I fumbled with my phone for the hundredth time, wishing I had Taehyung-ah's naturally friendly charisma with people. I still didn't have an excuse to call Jiyoung, and I didn’t even want to think too deeply as to why I wanted to call her.

I couldn't really say we were friends; we've been super comfortable with each other but then again so did the other members. Suga-hyung had more of a relationship with her, though being her enemy wasn't something I envied hyung.

"Aish," I muttered, tossing my phone across the polished wooden floor. At this rate, I would have to wait for the next company party to talk to her again.

"Ya Hoseok-ah. What's wrong with you?" Jin-hyung wanted to know, plopping down beside me. We were the first two to arrive at the dance studio to practice, and I'd completely forgotten that our eldest was in the same room, probably watching me wage a silent war with my cell.

"I'm trying to figure out what to say to a girl I wanna call," I responded.

I watched Jin-hyung's water bottle, towel, and jaw simultaneously drop. "What did you say?" He demanded, eyes bulging out.

I snorted. "Kidding," I lied, grabbing the towel and giving our madnae a playful whip. If I were to ask any of the members any girl advice, this fellow was the last one I'd go to, even if he was the oldest. He had as much as experience with dating women as my mother.

Jin-hyung scrambled away from my towel attack. "Ya hajimallagu, it's too early for your shit," he complained, settling down on the other end of the mirrored wall, spreading his long legs to stretch.

I snickered, but decided to leave him alone. I needed to save my energy for the new choreography for the coming Japanese tours, and if the tentative setlist was of any indication, we'd be murdering ourselves by the end of the season.

My mind strayed back to Jiyoung. She was a good dancer—ani, I'd even say she was great.

She said she didn't have practice for years but the way her body moved...whoa.

I briefly wondered how she ended up behind the scenes instead of debuting as an idol or a professional dancer. She certainly had the moves, and she didn't look too bad, either.

No sir, she most definitely did not. I internally sighed, remembering how she looked during Bang PD-nim's party three days ago. I couldn't believe I never noticed how pretty she was.

Maybe because she usually wore baggy hoodies and jeans with her old sneakers. I smiled in spite of myself, picturing her daily 'uniform.' She only traded her ratty kid clothes with simple black dress pants and long-sleeved button-downs when she had meetings with the bosses.

"Why is this one smiling like an idiot?" Sungdeuk-hyungnim bellowed from the door, throwing his snapback to my face.

I cut back to reality, catching the cap just in time before it slammed against my nose.
"Seonsaeng-nim," I whined, hoping my ridiculous pout could distract them enough to forget about seeing me daydreaming about a girl. "We're the only ones here; I didn't even get to eat breakfast!"

Our performance director eyed me drily. "Don't y'all live together? How do you manage to not get here in one group? Where's your manager?"

I shrugged, internally smiling. Crisis averted. "Myungwoo-hyung took us here. We thought the others were behind us."

"Seonsaeng-nim, might as well start with me first," Jin-hyung suggested hopefully, still stretching.

Our choreographer nodded, huffing. "Araseo. C'mon."

I smiled encouragingly at my hyung. Our eldest may not be the best dancer, but he sure as heck did his damned best to learn our songs. Jin-hyung didn't seem like the type to take things seriously on the surface, but he worked his ass off over the years and improved his dancing and singing immensely. I was really proud of him.

"I'll just go grab a bite, hyung," I told him, using my lead dancer card and slipping out before our teacher could stop me. I grinned like a moron, power walking to the Creative Team's office. I didn't even know if Jiyoung was in yet, but the idea of having breakfast with her already made my day.

If I wanted to get to know her better, we could start with being friends, right? What better way to do that than by swinging by and hanging out?

