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“So, Jungkookie, who was that adorable, little Japanese girl you were talking to?”

“The American?”

“Yeah,” Tae elbowed him in the ribs, “she was super cute.”

Jungkook glared at him.  He wasn’t sure why he was disgruntled with Tae.  He was just pointing out the obvious.

“Find your own friend,” he muttered darkly to his best friend.

Tae raised one raven eyebrow. “Oh-ho!  I think Jungkook really likes this girl!”

“I barely know this girl!  We only talked for an hour!”

“That’s an hour more than you’ve talked to almost any other girl!”

So true.  His life did not afford him the opportunity to talk to girls for long – unless it was collectively to a massive group through a video camera or from a stage.  He sighed.

Laurenn was so cute.  She was super sweet too.  And quite smart.  She loved music, and she played the alto saxophone.  She’d been so interesting to talk to.  He wished he’d had longer with her.  But she had given him her mailing address.  She had told him that she’d love to write to him.  But she hadn’t asked him for his address.  He wasn’t planning to give it to her either.  His manager would be very angry if he did that.  Honestly, Jungkook wouldn’t be very happy with himself either if he trusted such personal information to someone he’d known for a scant hour.  Thirty million girls would love to have that information.  But…he had her address, email, and phone number.

There was something about writing an old-fashioned letter to her that appealed to him.  So, as he boarded the plane to leave Chicago and head for Los Angeles, he pulled out a notebook and began to pen her a letter.

He recalled her beautiful, chocolate eyes and her long, dark hair that fell in waves down her back.  She was such a little beauty.  He grinned to himself.  She was over a foot shorter than he was.  He imagined kissing her and realized it would really work best if they were standing on stairs, him a step below her.  He pictured just such a scenario and laughed at how cute it was!  

Tae elbowed him again.  “What are you laughing about?”

Jungkook’s eyes strayed to the yellow beret Tae was wearing.  “Your hat,” he responded tersely before going back to writing his letter.

“Dear Laurenn,” he began.  “I loved getting to know you yesterday.  I wish…I wish we could have spent another week talking. I’ve never met a girl like you before.  Your smile lit up my heart the whole time we chatted.  There’s something about you.  I felt truly loved in your presence.  Like I’d made a friend for life.  Like I’ve always known you.  Or at the very least, was meant to know you.  Probably sounds crazy, huh?”

He recalled their meeting.  He’d stopped in at the IHOP to grab some breakfast.  The place had been packed, not one table available.  He’d gone alone.  Incognito.  He’d worn his baggiest black pants and coat over a loose-fitting, long-sleeved shirt.  Also black.  He’d pulled the massive hood of his coat up over his head.  It covered half his face.  He’d slipped out early in an attempt to evade his bodyguards.   He’d managed it somehow, walking the two blocks to the pancake house on foot.   No one recognized him.  He’d stood in the long line and debated leaving.  He didn’t have very long to order breakfast.  Should he just get it to go?

For a moment, he wished he didn’t have the incredible life he had.  That he was just a regular guy meeting his girlfriend for breakfast.  He glanced around the restaurant.  His eye fell on a tiny young woman who looked like she could have been from his own country.  Her, for instance.  He’d have a cute girlfriend like her, and they’d chat for a while over pancakes and just enjoy the morning sipping water and munching on flapjacks.  In each other’s company.  Maybe then he wouldn’t feel so lonely.  Oh, he had the other guys, but even those amazing friendships didn’t always dispel the loneliness.  Sometimes, he still felt incredibly alone.  

In this moment, he wished this beautiful girl were his.  That he could walk over to her table and sit down with her, order some food, and simply chat about the things they were passionate about.

Suddenly, she glanced up at him.  Their eyes connected, and Jungkook felt a zing go through him.  Her eyes were stunning.  They were drawing him in.  Before he knew what he was doing, he’d walked halfway to her table.  Then he suddenly awoke from his reverie and shook his head, like one waking from a long stupor.  She smiled at him.  She looked excited to see him.  Yes, that’s exactly what it would be like.

Plunging back into his daydream, his heart turned over.  His girlfriend was happy to see him.  Not because he was a superstar.  But simply because he was her Kookie.  He smiled at her, his whole face glowing with the anticipation of her easy welcome.  

“Hi,” he whispered.  

