Two

3 Years Later

I stare into the mirror, instinctively reaching toward my chest for a pendant that no longer lays there. His voice is playing from the radio. BTS has since gained more notoriety than anyone ever imagined. The pain I was left with that single night no longer hurts. I just smile with pride for their success. They have a new comeback album to be released soon. Well, they call it a comeback but it never feels like they really left my side. What I do feel, is excitement. A new album means promotions. Even if it is only on TV, I will get to see him. Min Yoongi. My Min Yoongi. I will get to see that breathtaking gummy smile of his once again. I finish getting ready for work and sit down at my vanity desk. I finished college just over a year ago and now work for a great publishing company my professor referred me to. I think of how my life has changed in just three years. College, part-time jobs, two relationships, my first apartment, and now establishing my career.

I open up the modest jewelry box on my vanity. Cherry wood with "Emma" carved on the lid. A graduation gift I anonymously received last year. Right there in a heart-shaped velvet-lined compartment lays my pendant. I run my fingers over it, remembering the moment my ex-boyfriend of 5 months ripped it off my neck. His voice full of anger still rings clearly in my head, "All you ever do is talk about him! He's just another celebrity that was looking to get laid and you happened to be there. Do you really think he gave a shit about you? Stop living in a fantasy and get the fuck over it !" That was the moment he ripped my necklace off and threw it out of the window before leaving. It took me four hours to find my pendant. The broken chain was long gone. I've gone back and forth countless times trying to decide if he was right. Maybe I really am living in a fantasy waiting for Yoongi. I know I should live my life, stop chasing the way my heart felt racing a million miles an hour whenever Yoongi looked into my eyes, touched me, kissed me. I should stop waiting, dreaming of a future with Yoongi. We only spent one date together, after all. I decide it is probably for the best to forget but just before I close the jewelry box lid, I snatch the pendant and stick it in my pocket. I'm not ready to forget.

I get to my job and head straight to the break room for coffee. I find my co-worker, Lily, already there pouring creamer into her steaming cup, "Good morning!" She's always a little too perky in the morning. I politely smile back, "Good morning." Lily sips on her coffee and offers me a piece of her banana nut muffin, "It's Friday! You never come out with us! A group of us are going to Club XS tonight. Come with us! I have a really cute friend going and he's single. . ." She looks at me expectantly but we both already knew my answer before she even finished her sentence. "No, I can't tonight but maybe next time, thanks," I say, just before popping a piece of muffin into my mouth. Lily smiles and shrugs her shoulders, "Well, in case you change your mind, you have my number." Lily finishes her coffee, throws away her trash, and leaves. I get asked to go out with co-workers all the time but I would rather go home and be by myself.

My shift flies by rather quickly. I am sitting at my desk, working on a manuscript, when my boss appears beside me, "Hey, Em, finish that later. It's not due until Tuesday, anyway. You have someone waiting for you outside and they said it's urgent. Go ahead and go." I look at him confused. I set my red pen down, marking my page before closing the file, "Waiting for me? Did they say who they are?" Bobby shakes his head, "No, but it seemed really important. They said to mention 'Ugly'?" My heart stops. It can't be. I grab my purse and run outside. I exit the door and find a shiny black car in front of the building. A man standing by the car with a sign holding my name opens the door for me. To be on the safe side, I take a picture of the license plate and send it to Bobby. I cautiously get in, not knowing what to expect. All I know is that one single word brought me back to that night.

I arrive at a tall brick building. I climb out of the car and read the large "Paramount Theatre" sign. The driver leads me inside and there is a young woman standing by the theater room doors holding a bouquet of white roses. She leads me through the carpeted aisle past rows upon rows of seats until I reach the front row, center seat. With a smile on her face, she politely nods and walks away. Once she is gone, the lights in the theater dim just before the spotlight suddenly lights up the stage, revealing Jimin in the center stage. His sweet voice starts filling the room. Lyrics float across the projection screen just behind Jimin:

"None of this is a coincidence, I'm just going with the flow, the world is different from yesterday, just with your joy. . ."

I recognize "Serendipity" from the recently released album trailer. I watched the trailer countless times over and over until I memorized it. I silently sing along, my eyes tearing up just watching Jimin sing so beautifully. I see the rest of the vocal line walk on stage and line up on either side of Jimin. I hear a melody I have never heard before as they start singing "Dimple (Illegal)". I instinctively place my hands on my cheeks, smiling ear to ear. They perform a cute and simple choreography that reminds me of their "Just One Day" dance practice video. I'm dying to see Yoongi but I feel so unbelievably happy at this moment. I can not stop smiling and swaying side to side along with the music. Just when the music ends, the lights turn off once again. I hear subtle footsteps on stage and all of a sudden, the room lights up with multicolored bright lights. All of BTS is positioned on stage but my eyes are directly drawn to one person, cat-like eyes already watching me. Min Yoongi. My Min Yoongi. I hear whistling as "DNA" comes across the screen. They start singing and dancing as I clap my hands and dance in my seat. Excitement courses through me enough to yell out fan chants. The lyrics continue to float across the screen.

