The long awaited reply from your masked 'Genius' did not disappoint, your fluttering heart keeping you in such a restless state ever since.

He was unexpectedly talkative for once, which seemed like the littlest thing to completely change your mood, but nonetheless it put the most stupid smile on your face for the rest of your shift.

Knowing your capabilities to overthink, twist and distort everything to an extreme, the looming anxiety of the situation you created for yourself was still in the forefront of your mind.

But all you wanted was to just be able to enjoy this moment for what it was, pushing the rest of your worries to the back of your head for the time being.

It must have taken forever for you to fall asleep that night, the conversation you shared still vividly replaying in your mind.

When you woke up the next morning, you felt surprisingly well rested despite your short sleep, springing out of bed without even hitting your snooze button.

You didn't bother wasting any extra time on your appearance once again, wearing half of your hair up and leaving the rest down, and only applying a thin layer of make-up.

Once you were ready, you quickly grabbed your bag and shoes, slamming your apartment door behind you to head over to the bakery for another early breakfast.

On your slow walk to work, you couldn't help but open your chat screen one more time to double check that you weren't just dreaming, a smile creeping onto your lips as you re-read everything that was exchanged yesterday morning.

-

[07:42] 🔥Yoongi: The coffee doesn't taste the same here

[07:42] 🔥Yoongi: I miss you messing up my order

-

Even now after reading it for the millionth time since then, you had to stop yourself from blushing wildly at the absurd thought that he might be missing you just as much as you missed him.

Impossible...

Your pitiful, attention-deprived self desperately tried to extinguish your nervous excitement, remembering just how hard it was at the time to respond to his text without coming across as incredibly needy.

-

[07:44] Yoongi's Girl💜:
And here I was thinking that you hated me or something...

[07:44] 🔥Yoongi: Count yourself lucky, Yoongi's girl.

[07:45] 🔥Yoongi: But for what reason might I hate you?

[07:46] Yoongi's Girl💜:
No logical reason of course. I'm delightful...

[07:47] Yoongi's Girl💜:
But you're very good at disappearing without a trace.

[07:47] 🔥Yoongi: Oh, I'm sorry to keep you waiting princess.

[07:48] 🔥Yoongi: Did you miss me that much?

[07:48] Yoongi's Girl💜:
Ughh. No...

[07:49] 🔥Yoongi: You're a terrible liar, Yoongi's girl 😉

-

Sure, you've never been a great liar.

You were already aware of how good your ineffective poker face was at betraying you, but you had at least hoped your self proclaimed 'Genius' wouldn't be able to see through your texts as well.

Can he really be that clued on?

Or does he just have an over-compensated ego?

It was most probably the latter.

Even re-reading his text a whole day later, the thought was still too much for you to handle, remembering how your flying fingers rushed to change the topic so as not to give him the satisfaction.

-

[07:53] Yoongi's Girl💜:
So, why are you in Japan?

[07:54] 🔥Yoongi: I'm here on business..

[07:55] Yoongi's Girl💜:
The kind of business where you still can't tell me a single thing about you?

[07:55] 🔥Yoongi: Bingo.

[07:56] Yoongi's Girl💜:
😒

[07:57] 🔥Yoongi: I know it's not what you want to hear. I'll try to explain everything soon..

[07:59] 🔥Yoongi: But only if you're nice to me 😉

[08:01] Yoongi's Girl💜: 
What's that supposed to mean?

[08:03] 🔥Yoongi: Just wait for me, and you'll find out.

-

At the time you were a little grateful that a rush of customers came into the cafe, forcing you out of your online conversation with Mr.742 before being able to reply.

But here you were, a whole day later and on your way to work, where even reading it again now made your face flush red.

His daring presumption that you should wait for him on the pretenses that he might finally let you into his world, frustrated you to say the least.

But his words still made you soft.

He wants me to wait for him?

How long am I supposed to wait...?

...Does that mean that he's waiting for me too?

The fact that he was showing some understanding and trying to make progress still meant a lot.

By the time you reached the cafe to start work, your head was still so high up in the clouds, smiling like you were some smitten teenager all over again.

It seemed like the smallest thing to get so happy about, but you still felt like you should cherish this moment while it lasted, because god forbid your pessimistic thought process could kick in at any moment.

Setting your bag down and signing early into your shift, you floated back out to the kitchen area to play some music throughout the silent cafe.

'Serendipity' seemed like the perfect choice of song to match your mood, turning the volume up to fully compliment Jimin's angel voice.

"What's got you in such a good mood today?" Ji-Eun crept up out of no where, making you jump in surprise.

"Do I need a reason to be in a good mood?" You sarcastically answered her question with another question, poking your tongue out at her.

Ji-eun narrowed her eyes carefully at you and scrunched up her nose, before holding her hand out to you.

