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A day after the incident, there was a simple interview that had started it all. A podcast group interviewed fans waiting outside the concert hall till they could go in and buy tickets, after one or two fans had taken the mic, and spewed their anger and disappointment about the situation, she took the floor. When the interviewers first approached her she was caught off guard, looking into the camera like a deer in headlights. She seemed frozen under the attention, especially when all the other fans too turned to look at her for what she had to say.
“As a fan, do you still like BTS after everything that has happened?”
While it was the same question as they had asked all the others, her answer was unexpected and took everyone off guard. The bangtan boys had been sat in in one of Bighit's many offices, dragged there by their manager. They thought they had been dragged in there to watch the fallout, to be scolded, or to make some sort of game plan, but that wasn't the case at all. They had been summoned to listen to this random girl's answer.
She stared at the interviewer for a hot second and then pulled a face and shrugged, seemingly already knowing what the interviewers were fishing for.
“No, I mean I don't know them. I like their body of work yeah but I've never met the guys so I can't really say? I mean they seem nice enough on stage and on camera but I don't think it's fair to judge them off that. We all try to look good for picture day, and for them picture day is every day. I think they try to present the best versions of themselves to the public, as any of us would, but that doesn't mean that they're not people anymore. How about we just let them live..”
Saying that alone was enough already for them to let out a collective sigh of relief, knowing that there were fans out there that didn't want to stake them, after the scandal had come out. Yoongi especially, after all he had been the cause of it all. He had been seeing a girl, and had kept the secret for almost a year, until a single picture of them having dinner together surfaced on SNS, after that it was absolute chaos. Pictures, videos and private chats surfaced for all to see. Outrage followed. ARMY was furious. Anti-fans sprung out of the ground with even more rumours about the other members dating people, most of which weren't even remotely accurate. Almost instantly it led to his girlfriend kicking him to the curb as ARMY found out her identity. It was all too much for her, and she had ended a year long relationship with a single text. Since it happened they had been locked away in a hotel room, to wait out the storm.
“So it doesn't bother you that Suga is dating a girl-”
The girl rolled her eyes and once again shrugged.
“He can date whomever he wants, boy, girl, he can date a rock formation for all I care. If he's happy then good for him, and even if he's absolutely miserable, it's still none of my business.”
At that their manager paused the video. Involuntarily, Yoongi started to smile, while looking at a close up of the girl's face. She stood there, mid shrug, her hair half blown over her face by the wind, in the biggest winter coat he had ever seen. He had never felt more thankful looking at someone, a feeling that made a permanent mark on his heart as he learned more about her.
“This video went viral. This girl (y/n) is everywhere now.”
He flicked to another video where the same fragment of the interview was being talked about, and then another. There were posts, podcasts, tweets, even actual articles all about this girl and her opinions.
“This girl single-handedly turned this around. Our ratings have significantly gone up in a day, the amount of hate posts have decreased, the fan pages are all mentioning her, and it's even whipped up a storm of support for you boys, look at these..”
The screen filled with a few tweets of people urging others to leave the boys alone, and to treat them like people. That saraengs had no place in their community, and that they would support BTS no matter what.
Yoongi's heart stung a little reading them all, knowing that these were only tiny snippets of the mass of people that were supporting them, and sticking up for them now. He had honestly believed that this would be the end for them. Negative press was a powerful thing and had brought down many of group before them, even their popularity across the globe would not be able to save them. After all they were selling their fans an unattainable dream with every lick of their lips and thrust of their hips, and many of their fans were their fans because of just that, their face and their body usually outweighed talent in this cut-throat industry. He couldn't even remember now how many crash diets he had been on before concerts, how the whole group would deprive themselves of salt and water just so that they would look thinnest on camera before shoots. It didn't take much for a fan to be turned into an Anti-fan. But this? This gave him hope.
“The internet loves this girl, Army loves this girl. If we play this right, we could make all of this disappear.”
