September 1st 2069

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'Hi Moon, it's me, Jungkook... from school. Today's my 13th birthday and my parents just got me this phone! Anyway, I'm having a party tonight at my house and you should come. Not that I would like that, it's just that my parents told me to invite everyone from school, so... BUT don't bring that friend of yours, he's not invited! Whatever, come or don't, I don't care! Bye!'

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A couple of weeks had gone by and we were starting our second month of internship. That night was Lia's 18th birthday and, after hanging out with her as just friends, Tae was ready to ask her out that same night.
That evening, before entering the restaurant where Lia had invited all of her closest friends, Jungkook and I were waiting outside for Tae to come, who was running late because he was finishing wrapping his present. So, in the meantime, I asked my boyfriend if I could read the first text he was going to send me back in 2069 and he agreed, a bit embarrassed.

"Hahaha come on seriously? This is what you wanted to text me on your 13th birthday? Why didn't you just invite me like a normal person?" I laughed at the goofy way he had worded the text.
"Would you have come if I had?" He asked.
"Well, I don't know... If Tae wasn't invited, then probably not... your friends were annoying GM kids who always made fun of me..." I considered.
"I would have rather had you there than all of them... I don't talk to any of them anymore..." He smiled nostalgically.
"Well, it doesn't matter, we're together now... Although the text was really funny hahaha... I mean, it would've probably confused me at the time, not knowing your real feelings..." I commented.
"Confused? It was so obvious that I was into you! That text was sooo telling! That's why I ended up not sending it, I was too scared you would reject me." He argued.
"How was it telling? You explicitly say you don't care if I come, right after inviting me only because your parents told you so!" I complained. There were so many mixed signals in that text. I was almost glad I didn't receive it eight years earlier.
"Well, they for sure didn't tell me to invite you, so..." He said, more to himself than out loud. But I heard him and I was about to ask more, because up until that point I still hadn't met his parents and the way he talked about them had me concerned. Especially on how they were going to react about us dating and me being a natural.
Unfortunately, Tae arrived right that second and interrupted our conversation.

"I'm here! Is she already inside?" He said out of breath.
"Well, duh! Have you seen what time it is? Are you really into my sister if you arrive late at her birthday party? Also, I'm keeping a close eye on you tonight. Just so you know. Only because your friend here has convinced me to give you a shot doesn't mean you're free to do whatever you please."
Jungkook still liked to treat Tea aggressively, even though he knew him better now. I had asked Tae's permission to talk to Jungkook about his relationship with being a GM and with his parents. He didn't understand at first but then said he didn't mind. I just wanted Jungkook to know that him and Tae were more similar than he thought. Jungkook seemed surprised, but not too much. After all Tae was my friend, so he kind of expected it. But, knowing that, made him empathise with Tae a lot more and after that he didn't seem as opposed to the idea of Tae and Lia together.
I also asked Jungkook if I could tell Tae about him and about the support group he went to with Jimin, but he still wasn't ready for other people to know. I wasn't doing it just to tell his secret to Tae, it was mainly because I thought maybe Tae could benefit from those meetings as well. Even though lately, ever since he had met Lia, I hadn't heard him complain much about his parents or see him sad. So I was hopeful.

"I know, Jeon, I'm sorry, you're right... but I'm an artist, we don't like deadlines..." Tae justified himself.
"Sure, sure, let's get inside now." Jungkook said, leading the way into the restaurant. Tae and I smiled at each other, then followed him.
When we got inside, we realised they had booked the whole restaurant, so there was only one big table on one side of the room and the rest was supposed to serve as a large dance floor. All the i-walls and the i-ceiling had 'happy 18th birthday Lia!' written all over them and a hundred balloons were scattered all over the room. I was the only one with my mouth open, Tae was used to these types of rich people parties and it was the same for Jungkook and Lia's friends.
There weren't as many people as the last party of Lia's I had been to. This time she wanted something more intimate, just her closest friends, that's what she had said to me a few days before when I had last spoken to her. Plus, she had also convinced her oldest brother Jin to join, and I could already see him in a corner of the room, just trying not to be the center of attention, even though some of Lia's friends were already keeping their gazes fixated on him while talking amongst themselves. He would try to force a smile, but I could tell he wasn't super comfortable. I decided I would talk to him later, maybe offer him a bottle of whiskey, just for old times' sake.

