Ara pulled into the parking lot of her parking complex, exited her car, and then she quickly made her way up a flight of outdoor stairs until she reach her apartment. She entered and small apartment that was decorated from the ceiling to the floor with material that she had created from scracth.  

At twenty-six years old she was happy with her career because she had the dream job she had always wanted. She had recently graduated from college a year ago and was working as an artist and a fashion designer in a shop with her friend that was set up in a popular mall in Seoul, where they hand made clothing that was on sale and they also took requests from customers.

Work kept her busy, however despite having the job she had always wanted, there was one thing she felt that she was missing in her life and that was love. She had dated regularly throughout college, however after opening her shop a year ago, she just never found the time to regularly date.  

A friend recommended that she try online dating and at first she opposed the idea, but after much consideration she gave in to it. It didn’t take long for her to find someone she was interested in and what started off as a bunch of fun random messages, had  developed into what she was certain was love.  

After feeding her cat, Mittens, Ara took a seat at her desk top computer and logged onto her e-mail, surprised that he had replied so quickly. She didn’t know his real name because he was still to shy to tell her and she didn’t want to pry, so she went by his user name JK12345678.  

Ara skimmed the letter, hoping to find what she had request and her eyes widen when she saw that he sent a photo.

“Omg, Mittens,” she said over her shoulder to her cat that was eating from a bowl on the floor. “He actually sent a picture. I thought he wasn’t going to. Now let’s see what he looks like…”

Ara clicked the image and dropped open over the sight of the photo of her love interest. Her eyes were so wide that they were at risk for popping out of her eye socket.  

“Oh wow….I didn’t have…how is this…attractive?” she spun around in her chair so that she was facing her cat. “I thought he didn’t want to send me a picture because he was ugly…but wow…he’s beautiful, Mittens.”

Ara didn’t have any reason to doubt that the picture was legit because she knew JK12345678 well enough to know that they would never lie to one another. She was generally a very trusting, honest, and kind person and it was these same characteristics that she found in him. They had been completely open with one another, therefore there wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that the photo may not have possibly been him.  

“I want to meet him one day.” she sighed. “But our schedules are so random, so he never has time.” she glanced over her shoulder at the computer screen. “…wow…” 

Ara began twirling hair, staring up at the ceiling as though she were on another planet at that moment. “Just imagine Mittens…if we have children, they’ll be beautiful.” Her cat meowed in response to this, almost like it was actually responding to her and she quickly added. “I don’t think I’m jumping the ahead of anything. It’s like we were made for each other…everything about us is so…compatible. I don’t care what you say, if we don’t get married, then love doesn’t exist. It can’t after bringing two people who have so much in common together, only to have them break apart.”

Ara shook her head when she realized she was talking to her cat, her pet that couldn’t properly reply to her, and yet she was having a conversation with her like she was a regular human being.

Anyone would have called her crazy if they were to abruptly over hear her talking to her cat, but she didn’t mind because it was in her nature to converse and she didn’t mind talking to an animal that didn’t properly understand her.  

Ara spun around in her chair and began to compose her reply.  

________

“Jin hyung, can I use your lap top for thirty minutes?” asked Jung Kook.  

Jin was sitting on his bed with his lap top sitting on top of him. He had ear plugs in his ear, but at the moment he wasn’t listening to anything yet.  

Jung Kook had gotten off two hours ago when the other members returned to their dorm, but now he desperately wanted to get back online because it was eight o’clock at night and this was the time that Ara usually replied to him since she was free from work.  

“Sure, I have to put dinner on anyway.” said Jin as he pulled his ear plugs out and began to close all his internet documents.  

“Are ever going to make that dish with that ingredient that you went all the way to Busan for?”

“Huh? Oh, not tonight. I still need a few more things. I think on Wednesday I’m going to go to the store to get the last couple of things, then I’ll be able to make it next week.”

“I hope it turns out okay hyung.” commented Jung Kook. “You’ve been talking about this for weeks.”

“It’s a secret dish that my family has passed down for generations. Trust me, once I get everything I need to make it, you and everyone else will love it.”

Jin climbed off his bed and handed Jung Kook the lap top and then made his way down the hallway where he could hear faint traces of V discussing with the other members how certain he was that there was a river made of milk somewhere in Busan.  

Jung Kook closed the door, following the same procedure he had earlier. His heart was desperately trying to burst through the walls of his chest the moment he discovered she had replied. He closed the lap top  down for  a moment and stared at the ceiling, trying to find the strength to proceed, after a moment of internally calming himself and with trembling fingers, he  opened the message.  

“Wow….you’ve been holding back! LOL!!” read the first line, causing him to quietly chuckle to himself. “You’re sooooooo handsome and you look just like my ideal type. ^^”  

She went on to write more about her day and how she was bored at work and reading his e-mail made her day feel worth something. It was a reliving feeling for Jung Kook and he couldn’t begin to express how content he was at that moment. 

He owed a great deal of thanks to Jin, for his remarkable looks, and now that his appearance was supposedly uncovered, there was no reason for her to further pursue questions over what he looked like. This was a relief to Jung Kook because he felt like their relationship was secure and he could continue talk to her freely, however there was something nagging him and he felt like he had done something extremely bad.

Their conversations with each other continued normally as though it had never occurred. Ara had a general idea of what she thought Jung Kook looked like and he didn’t have to reveal to her his true age to her.

Little did he know, six days later, the results of his actions were going to backfire, sooner than he had expected.