South Korea was abuzz with some of the biggest celebrity news to ever hit the country of all time. The headline had made its round throughout Seoul, and was one of the most heavily circulated headlines on the internet.

'Muslim blogger Amani Johansen hailed a hero after rescuing Kim Taehyung of BTS from captivity. BTS's Suga to save the day'. 5M Views, 3M shares. 

The article was the most viewed and shared of the month, pushing all other press to the sidelines, soon forgotten by the masses. Well, except for the dating rumor, that was still highly suspected, but it wasn't true, at least not yet. Amani hoped that would change soon.

Amani scanned the article with a feeling of excitement and misgiving. She had already been gaining popularity before the headline, now her follower count had skyrocketed.

2M followers, Twitter. 4M followers, Instagram. 500K Subscribers on Muslimgirlvsworld.blog

She felt both happy and anxious. Everywhere she went now people recognized her as the girl who saved V from an obsessed fan.

Of course, that was the version that the public knew. They didn't know the real story. The true story was only known to her, Suga, and Tae, even her mother didn't know the full extent of what she and the others had went through. The rest of the world only knew the watered down version.

They were fortunate. They would never have to know the true horror, and that was okay.

She closed her laptop and got up from her bed. She read the article enough times today, and it was late, even for her. She needed to go to sleep. 2 in the morning was late enough for just about anybody.

She walked to the bathroom and grabbed up her tooth-brush which was white to her displeasure, but white was a good color too so she didn't mind it that much. After brushing her teeth and splashing her face, she raised her head and examined her face in the mirror.

The girl that looked back at her looked the same, yet different. That girl was stronger, braver.

More self assured.

This girl had decided that she would rise above the hate. That she would always stand up for the people she loved.

She would never be cowed into shame for who she was. Never.

She was Amani Johansen, blogger, sister, daughter, fashionista, a huge BTS fan.

She was Muslim and proud most recently...famous.

The idea still took her for a loop. Her long life wish had finally come true, and her feelings were mixed about it, but at least she now had a chance to maybe stand with Suga in the spotlight. It was her greatest hope.

As Amani gazed at her reflection, she realized she liked the image of the girl she was seeing. She was perfect just the way she was, and embodied everything she was always told she had the potential to become someday. Maybe, just maybe, she had finally achieved it. This was who she wanted to be from now on.

*                      *                      *

Back at the Bangtan Boys residence, V was surrounded by his friends who were more like his brothers, simply talking in the way of normalcy and just genuinely happy to be back with the people he considered family. He had so much support from each of them and he could feel their love. But, something inside of him had changed, something fundamental, and he didn't know what that meant for him. For now though, he would ignore it and focus on the things he had in front of him and strive to be grateful.

He breathed easier knowing that everything was back to normal, even if he didn't feel normal. The girl was arrested at least. That helped him a little.

Their twelve weeks were up and it was time to hit the road again. The Bangtan Boys packed their suitcases and carry-ons in a somber mood. They wished they didn't have to go.

"I miss home so much when we go on tour," Jungkook said solemnly as he folded his clothes and put them into his suitcase.

"I think we all miss home when we're gone. There's no place quite like Seoul. I can hardly wait to come back every time we leave," Rapmon said while sorting his socks and toiletries in his carry on.

Tae would have normally agreed as he really loved Seoul, but this time he felt differently. After everything that happened to him, he needed a change of environment.

He'd expressed this sentiment to Jimin who agreed with him. He hadn't been feeling like himself lately. A little time away from Seoul was what he and Tae both needed.

"I just wish we could see Eomma Ms Emeena and the girls one more time before we go."

"That can be arranged." The boys swiveled around at the voice that spoke suddenly to find Amani standing in the doorway in the company of her mom and Maya. They all let out a surprised shout, running to greet the three women excitedly as they stepped into the room. Ms Emeena held up a bag of gifts for everyone. The boys were touched that she would go out of her way to buy them things. She passed the gifts around which were accepted eagerly. She watched the boys unwrap their gifts with a feeling of melancholy. She was going to miss her students. Thank yous were exchanged all around, and Kookie gave Ms Emeena a strong, warm hug.

"Thank you Ms Emeena. Is the bes' present ever." She hugged Jungkook back and quickly but gently disengaged herself from him. Jungkook was like a child and he needed love sometimes. She understood that so she didn't mind his hugs. As long as he didn't go hugging her daughters, like V sometimes did.

