Cora woke up with a start, convinced that someone else was in the room with her. It took her a moment to realize that it was Yoongi, who was spooning her and snoring softly. She slowly turned her head to peek at him, and almost died from the cuteness of his sleeping face. 'How can such a badass be so adorable?' she thought, trying not to laugh. His body was folded against hers, but he wasn't hugging her, which seemed a bit odd to Cora.

She very gently reached for her phone, and saw that it was only nine in the morning. 'We don't have to be up for a long time, really,' she mused, sighing contentedly. Suddenly a vein of cold ran down her spine when she remembered that the first show was tonight and around 18,000 people were going to be there. 'I've certainly never played for a crowd anywhere close to that big,' she thought. 'I don't think I've ever played live for a thousand people!' A wave of imposter syndrome washed through her. 'What the hell was he thinking, hiring me?' She tried to suppress her giggles so that she wouldn't wake him.

Yoongi muttered something softly and she peeked over her shoulder again. He still seemed to be sleeping soundly, his mouth hanging just ever-so-slightly open. Cora felt a rush of love filling her heart. She closed her eyes and let drowsiness overtake her.

A gentle jostling motion on the edge of the bed woke her again a short time later, and she turned over to see Yoongi trying to stand up without disturbing her. "Good morning!" she smiled.

He glanced at her, "Oh, did I wake you?"

"Nah, I was awake a while ago." They looked at each other, not sure what was going to happen next.

Yoongi touched his ear, smiling bashfully. "Uh, well, I'm going to my room to wash up and get dressed, and..."

"And then you'll come back here and have breakfast with me?" Cora prompted with a teasing grin.

He gave her a gummy smile. "OK," he nodded.

Cora rolled out of bed and grabbed the extra keycard off the nightstand, handing it to him with a flirty smile.

Yoongi took it with both hands, his eyes flicking up to her face. "Oh, uh, OK."

"I might be in the shower or something when you come back, so just let yourself in," she said. He nodded and stepped into his slippers, then saluted her with the keycard and let himself out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoongi looked up and down the hall, then tapped the keycard against the reader. He could hear the shower going, and Cora singing loudly. "I need you girl, wheh, something or the other, something or the other yeah! I need you girl..."

He laughed out loud. 'We worked so hard on those lyrics, too!' he thought, shaking his head fondly. 'I hope she took her clothes in there with her. She's so American sometimes. What if she comes out in just a towel?!' He was horrified but also intrigued by the idea. 'Of course, we are dating. I am a man, aren't I? It's OK for me to think about seeing her without clothes on.' He could feel himself blushing, though.

Yoongi sat down in the armchair and opened the Korean language newspaper that Jiwon had bought for him. He pushed his glasses up his nose and frowned at the top headline: "South Korea and US Agree to Joint Planning to Deter North Korean Nuclear Threat: President Yoon in Washington for Talks with Biden." He shook his head. 'Same old story. But maybe they'll starve themselves into submission this time, with their sealed border policy. I wonder if I will live to see the peninsula reunited?' He thought about the frail great-grandparents at the cross-border family reunions, the last survivors of the war era, and puckered his lips sorrowfully.

He had checked the NBA playoff tables and was reading an article about stock market volatility when he heard the shower shut off. Yoongi felt a strange combination of relief and disappointment when Cora emerged from the bathroom fully clothed, rubbing her dark blond hair with a towel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cora met Yoongi's glance as she stepped out of the bathroom, and grinned automatically. "Hey, handsome!" she said, throwing her wet towel onto the bed. He replied, "Hi, beautiful!" but he was staring at the towel.

"Oh, I shouldn't be a slob if we're sharing, huh?" Cora said, raising an eyebrow and sighing at him. She laughed as she grabbed the towel and tossed it back into the bathroom.

Yoongi tsked at her. "You throw it on the floor?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's how the cleaning staff knows that you want a new one." Cora looked at him like he was from Neptune.

"Ah," he said, nodding with a small smile, and turning his attention back to his newspaper.

