, this witty friend of mine did bring a sweet gift. Not for me, of course. But for whom he will be introduced to today, you Purple Line citizens. So not wasting any of your time, let's find out more about this gift. MUSIC, PLAY."

Turning off the microphone, I clicked Play and Taehyung's husky singing voice replaced mine. I was playing his rendition of a song called Winter Bear, to his utmost surprise. His face was full of bewilderment as he muttered under his breath.

"How the hell did you find that?"

I shrugged and playfully used the same reply as I did when he asked if I cooked up stories in my script.

"That's a secret."

Well he might later remember having recorded this demo for Byul Yi's team and it was Byul Yi that gave me this. But he would never know that this demo had been almost forgotten after Seokjin's departure and only resurfaced in Byul Yi's memory when she saw me rewriting the script to announce his appearance. And after giving it a listen, I decided not to miss out this hidden gem.

"Right." Taehyung sniffed at my mischievous smile. "This is YOUR show. But at least send me a copy of it later, ok?"

"Sure." I glanced at the progress bar of the media player and realized that the song was almost over. "Control your breath. We'll be back on air in 15 seconds."

Prior to this broadcasting, we had two dry-run sessions and I found out that Taehyung had a serious problem of breath controlling, which led to unbalanced voice as well as unnecessary hisses and noises. Although I gave him a few instructions to quickly fix it, that still remained my biggest concern for today's show. I took a big inhale and turned to look at Taehyung in the eyes, trying to put him at ease with a bright smile. He followed my action, breathed in and slowly exhaled, although nervousness still dashed across his face.

"Everyone, I think you found the song amazing" I looked at the chat box which had been filled with lots of heart icon and compliments on the song. "And you'll find the one who sings it as amazing as it is. Now here comes the new companion, who along with me will bring you even more fantastic Fridays. V-ssi, welcome!"

I ended my line by pressing the Enter button to send a short message to the livestreaming platform "Let's welcome V-ssi to FM the 9th Hour."

"Hello Purple Line citizens. Hello Wheein-ssi" Taehyung spoke to the microphone from the exact position I instructed. Looking at me, he put on a smile. Smiles were definitely contagious as I found dimples peek out from my cheeks. "I'm V. So glad to be a part of this exciting journey with FM the 9th Hour."

The first broadcasting went quite smooth for Taehyung. We spent the rest of the show talking about companionship and the so-called term "serendipity" that he came upon when reflecting on how we became radio partner. Serendipity, as Taehyung wrote in his script, was the occurrence of events by chance that happened in a good way.

"It's like you found a KRW 10,000 bill in the pocket of a coat you haven't worn in a while." Taehyung made a funny analogy. He followed exactly each sentence separator I had marked on his script. "You found serendipity when bumping across good stuff accidentally. And for me, I think getting selected to this journey when I needed motivation is my simple serendipity."

"I think so, too. We both didn't think of becoming a radio MC at first, but things happened and here we are, to which I am so grateful." I joyfully replied him. "Then people, before we move to the last song of today's show, I would love to ask you to share what your recent serendipity is."

"Yeah" Taehyung chimed in "Simply drop us a message and we will come back next week to spread the positivity you've shared."

"We really look forward to your sharing. And up to now, it's been FM the 9th Hour with Jung Wheein..."

"...and V."

"Goodbye and see you next week."

I turned off the microphone again and raised my thumb up to Taehyung letting out a big sigh of relief. He'd done a pretty decent job today. And while the next step was to wait for people's reaction on his performance and the serendipity sharing, I, for a moment, did think having him as my partner was somehow also my serendipity. He out of nowhere appeared in my show and whereas not many people would be willing to take the role, much less going through troubles and taking up new stuff, he had survived for two weeks and showed plenty of eagerness. And it was not too bad to have someone to interact with instead of speaking all alone. Somehow those thoughts helped clear my doubt about the long-term he mentioned when we first met, which up to now didn't sound like a joke at all.

Wait, is that positivity way too early?

***

"Should I put the demo on SoundCloud? Or Youtube?"

I asked Taehyung as we were on the subway home afterwards. Since finding out we both take the same subway line home last Saturday, I had never met him again on the train once as it seemed like our working habits contradicted. Except for today, when we had no schedule after the show.

Taehyung shook his head, holding on tight his backpack worn upfront while we were squeezing ourselves to stand firm within the limited space on the packed train.

"Just Airdrop me the file."

"Why? It doesn't deserve to stay hidden."

"I am allergic to fame."

I stuck out my lower lip and shot him an "excuse me" look.

"Geez, as if it will go viral..."

"Whatever" He shrugged. "You might go ask Seulgi noona. . ."

"About what?"

