Archive of Our Own

You watched the Ellen show almost every day.

It was your favorite pastime. Ellen was hilarious, and her show was so much fun to watch.

You loved the Ellen show.
Not more than BTS, but still.

And you loved it so much that for an early Christmas present, your family bought you a ticket to actually go see the Ellen show live .

You fretted for days in advance about what you would wear and what would happen. Usually, Ellen gave away stuff to the audience; you worried if you had room to take it back home with you.

And so, the day before the show, you flew to the city where the show was going to be at, and slept restlessly that night. All the next day, you worried and fretted and worried some more. You got ready in the hotel, and finally set out in the rental car towards the Ellen Show center.

Getting in was a blur; security personnel, and ticket checkers, and metal detectors, and attendants. And then you were shown to your seat, six rows from the stage.

You sat down, so nervous and excited you were shaking. You knew your family would be watching and videoing the whole thing, and the idea of maybe getting on television was partly awesome and partly terrifying.

People, mostly women, filed into the seats overlooking the stage. A group of girls and women shuffled past you, giggling and apologizing. One girl, who looked about 18, settled down beside you, her cheeks flushed pink.

"Sorry for being in your way," she breathed, her eyes bright with excitement as she stuffed her bag under her seat. Your 21 year old self smiled at her apology. "Oh, you're fine," you said, and she shot a quick smile at you before turning to her friend beside her.

Excitement mounted, and then, Ellen DeGeneres herself came out on the stage. The applause was deafening. You yourself were on your feet along with all of the others in the crowd, clapping and cheering as Ellen walked out to the chair and the couch set up on the stage. She settled herself in her customary chair, and smiled out at the crowd.

"Hi everyone!" She cried, and fresh cheers broke through the people, including you. She said the customary introductory things, and then you knew that it was going live.

"So," she began, looking out at the audience, "You've all probably heard of the hot, not-so-new boyband, BTS."

Completely forgetting you might very well be on TV, you screamed and jumped up, along with half of the women there, including the girl next to you. Ellen waited respectfully, smiling as the screaming and applause died down.

"Well," she said, "They've released their new hit album, Love Yourself Tear—"

Yet another huge round of screaming and applause drowned out anything she was going to say, and Ellen waited again, chuckling to herself.

Once you finally quieted down, Ellen laughed.

"Most if you seem to love BTS," she joked, and a few more screams sounded (oh gosh, maybe that was you), followed by laughter.

Ellen glanced around, and for a second, you could have sworn that her eyes met yours. You felt like maybe you had connected with her on some level.

"So," Ellen said, smiling brightly, "I brought them all here to see you."

Your world stopped.

BTS? HERE?!?

The words had barely registered in your brain when out from behind the potted plants came Namjoon.

Then Jimin.
Then Jeongguk.
Then Hoseok.
Then Taehyung.
Then Yoongi.

And then came Seokjin.
Your bias.
Your love.

You leaped to your feet and screamed, along with all of the ARMYs there. The girl next to you was sobbing and screaming " HOBI!! HOBI OPPA!! "

BTS looked out at the crowds, smiling and waving at the hysterical fans (you among them).

"HELLO, ARMY!" Bellowed Hobi. The girl next to you shrieked, waving hysterically, and a fresh round of screaming filled the air as BTS settled down on the couch and the chairs set up behind the couch.

"Hi, guys!" Ellen greeted them, and they nodded and murmured greetings, glancing out at the fans in the crowd.

"So, would you like to introduce yourselves to everybody here?" She asked, and Namjoon grinned.

"Hi, everyone! My name is RM!"

He waved, and everyone screamed. Next, Yoongi took the microphone.

"Hi, everyone," he boomed, "My name is Suga."

Even more screams broke out as he waved and smiled at the crowd.

"Hiiiii!" Crowed Hoseok, smiling brightly and waving. Next to you, the girl screamed. "Yeah, you all know me. You're my hope, I'm your hope, I'm J-Hope!!"

