Namjoon

Namjoon scanned his fingerprint and opened the door to his apartment. Despite Hana's initial refusal of them living together, they were actually doing just that with him returning to his apartment more than the dorm after her grandfather returned to California. She didn't say anything about it and he didn't plan to tell her outright.

Going home knowing someone was there was a novelty for him. He was used to going home with the rest of the members there, but with Hana, it was different. The saying that you wouldn't know the person really well until you live with them was true. It was different when you were living with people who had the same goal as he does than living with a person he was in love with. He got to learn more about her and her pet peeves that he didn't know before.

He knew he wasn't a neat freak and sometimes unintentionally left his clothes or towel on the floor and sometimes even on the sofa. For the first few days, Hana would pick it up and put it in the clothes hamper and after some time, she just left it be. She wasn't the nagging type but he knew that habit of his was getting to her when he saw her staring at the items on the floor for a while and just walked away. He wasn't a slob per se. He always picked his clothes up and threw it in the right place afterwards, only that Hana was there before he did it.

He entered the house and he knew something was wrong. What was Hana doing baking cookies at that time of the night?

His mind did a rewind of what happened that day. An article about him being married broke out that day because of the Claddagh ring that was stuck on his finger on the day he gave the ring to her. Little that she knew, after she put the ring on his finger, he was attending an interview and photoshoot. True to his words, he lubed the ring out after he got home and moved the ring to his right ring finger as her ring. He was making a habit of wearing another ring on his index finger to cover it up. He just brushed the article off, assuring her that it will die down.

"Aren't the management or PR department going to do anything about that?" Hana asked him over the phone when he finally called her that day. He didn't think making her wait for his answer would be good.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Like telling your fans you're not married or in a relationship or something like that?"

She was freaking out a bit, Namjoon thought. He needed to calm her down. "Hana, cool down. Do you think the PR department is going to make a press release just because of the position of the rings that I wear?" he reasoned.

"No. That's minor."

"That's right," Namjoon said. "While I'm not married, yet - I'm not going to agree with the article saying I'm single when I'm not. Let them speculate," he assured her. "Are you still wearing your ring?"

"I was thinking of putting it on a necklace when I read that article about you," Hana admitted. "But that would make it too obvious if I change it after the speculation was out."

He felt a bit of a sting behind that. He knew she was worried because of the ring she wore but he didn't want her to remove it. "It's up to you wherever you want to wear it or not wear it at all. I don't mind," he said.

"I just don't want you to get in trouble because of it," she said.

"I'm not," he said. "Look, I got to get back to work. Talk to you later," and he ended the call, went back to work and try not to think about the ring as he fingered his.

And now he was greeted by the sweet smell coming out of the kitchen. Normal people would be happy with that, but he knew Hana.

That didn't bode well.

"What's cooking?" Namjoon kissed her after she placed the cookies on the kitchen counter. He looked at her right hand, the ring was there much to his delight.

"I was missing the soft cookies I had back in Cali. I couldn't find the one with the same taste so I baked it myself. Here, try it. It's good when it's still warm," Hana said as she placed one on a plate.

"Okay," Namjoon said as he sat on the stool. Hana opened the freezer and Namjoon's jaw nearly dropped at what he saw. "Hana, why did you need that much ice cream?" he asked. He didn't mind her filling the whole section up with whatever she wanted. His only concern was the flavour. He wasn't a fan of mint chocolate chip ice cream but it was Hana's favourite.

Hana took a pint out with a scoop.

"Stop there," Namjoon put his hand on hers. "I don't like mint-choc much."

"I'm not going to put this on your cookies. This is for me," she scooped it out and made a cookie sandwich with it. The ice cream melted between the warm cookies and the liquid dribbled down to her hands. She was licking the liquid that was trickling down and Namjoon forgot about his dislike of the ice-cream.

"Your cookie is getting cold," she said as she continued finishing hers.

"Uh, yes. Okay," he said dumbly as he ate the food. As usual, Hana's cooking was delicious and she could give any cooks or bakers a run for their money if she sells the food she cooks. "This is delicious!"

"Really? Thanks. I'm using my grandma's recipe. She's the best cook in the family," Hana said as she finished her food and washed her hands. "Are you done?" she asked.

Namjoon was down to his last bite when she asked that. "Yes," he stood and put his plate in the kitchen sink. He then went to her and hugged her tight. "Now you can tell me what's bothering you."

"You know me too well," she sighed.

He didn't say much as he held her in her arms.

"We'll do that. Later," Hana said.

Namjoon pulled his head back to see her face. "Why?" he was confused.

"I'm going to make you like mint-choc," she said mischievously.

"There's no way you're going to make me like eating chocolate with toothpaste," he said vehemently. The thought of mixing those two flavours was sacrilegious.

"You're not going to. I am," said Hana.

