Jin looked at his phone again. It was already night. Now he knows why Namjoon asked him to give his number to that girl. She was someone close to Ashley. And there was no way he could take her phone number in front of others.

But why she was not calling?

He didn't know what was Taehyung thinking. He was the one who asked Namjoon to take her number. But Namjoon was the mature one to ask Jin to give his number instead.

He was somehow relieved that all these tensions will be eased now.
He immediately picked his phone as soon as the notification popped up.

1 new message from an unknown number.

" Hi, I am the girl earlier from the fansign. Is it a good time to call?"

"Namjooonah!" Jin shouted,
"Namjoonah! Come here for a second!"

Namjoon peeked in after a few seconds, "What, hyung?"

"I got her number. You should talk. I am not good at English you know."

"Give me that." Namjoon reached for Jin's phone and put the call on the loudspeaker.

Maya immediately picked up the call after just one ring.

-"Hello?"

-"It's Namjoon. Maya, right?"

He remembered her name from the fansign! Maya was overwhelmed.

-"Yeah, right. Thank you for trusting me with your number," Maya replied with gratitude.

-"Thank you for reaching us. Can't express how grateful we are. Can we....talk? I mean in person."

-"Yeah, of course. I was going to ask you the same thing." Maya tried to calm herself down. It's not the time for fangirling.

-"So, I guess it's about Ashley?" asked Namjoon.

-"Actually, she doesn't know I am here and if she knows, she is not gonna like it," replied Maya.

-"Is that so?"

"Pretty much." Maya sighed, "But I just couldn't wait and see her like that."

-"You knew about us?"

-"No, she didn't either. After the incident in Korea with her, she found it for the first time. And here I come in the picture."

-"That incident was a total misunderstanding and we were really sorry. But You knew about her story, not ours. What made you think you can just come to us and say something and we will be willing to listen to you?" Namjoon was clearing his confusion.

-"You know about the "Is it him or her" trend in tweeter?"

-"Yeah," replied Namjoon.

He remembered the hyped #Isithim/her? trended no. One in many countries after the fansign during their last album released three months ago.
It started with a fan asking Taehyung about his favorite pendant and his response about it.

-"When I saw the pendant with her, and later he mentioned her as a dear friend, I thought I could try at least once. If I found another way around, I  would not have the courage to come upfront with you with this. But this time I was desperate," Maya replied. "I didn't know if Taehyung still remembered her but see, I took a leap of faith anyway."

"What is it with this desperation?" Namjoon asked, trying to connect things with her words.

Maya took some time to answer.
-"See, I am the only person closest to her. She doesn't have anyone but me. And I can do anything to make that girl happy. "

-"And?"

-"She is not doing good. She is in pain. And I can't bear seeing her like this. She is the most precious girl I have and I can go to any length for her. I never imagined to even see you guys in a live concert but see where am I  now?" Maya replied with a soft voice.

"To be honest, we were going to find her anyway, just got stuck in some busy schedules before that. The cause is the same, Taehyung. He missed her so much."

-"Yeah, I was hoping that to happen the whole time," Maya replied.

-"Let's meet somewhere. I have a hunch that you have many things to say," Namjoon suggested.

-"I don't know anything here. You guys pick a time and place. "

-"What if you come here? You know, we have some restrictions to maintain. Can't risk the chance to spread some rumors if we got seen somewhere together."

-"Yeah, I understand."

-"Tell me your address, we will send a car to get you. Is now a problem?"

-"Now? I mean right now?" Maya looked at her watch. It was not too late.
"Fine with me. See you then."

Maya was waiting in the car in the underground parking lot.

She didn't know where to go next. She still could not believe that she was here! Who thought that this could happen a week ago?

After a few minutes of waiting someone approached the car. He had a mask and hoodie on. But she can say it was Namjoon just by his appearance.

He knocked on her window and opened the door for her. Maya was very impressed with his manners.

"I am glad that you could make it. Thank you for trusting me to come here." Namjoon bowed at her.

"No! It's my pleasure! I never thought to meet you guys upfront. It's like a dream come true!" Maya was beyond happy.

"Come with me."

Not long after Maya was sitting in the living room.
The boys came to say hi to her and again went back. Now only Jin, Namjoon, and Hoseok were sitting with her.
They were friendlier than she thought, they had the incredible aura to ease the uncomfortable situation and she was feeling at home with them.

"So what do you do?" asked Jin continuing the previous streaks of friendly conversation they were having.

"I am a teacher you can say. I am a faculty member in a university."

"No way!" Jin laughed, "you are too young for that!"

"Nooo!" Maya protested. "I am the same age as you, Oppa!"

"You are bluffing!" Jin again laughed,
"I am an old geezer. You are definitely younger."

"Says the man who is aging backward." Maya teased.

Jin was flustered by her complement.
Maya tried to hide her smile seeing his ears turning red.

"Which subject are you in?" Asked Namjoon.

"Marine biology. But to be specific, I  changed my field into it after passing out from medical school."

"So you are a doctor too?" Hoseok was surprised.

"Not exactly. I never applied for my practitioner's license. Never loved that profession. It was just pressuring from my family to attend medical school," Maya shrugged.

"You said you and Ashley attended the same class. Is she of our age too?" Jin was curious.

"Oh no no no... "  Maya laughed, "she is almost four years younger than me. She was a gifted child from the very beginning. While I passed med school at 24, she was only early 20. And within these four years, she had already finished her post-grad and became a renowned doctor. It's rare at her age considering the time required for completing these levels."

