Don’t cry. I hate it when girls cry.

Jimin was in an unfamiliar bedroom, standing at the foot of a bed as she cried soundlessly into her arms. Jenna was curled into a fetal position. She was resting with her cheek on her laced arms and her black hair spilled in fan behind her across the comforter. Usually, he’d have some sort of lame comment in his arsenal of whit to make her smile or tease her but he wasn't an idiot and a sense of worry held his tongue.

He was careful to sit next to her , wordlessly watching her. A slow stream of tears spilled over her porcelain face, over the curve of her nose and disappearing into the sleeve of her shirt. He didn’t know what was going on and he wasn’t sure why he was there – but the longing to protect the fragile girl who seemed oblivious to his presence was so strong he could taste it.
Ever so carefully he swept the back of his fingers across her cheek, interrupting the flow of tears.

“Jenna..” His whisper echoed in the darkness.

She wouldn’t meet his eyes, only continuing to stare off past him into a nothingness he assumed to be painful.

There was no thought to his actions, his body seemed to move of its own accord while he laid down beside her. He pushed onyx strands of hair from her forehead and tucked them behind her ear. “You sure have a lot of hair, have you considered a trim?” He spoke gently, making sure to emphasize the lightness of his tone. He just wanted her to smile. Did she even know how?

“Why?”

He hadn’t expected her to speak as he wasn’t sure this was real. It couldn’t be. She wasn’t looking at him, but he kept watching her eyes.

“Well, it’s what normal people do to keep their hair healthy and not hanging in their face all the time.” The corner of his mouth tugged upward.

Finally she brought gaze to meet his.

“Why did you save me?”

Pain. Raw unadulterated pain seemed to sear through her eyes to find a home in his chest. He swallowed.

“What?” He spoke in a soft breath.

She didn’t speak again, just kept his stare as her tears said all she obviously couldn’t.

This girl didn’t want to be saved. She wanted to die.

“Because.. you’re worth saving.”

Her face disappeared in her arm and he could hear soft pants of her labored breath while she cried.

Could palms sweat in dreams? Running his hand over the fabric of his jeans first, Jimin then placed his hand on her back. He threaded his fingers through her hair to move it away from the base of her neck then gently massaged the tense muscles there.

“Please.” He whispered. “Please don’t cry.”

She wasn’t responding.

Gently he ran his hand down between her shoulder blades and to her side, pulling her closer to him. She didn’t hit him, and that was a start. He continued to rub her back and rested his cheek on the top of her head. “I’m right here.”

“You’re going to disappear.” She whispered.

Jimin looked around and then back toward the girl who continued to hide her face. “Doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere, I think I just fell asleep about ten minutes ago.” He smiled.
She looked up at him and his smile slowly faded.

Jimin always thought that crying in and of itself was an ugly action. Faces would contort, there was always the possibility of snot and saliva – it wasn’t pretty. But this wasn’t that kind of cry.
The tears in her eyes made their green color a liquid fire and they shone brightly. He watched as a droplet slid over her cheek, past her lips. Carefully he wiped it away with his thumb. She was beautiful.

What am I doing?

“What is he doing?”

Jimin opened one eye and was met the faces of Taehyung and Hoseok. They certainly weren’t
beautiful.

“That your new girlfriend Jimin?”

Jimin forced his eyes open and looked down toward what they were referencing. Both of his arms encircled his pillow and he held it to his chest.

Well, that was weird.

Hoseok laughed, clapping his hands. “Yah, did you have that kind of dream?”

Jimin grabbed the pillow and slammed it with as much force as he could against the laughing hyenas’ head. “Get out of here.”

The boys continued to laugh as they left his room. Turning onto his back he sighed and tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. Was there actually any real way to process exactly what just happened?

The phone.

He slid his hands around his bed by his side in search of it in the tangle of blankets. Finally his fingers found the cool metal of the device and he pulled from it's hiding place. Twenty percent battery power. He should have stuck it on the charger.

Bringing the screen back to life he found the picture he had fallen asleep looking at staring back at him. The memory of tears in those eyes rang fresh in his mind as he looked back into their gaze. He remembered identifying that the whole thing was a dream while he was in it, but the beating of his heart was very much real.

Boom boom.

Letting his hand fall to his chest he stared at the appendage as if it was betraying him. Why was his body reacting to something his mind told him made no sense? The girl was kind of annoying and her very presence in his country was sure to cause him a great deal of difficulty.

“Jimin, we need have practice in twenty minutes.” Jin walked through the door.

“Yeah…” Jimin wasn’t listening. His hand was still on his heart.

