"I still can't believe we're running late," Suga bemoaned that next morning.

"Well, forgive us for having a work lunch we had to attend to," RM noted, which was true. They had spent the morning on the phone with Hitman Bang, who had been running security information and background checks on this Marisol Verda they had found. He certainly didn't mind if she helped them in the studio, as long as her vocals didn't end up on anything. The last thing they needed was a random scandal about some girl being on a BTS mixtape.

"Her beatmaking sound is fresh, though," he had said over the phone. "I just need daily updates, as stated before. We'll work out royalties with ASCAP and she can sign a 1090 through Columbia Records when she arrives." The boys didn't know how much $50 an hour was, but Marisol knew it was light years more than she was making as a waitress.

That had happened over pho, and now they were back in the limo headed back to the studio. Suga flipped back open group chat to keep his mind busy:

converselover1: honestly that pho might have been the best I've had in a long time.
nochu: thats good though
chi33ychoos: I'm glad you guys are getting taken care of
chi33ychoos: I was starting to worry when I didn't hear anything yesterday
mangmangylang: oh dont worry that was just suga with his new obsession
TaeTae:
TaeTae: wat
chi33ychoos: Suga doesn't get obsessions
chi33ychoos: Suga gets coffee and that's about it
converselover1: actually hobi's not wrong. we found this tape
EmperorKuzco: A TAPE????????
nochu: wait like one of those old music things?
y00ng!: Yes, Oh Young One.
mangmangylang: didnt i tell you guyz about this tape becky g gave me???????
chi33ychoos: no
EmperorKuzco: NO
EmperorKuzco: DEETS NOW
mangmangylang: so becky g got it from head of events at yanki stadium who got it from the cleaning crew
mangmangylang: how wild is that???
y00ng!: Hobi, it's Yankee, not Yanki.
nochu: so what was on the tape
mangmangylang: this sexy girl who sugas in love with now
EmperorKuzco: WHAT
EmperorKuzco: NO
chi33ychoos: ROFLOL
TaeTae: Suga doesn't fall in love
TaeTae: he's like
TaeTae: in love with his music remember
nochu: dude have you even met this girl?
mangmangylang: no but our studio guy found her and shes gonna fly out to make music with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nochu: nice!
EmperorKuzco: AWWW YEAH
EmperorKuzco: YOU GO GET THAT SUGA
y00ng!: I am not getting anything but a black coffee, thank you.
EmperorKuzco: SUGAS GETTING LAID GUYS
converselover1: lol yeah right
mangmangylang: these studios dont have couches for nothing amirite?
EmperorKuzco: GET THAT SUGA
chi33ychoos: This must be really serious if she's flying out to meet you guys
chi33ychoos: Suga you must be in deep
y00ng!: I already told you all, the only thing I'm in deep with is this cup of black coffee. It's my third one today. I'm such a fan.
nochu: yeah youre such a fan of this girl emcee
TaeTae: Suga's in love
TaeTae: the sky is falling
converselover1: you're embarrassing him, guys. regardless how much he likes this tape, this is a business trip.
y00ng!: Thank you, RM. At least one of us has a brain.
converselover1: whether or not he gets laid is up to him.
y00ng!: God damnit.

Suga rolled his eyes hard and looked up from his phone, only to see RM and J-Hope both looking at him. "They're not wrong, dude. You've nearly worn out that tape already."

"Okay, look, I just really wanna sample track 10, okay?"

"Yeah, you sample that track," RM noted, and J-Hope burst into giggles only befitting of J-Hope.

Suga felt himself blush. "I do not even know what she looks like."

"You yourself said it didn't matter. Didn't matter with Suran."

"You just know about Suran because she had to cover for herself on social media. The public doesn't even know we did anything. Besides, all we did was sleep together. Once. And it was horrible, like usual."

RM paused. "Still not performing, Min Yoongi?"

Suga chucked his phone at his dongsaeng. It was no secret among all seven members of Bangtan that Suga was not only the most shy and insecure, but also the smallest. These three factors combined made for some serious impotence in bed. These days, Suga didn't even try.

Luckily, that got RM to shut up long enough for them to get back to the studio. Cycling class was busy downstairs, so they were able to sneak in without anybody noticing or recognizing. RM took the stairs up two at a time, waving to Zane behind the desk and scooting into Studio A. Suga was right behind him, but there wasn't anybody he didn't recognize in the studio, so he disappeared to Studio B.

