From the Books I'll Never Write

• 4 •

Lily hummed along to the small kitchen radio while printing the catering orders she had to fulfill. One of them had a now familiar address. Today's order was another birthday cake. She was honestly flattered that they ordered so often. It was a simple cake: vanilla, white chocolate, strawberries on top. She chuckled when she saw what was written in the comment section "Can you and Hyun-ae please stay for some cake please? Please?? Jimin." He was nice. They all were honestly. 'He probably has a crush on Hyun-ae,' she thought. Her best friend and business partner was very popular.

Maybe staying for cake will be ok.

"Hyun-ae yah?" She called out.

"Mm?"

"Come with me to deliver this cake later?" Hyun-ae walked over to me, eyeing the page suspiciously. Usually that was code for 'this is a difficult customer and I need a witness, because reasons', but not this time. Once she saw it was for Jimin she smiled and nodded. It would be the last delivery of the day so they made sure to shut down the bakery before they left.

Lily knocked on the door feeling excited that she and Hyun-ae were invited. It had taken a long time to build her fluency in the language, so that made it harder to build friendships here. A moment later the door swung open.

The loudest one was Taehyung who seemed more excited about the cake than the birthday boy, Yoongi. He jumped up and took the cake from Hyun-ae, handed it to Jungkook, and embraced Lily tightly. She looked shocked but happy. Jimin's eyes darted to Jin, who was looking at the floor. Reintroductions were made since Hyun-ae hadn't been properly introduced to everyone. There were a few more people than last time, perhaps other friends of theirs.

It felt great for Lily to be part of a friend group again. Other than Hyun-ae she hadn't had a real friend circle since when she lived in the States. She still talked to her old friends, even saw them on occasion, but it wasn't the same as being physically present.

After a while Yoongi had to step out of the room. He still had to live stream since it was his birthday and his fans would be disappointed if they couldn't wish him well.

Everyone had broken off into sub circles, laughing and talking while waiting for Yoongi to return. Jimin looked around the room to see if Jin had finally worked up the courage to talk to Lily. They were on opposite sides of the room. She and Hyun-ae were with Namjoon and Taehyung.

Tae was being, well, Tae.
Meanwhile Jin was being...

Jin.

"Jin!" Jimin whispered through his teeth. "Go talk to her!"

Jin whispered back just as tensely. "How am I supposed to when Taehyungie is flirting with her?!"

Jimin looked back to them and thought for a moment. He turned back to Jin: "If I distract him, you're going to talk to her?" Jin nodded in response. "Hyung..."

"I'll talk to her!" Jin laughed. He watched in amusement as Jimin walked over to where Taehyung was standing, picked him up and draped him over his shoulder, and walked away with him. Taehyung let him and said bye to everyone because he had to go now.

Jimin was surprisingly strong.

Jin

After Tae was gone I slowly walked over to where Lily was standing. I clear my throat, take a deep breath and speak.

"Lily?"

She turns around and looks into my eyes for the first time. Her eyes are piercing. "Hi!" She smiles. Her dimples make her look so innocent.

"I'm Jin." 'Good job Jin.'

"Jin," she repeats. "Nice to finally talk to you." I liked how she said my name. Her voice is gentle. "You're taller than I thought you were." She's still smiling. That's good.

I laugh a little. "I'm just happy to be taller than Jimin."

She bursts into a huge grin. "But I'm shorter than Jimin!" It was true. She couldn't be any more than 5'3. I think that's a bit generous.

"But you look cuter than Jimin, so it's ok."
What. The. Hell did I just say?

A slow smile formed. Then a giggle. I let out the breath I was holding and smiled back.

And so we talked. She told me about her visiting Korea years and years ago and deciding to move here a few years ago. She was very animated when talking about her bakery. I loved her passion. I told her about Bangtan and thankfully she didn't make a big deal about it. I guess she already figured we didn't have a normal profession.

"I thought you were in a Korean Mafia and that's why you guys live in this expensive apartment." She joked. Her smile is beautiful. Her lips look soft.

I wanted to talk to her more but she had to work early in the morning. On her way out she stopped to talk to Jimin. "I love having your business but you don't have to buy something to get me to hang out with you." She smiled. They exchanged phone numbers and he said he would call her for the next gathering. I secretly hoped it wouldn't be too long before she returned.

"Bye, Jin." She said before leaving. I couldn't find my voice and just waved.