—Present life. Coffee Town Cafe, year 2016—

I arrived ten minutes late at the place where Jimin and I had agreed to meet that day.

It was highly unintentional, for the most part, since I had not been held back by the traffic or my class schedules for it was one of my free days. I was only late because I had been spending the last ten minutes pacing back and forth around the corner of the block to calm my anxiety, and to make up my mind about what would I be saying to him once we met.

He was sitting at one of the booths right at the corner of the coffee shop, staring out through the large clear-glass window while absentmindedly stirring the straw in his Iced Americano.

"Jimin," I gently called him once I reached his booth. He turned to look at me, and I watched as his eyes instantly lit up the minute he saw me there. I gave him a small smile and said, "Sorry for coming so late."

He returned my smile as he stood up, his eyes forming the familiar crescent shade which only made his face looked brighter. "It's okay," he said to me, giving me a quick hug which I awkwardly returned. "I wasn't exactly punctual myself, so I haven't been waiting that long," he explained as he pulled away.

I took the empty seat right across to him as he sat back into his seat. "What are you having? Let me get it for you."

"I—uh, I'll just have the same as you are having."

He lightly threw me a quick smile and walked out to the counter, leaving me on my own for the next five minutes before coming back with my Iced Americano and a plate of food. "I hope you like panini," he mused while placing the plate and coffee in front of me.

I only stared at the food in awe, before looking up to him, trying to keep my face straight as I said, "Thank you."

There was a brief of awkward silence right after, as I was feeling so lost in not knowing what to say to him, and he was constantly playing with his straw while looking away. I took a sip of my drink, carefully mustering the courage to start a conversation when we made the move at the same time.

"So how have you been—"

"How are you—"

We stared at each other for a while before laughing at ourselves. "I'm sorry," he said. "Okay, you go first."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I was too nervous to say anything. I'm so sorry for being awkward."

He scoffed. "Well, to be fair—You're not the only one feeling nervous. I've been nervous about meeting you again for the whole weekend."

I quirked my eyebrows and giggled, which thankfully made him laugh along with me. "You? Nervous? Because of me? Stop lying."

"I'm not," he defended himself between his laughs. "I'm not lying, alright? I truly have been nervous. It's not like I'm an expert in this, you know."

"Yeah, right," I said, rolling my eyes at his statement. "But, why would you be?"

He only shrugged. "I just—I think I'm just excited and I have completely no clue how to face you or talk to you."

I sheepishly smiled, looking down on my coffee to hide my cheeks that were flushing with heat. "Okay, why don't we start again? Just—I don't know, talk—about random things?" I shrugged.

"Okay," he smiled. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much," I answered him, shrugging my shoulders. "Just busy with my studies, and piles of assignments. There's also my part-time job, lots of sleeping, lots of playing games—Just a plain boring life."

"That's it? No dates, or going to parties to meet some jocks and frat boys, or any other fun stuff?"

I laughed. "Me? Nah, my life is pretty stale and boring. You are possibly in the middle of talking to one of the biggest nerds our campus ever have. The biggest fun I have had lately was winning a game of chess against my big brother."

"Hmm," he mused, sarcastically. "I kind of find that hard to believe. You look like someone who loves and deserves to have fun in college—like partying all night after classes, and should be having some boys racing to get your number, at least."

I could only laugh. "Are you always this cheeky?" I asked him with quirked eyebrows, completely amused at his playful side that was suddenly showing. No lie, I loved seeing this side of him more.

Jimin only shrugged. "Only with the pretty ones," he taunted with a mischievous smile. "But you never know, I might only act this way for you," he said to me while raising his glass, hiding his sly smirk by biting on his straw.

Shaking my head, I mirrored his gesture, using my own drink to hide my mischievous smile as I spoke to him, "You know, when I asked Jisoo about you, I didn't think that she'd left out about how flirty you are."

He almost coughed on his own drink as I mentioned my roommate's name, and he looked up to me with wide eyes. "Jisoo? Asking about me?" He lifted his eyebrows almost comically, his eyes flickered back and forth as if he was trying to register the words I had just said. "Are you really talking about my cousin, Jisoo? Wait, how do you know my cousin?"