More screams as the the mic was handed to Jin.

"Hi everyone," he said, "I'm Jin." And maybe you screeched a little. "Yeah, Worldwide Handsome, baby, you know me," he added, and this time you definitely screeched. He smiled and waved at the crowd, and you didn't hear any more of the introductions, aside from the immense screaming as the maknae line introduced themselves.

Once everyone mostly calmed down (a few fans were still sobbing), Ellen struck up a conversation with BTS. You followed every word closely, hardly daring to breathe as they talked.

After the conversation about the whole Tear concept, Ellen cleared her throat.

"Well, if you guys don't mind, I have a little game for you to play."

A murmur of interest rippled through the crowd and through BTS. Namjoon nodded patronizingly. "Of course, Ellen."

Her eyes sparkled as she looked out at the crowd.

"I'll need some help though," she called.

Instantly, screams filled the air as all of the BTS fans shot to their feet, jumping up and down and screaming. Yes, you too.

Ellen grinned, and announced "I will walk around and pick some of our audience to play the game with BTS. Now, if you want to play, will you please stand up?"

Immediately, all of the ARMYs in the room started screaming even louder and jumping up and down.

Ellen walked up the aisle you weren't on, but you turned to follow her with your eyes.

She pointed and picked out four girls next to each other, and they screamed and raced down to the stage, where they stood sobbing and hugging each other and looking at BTS, who smiled back at them.

Ellen walked down and around, making her way up your aisle.

Please, please, please, look at me. Pick me.

Ellen kept walking her eyes scanning around. Every step brought her closer. She looked over at you.

There was another moment as something passed between you, and she pointed at you and the girl next to you.

"You two; go down there to the stage."

And with those words, you and the girl ran screaming down the stairs and up onto the stage and then there they were.

BTS.
Bangtan Sonyeondan.
The Bulletproof Boyscouts.

Ellen chose one more girl, and then you were all on stage.

She asked you to tell her your names, and the microphone passed down the line of girls. When it got to you, you said "(Y/N) (L/N)," and passed it to the girl next to you.

All you could see was Jin.

Jin, with his beautiful face and his broad shoulders and his kind heart.

When the mic got back to Ellen, she said "Okay, now point to your bias."

There was a hush of silence, and all fingers went up.

One girl with blonde, shoulder length hair pointed straight at Jeongguk, her cheeks bright pink but her smile even brighter.

Another with long, dark hair pointed right at Jimin, her cheeks pink and eyes sparkling, staring at him like he was the only person there.

Another girl with dark skin and black hair pointed timidly at Taehyung, who grinned shyly at her.

One girl with coppery-brown hair pointed at Yoongi, her face aglow and her lips curled into a huge smile.

The girl next to you pointed at Hoseok, her cheeks looking like they might split she was smiling so wide.

One girl pointed at Namjoon, her red-orange hair glowing under the lights, but the look in her eyes was brighter than any spotlight.

And you, of course, pointed straight at Jin. He grinned at you, and you felt like melting right there on live TV.

Oh yeah, you were on live TV.
That's right.

Ellen said "Well, it seems I've picked well. Go stand with your biases, girls; they are your partners."

In a daze, you walked up to Jin.

"Hi, Jin," you breathed.

"Hi, (Y/N)," he said, smiling brightly, and you really felt like melting.

You looked around at the other members of BTS and the girls. Jimin and Jeongguk couldn't take their eyes off their partners. Hobi, Namjoon, Taehyung and Yoongi were talking quietly with theirs.

Ellen cleared her throat, and everyone looked at her.

"Okay, so this game is rather simple. It's called Charades..."

Laughter filled the room, and BTS and their partners listened intently as Ellen explained the rules: one couple would act out the word/phrase, and the other six couples would guess. Each correct guess would mean a point for the team acting and the team that guessed correctly. You had thirty seconds max per word/phrase.

