Fate

Chapter 37

Namjoon's POV
Me:
Think I can bring her?

Kookie:
Manager said yes. I'm bringing a friend, the other hyungs too.

Great! I turned to the cute girl leaning against the kitchen counter eating strawberries. "Want to go somewhere with me?"

"Say the bed and I will push you."

I chuckled. "Is a TV show set interesting?"

She put her bowl away. "The others are bringing people too?"

I handed her a glass of water. "Yeah, friends or significant others that blend in."

She motioned at her face. "I blend in?"

"Not only Asian people come to shows! Wear a mask if you want, but I don't think it's necessary."

She took a sip, both hands on the glass. "What if there are more pictures? What do you say?"

I put my hands on each side of her. "I'd like to keep you for myself a little longer. It's very new. Want to be sure about our status." I wanted to keep that new state of the relationship. If we went back to friends after being outed so early would be difficult to explain to the public. Also, the more we wait, the more I delay cameras looking for us. They look for me. I'd like to keep them away from her. "Fine with you?"

Her arms went around my neck. "I very much agree. Now, if you'll excuse me." She slipped under me. "I have to get ready." Such a tease.

Jungkook was nice enough to give half the friends we invited a lift to the TV studio. I helped her in the car not to dirty her preppy pink dress. "I'll talk to you when it's over." I left a kiss on her cheek. "Take good care of her Kookie. I'll see you backstage."

Mina's POV
It was a nice interview. They joked around, talked about the military, talked about their new album...

"What inspired your new album title song? When do you release the album?" The MC asked.

Namjoon spoke up. "We wanted to go back to our original sound. We wanted to go back to the essence of who BTS is. We related more to our 2015-2017 songs so we jumped right back into similar notes."

"The album will be out in 3 weeks. Be prepared." Suga added.

The MC continued. "How does it feel working together, all 7 of you again?"

Kookie spoke up. "I think it is great to be together again. We needed the time apart to understand ourselves as individuals, to find our own sound. Getting back after having found that brings good things, but challenges too."

"People evolve. The group changed, but mostly for the best. We do more sub groups. We have more of us write the songs. It gives us more time to work on our own solo things." Hoseok completed.

The MC caught up on what I thought. "Challenges? Anyone don't get along as good? Is working together harder?"

Tae jumped on the subject. "Having opposite styles can sometimes be difficult because we have lyrics and one sees it as a ballad and another sees it as more upbeat. Some want a dance on a song that others don't. We're adults and life gets in the mix of that. I think we understood just how important friends are since 2022. Wanting to keep friendships in all of that is a challenge we forgot about."

"It was easier in the army." Jin joked.

Everyone laughed. I couldn't take my eyes off him. He was messing with his glasses in his hands, with his hair that he complained needed cutting. His leadership was a lot more silent than it had been. "About friends. Did anyone make new ones?" The MC asked.

Jimin answered. "I think we all have. Working solo made us meet people. Some became friends or presented people that became friends." That was a nice one.

"Any dating?"

To my surprise, the one I was staying with replied, jokingly. "Looking for a scoop or anything?"

The MC laughed. "We try! I believe that means that none of you will say if you do."

Jin commented. "I think that waiting for people to say it themselves is a healthier way to talk about relationships than starting rumors don't you think?"

The host agreed and they would move on to a game segment after the commercial break. Trivia about their old songs. During the intermission, I saw Joonie meet my gaze. I gave him a small thumbs up. He finally showed a full and true smile. I decided not to put a mask on even if there were only a few foreign looking faces around. I knew most of the answers to the questions in the quiz. What was surprising is how much they didn't remember about their own work. They did have more than 10 albums and more than 200 songs.
Filming took most of our morning and part of our afternoon. Trust me when I say we didn't do much back at his place.

Namjoon's POV
We were on the sofa, laying down, her back to my chest, her reading, me on my phone. She was reading a book from my shelves. It made me so happy to know I could share books from my favorite Korean authors with her now. I started humming as I scrolled. I didn't realize I was actually mumbling the lyrics.

"I can make it right. I can make it better. I can hold you tighter.~" I glanced down at the voice. Book closed, she was joining in. I never liked my voice acapella, but she didn't seem to complain.

I held her tighter until it naturally died down. "Didn't make your ears bleed?"

Her soft smile was so genuine. "It was joining or falling asleep."

She made me think of something. I had to record this.