–
On the second day after the incident, another interview hit. Yoongi had been laid up in his hotel room, scrolling endlessly through his phone, estimating the damage that had been done, when she once again trended on twitter. Instantly he sat up, opened the video and readied himself. It was another interview, discussing the current situation in kpop. An MC he knew by face but not by name, took centre stage, and announced proudly that he had secured a talk with the one and only 'true fan' as they had dubbed her.
What followed was a skype call with the girl in question, and Yoongi couldn't help but break out in cold sweats as she appeared on screen. It was all a bit grainy, and her movements were choppy at best, but it was her alright. While she had surely been informed ahead of time that she would be interviewed, the girl had put no effort in her appearance. Her hair was pulled into a messy high ponytail, leaving escaped or forgotten hairs springing randomly from her crown. She was dressed in a very big and very ugly jumper. She didn't appear to have any make up on either, as there was a prominent zit on her forehead, that even the pixilated image couldn't hide.
As expected she was asked about her comments the day before, and asked to elaborate, however this seemed to annoy her. She rolled her eyes and nodded.
“Look I really don't understand how this is such a controversial thing. BTS and all the other groups are all people, they're not some alien race flown down from the heavens to entertain the masses. Being entertainers, and being an artist is just their job, it doesn't define them as a person. And the public and their fans don't have any kind of ownership over them, so when they're not in their function, leave them be. When they aren't on stage, or at fansignings or whatever, let em be, let em live. I mean after a concert, fans go home and go live their lives, so why shouldn't they?”
With that the interview ends, and with an awkward wave the connection is cut, and Yoongi is left in his bed, with a smile on his face, and a thankful heart.
-----
Day three after the leak, there is another video that surfaces under her hashtag, and again without thinking about it, Yoongi opens it. Only this time it's not the set up he expected, nor is the title of the video.
“True fan harassed in her downtime”
It shows some phone camera footage, of her in a baseball court, surrounded by what seem to be her friends. Only she is facing away from the group, ball in hand, shouting at something off screen.
“I'm not having this, I did not agree to an interview. I'm playing here with my friends. How did you leeches even find me here?” she calls, and at that the camera turns and reveals a crew and a pair of interviewers, shoving microphones in her direction.
“No, stop filming aight, I did not agree to this. So get out of my face” she calls and throws them the bird cleverly, knowing that they can't use any of the footage if there are obscene gestures in it. At that her friends chime in, and tell the reporters to leave her alone, and even the person filming chimes in when they keep insisting. After 2 minutes the footage cuts out.
Yoongi's stomach twists a bit, knowing that they were responsible for her sudden burst into the spotlight. She handled it well, and she had no real image to lose, but still he felt bad for the harassment,..
A moment or so later, Namjoon entered his hotel room, phone in hand, ready to show him the exact same video. He called her amazing, and Yoongi agreed.
Then that same evening, there was an official interview scheduled, and this time it was for an actual talk show, where she was to come on as a guest. All the bangtan boys settled in front of the TV for it, anxious and excited. Yoongi sat stuffed between two of the younger boys who talked over his head to each other about how cool she was, and how much they liked her. While it annoyed him, Yoongi didn't say anything and just focussed on the screen till the programme started.
She was introduced as a tidal wave in the fan community, and as expected she came on stage looking as casual as ever. She wore jeans, sneakers, and an oversized T-shirt. Again her hair looked wily and untamed, leaving Yoongi to wonder if the girl owned a brush at all.
Still,.. she looked good.
The younger boys applauded as she came on, and took her seat awkwardly with a bow and a handshake. She sat awkwardly too, spreading her legs and leaning on her knees with her elbows, not at all mirroring the feminine appearance that sat across from her. She sat there with a smile though. As expected this morning's video was brought up, the one of her shooing away reporters and using obscene language. The girl just let out a laugh.
“Yeah one of my teammates took that footage.”
“Don't you mind being seen like – I mean you are using quite colourful language in it?”
She shrugs and smiles.
“Not really, I'm quite a crass person so it's not far from the truth. Here I'm still quite mild actually, I'm a profanity factory when we're playing ball especially. I'm a sore loser” she offers.
Yoongi feels a smile tug at his lips as his brothers praise her once more for being cool.
