The little red car stopped in front of the studio as the hot sun reflected on its hood and dazzled her. Yerin frowned and switched off the engine. Holding onto the steering wheel with both hands, she closed her eyes while taking a deep breath. After a few seconds, she shook her head and turned to the back seat to grab the blue hanger then opened the door and slipped out of the car.

A smile slowly formed behind her black mask. People running around, clothes rails strolling, shouts echoing on the blank walls—she had missed the noisy bustle of photo shoots. She threw the piece of clothing on her left shoulder before walking in on set. Bowing here and there with a grin, she tried to hide the ball of stress forming in her stomach.

It wasn't that she didn't feel comfortable here—she was completely in her element. But she was well aware that she partly owed this job to her connection to one of the band members, and it was a lot of pressure—even for her. Although she had every confidence in her skills, she still had to prove her worth.

She looked around for a minute, hoping to catch sight of at least one of the seven boys—in vain. Out of the corner of her eye, she recognized the band's manager, who saw her and waved. She bowed back and started to walk up to him, when she heard a deep voice behind her.

"Rin!"

She stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"Yoongi!"

Her face instantly lit up, and before he could even begin to move towards her, she pulled him in for a hug with her free arm. He chuckled then tightened his embrace. He had almost forgotten how tactile she was—thanks to the Spanish half of her DNA.

“It’s really good to see you,” she whispered.

“You too.”

She took a deep breath and smiled, enjoying their reunion. Although she had been back for a few weeks, they both hadn't found the time to meet before today. They had kept in touch through occasional calls and messages while she was abroad, but they hadn’t seen each other. She had missed them when they had come to London for their tour, and until last month, she hadn’t set foot in Korea in almost six years.

She released him and kept quiet for a while, examining him with a frown. Seeing him in the flesh was different than through a screen. He hadn’t changed that much, his intense gaze and soft smile still somehow making her heart leap. The last few years had been generous to him—she had never found him so good-looking. Sometimes, I still can’t believe I’m actually friends with this guy. With a soft giggle, she put a hand on her hip and stuck out her chest in pride.

“Are you that happy to see me?” Yoongi smirked as he watched her.

“At least one of us is excited about working together again,” she pouted, making him laugh.

Yerin had been an intern stylist at Big Hit not long after their debut and had then stayed with them as an assistant stylist for two years before leaving for London. When she had told him she wanted to come back home, he had immediately suggested she worked with BTS again. She had to admit she had loved the idea of them spending more time together. Yoongi had put a few good words for her and after several interviews, she had gotten her job back.

“Thanks again for trusting me, Yoongi.”

“Of course,” he smiled. “But it’s going to cost you, Han Yerin.”

“Alright, I’ll buy you meat next time.”

As she had arrived early, she allowed herself a few more minutes to chat with him and make up for lost time. He asked her if she had found a new apartment yet. She happened to have moved in last week—and not far from the boys’ dorm, so they should come for a drink one of these days.

“Sure, we’d love to!” a cheerful voice suddenly shouted.

Yerin looked up and saw two familiar faces walking up to them with a grin.

“Jin oppa! Hoseok!” she greeted them enthusiastically.

Even with her mask on, she could hardly hide how happy she was. At first, she had been scared things would be awkward and she wouldn’t feel comfortable—she hadn’t seen them in a long time, and Yoongi was the only member she was really close to. But she should have known better: they immediately started joking and her stress melted away in seconds. She kept chatting with them for a while and soon enough, Taehyung and Jimin joined them.

A strange sensation suddenly took hold of her. They were still the same persons as when she left—funny, cute and bubbly—but different at the same time. She had obviously been a fan of BTS right from the outset, she had watched them grow and evolve over time. She had always known they would meet success, but this new aura—more professional, more mature—looked good on them. Again, pride squeezed her heart, and for a second, she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

“Please take good care of me. It’s my first day and I’m a little intimated to work with global superstars,” she teased.

They all laughed and patted her arm to reassure her. It took her an immense amount of willpower to snap out of her daydream and focus on the reason she had come here in the first place. She glanced at her watch and sighed.

“Speaking of, I should really get to it. Where’s your maknae anyway? I brought his jacket.”

“He’s probably still getting his hair and makeup done,” Jimin answered, pointing at a white door behind him, a few meters away.

“I’ll go find him then. See you guys later!”

She somehow made her way through the dozens of technicians running around and saw Jungkook just as he walked out of the dressing room. He didn’t notice her and started snooping through the different outfits hanging on the clothes rail next to the door.

“Looking for this?” she slowly approached him from behind, holding out the blue hanger.

Jungkook turned around and as soon as Yerin laid eyes on him, she froze.

