Ever since Ruby had developed a crush on Taehyung when she had first been introduced to BTS, she had found herself fantasizing - like any other fan - several different scenarios of what would happen if he were her boyfriend. She knew the fantasies were nothing that would make it further than her journals or online fanfictions though. She was realistic that way. Ruby thought that maybe if she was lucky enough she might be able to attend a concert. She had been lucky enough to do just that, but now - just two days later - she was in an apartment alone with Taehyung as Jungkook ran off after her sister.

Taehyung stood in front of her after Jungkook left. He had dressed up rather casually in a pair of black jeans and a royal purple v-neck tee. She realized as she looked at him that they looked like they were twinning. Ruby stood rooted to her spot in her dark navy blue jeans and purple and pink striped sweater. She debated whether or not she ought to go change.

"Say something, you goof," thought Ruby as the silence between them continued.

Ruby wished that she wasn't so awkward. They had met earlier in the day at the cafe, but that felt like a lifetime ago. Besides, he wasn't her boyfriend. He was a boy that was her friend, if he was even that. Maybe they were just acquaintances. Maybe not even that. This was a member of BTS after all, not some random boy next door.

"So, can I help with anything?" asked Taehyung as he shoved his hands into his jean pockets, deciding to be the one to break the silence.

"You can come help me with the sauce if you want," she said as she fought against a blush.

Ruby eventually regained control of her limbs, making herself walk towards the kitchen with Taehyung following her. She only realized then how oddly decorated the kitchen was. It was a mix of her and Ame's style. Ame liked the simple neutral colors, but Ruby liked color and oddities. Ruby had - upon moving in - insisted that she get to hang up some of her metal comic book cover signs in the kitchen along with her bright blue toucan clock. The toucan clock stood out against the beige wall over the stove, drawing anyone's eye to it when they entered.

"I like the clock," said Taehyung. "Where did you get it?"

"Thrift store," she said.

"Oh my word. The one and only V complimented my toucan clock," thought Ruby, bound and determined that she surely must be dreaming.

Ruby tried to fight back her blush as she walked over to the stove where she had been about to deal with the sauce. Taehyung moved to stand alongside her, watching as she picked up the jar.

"I was going to spruce this up a bit," she explained, feeling embarrassed about the jarred sauce.

"Are you kidding? You don't have to go through all that trouble. We like sauce from a jar too."

"I know, but I want to," she said.

She moved to try to get the lid off the jar. Of course, it wouldn't budge. Sighing, she tucked the jar against her as she tried twisting it again. Still it didn't budge. She heard Taehyung's soft chuckle beside her.

"Here. Let me try."

She handed the jar off to him, turning to watch him struggle with the jar lid too. She allowed herself to crack a small smile at his struggle with it, watching as he grabbed up the dish towel by the sink to try and use that to get a better grip on the lid.

"Jars are sometimes so difficult to open..." Taehyung said between chuckles as he fought with it. "This reminds me of the one time Jin had a similar struggle."

"And how did that one end up?"

"Oh, it ended up with Jin being determined to get the lid off one way or another. He refused to back down or hand the jar to anyone else to let them try. Jin was so determined that he ended up twisting it off with more force than he needed to. The lid flew off and ended up splattering him, the wall and me - who was standing nearby - with pasta sauce. Even though Jin got the lid off, we agreed the jar won the fight that day."

Ruby laughed. Taehyung grinned softly when he heard that, twisting off the jar lid then.

"Ha! I did better than Jin!"

"You got the jar open without a speck of sauce anywhere. I'm impressed," said Ruby.

"Though he could just continue to stand there, and I'd find something to be impressed about," thought Ruby as she looked away when the blush came back to her cheeks with an even greater ferocity.

"You don't have to be nervous around me," said Taehyung suddenly as he put the open jar down, breaking her out of her thoughts, "Especially if you're planning to help Kookie and I. I don't want you to feel flustered every time we're around."

Ruby forced herself to look back at Taehyung to notice that he was staring right at her. Her. She forced herself to look into those warm brown eyes of his without passing out even though she felt her knees getting weak.

"You seem different than you were earlier even," he continued, "We're the Dream Team though. Remember? That hasn't changed in the last few hours."

He gave her a small smile, causing her to give him one in return.

"Right," she said.

