Jae bowed to the receptionist of Big Hit Entertainment as she was about to exit the building. It was her last day working there, so she spent her time thanking the staff as she went through her job. Her colleague in the cleaning agency proposed for a farewell dinner at a nearby restaurant but Jae had to decline due to her other work.

Earlier that day, Jae and Yoo were summoned by the Human Resource Department to settle their matter. Yoo's outburst at the department was caught on the surveillance camera and he was cornered. He was given a strict warning and another case like that would cause termination. He even had to attend anger management therapy. Jae informed the company when she was filing the complaint that she would take legal action on Yoo unless he formally apologize to her and Aunt Ji. Yoo submitted a formal letter of apology and apologized, witnessed by the head of Accounting, Human Resource Department, and also a representative from the cleaning agency. Yoo looked reluctant and insincere - no surprise there. Jae suspected that his boss and colleague pressured him to do so.

The cleaning personnel knew the amount of paper that the Accounting Department went through daily. It must be suffocating to work in an office filled with trash. Not to mention that Jae kept flashing him an eerie smile when he bumped into her at the other department that Jae was working at. He steered his way clear from her. How the table have turned.

When Jae finally sat down, she realized that Yoongi had been calling her. There were 5 missed calls. Was there an emergency? Worried that something had happened, she called him back only to reach his voice message. She then left a message and cleaned up her locker. Jae checked her phone again as quitting time neared.

YO: We need to talk.

Jae was taken aback. That sounded serious. Didn't the line 'we need to talk' meant, what you need to talk about is serious, and that the other person may or may not like the conversation? Did something went wrong? He got a terminal disease or something? Did he get bored of her?

No that can't be it. Yoongi's not like that, she told herself. The possibilities were endless and Jae didn't like what went on in her head. She tried to calm herself down. Maybe it was nothing and she was overthinking about it. Her phone rang and she picked it up quickly.

"Are you leaving Big Hit now?" asked Yoongi. He was driving from the sound of it.

"I'm at the entrance. Why?"

"I'm about to reach there. I'll pick you up and drive you to work," he told her.

Jae blanched. "Are you crazy? People in Big Hit know your car," she whispered vehemently, going to a corner far enough from people's hearing.

"I'll park at the back alley few buildings away. I'll share you the location."

"Okay, see you then," said Jae but Yoongi already ended the connection. Jae looked at the phone quizzically.

What got him so abrupt like that? What was so serious that Yoongi had to risk seeing her in broad daylight?

Jae received the GPS location and went walking. She could see his car after a few minutes and she couldn't actually see his face through the windscreen to guess what was coming. She dreaded the impending doom that was waiting for her with each steps that she took. The short distance felt like she was walking through an overhanging bridge above a fiery pit that she could fall in anytime soon.

"Hi," said Jae as she went into the car.

"Hi," replied Yoongi tersely. No smile? She could see that he was unhappy. That can't be good.

"Is it safe here?" asked Jae looking outside.

"Yes, it is. The windscreen reflects light and people won't be able to see in," replied Yoongi with a bit of edge in his voice.

Jae peered at him closely, "What's wrong? Did something bad happen?" Yoongi was about to open his mouth but Jae cut in, "Are we breaking up already?"

Yoongi was dumbfounded and turned sideways to her, "Huh, what? No! Do you want to?"

"No," answered Jae quickly.

"Then, why did you ask me that?" asked Yoongi.

"You said we need to talk and from what I know, that's another word for, 'I'm going to say something that you're not going to like'. I don't like that," explained Jae.

"I want to ask you if there's something that you're not telling me," Yoongi asked.

"No, nothing. I told you everything," answered Jae.

"Are you sure?" prod Yoongi.

"What's this all about? I'm not a psychic and I don't know what you're getting at," retorted Jae.

"That's the problem. We talk every day but you didn't tell me anything about what happened at the Accounting Department 2 days ago," said Yoongi.

"Oh, that. It was nothing," waved Jae.

"It wasn't 'nothing'. I had to find out from J-Hope a while ago, who knew about what happened to my girlfriend from our manager that she was pushed by a jackass at work. My girlfriend, whom I talked to daily but never told me anything about that," explained Yoongi exasperatedly. "It was the same when you were slashed by the robber at the store. You told me nothing."