"From the day the universe was formed, past infinite worlds, probably in our past life and in our next lives, We'll be together forever, DNA. . ."

The sound of the song is energetic but the lyrics are sweet and heartfelt. I feel weak and elated at the same time. The song ends and I clap and cheer for them. As the lights dim down leaving a white soft glow over the stage, everyone except Yoongi, Hoseok, and Namjoon walk off the stage. I hear a piano start playing until Namjoon starts rapping. "Outro: Her" is on the screen above the lyrics. His verse ends and Yoongi takes center stage, his eyes never leaving mine. I read the translated lyrics, touched as tears start falling down my face.

"Maybe I'm your truth and your lie, maybe I'm your love and hate, maybe I'm your enemy and friend, Your heaven and hell, your pride and embarrassment. . ."

Someone holds out a tissue for me. Surprised, I look over to find Jimin next to me smiling with a box of tissues in one hand and his phone in the other as he records their performance. I look around and the rest of the members are seated around me. Taehyung is the only one moving around taking pictures. I wipe my eyes and nose and look back at Yoongi. His verse ends and they start walking off stage towards me as they sing the chorus. Hoseok begins rapping as Yoongi reaches me, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. He wipes my tears away and runs his thumb across my cheek, studying my face. They all finish off the song by singing to me, Yoongi's eyes never leaving my face. After three long and endless years of holding on to so few memories of a single day, he's finally here in front of me. Not a dream, or a TV screen, but really here, close enough to touch. Tears keep streaming down my face as he leans down, pressing his lips against mine. I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him back without hesitation. There's so much passion and emotion in that kiss as he wraps his arms around me, his teeth grazing across my lower lip. His embrace feels like home. I vaguely hear the guys whistling and hollering. "It's about damn time!" Namjoon yells before Jimin chimes in, "Hyung, does this mean we can finally stop hearing 'I wonder if Emma thinks of me? Maybe I should call Emma? Remember when Emma called me a jerk?'" I start laughing, breaking the kiss so I nuzzle my face into his chest in embarrassment. Yoongi scolds them while they laugh, "Aye! I didn't talk about her.. that much. You all can go now!"

After saying our goodbyes, Yoongi wraps an arm around my shoulders and leads me through a side door. He finds an empty room and lets me through first. I walk further into the room, looking around, as I absentmindedly caress my fingers over my neck, feeling for the ghost of a necklace long gone, "I can't believe you're really here. After all this time, you remembered." Yoongi's quiet so I turn around towards him. He's leaning against the door, face looking down towards the floor, a pained look on his face. I feel alarmed so I quickly walk back to him, taking his face in my hands, "Yoongi, what's wrong?" He wraps his hands around my wrists, pulling my hands away. "I'm sorry I took too long to come back for you...I didn't realize. . ." I'm confused by his sudden change of mood, "What? But you did come back to me. What are you-" I suddenly recall his words from so long ago.

"If by some miracle, we meet again at the right time and place in our lives and you're still wearing this necklace, then I'll know where you stand."

I reach into my pocket. Holding my hand under his face, I open my hand revealing the tiny heart pendant on my palm. He looks up towards my face, his eyes searching. Taking me by surprise, his hand is wrapped around the nape of my neck while the other hand is around my waist pulling me towards him. I greedily accept his kiss as I lace my fingers through his hair. I suffered through three long years waiting for this moment. Relentlessly being told to give up on him, that my head was in the clouds. Endless tears and sleepless nights, trying my hardest to live a normal life but unable to convince my heart to move on. Three years of pain were gone in an instant. It all came down to this moment and I have no doubt in my mind that I would go through it all again for him. My Yoongi. He reluctantly breaks the kiss, with heavy breaths and trembling fingers. He wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me up, carrying me over to a nearby couch. I giggle and bury my face into the curve of his neck, planting a small kiss against his warm skin. I'm slightly surprised by his strength with his small frame, but that strength is incredibly attractive, my cheeks suddenly far too warm. Yoongi sits down on the couch, my thighs straddling his lap. Silently, we take a moment to study each other's faces, as if memorizing a photograph. His face is slimmer, jaw and cheekbones more defined than before, "I'm sorry it took me so long to come back for you." I smile at him, putting my hands on his cheeks, "You came, that's all that matters. How long will you be here? How long do we have?" He pulls me in closer, his nose brushing softly against mine, "We're getting a week-long break. The guys came to help me out but they'll be taking different trips after today. I was hoping if today went well, we could talk about something." I instantly get excited over the prospect of getting to spend all week with him, "What did you want to talk about?" A small smile plays across his lips.

