“Dohee, do you want some help?” A voice called from behind her.

Dohee turned around from her struggle with the vacuum in surprise, wondering if she had heard right. She had. It was indeed Min Yoongi who had spoken and who was looking at her with big, imploring eyes.

Because of her shock, she didn’t respond and just blinked at Yoongi. He became awkward and fidgeted with his glasses before turning away to cut off Jungkook in the middle of his conversation with Hoseok.

Dohee smiled and tilted her head at her friend, who was standing next to a babbling Yoongi. She grinned back and explained, “You looked like you were having trouble with that thing so I told him to help you.”

“Oh, oops. I was just surprised.” Dohee gave another small smile before turning back to continue vacuuming. Later, she realized she should probably thank Yoongi for the effort. So she searched him out in the crowd of working people.

“Yoongi!” she called. The boy in question swiveled his head around from where he was helping Namjoon put up a heavy banner on the overhanging wall. “Thank you for offering to help earlier. I was just surprised, because I didn’t think you even knew my name.”

Yoongi flushed and dropped his part of the banner, making Namjoon yelp at him in annoyance and nearly topple over from the sudden extra weight.

“It’s fine, I, um… Yeah, it’s fine.” Yoongi stammered.

Dohee smiled at him before going back to continue helping with the preparations for the party the next day.

The next day, Dohee woke up at 12PM to a mouthful of fur in her face. She shoved her small, black cat off her nose and groaned as she sat up. Her cat mewled and blinked his big green eyes up at her. Dohee smiled and rubbed him between the ears, making the cat purr contentedly.

“Good morning, Nyangie.” Dohee whispered. Nyangie meowed again in response.

Dohee got up and rubbed her cat’s belly until he stretched out on the bed and went back to sleep. Then, she tiptoed to the bathroom and began to get ready for the day. She spent about thirty minutes trying to decide what to wear before a glance at the clock told her she didn’t have much time, and she just threw on a simple white tee, black jeans, and a thick sweater to fight off the cold, since she would be changing later anyways. After dabbing on a bit of makeup-she would probably erase it and redo it for the party-she grabbed her purse and phone, set out some food and milk for Nyangie, and bade him goodbye as she slipped on her black and white Converse sneakers and left the house.

The girl glanced at her watch and was pleased to find that, even if she walked leisurely, she would still be on time. So she took her sweet time walking to the café where she would be meeting her friends, scrambling around to be in the sun as much as she could.

When she arrived at the café, she grabbed a table, seeing as how her friends had yet to appear. A girl about her age came and gave her a menu before going off to tend to other customers. Dohee flipped through the menu, even though she knew what she was going to get already. She just liked seeing the pictures of the food in the menu, and was still looking through it when she felt a light bop on her head. She looked up to see Nayeon sit in the chair opposite her.

“You’re late.” Dohee commented with a grin as Nayeon put her purse on the table in between them.

The other girl ignored the comment and asked, “Did you take your car?”

“Nah, I walked.” Dohee responded. “You took your car?”

“Yeah. I was too lazy to walk. And it was cold.” Nayeon said as she pulled out her phone from her purse. She grimaced when she saw that she had a missed call from her boss.

“Watch Eunji not walk and bring her car.” Dohee said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

“No doubt about it.” Nayeon rolled her eyes and pressed the Call button for her boss. “She probably got up late too. Just a second.”

Dohee leaned back in her chair and watched Nayeon talk on the phone. Occasionally, she turned to make a face at Dohee to express her exasperation at her boss, making Dohee grin. As soon as Nayeon hung up, Eunji walked into the café and sat in the seat next to Nayeon.

“Hey, did you guys order yet?” Eunji asked.

“No, we were waiting for you.” Dohee replied.

“Oh, sorry. I woke up late.” Eunji pulled a menu closer to her. “I had to bring my car.”

Dohee and Nayeon grinned at each other as Eunji proved their speculations correct.

“Oh my god, I’m so tired!” Dohee groaned and flopped down on the table. “I slept at like 4.”

“What, why?” Eunji asked, flipping to the next page of the menu after a disgusted look at a particularly suspicious-looking neon green drink.

“Stupid Seokjin oppa. He wouldn’t let me leave until he made sure all the preparations were perfect, even though everyone else left.” Dohee grumbled and sat up again as a waitress came to their table. “Can I have a Caesar salad with coke?”

Eunji snorted at her choice of foods. “Who the hell has salad with coke?”

“Shut up, I like coke.”

“Shut up, both of you. I would like a chicken wrap with diet coke.” Nayeon said to the waitress.

