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“Hey, I don’t usually give my extra invite to a friend, but I thought you’d like to come with me this year?  You don’t have to, of course, it’s just an offer.”

But Zelda wasn’t going to pass up that opportunity.

◇◆◇◆◇

“Jungkook, do you recognize that girl?” Tae asked, nudging his best friend before gesturing to a girl seated across the venue from them.  

Girls often caught Tae’s eye, but there was something about this particular girl that stood out to him.  She had lighter blonde ringlets of hair that spilled over her shoulder, ending somewhere near her waist.  That in itself wasn’t that outstanding; he’d seen many girls in America bleach their hair that color.  What caught his attention was the look in her eye.  She was staring right back at him, her face totally blank.  Almost as if the only reason her eyes were trained on him was because she’d spaced out and just so happened to have her eyes land on him.

“Nope.  Never seen her.  Isn’t that Indigo Bell next to her, though?” Jungkook asked.

“Is she the singer we’re doing a collab with later this month?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, yeah, I do recognize her.”

“What, you got the hots for the blonde or something?”

Tae pushed his tongue through his lips, buying himself a few seconds. “Just wondered who she was,” he replied simply.

Jungkook shook his head.

When Tae turned his attention back to the girl with the curly blonde hair, he watched as her lips curved into a smirk.  Then she turned her attention elsewhere.  Tae gritted his teeth.  Was she trying to flirt with him?

◇◆◇◆◇

Tae was fairly sure the only person that might have any clue who the mysterious girl was was Halsey.  So, despite his better judgement, he asked her.

“Oh, her?  I’m pretty sure her name is Zelda Singer.  She’s a model.”

And that was all the information Tae needed.

◇◆◇◆◇

“Dude, he was totally staring at you!”

“Indi, anyone would stare back at someone who was staring at them like I was.  It means nothing.  Besides, what’s he got, millions of fans?  I’m sure he has better girls throwing themselves at him than me.”

“Tell me again how many guys asked for your number at the airport?”

“. . .twenty-eight.”

“Exactly!”

“Ok, but that means nothing!  Those were normal guys!  Mr. Straight Face isn’t a normal guy!  Why does it matter, anyway?  I barely know who he is.”

“I’m just saying, your knight in shining armor could be coming sooner than you thought.”

“I don’t want a knight in shining armor,” Zelda spat. “I want a normal guy who loves me for me and is willing to settle down and have a big family.  That’s it.”

“But what if Taehyung is those things?”

Zelda sighed. “You’ve seen him.  I’d bet he’s a snobby rich celebrity like half the people you introduce me to.”

Indigo shrugged. “Maybe you should look him up.”

◇◆◇◆◇

“Who’s Zelda Singer?” Jungkook asked as he took a peek at Tae’s laptop.

Tae slammed the laptop shut. “Oh- um. . .”

“Is she the blonde?”

Tae flushed. “Yeah.”

“What’d you find?”

“Uh, well, she’s a model.  Works out of Chicago.  Talks about her family a lot in interviews.  It looks like she might be Indigo Bell’s roommate.”

“Really?” Jungkook asked.

Tae nodded.

“That’s awesome!”

Tae shrugged. “I guess so.”

◇◆◇◆◇

“‘I think it would be nice to settle down at some point,’ BTS V says. ‘I’d love to have someone to share my life wi’-”

“Indi!  Would you quit it?  I get it!  He’s a family man!  Stop reading interviews to me!”

Indigo locked her phone and tossed it into her lap before picking at her nails. “Did I ever ask you if you’d come with me to my music video shoot next week?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Would you mind if I borrowed Snowy as well?”

Zelda glared at her. “Why on earth do you need my cat?”

Indigo stared back at her. “It was just a question.  I’m sure my brother wouldn’t mind it if I used his cat instead,” she shrugged and stood up before walking out of the room.

Zelda huffed. “Indi!”

◇◆◇◆◇

“That’s a pretty cat you’ve got there.”

Zelda yelped, spinning around as she hugged Snowy to her chest.  Her eyes widened as she realized who was standing in front of her.  He held his hand out to her.

“I’m Taehyung.”

She shook his hand cautiously. “Zelda.”

He smiled. “Nice to meet you, Zelda.  Who’s this?” He motioned to her cat.

“Oh- um, this is Snowy.  Indi asked me if she could borrow her for the music video shoot.”

