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The alarm went off.

Stirring under his comforter, his hand reached out to his bedside table, trying to look for his phone. When he couldn't find it, he grumbled and let out a heavy sigh, pushing the comforter away from his face.

Namjoon sat up, leaning against his bed's headboard as his hand reached out to his phone. As he turned off the alarm, his door was knocked on.

"Namjoon ah? Are you awake yet?" Jin asked as he peeked his head in between the door and its frame.

When the leader just nodded, he let out a sigh and made his way to the bed. "Namjoon ah, how are you feeling today? Have your breakfast."

"I'm fine, hyung," Namjoon mumbled, eyes won't leave his phone's screen as he was checking for new emails.

"Hey, you've been skipping proper meals for almost a month now! Get over it already! She will come back soon!"

As Jin mentioned, Namjoon stopped scrolling. He was frozen for a moment and stared at his phone.

"She's... not..." he muttered weakly.

"Look, Jungkookie already got over this. His was the worst. He didn't even get to meet her for the very last time, compared to you, who got to meet her before she left," Jin said, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Hyung..." Namjoon paused for a moment, then turned to him, eyes looking red now. "All this while I've hurt her, I didn't realize that I've hurt her."

"Last time, we told you to tell her, but did you? No, you didn't. And now you're here, saying regrets after she had confessed her love to you."

"I never thought that she would've had feelings for me. I never thought that she would leave. That's why I chose to keep it in," Namjoon cried, tears streaming down his cheeks as he hugged his knees. "I... I just wanted to protect her."

"Protect her from what?" Jin curiously asked.

"Someone," Namjoon sobbed, wiping his tears with a hateful expression. "Someone who uses her as my weakness."

Jin saw his expression, but he just patted the leader's back softly.

"From the look on your face, you don't want to tell it me yet, but I think I know who you mean," he said. "Don't you want to report it to the company, for privacy protection or something? Police, FBI, CIA..."

"No. Her life will become more miserable. I don't want to hurt her, anymore," Namjoon sniffed, then took his phone again, and opened up his gallery. He scrolled down until he saw it.

The 'not-so-candid' photo of Hyun Ae that he had taken when they met at Starfield Library last time.

"I'll wait," he whispered, smiling as he stared at the photo. "The good thing about her not being in this country is she stays unharmed."

"Well, Hyun Ae won't like it if you wait for another month," Jin sighed, then poked Namjoon's arm as he continued, "to finally have proper meals. Get ready, and then eat. We got work to do starting tomorrow. We need to get everything prepared today."

Jin stood up beside the bed as he began. "Even though she's not here, I believe that she's watching us too. Like the other ARMYs. So seeing you sick on the broadcast... would worry her more, don't you think so? Plus, without you... who is BTS?"

With that, Namjoon nodded as Jin gave him one last pat on his shoulder and left the room. Namjoon scooted to the edge of the bed and placed his legs down on the floor. Then he picked up his phone again, with Hyun Ae still on the screen.

"Hyun Ae..."

********

"Achoo!"

"Hyun Ae, you're okay? You looked... not well."

"I'm fine, Aira," Hyun Ae giggled, sniffing as Aira passed her a napkin. "Thanks."

"Maybe... you're still not used to the weather here," Aira chuckled, continuing to fold the rest of the napkins for the business.

"Or maybe the restaurant is a bit... chilly today," Hyun Ae sighed, resuming her task: wiping the washed utensils dry before placing them into the utensil caddy.

It had been a month since Hyun Ae came to Malaysia. After her sudden confession to Namjoon on her departure, the feeling to come back to Korea began to fade. She would love to stay in Malaysia with her parents and help them with the restaurant, for as long as she wanted. She didn't know if she was able to face him again. Or to know his answer after the confession.

"Well, it makes sense why it's cold. It's raining anyway. In the early morning. Wow," Aira said.

She was one of the waitresses in her parent's restaurant and had been with Hyun Ae from the very first day she came to the restaurant to help.

After Hyun Ae was done, she began to put each caddy on each table in the restaurant, alongside Aira. After everything was done, both of them walked over to the beverage prep area when Hyun Ae discovered a lunchbox.

"Oh? Who put this here?" she began to ask when suddenly she sensed someone was walking up to her from behind.

"It's your breakfast," a male voice said. She turned around to find the restaurant's sous chef standing there with a calming smile.

"Mr. Rayyan, you don't have to-"

"I made them for you," Rayyan cut her off, as he opened the lid, just to reveal a perfect, nutritious breakfast before her eyes. "And just call me Rayyan. I'm only two years older than you."

"That looks pretty delicious. Hyunnie ah, Rayyan's a good cook, you know? You should try it," her mother urged as she walked past her daughter and then told Rayyan, "she hasn't had her breakfast."

"What? Mom! I did have-"

"Not cookies as your excuse. Now, go. Eat. Please take her," her mom smiled at Rayyan before she grabbed Aira and then entered the kitchen, leaving her daughter with the sous chef alone.

"Rayyan, really. Next time, you don't have to make this for me," Hyun Ae reminded him, as she took the lunchbox and walked towards one of the tables.

"I'm afraid that I won't obey that," Rayyan said, sitting across her as she sat down.

"Why?"

"Hyun Ae, I want to know you more. Is it wrong?"

"No, it's not. But please, only during off-work times. If you're doing it like right now, it's like you're trying to win my parents' hearts too aside from mine."

"What if that's my real intention?" Rayyan muttered, softly chuckling as he noticed her surprised expression. "Hyun Wook always talked about his caring sister, and without even seeing you, I could feel that you're such an amazing person. And then here you are."

"Far beyond what you had imagined, right?" Hyun Ae snickered, as she picked up some chopsticks from the box on the table, then opened the lunchbox.

"In a way that attracts me more to you," Rayyan smirked, his eyes still won't leave her as she looked up at him.

"May I ask you something? Is it just you or it's just your fellow Malaysians' style, to directly reach out to me, and use hints to say that you're interested in me?"

"Well, it's my style. I always go direct, because I don't want to waste time."

"Do you know that you sounded like a player?" Hyun Ae chortled, picking up a cute-looking sausage and eating it. "It's not like I hate you whatsoever, but if you want to be my friend, you have to do it in the right way. The only thing that had been right is," she paused, then tapped the lunchbox as she smiled, "you've made me breakfast. So thank you for that."

"Look at you. Earlier, you told me not to bring you more food," Rayyan laughed, as she continued eating.

"It's because you did admit your real intention of being nice to me for a month now."

"I like your way. I got intrigued by your wits ever since you came here. You seem like the one who always bickers a lot."

Hyun Ae shot up and glared at him. "No, I'm not!"

"See, you are," he laughed, then pointed to the food. "Now eat."

"You're not eating?"

"I already ate, pabo ya."

Hearing the simple word, Hyun Ae looked up again at him and giggled. "Wow, you're learning Korean now. How cute."

"Well... I hope you could teach me more. Friend."


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