Everyone nodded, and Ellen picked Namjoon and his girl first.

They stepped out to the "stage", and behind you and the rest of BTS, on the wall, appeared the word.

Namjoon and the girl began furiously paddling backwards with their hands.

Laughter erupted as guesses peppered the air.

"Canoe!"
"Paddle!"
"Doggy paddle!"
"Oars!"

They shook their heads, and pantomimed falling.

Jimin's girl yelled "Going over the edge! Going over a waterfall!"

DingDingDing!

Jimin and his partner high-fived Namjoon and his partner as they took their place.

A timer, and the new act-it-out appeared behind you.

After a moment of silence, Jimin held out his hand to the blushing girl, and she took it. He twirled her around, and she did a pirouette.

"Ballet!" You yelled.

Jimin's cheeks puffed out exasperatedly and frantically made a Continue motion.

Jin cried "Dancing! Ballet dancing!"

DingDingDing!

"Yes!" You whispered as you hustled onto the floor.

The timer counted off, and you and Jin looked over the others' heads.

The act-it-out was Flipping pancakes .

You began to stir the imaginary bowl, and Jin ladled onto an imaginary griddle.

"Muffins!"
"Cookies!"
"Waffles!"
"Pancakes!"

You pointed at Taehyung and his girl, and Jin flipped the pancakes.

"Flipping pancakes!" Taehyung cried.

DingDingDing!

You and Jin took your place again.

Taehyung and the dark-skinned girl stood, and when the timer went off, he immediately knelt. The girl took a lock of his hair in her hand, and made finger scissors cut it.

"Cutting hair!" Yoongi cried.

DingDingDing!

Yoongi and his partner took the stage, and the timer counted down.

Their word appeared, and they immediately separated. Holding something imaginary in their hands, they pantomimed hitting something back and forth.

"Badminton!"
"Table tennis!"

"PING PONG!" bellowed Jeongguk and his girl at the same time.

DingDingDing!

They blushingly took their place, and the timer counted down. The word appeared, and the crowd roared.

For a stunned second, they stood still, and then the girl pulled out an invisible stick with her fingers. She placed one end in her teeth, and Jeongguk leaned close and clamped his teeth on the other imaginary end.

The crowd roared and Jimin yelled "POCKY!!"

DingDingDing!

They nodded, their faces bright red, and the girls laughed and hugged as they passed.

Jimin and his partner waited while the countdown came, and then the crowd roared again.

Jimin looked at the girl, and then leaned over and placed a finger on his cheek.

"Dimples!" someone called.

Jimin shook his head. She murmured something to him, and he nodded. They both blushed, and the crowd screamed as she leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Kiss!"
"Smooch!"
"PECK!" Jin yelled.

DingDingDing!

The game went back and forth, and Jimin and his partner and Jeongguk and his partner ended up tying in their scores as winners.

Once Ellen had stopped laughing, she congratulated the winners.

"You four winners get $10,000 each..."

Cheering erupted as the two girls screamed and jumped up and down, hugging each other and their partners. An attendant rushed out to hand Jimin, Jeongguk and the two girls big checks.

"The rest of the contestants get $7,000 each..."

You jumped up and down, screaming and hugging Jin, who grinned and hugged you back. A smiling attendant presented you with the check: seven thousand dollars.

"And the rest of the audience goes home with $1,000 each!!"

Ellen finished to the cheers and screams of all the audience on their feet. The rest of the show was a blur; BTS performed FAKE LOVE, and you got to talk a little with Jin, and then you were going back to your seat to get your things, and then exiting the building.

You sighed and looked up at the bright sunshine, smiling at it.

Seven thousand dollars.

You smiled as you walked back to the rental car, envisioning everything you could buy with that.

The video equipment you had dreamed of for YouTube; BTS merch and albums... And a BTS concert ticket.

As you got on the plane the next day for home, you smiled as you thought about the plans you had.

And by far, the Ellen show was the best surprise you had ever had.