"Tape should still be in the deck," he said, running his hand along the analog tape player. "Could use one more playthrough --"

He nearly dropped his coffee as he caught the reflection in the tape deck. Someone was behind him. Turning, he saw someone asleep on the couch, head propped up by an orange pillow. The first thing he noticed was that her long brown hair was covering her face. The second thing he noticed was that she was wearing Jordans, pure white ones at that, with the original laces and everything. Upon closer inspection, there wasn't a scuff to be seen.

Damn. This was a girl who knew how to take care of her kicks.

Was this her? Was this that Marisol girl who made the tape? He looked her over again. Skinny jeans that looked on brand. A black T-shirt poking out from a white bomber jacket that was way too warm for this weather. A full bust -- Suga looked away through the glass into the recording studio. He needed to quit while he was ahead. But when he sat on the ground, he could see her full eyebrows, the curve of her nose, her skin that made it impossible to know where she was from. He would have to ask about that later. She glowed too much, like she had been in the sun all her life.

She was beautiful, but she also needed to sleep. He could say hello to her later. He slowly backed out of the studio so he would not disturb her, opening the door with one hand --

and Suga ran straight into J-Hope.

"Yo!"

Suga yelled so loud it could have shattered the glass in Studio B's sound booth. He tripped right into the noise cancelling foam outside the door, coffee thankfully staying in the cup. "Hobi! What the hell are you doing?!"

J-Hope grinned. "Look, I got more coffee for all of us!" He held up four identical cups of black coffee. "Even for the new girl! Is she here yet?"

Suga regained his composure. "Yeah, would you not make so much noise, man? She's sleeping in there!" He gestured to Studio B; the door was now open, and Mari looked like she might be moving. Shit.

"Oh, there she is!" J-Hope ran over to Mari and switched to English. [Good morning! Nice to meet you! Are you awake?]

Mari rubbed her eyes. She knew she shouldn't have been taking a nap. She was supposed to be waiting on her clients, but she had passed out, and all she had heard was a yell and a crash. This was a great first impression. She looked up, and all she saw was a Korean man who was thankfully dressed in some awesome street wear. "Sorry, man. I think I'm awake. Sorry for the nap, the long flight knocked me out. Can you understand me?"

[I can understand you, I think. It is nice to meet you, Marisol.] Oh, wow. At least he pronounced it correctly. [I do not speak English, but RM does. Just a little. Not good.]

Mari sat up, very slowly. "And you're from BTS, right?"

[Yes!]

"Okay, cool, I got that right. Sorry again. Now, there's three of you, right?"

[Yes.]

"You're all gonna blend together if I don't learn your names right now. Remind me what your name is?"

[J-Hope! I'm your hope, you're my hope, I'm J-Hope.]

"Ahh, yes, J-Hope. God. If that doesn't sound like an emcee name, I don't know what does." Mari rubbed her eyes again. Five hours in the air at the crack of dawn, plus now it was suddenly noon again, meant she had no clue what time it really was. "I'm sorry, I just...I don't know how much English you know, and I'm really tired."

J-Hope held out his drink carrier. [Coffee?]

"I...am not a big drinker, but thank you. Maybe it'll do something." Mari took one sip and nearly spat it out. "Needs sugar. And, like, three pounds of whipped cream."

[Oh, we have all the things for coffee. Come, come, please.] J-Hope stood up again with the coffee and dashed out of Studio B, past Suga. "Come get your coffee, Suga!"

The door swung closed behind J-Hope; Mari pulled it open and ran smack into Suga, who was still standing in the doorway. "Oh."

His eyes met hers, and she found herself blushing. J-Hope was dressed like he had just graced the front cover of Rolling Stone, but this Korean boy who was her height looked like he had just rolled out of bed. His black hair was a mess, parted just so in the middle, and he wore a camo zip-up hoodie over a white T-shirt and black sweatpants.

Was this the RM she had spoken with on the phone? He was kind of cute. "Uh, hi? I'm sorry, do you speak English?"

Suga forgot how to English. [Um...]

"Oh, okay. It's all right. I'm Mari, I'll be working with you." She held out her hand, and Suga somehow remembered to shake it. Then, she passed him by, heading to Studio A. "RM must be in here, then."

Suga watched her walk away, into Studio A. He only remembered to breathe again after she was gone. "Damn, girl, I need to focus or you're gonna be the death of me."