"We weren't in a relationship then," pointed Jae.

"You were wrong. I thought I was someone who you could talk to," said Yoongi. "Although, I would like to be more than a friend at that time."

"Are you angry because you weren't the first one to know?" asked Jae trying to understand. "I'm not a whiner and I don't want you to worry. I thought couples weren't supposed to hear every small problem going on in life."

"Who said that?" asked Yoongi.

"Something I read online," mumbled Jae.

"Jae. Any harm done to you is not a small problem. Physically and mentally. I would so much love to smash that guy's face right now," admitted Yoongi gritting through his teeth and his knuckles went white.

"No, don't do that," Jae was alarmed and held on to his hand. "I had it all under control. He was given a warning and would be fired the next time he do it again," said Jae.

"Now that's another thing," added Yoongi.

"What? Me handling it all by myself? Were you expecting me to be some kind of a damsel in distress? Feeble and weak?" Jae's hackles started to rise. "I can't be waiting all the time to be saved by a knight in the shining armor named Min Yoongi. Cinderella can't be meek all the time. Even Rapunzel went out on her journey with a crook by bringing a cast-iron pan," burst Jae. She had been fiercely independent all the while and she can't start being clingy and hopeless in a blink of an eye.

"Can you let me finish?" asked Yoongi, getting irritated.

"Okay, I'm all ears," said Jae huffily, crossing her arms. She went back to relationship tip number 1 mentally, which was listen. She took a deep breath, counted to 3, put her hands on her lap and gave him her undivided attention no matter how stinging it was going to be.

"I know you had it under control. Heard you twisted that guy's hand. Good. I'm proud of you. But despite having it under control. Could you at least tell me what had happen after it happened?"

"You still want to know even though it was a done deal and that guy already apologized?" asked Jae trying to take it all in.

"Of course. Now, let me give you a situation. What would you do if I got injured when I go abroad but didn't tell you about it because I have already recovered from whatever I was hurt for and I didn't want you to worry? And you only found it out through the internet and the TV weeks after that happened. I omitted that fact from you when we talked. How would you feel?"

"I would be mad," admitted Jae.

"Exactly!" agreed Yoongi. "That was what I'm trying to say. I really care about you and not knowing about what had happened, really hurts."

Jae angled her body sideways to fully see him, "I'm sorry. It's just that, I don't want to bug you that much with my problem. I just don't want you to worry about me. You were already busy as it is."

"You're always in my mind no matter how busy and occupied I get. Please do me a favor. I'm not asking for round the clock report. Anything you feel, you go through, good or bad, I want to know even when I'm not with you or it's a done deal. It goes both ways. Promise?" He held up his right pinkie.

"Promise," Jae linked her pinkie with his. "So, this is effective communication in a relationship," commented Jae, out of the blue.

"Huh?" Yoongi was puzzled.

"Something I read online," returned Jae, mumbling again.

"You're not getting relationship tips on the internet now, aren't you?" inquired Yoongi.

"So what if I did? The information is all there," said Jae, getting defensive.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to believe everything on the internet?"

"That's why Chan-Ri eonnie sat down with me and we went through the relationship list," blurted Jae.

Yoongi was baffled, "You actually went through online relationship tips with her?"

"Go on, laugh. It's not as if I have any prior knowledge on any relationship before you," Jae blinked a few seconds later and buried her face in her hands morosely after realizing what she said. Yoongi didn't need to know that. The curse of having a mouth that runs faster before her brain could process when she got into defensive mode.

"Are you actually saying what I think you are saying?" asked Yoongi, looking at her intently.

"I'm walking to work," announced Jae suddenly as she took her bag and held on the door handle. She was embarrassed to the roots of her hair to admit her predicament to Yoongi. People her age would have been dating a few times if not a lot. But not her.

"Jae, stop it," Yoongi held onto her arm and locked the door.