“Can I have a fruit salad and a chicken wrap too? And can I have water please?” Eunji spoke up, looking at the menu.

“So, one Caesar salad and coke, one chicken wrap and diet coke, and one fruit salad, chicken wrap, and water?” the waitress repeated. She left with the menus when the three girls nodded.

“What are you guys wearing to the party tonight? I’m wearing a dress and I’m probably going to freeze to death, but whatever.” Dohee said as she looked at the message that had just popped up. She sighed when she saw it was Seokjin freaking out about the preparations and responded quickly.

“You know that dress I bought last time when I went shopping with you guys? That long white one? Yeah, I’m wearing that.” Eunji said when Nayeon and Dohee nodded.

“That one’s pretty. I really like that one. What about your hair? And makeup?”

“I’m probably curling my hair and tying like half of it back. And like, probably just light makeup?” Eunji raised an eyebrow.

“I approve.” Nayeon said, still looking at her phone. “What about you Dohee? Which dress are you wearing?”

“I don’t know. I have a couple choices.” Dohee said, reading another message from Seokjin. “But I think I’m gonna go with the knee-length, black one. You know the one with like ruffles at the bottom?”

“Yeah. I approve of that one too. How are you doing your hair?” Nayeon asked. “Oh, you know what you should do? Just curl it and let it hang down. Or, like put a slight wave in it. That would look nice.”

“Yeah, I was thinking of doing that, but… I can’t curl my own hair for my life and my money’s too precious to use at the hair salon.” Dohee pursed her lips, twirling the tips of her hair in between her fingers.

“I’ll do it for you. I’m keeping my hair straight, so I’ll have extra time.” Nayeon offered.

“Okay!” Dohee agreed. “What are you wearing?”

Nayeon showed her phone to Dohee. It was picture of a pink dress so light it was almost white. It was short in the front and long in the back, and there was a single big, pink ribbon at the side of the waist line.

“It’s so pretty!” Dohee exclaimed. “That would look so good on you.”

“Wouldn’t that dress look prettier if you curled your hair?” Eunji asked, leaning forward to look more closely at the dress.

“Yeah, probably. But I’m too lazy.” Nayeon said, putting her phone away as their food came out.

“Go to the salon. If you go, I’ll go.” Dohee urged, picking up her fork as the waitress left to get Eunji’s tray.

“Really?” Nayeon quirked a brow.

“Yeah, why not?” Dohee shrugged as she stuffed a forkful of the salad in .

“Okay then. What time should we go?” Nayeon asked as she carefully unwrapped her chicken wrap.

“Um… The party’s at 6 right?” Nayeon and Eunji nodded. “If we want to do our makeup before we go to do our hair, we could probably go at like 5:00? Or like, 4:40? But if we want other people to do our makeup as well-which will take more money you know-we could go for makeup a little after 4 and then go do our hair.”

“I hate decisions.” Nayeon sighed as she chewed on her wrap.

“Same.” Eunji hummed. “Maybe we should just let professionals do everything, including makeup.”

“Maybe. I’m not very confident about my makeup skills. Ugh, but I hate using money.” Dohee frowned at a rather ugly piece of leaf and flung it out.

“Me too.” Nayeon agreed. “But it is an alumni reunion party. Honestly it doesn’t make sense that we’re having this because we ended high school like five years ago. And it makes even less sense because literally everyone of all grades is coming. But whatever, we have to look good.”

“I think Seokjin oppa doesn’t think of it as a reunion party. He just wanted to gather everyone and just have a party.” Dohee explained before she cocked her head to the side with a deeper frown. Suddenly, she grinned widely. “But anyways. Fine. We’ll spend money. For the boys!”

Nayeon and Eunji laughed before joining her. “For the boys!”

By the time they were done with their brunch, it was nearly 2:30. Nayeon dropped off Dohee at her house before going back to hers to wash and put on her dress.

Dohee took a long shower, knowing she had plenty of time. When she was done with her shower, it was already 3:30. She took her time putting on lotion, dancing and singing at times. She put on a new set of clothes until her hair dried, not wanting her dress to be ruined. Only when her hair was completely dry did she finally pull on her dress. She refused to sit, worried that her dress would be ruined.

It was 4:10 when Eunji texted in their group chat that she had made an appointment and was waiting for them to arrive. Dohee panicked and stuffed her phone, earphones, keys, and other necessary things into her clutch bag. She flew to the door and put on her rarely-worn black heels. They were about 6 inches high and hard to walk in, but she managed. She said goodbye to her cat again as she turned off the lights and closed the door. She hurried to her white Porsche convertible. Sighing, she slipped off her heels before turning on the engine and backing out of her driveway. She was already nearly at the salon before she realized she was cold and that she had left her jacket at home. She groaned but figured she would just steal someone else’s jacket later.

