BTS Story

Despite his protests, the guy followed me outside of the store.

“I’ll drive you to the cafe so we can get some food. Sounds good?” I asked turning to face him.

“Yes. Food’s good,” he answered with a little uncertainty.

“Come on!” I got out before running to my car as I unlocked it.

His footsteps along with the rain sounded in my ears as I got wet. I decided not to use the umbrella yet since the run to my car was short. I closed my door behind me as I heard the front passenger
door shut shortly afterward.

I suddenly let out a well-needed breath to wash out the anger I had towards Paris and the nerves from my bizarre actions. I had never let anyone into my car before, let alone pay for anything besides the concert ticket I purchased for Ami the previous night.

I placed my bag into the back seat as the guy put on his seatbelt. I did the same and started up the car, but not before glancing over at the guy one last time.

I took him to my usual cafe, The Grey Moose, forgetting it was closer to my house than I anticipated. However, it was the only cafe closest to Shelby’s so what choice did I have?

“So, what’s your name?” I asked turning on the stereo selecting my SHINee playlist.

A big smile formed on the guy’s face and I caught it out of the corner of my eye. It was bright and beautiful.

“My name is Jimin. You like SHINee?” He asked catching me off guard.

Excitement filled me as I was grateful to have come across a guy interested in K-Pop.

“Of course! SHINee is awesome!” I exclaimed excitedly a smile forming on my lips as well.

My words earned a laugh from him causing my heart to beat a little faster than usual.

“Jeongmal? Wau!” He replied with his mouth open with the last word.

I didn’t know what he said, but I recognized which language he was speaking from the many Korean dramas I’ve watched.

“Are you from Korea?” I asked in surprise.

Jimin’s smile formed again.

“Yeah! I’m from Korea,” he answered with his accent.

“I don’t speak much Korean. So uh, wow!” I replied not knowing what else to say.

“Gwaenchahna. Oh!” He said suddenly as we came up to the cafe which was closed.

“Damn it,” the phrase slipped out habitually whenever something went wrong.

Jimin made a sound like he was shocked and his mouth stood ajar, but he quickly put a hand over his mouth causing me to apologize.

I put the car in park trying to come up with a new plan. What was I supposed to do now? I heard a rumbling this time from inside of the car then felt a rumbling in myself. Dang. We were both hungry.

I couldn’t take him to my house yet since I had little food there. Luckily, there was a grocery store nearby.

“I don’t have food at my house so we’ll do some shopping to change that, OK?” I relayed to Jimin.

He looked nervous, but when I said shopping, he nodded in agreement, then gave me a thumbs up adding an, “OK!”

I started the car up again and we were off for a second time.

After what seemed to be hours, (Jimin saying things in Korean I couldn’t understand), we arrived at a Costco which I rarely go to, but it was the only store close by. Parking the car again, I turned to Jimin.

“Did you want to stay or come with me?” I asked biting my lip from my nerves.

He looked from me to the store and back again with a slight frown on his face as he thought it over.
After a few moments, he pointed to me but caught me off guard with a question.

“What’s your name?” He asked without his accent.

My mouth felt like it wanted to drop for the second time today, but I refrained again.

“My name is Suri,” I answered shortly.

“Ahh. Suri. Pretty name,” he replied cheerfully.

Is he always this cheerful? It wasn’t annoying, but instead a nice change since I was always alone and tried to be the positive one in most situations. I felt the heat in my cheeks from his words and a small smile appeared on my lips.

“Thanks,” I got out realizing the rain had started to lighten up despite the dark clouds looming overhead.

“Alright, kaja!” I said excitedly and out of habit surprising Jimin again, but he didn’t speak this time.

Instead, he pulled out a black mask that covered his nose and mouth and put his hoodie on his head despite already wearing a hat. I tilted my head a little to the left as I became confused, but didn’t question it. We exited the car, then headed into the store.

