City of Stars.

I'm still having a hard time believing that the four of us are finally in the City of Stars for Blackpink's U.S. debut.

This time last year, we were still stuck at YG's infamous dungeon, patiently waiting for a comeback. Now, we're standing on American soil to find more opportunities.

I feel so happy.

Clutching my handy-dandy camera, I follow Jisoo into the palm tree-lined streets of sunny Los Angeles. The sky is blue and the California sun is bright. It is the perfect day for a spontaneous photo walk in La La Land.

As I capture her beautiful smile through the lens of the camera, I'm reminded of why this visual queen in front of me will forever be my muse.

Kim Jisoo is so alluring; she'll undoubtedly take America by storm.

"Lisa, let me take a picture of you..." she led me to a small fountain, where I crack her up by doing weird poses in front of it.

Checking her shots of me afterwards, I smile in satisfaction. These photos will definitely be uploaded on my Instagram account.

As Jisoo and I stroll some more along a busy sidewalk, my phone suddenly rings. It's Chaeyoung. She and Jennie are in the hotel, getting some rest.

"Hey Rosie poop, what's up?"

"Ashley's on her way to the restaurant now. Jen unnie and I will be there soon, too." Chaeyoung utters from the other line.

Ashley Nicolette Frangipan, or more popularly known as Halsey, is a new friend of ours. Chaeyoung performed the American singer's song called 'Eyes Closed' during our Japan concert last year and the two of them had gotten in touch.

It didn't take long for us to become good friends with her; she's just genuinely nice and supportive. We're even on a first-name basis now.

After becoming friends with Dua, this is also a good opportunity for us to build new relationships with strong, independent females in the music industry.

Upon hearing that the four of us will be flying to L.A., Ashley asked if we could grab lunch together while we're in town. Of course, we said yes.

Unbeknownst to Blackpink's resident goddess, we have also planned a simple pre-birthday celebration for her during the lunch date.

"Okay, we'll be there. See you!" I answer her before hanging up and pulling the eldest to the direction of our parked car. "C'mon unnie, it's party time!"

•••

Our managers drop us off at a posh restaurant ten minutes later. Jisoo and I make it a point to get there before Chaeyoung and Jennie did so we can prepare the birthday girl's chocolate cake. The two of us are ushered to a private dining room at the back of the restaurant where Ashley is already waiting for us.

"Lisa! Jisoo! It's nice to finally meet you two in person," Ashley greets, her short hair a striking color of red.

"Hi Ashley!" I call back, "thank you for arranging this. We are so excited to meet you, most especially Rosé. She has been talking about this lunch date non-stop."

"Rosé is always the sweetest," Ashley sighs.

"We actually have a small gift for you." I give her the package wrapped in silver, metallic paper. It's a cute bracelet with black and pink charms.

"We hope you like it," Jisoo quips in.

"Girls, you shouldn't have!"

The conversation flows easily between the three of us. We are on the topic of our recent invitation to perform at Coachella when Jennie and Chaeyoung arrive. Even dressed in laid-back clothes, both of them still exude an aura of sophistication.

We readily sing a happy birthday for Chaeyoung to the girl's surprise. I feel so content seeing the huge smile on my best friend's face. I know it saddens her to be away from her family on her birthday so we try our best to make it up to her: to make her 23rd birthday the best one yet.

As we wait for our food to be served, Ashley excuses herself to take a call.

Chaeyoung whispers, "where did you get this cake? It looks so good, I don't want to eat it."

"I've researched about where to buy the most delicious cakes here in LA," Jennie boasts, "and I got our real and fake maknaes to get it this morning. We only got the best for my wifey."

"Goodness, I have the best members in the world!"

Finally, Ashley comes back to the room with news of her own. "Girls, I got a call from RM of BTS. Apparently, they wanted to surprise me with a short visit. But, it was too late when my manager told them that I have company here. They are already on their way here though, so I thought why don't they drop by for a minute? I hope that's okay with you."

It takes a second longer for me to understand what she is trying to say. When I finally do, I feel both confused and astonished.

