"Laney, this is V, you can call him V-oppa, since he is older than you, yes? You'll be taking care of him, mostly making sure his hair is fixed, and his make up is good, but you will do whatever he needs you to do. If he needs water, you will get it for him. If he needs the sweat wiped from his face and neck, you'll wipe it away. If he needs his shoulders or his neck massaged, you'll massage them. If he needs his feet rubbed, you'll rub them. Sounds easy enough, yes?"

~♡~

I nodded, wondering how I was going to make it thru 30 days of that. Heaven help me, I really didn't know how I would survive this. Then I remembered, he was going to fall for me, and ask me to be his girlfriend. Did that mean...

"I am leaving now, okay Taehyung-ah? My Eomma is waiting for me. I'll be back later to make sure Laney gets back home okay."

Min Jee looked at me. "Laney, you'll be okay. Just don't forget to breathe." She smiled and waved, exiting thru the door we had come in.

I was alone with V. I looked from the door Min Jee had gone thru back to the man sitting next to me. He smiled at me, and I swear it felt like my insides were trembling. I just hoped I could control it on the outside.

"Hi Laney. It's nice to meet you. Just call me V, or Tae. The oppa isn't necessary. I'm sure we are pretty close in age."

I swallowed, and realized that all this time he'd been talking in his honey smooth voice, and I'd been letting it go in one ear and out the other. I'd been so distracted that I had failed to actually hear him, my ears just listening to the words he was saying, instead of the sound of his beautiful voice.

"I don't bite, Laney" he shrugged one shoulder, "unless you want me to."

I lifted my eyes to his, and he was smiling playfully.

"I'd really love to hear your voice. You don't have to be afraid to talk. I know you aren't from here, so you don't have to worry about honorifics with me. It's fine, just be yourself, okay?"

I wasn't really afraid to talk, I just didn't know what to say to him.

'Hi, I'm Laney, and I'm a 51 year old mother of two grown children who never visit, and a wife to man who refuses to get a job, and sits at home all day doing nothing, and I've been super unhappy, and I fell in love with your music, and then you, so I made a wish and here I am.' 

Yeah, no, I didn't think that would go over too well. I still wasn't sure whether or not I was ever going to tell him that I was here because a wish was granted. But I needed to talk. I couldn't be here for 30 days and not talk.

"I'm sorry, for earlier. I don't know what happened to me. Thank you, for, catching me."

He quirked his head to one side, raising his eyebrows.

"I wasn't going to let you hit the floor. And you don't have to apologize, or thank me. I would have done the same for anyone."

Of course he would have.

"Well, I appreciate it, nonetheless."

"Well then, you're welcome."

He smiled again, and I smiled back.

"So, how old are you? You know, you're the first stylist Pd Nim has hired that isn't married. And all of the others are Noona's."

They only hired stylists that were married? I didn't know that. Can't say that I blame them.

"How do you know I'm not married? And what's a Noona?"

I hadn't studied any Korean culture, so I had no idea what Noona meant.

He laughed, and it was a beautiful sound.

"I know you're not married because my manager told me, when he told me not to get any ideas about getting involved with you."

I looked at him, and I do believe I blushed. My cheeks felt warm.

"And a Noona is a woman that's older than me."

"Oh. Well, I'm...20." That was hard to say. It felt weird. I knew that at the moment, in body, I was 20 years old. But in mind, I still knew everything that I had learned in my 51 years of life.

"So, you're not a Noona. Wow, this is definitely a first for Pd Nim."

"Why does he only hire married women?"

"Because he would rather we not get involved with our stylists, and If they weren't married, it would be very easy to do, as close as we are to them. They help us with, basically, everything, right down to changing outfits during concerts."

"Oh." Oh dear God. I might not live long enough to make it to 30 days.

I licked my lips, but they felt just as dry as they had before I licked them.

"So, is Min Jee a stylist?"

He nodded, his hand coming up, his fingers sliding into his hair, pushing it back. I watched it fall softly back across his forehead.

"She was my stylist. She's been here the longest of all of them. But her Eomma is sick, and she needs to be with her to help her to her Dr. appts and to take care of her, so a replacement had to be hired. I believe they had to hire someone quickly, so that may be why they didn't have time to find someone who was married, since it needs to be someone who knows how to do hair and makeup."

"She looks very young to have been here the longest."

He chuckled quietly. "She's 36."

My eyes widened. "What? No way. She can't be more than, 23."

"I promise you, she's 36, but she'll be happy to hear that you said that."