Once inside, I looked around trying to decide where to start first but heard rumblings again. Jimin looked at me with what seemed to be a nervous expression, but I couldn’t tell with the mask covering his mouth. Shrugging the matter off, we continued and picked up some essentials like a few fresh fruits and vegetables, chicken to bake, dinner rolls, and a couple of bottles of my favorite juice.

A thought crossed my mind and I turned to Jimin once we were near the dairy products.

“Did you want anything?” I asked forgetting for the umpteenth time about the language barrier.

“If you want something, I can get it for you. Just pick it out,” I said to his confused look to my previous question.

“Ah, jinjja?” He asked in which I remembered from my K-dramas what it meant.

“Ne,” I answered earning what seemed to be another smile from him.

To my surprise, Jimin lead the way this time and managed to only grab a few things, the trip ended with us in the hot food section where I got a rotisserie chicken, followed by the bakery, and finally the aisle with rice and other products. I left the cart a little further back and instead looked at the options of which rice to get. Next thing I knew, I was pushed out of the way, Jimin covering me just as some large cans of vegetables fell where I once stood.

“Gwaenchanha?!” he questioned frantically, staring at me to the cans and back again.

The worker came down the ladder as I nodded and for the first time, I saw anger fill Jimin. His face was filled with fury.

Suddenly, he was speaking to the worker starting with “What the hell?” and ending with a flurry of Korean I couldn’t understand. The worker had been apologizing profusely and the whole thing was about to turn into this big scene which I didn’t want. I temporarily shook off the idea of what condition I would have been if the cans fell on my head and instead focused on Jimin.

“Jimin, Jimin! It’s OK!” I said to him, my hands on one of his arms causing him to stop and look at me.

His eyes were full of emotion. I could only decipher the anger and worry in them. He stopped his ranting and said something else neither the worker nor I could understand probably an insult, then proceeded to push the cart towards the register. I could only follow him, not knowing what to think.

Why was Jimin so angry? Was the arguing necessary? My thoughts were interrupted by the cashier’s voice.

“Your total is $85.29,” the cashier stated in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Uh, sorry,” I managed to say as I quickly fumbled through my bag for my wallet.

I paid quickly, got the receipt and we were out of the store. After loading the car, Jimin’s voice caught my attention. I hadn’t realized I was in my world rethinking the events of the day.

“Are you sure you’re OK?” he asked with the trunk open.

I nodded in response closing the trunk, but Jimin lightly grabbed my arm suddenly causing my eyes to meet his. There seemed to be something he wanted to say, but instead, he just hugged me.

Shock overcame me as it was the first time in months since I had been hugged by anyone. Heck, nearly a year. I couldn’t bring myself to hug him back. So many thoughts went through my mind. My brain couldn’t decide if I should have been as comfortable as I was in his embrace or loving the scent-whatever cologne he was wearing smelled nice.

“Thanks, I needed that,” I said with honesty and pulled away.

“No problem!” he replied with a small smile.

We got into the car and headed back to my house. Once we arrived, I saw the porch light on realizing the housekeeper must have shown up earlier while I was out. I turned off the car, grabbed my bag and keys, and we headed out to unload the car. I walked to my door first, unlocking it, then headed up the stairs, motioning to Jimin to follow me. He looked nervous but did so anyway.

My heart pounded faster with every step we took. We made it to a higher level within 10 steps or so and reached the hallway that lead to the closet with my shoes in it. I walked into the living room and set my bag on the couch, then made a U-turn to the car, Jimin at my heels. We unloaded the trunk after what seemed like half an hour. I took my shoes off once we were done, placing them in the closet, Jimin doing the same.

“You can make yourself comfortable on the couch or in one of the chairs,” I told him seeing he had a look of awe on his face earning a chuckle from me.

He looked from me to one of the chairs and back again walking towards one of them, but stopped once he saw me getting ready to put the groceries away. After a couple of items, he was at my side again (just as I was about to put something away in the upper cabinets) taking the item from me, putting it up there himself.