Global K-pop superstars, Bangtan Sonyeondan, are on their way to the restaurant where we are going to eat lunch at. We'll be seeing them here, on the other side of the world. What are the odds?

Jisoo is the one to answer for us, "no problem." She continues slowly, "we are actually friends with them."

'We'? More like 'she' is friends with one of them...

After her emceeing stint with V back in 2017, they became good friends. It also helps that they're both '95-liners and get each other's sense of humor. But for the rest of us, aside from the occasional hi's and hello's in the backstage of award shows, we haven't really talked to BTS since we debuted.

"Great," Ashley beams, "I'm glad to hear that. Who could really say no to those boys, you know?" she laughs warm-heartedly. "They'll be here any second now. They were just two blocks away when RM called."

We don't even have time to catch our breaths when the mahogany doors to our room suddenly opens to reveal Bangtan's leader. He is being escorted by a hostess and a bodyguard. Then, one by one, the rest of BTS enter the room and greet us. Out of habit, we stand up to bow to our seniors.

Then, a loud voice starts singing, "Halsey, do you love me? Are you riding?" I smile at J-hope, my idol and one of the best dancers in the K-pop industry right now. It feels surreal to be in his presence right now.

"Hello! We are so sorry for intruding," RM says to us with an embarrassed smile.

"No, it's okay," the four of us answer in unison and simultaneously laugh at how we share one brain cell sometimes.

Jennie speaks up for the group this time. "It's totally fine, sunbaenim. Don't worry about it."

Jimin walks over to Ashley, a cute grin on his flawless face, and hands her a large paper bag, "hi friend, we got you these snacks from Seoul."

"Oh my, thank you so much," she mumbles, looking inside the paper bag. "Wow, I've been craving for these sweets for weeks! You guys are always so thoughtful."

"You're welcome," says V.

"I heard you boys are invited to the Grammy's on Sunday night. Congrats. I hope you all have fun," Ashley coos.

"Thank you," RM laughs, "we will. We uh, we better get going. Let's catch up soon, Halsey. I hope you ladies have a great lunch."

At that moment, a manly voice speaks for the first time. "Chocolate cake... I want eat."

Ah, there he is — the other half of the most popular idol ship among K-pop fans today. The boy whose name is always attached to mine even though we haven't spoken a single word to each other since time immemorial.

Jeon Jungkook.

I barely notice him for the guy is hiding behind Jin all this time. But now, he stands right in front of us, clad in black from head to toe, and is staring at Chaeyoung's birthday cake. Then, slowly, he looks up to me.

And I couldn't look away.

"Oh, please, go ahead," Chaeyoung mutters politely, "we can't eat this huge cake all by ourselves."

Jennie, who is always the friendliest among the four of us, suddenly says, "have you eaten yet? Have lunch with us! We heard the food in this restaurant is superb."

"Are you sure?" The leader asks, "we don't want to impose more than we already did."

"It's just lunch, no big deal. We have room for everybody in this table," our main rapper mutters with a cheeky grin.

"The more, the merrier," agrees Ashley.

"What do you think, boys?" RM asks the rest of his members.

"Yes, we'll take you up on that offer because I'm starving as heck!" Jin tells us in Korean, the others nodding in agreement. RM translates his words for Ashley.

"That settles it then, let's order more food." Ashley claps in delight.

•••

"What do you call a fake noodle?" Jin asks out of nowhere.

Groans of exasperation can be heard from Suga and Jungkook. I, however, perk up at the question, "what?"

"An impasta!" The eldest squeaks, his eyes wide as saucers, before he doubles over his seat for laughing so hard at his own joke.

It isn't the least bit funny. But, Jin's delivery of the joke is everything and his laugh is so contagious that I couldn't help but laugh along with him.

"Lisa-ssi, don't encourage him," Suga whines before drinking from his glass of wine.

After his laugher dies down, Jin sends a flying kiss my way, "I hereby declare you as Worldwide Handsome's new best friend."

"Yay!" I can't help but giggle, "I feel honored!"

Everyone was so awkward at the beginning, save from Jisoo and V. But, thanks to Bangtan's eldest member and his unending supply of jokes, there is never a dull moment throughout lunch.

