Evenstar

12. How Flowers Grow

She fell asleep. Taehyung chuckled to himself as he kept the line on. He must be so boring, or maybe she just wasn't interested in him at all. He hoped not. Although his ego was a little bruised, he was determined not to give up. He could hear a light breathing on the other end of the line, and minutes later he heard her call her mom. She must be dreaming. He still didn't hang up, content to sit in his place, listening to her as he waited to be called for his scene. She was 26 years old and seemed content to stay where she was. He would have been too, happy to stay in Daegu for the rest of his life had that audition not happened. What followed was now history and he had turned into V. But there was a part of him that remained in Daegu. He would always treasure that hyperactive and unpolished Taehyung, that child who seemed to bounce off the walls with so much energy and life.

After almost an hour the line was cut. Her battery must have drained. He sent her a message, "I hope you slept well. Take care." She would be able to see it when she recharged her phone. His day would probably end before daybreak, and he would be home ready for bed by 10 AM. He had three to four hours to sleep before going to JKL for their daily practice. And after that he had this set again - until they finished all 16 episodes of this series. To say he was tired was an understatement, but he was used to it already. He knew no other life now.

Was it possible to live a normal life? He wanted it - needed it - badly, but now was not the time. He hoped that it could still happen for him.

"Taehyung-ssi!" Someone called and he got up to start shooting his scenes.

*****

Dae Eun opened her eyes and found her room brightly sun-lit. She bolted upright.

"Oh no! I overslept." She looked for her phone and found it dead beside her pillow. She recharged it and a message came through, "I hope you slept well. Take care." Oh god. She held her face in her hands. She had fallen asleep during his call. She hit her head with her pillow and wondered what to do. What could he be thinking? It was so rude of her. She decided to call him back.

"I'm sorry!" Dae Eun said immediately when he answered.

"It's okay. You just woke up?" It was already 7 AM and he was walking toward his van to head home.

"Yes, I overslept." How could she say how much she regretted dozing off without sounding like an idiot? He must have been offended. "I'm really sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm sorry for calling so late."

"Where are you?" Here she was again with these location questions.

"Still on the set but I'm headed home now."

"Your day is just ending?"

"Ending... beginning... sometimes I don't know anymore," he laughed.

"I hope you can get some sleep."

"I will when I get home. What are you doing today?"

"I've finished the prototype for the urban farm. We'll be taking a video to document it and send it to the UN."

"Wow! Do well, Dae Eun!"

"You, too, Taehyung-ss... Oppa."

"I will." He smiled. That was worth the wait.

After they hung up, Dae Eun spent a few more moments in bed, thinking of their conversation and of last night. Did he really sing to her? She couldn't help smiling. Her day was made.

*****

They all sat on the rehearsal room floor after running through the 20-song setlist without doing the choreography.

"I don't think this will work," Hobi said. Without the choreography they were known for, the whole concert may be too boring for ARMY.

"You have a point." Namjoon could see it too. They would just be trying like crazy to work up the energy by dancing freestyle, which may not be what ARMY wanted.

"What do you say we go all out one last time?" Jin asked. "We'll be able to see how far we can still go. And if we can't, we'll just have to tell ARMY."

"We could get seriously hurt," Suga cautioned.

"That would be dangerous." Jungkook was thinking of his Taehyung and Jimin hyungs.

Jimin was silent for a while. This wasn't what they had discussed a few days ago. Doing I Need U in June had taken a lot from him. He was happy he could do it for ARMY but it took him a while to recover his strength. "What numbers are you thinking about?"

Idol, Mic Drop, Fake Love, On, Black Swan... the songs with the most challenging choreographies were being laid on the table.

"Are you guys crazy?" Suga laughed.

"Not Today," Taehyung added.

"We must be, right? It's been more than ten years. Not even counting the injuries, it's already a big challenge." He was probably being selfish, Namjoon thought, but he wanted to meet ARMY again and give them the songs they may have missed so much. And he wanted them to see one last time, in one last tour, that BTS was still alive, before they toned down to Bulletproof.

"I understand what you're feeling. I want it, too. I don't even remember all the choreography anymore, but I think I'd like BTS to have one final tour." Jin was just thinking out loud. He knew that they didn't have the time or energy for that kind of practice. Still, the desire remained.

"That wasn't what we agreed on last year," Suga reminded them.

"Yes, it's just that meeting ARMY again in June... it's like a fire has started burning inside me." Hobi remembered the sight of them all, ARMY reunited with BTS. "We told our ARMYs in Seoul of our future plans. Now we'll be able to meet our ARMYs worldwide and tell them too."

"If you want that, we can do that as long as we agree that we won't push anyone past his limit." Everything was possible, and Jungkook believed that ARMY would be forgiving. "But do we really want to risk giving a performance that may be lesser than what we did before? These songs, ARMY knows how well we did it back then."

"Why don't we try first? Let's make a realistic setlist. Not one that will kill ARMY and us both. Then let's rehearse it and see if we can really do it." Taehyung understood why they were dreaming, but it could be just that - dreaming. It was nice to remember their past achievements, but he didn't want anyone to get injured again.

They finally agreed on an acceptable setlist that included five of their most difficult numbers. Then they would have solo stages for each member, the rap line and the vocal line. The rest of the numbers would be seated.

It was past midnight when they each headed out. Taehyung wondered if he could still call Dae Eun. He decided to text instead.

"Hi, Dae Eun. Are you still awake?"

She answered right away, "Yes, are you home now?"

"On my way," he lied. "How was your day?"

"It was great! They liked the video. We'll be doing a better one soon for their Food Security Program."

"You're amazing! That's really good." He was happy for her. "You'd better get some sleep so you'll look bright for the cameras."

"You too. Good night, Taehyung Oppa."

"Sleep well, Dae Eun-ah."

Taehyung boarded his SUV and headed to the location shooting with his manager. It took effort to start a friendship, but all his friendships had been worth it. This one, he hoped this would lead to something more. Only time would tell, but he would do his best to help it grow.