Tia was in pain. Physical pain. As she sat in the chair and anticipated Tae’s arrival at any moment. She couldn’t even keep her attention on the game. Both Jin and Julieta were soundly beating her. That never happened. She always beat everyone. Julieta kept glancing worriedly at her.
Finally, a knock sounded on the door. Tia jumped. Literally jumped out of her chair. She made a beeline for the back hallway. Perplexed, Julieta watched her sister’s retreating back.
Jin opened the front door. Five young men piled into her house.
“Where’s Tae?” Jin asked.
“Yeontan crisis. He said he needed to take her to the vet,” Jungkook explained.
Suddenly, Tia reappeared, relief clearly written all over her face.
Hmm. Julieta realized that Tia’s sudden recovery must have something to do with the missing Taehyung. What was this? Apparently, she was even more in love with Tae than Julieta had suspected.
Tia completely ignored Julieta’s scrutiny as Jin introduced them to his friends. “Julieta, Tia, these are my friends, the other members of BTS: Jimin, Jungkook, Yoongi, Hobi, and Namjoon. Tae couldn’t make it. But I know you’ve both met him already.”
Tia’s head snapped up. Then, she quickly schooled her features. “It’s nice to meet you all. Anyone want to play UNO?”
They all grinned at her.
“That’s why we’re here,” Hobi responded.
“How should we divide ourselves into teams?” Namjoon asked.
“How about maknae line versus…oh, Tae not being here messed that up!” Jin reasoned.
Tia’s heart dipped a little at the mention of his name. So did her smile.
Jungkook noticed. His dark eyes studied the pretty girl. Did she have a crush on his friend?
“How about Jin, Jungkook, Julieta, and Jimin – the J-line. Versus Tia, Hobi, Yoongi, and me,” Namjoon suggested.
“Sounds good to me!” Jimin responded.
They all sat at the table, and Tia pulled the cards out.
“BTS UNO cards!” Hobi yelled, and everyone laughed.
“Ok. So, Tia, who is your bias?” Jimin asked.
“Bias? What’s that mean?” she queried.
Astounded, they all stared at each other. “You’re not an ARMY, but you have BTS UNO cards?”
“ARMY? What’s ARMY?” she asked this time.
Yoongi shook his head.
“Why do you have BTS UNO cards?” Namjoon questioned.
“Julieta bought them for me. She knows I love UNO.”
“A bias is your favorite member of the band,” Jimin explained.
“And ARMY is the word we use for our fan base,” Hobi added.
“Oh,” Tia responded, completely unwilling to tell them who her bias was. So she decided to tell a lie rather than embarrass herself. “I really haven’t watched you guys very much.”
Julieta glanced at her sharply. It was unlike Tia to lie. What was going on here?
Six pairs of eyes collided in shock.
“Guess you really aren’t an ARMY,” Yoongi muttered.
Five heads nodded in agreement.
Why did Tia suddenly feel embarrassed anyway?
Jungkook noticed her discomfort and sought to distract everyone’s notice away from her. “Hey, Jin, didn’t you promise me dessert?”
Jin grinned at his friend, the bottomless pit. “I can always count on you, Jungkook. I can always count on you to be hungry!”
Everyone laughed as Jin pulled Julieta’s birthday cake from the freezer. He poured the sauce over the top before cutting a slice and serving it to Julieta first. Everyone insisted he take the second slice since today was also his birthday. Then Jungkook served everyone else while they all sang to Jin and Julieta.
Jin exhaled loudly. “It doesn’t feel quite right.”
Julieta looked at him. “What do you mean?” She was sighing in bliss over this delightful dessert Jin had made just for her.
“Without Tae. It’s like he’s the missing ingredient. The recipe isn’t quite right without him.”
Tia had to agree.
