#Promise

That Night

                     The next few days at work were so hectic that it left me almost crawling home at the end of each shift. I didn't even have the appetite to have dinner even if I know that I somehow have to provide myself some kind of nourishment. Out of my extreme exhaustion from work, all I could do was to step in the shower with my eyes half-closed and hit the bed right after. At that point, I needed sleep more than food.
I was so thankful that I managed to survived hell from work for three days straight. I had already made plans to stay in bed until later the next day, but then, in the middle of the night, right when I was so deep into my most precious slumber, I was awakened by the persistent buzzing of my phone, which I had put on vibrate mode before I went to bed. I struggled to open my eyes and wake up to total darkness around me. I had to blink a few times to get accustomed to the dark. Who in the world could be calling me at this hour? I reached for my phone under the pillow and annoyingly answered it.
"Whoever you are who dared calling me and disturbing my sleep at this hour of the night, you better make sure that it is about something important or you are seriously dead!"
The call was from a number that is not on my contacts list, so I was thinking that it could either be a telemarketer or somebody that dialed a wrong number. I heard a hesitant pause from the other end until finally, the caller spoke up.
"I am so sorry. I think I called you a
at a bad time. Sorry to disturb you. It was so inconsiderate of me."
"Who is this?" I asked, still sounding a bit annoyed.
"It's me, Jimin. You said I can call you anytime so I was just trying to see if you were still up."
"Jimin..? Jimin?!!!" I repeated his name almost in disbelief. I looked at the clock on my bedside table to check the time. It's 11:00 pm. It seemed so much later than that. I guess it was because I went to bed unusually early that night.
" We finished our rehearsals early tonight so we can rest well for tomorrow. We have an early morning radio interview in the morning." he explained. "But..... I can't fall asleep no matter how I forced myself to." he continued.
"Try to drink a glass of warm milk and then take a warm shower. That should help you fall asleep." I suggested.
" I'm afraid I can't do that right now, and even if I could, I don't think that would work." he replied softly."You know....I kinda snuck out of the hotel and went out by myself. All the others are already asleep when I left."
I felt my heart drop out of my chest and my mind started worrying like crazy. " Where in the world did you go?! Jimin! Are you out of your freaking mind? You are not supposed to go out alone! You know it's not safe!"
"You know, to be really honest with you, I just love it when you worry about me like this. It's cute and......sweet and flattering."
"Now is not a good time to be joking, Jimin! Where are you? I'll come pick you up. Gosh! You sure are gonna be the cause of my early death! You are just so good at giving me a heart attack!"
"I'm right outside your door. I've been ringing your doorbell for the past 15 minutes now, but you don't seem to hear it, that's why I had to call you."
"What?!!! You are where?!!! Are you kidding me right now?!!!"
"Please stop scolding me and just open the door. Your neighbors have been giving me suspicious looks already." he said.
                          I jumped out of bed and dashed out of my room to go open the door and let my unexpected guest in, before my nosy neighbors see him. The last thing I want is for those people to have something to gossip about. I have intended to live like I am invisible, and I plan to keep living that way.The less attention I get from people, the better.
It was already too late when I realized that I was only wearing a skimpy short and a loose white shirt without anything underneath. That is what I usually wear when I sleep. I quickly crossed my arms across my chest when I noticed Jimin's shocked expression. He then shyly looked away and asked if it's okay for him to come in. I nodded and quickly ushered him in.
                        "I'll be right back." I said as I closed the door behind him. " Make yourself comfortable"
                         I disappeared into my bedroom, changed into some more decent length shorts and put on an oversized cardigan over my shirt.
                         "You definitely looked cuter on your sleepwear than those boring one's. Jimin teased as he saw me come out of my bedroom.
                         I glared at him jokingly and proceeded to scold him some more.
"Why did you sneak out? Why did you have to come here when you know it is already late? How did you get here? How did you know where I live? You are creeping me out. Are you stalking me?"
"No! No! I am not stalking you. Please don't ever think that. And technically, I didn't really sneak out. I asked our driver to take me here. Of course, he refused it but I begged him and begged him again until I had to bribe him with an autographed copy of our album. He is the only one who knows where you live. He was the one who took you home when you went out with Tae. I didn't stop begging him until he said yes. I just purposely didn't tell our manager that I was going out. I know he won't let me." he explained.
"But what's so important that you needed to come here this late? Is it that urgent? Didn't you say you have a radio guesting in the morning? You should be resting by now."
"Well...to me, it is very important and very urgent because I don't have that much time left to do this. You see.... It's because someone has been on my mind a lot lately and she's been keeping me distracted even when I'm working. And..... And....because I didn't see her or talk to her for the past few days, it has been driving me nuts all this time. No matter what I'm doing, Kate....I always find myself thinking about you. I just felt that I had to see you tonight. I just had to. Otherwise, I am gonna get crazy. I had to come and see you and tell you how I feel." He looked at me straight in the eye as he said the last words.
I could not quite comprehend what he was trying to tell me at first. I surely did not expect to hear all this from Jimin. I couldn't speak up. I've never had anybody confess to me, ever!
The butterflies in my stomach were so busy fluttering that I can almost feel my hands shaking. My legs froze and I couldn't move from where I was standing. Jimin was sitting on the couch right in front of me. He reached for my hand, held it tightly, almost like squeezing it. I did not pull it back and just let him hold it like that.He pulled me down to sit next to him.
. "Why are you doing this all of a sudden? This is really unexpected. Why are you telling me all this?"
" I am so sorry that I have to confess to you this way. I just want you to know that ever since I have met you, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I don't know why. I know we've just met and we barely know each other. It just happened. Since that day in the hospital, when I saw how you fearlessly drove those reporters away, the way you spoke, the way you walked, the way you smiled while watching the ocean, have caught my attention. You were the only person that day who made me feel that I was not a celebrity, who treated me like a normal person, who took care of me sincerely.Then, those brief moments I spent with you.... the walk at the beach, when you stayed by my side and conforted me in the ambulance, the sincerity I felt when you told me to take it easy during our concert.... Those things has kept me feeling so frustrated! I have been wanting to be with you all the time but I can't."