"About why I didn't join any talent show in the company like Juyeonie did."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup." His forehead creased as he raised both eyebrows. "Believe it or not, I don't wanna be in the spotlight."

He sounded like stating a simple fact and I just laughed in disbelief. I had no idea why Taehyung always looked so full of self-pride. His words sounded all exaggerating and overconfident but he just didn't care. Perhaps because it hurt no one. But I wondered if he always expressed his opinions like that at work, which I considered a huge risk of being viewed as arrogant.

"Okayyyy" I chuckled and gave him a sarcastic response. "Imma ask her tonight."

The train then reached the station where I had to get off. I had a dinner date with Hyojin tonight - well, not a date between us two, it was for introducing Seulgi to Hyojin as the coachee. We decided to have dinner near PyeongHwa as Hyojin had to work on night shift today and it was also convenient for both me and Seulgi to get home after that.

I said goodbye to Taehyung and was ready to make my way through the many passengers getting off the same station. Being small was truly a disadvantage in such situation as I had no idea where the nearest space would lead to - the door or another body that didn't smell so good blocking the way, much less being pushed and crushed over by the people behind. Yet to my surprise, Taehyung quickly walked to my front as the door opened and he took small steps forward to make way. He then slightly turned to me, briefly commanded.

"Stick to me."

I flickered, found myself stutter something inaudible and at the same time, found my hands automatically grabbing the handles of his backpack as I proceeded after him out of the train, just like a baby duck following her mom. The train only stopped for 3 minutes and we managed to set both feet on the platform ground as soon as the closing door siren rang.

"Wow, that was close. Thanks."

I gasped and pulled Taehyung aside to get out the line of passengers moving towards the exiting escalator. He had to get on the next train anyway and I should be waiting with him as a token of gratitude, I thought so. But he didn't share the same idea.

"Let's go?" He said, half asking and pointed his thumb over the exit. Confusion was written on his face as I hadnt yet followed the way out. "Is this the right station for you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but let's wait for the next train."

"Why?"

"Ah... I just..." I bit my inner cheeks, feeling flustered to admit what I was doing. "...want...to wait with you. I mean, you're getting off at the next one..."

Taehyung looked at me, with doubt at first and then suddenly, with amusement as the corners of his lips curled up into a big smile, revealing his white teeth. He flung the backpack on his left shoulder and teasingly hit my right one.

"You're being hasty again." He sniffed as though reminded me of our little Americano incident where I assumed his opinion. "Come on. I can catch a train later. But now... I want a..." He frowned and I couldn't help thinking that he would bring about any surprise by then. "...let's say...a can of beer. Is it OK before your dinner?

Okay, so it was really another surprise from Kim Taehyung. 

But at the same time, it did sound like a cool idea.

"Er...you can't drink beer, can you?"

I thew him a questioning look as we started to walk along the exit tunnel, shoulder by shoulder and I could see that I was much shorter than him. His right eyebrow slightly raised in response to my question, before he casually switched side and pushed me inside the lane so that I didn't walk near the railroad.

"Uh oh... Then let's just go have a drink, yeah? How much time left until your dinner?"

I looked at my wristwatch. It was only 7pm, still an hour left until I had to be present at the restaurant with Hyojin and Seulgi. I didn't even feel hungry to get there early and order something for myself, either. Perhaps Hyojin wouldn't mind that I got a little alcohol smell prior to the dinner; it was only about him and Seulgi anyway. Yet just to make sure, I excused Taehyung for a minute to text my nagging brother.

"Oppa, just arrived at the station. Will wander around a while and be on time."

"Ok. See you then."

Hyojin replied quickly and shortly. He had been super busy working on a crucial project to call for more investment in the center but still made time for me and agreed to help Seulgi out - God dammit, how much more should I appreciate this guy?

Taehyung was waiting for me. He had his hands rest inside the pockets of his dark brown pants and was subtly vibing to random songs played at the station platform. I smirked, suddenly thinking of what kind of surprise I would get as I asked Seulgi why Taehyung never joined a music performance at Purple Line despite possessing a charismatic voice. Well, it had been two weeks and I had got used to the thought that I should be prepared for all kinds of surprises whenever talking with or about Taehyung.

I put my phone back to my checkered blazer pocket and poked Taehyung, somewhat startling him.

"Hey." I tilted my head, signaling him to get moving. "I have an hour. Let's go celebrating your first radio broadcasting."

"Cool!" He clapped his hands, bonused with a big grin. And with what I thought to be his own catchphrase, he added as we finished scanning our transportation card and got out. "And Wheein-ssi, I have this crazy idea. Wanna hear?"

"Uh?"

"Do you want to go... uhm... stargazing?"