“What are you reading?”

“Huh?”

Jin walked to the bed, peaking up toward the phone. “Who’s that?”

Jimin put the phone to his chest and shot Jin a look. “No one.”

“She’s a pretty no one.” Jin tried to snatch it.

Pushing away the intruders face with his palm he sat up – his hair a mess, on his bed. “This girl is crazy and in no way pretty.”

She was beautiful.

Jimins’ face scrunched up in a scowl at the thought. He hopped off the bed, the phone still securely in his hand while he schlepped his way toward the bathroom.

“You gonna tell me who she is?”

“Nope.”

-

Nothing looked good at all. Not one single solitary article of impossible clothing felt right.
Everything was uncomfortable, much like the situation she was in.

Lunch with nak…. Jimin.

He wasn’t always going to be naked after all, right?

I dug into one of the boxes, pulling out shirt after shirt.

“Are you going to meet me at the company? We can ride to the restaurant together.”

I stopped my search at the sound of my father’s voice. “Um… yeah. If they let me in.” I was still half emerged in clothing.

I could hear soft laugh. “Trust me, they won’t be making that mistake again.”

“Where exactly are we going to eat anyway? Do I need to wear….”

My father placed a hand on his chest and faked a gasp. “A dress?”

“Funny.”

Gathering up what I had in my arms I carried the array of clothes to the bed and dropped them
with a sigh.

“It may be a fancy, I haven’t decided. After all I can’t just take the guy who saved my daughter’s life through a drive-thru, right?”

I blew hair out of my face. My lying, annoying, asshat hero. Let’s give him a Mc Double and call it even.

“Right, so, a skirt .. “

“Whatever you wear is fine, you’re beautiful – just like your..”

He stopped.

Mother.

The word hung in the air like a quiet explosive ready to detonate. I tried my best to let the feeling of awkward pain roll off my back. “Thanks Dad.” I said quietly, turning away from him and busying my hands before they could tremble.

“I love you, Jenna.”

In all of the reoccurring nightmares I had, her voice was never as pristine as it was yesterday when I lost complete consciousness. I had to remember to find my nightlight before bed that night.

We shared another moment of silence as I folded the clothes in front of me.

“Well…”

“Yeah..” I turned, not meeting his eyes before I had to. “I’ll see you there, hmm?"

The pillar of strength before me smiled weakly. Always a brave face. “See you soon.”

I waited until I heard the front door before I sat quietly on the bed. I tried to find some sound in the distance to focus and lose myself in. There was nothing.

“Jams.” My voice sounded strange, even to me.

He was there in a matter of moments, in my lap staring up at my face questioningly. I let my fingers play idly in his soft fur. “Do you miss Mom too?”

His replies were always the best. Kisses.

I smiled a bit as he licked my cheek , the sharp pain in my throat turning duller as the seconds passed. As his fur tickled my face I closed my eyes for a second – the feeling seemed familiar in a way that wasn’t. A touch I couldn’t register.

I opened my eyes. Nope. It was just Jams.

“I have to shower, you do too.. soon. You stink.”

The bathroom was pretty spacious. A teenage girls dream. I was never very much into makeup or doing interesting things with my hair. I twirled it around my finger and stuck the mess on top of my head, looking at myself in the mirror.

I was the epitome of plain. Nothing was noteworthy about my appearance as far as I could see. Girls in LA were always dressed to the nines and I always found myself skimping by. I had my own credit card for shopping and emergencies when Dad was out of town for a short amount of time – but I never could get into it. Jams scratched at the door. What was it with dogs when their owners went into the bathroom?

“I’m still here Jams, calm down.”

He sneezed.

The water was warm and felt good against my back. I leaned into the spray and closed my eyes as the water consumed my aching body, spilling over my hair to make it a silky curtain down my back.

“That’s right, come back to me.”

Jimin? I opened my eyes and stared at the white tile ahead of me.

It was his voice in the darkness yesterday, dragging me from the depths of my nightmare. It was warm as was his embrace – a huge contrast to his brazen personality.

I turned toward the water and let it fall over my face, trying to wash away the sound. But it was still there.

“You gotta breathe for me, girl.”

I parted my lips to allow a slow breath, the water slipping over me much like his touch. I could see myself in his arms in my mind’s eye. How could someone who was such a tool bag be so gentle?

-
It was obvious the choreographer and his team had been up half the night working on the revisions made by the picky Mr. Clark.