Cora ran a brush through her damp hair and studied him. He looked so mature and intellectual in a button down shirt under a sweater, and a pair of nice jeans. His damp hair was slicked back 'like his cop persona in the Haegeum video!' she thought. But he was wearing dark framed glasses that gave him a professorial air.

Yoongi took a sip from his cup of coffee, then glanced over again and smiled at her. She beamed back, turning to find the earrings she had left on the nightstand. 'This must be what it feels like to be married,' she thought, freaking herself out a little bit. 'You get out of the shower and the other person is just there...' She scoffed quietly, her breath catching in her throat.

"Should we get some breakfast?" she asked, walking over as he set down the paper. "Did you look at the room service menu?"

"No, let's look together," he replied, picking it up and flipping to the breakfast page.

"Hmmm... I think I will have the bagel with cream cheese and a fruit cup. What about you?"

"I will like the Greek yogurt with fruit and granola," he said.

"Sounds good. Want me to call?" she asked.

Yoongi nodded and eye-smiled at her. "Yeah. You're the English speaker."

Cora laughed at him as she picked up the room phone. "You're speaking very good English right now, you know." Suddenly she set the receiver down again. "But first, you need a nickname. That felt so awkward just now! What should I call you, Yoongi?"

He furrowed his brows at her. "As you want, I guess."

"Honeypie. Sweetie bumpkins. Jagiya. Nae sarang. Fishlips."

Yoongi made his 'what the frick?' face at her. "Fishlips?!" he repeated, doing a swimming motion and then pointing to his mouth.

Cora giggled and nodded. "Bae. Doodlebug. Agust D. Loverman. Darling. Sugarplum. No, wait! SUGAplum!!" She grinned at him expectantly. "That's perfect!"

He looked at her over his glasses. "Sugaplum?" He rolled his eyes dramatically and sighed. "Agust D is better. Or loverman." They both laughed.

"Hmm, loverman is a little obvious. How about DT for Daegu Town, since that's something we share in common?"

Yoongi smiled at her. "Yeah, that's not bad. What should your nickname be?"

"Empress."

They both cracked up.

"How about GBJ, for 건방진?"

"I don't know that word. What does it mean?"

Yoongi got out his phone and typed for a moment. "Sassy or cheeky."

Cora threw her head back and laughed. "OK, OK, I guess that fits. DT and GBJ."

"I will shorten to GB, so they rhyme. Same meaning, though," he announced.

"OK, DT." She grinned at him. "Yogurt with fruit, right?"

"Yes, thanks, GB."

Cora was still giggling when the kitchen staff answered to take her order.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After breakfast, Yoongi set the room service tray out in the corridor while Cora flipped through her phone, looking for something to do. "We could put on masks and go for a walk in Central Park," she suggested. "Then browse record shops and music stores. What do you think, DT?"

Yoongi tipped his head back and forth in a non-committal way. "What if we get recognized?"

"Nobody's going to recognize me," she replied, laughing. "Can't you just wear a mask and a ball cap? And if anybody tries anything, I will punch them."

He laughed out loud. "I know that you will, GB. But we have to bring Jiwo and Kang-Dae with us. It's their job."

Cora made a sour face at him, which quickly changed into a grin. "And can I hold your hand this time?"

Yoongi hesitated. "OK, let's try. It's Wednesday morning, who will be looking for me walking with a beautiful woman in Central Park?"

"Only ARMY. Just 50 or 100 million people in the world." Cora laughed.

"That doesn't help, GB," he said, frowning and biting his lower lip. He couldn't help chuckling, though. On an impulse, he stood up and pulled her close for a kiss.

"Mmm, good morning, Mr. Min!" she said in a throaty voice.

He got bashful, so he gave her a quick peck on the end of her nose. "I'll go put on my disguise and make arrangements. You should probably wear a mask, too."

She nodded. "Sounds good. Meet you in the hall in ten minutes?"

Yoongi gave her one more real kiss, and then grabbed his newspaper and headed for the door.