Man, do I have a crush, I mused, shrugging it off carelessly. It had been a while. It felt good. My grin stretched wider.
----------------
I blinked thrice, trying to clear the fog in my brain, but it just wouldn't do the trick. It was only 7 in the morning and already felt like hurling myself off a cliff. I slammed my laptop shut.
I groaned loudly, craning my neck side to side. It didn't matter if I was loud or just wearing my old hoodie and laughably over-ripped jeans—there wouldn't be anyone entering the office until around 9 am and I had more than enough time to get a headstart on some work and attempt to resemble a normal human being. Maybe I should get three cups of coffee down before I—
I stifled a startled shriek as the door suddenly swung open.
Jung Hoseok's head popped in, scanning the room and grinning widely when he saw me. "Good morning!" He greeted, stepping inside.
I clutched my hoodie's chest. "Ah kamjagya," I cried, letting out a breathless huff. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, willing my heart to stop jackhammering against my ribs.
Jhope immediately looked contrite. "Aigoo, mianheyo, Jiyoung-ssi," he apologized, scratching his head sheepishly. "I wasn't even sure you were here."
I frowned in confusion. "Can I help you?" Was he looking for me?
His full megawatt grin was back. "I was here early so I was checking if you were here," he explained, hesitation flashing in his eyes. "Have you had breakfast yet?"
Oh. This was new. "No, not yet," I replied cautiously. I mean, I didn't want to assume things, but BTS members did not just saunter into offices looking for employees to have meals with.
His smile was reassuring, though.
"Hey," he began, raising both hands up. "I just thought you were cool, especially during the party. I wanted to be friends with a cool person."
He was straightforward, I'd give him that. I found myself smiling back. "We could grab something to eat," I allowed, shrugging. "But you'll have to walk around with someone looking like this," I gestured to my ratty attire. I was glad I looked horrendous, actually—no one would think to link me with the Jhope wearing something a hobo would probably reject.
He laughed, and I couldn't help but appreciate the clarity in his eyes. "That's more than fine. You still look cute."
I snorted. "Sure." I grabbed my backpack with my change of clothes so I could wear them before going back. "Please tell me we're getting coffee. Lots of coffee."
Before long, we were both sipping on wonderfully scalding americanos, huddled against the corner table at the café near BigHit. There was only a handful of middle-aged customers around, and I'm glad Hoseok could remove his face mask and enjoy his croissant. I really wasn't too worried; I'd most likely be tagged as one of the assistant noonasand get blurred on fancafé photos. I looked that bad.
My mind unwillingly remembered how it was with Yoongi. With him, being seen together was out of the question. We had to be careful to the point of paranoia. I felt the difference.
"Gwenchana?" Hoseok's question pulled me back to the present. He was regarding me with a curious look, bread paused halfway to his mouth.
I mentally shook my head to clear it of those dark, haunting eyes. "Ah, sorry. My brain's still asleep."
He laughed, biting on his breakfast. "I guess you're one of those who needs a liter of caffeine before functioning," he remarked, eyes dancing. His mood was quite infectious—this was one solid guy.
We ate in companionable silence, chatting every now and then about his trainee days and my background in music. I'd never really socialized with anyone in the company, save for some obligatory dinners and drinking sessions. Hoseok befriending me was a refreshing change.
"Jankkaman," he halted as we began stepping out of the café. "Jiyoung-ssi, you're younger than Namjoon-ah, right?"
I nodded, slipping my backpack on. "Just by one month."
He clapped his hands once. "Assa. Then I'll speak informally and call you Jiyoung-ie from now on, arraseo?" His tone didn't really indicate that I could disagree.
No one in the office called me that—in fact, I could count on my one hand the number of people who ever had access to calling me that. I just shrugged. It was Hoseok, after all. "Fine."
He thumped his thumb against his chest. "And I'm oppa."
My eyebrows shot up. "Oppa?" I echoed, startled. I wasn't sure if I should be that familiar with him.
He saw the hesitation on my face and harumphed loudly. "Aish, just do it! I'm 8 months older anyway. That's like, a year."
I had to laugh at that. "Fine. Oppa."
We walked the two blocks back to BigHit while Jhope rattled on about their practice and upcoming trips to Japan. I knew how packed their schedule was—mine was piggybacked on theirs, considering they were releasing an album there and promoting new concept material. I groaned inwardly at the amount of overtime I surely had coming my way.
Stepping out of the elevators, we headed for the narrow hallway leading to the dance practice room. Our office was at the end of the corridor. "I guess I'll be dropping you off," I joked, earning an exaggerated sour look from my new friend.
"Ugh, I think I had too much coffee," he mumbled, rubbing his tummy. The door to the dance studio was open, and I could hear the loud music blasting from the speakers along with Sungdeuk-seonsaengnim's unmistakeable yelling.
I shot Hoseok a sympathetic look and waved. "I'll see you around, oppa."
He grinned and waved back, stepping backward into the room. "Bye, Jiyoung-ie! That was a great breakfast!" He shouted over the music, startling the other members who were already doing warm-ups.
I cringed. I'd have to get used to that. I grinned back.

My smile evaporated when I saw Yoongi staring at me through the mirrored wall.

Notes