Yoongi nervously tugs at his reddening ear, his kitten-like mouth pouting with each hesitant word, "I know this is a big thing to ask and I know the weight of what I'm asking of you, and trust me, I wouldn't blame you for saying no but these last three years have been hell for me. I know it might seem irrational since we hardly really know each other but that day has stuck with me all this time. Thoughts of you pushed me to work harder each day. Those songs are my years of missing you, hoping to see you again and get the chance we never had. I don't want to go through that, again. So, what I'm asking is. . . If this week goes well for us..would you consider moving to Seoul with me? I can help you with whatever you need. A job, an apartment, anything." His words ring over and over in my head. I have a chance to build a new life with someone I like but I would be leaving everyone I know behind. . .

The next morning I wake to my doorbell ringing obnoxiously loud. Someone is holding the doorbell button down. I angrily yell and crawl out of bed to the door. Yanking it open, " WHAT THE FU- !" My jaw drops and I slam the door shut. I hear their voice muffled by the door, "It's rude to shut the door in someone's face!" I can clearly hear his laugh. I lean against the door, "It's rude to wake someone up without a heads up! Why didn't you call first?!" Yoongi laughs through the door, "I wanted to see your beautiful morning face! I couldn't wait any longer. I'm sorry! Please, open the door? Please ?? I brought food!" My stomach growls at the word "food". Damn it, he knows my weakness. Placing my fingers around the door's deadbolt, I call out to him, "Ok, count to 5 and then come in!" Yoongi starts counting aloud, making sure I can hear him before I take off sprinting as fast as I can to the bathroom, slamming the door shut. I rush through brushing my teeth and washing my face, even running a brush through my messy bed head trying to look as presentable as possible.

I find Yoongi sitting at my small dining room table. Breakfast sandwiches, hash browns, fruit, yogurt, orange juice, and coffee are already set out on the table. My stomach growls again, alerting Yoongi that I'm back. He looks at me and chuckles, holding a coffee cup towards me, "Good thing I showed up when I did. You should be thankful instead of slamming doors in my face. I'm practically a hero." Gladly taking the cup, I sit down next to him, "You wouldn't get a door in the face if you didn't show up so early in the morning ringing my doorbell like a psycho." "Morning? Do you even know what time it is?" He asks, clearly amused by my lack of enthusiasm so earlier in the day. I have never really been one for mornings. I reach for an egg sandwich and look at the clock. 12:42 pm. It startles me how late it really is but my pride won't let me show it, "You still woke me up. The average adult needs 7 or more hours of sleep to function normally. As an extraordinary human, I need more. Don't you care about my health, Mr. Min?" He chuckles, stuffing his face with a strawberry. I don't know if it is my hunger, the sandwich, or my guest but breakfast has never tasted better. Yoongi watches me eat, waiting until I am done before talking, "You're even cute when you eat. Do you work today?" I shake my head, finishing my mouthful. "I have the weekend off. Any plans for today?" He considers for a moment, "I haven't thought about it. What do you want to do?" I finish my coffee and pop a piece of pineapple into my mouth before grabbing his hand and pulling him to the bedroom.

I leave Yoongi at the foot of the bed and climb in. Laying my head against my pillow, I peek at him from beneath my lashes, patting the empty space beside me. Yoongi's ears turn pink, in spite of his face remaining emotionless, "I-I don't think you're ready to handle this." I crawl back to him and make a pouty face, my lower lip slightly sticking out. "But I want it, I want it so bad. . . I want to show you my favorite thing in the world to do and I want to do it with you." His cheeks and neck are the prettiest shade of blush as I place two fingers in his collar, grabbing his shirt and pulling him onto the bed with me. I scoot back, never breaking eye contact as he follows. I stop and look into his eyes, smiling to myself. I quickly kiss his nose and lay back down, turning my back towards him. Reaching behind me, I grab his arm and pull him down so he's laying behind me with his arm wrapped around my waist. I bring his hand to my lips, placing a kiss on his palm, "Naps. Naps are my favorite thing in the world." I can feel him take a deep breath, quietly chuckling to himself as he embraces me even tighter. I feel his soft breath on my neck as he snuggles closer to me and I smile to myself as I drift back off to sleep.

