My hand came up to cover my mouth, my eyes closing so I could keep him from seeing the tears building. I didn't expect this at all. I never expected this to be so hard. The fact that he wanted me to stay so badly was breaking my heart.

~♡~

I should tell him. I needed to. I didn't plan to do it so soon, and I don't think it was expected that I would have to tell him already. But I felt like I had to. I felt like if I let him continue to think I could stay, and then told him when I had even less time left, it would be that much worse. I didn't want him to get his hopes up that I would be staying. There was no way I could, no way at all.

I hated to have to tell him. I felt like I was about to ruin his happiness, because once he knew, he would probably want nothing to do with me. That wasn't how this was supposed to go, it was only my third day here.

I sniffled, and he reached for my hand.

"What's wrong? You're crying. Why?" He gazed at me, his brows drawn together in concern.

"Tae, there's something I have to tell you."

His eyelids lowered, his expression faltering a bit.

"What is it Delaney? Is everything okay?"

"Not...no, no it's not. I'm so sorry Taehyung. I never meant for you to get hurt."

He shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Tae, I need you to just listen to me, okay? What I'm going to tell you...just...please, listen to  me."

I looked into his eyes, begging for understanding, but what I saw was confusion, and a bit of fear.

"Tae," I whispered, "I'm not who you think I am. This isn't...reality, at least, not for me."

I watched him, seeing his nostrils flare slightly as he stared at me. "What are you talking about? You're sitting right in front of me, I can touch you, I'm holding your hand, of course it's reality."

"I made a wish, Tae...to be here with you. It was granted, that's why I'm here."

A slow smile spread across his face. "You were scaring me for a minute."

I looked at him, knowing that he had misunderstood me. "Tae, I'm serious..."

"Did you really make a wish though, like, on a shooting star? I don't know if they really come true, but I guess it doesn't hurt to try."

"Tae...you're not listening to me."

"I am. You made a wish, now you're here."

I swallowed, and closed my eyes. "Taehyung, I want you to listen to me, and I know that you're probably going to want to get up and walk out that door, but please, let me finish what I'm about to say, and then, if that's what you want to do, I won't try to stop you, okay?"

His eyes became dark, shadowed, the smile disappearing, but he still held my hand.

I licked my lips, taking what was supposed to be a calming breath, and closed my eyes for five seconds. When I opened them, I looked right into his, begging him to know that I was telling the truth.

"My name really is Delaney Harris. I really am a stylist, of sorts. I do hair, and make up occasionally.  In America, we're called beauticians." I paused, not sure how to go on, because this was the hard part. "It's so hard to tell you this."

He was watching me, straight faced, blinking every so often, and I could tell he was clenching his teeth. I just knew he was going to get up and leave when I was finished talking. I was shaking, and I wondered if he could feel it in the hand that he was still holding.

"I'm...actually," I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, and I bit the inside of my lip to try and stop them. "I'm 51, and I'm married and have two grown kids."

I felt his grip on my hand loosen, and I let it fall from his, not surprised that he had let go.

"Tae, I know it sounds crazy, but I swear to you, I'm telling you the truth. BTS has been the only reason I've had to smile in the past year. You guys, especially you, have made me so happy. Your  music helps me thru every single day. I don't think I'd get thru them without it."

He had backed up a bit, and he was still watching me, only, he looked apprehensive now. But I'd gotten this far, I wasn't going to stop now.

"I've been married for 30 years, and for the past year, I've been trying to just stay ahead, keep the bills paid, so we can keep the power on, eat, maybe watch tv every now and then, stay warm in the winter. My husband doesn't work. Not because he can't. Because he won't. He can't find a job 'good enough' for his liking. So he just...doesn't work. He sits home all day, on the couch, doing nothing."

I had looked away, but I knew he was still staring at me. I didn't know what he was thinking, and I wasn't sure I wanted to.

"I get up, and go to work every day. Then I come home, make dinner, clean up, straighten up around the house, and either go upstairs to my room, my happy place, or I go for a walk, while my husband sleeps on the couch, after his busy day."

I saw his jaw tick, and his fist clenched on the couch next to his thigh.

"My room is the place I most enjoy being. It has all my BTS stuff, and it just makes me smile. I have posters, and albums, photo cards, my Tata plushie, a wall hanging of you that a fellow army got me for my birthday. I go to that room to be able to just let go of all the stress from the day. It's the only place I can smile, and mean it. You have been my reason to smile so often."

I closed my eyes again, grateful that he hadn't already left. But I still believed he would. Hell, I would, if I was hearing this.

