Cora groaned and flipped her middle finger at her phone when the alarm went off. She had set it over on the dresser before she went to sleep, with the volume maxed, far enough away that she wouldn't be able to just shut it off and fall back asleep. 'I hate me,' she thought, putting the pillow over her head. 'Why do I do these things to myself?'

She had watched the Daechwita music video the night before, and then saw that there was an explanation video as well, so she watched that. The YouTube algorithm suggested that she might like to see a video called Agust D, as well, and then something called Mic Drop, and On: Kinetic Manifesto Film, and Outro: Tear, and some crazy chaotic short videos called Bangtan Bombs featuring the guy from the studio and the other six members of his group, and before she knew it, she was watching a 45-minute long introduction to all of the BTS members when she suddenly realized that the weird glow coming in through the window was the break of dawn.

"What?!" she said out loud, glancing at the little clock in the corner of her computer screen. "5:58 am?! What the frick?!" She had been planning to get a good night's sleep before the full day of rehearsals, which would begin at 11 am...

Now her alarm was going off, it was 10 am, and she was going to have to function on just a few hours' sleep.

Cora heard the alarm starting to clang again. She had deliberately picked the most annoying chime, to force herself to get up. 'Eff my life. What is wrong with me?' She rolled out of bed and went to turn off the alarm, glancing at herself in the dresser-top mirror.

"Oh, shit," she said aloud, snarling at her reflection. It looked back at her, a mess of red-rimmed eyes and puffy cheeks under a rat's nest of pillow hair. She glanced down at the traffic report on her phone and cursed again, then rushed to the bathroom for a quick shower.

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

Yoongi blinked rapidly as the clouds parted, his tired eyes having trouble adjusting to the blazing desert sun.

"Please try to hold still, sir!" the makeup artist said. He made a grumpy-mouth face at her, and she laughed before leaning in to smooth some concealer under his eyes.

He sat patiently while she plucked a stray eyebrow, then turned him back over to the hair team. His mind wandered off to its favorite topic since yesterday. 'Steve told me her name. What was it? Sora? I don't think that's right. How could I forget something like that?' The stylist used a brush to knock invisible flecks of makeup off his clothing, and then pronounced him ready for the photoshoot.

Yoongi hunkered down among some shrubs and cacti, trying to look rugged, while the photographer snapped away. He tilted his face this way and that upon request, responding automatically from long years of practice. He was relieved when they moved on to shooting against a precarious old sun-bleached shack, which the props team had reinforced on the interior so that it wouldn't actually collapse when he leaned on it. 'At least there's a little bit of shade here!' he thought. 'How can it be this bright and hot in November?' He thought that the whole concept of this shoot was a bit odd. 'What does the desert have to do with a designer suit?' he mused, trying to keep his face neutral for the camera.

'My eyes need to look like I'm taking this seriously, though. Eyes...' He put his hand up on his brow as if to shield himself from the sun, then gazed out at the horizon as the shutter clicked and clicked again. 'What was so special about that girl's eyes?' The props team brought out a lantern for him to hold. 'It's broad daylight, why do I have a lantern? Anyway...' He thought back to the moment they had made eye contact the day before. 'There was no hostility in her eyes at all, but she also didn't want anything from me. She wasn't looking for my approval. She knows who she is.' He nodded to himself. 'It's so rare to see that in someone. Especially someone her age!'

"OK, I think we're losing focus here," the photographer said. "Ten minute break?"

"Yeah, thank you. I need some water," Yoongi agreed, heading to the bap cha.

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

Cora tapped the button on the app to pay the Uber driver, a real splurge reserved only for emergency situations like today, and started to run toward the studio. Suddenly she turned around in a panic, trying to flag down the driver who had already pulled away, because she realized that she didn't have her bass. But then she remembered that she had left it in the studio overnight, so she spun on her heels and raced inside, wrenching open the door at 10:59 am.