Sometime later, I feel movement beside me before a cool breeze brushes over my body. I instinctively reach out, searching for my blanket, and hear a small laugh as arms wrap around me, making me warm again. Smiling sleepily, I snuggle against the warmth. I feel a deep, warm, breathy voice in my ear, sending chills throughout my body, "Wake up. Feed me." I smile but snuggle deeper under the covers. "Wake up. Play with me," Yoongi whispers against my ear. I smile and bite my lip, chills creeping down my body. He doesn't even get what he does to me without trying. Yoongi's fingers trail up my arm, over my shoulder where he plants a feather-light kiss, and down my side to my hip, " Jagiya , I'm so hungry." I dramatically yawn and stretch, turning over and wrapping an arm around Yoongi's waist, draping a leg over his hip. He laughs and lays his head against mine, "I thought I slept a lot but you're hard competition. It's already after 5." He playfully shoves me off, rolling me onto my belly. He firmly smacks my butt causing me to yelp from the sting of his hand before he jumps off the bed, laughing. Throwing the rest of my blanket off of my legs, I run after him towards the hallway, "Hey! Do you want me to sue you?!" He flops down on the couch, a cocky grin stretched across his lips, "I got you out of bed, didn't I? Now feed me, I'm starving!" I climb onto Yoongi, straddling his thighs as I wrap my arms around his neck. I kiss his forehead, nose, and cheeks before trailing kisses down to his neck, whispering between kisses, "How about we order in food and spend the rest of the night in? I'll even let you choose the movie." Yoongi's hands tighten as they slide up my thighs, "Keep that up and I'll be the one suing you." I softly bite on his neck, teasing him. The low growl released from the back of his throat reaches straight to my core, making me squirm against his lap. I lean back, my face and neck flushed with heat. Yoongi looks back into my eyes, his own eyes suddenly darker with hunger and want. My eyes drop down to his lips, an overwhelming need to shove my tongue down his throat, "I'm going to order dinner and shower, or else I'll never let you leave this couch." A breathy chuckle escapes Yoongi's lips, his fingers briefly tightening on my hips before letting go. I climb off of his lap and feel his eyes burning into my back as I hurry towards the bedroom for my phone.

I am walking out of the bathroom after a shower just as the doorbell rings. The Chinese food we ordered is finally here. I grab the cash I left out on a side table but Yoongi beats me to the door, "I've got it! Here!" He looks at me but keeps handing the delivery guy a few 20 dollar bills. I can tell he tipped the man well before closing the door, "I told you I was paying, jerk." He laughs and with a smirk on his lips, he says, "I know but I wanted to buy you dinner. Besides, I'd rather you owe me dessert later." With that, he smugly walks into the living room, carrying the heavy bag. I stand there blushing, "What the hell just happened?" I don't know whether he meant a literal dessert or. . . One thing you do know, though, is that that man is driving me completely insane.

We spend the next few hours eating, binge-watching Netflix, and relaxing on the couch. We're both laying on opposite ends of the couch, our legs intertwined, watching Stranger Things while Yoongi massages my feet. He tickles the sole of my foot, making me jump and giggle, "Hey! Stop, that tickles!" He smirks while looking at the TV, "Stop what?" He does it again, making me jump. Giggling, I smack his leg. I try to pull my feet from him but he grabs my legs and yanks me closer, my legs straddling him. My heart is pounding as he leans toward me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me up against him. I'm sitting straddled on his lap, chest to chest, his strong arms around me. I can feel his heart beating against mine. We stare into each other's eyes as he reaches up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. His hand slowly trails against my skin, down my neck, across my collarbone, and stopping on my chest. He's feeling my heart race. I slowly reach up and place both hands on his chest. His heart is racing, too, matching mine beat for beat. I lean forward and softly kiss his lips as he warmly kisses me back. I wrap my arms around his neck and snuggle my head on his shoulder, breathing in his scent and feeling his breath. He leans his head over to rest against mine, "What was it like for you? The last three years?" I think over the past few years and everyone that put me down for waiting for Yoongi. I squeeze him a little tighter, thinking of how much I missed him, "I was starting to think you were just a dream." I feel him slightly nod. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I kept you waiting, but I'm happy you did wait. I thought I'd be too late, that you would've moved on by now, but I needed to try anyway. Seeing how happy Rapmonie is with his fiancee gave me the courage I needed to try." I sit straight up to face him. Namjoon has a fiancee? Being a dedicated ARMY, there is no way I would miss news like that, "Wait, fiancee? Namjoon is engaged?!" Yoongi laughs and nods his head, "Yeah, he just recently got engaged to his girlfriend, Mia, whom he met in Seoul. A really sweet woman, too. I'll let them tell you their story if you decide to go to Seoul. Just don't tell anyone. He wants to be the one to tell ARMY the news. He's hoping they'll be understanding and happy for him but I can tell he's nervous. He said it feels like he's cheating on them." I completely understand what he means. Possessive fans can be a scary thing. If there's one thing I've learned from hearing about Namjoon's engagement, it is that a life with Yoongi is possible. Maybe leaving with him will be easier to do than I thought.