Time didn't matter anymore. At least that's what I told myself. He came into my life like a storm and was about to leave as if the clouds were parting. The past couple of hours have been crazy. The person that put me in this situation went by two names. In public his name was RM the leader of a huge internationally successful group called BTS. In private he went by Kim Namjoon. I must have been living under a rock because I had no clue as to who he was. I think he found that refreshing.
I came to Korea as a teacher of English for a tech company that was promising to be the next Apple. I was assigned to teach the employees English. Three months into my time in Korea the company went belly up. I was out of a job, my small saving decreasing everyday and soon to be homeless if I could not find another part time job. So I took any side jobs I could get.
The night I met Namjoon I was at one of my part time jobs. I had just finished delivering my last order when I was getting on my motorbike to head to my crappy little studio apartment when a guy ran into me almost knocking me down. "Hey watch it." I said dusting off my jacket. "Sorry" the guy said out of breath. He had been running, it was evident by the bead of sweat running down his face and he heavily breathing. "I probably shouldn't do this but do you need any help?" I asked almost hoping he would say no. "I need to get out of here." He said finally catching his breath. I lifted up the seat on my motorbike pulling out a spare helmet and tossing it in his lap. "Get on." I said adjusting my helmet and turning the key to start the small but power engine. "Are you sure?" He asked while clipping the helmet in place. At that moment I heard screaming and what looked like a mob of people making their way towards us. "He's over there." He hopped on behind me and wrapped his arms securely around my waist. "Sorry" he said for having to get so close after just meeting me. "No problem you don't want to fall off." I said speeding off.
My sister always told me I should mind my business. I just couldn't, if I saw someone in need I had to help. I took after my mother in that way who was a nurse while my sister took after my father in always wanting to mind her business. We rode a few block away when I finally asked the mystery man sitting behind who he was. "So who are you and why are you so important to be chased like that." "R… uh, Namjoon. Kim Namjoon. I... I am no one important." It sounded like he was struggling to get the words out. They rode in silence for a couple more stop lights. "You okay back there?" At that moment he slumped onto her back making it harder for her to keep the motorbike steady. It was a good thing she was close to where she lived. After turning down an alley she made it to her first floor studio apartment. Stopping the bike she slid off and placed her shoulder underneath his arm for support helping him through the door of the apartment. He had enough strength to make it to the fold out couch that doubled as a full size bed when let down. As he eased down onto the couch he winced in pain.
"Do you mind if I take a look." I said pointing to his chest where his hand was laying. He nodded and I carefully opened up his jacket and pulled up his shirt to have a look. I put gentle pressure along his ribs and he winced once again. "Good thing seems you don't have any broken ribs. Bad news I see a bruise starting to form. I will put a cold compress on the bruise which should help with any swelling. You also have a small cut above your eyebrow. So i'll clean that." "Thank you. What is your name?" "Natasha but my friends call me Ta-Ta or Tasha" "A close friend of mine is called Tae-Tae sometimes. I'll call you Tasha." He yawned while wiping his eyes, at the same moment his stomach began to growl." Tasha walked over to a cabinet and and pulled out a first aid kit. Then she made her way to the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen vegetables. "So I don't have a regular cold compress. Frozen vegetables should work just as well. Let me just clean this scratch and I will get you something to eat."
After cleaning the wound Tasha asked Namjoon to remove his shirt so she could place the frozen vegetables on the forming bruise. Here is a blanket if you want to cover yourself. While Namjoon took off his shirt Tasha walked over to here fridge and pulled out some leftovers of Beef broth soup, rice and radish kimchi. She warmed it up and gave it to him to eat. "Thank you. You are very kind. May I ask what brought you here to Korea?" Tasha told Namjoon about moving to Korea to teach English and how she was now working odd jobs to try and make ends meet.. "So what do you do?" Namjoon thought for a minute and told Tasha that he worked in the Entertainment industry. "I thought you maybe in the industry. Are you a background dancer or something." "I've been called a background dancer. Thank you so much for helping me." Namjoon said trying to change the subject. "You can sleep here if you need some rest." "I shouldn't take up anymore of your time. Do you have a phone I can use to call a friend to pick me up?" "Sure." Tasha said handing her phone over. The person on the other end of the phone sound very frantic. "My friend is on his way. Thank you so much for helping me." Twenty minutes later there was a knock at the door. Tasha opened it up to an older man who rushed in immediately and went to Namjoon's side. He placed a call on his phone and told however was on the other end of the call that Namjoon looked well for the most part. Before leaving the man bowed to Tasha and rushed Namjoon out of the apartment. Before getting into the car with blacked out windows Namjoon waved and told Tasha he owed her a favor.
Two weeks later Tasha had the news playing in the background while she was checking her phone to see if she received a response from another part time job she had applied to when she saw a familiar face on the TV. "Isn't that the guy I helped not to long ago." Tasha thought to herself turning the volume up. From the little bit of Korean Tasha learned during her time in Korea she figured out that Namjoon was apart of the internationally popular Kpop group BTS. They were being shown arriving at the airport coming back from the US. The reported talked about how the group appeared at an American award show and were appearing on American TV. "Only I would have a world famous artist in my apartment and have no clue who the are." At that moment Tasha received a text message saying her resume had been seen and asked her to show up at the company Bighit Entertainment tomorrow at 4pm. "Hmm I don't remember applying to that company. Oh well doesn't hurt to check it out."
The next day Tasha found herself standing in the lobby of the entertainment building. She was directed by the receptionist to make her way to the 3rd floor and wait in the conference room at the end of the hallway. Tasha sat in the room squeezing her hands trying to calm her nerves when the door to the conference room swung open and Namjoon ran in "I'm sorry but I need your help." he said pretending to be out of breathe. "Namjoon" Tasha said standing and bowing towards him. "No no no, don't. Give me a hug. We're past that point if you feel comfortable." Tasha gave Namjoon a hug but was careful not to squeeze too hard. They sat and talked for a few minutes about how he was feeling now and how clueless she was as to whom he really was. "I thought you said you were a background dancer." "I didn't say I was I said I've been called a background dancer. The other members in the group joke about my dancing since I am not the best." " I would have never known you weren't. After seeing you on T.V. and figuring out who you really are I watch all your groups music videos and you seem like a great dancer to me." "Thank you. I try my best. Now about why you are here. I spoke with the president of our company and he wants to offer you a job helping the other members with their English lessons as well as other employees. At times it can be a little overwhelming for me teaching the other members English. You will receive a very generous salary to where you can quit your other jobs and there is an apartment building not to far from here that the president of our company owns and he will provide you with one of the newly renovated apartments with cheap rent." Tasha could not believe what she was hearing. Doing a good deed was paying off this much. "I don't know what to say." "Say yes." "Yes." Tasha said happily. "Good now let's go eat. I owe you a meal from when you fed me and I can introduce you to the other members of the group. I told them about you and they want to meet you."
From the very moment that Namjoon literally ran into Tasha's life time didn't matter anymore.