“I help you,” he said with a smile. I nodded in return and we worked together putting the groceries away.

I left out the ones we needed to cook, my stomach rumbling louder than ever. Working at what seemed to be the speed of lightning, I asked Jimin to take a seat, handing him the TV remote before starting on what was dinner. My eyes landed on the clock in the kitchen on the stove reading 5:30.

Had three hours passed in what seemed much shorter? After some time, the sides of rice and veggies were ready and I had even sorted the chicken, cutting it into pieces, separating the legs, plated some for Jimin and me while putting the rest into containers to put into the fridge.

I forgot all about Jimin’s phone but remembered once I set the dishes onto the table.

“Oh yeah. Your phone needs charging, right?” I asked him earning multiple yeses from him.

“Well, follow me,” I replied with a smile and lead him to the guest bedroom.

Ironically, my dad’s choice was right.

“So, there’s an outlet over there,” I began pointing to one of the sockets near the bedside table, “and this is where you’ll be sleeping.”

I gave him a tour of the room showing the closet which had unused, fresh clothes that were bigger than me (also my dad’s choosing) on the shelves. They were only basic plain white v-necks and a few pairs of sweatpants. Why did he choose these things? I shrugged the matter away then showed Jimin the bathroom and to my embarrassment was shared.

“If you have to go, just let me know so we don’t walk in on each other,” I got out, the heat rising in my cheeks for some reason.

He nodded in response to my statement so I figured he understood. He went into his room and plugged in his phone while I went into the dining room. I began eating without waiting for him since he showed up a couple of minutes later.

Once Jimin started eating, him shoving food into his mouth he stopped and said, “Masitda!” Which I remembered meant the food was good.

“Glad you like it,” I said with a chuckle earning a thumbs up from Jimin.

I shook my head slightly feeling the heat rise in my cheeks. After dinner, we went to our separate rooms. I brought my bag from the living room and changed out of my clothes into a tank top and soft pajama pants then proceeded to get back onto my blog.

I answered questions here and there from people and wrote about my day, changing Jimin’s name to something else. I also left out the parts about what happened at Costco as well as the fact I was letting him spend the night at my house.

After what I thought was only an hour or two, but was 4, the user BintinShine7 logged in making me excited. Our conversations started a few years ago, but I always liked talking to them. They were from Korea from what I knew so they always messaged to me in Korean which I used several translating sites to figure out what they would say and respond using them to change my English to Korean. That’s why it would take such a long time for me to finish conversations with them. This night was no exception.

Hey, BintinShine7! How are you? I asked them first which was something I hadn’t done before. They always messaged me first.

I’m OK. How are you? Did you eat?

Yes! Thank you for asking! How about you?

The small talk went on for about 10 minutes until it started to get to the more important things.

My day was OK, but I got stranded in a foreign land.

I got worried for them and responded frantically.

Oh my gosh! I’m sorry to hear that.. Are you OK now?

Yes. I managed to find somewhere to crash for the night. I’ll be heading back to my hotel in the morning.

Thank goodness. I would have been so scared in that situation. I typed exhaling a large sigh in real life.

I was scared, but I’m more worried about tomorrow’s performance. What if I mess up again?

That was one of the main things BintinShine7 and I always talked about-their fear of failure and messing up. From what I knew of them, they were a dancer and worked hard. Sometimes they dieted hard because they were worried about their appearance as well.

I’m sure you’ll do fine as usual. :)

I hope so. Thanks for talking to me again. I hope you have a good night. I’m heading to bed.

I was surprised the conversation was getting cut short tonight. Usually, we’d talk more about other things like our aspirations or life going on, but I guess that’s all they wanted to talk about this time. My heart kind of sank about the matter.

No problem! I hope you do the same. Sweet dreams! :D

You too..beautiful. They responded before logging off.

My heart raced like crazy. They never called me beautiful before. Needless to say, I fell asleep with a smile on my face dreaming of someone I didn’t know.