"That's it. Hand it over!" she let out, gesturing down at your phone in your pocket. "What's this 7:42 mystery man done now.."

"Wh-what-" you stuttered out in shock, completely caught off guard.

"Don't act surprised. You wear your heart on your sleeve so much, I can see right through you!" She laughed. "Now hand it over!"

Like a deer in the headlights, you simply did what was asked of you, opening up your chat screen with 'Not Yoongi' and showing her the details of yesterday's conversation.

"Oh, well no wonder!" she eventually said out loud, as she reached the bottom of the conversation. "Even if it's a little, it's still progress! He seems to really care about your feelings."

Does he really?

Humming in response, your eyes lingered at your phone in her hands, his last message still resonating through you, but then your body suddenly tensed as you noticed the 3 moving dots appear at the bottom of the open chat thread.

Crap crap crap!!

"Get out of there!" You screamed at your best friend, desperately hoping she could close the chat screen before your masked 'Genius' finished typing out his message.

It's practically been a whole day of silence now after you so brilliantly never replied to his message, you couldn't bare facing the utter humiliation of instantly reading his texts and looking like a creep.

Ji-eun fumbled with your phone in her hands, hopelessly trying to close the chat screen with all the adrenaline that was now bursting through her, until she finally succeeded.

You both took a deep breath out at the embarrassment you so narrowly avoided, your lurking and stalker tendencies kept a secret for yet another day.

Thank god...

Just as Ji-eun went to pass your phone back to you, it buzzed loudly in her hands, causing her to almost drop it by surprise, the imposition of Mr.742's new message sending shock-waves of nervous excitement through you.

But even though you were dying to read his message, you so-coolly decided to wait a few extra minutes so as not to appear too eager.

-

[07:24] 🔥Yoongi: Have a nice day at work, Yoongi's girl. 

[07:24] 🔥Yoongi: Don't miss me too much 😉

-

His new message nearly sent your eyes rolling to the back of your skull from just how damn arrogant that boy could be, but the smile spread across your lips told a different story.

Not wanting to ignore him for the second time in a row, you quickly got to work in thinking how you might best respond to him.

It wasn't until Ji-eun snatched the phone out of your hands once more, opening up your camera to snap a picture of you, that you held up your hot chocolate cup in one hand, and your middle finger in the other.

I'm definitely going to hell after this...

Ji-eun came rushing back over, shoving the photo she had just taken in your face for you to review and you couldn't help but cringe at the sight, regretful over your clear lack of make-up this morning.

Even your best friend's photography skills couldn't stop the bags under your eyes from practically jumping out of the picture at you, but you quickly went 'f*ck it' and hit send, typing out an accompanying message.

-

[Picture sent]

[07:31] Yoongi's Girl💜:
Way ahead of you! ☕

-

As soon as your message was sent, you threw your phone at your best friend, the fear of sending a risky text coursing through you like an electric shock. 

"What?! It's a cute pic!" Ji-eun protested, looking down at the screen once more to check it out. 

You groaned, sipping at your hot chocolate as you tried not to be overwhelmed with regret at your bold move of sending him a picture. 

The pair of you stood waiting for whatever smug response was bound to follow, but although you could see he had instantly read your text, a reply didn't come. 

Not that you were expecting heart emoji's or anything in return, you just felt a little bummed out that he had nothing to say even after sending him a picture of yourself for the very first time.

Do I really look that bad?

...

Was the middle finger too much?

As you watched the minutes go by, you leaned your body against the front counter and let out a deep sigh, trying your best to convince yourself that he was just busy. 

You were just about to ask Ji-eun to hand your phone back when you noticed her eyes grow wide, her look of utter bewilderment causing your heart to quicken in your chest. 

"W-what?" you stuttered, unable to hide your nervousness. 

Without a word, she turned the phone around to face you, the screen still set on your chat window with your masked 'Genius'.

-

[07:42] 🔥Yoongi: If it weren't for you flipping me off, I just might be tempted to fly back to Korea and take you out on a date.

-

Well sh*t. 

-----

Hi Angels!

How is everyone going?

Let me first start by saying that Yoongi's interlude 'Shadow' was amazing!!! It super got me in the mood to write and gave me a whole backlog of cover pictures I can use for chapters going forward. Damn. 

This last week has been a hell of a ride for me. My brain feels like it has melted and I'm surprised I was even able to write after all of that, so I hope this new update turned out okay! 

I hope ya'll like it nonetheless! But as always, please feel free to vote, or leave comments/feedback. Each time I go in to read all of the new comments that have been left, it makes me feel so inspired and motivated to keep going, so I really appreciate it all! 

What do you think is going to happen next? Taemin wasn't even mentioned in this chapter, but we will get to him later, I promise!

Anyways, Thank you so much for following this story so far, it really means a lot! Sending out so much love and hugs to you all, where ever you are in this tiny planet. 

xx Katie xx