Taehyung reached out and ran his hand over Snowy’s head. “Hi there.  You are the whitest cat I’ve ever seen!”

Zelda looked the man up and down.  He’d been wearing a nice, sharp suit the last time she’d seen him.  Today, he was wearing a crisp, blue T-shirt and shorts that brushed his knees.  His bangs were curling over his eyes today, making him appear younger than he was.  She bit her lip.  She did not want Indigo to be right.  She couldn’t like this man.  He lived on the other side of the planet, and he was famous.  Not the way she was famous.  Much, much more famous.

“Are you staying for the shoot today?”

Zelda looked up at him with wide eyes. “Huh?”

“Are you staying?”

“Oh.  Um, yes.  I think.”

Tae grinned.

◇◆◇◆◇

“I heard you model, yes?” Tae asked as he snacked on some cookies.

“That’s right.”

“How long have you had Snowy?”

“Two years.  She was a birthday present from my parents.”

Tae smiled. “I have a Pomeranian.  I miss him.  Don’t get to see him very often with my packed schedules.”

“Oh.  I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right.  My parents take good care of him,” he chuckled. “Is modeling all you do?”

Zelda shook her head. “I work for my brother.”

Tae raised his eyebrows.

“He has a little business with his friend.  They invented a new kind of smart TV.” 

“Oh, wow!  Really?”

Zelda nodded.

“You’re close to your brother, then?”

“Yeah.  He’s a year older than me.  The rest of my siblings are quite a bit younger than us, so we’re close.”

“How many siblings do you have?”

“Five.  You?”

Tae’s eyebrows disappeared under his bangs. “Five?  I have two!”

Zelda snickered. “Yeah.  My parents. . .they wanted a big family.  My mom had trouble getting pregnant.  It took them years to have my brother.  And then I was born ten months later.  They tried for years after that to have more kids, but they just couldn’t.  When I was nine. . .” Zelda trailed off. “Sorry, you don’t need to hear this.”

“No!  Please continue!”

“Really?”

Tae nodded. “I want to hear the rest.”

“Um, ok.  Where was I?”

“When you were nine…?”

“Oh!  When I was nine, my parents had an opening at one of the adoption agencies.  We adopted my little sister Sophie that year.  She was three.  When I was thirteen, my parents decided they wanted to foster.  We had quite a few kids in and out of our house for years.  When I was sixteen, my parents decided to stop fostering.”

“And your three other siblings?”

“Well, Sophie was a year behind in school.  She had a really close friend, and his grandparents were raising him and his sisters.  His grandparents didn’t have the money to raise them anymore, so they were going to give them all up for adoption.  My parents offered to adopt them.  And so. . .there’s six of us now,” Zelda laughed.

“Wow!  That’s. . .awesome!”

Zelda nodded. “We’ve been a family for seven years now.”

Tae grinned. “Congratulations!”

Zelda blushed.  How could she have ever thought ill of this man?

◇◆◇◆◇

That was the last time she saw him.  For months.  And she hated to admit that she wished she had contact with him.  

“Zelda!  BTS is having a party after their concert tomorrow.  You should come with us!”

Zelda bit her lip. “Are you sure they’d want me there?  You’re the one performing with them, not me.”

Indigo shrugged. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

◇◆◇◆◇

Zelda found herself in a corner the next night drinking a random fruity drink she’d found.  Most of the boys were chatting with the staff, and Indigo was talking Jin’s ear off.

“Hey.  Indigo seems to like to drag you around with her,” Tae laughed.

“That she does.” Zelda cringed. “What’s in this drink?”

“Which is it?”

“I’m not sure.”

Tae held his hand out. “May I?”

Zelda raised an eyebrow before handing him the drink.  He took a sip of it.

“Eugh.  I think this was the punch Jimin added vodka to.”

“What?!”

He shrugged. “You want the rest of it?”

“No thank you.”

He dropped the cup in a nearby trash can before joining her in the corner again.

“You know, I meant to ask you for your phone number months ago.”

Zelda’s eyes widened. “What?”

He shrugged. “Just thought I’d ask.  Not every day I find a girl I’d like to date.”

She turned red. “What?”

He chuckled, bending down a bit to meet her eye. “What?  Don’t tell me you’re not used to people flirting with you.”

“Not really,” she admitted quietly.

He smiled. “Well, would you mind letting me get to know you?”

“I don’t think I’d mind.”

“Well then, Zelda Singer, can I have your phone number?”