After a minute or so, the interview gets to the point and her attention is directed to the screen behind them, where a video is played of one of their fanmeets, and it shows (y/n) moving down the table, smiling, getting something signed.
“From what we've heard you've seemed like a person who was above all this, or at least you acted as such, that you had no personal interest in the band whatsoever but looking at your face that's not exactly true is it? I mean here you are seen highfiving Min Yoongi. That is him, isn't it?”
Yoongi's heart drops a little. He didn't even know that she had attended a fan signing, and he hadn't at all recognised her, while she had quite the memorable face. A shiver passes over him, along with a hit of anxiety for what she's about to say next.
“Woah Hyung, we've actually met her!” Jimin calls, but the others quickly shush him, equally eager for her words.
The girl eyes the screen and smiles brightly.
“I sure did highfive Min Yoongi. I mean have you heard his mixtape? That shi- oh sorry. It's so good! It's an honour to meet someone that talented” she praises, causing Yoongi to freeze and slowly sink further into the couch.
The interviewer shakes her head.
“You can't fool me, you can't tell me that after that you're not the least bit possessive of him-”
“Look here” (y/n) interrupts then rather harshly. “I highfived him that doesn't make us friends? Cuz if it does, someone better call G-dragon, cuz he has once kissed my hand and given me a hug, so then by your logic I feel like engaged to him, right?” she adds with a laugh.
“So you're saying that given the opportunity you wouldn't date him? Suga? Min Yoongi?” the interviewer presses.
Yoongi feels his heart clench as he watches the smile slowly disappear off (y/n)'s face. He finds himself desperate for her answer.
“I don't know, if he wanted to go out with me, I'd totally be down. He's a good looking dude, and with him being a high profile person, I'm 90% sure that he wouldn't drag me off god knows where and murder me. Tinder doesn't give those kinds of guarantees you know” she says jokingly.
“Honestly though, I would go out with him, but I'm not for a moment deluded in thinking that I know him, because I've listened to his music. I don't, which is the entire point of dating, to get to know one another, and that's something I'd like to do“ she says on a more serious note.
The interviewer doesn't take her seriously though.
“Is it your dream to date an Idol?”
Instantly (y/n)'s face sours and she deadeyes the camera, and drops the honorifics.
“Yah, my dreams in life are pretty ordinary. I want a roof over my head, delicious food every day. I want the people I like to text me back. I want to play ball with my friends. I want to get off at least once every day, and I want to work a job that doesn't make me want to put a bullet in my head five years in” she calls, riling the interviewer as the entire thing is live, but she just keeps going.
“That's what I want! Give me a little credit. Idol or not, I'm not aspiring towards any dude. If my goal in life was to date Min Yoongi, what the hell am I going to do with myself once I've got him?” she curses and casually shrugs.
At that it cuts to break really quick, and by the time the programme resumes (y/n) is no longer there.
While his brother are up in a riot about the things she has said, Yoongi's heart has not stopped beating. All the while he was with his girlfriend, he had never once felt that she was with him for him. He had always felt that she liked him and loved him for Suga, as opposed to Min Yoongi, and he had accepted it reluctantly, thinking that that would always be the case. But now he found a girl kicking open the door to his heart, without a single care for who he was on stage.
Social media sparked up once again after the interview, boosting the girl to hero status for her words. The internet loved this girl. ARMY loved this girl, and the following weeks were more of the same. Yoongi found himself shamelessly stalking every word about her that found it's way online till the day their manager have the all clear and they were allowed to come out of hiding.
At that her popularity toned down a bit, and her hashtag finally died down to a simmer, to (y/n)'s relief. It seemed she was highly uncomfortable under all the attention.
It wasn't until another week later, just about when Yoongi thought that it was all over with, that she appeared in front of him again, only this time in person. He was just wandering around the company with his cup of coffee, on his way to his recording studio to tweak a track he had been struggling with, when he spotted her walking right behind their CEO. He recognised her from an impressive distance, and instantly stopped in his tracks.