"Huh?" he responded.

She pulled him to the bedroom with a pint of mint-chocolate ice-cream.

Much breathlessly passionate moment later, Namjoon agreed with Hana. His relationship with mint-choc ice cream will never be the same.

He would even fill the freezer with the ice cream himself.

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

Hana

Hana didn't know how to respond to the news that she received that day.

The first was about the speculation about Namjoon's marital status that was spreading like wildfire after he was spotted with the ring during the interview. She then walked out of the room after her call with Namjoon and found James looking for her at her cubicle.

That was when the second news came.

She was called to meet up with the top management of the marketing department. She was used to meeting them all the time but with James in the discussion - that clearly means something big was coming up.

"Hana-ssaem, I would like to tell you that the contract between Big Hit and your translation agency is extended for another 6 months," informed Shim Hwan, the junior VP of the marketing department after they were done with the niceties. "However, you will be based back in LA for that."

"What do you mean?" Hana was confused. "How does that work?" she turned to James and then back to Shim Hwan in confusion.

"Since BTS would be moving a lot in the Asian region within these few months, your service is much needed by the marketing and PR department in the US and Europe. Big Hit is going to have a lot of things planned there. You're attached to them anyway and most of the upcoming job for you will be in LA," James explained. "This is good news as it's near to home anyway."

There was one thing that Hana hated the most. It was people making assumptions about what she thought. She knew James's assumption was based on their main office and her family home there but little he knew that she wasn't looking forward to not being able to see Namjoon while she was there. She knew she was being complacent while she was in Seoul, thinking she would be able to see him all the time. She shouldn't be.

"So, when do I have to go there?" Hana gathered her thoughts and asked.

"In another two weeks. That would be enough time for you to sort out the lease of your apartment," Shim Hwan said diplomatically.

After work ended, baking cookies and buying ice cream were the only thing on her mind. She was now looking blankly at the bedroom ceiling as Namjoon scooted closer to her.

"What was that about?" he asked as he nuzzled her ears.

"It was something that have been on my mind when I see that ice cream," Hana admitted.

Namjoon chuckled good-naturedly. "I'm not talking about the ice cream but I'm not complaining. You changed my mind about mint-choc.

"Told you I would," Hana said impishly.

"That part aside, what's bothering you? I know something was off when I came home."

"Home sounds nice, right?" she sounded melancholic.

"With you here, it is nice," he said.

"I have to get back to LA," Hana blurted.

Namjoon immediately sat and looked at her in surprise. That didn't sit well with him. "Why? What's wrong? I thought they extended the contract with your agency."

Hana pulled the covers up as she sat at the headboard. "They did, but I would be based in LA with the VP of the marketing and the PR department. Seems like they have future plans involving you guys in the US and some parts of Europe. Since I'm the one who's fluent in the languages they use there, I'll be moving around with them. I didn't see that one coming."

"How about when we go touring in the US and Europe next year?"

Hana smiled at him. "I would be there for you."

Namjoon went to sit next to her and took her hand. "This is a surprise but it is better than not seeing you at all," he said optimistically.

"Are you okay with that? I was just about to get used to seeing you around a lot," she said as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'm not okay with us being far but distance is nothing compared to what we have," he moved his head closer to hers. "There's phone and video calls. We even made it through 6 years with just that."

"We were just friends then."

"Look at the bright side. If we could make it that long being friends, we would even be more connected now that we're together. I would still have to go to the US in the future and you would be back here too since you're still working with BH. We'll get through this."

"I haven't been away but I already miss you a lot," Hana turned as she hugged him.

"When do you have to go?" he asked.

"They gave me 2 weeks to sort out my apartment lease with my landlord," she said.

Namjoon chuckled, "2 weeks is a good time to get that sorted with your landlord."

"I don't know how my landlord would react to that news," she said facetiously.

"He would be understanding and generous," he replied.

"How generous are you thinking here? Would he be looking for a new tenant?"

"Definitely not. The apartment is only for a person named Hana Joo Anderson," he said.

"Your current tenant is definitely not easy to be convinced," she said. "Landlords are notorious for changing tenants."

"Not this one. This one is loyal to a fault. We'll make a deal out of it until she's convinced."

"With what?"

"With that few pints of ice cream that the tenant already had in the freezer. But next time, fill it up with some fruity-flavoured ones or even Neapolitan. Then, you would know," he smirked.

"We need to wash the bedding after this. It gets sticky," she commented.

"Later," he said.

"I love you," Hana said.

"I love you too," he kissed her to prove his point. "How about you get up and get another pint of ice cream? I think the one that you brought already melted," he whispered.

She went out and returned a few minutes later.

"What makes you think that I would forget that you like this flavour?" she returned, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

She started to squeal as he pounced on her with the Neapolitan ice cream in her hands.