The makeup and hair took a long time, but the girls were able to make it to the party before the appointed time. Seokjin greeted them, dressed handsomely in a black suit, but the effect was a little ruined by his panicked expression.

“Dohee! Thank god you’re here! We need your help, we-” Seokjin suddenly cut off as he took in the sight of Dohee and her friends standing in front of him. “Wow, you guys look really nice.”

Dohee smirked. “I could say the same to you, oppa. If only you weren’t freaking out so much.”

“Shut up. You know how I am. Everything must be perfect.” Seokjin widened his eyes to show emphasis.

Dohee rolled her eyes. “Fine, what do you need me to do?”

“Hey, Dohee, we’re gonna go first. I have some people I wanna see.” Nayeon said, putting a hand softly on Dohee’s exposed shoulder.

“Yeah, okay.” Dohee said, looking back at her friends. She had to say Seokjin was right. Nayeon and Eunji looked flawless. Nayeon had taken off her jacket and she seemed to shine in her pink dress. Her curled hair was a very nice touch to the dress, as was her makeup. Eunji was also very beautiful in her shimmery white dress. It seemed to have a life of its own as it flowed around her legs and across other people’s ankles. Everyone seemed to stare at the two as they walked away, looking for old friends. Dohee noticed Taehyung and Jimin eyeing her friends, and grinned at the thought of them trying to seduce Nayeon and Eunji, because they weren’t ones to fall easily. However, with the way they were primly dressed, it could work, she conceded.

  

“We need your help with the refreshments. We have less than I wanted.” Seokjin said as he led Dohee to the refreshment table, breaking her out of her thoughts.

The girl stopped abruptly and turned to Seokjin with narrowed eyes. Seokjin thought it was prettier than it should have been because the action only brought forth the light sprinkle of sparkles about her eyes.

“Are you saying you waited for me to come so you could ask me to buy more drinks and snacks?” Dohee crossed her arms.

“Um… Maybe?” Seokjin gave her an innocent look.

“Oppa! I’m not made out of money you know! I spent a lot on trying to look good today too!” Dohee whined, untangling her arms.

“I’m sorry! It’s just, I’m kinda broke right now, and the other guys are still putting up the remaining banners and streamers and balloons and stuff, so I couldn’t ask them. I’m sorry, Dohee. Just this one time, please?” Seokjin pleaded, gathering his hands together in front of his pout to look pitiful.

“I hate you, oppa.” Dohee muttered before whirling around to go to her car.

“Thank you Dohee! I love you!” Seokjin yelled gleefully after her as the doors swished shut behind her.

After a quick drive and an embarrassing walk through the grocery store (she nearly tripped several times), Dohee arrived back at the party at 6:30. She quickly found Seokjin, who now looked way more calm and collected because there were more guests around, and shoved the refreshments into his waiting hands. The boy grinned and gave her a light peck on the forehead to show his gratitude before urging her to go have fun with her old classmates.

Sighing, Dohee walked to the nearest couch and sat there, worn out already from the walking she had done in her high heels. She longed to fling them off and massage her feet, but she knew Seokjin would strongly disapprove, so she dealt with having to keep the pain in.

She was about to get back up to socialize when someone dropped into the seat right next to her. Looking over, she realized it was Yoongi. He looked at her and held up a glass of champagne. She took it with a small snort and leaned back into the couch, even as her heart skipped a beat. She looked him up and down, feeling her head swim at his handsomeness. His slim, black tie went perfectly with his two black earrings. His white shirt stuck to him as he stretched back a little, showing off how beautifully lean he was. When he moved forward again, he propped his elbows on his legs and swirled his champagne casually, making Dohee nearly have to take a breather to gain back some of the sense she lost at his absolute gorgeousness.

“How’s the party, Yoongi?” Dohee asked with a strained smile, hoping her voice came out steady.

“Fine.”

Dohee was thrown off by his one word answer. Of course, she should probably be used to it by now, what with all the times she had tried to initiate an actual conversation with him and failed because he refused to cooperate.

“That’s good. Did Seokjin oppa bother you guys a lot about the decorations?” Dohee refused to give up just as much as Yoongi refused to continue.

“A little.” Yoongi shrugged, sipping his own glass.

“Yeah, well, he was more than a little worried. I can understand of course.” Dohee nodded to herself. “He is rather a perfectionist.”