They had just wrapped up their fourth run through of the new routine to Just One Day and it was one of the most simplistic routines they had ever done. Less is more for this song, the Executive pushed. It was the least amount of exertion Jimin had ever put forth and he was bursting at the seams. For the small amount of sleep he had gotten last night he had more energy than he knew what to do with. While everyone was dicking around waiting for more instructions he kicked up off the ground, twirling his body midair and landing perfectly on his feet.

“Can I see that again?”

Jimin stopped himself quickly before he complied. Everyone was looking at him expectantly. No English, he reminded himself, he shifted the weight from one leg to the other, looking down at his hands.

“Yah, he’s talking to you.” Their manager spoke in Korean.

Jimin looked at him. Get with the program, man.

"Joesonghabnida. Whey?"

The older man was fighting off the urge to yell and Jimin could feel the temperature rising in the room.

"How long are you going to keep up this charade?" Again, in Korean.

"As long as I can."

"Show him."

Jimin put on a million dollar smile, feigning the concept of finally understanding and giving a small bow. He kicked up off the floor again.

"I like that," He gestured for the choreographer to come forward. "Please get with Hos.. He.. J Hope and Jimin a little later, I'd like to work in some slow motion choreography in the video shoot."

"Mr. Clark?" A receptionist entered, interrupting the conversation. "Your daughter is here."

Jimin patted his pocket to feel for the phone. Crazy was in the building. Hopefully this time not smelly or soaking wet.

Mr. Clark stood. "Mr. Kim, I'd like for you to join us for lunch if you would - we'll need a translator. Jimin, we'll meet you out front?" He didn't wait for a reply.

The manager smiled at the man's retreating figure. "It would be a pleasure." He stole a glance at Jimin before standing upright from his bow.

This should be quite the show.

-

“How long do you expect to keep this up?”

Jimin was sitting in the passenger seat of his Managers car. The man could do a lot of things, but driving wasn’t one of them. “The light is yellow – that means slow down.”

“Aisssh. I need a raise. My poor heart. I’m not as young as I used to be, you know? You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

“Calm down,” Jimin said as he held onto the dashboard. The car came to an abrupt stop at the light, the tires screeching in protest. Finally he looked at his senior. “I don’t plan on having many more conversations with him in the future. Just play along for today and it will go away, trust me.”

“Trust!? You little..” He hit Jimin hard on the shoulder. What was with all the abuse lately?

The ride to Yong Su San wasn’t very long from BigHit. Apparently Mr. Clark had been to a branch of the restaurant in America. Lunch started about thirty eight thousand won, dinner was a nice fifty six thousand. Mr. Clark obviously took this reward seriously.

Jimin had changed into a white button down shirt and black slacks. His manager insisted that he get his hair done before they left and to do the man a favor he resisted the urge to run his fingers through it.

The poor guy was sweating through his red dress shirt already.

Soon they had their car parked and Jimin was getting out, fighting back a smile while he heard Mr. Kim call out to Buddah and his ancestors to give him the strength to not to possibly end Jimins life. If the manager came clean in the situation, it would look bad for his position. What would his superiors say if he couldn’t control one of the youngest of the members? On top of that, why not tell the truth right away? The guy was stuck and he knew it.

Jimin pretended not to notice the look of anger being thrown in his direction as he headed for the door.
It was a pretty calm afternoon. The weather was a bit cooler than usual and he liked that. He’d have to go for a run later.

Turning the corner he saw a few people standing by the door. He supposed it was okay to be recognized. He was with management after all and it wasn’t too crowded that stopping to say a quick hello would hold up their afternoon. As he got closer he saw Mr. Clark standing there on his cell phone.

Where was crazy? Jimin felt for the phone for a moment in his pocket.

“Please have the necessary documents to me by this evening.” Mr. Clark nodded a hello and Jimin reciprocated, still looking around for the girl while the older man finished his conversation.

“Hello Mr. Kim.”

She was standing right there the whole time. He hadn’t noticed because, well…

Boom boom, boom boom.

The skirt she was wearing was a simple but it hugged the curve of her small waist perfectly. Her hair was down and neatly tucked behind her ear. The tresses looked like as soft as velvet. There was a soft pink color that brushed her cheeks but she left no trace of makeup. She didn’t meet his eyes.

“Oh, Miss. Clark. You look beautiful.” His manager bowed.

She looked kind of awkward but did a little bow herself, giving a nervous smile.

Finally, after what felt like forever – she acknowledged he was there and met his eyes.

Many people wore colored contacts in South Korea for fashions sake. It was seldom for people to have light eyes, and it was coveted by the majority of the populace. It looked fake, almost scary sometimes. Jimin never really understood the desire for colorful eyes. Until now.