"I've seriously thought about just leaving my husband. I feel like we've grown apart so much. I don't think there's anything worth fighting for in our relationship anymore. It hurts, but it is what it is. I'm lonely. My kids never visit. I just don't even know what I'm living for anymore, really. But you, you make me not want to give up. I've wished so many times that I'd been born in a different time and place, that I'd had the opportunity to know you. It had become a nightly mantra, me wishing I was 20 and somehow able to be close to you."

I saw him swallow, his fist loosening, but he didn't say a word.

"I knew it was ridiculous. I knew I shouldn't even be feeling the things I was feeling for you. But I couldn't help it. It didn't matter how old I was. Me being 51 didn't make you less perfect, or less attractive. It didn't lessen your ability to make me smile when you were being cute, or stop my heart from racing when you did something sexy. It didn't seem fair that just because I wasn't closer to your age, that I couldn't dream, or fantasize about being with you."

I had tears running down my face now, dripping onto the front of my shirt. I didn't try to stop them, I knew I couldn't.

"The night before I ended up here, I had gone for a walk to the park, my music playing, and I sat on a bench, watching the fountain.  An elderly gentleman approached me, and I removed my earbuds in case he decided to speak to me. Turns out, he not only spoke to me, but he knew everything about me. I didn't believe it at first, but he made it impossible not to believe. He offered to grant me a wish, anything I wanted. As much as I thought it would all turn out to be a dream, I decided to wish for this...to wish for a chance to be young, and be close to you, to know you, maybe even be able to be your girlfriend."

He closed his eyes, and I saw him take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. I expected him to get up and walk out, but he didn't move.

"I was positive I would wake up the next morning and realize that I'd dreamed the whole thing. Even though the man literally faded away before my eyes. Even though the song that had been playing when he appeared was still playing when he disappeared. Even though the time on my phone said I'd only been in the park, on that bench, for maybe a minute. He had told me that time was frozen while we were speaking. I left for home immediately after our conversation, and I'd only been gone for 30 minutes. It takes me 15 minutes just to walk to the park at a normal pace, 10 if I hurry. I would swear that we talked for a good 30 minutes. It made no sense, so it had to be a dream."

He still hadn't said a word, or moved. I met his gaze, and his eyes were so dark, his lips pressed into a thin, hard line.

"He had told me that when I woke up the next morning, I would wake up in Seoul, and that I would be 20 years old, and a stylist for Big Hit, more specifically, for you. He also said that you would soon fall for me, and ask me to be your girlfriend."

At that, he stood up quickly, looking up towards the ceiling, then back at me. "Anything else?" He asked harshly.

He was angry, cold. I didn't blame him.

I nodded, wiping my face, the tears still falling. "He said that I would have 30 days here, and that I would be aware of the fact that I was only here because my wish had been granted. He told me that it was my choice whether I told you or not. He also said that when the 30 days was up, and I returned, I would remember everything about my time here with you, and that you would also remember everything, except my name."

I closed my eyes, not able to handle the pain on his face that I could clearly see, even though he was trying to mask it with anger.

"So you're supposed to be here for 30 days, I'm supposed to fall in love with you, then you're just going to disappear from my life, and I'm going to be able to remember you, but not your name? And you're okay with all this? That's pretty fucked up, don't ya think?"

I opened my eyes, looking at the pain and anger on his face, and it just made me cry even more.

"I swear, I didn't know most of that until after I'd made my wish. I only knew that I'd have 30 days. When I found out, when I realized that you were going to end up getting hurt, I asked for it to be reversed, or for you to not remember once I was gone. He said things had to play out the way they were supposed to, that he couldn't change things now or it would make it worse. I don't want you to be hurt, Tae. That's not what I want at all. I never expected your feelings to be real."

He turned away from me, walking to the window, looking out briefly, then turning and coming back to stand in front of me. I looked up at him, and he was watching me, a blank expression on his face. 

"He told me that He had nothing to do with you asking me to be your girlfriend. He said that it wasn't supposed to happen as quickly as it did. He said your feelings were real."

I hoped that would make a difference, but it didn't seem to matter. This night had not gone how I thought it would at all. I had ruined everything by telling him. I didn't even know if he'd want me to still be his stylist.

"Tae, I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you. Please believe me."

"It's V, and I'm not hurt, because I don't believe you. I'll be requesting a new stylist, but until one can be found, I'd appreciate it if you still came to work each day and did your job. I truly hope they find a replacement fast, so that you can be relieved of your duties, and then get some help."

I looked down at my hands in my lap, the pain in my heart so deep that I knew I would feel it forever. I started to cry harder, squeezing my eyes shut tightly, and I couldn't help the sob that rose from my chest and escaped my lips. The next thing I heard was the door, opening, and then closing with a bang.