"Right," he said back. "Now - Dream Teamer - tell me what I have to do to help you spruce up this sauce like you wanted to. Maybe I'll actually gain some cooking wisdom that I can hold over Jin for once."

She chuckled.

"Don't get your hopes up too high," said Ruby as she nodded her head towards the leftover hamburgers and basil.

"Look at you being thrifty!" He said as he moved towards the cooked hamburgers.

"Could you chop it up some into fine little chunks?"

"Chunks?" He said, suddenly pretending he was going to vomit which made Ruby laugh right out loud. Taehyung's laughter was quick to join hers.

"Bits then. Is that better?"

"Better," he said with a beautiful grin that Ruby was sure would be forever engrained in her memory even after all this was over.

She watched as Taehyung moved to grab a knife out of the knife block, slicing the hamburgers into little bits while Ruby moved to dump the jar of sauce that Taehyung just opened into the sauce pan. Before either of them could talk again, Ruby's cell phone rang. Digging it out of her pocket, she saw that it was Freddi.

"You can answer it," said Taehyung. "Chef Tae will handle the sauce."

She nodded her head as she looked at Taehyung.

"Thank you. I'll try to make it quick."

"Take your time," he said. "I won't burn anything."

"You're so hot though you might just burn up the entire kitchen with your existence while I'm gone," thought Ruby as she stepped out of the kitchen to answer the phone call.

"Did I just see Ame running down the sidewalk outside the store?" asked Freddi as soon as Ruby picked up.

"Perhaps," said Ruby as she moved into the living room, sitting down on the arm of the couch. "Charming got loose."

"Charming got loose? Does he have super speed or is Ame just that out of shape? I mean, how has she not caught him yet?" asked Freddi with a laugh. "Besides, I thought Ame was sick. Why is she out running around after her bunny if she's sick?"

"She's sick of people," said Ruby. "That is why she took a sick day. She needed a day off from the whole panic girl thing."

"Ah. That makes sense," said Freddi. "Wise decision on Ame's part since there have been a lot of those kind of people showing up here again today."

"I suppose it was," said Ruby as she turned sideways. She could see Taehyung's back from where she sat; one arm moving slowly to cut away at the hamburgers. The back of him was even hot. How was that even possible?

"You sound distracted," said Freddi. "Did you hear what I just said?"

Ruby froze. She hadn't realized that she had tuned Freddi out as she stared at Taehyung. Flushing, she turned away from looking at him towards the television that was still showing fading screenshots of Netflix programs.

"I'm sorry. I didn't. Can you please repeat it?"

"I said I was thinking about coming over when I get off my shift in an hour. What kind of pizza would you like?"

"I'm sorry, Freddi. I'll have to take a rain check on the pizza and you coming over," said Ruby. "I'm kind of busy tonight."

"Kind of busy doing what? Since when are you busy?"

"I just am," said Ruby. "I'm sorry."

"Did you finally get a boyfriend or something and you're not telling me?" asked Freddi. Ruby could hear her friend's sass even through the phone.

"No. It's not like that..."

Ruby had then made the mistake of turning back to look at the kitchen to see that Taehyung was now standing in front of the sauce pot, slipping the hamburger into it.

"Is it BTS then?" Ruby heard Freddi ask. "Are you watching some sort of online concert again or something without inviting me?"

"Freddi, look. I'll talk to you later. I'll make it up to you. I promise. Thank you for the offer."

Hanging up on Freddi, she sent a quick text to her as she walked back towards the kitchen since she had hung up on her so abruptly.

Ruby
Sorry I hung up so quickly.
Just busy like I said.
We'll talk later.

Freddi
Will we though?

Ruby
Yes. Trust me.

Freddi

Rolling her eyes, Ruby tucked her phone away as she came back over to Taehyung's side. He turned to look at her as she came over.

"The hamburger bits are in there," he said. "And I put some of the basil in too."

"Thank you," said Ruby.

"Was everything okay?"

"Yes. It was just my friend. The one that almost hit you and Jungkook with the broomstick."

"Ah, yes. I remember her quite well."

"She let me know that she saw Ame running past the grocery store."

"Isn't the store several blocks from here?"

"Yes."

"Is Charming secretly the Energizer bunny?" asked Taehyung.

That set the two of them chuckling again as they moved to finish cooking the dinner together as a girl and a boy who were just friends.

- - -

AN: I do not own the meme used in this chapter.