I tilted my head as I watched him, confused. "You mean she hasn't told you yet?"

He shrugged with his both arms on his side, as if asking, "Told me about what?" without saying anything at all other than the lost look on his face.

I grinned really wide. "Jisoo is my roommate."

I watched amusedly as his grin widened even more and his eyes glistened with awe. "Wait—Now that is one huge coincidence."

"Really? You actually don't know?" I asked him, completely not believing that he was still unaware of this. But he only shook his head while swearing for his obliviousness. "Then how did you know that I love panini?"

He chuckled, giving me another shrug and a mischievous smile as he answered, "It's a secret. I have my own source in finding everything I need to know about you."

—Present life. Blue Smoker's Pub, year 2016—

"Woah, girl, this place is really nice."

I followed behind Hara and Jiyoung as we walked into the pub. The place was more crowded than usual, packed with people standing by the bar and on the dance floor, with some people dancing along to the music playing from the jukebox. Even the seating area was unusually filled with customers, when the entire time I had been coming to this place with Taehyung, we would find the bar as the only place that was constantly packed.

I looked over to the stage and saw some people setting up instruments and speakers, replacing the small grand piano I have usually been seeing with a couple of acoustic guitars and a simple setup of drums. Knowing that the night marked as the start of semester break for college students around the city, I only assumed that the pub was having a special event to celebrate. So I only brushed it off and continued to chat along with my friends.

"So this is where you have been hiding all this time." Hara turned to look at me over her shoulder with a teasing smile. It was entertaining to see my friends getting so excited, to see their eyes glowing as they walked ahead with locked arms. "No wonder you've never been interested in joining us to those parties around campus. This place is lit! So many cool people are here," she continued to muse while glancing around. "How did you find this place?"

"Taehyung did," I said, shrugging. "He first took me here after an exam, and we've been coming here together at least twice a week. It's been our sacred sanctuary, away from the hectic life of campus."

"Well, I think we're going to claim this place as ours too after tonight," Hara coyly spoke as she pulled me and Jiyoung together, guiding us to find an empty table for the three of us. Within minutes, our table was occupied by three bottles of beer, a few glasses of tequila shots, and a bucket of chicken wings and french fries.

We were lost in our conversation and lame jokes when the first performer of the night took the stage, and we had the perfect angle to see clearly past through the standing audience to see a female vocalist taking her place without leaving our seat. That privilege alone deserved its own celebration which we did by having another toast of tequila shot.

Hara was in the middle of sipping her second shot of tequila when I was choking on my beer as Jiyoung shared stories about things that happened on her project's submission day. "—this guy came in with three printed drawings that were exactly the same to one another and insisted to put them all on display. No one was in their right mind, I tell you that. Not even me, apparently, because I actually helped him put them up instead of stopping him. I think the whole class need to sue the campus for giving us all lack of sleep."

"After the whole semester of researches and designing for twenty-four hours each day, this is really a much-deserved break," Hara giggled, and then stopped to mutter under her breath. "I also need to get laid."

Jiyoung lifted her drink to make a toast, "You and me both, girl."

We shared another toast and laughs while my eyes kept glancing away towards the stage. I was already feeling the buzz of alcohol surging through my bloodstream, and my mind was a little fuzzy. But I could not shake the feeling of how unsteady I was that night. How I could feel a hint of familiarity faintly flowing through the air and coming from somewhere within the room. There was some kind of pull that had me glancing around the room, making me want to walk away from our table and search for its source.

I never had any chance of finding the answer as to why I was feeling a certain way, however, because Jiyoung poked at my side to pull my attention back to her as she coyly teased me, "—at least one of us has been getting lucky."

"I'm sorry—what are you talking about?" I glanced at both of them back and forth while they kept all eyes on me.

Hara propped her chin on her palm with her elbow planted on the table, as she playfully studied my face. "You and your date with Jimin. How did that go?"

"Yes, do tell," Jiyoung said, joining in. "We are basically living our lives vicariously through you, _____. I heard from some little birds that you already had your third date last weekend."