I smiled to myself, while thinking that, then I saw Lia rush towards us with a big smile on her face.
"You're here!" She exclaimed.
"Yup" Jungkook answered, but she went straight to hugging Tae, who blushed instantly and then awkwardly hugged her back.
"And you too!" She added.
"Yup" Jungkook tried again but this time she was talking about me. I hugged her and wished her a happy birthday and then gave her my present and told her to open it later.
"Oh, hi Bunny!" She then said to Jungkook, less enthusiastically than how she had greeted us.
"Oh well, yes, I am here too indeed, sister! Thank you for noticing." He answered, offended.
"Oh come on, I just saw you back at home like an hour ago, don't pout! Well, now that we're all here, we can start with dinner... Yeah I know, sounds fancy, almost like a 50th birthday, but later we're gonna have fun on the dance floor, trust me!" She added, then led us to the table.
Besides from her, Jungkook, Jin, Tae and me, there were ten of her friends. I sat between my boyfriend and my best friend, but soon enough Lia, who was sitting on the other side, asked if Tae could sit next to her. He obviously complied and so he switched seats with the person who was already sitting next to her.

"Wow, I'm finally seeing you again!" I heard a familiar voice next to me. I turned my head only to find Hyunjin, that friend of Lia's I had met at her previous party. The one who had made Jungkook upset.
I nodded and smiled to greet him, not really knowing what else to say, but Jungkook had something to say.
"Sorry to disappoint you, maybe my sister hasn't filled you in, but we're together now." He stated, which I thought was not necessary, since it's not like he was trying to hit on me.
"Oh sure, yeah, I heard. It just doesn't really matter to me." Hyunjin then answered, which made me doubt my previous thought.
"I'll make it matter to you, don't worry..." Jungkook said, with what sounded like a threatening tone.
"I'm sorry, Hyunjin, I feel like you're being unnecessarily disrespectful to my boyfriend, who's also your friend's older brother. I don't think we should be doing this at her birthday party." I decided to intervene because it seemed like the right thing to do and because I wasn't liking the way he was carrying the conversation.
"I'm sorry, you're right... Does this mean I still won't be able to dance with you?" He asked, trying to force an innocent look.
"I'm all booked. Every single dance. All with the same person. I'm sorry." I answered, looking at Jungkook, who smiled back at me.
Hyunjin finally surrendered and we even had a few interesting conversations after that. He didn't seem to be a terrible guy, he just came off too strong and made a few mistakes, but he could be forgiven, even by Jungkook.
The dinner was exquisite and before starting the sweaty part of the party, Lia decided to open the presents. When she got to Tae's present, which was the last one, I convinced all of her friends to start dancing. I knew Tae wanted it to be just the two of them and so, while the music was loud and all the guests were on the dance floor, I watched the scene unfold from afar.

I saw Lia open the present, it was a painting that had taken Tae forever to complete. He's usually very fast and gets these streams of creativity that make him complete a work in less than a day, but this one was important to him, he wanted to tell her something. I had seen the painting beforehand, while he was still working on it, and to be honest it was beautiful, but I wasn't sure it was speaking to me. It was too abstract and I was worried she wouldn't really understand what he was trying to tell her, the feelings he was trying to convey. That's why I had advised him to also write her a letter or prepare a speech, but he said, and I quote, 'if she doesn't understand it with a painting then she's not the one I'm supposed to be with'.

And hell, they were destined for each other, because as soon as she saw the painting she seemed to get emotional and rapidly looked at him and nodded a yes, even though he hadn't said a word. Then she surprised him by kissing him. I covered Jungkook's eyes while I was smiling from happiness. They both deserved it and I knew it was simply the start of something beautiful.

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