Lance laughed at her. "Rough morning, there, sis? You looked crazed!"

The guitarist tsked sympathetically. "Traffic was bad today, wasn't it?" he asked. She just nodded wordlessly and flipped open her case, trying to calm her heart rate down as she slipped the guitar strap over her shoulder.

Once they started playing, Cora slid into her flow state, where conscious thought didn't happen. It took her some time to realize that she was looking up expectantly every time the studio door opened, hoping to see that BTS guy walk in. 'Stop being pathetic!' she ordered herself. 'It's not going to happen again. That will just be a silly little story to tell people at cocktail parties. A story called, The Time I Almost Met Suga from BTS.'

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

Yoongi kept himself busy for the next few days, finishing the fashion photoshoot with a day of indoor shots, meeting with another artist about a potential collaboration, polishing up the production on a song for a client's project, and attending a Lakers game. He had resolved to stop thinking about the bassist at Steve's studio, and was usually successful, although she did flit through his mind from time to time, in moments of weakness. 'I'm probably never going to see that woman again, so what is the point of this?' he would scold himself at those times. 'Let it go, Yoongi!'  

Sometimes, though, as he looked out the car window, he would see a slender woman with honey colored hair walking down the sidewalk, and his pulse would speed up for a second. 'Get a grip! What is wrong with you?' he would think, shaking his head and scowling.

Nights were the worst. He kept his usual routine of working out, showering, and then enjoying a whiskey nightcap and an episode of something on Netflix. But climbing into a cold bed to sleep alone each night was starting to feel like a burden. 'I'm so annoyed,' he thought. 'Not annoyed, lonely,' he corrected himself. He sighed and grimaced, picturing a pretty heart-shaped face and a pair of beautiful caramel-colored eyes.

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

Cora woke up slowly and peacefully on Wednesday morning, no alarm blaring in her ear. She sat up in bed and looked around, confused. "Oh, right," she said out loud. "No recording today." She yawned and scratched her belly. "I'm going to lunch with Carmen on the pier at 2:00." She looked around for her phone, and then remembered that she had forgotten it at the studio the night before. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Moron. Why are you so scatterbrained these days?" 

Satchmo twitched in his sleep and farted loudly from the end of the bed, startling himself awake. Cora wrinkled her nose and laughed at him. He gave her mournful eyes and then let out a short baying noise. "Oh, you need to go out? Alright. Let me put some pants on."

They ambled down the sidewalk toward the neighborhood pocket park in the autumn sunshine. Satchmo moved slowly with his arthritic hips, and she didn't feel any need to hurry him along today, so he stopped to sniff every interesting tuft of grass and discarded needle. 

Cora tapped the roll of plastic poop bags against her thigh and thought about Suga. 'He's such an interesting man. Not at all what I would have expected, just from seeing him that time,' she mused. 'I love how he takes care of the other band members. And runs like an old man. But he's really good at basketball, too. And his lyrics are so deep and emotional and... vulnerable. Yes, that's the right word. But then he was going to punch those zombies that one time, too! He's tough, but a tough softie, I guess?' She laughed out loud and shook her head. 

She had been limiting herself to just one hour of Suga-related YouTube content per night, although it had turned into two hours a couple of times. 'Well, it's the weekend for me now, and I don't have anything planned after my taco date with Carmen, so I can just binge BTS stuff all night if I want to!' She grinned in anticipation.

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

Yoongi was well underway with recording the gospel choir sections of the song, and it was all sounding just the way he had imagined when he composed the piece. His manager walked in and handed him a cup of coffee. "Your eyes are sparkling, Yoongi. It must be going well," he observed. 

"Yeah, thanks, Jiwon." He toasted the manager with his coffee cup. "This sound is exactly what I was hoping for! We should be done in another 30 minutes or so, and then we can bring in the brass players."