Yoongi didn’t even hum in response. Dohee sighed internally, finally surrendering. She had been so psyched just two minutes ago, when Yoongi had decided to sit next to her without needing her urging. She had thought that maybe Yoongi was finally going to start opening up to her, especially because she found out that he knew her name. She had been so ecstatic and thought that maybe Yoongi was starting to try to get to know her. But of course, she was wrong. And it was painful.

Ever since Seokjin had first introduced her to Yoongi, Dohee had had a huge crush on the quiet boy. She had never taken action with it, of course. She had only told one person about it. Seokjin was the only person who knew about her secret crush. He had tried to help in the beginning, but Dohee had vehemently said no. She even refused to tell other people when Seokjin urged her to. She didn’t want anyone else knowing about her crush, since she had originally planned to keep it her own little secret; Seokjin had found out by accidently reading her diary. So no one else knew. No one suspected it either, since she only ever treated Yoongi like her younger brother. Dohee thought it was the only way she would be able to act friendly with Yoongi without driving him away.

But now, glancing at Yoongi, who continued to sip his drink and watch the people roam around in front of him, she realized that maybe even acting like an older sister was driving him away. After all, Yoongi seemed to be quieter these days than he normally was around her. He gave even shorter answers and avoided being near her most of the time. Maybe even now, he was here only because Nayeon or Seokin had asked him to accompany her, knowing she would be alone. Actually, Seokjin had most probably asked Yoongi to be with her.

This time, she let out a dejected sigh externally, drawing Yoongi’s attention.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“Huh? Oh, no. Nothing’s wrong.” Dohee smiled weakly. “Just a little tired.”

“…Okay.” Yoongi blinked at her before turning back to watch the crowd.

Suddenly, Dohee couldn’t take it anymore.

“Excuse me.” She mumbled before grabbing her purse and rushing to the bathroom. As soon as she locked the bathroom door behind her, she began crying. Belatedly realizing that the tears would probably destroy her makeup, she quickly grabbed some paper towels and began carefully dabbing at her eyes, hoping that the rest of her tears would stay put.

“You should just give up, Kim Dohee. It’s so obvious he doesn’t like you. And you pining after him is just going to hurt you in the end. See, even now, before he’s even rejected you, you’re crying. Just give up. It’s not worth it.” She said to her reflection in the mirror. She sighed one last time before fixing her makeup and opening the door to leave. But as soon as she did, she jumped back in fright and let out a scream.

“Oh my god, Min Yoongi, you scared me!” Dohee exclaimed, putting a hand to her heart.

Yoongi didn’t even flinch at her loud scream and instead, he grabbed her wrist and began pulling her to the balcony.

“Y-Yoongi! What are you doing?” Dohee squirmed in his grasp. But he didn’t let go, nor did he ever loosen his hold. Yoongi released her only when they were outside on the balcony with the door slammed shut, blocking out all the loud sounds of the party. “What was that for?!”

Yoongi didn’t say anything, of course, but he did respond by shoving her phone in her face. Dohee frowned and dug through her clutch bag. She could swear it had been in there earlier, but she guessed it must have fallen out when she had plopped down. With a mean look, she grabbed her phone.

“What?” Dohee growled.

“Look at the messages.” Yoongi said, voice hard as flint.

With a slight frown, Dohee opened her phone. When she saw the message from Seokjin, she turned white and nearly dropped her phone.

Seokjin: Eyyy~~~

Seokjin: I see you~~~

Seokjin: With the love of your life~~~

Seokjin: You should thank me, you know

Seokjin: I asked him to go sit with you

Seokjin: I expect you to buy me dinner, young lady

Dohee cursed Seokjin a million times over in her head. She knew he would screw up one day, she just knew! This was why she didn’t want anyone to know. She knew something like this would happen one day.

“What is he talking about?” Yoongi questioned, making Dohee flinch as she remembered he was still there.

“I-it’s a joke… He’s just being stupid.” Dohee tried to lie feebly.

Yoongi’s cold expression didn’t let up and Dohee winced and looked down, feeling her tears start to well up.

“Okay, fine. I like you. I liked you since that first day we met. I didn’t want anyone to know. I was just going to keep it my little secret until I got over it and I’m so sorry you found out about it. I know you must hate me right now and that’s completely understandable. I understand if you want to avoid me and talk bad about me in the future. You can do that. I understand. I’m really sorry.” Dohee said quickly, lest her tears and sniffles get in the way of her apology.

For a long time, Yoongi didn’t say anything and Dohee would have thought that he had gone back inside if not for the fact that she could still see his black shoes. Her head snapped up when she heard the faintest sigh slip out of Yoongi’s mouth. The boy looked down at her and Dohee quickly ducked her head again, feeling that she had absolutely no right to look Yoongi in the face.