"You have known her for a very long time, I guess?"

"Yes, my father was a sponsor of the orphanage she was in. So I often saw her whenever I went to pay a visit there. And later she attended the same school I went to."

"It's a long-time friendship!" Hoseok was surprised.

"Yeah, you can say that." Maya smiled.

"She has such a kind heart, I liked her a lot!" Jin complemented.

"She is the nicest person." Maya took a sip from her coffee.

"But why did she just run away? What exactly happened? We were confused, even now," said Jin.

Maya remained silent for some seconds.

"It's complicated. She never opens up about her struggles you know. She fights them alone even makes peace with them alone. You would never truly know her unless she lets you."

"Not even you?"

Maya smiled weakly, "No. Not even me. She never wants others to worry about her or burden themselves with her issues. I knew her from the very beginning, so I can grasp things when she suffers, know things she does and why. "

"She must be so broken inside." Namjoon smiled sympathetically.

"You have no idea." Maya sighed.

"Then why she suddenly shut him out?"

"She is friendly, but she doesn't have many friends you see. Never had. But this is the first time she had done something like that and that made me come here at last."

"I am worried about Tae," Hoseok said.

"This is the first time in a long time I  had seen her this resistive to someone. And I see she is trying to block him out, more like protecting herself. "

"Why?"

"She saw herself getting weak for him. And she doesn't want to go down that path. She doesn't want herself to be hurt anymore. So she just did what she could have at that moment - run away rather than facing it."

"What's wrong in facing it?"

"She is not like any of us here. It's hard for her to do that. Really hard," Maya said, trying to smile a bit. "Her life is a complicated one."

"Can I know? " a voice came from the door.

Taehyung was standing there with a composed expression.

"Tae, come here," Jin invited him.

Taehyung came and got seated in front of her.

"We will let you guys have some alone time." Namjoon smiled and got up,   "come on, hyung. Let's go."

"You don't have to go, hyung," Taehyung assured holding Jin's wrist.

"No Tae. You stay here. If you think we should know anything, we will be here to hear you. Ok?" Jin ruffled his hair.

The trio left the room with Jimin and Jungkook who were peeking through the door. Yoongi was not there, already asleep as a result of staying up late last night and the fansign event during the day.

"Hi, Maya noona." Taehyung smiled, "I have heard so much about you from Ash. Never thought I'd meet you like this."

"Hi, Taehyung." Maya didn't know what to call him now.

"Would you mind if I call you only noona?" Taehyung took the first attempt.

"No, not at all," Maya blushed.

"You can just call me Tae."

"Ok, Tae...I am a huge fan of you guys and I still can't believe what am I  doing. Please tell me it isn't a dream!!"

Taehyung flashed his boxy smile, "it's not a dream, noona."

"Gosh, I seriously don't know what am I doing here. It's so embarrassing!" Maya stumbled thinking how stupid were the things she was doing lately just based on a baseless assumption.

"I just thought that maybe there is a possibility that may be you...ah!!" she was red in embarrassment now thinking her assumption could be totally wrong. What would she do then?

"Noona, it's ok," Taehyung smiled a bit.
"Yes, I have feelings for her."

Maya was silent. She thought about all the possibilities beforehand and the things she would say to him but when he confessed like this, suddenly she didn't know what to say anymore.

"I tried to run away too, tried to deny it. But I realized admitting it would be less painful. It's just... Crazy!" Taehyung smiled nicely.

Seemed like he was at peace at last after the months-long battle with himself.

"You know why am I here?" Asked Maya.

"No, but I am glad that you are here."

"I know it would sound crazy, but......" Maya took a deep breath, "I was here to ask you not to give up on her. Or just give it a shot."

Taehyung was a little surprised. But he managed to say, "but she is running away, noona. I have no right to stop her."

"She is suffering just like you Tae. She misses you. I saw her vulnerable only with you. I had never seen her this protective, you are the only one who crushed her confidence to be alone forever. And she is scared of this uncertainty and this feeling," Maya said, "I think she likes you too, Tae. She is just too afraid to admit that."

Taehyung lowered his head. "I don't know, noona. I don't know what to do anymore. I know it's scary, but why still couldn't face it? It's hard to believe her this persona after I'd seen her like that positive."

"I came here to you still knowing it was impossible, but I never gonna let her run away from the one she likes. She deserves the world, Tae. And I  am here to make sure that the world doesn't crumble down before it is even built."

Taehyung smiled unsurely. Knowing something like that wanted to make him hopeful, but he was afraid too. Afraid to lose her even before getting her.

"You wanted to know her, Tae?" Maya asked.

Taehyung nodded.

"It's not my tale to share," Maya said with a somber tone, "but it's not a secret too. After this, I don't know what you would be your perspective towards her. But I will respect however you would want to see her."

"Whatever this be, I don't think I  would stop liking her, Noona. That's not me." Taehyung smiled with ease.

[ was it too rushed?
It's a hella long chapter I know😊😊😊😊........
I have decided to use my paintings and photographs from now on for this story. Of course excluding the photos of BTS....so, here it is......

I made the first painting with the title " puppet show". I tried to express the shadows and inner demons that control our thoughts, our free spirits invisibly and often turn the beauty of living into just a habit without a drive to actually live.

Feel free to express your thoughts.
As always, stay tuned and stay blessed buddies.
I purple you💜💜💜💜💜]