"I'm just walking and walking, among this darkness. My happy times asked me this question. You, are you really okay, it asked me. Oh no, I replied, no, I'm so afraid. Still, I hold the 6 flowers tightly in my hands."

0:00  |───────── 3:46

|◁ II ▷|

The skies swirled above her head, a mix of lilac and flamingo pink. It would later turn a light orange color as the sun set lower into the mountains, under the skyscrapers and sleepy horizon. She sometimes wished she could be up there with the sun, the sun that kept her company in her old home. It had been a long time since she had been there.

It's been a long time since I've talked to my mom, too, she thought, almost guiltily. 

The last time they had talked was right after she landed in Korea, which was almost three weeks ago. She was supposed to do the concert, then go back to Los Angeles to write and record some more songs, as she had just ended her US and UK tour at that time. 

Perhaps the reason Rein couldn't bring herself to call her mother was due to the fact that she couldn't face the disappointment in her voice when she had to tell her, the sigh at the end of Rein's string of excuses. Undoubtedly, Ms. Cho had already told her about closing a new contract, so there wasn't a lack of communication. It felt like something had broken between her and her mom, and she was going to pay for it later.

Rein shook her head. She didn't want to think about her mom right now. There were more important things to think about, anyway, like her very real social anxiety.

She gave herself a mental pep talk before getting into the car, back turned to the blue building she stacked her future on.

The restaurant smelled of meat and spices, a concoction to end the day with. The boys picked a table in the corner of the room facing the wall, four seats on each side. They took off their masks, taking their respective seats. Rein picked a seat around the middle. Namjoon sat across from her, and beside her were Jin and Hoseok. A waitress came over to their table and brought out her notepad without a second thought; she seemed to have served them before.

"You've brought someone new today, hm?" she said, looking over Rein with curiosity. "I swear I've seen her face somewhere." Namjoon glanced at Rein, the corner of his mouth raising the slightest bit.

"She's an American singer," he said. The waitress' eyebrows raised, an expression Rein couldn't decide to be either negative or positive. Then, something seemed to click in her head.

"Oh! I recognize her now. My son listens to her songs all the time. The songs are... Mm... Let's just say they're not my style." Rein arched her eyebrow.

Elaborate on that, she wanted to say. But she held her tongue. How surprising would it be if she knew Korean all of a sudden?

She found out all too soon.

After the waitress took their orders, ("The usual, please.") Taehyung slowly spoke up.

"Uh... What city you from?" he asked. She smiled, and after pausing a few seconds, she replied, "I'm from Austin, but I currently live in Los Angeles," in Korean. 

It took a few seconds for it to sink in, but once it did, they were in an uproar. hnbJimin was even clapping.

"Does she know Korean?" Jin asked Namjoon. Namjoon shrugged with a grin.

"What was she speaking then? Mandarin?" he retorted with a laugh. Jin muttered a mediocre comeback to himself.

"Can you understand what I'm saying?" Hoseok asked from next to her. She nodded, and Jungkook looked towards Taehyung with wide eyes, who gave her a thumbs up.

"Daebak," he whispered, mystified. Yoongi looked only slightly fazed. He was the only one that looked calm and collected aside from Namjoon, as if he knew all along.

"Hey, Kim Namjoon, she's probably better at Korean than you are at English," he chided, elbowing him. This resulted in a punch from Namjoon to the arm.

"How much can you speak?" Jimin asked. She waved her hand in a so-so motion.

"Ah, I can speak to get by, let's say. There's a lot more to learn, but I think I could get along in almost any situation without too much trouble, except for really difficult conversations," she said.

"But you can have a normal conversation, right?" Taehyung piped. She nodded, wondering what he was thinking. 

"Then why don't you and Namjoon-hyung, like, talk a little? See who's better at their second language?" he continued, looking around at the others for approval. Yoongi was nodding his head with a passive look. Jungkook still had that wonderstruck look on his face. Namjoon pursed his lips and locked eyes with Rein. 

Competitively, she would add.

"Yeah, I'm down for that," he said. Everyone cheered, and Taehyung and Yoongi clapped him on the back. Rein bit her lip; she wasn't too comfortable with being put on the spot without being informed about it beforehand, and especially about something that she already wasn't very confident about. But as she looked around and noticed that everyone seemed more at ease, when before, their body language was shut off towards her, the decision to get out of her comfort zone for once, no matter how stupid she thought it was, was easier to make.

"So, what should I say?" she said, starting it off.

"Tell us how you moved to Los Angeles and started your music career," Namjoon replied without skipping a beat.

"Well," she said, thinking about how she was going to phrase the next sentences, "I was born in Austin, Texas. I worked on music on my own and made a couple of albums there. But without a manager, I wasn't that much of a sensation, since I didn't know how to market myself or anything. You know, just a few downloads here and there..." She trailed off, looking at the boys to see if she should continue. They all seemed to be listening.

"Uh, I moved to Los Angeles a year after I graduated high school and signed with my current record label, and I just kind of went from there."

"Pursuing the epitome of the American Dream, huh?" Namjoon asked, eyes thoughtful. 

"I guess you could say that." 

"I find that very admirable, Ms. Jones," he said with a smile. 

She shrugged, cheeks going scarlet. The story was generic, in her opinion. Started from the bottom now we here, as Drake would say. But that's how it went with almost everyone and everything. It was up to her to make the story unique.

The conversation was soon forgotten as the meat was grilled and served as Jin wolfed down his galbi while Rein took her first bite. It was truly wondrous how much someone could fit in their mouth through sheer force of will.

Jungkook was feeding Jimin, to which the feedee responded very positively. Hoseok, usually being the talkative one, wasn't being talkative on this particular evening, head tilted downwards and concentrated on his food. In short, everyone was ravenous, almost like they hadn't been fed in days.

She felt comfortable eating without double-checking every move she made. Rein felt more at ease with them than she had ever felt with Ms. Cho, the only consistent person she saw in those days. How they acted, how they talked, how they regarded each other was enough to make her feel at home with them.

She hoped the feeling was mutual.

After they finished eating, Jin paid for the whole thing, rising reactions of feigned awe among the boys.

Rein felt a bit buzzed. She had drunk about one and a half bottles of soju just by herself, which she later read to have 20% of alcohol content in each bottle. She was thankful she wasn't driving herself home. The boys once again piled into the limo, her going in last.

She missed the sunset but was gifted instead with the midnight blue that fell over the city. The skyscrapers looked like shadows under the sky's gaze. The boys were quiet now, all on their phones or talking in hushed tones. As the normal jaded mindset fell over her once again, she shook it off turned to Namjoon and exchanged some pleasantries, and was glad to find she was greeted with a smile throughout.

It was more than a sufficient end to a fantastic day.

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A/N: Thank you for reading! Leave a vote/comment, and any critiques! I would love to know your thoughts! Have a great weekend.