She had her hands stuffed deeply in her pockets, and sauntered behind Bang Si-hyuk as if she were walking next to any average Joe. He couldn't hear a thing they said, but he anxiously watched as they disappeared into his office. For a moment Yoongi considered following them, and shamelessly listening at the door, and he might have done so too, if there wasn't a secretary that had full view of the door at all times.
So reluctantly, he pondered what he had seen, and dragged his confused ass down to his studio, hoping to work away his intrusive thoughts. It was all no use however, no matter how loudly he played his song, no matter what settings he changed, he couldn't hear it. All he could hear were her words, and all he could see was her figure walking down the hallway.
His hands dug into his hair, and tried to press away his obsession for a full two hours.
Then the door to his studio opened, and halt his obsessive thoughts. He instantly got up from his chair and offered a curt bow to the man, who greeted him with a smile.
“You'll never guess who I just had in my office, Suga” he calls.
Yoongi lets out a little huff and shakes his head.
“(y/n) that wonder girl off the internet. She is even more charming in person, let me tell you” he praises.
“Ahh yes, sir. What was she here for?” Yoongi tries to ask casually.
“Well, she had such a presence in those interviews and she is such a character,.. I offered her a deal of course, I wanted to sign her. After all she's become such an it-girl. Whatever she wears or buys becomes an instant hit.”
“You signed her?”
“No she wasn't interested, she said she disliked being in front of a camera, if you can believe it” He says with a laugh.
Yoongi's heart wells up a little, and envies her decision. Producing music was his dream, but he often regretted taking on the role of an idol. Especially these days he found himself wanting to rewind time, and redo is post audition interview.
“But that's not why I'm here, Suga” he calls, once again drawing Yoongi's eyes.
“She did give me her contact information, and I thought you might like to have her number” he says with a sly smile on his face.
Min Yoongi's stomach drops, and it takes every fibre of his being to keep his face in check. Sweat wells up beneath his arms. Ever so casually he digs his hands into his pockets, where his right clutches his phone tightly.
“Sir?” he says with a shrug and curious eyes, as if he doesn't already know what the man is getting at.
He smiles knowingly and scoffs, and hands over a piece of paper with her name, email and phone number on it. Her information curls over the scrap in a very green and very ugly handwriting. It's still very legible though. He holds it up in front of him, and eyes the man over the scrap. He's already turned away and heading out the door.
With a casual “Just give her a call” he leaves Yoongi behind with his rapidly beating heart.
The scrap of paper burns a hole in his pocket for the next three days, until he just can't take it anymore. He's laid up in his bed in the dorm. Things have completely quieted down, and bangtan is more popular than ever before. The whole of ARMY has decided to collectively forgive both himself and the other boys for pursuing romantic relationships with others. They were invited to appear on so many shows and asked for so many performances that their schedule was packed tightly till the end of next year, and he had her to thank for it.
Yoongi couldn't deny that ever since that first interview he's developed an interest in the girl that surpasses his gratitude, but regardless of that he felt like he owed her a thank you.
So, with nervous breaths and twiddling fingers he typed her number into his phone. While he initially had wanted to call her, he couldn't bring himself to actual dial her up. He had wanted to write down what he wanted to say to her, but just couldn't. Everything he put to paper sounded either incredibly awkward, presumptuous or invasive, much to his dismay. And if he couldn't manage it on paper, he would never be able to actually say it to her over the phone. He was too much of a nervous wreck for that.
So he decided to text. Something simple. Something so concise that even if she were to ignore it, he wouldn't feel bad about sending. With a deep breath he pressed send, and sent his message her way.
Hello (Y/N)-shi, I'm sorry for bothering you. I got your contact information from our manager, I hope you don't mind. I wanted to personally thank you for all that you've done for BTS, and me personally.
– Min Yoongi.
It was casual and kept it's distance, and Yoongi instantly regretted sending it. He felt sick to his stomach for the entire ten minutes he went without a reply. He had flung his phone down his bed multiple times to just retrieve it a moment later to check. At the first beep the device made he pounced on it like a bobcat, only to find that one of his apps needed updating. He cursed himself quietly for the lovestruck schoolgirl routine he was going through, but just couldn't help himself. His mind racked over a million possible texts he could get back, none of which eased his nerves. At one point he even decided that it would be past if the girl didn't text back at all.