As we eat the feast laid out in front of us, we also talk about anything and everything under the sun. RM and Chaeyoung take turns translating our conversations in Korean to English for Ashley. But either way, everyone's making an effort to speak in English as much as we can.

The topics about our groups' upcoming comebacks and Ashley's new song '11 Minutes' are brought up. Moreover, we talk about songwriting to Chaeyoung's delight. V and Jimin are kind enough to share how they wrote and produced their songs, Scenery and Promise.

Chaeyoung, nowadays, is trying her hand at songwriting as well so I know how important it is for her to talk about this with some of the best idols and songwriters in our industry today.

Jisoo also mentions Chaeyoung's birthday gift to our Blinks, her own studio version of Ashley's 'Eyes Closed', like a proud mother hen. I laugh as our goddess turns tomato red. Ashley and the rest of BTS, however, are so supportive of my best friend that it warms my heart.

"Is it your first time in New York?" Suga asks.

"Yes," Jennie replies, "it will be my first time to visit the Big Apple. But, the girls had already been there for Fashion Week last year."

"Have you tried the street hotdog?" Jungkook asks this time, finally looking me in the eye. The guy has been stealing glances at me all this time. I know, because I have been stealing glances at him, too.

"Not yet," I answer, "we didn't have much time to explore last year."

"There's this truck parked near Broadway where they sell the best hotdog in New York City," Jungkook mumbles.

"Really? What is it called?" I have to write it down so Jisoo and I can visit it when we land there this coming weekend.

"I know the place but I don't know the name. But Sejin hyung, our manager, knows for sure." He stops talking for a second, his lips forming into a shy smile, "maybe I could get your number and I'll just text you the address?"

I am speechless for a second. Am I hearing this right? Jungkook is asking me for my number?

I may be lacking knowledge in the romance department due to my No Boyfriend Since Birth status. But, Jisoo and Jennie didn't raise me to be totally clueless about the world; I know it when a guy is hitting on me. Everyone around the table grows quiet, too, proving that I'm not the only who is surprised by his request.

Then, Jimin bursts into laughter, "when did our maknae get so smooth?"

Jungkook, however, remains unfazed and continues holding my stare. I bet he could see the hesitation in my eyes. "If you don't want to, it's fine."

What's funny though is that I absolutely, absolutely want to give this boy my number. And so, I swallow the saliva building up in my throat before croaking out, "no, no, I want to."

And there I am, saving my number in his phone under the watchful eyes of our members. But, I couldn't care less. And it seems like he couldn't care less either.

•••

"Congrats on your new song, Halsey," RM says to the red-haired American singer, his dimples in display, before turning to us. "Thank you too for inviting us to lunch. It was nice talking to you all. We should do this again, maybe back home in Seoul."

"We should, let's keep in touch," Jisoo happily responds.

"Of course," Jin says and sends another flying kiss towards me, "I need to hangout with my new best friend soon." I laugh and give him a thumbs up. Mr. Worldwide Handsome is quickly becoming the most charming person I have ever known.

"Good luck on the Grammy's," Jennie mutters, "you make us very proud."

"Thanks," Suga simply replies with a bow.

"And good luck on your performances here in the U.S., but I'm sure Blackpink will do great as always," V adds, his boxy grin endearing.

"You're too nice. But, thank you, we really appreciate it," Chaeyoung bows.

With one last wave at us, Bangtan Sonyeondan exits the private dining room. Jungkook is the last to leave and I can't help but stare at his retreating back.

At the very last second, he looks back at me with his dark brown eyes; they are captivating.

I am captivated.

And just like that, he is gone.

But, my heart...

My heart is still afloat; it's on cloud nine.

The girls chat with Ashley for a few more minutes before we also bid our farewell.

Upon exiting the wide doors of the restaurant, I take in the beauty of La La Land. The sky seems a bit bluer and the California sun seems a bit brighter. But, I'm sure that nothing is as radiant as my smile.

My phone then vibrates with a new message. I read it. I feel butterflies in my stomach.

💬Unknown Number:
Hello. It's me, Jungkook. 😊😊

End of La La Land