I looked around the room, noticing the vending machines. I was hungry, but I had no money to buy anything. I didn't even know what they used for money. Min Jee had swiped a card.

He saw the direction of my gaze.

"Are you hungry? I can get you something if you'd like."

He got up, taking my hand and pulling me up to follow him. I remembered what Min Jee had said, and I reminded myself to breathe. He stopped in front of a machine with many colorful packages in it.

"What would you like?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea what any of this is. Uh..."

"Right. I forgot about that." He looked into the machine, studying the packages. "Is there anything that you don't like?"

"Um, tomatoes, and beets."

"You don't like tomatoes?"

"It depends on what form they are in. I don't mind them cooked, like in spaghetti or pizza sauce, and I can eat them on a sandwich if they are sliced really thin. But I don't like raw tomatoes by themselves."

"Interesting."

He swiped a card, and hit 3 buttons, causing 3 items to fall into the dispenser bin. He leaned down, pushing the door in and grabbing the packages. He ripped one opened, and tilted the bag towards me.

I stuck my hand in the bag, pulling out a piece of what looked like a puffed chip of some sort. I eyed it for a second, until my stomach growled, and I popped it into my mouth. It was crunchy, and sweet, and made me think of corn. It was good.

"Here, you eat this bag. We'll get something else a bit more filling later. We need to go to the practice room, so you can meet the rest of the guys, and their noona's, since you will all be working together. Don't worry, they are all really nice."

He stuck the bag in my hand, sticking the other two bags in his jacket pocket, and then he grabbed my free hand and led me towards the door I had entered thru.

He pushed it opened, and we were again in the main area, but there was no one else there now. He headed towards a different door, and my heart rate picked up, because first, he was holding my hand again, and second, was I about to meet the rest of BTS?

He pushed opened the door and I followed him into a small room with a few chairs, and a table at one end, but in a few steps we were going thru another door into a large room with mirrors surrounding it on 3 sides.

Off in one corner to the left, thru an open doorway, was a small alcove area with a table and chairs, and what looked like radio equipment. That's were everyone seemed to be. There were the girls I had seen when I'd gotten here with Min Jee, and to my wide eyed delight, the rest of the Bangtan Boys.

My throat was dry, and I licked my lips as they all turned to look at me.

"Taehyungie, is that your new stylist?"

It was Jimin speaking, with his adorable smile lighting up his face. He walked towards V, stopping in front of me.

"This is Laney, and yes, she's my new stylist."

"Nice to meet you, Laney. Mind if I have a chip?"

Before I could answer, he stuck his hand in the bag I was holding, pulling out a chip and popping it into his mouth. My mouth had been opened to reply, and I promptly closed it. He laughed, and V shook his head, smiling.

"She's nervous Jiminie, don't pick on her."

"Well she's going to have to get over that real quick, because I'm not going to stop picking on her anytime soon. She's too cute to not pick on." He said as he walked away.

V looked at me apologetically. "Sorry, Jimin thinks he's cute, but you'll soon learn that he's a brat." He emphasized the words cute and brat, saying them loud enough for Jimin to hear.

"I love you too Taehyungie!" Jimin sang out, not turning around.

I smiled, a small laugh bubbling up from my chest. Jimin was cute. If only Sadie could see me now.

The other girls were watching curiously, and V called out to one of them.

"Soo Yun, gather the others over here please, so I can introduce Laney. I want you all to make her feel welcome, and help her if she needs it until she knows what's going on."

The girl nodded, talking to the others, the six of them coming over to where I stood with V.

"Laney, I'd like you to meet Soo Yun, Kyung Mi, Mi Ok, Sang Hee, Hei Ran, and Yung Mi. They are the others members stylists."

I was never going to remember their names.

The one called Yung Mi spoke. "Laney is a pretty name. What does it mean?"

What does it mean? I had no idea. I didn't know if it meant anything.

"I never checked to see if it has a meaning. It's short for Delaney, everyone has just always called me Laney."

V looked intrigued. "Delaney? I think I prefer that to Laney."

"You can call me whatever you'd like. I'm okay with either one."

"Do you have three names also?" Mi Ok asked. "I've heard American people have three names." She smiled, and I noticed that she had one very deep dimple on one cheek, the other not having one at all. It was very cute.

"I do have three names. My full name is Delaney Michelle Harris."

"That's a very long, but pretty name. I think we will just call you Laney." Hei Ran said, bowing slightly. "It's very nice to meet you Laney, and we will take good care of you. If you have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask, we were all new once, and didn't know for sure what to do. You will learn soon enough and have more confidence."