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On the way to the restaurant, I received an unexpected phone call from a dear friend of mine, Sara.  It appeared that I was going to have a surprise for one of the boys after all.  I promised to call her back shortly.  After I talked to Jungkook.  

When we arrived at the restaurant, I leaned forward and placed my hand on his shoulder, stilling his movement.  He’d been preparing to jump out of the car.  Now he turned towards me.  One look in my eyes and he knew something was up.  

“Guys, we’ll meet you inside in a moment,” he quietly murmured, addressing our friends.

Sanduni glanced at me before following Jimin and Tae into the pizza joint.  I smiled at her and nodded my head.  I didn’t mind being left alone with Kookie.

“What is it?” he asked curiously.

So I told him, and he quickly agreed.  Excitedly, I returned Sara’s call.

—

Meanwhile, in a cafe not too far from us, Yoongi ran into another friend of mine.  May had also traveled around the world to come to the BTS concert in Chicago.  She had come all the way from India for this auspicious occasion.

After settling into her hotel, she had decided to explore Chicago and had headed to the famous Water Tower Place multi-level shopping mall.  After browsing for a while, May stopped at Starbucks to get a cup of tea.  Yoongi had also just finished shopping at the new music equipment shop that had recently opened in the mall.  Swinging the bag that he was carrying in his right hand, he looked up as he passed Starbucks, and he instantly knew he’d found the solution to his jet lag.  One tall Americano coming up!

Stepping through the doorway into the little coffee shop, Yoongi was suddenly arrested by the sight of a beautiful, young woman seated across the room from him.   Her black hair fell down past her shoulders, some of it streaming like a curtain across her chest.  Her dark head was bent as she sat reading a book she had just purchased.  As he glanced her way, she suddenly looked up, and her obsidian orbs collided with his own, causing his heart to skip a beat.  What was this?  

Her darkly tanned skin shone in the light pouring through the window in front of which she was seated.  Suddenly she smiled, revealing two dancing dimples, before looking back down at her book.  She was clearly fascinated by something she was reading.  He studied her bent head for a few moments, already missing her dark eyes.

When she had smiled at him, Yoongi had instantly lost his ability to breathe.  He stepped into line to buy his coffee and pounded on his chest.  But the violent movement seemed to have no effect whatsoever on his bolting heart.  Was he having a panic attack?  He hadn’t had one for a long time.  But he couldn’t seem to catch his breath now.  And his heart seemed to be racing like crazy.  What on earth was wrong with him?

May was not captivated by her book in the slightest.  In fact, every single word had flown completely out of her head the instant she had glanced up to see Yoongi looking at her.  He had left her breathless and shaken.  Her heart was galloping away from her, and she seemed to have lost its reins.  She was on a wild ride and felt like she would fall at any moment.  Yoongi was here!  With her.  In her coffeeshop!  The one she had considered walking right past.  Thank God she hadn’t!  She would have missed him!

But now she felt horribly shy.  What could she possibly say to Yoongi that would impress him?  She planted her eyes firmly back into the pages of her book, seeking safety from the storm that had just begun to assault her heart.  She had traveled halfway around the world in the hope of seeing him, but now that he was here in this moment with her, she found that she had lost her tongue.  And possibly all her sense with it.

—

The hostess at the pizza parlor led us all to a back room.  Apparently, Namjoon had called ahead and requested a private room and a very large table.  Had he known extra guests would be arriving?

I walked into the room behind Jungkook.  I saw him searching for hidden cameras, then I heard him ask the waitress if the room was being recorded.  She shook her head, reporting that the person who had made the reservation had asked that any recording devices in this room be turned off.  Normally they would never countenance such a request, but under the circumstances, the owner was understanding and had disabled the cameras.  I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.  

I looked across the room.  Jimin, his rainbow hair flopping over his forehead, was pulling a chair out for Sanduni.  She sat down on it, turning to smile at him over her shoulder.  He pushed her chair forward slightly before taking the seat next to hers.  Jimin was clearly captivated by the tiny beauty with the great dark eyes.  He bent close to her to hear something she was saying to him.  Unfortunately, I was out of hearing range, and I couldn’t read her lips either.  But I did notice that he moved so close to her that as she bent her head, the waterfall of her dark hair brushed his cheek.

“Would you like to sit next to me?” A soft voice spoke into my ear, sending tingles along every nerve in my body.  

I turned towards Jungkook.  He had stopped walking and was standing right next to me, looking down at me, a question in his eyes and a vulnerable expression on his sweet face.  Why did I suddenly want to cry?  Something about him always had the power to move my heart in inexplicable ways.

“It’s ok,” he rushed to reassure me.  “We’re not being recorded.  We can do whatever we like.  No one’s going to plaster it all over the Internet.”

What exactly was he inviting me to do with him? 

I raised my right eyebrow as I gazed up at him.  In that moment, he looked so completely gorgeous that I felt like I was going to faint.  But somehow, even surrounded by a whirlwind of my own indescribable feelings, I managed to speak, “Sure.”  

Then I looked at the table.  “Where should we sit?”  

Then I leaned close to him to whisper in his ear, but I was momentarily distracted by a whiff of something – cologne? – that filled my head with beauty.  I blinked and breathed, “Remember to leave two seats open next to Tae.”

Jungkook was gazing down at me, our faces a scant few inches from each other.  He nodded, then his eyes brushed my lips momentarily before meeting my own again.  I was falling into those dark pools once more.  Then he looked down, and I felt his hand touch my own as my eyes followed his again.  He slipped his fingers around mine and drew me towards the table.  

Jungkook was holding my hand!  I seemed to no longer have the slightest semblance of control over my own heartbeat.  I took a steadying breath, but it did no good.  Apparently, I was no longer in charge of my breathing either.  I couldn’t seem to catch my breath at all.  My heart seemed to be jogging along in my chest yet not going anywhere.  I gazed up at his dark head in wonder.  Even as I enjoyed the warmth of his hand clasping mine.  I didn’t want him to ever let go.  

“Your fingers are so cold,” he commented as he lifted my hand towards his mouth.  He blew warm air across my fingertips as he chafed my fingers with his own to warm them up.  He was warming me up all right!  Heat cascaded through every cell in my body, including my cheeks.  I must look like a sunburnt tomato by now!

He didn’t seem to notice the sudden stain on my cheeks.  Instead, he drew me towards the table as Tae took a seat next to Jimin.  I saw Tae’s dark eyes make contact with Jungkook’s, then Tae glanced at our interlocked hands before meeting Jungkook’s gaze again and quirking a dark eyebrow at Kookie.  Then a sweet grin passed over his face as he watched us.  

Jungkook pulled out two chairs across the table from Tae.   Kookie turned towards me and smiled as he bowed slightly.  He relinquished my hand.  And my heart mourned the loss of his warm touch.  

“After you,” he whispered and pulled my chair out a little bit more.  

I sat down and then turned towards him as he seated himself next to me.  My heart was still pounding.  Would I survive tonight?  One simple dinner.  In a pizza parlor.  With Jungkook.  Who knew it could be this exciting?

His dark eyes met mine again, and he set my heart into a new fit by grinning at me.  You know that grin.  The one that reveals all his chubby, white teeth and transforms his face into something even more amazing than usual.  The grin that hides his upper lip and adds a new twinkle to his dark eyes even as they shrink down to quarter moons.  I was now gasping for air, and I didn’t even care.