He wasn’t confident around girls.  Ironic, really.  Beloved by millions of young ladies around the world, yet he was rather awkward around them one-on-one.  At least, that’s what his friends thought.  But this girl made him feel so at ease.  Her own smile was lighting up her face too.  And the light of those captivating eyes was drawing him in.

“Hello.  Jungkook?” she whispered questioningly.  But she breathed it so quietly that no one around them heard her.

He nodded.  She knew his name.  Of course!  This was a fantasy after all.  His girlfriend would know his name.

Laurenn glanced around the restaurant.  Where was the rest of BTS?  She could hardly breathe.  Her bias was standing in front of her and had just greeted her!

“Where are your friends?” she asked.

He shrugged.  “Sleeping. The early bird gets the pancakes.”

Then he grinned, and Laurenn nearly fell out of her seat.  His adorable, chubby teeth were shining on her, lighting up the bottom half of his gorgeous face, and those two beautiful eyes of his had been transformed into two tiny slits through which she could still see their obsidian depths.  But just barely!  His cute nose was all scrunched up.  And his dark locks were falling over his forehead in the most adorable way.  She glanced around the busy restaurant.  There wasn’t a seat available.  Except at her table.  She decided to be daring.

“Would you like to sit with me?”

This was an odd question for his girlfriend to be asking him, surely!  But he nodded and murmured, “I’d be delighted.”  He sat down across from her and drank in the glow from her beautiful countenance.

“You’re so cute,” he commented, staring dazedly at her.

She blinked.  Had Jungkook of BTS just told her she was cute? 

“Thank you,” she murmured, unsure what else to say.

He picked up a menu.  “Shall we order pancakes?”

She nodded.  “With chocolate chips.”

“Chocolate chips?”  Jungkook’s eyebrows hit his hairline before falling back down to threaten his eyelashes again.  “That’s an interesting suggestion.  All right.  Why not?  Chocolate chip pancakes it is!”

He grinned again, and she nearly fainted.  No one would believe her if she told them she’d had breakfast with Jungkook!  Well, on second thought, maybe her friend, Ann, would.  Laurenn couldn’t wait to tell her!

Just then a waitress appeared with two glasses of water.  “You folks know what you want?”

“Jungkook!” Laurenn answered silently.  She definitely wanted Jungkook!

Jungkook nodded.  “Two plates of chocolate chip pancakes.  With bacon.”  He glanced at Laurenn.  She wasn’t about to contradict him, so she just smiled.

As he sat looking at her, he realized he didn’t know what to call her.  “What’s your name?” he asked.

Her face split into an adorable grin as she responded, “Laurenn.”

“Laurenn.  I like it.  A cute name for a cute girl.”

She sighed.  She must be imagining this.  None of her friends were here to ask.  She was tempted to ask the waitress if she could see Jungkook.  Then she remembered he’d ordered their breakfast, so if their pancakes arrived, then the waitress could see him, Laurenn reasoned.  Which would mean that he really was sitting here with her preparing to eat breakfast.

She felt tongue-tied.  Apparently, so did he.  They joyfully stared at each other for a while.  Finally, she uttered, “I love Euphoria.”

He grinned.  “You do?”

“Yep.”  Stellar conversation!  “I’m just sad I never got to see you perform it in concert.”

“Oh!  That’s right!  We met after that era was over.”

She blinked at him.  Is something wrong with Jungkook?  He was acting like they already knew each other.  Now he was sitting staring out into space.  

“Jungkook?” she whispered.

He blinked and looked at the girl seated across from him.  He didn’t know her.  Why was he sitting with her?  He’d thought he was just imagining her.  But as he stared at her, he began to see that she was real.  He needed to test his theory.

“Can I hold your hand for a moment?” he asked, reaching his hand out, palm up towards her.

Yep, Ann is the only one who would believe this!

She placed her hand in his and felt lightning arc all the way from his fingertips to her toes.  Maybe she was getting to experience euphoria firsthand after all!

Her hand felt real enough.  And quite warm.  He smiled into her eyes.  “Where are you from?”

“Hawaii.”

“Wow.  You’re a long way from home too!  What brings you to Chicago?”

“I wish I could say it’s your concert, but my family just decided to vacation here.  Friends of my dad invited us to come stay with them.”

“When we do a concert in Hawaii, I’ll make sure you get tickets.  Can I have your mailing address?”