She didn’t understand why she was so surprised. She should have expected this—she had been keeping tabs on the band all those years. But somehow, his glowing face framed by long black locks of hair sent shivers down her spine. Standing in front of her was not the adorable teenager whose hair she used to ruffle, but a handsome man whose stare was currently piercing right through her.

She bit the inside of to get a grip before realizing Jungkook hadn’t moved either, his eyes wide open as if he had just seen a ghost. Like a bunny caught in headlights.

Thinking he maybe hadn't recognized her, she pulled her mask down, slightly unsettled.

“Long time no see, Jungkook.”

It was unnecessary though, for he knew exactly who she was. As soon as he had seen those bright green eyes, he had remembered Yoongi telling him she started working today.

Images started engulfing his mind. His eyes quickly scanned her and noticed a few changes: her face was thinner and her hair shorter, now shoulder-length and wavy with a dip dye that matched her skin tone. He tried hard not to stare too much at her clothes perfectly hugging her curves. She had always been pretty, but at this moment she looked dazzling.

“Hi, Yerin noona,” he blinked and smiled softly, trying to keep his composure.

She chuckled then put her mask back on, leaving him enough time to notice the dimples he found so cute. He spaced out for a moment before her voice brought him back to reality.

“How have you been?”

He tried hard not to stutter as he answered while she walked past him and put the blue hanger on the clothes rail. They made small talk as she got his jacket out of the white cover and handed it to him.

“Put this on so I can make the final touches.”

Jungkook silently complied. She went to grab a pincushion and other accessories from the dressing room then proceeded to her usual routine of observing, measuring and adjusting. Yerin had thought immersing herself in a concrete task would prevent her mind from wandering, but she couldn’t have been more wrong.

As she rearranged his collar, she became very aware of how close to him she was. Her face was up to his chin now and despite the mask, her nose suddenly caught waves of his body spray. She had to force herself not to close her eyes and sniff it like a crazy person. She cleared and started dusting his shoulders then the rest of his outfit, feeling his newly build-up muscles through the fabric in the process.

Something was seriously wrong with her, even though it didn’t make any sense. Clearly, she had underestimated the effect this would have on her, but how could she have prepared herself otherwise? This was her job, she had repeated these same gestures thousands of times, especially with BTS. And she had known Jungkook for years, so it should have felt easy—almost like interacting with a little brother. So what was so different today that it made her stomach turn?

Caught up in her own drama, she remained completely oblivious to the maknae’s inside turmoil—luckily for him. Trying hard to focus, Jungkook inhaled deeply. Bad idea: he couldn’t help but smell the faint scent of lavender wafting from her hair, which immediately brought back distant memories. He could feel her breath on his skin, giving him goosebumps. He silently prayed she wouldn’t notice, and fortunately it seemed to work. He slowly opened his mouth, but his words got stuck in his throat.

After what felt like an eternity, Yerin eventually took a step back before her expert eye started scanning every detail of Jungkook’s outfit with a frown. He should have been used to this, but as her gaze was fixed on him, he suddenly felt very self-conscious.

She signalled for him to roll up his sleeves. Satisfied with the outcome, her face quickly relaxed. She put her hands on her hips with a nod of approval before letting out a nervous laugh.

“What?” Jungkook rose an eyebrow.

She cleared and shook her head.

“Nothing, I just…”

She sighed, looking for her words, as he threw her an encouraging look.

“It doesn’t feel like I’ve been away that long, but suddenly you’re first place on the Billboard, you’re taller than me, you have tattoos all over your arm and new pierc—”

She stopped and bit her lip, mentally cursing herself for babbling such nonsense. Jungkook chuckled and tilted his head, not sure how to react.

“I guess I just… grew up,” he shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess you did,” she smiled behind her mask and nodded.

Her eyes lingered on his right arm. He looked down and shifted on his feet, uncomfortable.

“Do you hate it?”

She looked up and met his worried eyes. Taken aback, she frowned. Why would he ask me that? Truth was, she had always found tattooed guys incredibly y—but she obviously couldn’t tell him that.

“Actually, I really like it,” she managed to stammer.

Visibly relieved, Jungkook grinned, and her heart skipped a beat. She tried to look down but failed. Their eyes remained locked, his fierce gaze drilling a hole in her soul. Her body refused to move, as if she had been hypnotized. They stayed silent for a moment as the surrounding noise began to fade. All she could hear was her blood pulsating in her ears. Time seemed to stand still, and the atmosphere thickened, almost suffocating her. Her pulse accelerated and she felt her cheeks slowly turning red.

“Jungkook, you’re on!”

His manager’s voice echoed behind them, ending their silent conversation. As if woken up from a long trance, they both shook their head and looked away, breaking eye contact.

What the hell just happened? 

 

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