"I don't think we've met," he said and smiled.

Stop it! I wanted to say. His smile was killing me. His eyes were small and almond shaped; when he smiled you could hardly even see them. He had adorably puffy cheeks. And his skin was so smooth looking that I felt envious and embarrassed at the same time. I had barely even put on foundation that morning.

"My name is Jimin," he said, "Jimin Park."

I knew it was actually probably Park Jimin because in Korean, the last name comes first, but I didn't say anything.

"Uh hi," I said finally managing to utter something, "I'm Tara."

"Nice to meet you!" He said and smiled again. I looked away briefly, but ended up looking at him again. "Let's be friends," he said sticking his hand out to shake mine.

I just nodded and grabbed his hand nervously.

"What do you do here?" He asked looking at me with inquisitive eyes.

"I'm redesigning the catalog," I said.

"Really?" He said "that's awesome! I want to see it sometime."

"Thanks," I said and smiled, "sorry but I have to get back to work now."

"Okay," he said, "see you later then?"

"Yeah," I said and walked away. When I was out of his sight I walked, almost ran back up the stairs and over to my desk. I sat down with a plop and covered my chest with one hand. It was like an angel had just been plopped right in front of me; and a gorgeous one at that.

The rest of the week, whenever Jimin saw me, he said hi and smiled. I sort of wanted to avoid him because I was nervous but at the same time he was so hot that I couldn't resist accidentally coming across him once... or maybe twice a day.

On the last day, we happened to get off around the same time and as I headed over to my car, he was getting on his bike.

"Hey Tara," he said and smiled again. I was seriously going to have a heart attack. His smile was almost a bit of a childish smirk and the mixture sent me reeling.

"Hi," I said, clutching my backpack strap with one hand and my purse strap with the other.

"Just curious," he said, which made me listen carefully, "but why don't I see you with everyone else at break time?"

"I... well I uh," I stammered. "I just like to have a little quiet time," I lied. It actually made me nervous to be with all of them.

"Hmm," he said, thinking, "you could eat with me... I won't even talk to you if you don't want me to."

He pouted like he was begging and I laughed. "Okay, okay," I said, "fine. I'll eat with you next week. See you Monday."

"Have a good weekend," he said as I started to walk over to my car. Just as I opened the door and turned away to sit, he continued, "And Tara, you should smile more often."

I looked back at him and he just smiled and then took off on his bike down the driveway.

Looks like my life is about to get a bit mixed up again, I thought but then shrugged, but somehow I don't really mind.

 

---

 

That weekend I ended up helping Amber and her family move. Little by little, their life was packed into the back of a UHAUL along with all my memories. As the house became more and more empty, the situation quickly became even more real. My best friend was leaving. Like times before, I would be alone again.

I finally said my goodbyes and all the way home, I cried as I drove.

The weekend rolled by in a blur of emptiness and before I was ready for it, Monday slapped me in the face.

I was barely able to get myself out of bed. I ended up getting to work 10 minutes late. It had become a bad habit of mine. They never said anything about me being late so I didn't feel afraid of not getting there exactly on time. I knew it wasn't good for me, but then again the whole job had become so stressful that it wasn't good for me.

I shuffled up the stairs and got to work. Somehow between being half-alert, the music playing in my ears, and the methodical work I had to do, the morning passed by in a blur of copy and paste.

But then I realized it was lunch time and I had an appointment with Jimin... sort of anyhow. But I also wasn't up to talking with anyone.

Since the front door was near the break room, I couldn't help but pass him on the way out.

"Hey," he said smiling. When I didn't stop, he frowned. "Where are you going?"

"I forgot my lunch today," I lied, "so I'm going home to eat. I live just down the road."

"Ah," he said with a nod, "I see. Well can I come with you? You don't have to feed me or anything."

I wanted to say no. I was going to say no. But then he looked at me with that gorgeous half-expectant grin and I couldn't resist. Plus, I had promised him.

"Okay fine," I said.

"Yes!" He said. He stood up and danced around like a kid.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry if my car is a bit dirty," I said feeling a bit embarrassed by it. My poor car Finnegan (I call him Finny) hadn't had a bath or been vacuumed in a couple months. I wasn't a very good car mommy.

Jimin didn't even seem to notice as he hopped into the passenger side of my car.

"This is it," I said as I turned into the driveway.

"Whoa," he said craning his neck, "all that bamboo is yours?"

I nodded. "Yeah my dad is a gardener. We call our yard the jungle."

"It is like a jungle! But it's really cool too!"

I smiled. "Yeah. My friends and I always used to play in the bamboo. We even made houses with several rooms."

"You seem like you have a great imagination," he said looking at me with adorably wide eyes. Everything Jimin did was just so cute but hot at the same time. I had never seen that beautiful of a man up close before, much less talked to one.

I parked the car and we both got out. "Well this is it," I said waving over to the house. We walked through the front door into the kitchen.

"This seems like a really cozy place!" He said, looking around at everything. He sat on a stool next to our counter as I got some rice out of the fridge and warmed it up. While that was going, I took out my container of Kimchi.

“Is that Kimchi?” he said, looking at the jar in my hands.

Oh great, I thought. I had been too careless. I didn’t want him to know that I was a crazy Korean-obsessed person who fangirled like a fourteen-year-old every time I saw my favorite Korean singer or actor.

“Um, yeah,” I said cautiously.

“You like Korean food?” he said with a huge smile. It made me smile too.

“Yeah, I really like spicy food.”

“I know I said I wouldn’t but…” he said looking at my food.

I laughed. “Do you want some?”

He just nodded. “How did you get into Korean food?” he asked as I dished up a bowl for him.

“I’ve always liked asian food,” I said choosing my words carefully, “and my family likes trying all kinds of different foods.”

“Cool,” he said with a nod.

“Chopsticks?”

Jimin nodded. “You use chopsticks too?” He looked impressed. I handed him a pair.

“Yeah. I use them so much now that it seems weird when I don’t use them.”

“Not many American people are good with chopsticks,” he said chuckling a bit.

What he said made me think. “I have a question for you,” I said. I had noticed before that Jimin spoke English very well, but he still had an accent...  an adorable accent that I couldn't resist.

“Okay,” he said, like I he was waiting for me to surprise him.

“What’s your story?” I said, “I mean did you grow up in the States? Or did you move from Korea?”

"I grew up in Seoul," he said, "and a couple years after my little brother was born, my dad got a transfer to the United States. I've lived here since I was about... 12? Wow..." he said, suddenly thinking about it, "I guess that means we've been here 6 years already!"

"That's really neat!" I said, "so that's why you..."

"Have an accent?" He said with a knowing smile, "yeah. My family speaks Korean at home too, so I guess that's why it hasn't gone away entirely."

He was so open with me that I felt guilty. "I actually know a little Korean," I finally admitted.

"Really?" He said, "how did you learn that?"

"Uh... Korean dramas actually," I said with a nervous smile.

But Jimin just smiled. "A lot of girls like them. It's definitely a good way to learn some of the language too."

I felt so relieved. I was so used to being around guys that criticized me for being a girl. I know that sounds odd, but that's the kind of guys I grew up with. They half expected me to be one of them, when I really wasn't. If I liked anything girly they made fun of it.

"Could you help me learn some?" I said "I mean I know a little, but not very much."

"Ne (yes)," he said, "sure."

I smiled brightly. Jimin had somehow miraculously turned my bad day into something good.

 

---

 

Hey guys! 

I just want to appologize for taking forever to update anything XP I've been sooooo busy lately....

I will try my best to update Seoul Music as soon as possible as well. 

Thanks for reading!

~ Serin ~