“You know, one day, a boy’s hyung texted him, asking him to come out.” Yoongi suddenly said. Dohee looked up again at him and saw that he had turned his body and was now leaning against the railing, gazing up at the darkening sky. Dohee was confused at what Yoongi was saying, but she was wise enough not to speak, and let him continue.

“Very annoyed, the boy got up and left to meet his hyung after getting ready with no effort to look presentable. So he was very flustered when he saw his hyung and a girl behind him. She was looking at the boy curiously and the boy was embarrassed that she was seeing him in such a state. His hyung seemed to take no notice and introduced the two to each other. From that day on, the girl came along with her friends to hang out with the boy and his friends. Every time the boy saw her, she would greet him with a bright smile and a cute wave, calling out his name excitedly. But the boy couldn’t respond with even half the brightness. He was too shy. He realized one night, when he was lying in bed at home and couldn’t get the girl’s smile out of his head, that he liked her. He really liked her. But he knew there was no way she liked him back. It was so obvious. She always treated him as if he was her younger brother, even though he was pretty sure he was older than her. So, in an attempt to get rid of his feelings, the boy tried to block her out. Whenever she talked to him, he responded curtly, even though he longed to talk to her and listen to her speak for hours on end. Whenever she touched him, he flinched away, even though he wanted desperately to lean in and embrace her tightly. Whenever she called his name, he looked at her with an expressionless face, even though he desired so much to respond with a kiss. He tried so, so hard to get rid of his feelings for her. But it was so hard because she was so irresistible. He realized there might be a possibility that he loved her.” Yoongi whispered the last part.

Dohee blinked at him in complete shock. The tears that had dried up in her confusion came back full force, sliding down her rosy cheeks. This time, she didn’t care that it would mess up her makeup. Yoongi continued to gaze out at the moon.

“One day, during a party, the boy’s hyung told him to sit with the girl. The boy obeyed and sat with her. He was tongue-tied because of her appearance. She was the only person he could see. With her wavy hair riding down her back, and her makeup enhancing her already pretty features, and her short, fluffy dress accentuating her body, he realized she was beautiful. After her few attempts to start a conversation, she suddenly ran to the bathroom. The boy was about to follow her when her phone rang. He looked at it and saw that she had a message from his hyung. Figuring it was something about the party, he opened her phone to tell his hyung that the girl had left for the bathroom. But the message wasn’t about the party. It was about her and him. The boy realized that she might actually like him back. On the balcony, when he heard her confess that she did like him, he was shocked. Normally, he was a weak person, but just that one day, he decided to gather his courage and confess too.” Yoongi turned to face her. “Kim Dohee. I like you. I really like you. I’m sorry for being so unresponsive to you and for taking such a long time to confess. I’m sorry for making you be the one to confess first. But I swear, if you will accept my confession, I will work really hard to make you happy.”

Still spilling tears, Dohee smiled at Yoongi.

“Of course!” she laughed and then covered her face as she cried even more.

Yoongi smiled at her softly and gathered her into his arms for a warm embrace.

“I promise I’ll make you happy.” He breathed into her hair.

They separated and Dohee looked away from Yoongi.

“Um, we should go back inside. My face is a mess right now.” She said.

Yoongi laughed, making Dohee look at him in astonishment, momentarily forgetting about her face.

“You laughed.” She stated. “I made you laugh!”

“Kim Dohee, you make me laugh all the time. I just kept it in all the time.” Yoongi smiled.

Dohee didn’t respond, but she did smile back before realizing her makeup was still messed up. She turned away and quickly hurried back inside, covering her face. Yoongi laughed and slowly followed after her. He waited by the bathroom until she was finished. The girl came out and was met with Yoongi’s hand suspended in the air in between them. She looked up at him, blinking. He tilted his head and smirked.

“Take my hand, you dummy.”

Blushing, Dohee nodded and carefully placed her hand in his. Yoongi clasped it tightly and the two walked back to the couch they had been sitting on earlier after grabbing more drinks. There, the two spent a long time talking and laughing and just plain being happy with each other.

 

“Kim Dohee, you so owe me dinner!” Seokjin exploded as soon as he saw Dohee and Yoongi talking on the couch.

Dohee jumped and turned to look at Seokjin, who was pointing at his dongsaengs’ entangled hands and Yoongi's blazer wrapped snugly around Dohee's shoulders. Dohee and Yoongi looked at each other before bursting into peals of great laughter. Their hands clenched tighter around each other’s, letting them know that they would be happy for a long, long time.