I hid my flustered face by drinking my beer. I could recall the first coffee date I had with Jimin, how that day ended up going so well that we had agreed to meet again for a couple more times after, with only days apart of each other. But nothing was official yet. Especially since I haven't been really sure about everything, about whether it was the right thing or the right path I should be choosing for.

"Perhaps you'll never know. Perhaps he is a different person, but you can't stop yourself from getting close to him and try only because you are unsure."

—Taehyung's voice suddenly echoed in my thoughts. And a smile appeared on my face as I finally answered them with, "I'm still taking my time to get to know him. And him to get to know me. I just—I don't want to rush things."

The girls exchanged glances and frowns before looking back at me. "You've never dated anyone before, haven't you?"

I opened my mouth to reply and stopped myself. How would I answer to that when— "Yeah, I've—never," was I could mutter before I raised a glass and tossed my drink in one go. I have been single for the years I have lived on because I have kept myself preoccupied with getting to find my way in life and in my studies. I could never even think about dating anyone, or getting close to anyone else. Not when I have the faces of two men engraved in my mind for years.

"Okay." Hara clapped her hands and downed her shot with a cringe, before flashing her wide smile. "Let us be the ones to tell you all what you need to know and give you tips on dating to help you out," she cheerfully said while waving out at the bar to order more shots.

"Oh, so I'm getting free dating class now? While drunk?" I asked her, rolling my eyes and laughing along with Jiyoung. The girl completely ignored us though, and nothing could stop her from ranting about all the things I should know about dating for the next hour—all while slipping a thing or two about her own dating life. I stayed there to listen to both of them chattering and bickering, joking along with them while drinking and occasionally glancing towards the stage as the first performer stepped down for the second musician to take the stage.

The sullen music became the perfect company for our girls night, even when the crowd kept growing as the night was getting late. Everything was a bit fuzzy when I faintly heard the third performer taking the stage. The crowd completely blocked our view towards the stage at the time, and all I could see was the audiences' heads standing with their backs facing us and people on their seats turning around to watch the performance. From the voice which I heard, I could tell that it was a male performer, his gentle voice resonated beautifully as he sang with his acoustic guitar playing along. Everyone was drowned in his music, in his presence, while the surge of familiarities I previously felt came back stronger. I tried to brush it off, thinking that perhaps I was either drunk or mesmerised by the singer whose face remained a mystery since he was not visible from my seat.

"I'll be right back," I told the girls as I left my seat, letting them know that I needed a moment to reach for the girl's room. A little splash of water on my face might help me feel better, I thought as I walked towards the other side of the pub, cutting through the crowd to make my way there.

The singer's voice became clearer as I walked further from the crowd's muffled chattering and as I was getting closer to the stage. I could see clearly the hall heading for the restrooms right in front of me. Yet for some reason, my body felt an intense chill as his voice filled my mind. Hesitant, but curious, I slowly turned around to face the stage, finally having a look at the face belonged to the man who was currently singing in a high note for the crowd.

And I instantly froze.

I stood still in the middle of the room, right between the audience, with my eyes locked on the raven-haired singer who had his eyes looking straight to the audience as he sang wholeheartedly. My memories jumbled messily in my head, finding the same face and the same voice singing for me in a much different place and time.

"I always love your voice," I could hear my own voice echoed from somewhere inside my head, and another voice answering me with, "I will only sing for you."

As I was abruptly pulled back to present, finding myself still standing in the middle of the pub, I looked at the boy on the stage as he started to sing another song, only to find myself looking straight into a pair of doe eyes that had been staring at me. I couldn't move or react to it. I just stood there with my eyes locked on his, and neither of us ever tried to look away as he kept singing.

And then he suddenly smiled. Straight at me.

Something inside me snapped right at that moment, and I quickly turned around to walk away.

It was a miracle that the girl's restroom was empty, with as many crowds filling the whole pub. But before I was able to enjoy the moment of silence and for being away from the suffocating crowd, the muffled sound of his vocal somehow managed to come through the walls. No matter what I did to clog my senses, I could still hear him perfectly, knowing exactly what words he was singing. And when I closed my eyes, I could see him vividly playing the guitar on the stage.