Unbelieving, she sat floored, simply staring at him.  Finally, she responded, “Sure.”  

In the next moment, she was sorry, though, for he let go of her hand to pick up his phone.  He handed it to her.  She stared down at the black case.  She was holding Jungkook’s phone.  

“Are you going to put your info in there?” he asked after a moment of shocked silence.

She blinked and typed her name, address, and email into his phone.  As an afterthought, she added her phone number.  Like Jungkook was going to call her!  She shrugged and closed his phone before handing it back to him.

“Thanks,” he responded.

Just then, two plates of pancakes were plopped down in front of them.  Their waitress smiled at them.  “Do you folks need anything else?”

Can I have Jungkook on the side?  Laurenn laughed.  She actually already did!

Jungkook quirked a dark eyebrow at her.  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

She blushed.

What was she thinking?  “Penny for your thoughts,” he offered.

“Just a penny?  They’re not worth very much to you then, are they?”

He laughed.  “All right!  Keep your secrets then.  But tell me something about you.”

“I love chocolate chip pancakes.”

He sniggered. “That’s a given.”  He glanced down at his pancakes.  “Syrup or no syrup?”

“Try them both ways.”

He took a bite of a naked pancake.  He glanced up at her.  “It’s like the pain au chocolat I had in Paris.  It’s good.”  He ate another bite.  Then he added a little syrup.  “It’s good both ways.  But really sweet with the syrup.  I think I like it better without it.”

He munched on another bite full of pancakes while she ate some of hers.  As she sat there eating breakfast with Jungkook – still unbelievable! – she tried to think of something she could say to touch his heart.

Finally, she glanced up at him.  “I love your sweet spirit.”

Jungkook stopped chewing and stared at her.  He’d had girls scream at him, tell him they loved him, call him “hot,” and toss him a variety of other phrases – not all of which were nice.  But he had never had anyone say this to him.  He simply stared at her for several moments as her words spiraled down deep into his heart.

“What made you say that?” he asked after another minute had passed.

She looked up at him, blushing again.  He was really asking her to put her heart on the line.  “Sometimes I think you saved my life.  My hopes, my dreams.  I even have a close friend I would never have met if it weren’t for you.  Your music comforts me and inspires me.  And I know that’s a group effort, something all seven of you create together.  But I can feel your heart when I look at your face.  When I look at your eyes.  And I know you are loved for that face.  A face you didn’t create.  A face you have little control over.  A face that is sometimes so painted and airbrushed you probably feel like you’re not even ‘you’ anymore.  And your face is beautiful – with makeup and without it.  But that’s not why I like you.  It’s something I see in your face, in your eyes.  It’s the real you that shines through when you are interviewed and when you are silent.  When you’re pouring glasses of water for everyone at the table or picking up trash after an event.  When you’re reading ARMY comments on a VLIVE or trying to make the guys laugh.  It’s you.  It’s not JK.  It’s Jeong Jeongguk, the boy your parents raised.  You are a sweet, humble spirit.  And that’s the man I’d like to get to know were I ever given the chance.  Not Jungkook of BTS.  But the boy behind the headliner.”

He sat there, floored, peering across the table at her.  He couldn’t even taste the pancakes anymore or the chocolate.  He was pretty sure a tear was running down his face.  He swallowed.  “Tell me about yourself.”

She shrugged.  “I’m not that interesting.  I play soccer.  I’m in band at school.  I have some friends.  I enjoy school.  I like to listen to music.  Especially yours.  I’m pretty simple, I guess.”

“I think,” Jungkook commented, “you’re pretty amazing.  I think you are a sweet spirit too.  You have a tender heart and go out of your way to help people.  You are a good friend.  I bet you’re a good daughter too.  Trying to please your parents and your teachers.  Always seeing the best in others.  You know how to draw the gold out of them.”  He paused again as his eyes searched her own for a few moments.  Not wanting to break their eye contact, she set her fork down blindly on the table as she listened to Jungkook lavish affection on her.  “That’s precious, you know.  It’s rare in our generation.  I’m really, really glad I got to meet you today, Laurenn.  You reminded me who I really am.  Thank you for that.”

—

Jungkook glanced down at the piece of notebook paper in his lap.  Would he ever see that dynamic young woman again?  She’d stolen his breath and his heart with her words.