Jennas eyes were a sparkling jade that even the finest of jewelry would bare jealousy towards. He’d never seen anything like it.

She gave a curt wave.

The swift elbow to his rib cage broke his trance and he blinked, awkwardly lifting a hand to wave back before flashing a smile. What the hell was he doing? Many attributes in the world could be found attractive, except for crazy.

“Shall we?” Mr. Clark opened the door and Jenna walked inside.

“Oh, yes! Come on you little shit.”The manager finished his sentence toward Jimin in Korean with a bright smile. The Americans wouldn’t have any clue as to what he was saying. Mr. Kim seemed to realize he could actually enjoy himself this afternoon.

“Nayyy.” Jimin bowed, returning the bright smile and walked inside. Let him have his fun, this should hopefully end soon.

“Dad, I’ll meet you at the table. I have to run to the ladies room.”

Mr. Clark nodded toward his daughter while he went toward the hostess stand.

It may be time to have a small chat with Jenna to ensure the smoothness of their meal. Jimin waved at his manager and followed a few steps behind Jenna as she went down a dimly hit hallway toward the restrooms.

Jimin dug for her phone as he looked back to ensure they couldn’t be seen then quickly grabbed her arm. She stumbled a bit while he turned her to face him.

“An excuse me would work just fine you know,” She straightened her shit.

“You clean up nice, crazy.”

“It’s Jenna..”

“Yes… well.. anyway. Here.” He handed her the phone.

He may as well have handed her a billion won as she turned it on, scanning through the contents before peering up at him through thick lashes. “Did you?”

“Yes.” No point in lying. He would be doing enough of that in a few minutes.

“How could you do something like that?” She whispered harshly.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t send it to anyone else..”

“You sent my pictures to someone?!”

Jimin pulled out his own phone, quickly thumbing his password in and flashed her the screen.

“Ohhh Ericccc… I had suuuuchhh a good timeeee the other niiight. You reallllllly didn’t have to ..”

She lunged for the phone. Weren’t chicks smart enough to know you aren’t supposed to do that in high heels?

His arm was quick to react before his mind and he steadied her against him, holding the phone with his other hand far away from her reach. “Easy killer, pick the battles you know you’ll win. This isn’t one of them.”

“What else do you have on there?!” Oh, she was fiery tonight.

“Just a few pictures, a couple texts and some emails.”

Jenna tried to reach for the phone again, but it was in vein as Jimin was faster. The only thing she succeeded in accomplishing was causing him to stumble backwards, landing with a light thud against the wall. His arm was clasped around her small frame and she was flush against his chest.

Boom boom, boom boom.

Jimin looked from the phone to her, not expecting the closeness of their faces. Their cheeks brushed together and the back of her shirt was shifted in the abrupt backwards tumble - his palm was now resting on her bare flesh. He breathed in quickly as his fingertips twitched at the sensation.She smelled like flowers and honey.

Boom boom.

He licked his lips quickly in nervous reflex. Her heart was pounding, he could feel every beat. Weather her rapid pulse was from anger or not, Jimin didn't know yet, but his was just beating just as hard and he couldn’t find a plausible reason. He couldn’t think of anything right now except the way her body fit against him. His gaze found her mouth for just a second before the need to see her eyes again
overwhelemed him. How did they always seem to end like this?

There was a polite cough behind them and they both turned to see a waitress avert her eyes and give them more than enough space while she walked into the woman’s room.

“Jimin.”

“Hmm?” He raised his eyebrows, looking back at Jenna.

“You can let me go now.”

Of course he could. “Oh..” He dropped his arm as she pushed off of him. He immediately felt a bit colder as his whit’s returned. Was he drunk? You needed alcohol to be be drunk.

“So If I say you don’t know English, and play along – you’ll delete all of my pictures from your phone, right?”

Jimin nodded, smiling through his eyes. “And I thought you weren’t smart, I’m impressed.”

She rolled her eyes. “How can I trust you?”

“Do you really have a choice?”

She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and turning back towards the bathroom.

Jimin waved, his smile still plastered to his face. “I’ll save you a seat!”

-

“Does this have fish?” Jenna asked for the ninth time toward his manager as she pointed to another food item on the menu.

Jimin hadn’t realized he was flicking a chopstick back and forth on the table like a drumstick until his manager peered up at him with obvious annoyance. “Behave.”The man said in their native tongue through smiling teeth.

Jimin complied and respectfully, and maybe a little dramatically, laid the chopstick down on the table – giving it a small pat.

The waiter finally came and left after taking their orders. Jimin took a long sip of water, trying to ignore his urge to fake a coughing spell and feign indigestion to excuse himself from the get-together.