"Jimin... " I finally was able to utter his name almost in a whisper. " You probably are just feeling down because you are far away from home and you are far from your other friends..Maybe you are just misunderstanding your feelings."
" I was already expecting that you won't believe me and that you are going to doubt me, but please give me a chance." he begged.
"Look, two days after the last concert on Saturday, we will be flying back home. I know I am running out of time. Do you know how painful and agonizing it is for me to be thinking about that? It is something that no amount of pain pills can take away." he said almost tearing up.
"Jimin, you barely even know me. How can you be sure that you really feel this strongly towards me? As you said, you are leaving in a few days. Why did you have to do this? Why did you have to tell me all this? You just made it so much harder not just for you now, but for both of us. It would have been better if you just ignored all of it, forget about me and just go on with your life."
" Because you are just too precious for me to ignore. And whatever this is, it is just too special and too strong for me to let go. I can't do it. I had to tell you and hope that there could be a slight chance that you feel the same way for me. So, please.... Don't push me away." he pleaded.
The ringing of his phone interrupted the moment as if trying to bring both Jimin and I back to reality. I glanced at the phone in his hand, Sejin was calling him.
"Please come to the concert on Saturday. Please come see me."He reached for an envelope from his pocket and handed it to me. "These are tickets to the concert. It has access to when we do our final soundcheck. It would mean so much to me if I see you there. It might be the last chance that I could see you."
His phone rang again. He answered it this time. All he said was a sad "Hello" then followed by a long silence as he listened attentively to what was being said to him. An obvious look of worry and concern spread across his face. Then he said goodbye and hung up. He looked at me and then looked down.
"Is everything okay? Is your manager really upset?"my voice just couldn't hide the concern I had for him.
He shook his head. "No. He is not upset with what I did. The driver had already informed him of where I went."
" So, what's the matter? You look like someone who just received some bad news."
                            "Something came up. Our agency called my manager. They said that one of the TV networks have pictures of you and Tae. They were asking if it was okay to release it to the public." Jimin said.
                           "What?!!!" I exclaimed. "Are they crazy? Why would they do that?"
"If those pictures get released, it will be a scandal for the group. Fans really get jealous when they hear the slightest news that we are possibly dating. Sometimes, they even get jealous over our own families." he explained. I can feel the frustration in his voice as he tells me all this.
" This is horrible! The last thing that I would want is to cause a scandal for you and the group." I said.
                           "Our boss has a really good relationship with that particular TV network. He begged them not to release it. He might have paid them a good amount of money too. This is how dirty this business is. For now, you don't have to worry. Everything is under control."
" I'm sorry."
He chuckled. "For what? It's not your fault. You are the one being dragged into all of this. Tae should have been more careful. He should have known better. Knowing Tae, I was not surprised why he did it anyway. He is a very carefree person. He is someone who would always choose to do things that would make him happy regardless of the consequences. He tends to act like this when it involves someone that he is particularly fond of. Sometimes I wish that I could be more like him."
"Well, don't you realize that it is exactly what you did tonight? You certainly shocked me with all this. I was not expecting this at all, especially not from you."
" Do you know what is my biggest fear right now?" he asked.
"That the fans will start hating on BTS if this scandal comes out." I answered so surely.
"That I am too late, and that you already have somebody that you love."
"If that is your way of asking me if I have a boyfriend, or if I am dating anybody right now, the answer is no."
" Well, that is a big relief...." he said with a shy smile on his face. "But do you know what my next biggest fear is?" he asked again.
I looked at him and waited for him to answer his own question because I absolutely have no idea about it.
"It is, for me to like somebody that any of the other members like, most especially Tae. Tae and I, we are like soulmates. I love him dearly and I would always do anything to make him happy. We have never had a girl come between us, and I am desperately hoping that it won't ever happen. But, why is it that I feel so uneasy about it? Kate, I am so fearful that you like Tae more than me."