On a warm April night, the streets of Seoul were quiet.
The bustling city fell silent a few hours before midnight.
Lights burned in houses and flickered in the tiny windows of high-rise buildings.
Jimin was returning from practice. The other members had returned to the dormitory long ago, but not him.
He liked to stay in the hall longer, rehearsing choreography until his back ached and his feet were covered in blisters.
Pulling the hood of his black sweatshirt over his head, he slowly walked down the deserted city street. He listened to his favorite music on his headphones and danced to its rhythms. A message came to his phone:
Taehyung:
"Minnie~ya! Will you be long? I'm hungry. Jin-hyung doesn't want to have dinner without you." He added a dozen sad emojis. "Ugh! Why are you always out in the evenings? I'm going to starve to death because of you..." He added a few more emojis.
Jimin:
"Have dinner without me. I just finished training. I won't be back for at least an hour. I'll buy some ramen on the way."
The boy replied hastily, stopping at the bus stop. He sat down on a bench and waited for the last bus, which stopped not far from their dormitory.
Less than five minutes later, the bus arrived. Jimin forced himself to get up from the bench, carrying his tired body onto the bus and sitting down in one of the empty seats.
There were almost no people on the bus: Only a tired driver, a young man in a black cap and jacket in the front seat, and a beautiful girl with headphones sleeping with her head leaning against the window were on it. She seemed comfortable that way because her snoring could be heard through her slightly open mouth. Even when the bus made sharp turns at intersections, the girl did not wake up; she only adjusted her position in the seat.
Jim leaned his head against the window. He listened to the song playing through his headphones. He admired the cityscape. Fatigue slowly set in. He wanted nothing more than to hug a soft pillow and fall asleep, but the dormitory was still far away. The bus passed one stop after another, but the road still did not end. His phone beeped, announcing a new message from Taehyung.
Taehyung:
"Dinner was delicious. Jin-hyung knows how to surprise us. :) We left you some roast pork. When you arrive, you can heat it up..."
Jimin:
"Kumapta, Hyung." The guy smiled. He looked at the young man in the cap and noticed that he was closely watching the sleepy bus passenger, or rather, her purse, which she was holding on her lap.
As the bus approached the stop, the suspicious guy got up from his seat. He stood by the door next to the sleeping girl. He looked down at the bag and glanced around. Jimin realized the stranger was trying to steal the purse, hoping to find something valuable inside. The problem was, what could he do to stop the thief?
No ideas came to mind. Seeing that the young man was reaching for the bag, Jimin slowly got up from his seat and sat down next to the girl. The bus stopped. Taken by surprise, the thief pretended nothing had happened and calmly left the bus. He looked out the window disappointedly as the bus doors closed and the bus pulled away.
Jimin breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back at the thief for a long time, glad that he had averted disaster. Suddenly, he froze and glanced once more toward the window. His gaze fell on the beautiful girl he had just saved: She had snow-white skin, pink lips, a small, neat nose, and long, black, straight hair. The boy opened his mouth in admiration of such beauty. The girl slept soundly, leaning against the window. She held a bag on her lap and a phone in her hands. The phone's screen often flashed with messages.
She wore a thin sweatshirt inscribed with the word "BTS," jeans, and red converse sneakers adorned with stars. She resembled the heroine of the song "BTS - Converse High," which Jim often listened to on his phone when he was in a romantic mood. She seemed perfect to him. He had dreamed about a girl like this for years, but his work prevented him from finding his soulmate.
Jim sometimes envied Yoongi, who had recently met the girl of his dreams. He began to pay more attention to her and forgot about his friend. That's when Minnie felt lonely. He really wanted to experience the wonderful feelings Yoongi was feeling with his beloved.
The girl's phone was flooded with messages, but she was fast asleep. It seemed like she was having her tenth dream and didn't want to wake up. Suddenly, the bus turned sharply to the left to pass the car in front. Jimin was calmly looking out the window when he suddenly felt something fall on his right shoulder. He jumped in surprise but calmed down quickly, realizing it was a girl leaning her head on his shoulder. He wanted to wake her up, but something stopped him. The name of his favorite song, "Converse High," lit up on her phone screen. At that moment, his heart began beating so fast that he lost count. His knees trembled, and his palms sweated.
He had never felt anything like this before. He felt as if he were about to faint, but a pleasant feeling in his chest prevented him from doing so. It filled him with energy and an irrepressible desire to feel this way every day.
So, this is how Yoongi feels now? A mad desire to fly above the clouds and never return? The feeling was intoxicating. His head spun and his heart raced from the frantic rhythm. His breathing was rapid and intermittent. It was difficult to gather his thoughts and come to his senses. But an unexpected phone call brought him back to reality.
Struck as if by lightning, the girl looked at the screen, her eyes widening in surprise as she failed to notice the boy next to her. She jumped up and asked the driver to stop. The bus stopped abruptly in the middle of the road. The girl jumped out and ran in the opposite direction, having missed her stop.
Jimin was now the only passenger on the bus.
He tried for a long time to focus on something else, but he couldn't stop thinking about the charming stranger.
Finally, the bus reached its last stop. Minnie slowly and carefully got off the bus, touching the solid ground with her feet. He still felt as if a pleasant feeling wanted to lift him off the ground, but his heavy backpack prevented him from flying away.
Convinced that it was just a pleasant moment, the boy exhaled heavily, scratched the back of his head, and continued on his way home.
The morning of the new day was full of adventure.
The Bantans had overslept and were now running around the dorm in a frenzy. Kooki couldn't find his favorite pants, even though they were hanging in plain sight in the closet. Taehyung hadn't showered yet because Jim was sitting there, getting ready. Jin had been ready to leave for a while and was making breakfast for the tonsens, as usual. Sleepy Mon was walking around looking for his headphones. Hobi was already waiting at the exit, listening to music and rehearsing dance moves. Suga was still asleep, and no one dared to wake him. The guys knew it was hard to wake him up, but Yoongi quickly got ready for the trip when time was short. His suitcase was already by the exit. All that was left was to get dressed.
There were only a few minutes left before departure, and the taxi was about to arrive at their house. Manager Nam was calling every second, preventing the guys from getting ready. Today, they were flying to Japan for a concert whose tickets sold out in just a few minutes. The guys simply couldn't let the manager down.
Just as they finished breakfast, Kookie found his pants, Mon found his headphones, and Yoongi got dressed with his eyes closed. The doorbell rang. Jin hurried to open the door for the guest.
Jimin was just about to get out of the shower when a melodious female voice was heard behind the door.
"Good morning! Sorry to bother you, but I called the delivery service and they said they left my package with the neighbors." The neighbor from across the hall said.
"They didn't leave anything for us," said Jin when he heard Taehyung's voice from the kitchen.
"If it's the package, I left it under the table in the hallway. Next to our shoes," he shouted from the kitchen while eating breakfast.
"Oh, really? Here, take it." Jin handed the box to the girl.
"Thank you," said the stranger as Jim came out of the bathroom wearing a T-shirt and shorts and drying his wet hair with a towel.
The boy's eyes widened in surprise. Standing in the doorway was the same girl he had rescued from the thief the day before: She had long black hair and snow-white skin. Now, he could see her features better. She was even more beautiful than she had been on the bus the night before.
She looked at Minnie with her big, beautiful eyes but did not recognize the boy. She shyly averted her gaze. But Jim's heart recognized her. It began to beat at the same frantic pace as last time. The door closed, and Jim was still standing in the hallway, staring into space. He no longer cared if the Bantans were late for their flight because of him. Honestly, he wasn't thinking about that at all. All he wanted was to find out the name of the charming stranger who turned out to be their neighbor.