“Jenna is my only daughter,” Mr. Clark spoke suddenly, Jimin turned his eyes toward the man over the rim of his cup – swallowing suddenly and putting the glass down. Yes, he knew that.

“You are going to take months away from my life at this rate, Jimin.”The manager pretended to translate.

Jenna’s father folded his hands, meeting Jimin’s eyes while he waited for Mr. Kim to finish. The guy didn’t look much like Jenna. If Jimin didn’t know beforehand he’d say they probably weren’t related. The man was a lot darker in completion with a strong jaw, however his eyes were kind. They were her eyes.

Jimin shifted.

“We lost her younger brother to leukemia when she was twelve.”

He wasn’t supposed to understand, yet his gaze couldn’t help but flicker toward the girl beside him. She
was looking everywhere but at the people sitting around their table.

“Ohhh, do you feel like a jerk yet?”

“Her mother... well.. it’s just been Jenna and I for almost a year.”

Only a year? Jimin looked down at his hands.

“I don’t know that I could thank you enough for what you did, in any language.”

“Please know that I intend to make you pay for this for years to come.”The manager was smiling and nodding. Jimin didn’t need to look to know he was sweating. If he was honest, Jimin felt like he was about to start sweating too.

Thank goodness for small favors. The conversation was halted as the food was served. Mr. Clark was busy asking for a fork and knife and Jimin took the opportunity to look at Jenna.

She still wouldn’t look at him

"I’m such an asshole." Jimin whispered under his breath. Whatever excuse for an appetite he had was gone now.

"Yes, yes you are." Mr. Kim seemed happy to agree.

“The barrier between us far as language is concerned is unfortunate. Not just for the circumstance we’re in right now.” Mr. Clark looked like he was about to give his chopsticks a try, but seemed to quickly dismiss the idea.

“I’m starting to run out of even insults to use as fake translations, ohh you better turn into a complete angel after all of this.”

“For you to become successful in the States it’s obviously important that you’re able to at least have some communication with your English speaking fans, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Oh god, my poor ears are going to start bleeding soon. Are you having a good time Jimin?”

Jimin nodded through his plastered smile. “Yes I’m having such a great time, can’t you tell?” His Busan dialect was rearing it's ugly head.

“Jimin said you couldn’t be more right Mr. Clark. Jimin very much wishes to be able to communicate.”
“Very good, I hope your members will agree. I’ve decided to talk to the board about taking out some of
the budget to hire you some English tutors.”


The managers face seemed to get pale.“They won’t ever allow it Jimin, they know you speak English. You are completely screwed. I’m going to lose my job and my wife is going to leave me all because of your childish hissy fit.”The manager took a large gulp of water between a labored smile.

“Ahhh”.. Jimin did his best to think and smile calmly as his brain worked a mile a minute. “If you’re so smart, then why don’t you think of something?”

The manager put down his glass and looked at Jenna, then at Jimin. “Jimin said he’s already picked up a few words from your daughter.”

Jenna finally looked at Jimin. Her eyes didn’t mask the confusion at all.

Jimin laughed nervously.“What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy right now? Do you want to die?”

“Jimin is wondering what Jenna will be doing to occupy her time while she stays in Korea. He feels she would be a great teacher and the others would learn from her easily.”

Jimin gave his manager a swift kick under the table.

“That is true. Jen.. you were thinking about picking up a part time job, weren’t you?”

Jenna looked at her father and looked back at Jimin. Even if Jimin spoke nothing but Lebanese and was blind in both eyes he’d know right away that the girl was about to shoot down the idea with as much gusto as her small frame had.

He didn’t like it. This was supposed to end. However, it was the only way to get out of this and he found himself with no other choice. Jimin lifted his phone as he smiled at her before she spoke a word. Pretending to look over his screen for a moment, hoped she got the message.

“She is going to end my life if you don’t first.”

“Know any other English teachers that would work for as little money as a teenager would? Yes, Jimin very much would like to stay friends with your precious daughter.”

Okay. That was going a little overboard. Even for Mr. Clark.

The executive cleared his throat as he looked over to Jenna, waiting for her reply. Jimin could almost see the fumes rising from her head. “Sure dad. It’s the least I can do as a thank you.”

There was sure to be many conversations between himself and Crazy. He was pretty sure the words
‘thank you’ wouldn’t be involved in any of them.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll have you meet with the guys after lunch.”

Perfect. Just. Perfect.

Notes

Feedback fuels the writing fire guys. Please let me know what you think in the comments below. Thank you and happy reading.