Once Jimin fell asleep, Hobi carefully grabbed his jacket from the chair next to the desk and pulled out the green envelope from its pocket, then sat down. He read it carefully and absentmindedly smiled as he did, it was so heartfelt and warm, not the typical fan letter. Not that he minded all the letters written with love and gratefulness, but this somehow felt more personal and once again Hobi felt slightly uncomfortable.

Like when he heard your voice after you were completely starstruck, like when he saw your smile up close. It was not a bad kind of uncomfortable, it was just a weird feeling and he was not sure what to do about it. Every night for a whole week, he repeated this little ritual of waiting for Jimin to fall asleep and secretly re-reading the letter, different feelings popping up each day.

The following week, Hobi decided he would write a personal response. Usually all fan-mail went to a specific address and the reply was pretty standardized, as it was not possible to reply to every single letter. He, for some reason, decided to keep this letter to himself instead of handing it over to the staff to go through that process.

After carefully thinking about what he wanted to say for a few days, Hobi sat down and tried to transfer it onto the paper. It took him two hours to be mildly satisfied with it, but once he was done, he put it in his bag to take with him the next day and fell onto his bed, not even bothering to change into his sleepwear before he was out.

The next morning, he made his way to the smallest post office in the area to avoid being noticed and got all the necessary information to send the letter to the address that you provided on the envelope. He asked about the options he had to have his mail arrive into the small shop and not the dorms or the studio. Once everything was arranged, he dropped the letter into the mailbox and walked out, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

This was the start of a sort of pen pal relationship between you two, for months you exchanged letters pouring your hearts out to each other, telling each other your deepest secrets, fears and the little things that made your every day worth it. What you shared on paper was familiar, but deeply meaningful.

After 8 months of weekly letters, he finally gathered the courage to ask you to meet him at this completely ordinary cafe that was right around the dancing studio where he practised. He had brought a change of clothes, slightly less informal than what he usually wore on a daily basis, and had showered at the studio before going to the cafe and sitting at a table in the very back. He had said in his last letter, that he would wear his Mang face mask so you could recognize him from afar. He wore his hat pretty often as well, but it was a bit too flashy for when you are trying to go unnoticed.

You came in and looked around the tables, until you saw a flash of blue hiding beneath a bucket hat. You looked closely at the person who was reading their menu and noticed the pink heart shaped nose of Mang on his blue facemask. You nervously walked up to the table, it had been so long since the day of the fan sign and this was unreal to you, in a way, it didn't feel like you had been exchanging letters with Hobi. You were way too comfortable with that and right now you just felt very anxious as you shuffled your feet, now just a few meters away from the table.

You weren't sure how to proceed, so you just pulled out the chair in front of him and sat down, the noise it made when you moved it made Hobi look up unsure, as if he was not waiting for anyone at all. You had lowered your face mask and were smiling timidly at him. He moved his mask down to his neck and returned the smile, he wasn't very confident, but it didn't show.

As the waiter took your orders and brought the food, you slowly started chatting away. At first it was very awkward, but as time passed, you felt more at ease with each other, realizing that these letters were who you were. A strange realization that you both needed to have, for some reason.

Time flew and hours passed as you talked, losing track of time and space, like it was only you two, but it started to get dark outside and Hobi shifted in his seat, he couldn't be gone for way too long without it seeming suspicious. With a slight pout on his face, he mentioned the time and explained that he should probably get back to the dorms before it was too obvious that he couldn't have been dancing these many hours.

You nodded sadly and, as your face always gave you away, Hobi noticed and extended his hand over the table, his palm facing up. You remembered the time when you high-fived him and not wanting to make a fool of yourself again, you looked him in the eye like asking what that was supposed to mean. He extended his hand further and moved his fingers as if signaling for you to do the same.

You placed your hand on his and as he closed his fingers around it sweetly, you held his back. You looked at each other intensely as you held your hands and once again were back into your own place for who knows how long. He squeezed your hand before loosening his grip and pulling away, once again looking at the sun setting outside.

Both of you stood up without saying a word and walked out together, since Hobi seemed to wait for you as he started walking towards the door. He stood close to you and gently took your hand into his once more, putting both into his jacket's pocket in an attempt to make it somewhat less obvious, or so he expected. Hobi hoped his hands were not sweaty, it had been so long since he had felt this way about any woman. He briefly thought about that last one girl he dated, the one who had left him for someone else, and shook his head in an attempt to shake off the memories. He looked up and gulped.

Hobi? Are you okay? - you asked with a concerned look on your face, you were really enjoying the feel of his soft skin and the warmth radiating from his hand. However, when you saw his furrowed eyebrows, you panicked. He looked at you with a blank stare and replied. Yes, yes I am - his words a little too hurried as he felt exposed.

Your eyes locked once more and his expression softened, you so badly wanted to giggle at how adorable he was acting, you refrained to avoid making him more uncomfortable. But he seemed to be having a good time, wasn't he? You suddenly felt uncomfortable and tugged slightly at the hand he was holding. Unlike last time, he tightened his grip and leaned onto your face as you entered a park, the trees above you covering you with their shade.

You felt the warmth of his breath and gasped. He quickly leaned back and half-laughed, his face bright red with embarrassment as he blurted out - I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have...I don't know what I was going for, I-  as he continued to laugh nervously under his breath and looked round at everything, but you. You tugged at his hand, this time to bring him closer, he was now facing you and you were both completely silent. Only the rustle of the leaves and the branches moving with the wind could be heard, it's like you'd both stopped breathing, your lips slightly parted.

He shyly moved his lips closer to yours, his breathing now agitated, you leaned in just a bit so that your lips would finally touch and you both closed your eyes. This feeling he hadn't felt in so long, but at the same time, so different from anything he had ever experienced before. It was rather intoxicating. He pressed his lips against yours harder, not wanting it to end and pulled away ever so slightly to catch his breath. You took a deep breath as you looked at him, shocked by how close he was right now that you could have counted his eyelashes.

He took a step back, now holding both of your hands, and grinned as he looked at you, still a little flustered. I have no idea what I'm doing - he said softly and you both started to laugh. I have not done this in a very long time, I didn't want to - he said with a more serious expression on his face.

He opened his mouth to say something, but he sighed and looked up at the night sky, which could be seen in-between the leaves. He looked back down at you and almost whispered - ...but there's something about you that makes me want to - his gaze more intense this time round. You felt like you needed to pinch yourself, had this really happened? Had Hobi kissed you, had you kissed him? Had he just told you he had feelings for you?

I'd like that - you said softly. His whole body relaxed, your connected arms now dangling from one side to the other between you two as he smiled widely with a sparkle in his eyes and let out an airy sigh. He let go of your hands only to pull you in a warm hug, for a moment your froze in shock, but as he squeezed ever so slightly, you wrapped your arms around his waist and placed your cheek on his chest, smiling from ear to ear as you listened to his heart beating fast.

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