Jae sat dejectedly. "I know guys would love to have 'experienced' girlfriends. Us noobs are considered as a no go zone unless you're willing to deal with starry eyed happily ever after ideals. Especially, a 24 year old noob. Archaic. A dinosaur. An anomaly. Look, I'm a freak and I have zero knowledge of -," Jae was cut off when Yoongi silenced her with the only way he could. He pulled and kissed her thoroughly. Jae tried to pull away but he held her firmly before she went pliant and partially on top of him. They were both breathless when they were done.

"You talk too much," smiled Yoongi with his face few inches away from hers and went on peppering light kisses on her face. "For your information, you don't kiss like a noob," he added.

"Uh, thank you?" Jae's face was flushed after the kiss and she was barely coherent. Her thoughts went scattering around when Yoongi pulled her for the kiss and effectively shutting her up. Her neck was getting stiff, so she went back to her seat trying to gather her jumbled thoughts. Kissing in the car was definitely uncomfortable but then again... what was she saying before that?

"One of these days, I really want to know where you get all that ideas," Yoongi shook his head as his hand tucking her hair behind her ear and then lacing Jae's fingers with his. Jae's hair was getting long and he didn't mind it a bit. "Do not generalize 'all guys' just because of what some so called expert wrote. Everyone is different. If everyone is the same, the world would be a boring place," he commented.

Jae just nodded in agreement.

"I would be superficial if I could list down all the reasons why I like you. There's things I know about you and there's some things that I am still learning. Could you tell me why you like me?" he asked her back.

Jae thought carefully and she could probably make a list out of the small things that he did but that would take forever. "I did give you a list when you were 16," reminded Jae shyly. "And I was not superficial. I was a teenager," she defended.

"No, you're not superficial," Yoongi grinned widely. Despite the long time, he could still remember bits and pieces of the content of that letter. She wrote that she loves his smile, his laugh, his rapping skills, his tenacity, the way he speaks and it went on and on. Playing a mean game of basketball topped her list. There was even a 'looking dashingly good when he carried out his student council duty at the school gate'. Despite his image as a savage rapper, he was a straight laced student and became a member of the student council, helping maintaining discipline in school. "I wish I could go over and read that letter of yours," said Yoongi.

"You still have it with you?" Jae's curiosity was perked.

"At home in Daegu," admitted Yoongi.

"No, don't do that. I was stupid," said Jae. "As a matter of fact, you'd better burn it."

"You were cute," Yoongi kissed her hand. "Anyway, I just want you to know that prior experience didn't make my list but I'm thankful that we had this talk."

"I'm glad we did too," Jae grinned happily. Jae saw the time on her watch and her jaw dropped. Where did the time go? "Oppa, I'll be late for work," said Jae.

Yoongi checked the time and it was 10 minutes to 7 p.m. "You'll be there on time," he reassured her as he put his car in ignition and drove. The restaurant was not that far by car but the peak hour traffic would be crazy.

"What do you have tomorrow since you're no longer working at Big Hit?" asked Yoongi as he maneuvered through the traffic.

"There's a meeting I have to go to at Mapo-Gu. Currently negotiating a deal about my song with a local game developer," said Jae.

"That's great. Hope that goes well. You do any international project? I know you did some before."

"There's a few lining up but I'm still considering about it. I would have to travel a lot and from my previous experience, it would get a bit tedious. I can't possibly go back and forth abroad that easily, unless they are willing to foot my traveling bill. My wallet doesn't permit it," said Jae. "For now, my focus is on local projects. We're in Korea. We have big companies like Nexon, Netmarble and Gravity. Some of the small time game developers here have the potential of going big, too."

"You're right on that," Yoongi agreed.

"Take that left turn," instructed Jae.

"The back alley?" asked Yoongi as he turned.

"I'm not going to do anything that would risk your career," said Jae sternly. "Another left after you see that white car. You can stop there," she pointed to the shop few doors away.

Yoongi ignored her instruction until he reached the back of the restaurant. "We're here," he said as he stopped the car. "No objection," he kissed her again when she was about to. He could see that clearly from her face.

"Okay, fine, thanks. Take care," said Jae hurriedly as she sprinted into the restaurant.

Yoongi drove away with a big smile on his face. He then sobered up.

He was going to find Yoo Myung Dae.

***********************************

Author's note:

There. My super long chapter 😆 Congratulations for reading through 2.6k words (The final count was 2630 words LOL)