It happened exactly at the end of that thought. His phone rang, actually rang. She was calling him.
“Shit” he whispered to himself, and instantly patted his wily hair down, as if she could actually see it. He hovered over the phone, for three more seconds, trying to calm himself and come up with a game plan, before he finally accepted the call.
He brought his phone to his ear, and leant into it, curiously listening for any life on the other side of the line. Only picking up soft breathing he decided to speak up.
“Hello?”
“Hello?” it was her alright. Her voice was rough, warm and unmistakably her. He should know, he watched her interviews multiple times a day.
“Hello” he answers once more.
She chuckles, and it sounds beautiful.
“Is this for real? Are you actually Min Yoongi, or are you pranking my ass?” she then asks. She sounds calm, collected and everything Min Yoongi is not.
“Ahh,.. yes, it's the real thing. You came into the office today. I had wanted to approach and thank you then, but I had a previous engagement” he says casually, trying to play it cool.
There's silence. Yoongi begins to sweat.
“Ahh... is that so..” she rings absently. Usually when people realised who they were, especially fans would be reduced to puddles, but she seemed wholly unimpressed by him.
Another silence, one that Yoongi doesn't know how to fill. Luckily, she does.
“You don't have to thank me though, I didn't do anything special. I'm just sorry that you had to go through all that in the first place. I saw a post that it cost you your girlfriend. I am sorry” she rings with a sigh. And he hears a soft thud. She's fallen back onto her pillow.
“I'm sorry you had to go through all that harassment from the reporters” he counters.
She chuckles again.
“That's aight, it was an interesting experience. My selfies have never gotten more likes in my life” she humbly brags in an innately cool tone.
“Yeah I know” Min Yoongi says before he can stop himself. His eyes spread wide as realisation hits him. He just blatantly admitted to having stalked her online. He swallows a lump in his throat.
“Please tell me you've not seen them...” she breathes.
“Ah.. I.. uh I have yeah” he admits.
“Including the one where I'm rolled up in a duvet, and pretending to be a cattepilar?”
A laugh escapes him as he remembers the picture. It had been one of his personal favourites, because she looked so wholly stupid in it.
“Yes.”
She lets out a loud groan in embarrassment.
“Oh my god just shoot me. Shoot me now” she rings, before sputtering into a string of muffled cusses. It's cute.
“Not at all. It was a good look for you” Yoongi says jokingly, smiling blindly.
The girl doesn't seem convinced, groans and curses some more, until finally she mutters a thank you. After that another silence falls between them, but this time it's a comfortable one. The space between them is filled with something that neither of them really dares to say. That is until another voice rings from her end.
“Yah (y/n) what the fuck, we have class in like ten minutes” a strange voice rings, prompting panic from the girl. Yoongi listens with a chuckle caught in his throat as she jumps off her bed, and hisses more cusses and rummages around her room. It's almost as if she's completely forgotten she was on the phone in the first place. When she gets to her bathroom, he even hears her fiddle with her cabinets, in search of her toothbrush. It's only when she needs her other hand to apply the toothpaste that she registers Yoongi's laughter.
She sucks in a breath, and another 'fuck me'.
“I'm sorry! I really have to rush. I have a midterm next week and this is our final class and I'm way behind and- you don't care. What am I doing. Fuck. Shit. Okay! Is it okay if I call you back after?” she rings.
Min Yoongi smiles warmly, and nods. He realises she can't actually see it, and hums in agreement. The girl lets out a huff of relief and quickly ends the call with a sorry and a goodbye. Yoongi's heart swells with warmth, and mutters a goodbye to her though the call had already ended. (y/n) was so absolutely unphased by who he was, and though he had held out hope that her attitude would translate into an actual encounter this was way more than he could have ever hoped for.
She was real.
She was great.
And she was going to call him back after her class.