It can't be him

Chapter 3

Note: The text in Italics indicates that it's being spoken in Korean.

August 2022

THANVI

Walking down the HYBE corridors, Thanvi was greeted by staff members in a hurry. From what she heard, Seventeen is shooting indoors for their "Going Seventeen" episode. She headed to the floor with the studios. Carrying 3 iced coffees and one milkshake in hand, she made her way to one of the studios. Taehyung was sitting in front of his system, concentrating on the song that he was working on. Thanvi slapped his back, startling him. "Thanvi! I thought you'd be coming tomorrow!" Tae exclaimed, pleasantly surprised to see his closest female friend. He pulled her into a hug. It's been months since they saw each other. She passed him the strawberry milkshake she knew he loved. "I'm here to discuss the track for Namjoon's album," she answered his question, sitting on the couch. "Ah, he already started working on it?" "Yeah, he said he wants to finalize the tracks as fast as he can. Your leader is too excited for his solo album." Thanvi chuckled. Remembering the amount of texts Joon had sent her asking to meet him so they could discuss the concept. "Are you featuring on the title track?'' Tae asked her. "It's not decided yet. By the way, what are you working on?" she asked her friend. He is notorious for making a song only to delete it 2 days later. They had made a song together in 2019, which still has not been released yet. At this point, she's not sure if it'll see the light. "Just a melody. I'm kinda stuck," he replied. "Well, good luck with that. I need to go to Namjoon now. Pdogg Sunbae is also going to be there. I'll see you later" Thanvi bid him goodbye and left his studio. When she got to Namjoon's studio, Pdogg was not there yet. Namjoon turned to greet her with his signature dimple smile. She mentally noted how much buffer the guy had gotten since she last saw him at the Grammys. He has always been attractive. But he's gotten hotter these days. Seeing him in person, she was reminded why her ARMY friends were swooning over him so much. He was this attractive wearing a loose, faded t-shirt and a beanie. The fans understandably won't survive a dressed-up Kim Namjoon. "Pdogg is not here yet?" Thanvi asked him, sitting in the seat next to him. "He's running late. Thanks for the coffee. You didn't have to." he thanked her with a smile. "Hey, how can I show up empty-handed? You are letting me be a part of your album. THE KIM NAMJOON's first solo work in Phase 2 of the BTS saga." teasing is evident in her words. He laughed. "Stop. Among us, who performed in Lollapalooza for the first time and became the second highest-selling artist? If anything, I'm the lucky one who got to collaborate with THE ASTER OF DAWNLIGHT '' he teased her back. "Haha. That was a group effort. While your bandmate managed to become the highest-selling artist ALONE. Now that's impressive." she retorted. "That's true. Hobi was really impressive" he agreed, with a soft smile adorning his pretty lips. Their conversation was interrupted when a panting PDogg dashed into the studio. "Sorry! I got caught up in traffic," he said, hand on his knees, breathing hard. Thanvi passed him his coffee once he fell onto the couch. "It's alright. I just got here too." Thanvi assured him. "Let's get started,'' Namjoon said, and they started their discussion.

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Thanvi, Namjoon, and PDogg were walking towards the cafeteria after 2 hours of discussion, arguing about the ending of a recently completed drama that all three of them had watched. The two men had similar opinions while Thanvi had a different take. Thanvi was trying to explain her point of view to them when someone crashed into her, making her fall onto Namjoon, and both the rappers ended up on the floor. In their distracted moment, neither of them noticed the zap of electricity that passed between them. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Pdogg asked them as he helped them up. "I'm so sorry! I was in a hurry and didn't see you there. Are you hurt?" the staff that crashed into Thanvi asked, worried that she hurt them. "I'm fine. Are you hurt? You have coffee all over you." Thanvi asked the girl. She had coffee spilled all over herself. Considering she was probably doing a coffee run, Thanvi assumed that she might be an intern. "I'm not hurt. It was iced coffee. I'm so sorry I crashed into you both. Are you sure you are not hurt?" the staff member asked, still concerned. "We're fine. You should go get your replacement coffees fast if you don't wanna be late." Namjoon added, smiling at her reassuringly. After that, the three of them continued on their way. Thanvi continued walking, dismissing her erratic heartbeats as a result of the scare.

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It was 10 PM by the time Thanvi returned to her hotel suite. It was an exhausting day. After she met with Namjoon, she had her share of artists to meet with. Her solo album is scheduled to be released in December, a month after Namjoon's. She still had a lot of work to do. She has only finalized the songs' MV and album concepts. She needs to start recording soon. It was only her and Zach who were staying in the hotel that day. Mia is supposed to be at Jungkook's place. They are leaving for Busan tomorrow morning. Damon and Iseul have also gone to her hometown to meet her grandparents. Zach has to attend the HYBE meeting with her tomorrow. Thanvi was sure that tomorrow would be as hectic as today, if not more. She felt so drained and exhausted.

Thanvi moved into the bathroom, wanting a hot shower to release all the stress of the day. She discarded all her clothing and got into the shower, letting the scorching hot water burn her wheatish skin. After spending a good fifteen minutes under the shower she dried herself, wrapped a towel around, and stood in front of the mirror to do her nightly skin care routine. It was at that moment that Thanvi noticed a mark on her upper chest, peeking over her wrapping towel. With a pounding heart, she lowered the towel, only to find a floral tattoo looking back at her. It was a pale shade of blue. Looking at it, she could feel dread creep into her, her world crashing.