He was just beginning to lean into the microphone to give new instructions to the choir when he noticed his bodyguard holding up a hand at him, and walking toward the booth. "What's up?" he asked.

"Someone needs to come in and look for an item, one of Steve's musicians," he replied. "Can I let them in now?"

Yoongi nodded blandly."OK. Let them in." He watched the security man push the door open. 'It's her!' he thought, blinking rapidly and trying to keep his face neutral. 'Is it really her?'  Without stopping to consider, he strode out of the booth and into the studio. 

The bass player was apologizing and searching around on the floor, describing an older I-phone to the choir members, who were all bending this way and that to check under their risers. "Hello, can I help you find something?" Yoongi asked.

She hopped up quickly, looking startled and embarrassed. "Oh, Sug... sure, sorry! I'm looking for my phone."

Yoongi noticed how pretty she looked when she blushed. 'She's cute when she loses her cool!' he thought, and smiled at her. "Do you remember where you had it last?" he asked.

"Ah, well, I think it was on my music stand, which was about here... but this is a different set-up..."

"Maybe it got moved into a different room when they set up?" Yoongi asked, walking over toward the kitchenette. She followed. 

"Oh, I'm sorry!" he said, turning and extending his hand. "I should introduce myself. Min Yoongi, or Suga. Either one is fine."

She gave him a warm, firm handshake. "Cora. Cora Hertshorn. It's nice to meet you, Min Yoongi." He had never seen her really smile before, and it made his heart stutter in his chest.

"Cora Her...?"

"Hertshorn." She smiled again. "It's hard to pronounce. Lots of consonant clusters."

Slowly and carefully, Yoongi repeated, "Cora Hertshorn."

"Yeah, you've got it!" she said and grinned. Then she turned away. "OK, phone, phone, where is my damn phone?" She checked the top of the microwave while Yoongi looked behind the tea and coffee baskets.

"Not here," he announced. "Maybe in the booth?" He walked in and leaned into the microphone. "Everyone, let's take a 15 minute break. We'll start again at 1:20. Thanks for your hard work so far!" 

To Cora, he said, "Maybe it's in here."

They quickly checked the desk area, looking around the computer, the mixers, and the synth keyboards, but didn't see any sign of a phone. Cora turned and looked at the back of the booth, and spotted her phone on the top of the storage shelving there. "Ah, there it is!" she said, grabbing it. "Steve must have put it up there."

"Ah, good," Yoongi said. 'Think of something more interesting to say!' he ordered himself, but felt tongue-tied. 

She hesitated. "So, um. Thanks for your help, Min Yoongi. It was nice to formally meet you!"

'Oh, shit, that smile again. Say something so she won't leave yet!'  Yoongi thought. "It was nice to meet you, Cora Hertshorn. I, ah, I was really impressed with your playing the other day." He mimed playing a bass guitar, and then laughed at himself. "Do you do tours, or only session musician?"

Her big eyes got even bigger. "I've never done a tour, but I would love to someday. Are... are you going to tour soon?"

He gave her a mischievous grin, and held a finger up to his lips. "Don't say it to anyone! But yes. Maybe middle of next year? Or late spring?"

"Just you? Solo?"

He nodded. "I don't know but maybe I need a bass player. Do you have a card?"

She looked flustered. "No, I'm sorry, I haven't ever gotten cards made. Can I just give you my number?"

He felt a blush bloom on his cheeks. "Yes, that would be good." He handed her a piece of paper, and she jotted down the digits, which he tucked into the chest pocket of his t-shirt.

"Well, suddenly I'm really glad that I forgot my phone!" she said, laughing lightly. "Thank you for your help, and I hope to hear from you again about the tour! I have to hurry because my friend will be waiting for me. Tacos, you know. Very important."

Yoongi bowed her out of the booth. "Cora, you have a car?"

"Oh, no, but I think I can make the bus and just be a few minutes late, though," she replied. 

"OK. Nice to meet you. Bye-bye," he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.