Suga grabbed the door for Mari, and they both went out and directly into Midnight Lady, up the stairs. Before Suga could go all the way up, though, Mari pulled him back down to where she had kissed him that first night. This kiss was much shorter, but she wanted to savor every little moment she got with him, especially considering they probably wouldn't be leaving Midnight Lady together again.

Surprisingly, Suga didn't even have to open the door to Midnight Lady. Someone else opened it. "Well, hello."

Mari had to laugh. It was Zane, decked out in a nice button down T-shirt and a pair of slacks. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping somebody with their date idea." Zane winked at Suga and switched temporarily, knowing Mari wouldn't understand. [It's all ready.]

"Thank you," Suga said with a nod.

Mari glanced over at Suga. "Suga, what are you up to?"

[You will see.]

"Well, busy celebrities can't always go out to dinner, so we figure we might as well bring the dinner to you. Welcome to Cafe Midnight." Zane led both Mari and Suga into Midnight Lady's lobby, where the lights had been turned down low. Zane surprisingly opened the door to Studio A, then led both through the waiting room into the actual studio itself.

The entire studio room had been transformed into a small dining area, with a table for two and a rug underneath. There were two menus set up, and the lights were set low. Someone had taken the time to install fairy lights all along the floor as well. Mari gasped as she walked in. "How did you...?"

[Zane did it,] Suga motioned.

Zane showed the two to their table. "I will be right back with your drink orders -- I presume a black coffee for the man, and a peach tea Snapple for the lady?"

"That would be perfect." Mari took off her bomber jacket and laid it on the back of her table, sitting down. It was then that she noticed there was soft music in the background. She stopped to listen to it. It was some sort of ballad, but she didn't know who the artist was. It wasn't until she stopped to really listen that she discovered it had to be BTS. "These are? Your bandmates, right?"

[Oh, yes.] Suga sat down after taking off his camo hoodie.

"This is all so sweet, it's like we're on a --" Mari laughed and looked away. "Like on a date or something."

[Oh. This is a date.]

"It is?"

[Do you...not want the date?]

"Oh, no, yes, Suga, Suga, I mean -- yes, I want to be on a date with you. It's just -- I'm sure how hard it must be."

[They told us not much outside food this trip. Too much trouble with the press. All of the people know we went to the park, so we have to stay quiet. All too much.]

Mari thought she understood. "Suga, did you want to take me out to a fancy restaurant?"

He blushed and hid his face, not saying a word. Mari laughed. "No, Suga, this is perfect." She reached across the table and squeezed Suga's hand. "Thank you."

Zane stopped back in with their drinks. "Here at Cafe Midnight, we aim to please all sorts of wonderful guests. Therefore, we have prepared a three course meal for you to enjoy tonight. All three courses have been recommended by people who love you and want the absolute best for you. Your first course is a simple appetizer: chicken noodle soup, with a soda on the side." He went out and wheeled in a cart with steaming hot chicken noodle soup, in two bowls, and two small cans of Sprite. "Courtesy of RM and J-Hope from BTS."

Mari laughed. "This is perfect!"

[This is...] Suga seemed as shocked as Mari did. It looked like the same exact chicken noodle soup that Mari had gotten him when he was sick.

"Suga, you didn't plan this?"

[I wanted a date! I did not plan the food. Zane planned the food and the...lights and table.]

"Oh, Zane." Mari laughed as Zane finished delivering the food, then walked out to give them peace. Mari dipped her spoon into the soup, then took a small bite. "You're right, Suga, I bet this is the same place. I wonder how he knew -- oh!" She reached into her purse and pulled out the company card. "He probably checked the company card charges!! That's how he knew!"

[It is the same soup.] Suga felt a tear spring to his eye. Monday seemed like years ago. He took the bowl and ate from it, gently, remembering how Mari had fed him while he was sick in the hotel room. Zane had really outdone himself, for both of their sakes. If he had to leave this behind, at least he was going to leave it on a high note.

Mari opened her can of Sprite, then motioned for Suga to do the same. "A toast," she proposed. "To Midnight Lady, and to our mixtape."

[Yes.] Suga said that same cheers word that Mari had missed the first time, and then they clinked their glasses and drank.

Shortly afterward, Zane came in with the second course. "Your second course is steaming hot pizza, from the Little Italy Pizza Shoppe across town, ran by native New Yorkers whose family was originally from Italy. There were six generations in the city before their children moved out here to share their pizza with a whole new world." Zane smiled at Mari. "Courtesy of Lorelei Walsh."

"No," Mari said with a smile. "No way, you got a hold of Lori?!" She turned back to Suga. "She's my best friend." [960]

[Oh!] Suga smiled his good old gummy smile. [She gave us the pizza?]

"She must have. She didn't have to do that." Mari whipped out her phone, ready to send a text message to Lori to thank her for the pizza. She got a notification instead that silenced her. Her mama's number showed up at the top of her screen. Mari paused, trying to figure out if she should open her messaging app, if it was worth possibly seeing a message from her mama that could destroy the rest of her night.

"What's up, love?" Zane asked.

"My mama texted me." Mari had an idea. "Here. Can you clear the notification on this?"

"Sure." Zane took Mari's phone with one hand and pulled up Mari's mama's message, so Mari wouldn't have to see it. He grinned, then put it back down. "She's the one who's hard on you, right?"