"Man I'm really going to miss them," Maya said somberly, tears shining in her eyes. She felt like she had just met them, and now they were leaving their lives. She was sad about it.

Jimin came over to Maya and looked at her expression. "Maya? Don't cry pleaseu. I cry if you cry," he said to her softly. Maya looked up and gave him a brave smile. She didn't want Jimin to be sad, so she shook her tears away the best that she could. Anyway, she had a special gift she wanted to give him. She took the gift from her purse and held it out to him.

"This is for you, for whenever you feel sad." Jimin smiled as he took the toy Maya had given him. It was a wind up toy. He wound up the crank, then sat it down on the table and watched in amusement as it started to dance to an automated song, one of their very own. A huge grin broke out on his face. He loved it.

"I don't want you to be sad anymore Jimin, please be happy," Maya added in a quiet tone. Jimin held a hand over his chest and looked at her with bright eyes shinning from emotions.

"Kamsahamnida Maya," he said with tender awe, followed by a blush. Maya blushed back. She was so happy he liked her gift. She hoped that it would be a source of happiness for him. Jimin deserved to be happy.

Suga hung back and watched everything from a short distance. He wanted to go over and talk to Amani, but he was once again unsure of how to approach her in the middle of her socializing with everyone. He was good with her one on one, but not in a crowded setting he realized. It was frustrating.

On another note, he'd given his feelings a lot of thought and realized that he really liked Amani. He felt a connection with her the instant he'd seen her all those weeks ago, and when he thought he'd lose her for good he was floored by how much the possibility scared him.

Perhaps he more than liked her. Maybe he even loved her. When or how it happened was a mystery to him, He wasn't into trying to solve the mysteries of life and love and all of that, he just knew what he felt and knew what he had to do.

He had made his decision.

To his relief Amani broke away and came over to him.

"I didn't know what to get you. I hope you like it," she said, presenting to him a gift.

It was a type of charm bracelet made of leather with a basketball, a music turn table, headphones and music notes in various colors, the little pendants resembling toys on the leather band.

"Is amazing. Thank you," he said, taking the bracelet with a gummy wide smile. Amani beamed back at him, delighted that he liked the gift she chose for him.

"I want to eh...give...eh...you something."

Amani watched curiously amused as he hunted through his suitcase for the thing he wanted to give her. She looked questioningly at the item he finally produced.

"Read this ah...later. Ok?" Amani nodded her head, taking the the envelop with careful hands.

All too soon it was time to go. Amani stood with her mom and sister as she watched the boys get into the van. She caught Suga's eye as they drove away, his features and expression etched into her memory. She took a breath to steady herself. She told herself not to cry.

She turned to Maya who had a faraway look in her eyes, and so she took her sister's hand in a natural and easy gesture, causing Maya to look at her with a tear filled gaze.

"Don't cry Maya. I'm not crying so you can't cry either." Maya made a face at her sister. That wasn't the words of comfort she was expecting to hear. She snorted and took her hand away. She caught Amani's smirk from the corner of her eye and let out a small laugh. Amani smiled fully once she heard what she intended to get out of Maya. She didn't want her sister to be sad, and she tried her best to not be sad as well.

"Okay girls, it's time to go home," their mom said from behind them. They didn't want to leave. Leaving felt too final, like if they left too, it would really be the end and none of them would ever come back here to ever see each other again.

"Do we really have to go?" Amani asked her mom, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yes, the boys are waiting for us to come back, I don't want them to start worrying."

The girls made their way to the car with resigned feet. Kim Sejin was in the front seat. He elected to personally escort them today. He gave them an understanding smile as they settled themselves in the car.

"Don't worry girls, Bangtan will be back in Seoul really soon," he gave them reassurance.

That was perhaps true, but there was no telling what the future would hold. That was something both Maya and Amani would have to see. They could only hope the future was in their favor.

Amani eyed the envelop in her hand. She didn't have the patience to wait until she got home to see what was in it. She tore open the paper, a single note falling into her lap as the envelope was torn apart. She picked it up slowly with a great anticipation. Her heart sped up as she read what was written on the paper. It was all she ever hoped for, in one compact sentence...

기다려 주세요

Wait for me. Agust D

END OF BOOK ONE IN THE BECAUSE TRILOGY.