Yet the image was taken from a snippet of my lost memory instead of a recent event which I had just witnessed.

I stayed there perhaps a bit longer than I should, until I was completely lost track of time. There was nothing I could do when even after a few times of splashing fresh cold water over my face, it still failed to help me calm down. My heartbeat was racing as I listened to his voice from afar until he stopped, and the sound of cheers and claps filled the entire pub.

The sound of hushed whispers started rising inside my head. Different voices tried to talk to me at the same time, jumbled memories flashing vividly that I just had to shut my eyes to stop it. As I tried to control my breathing, the whispers started to die down, leaving behind only one singular voice which sounded clear once everything else faded away.

"Run."

I quickly made my way out, paced across the pub to return to my friends in fast and long strides, clenching my trembling hands on my side. The rush in my head blocked out my attention, rendering me completely unaware of how the music had long stopped and how there was an announcement being made about a quick break for the stage performances.

"Guys?" I called out to my friends when I finally reached our table. They were in the middle of laughing at some joke I had missed out on, yet they instantly turned to look at me as I rushed to them. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to leave now."

"What?" Jiyoung reacted first while I had to stop Hara from standing up. "Are you alright? Should we take you home?"

"No—No, I'm fine. I just have—um, I just remembered that I had to leave early in the morning, so—" I quickly walked over to grab my purse and coat, before hugging the girls one at a time. "You guys just stay and have fun, alright?"

"Are you sure?" Hara grabbed my wrist just so she could study my face. Both of them knew about my health problems, so it was no doubt that my abruptness had made them worry.

"I'm sure. I'll call you guys tomorrow." It took me another minute of assuring them to let me go, before I managed to slip away through the crowd once more, on a desperate mission of reaching the way out this time.

But the moment I had to push through the crowd of patrons I encountered on my path, my head started to feel fuzzy again. Not only because of the alcohol, but also the sounds of whispering that suddenly came flooding my head again.

"Oof—" somebody stopped me in my tracks as I bumped into them. The sudden impact pulled my senses back again. And as I stumbled on my heels, the person I had just bumped into reached out with their strong hands to keep me from falling. "Thank you—" I whispered to them, before raising my head to look at them.

My heart made a giant leap the moment I saw their face.

"It's okay. The place is packed, so you should be more careful," he stared into my eyes and smiled widely the moment our eyes met. "I saw you earlier from the stage. Are you okay? Are you leaving already?"

I stuttered, having lost my will to speak due to how my body was trembling from seeing him up close. "Y—yes, I—I have to go—uh, somewhere else to be."

"Oh, that's too bad," he mused lightly without letting me go. I was lost in his gaze and the sound of his voice, unable to look away from his face while he kept his hands holding tight on my arms.

His hands.

The moment I realised how close we were, I gently brushed his hands off of me. "Uh—yeah, I have a thing tomorrow, so I can't stay until late. Thank you for helping me, and—uh, sorry for bumping into you."

He merely grinned. "Anytime. I actually don't mind bumping into you again," he teased me. I looked away while silently begging for him to stop. "Do you come here often?"

I awkwardly nodded, hoping to be able to slip away from him. Yet my weak knees were failing me so that I could not move a muscle. "Yes, I do. I've never seen you around, though."

Why am I talking to him? I'm supposed to be walking away, I thought to myself while glancing towards the exit.

He shrugged. "This is my first time," he said while smiling at me. "But it won't be my last, I'm sure."

"Uh—that sounds great." I forced myself to smile and started to back away. "I guess I'll see you around—next time?" Or perhaps not. "But I really should go now."

He leapt forward to stop me as I turned around and tried to continue walking away. "Wait, what's your name?"

I stopped even though I knew I shouldn't. I should have just walked away and run, never to return. But my body reacted against my will and stopped. And before I could process anything, I already answered him with, "_____," I said, my voice sounded as if it came from somewhere outside of my body. "My name is _____."

"It's great to meet you, ______," he said with a wide grin, and a hint of reddish blush on his cheeks. "My name—"

Don't. Please don't say it.

"—is Jungkook. Don't forget about me, okay?"

How could I ever?