"Yeah?"

"It's not a bad message. Do you want me to read it to you?"

Suga finally caught up with what was happening. [Mari, your eomma...]

"It's okay. She didn't message me any other time during this trip after we had our falling out. I can check it later." Mari took the phone from Zane and opened Lori's chat before she could see what her mama wrote. She fired off a quick message, complete with a selfie with her and the pizza, making sure to exclude Suga so he wouldn't get in trouble. Then she put her phone back down, intent on focusing on the moment, as Zane left her to be with Suga.

[Did you see what your eomma said?] Suga asked as he picked up a piece of pizza.

"No, I really don't care -- oh, Suga." Mari sighed, then she got up from her spot. "No, sweetie, you have to eat it like this." She took the pizza slice from him and cupped it gently, folding it nearly in half.

[Am I eating it wrong?]

"Well, if you are in New York, you fold it and you eat it like this. It makes it less messy. So if you're walking down the street, or you're on the subway, then you don't make a mess. Also, when you're in New York City, sometimes you only get one slice of pizza, and you just eat it that way."

[Oh.] Suga kept it folded and ate it, grease smearing all over his cheek. [Like this?]

"Exactly like that." Mari grabbed a napkin and wiped off the grease from Suga's cheek. She briefly considered licking it off, but she realized that would make too much of an impression on Suga, and she didn't want to start going on him in the middle of dinner. That could wait until afterward -- if it happened at all. So she kept it chaste and sat back down, grabbing another piece of pizza and nearly devouring it.

"Suga, what are you most looking forward to when you go back to Korea?"

[Mmmph.] Suga finished his pizza slice and then took a quick drink from the Sprite from before; coffee and pizza most certainly did not mix. [I am looking forward to...being back in the studio.]

"Suga, we're literally in the studio right now!"

[I know, I know! My studio.]

"Oh, you have a studio of your own?"

Suga nodded. [Yes.]

"Can you tell me about it?"

[Well. It is a small studio, and I only use it to make music. Sometimes record, but not professionally. I have to go downstairs for that. But it is a room where I can go and make music, late at night. Write things. I have...] Suga gestured. [Big monitors. And a big tower with all of the...tools I need. And I have a bed, too.]

"Of course you do. Do you have a fridge for your coffee?"

[Coffee? Yes, I have coffee, and a...cold box.]

"Refrigerator."

Suga snapped his fingers. [Yes. For coffee.]

"That doesn't surprise me at all." Mari leaned her head on her hands. "Suga, you are one interesting person. I'm so glad I've gotten to know you these past few days. I'm gonna miss you when you're gone."

Suga found himself blushing, but when Mari talked about him being gone, he felt that inevitable pain instead. He didn't want to be gone. This was supposed to be over in an hour and a half, but he didn't want gone at all. He was still set on making Mari come to Korea to compose music with him...however that might be possible. Mari was a rice cake that he wanted to savor, and there was still so much of her to get to know. He would have to put it back right now after taking one bite, but...

Suga shook his head. He was done thinking about Mari as if she were food.

[I am also,] he started up again, [also looking forward to you being in Korea.]

"Oh, you are?" Mari asked with a smile.

[Yes. You will meet many other producers, who have lots of things to teach you. And then you will learn, and get better, and you can help us with our own music. And you can stay at the building, too. It will be very easy.] (874)

"Oh, well, that's good. I'll be right on site then, in case you need me for anything. Is it just you guys in the building, or...?"

[Oh, lots of trainees. We have other music acts, um...but I want for you to sit in my studio with me, and play.]

"Suga, I'd love to, but isn't your studio kind of small for that?" Mari smirked at Suga.

[Yes.] He smirked back, and then they both laughed. [But you can watch! Is that okay? And then we go downstairs for recording.]

"You really want me to record for you." Mari paused. "But Suga, I don't have a violin of my own. I've been using the one here at the studio."

"I'm sure we can figure that out," she heard Zane's voice from behind her. He was bringing their third course. "I'm sure Sara does not feel any particular attachment to that violin, so if you want to take it with you, we'll find some way to arrange that. You are the one who fixed it, after all, and now it holds those memories of being here together with Suga. It will always be that violin."

Suga smiled at Zane. [What is our next course?]

"Oh, this one's from me, but I'm sure you already know what this is." Sure enough, Zane deposited four double-doubles and an entire pile of animal fries in front of them. "A Los Angeles staple to round things out, courtesy of Zane Davis."

"Aww, Zane, you're too much," Mari said with a smile.

"And with that, I take my leave." Zane saluted both of them. "You can stay here as long as you want, I just know Suga's gotta be on a plane in a bit, and you've got to get some sleep before your flight tomorrow, Mari. It's been a blast having you both in the studio. Most fun I've had in months, if not years." He had a small smile on his face, and Mari could tell that he wasn't okay with this.

"Come on, say it," she said, getting up from her chair and giving him a quick hug.

"Say what?"

"You're our friend. You don't have a lot of those, do you?"

"Nah." Zane hugged Mari back, and then was surprised when Suga stood up and gave him a quick hug as well. Mari handed Zane the company card, and with that, he nodded and was off. "Text me if you need anything!"

"We will," Mari said, waving, and now it really was just her and Suga.