Finally, Aliya gets to see what she looks like up close, 'babe', the woman at Yoongi's house. She's slightly taller than her, petite built, a pretty smile and face that is framed by wavy locks. Her name is Sara, is she as nice as her name sounds like? She wonders.

"Hi Sara. I'm Aliya, Yoongi's friend." She smiles back at her. She threw a look at him as she said the word 'friend', she couldn't tell what his reaction is.

"Wow, it's nice to meet you." She turns to So-Young and gives a bow. "Hello ma'am."

"I'm Aliya's mother, So-Young." Her mom smiles. "Yoongi, are you done with your assignment in Japan? We missed you on my wedding."

Yoongi bows at So-Young as he apologizes. "I'm really sorry I couldn't make it, things were just too hectic back then. I'm only here during the holiday in Japan but I'm going back on Monday."

"That's fine, don't worry about it. I got to talk to your parents and they did mention how busy you are." So-Young smiles at him. "Sweetie, are you buying that dress?" She asks Aliya pointing at the sales associate standing nearby.

"Uh, do you think I should?" Aliya whispers to her mom.

"Yes, you look great in it. Don't you think?" She turns to Yoongi who was caught in surprise by the older ladies' question.

"Y-yes." He stammers.

Aliya hurriedly left before her mom embarrasses her any further. Why do they have to run into him right now?

When she leaves the fitting room, her mom is alone with Yoongi, Sara's out of sight.

"We're going to dinner. Would you like to join us? You can bring your friend." So-Young asks him, to Aliya's horror.

"I'm sorry but we can't. I don't want to interrupt your time together too." Yoongi manages to say.

"Ok, we don't want to interrupt your time together either. Anyway, there will be some other time you can go." So-Young tells him. She starts walking away leaving Aliya with him.

Her face is still pink from the embarrassment over what her mom said earlier. She didn't meet his eyes as she said "Sorry if my mom went overboard with what she said. Anyway, I got to go too." She didn't wait for his answer as she walks away.

She walks towards the cashier and paid for her dress, her knees and hands shaking as she finds him talking with Sara, their hands linked as they talked. She leaves the store with her head bowed low not wanting to see the two again.

**********************************************************

"So, this guy you're talking about is Yoongi?" So-Young tells her after they gave out their orders to the waitress.

Aliya looks at her mom and she wanted to deny it. But what's the use? She just gave a slight nod. "I'm not even going to ask how you knew."

"Simple, you've been awfully quiet since we left the store. You're obviously upset so it's not really hard to tell." So-Young replies. She leans back on her chair. "I had that feeling since I saw the two of you during Taehyung's wedding.""

"As you can see there's someone else." She tells her mom. She didn't want to think about how everything started at Taehyung's wedding.

"Are they married?"

"No." Aliya answers too quickly.

So-Youngs smiles. "If they're not married then nothing is final. Cheer up sweetheart, you're prettier than her."

Aliya snorts at her mom's statement. "Of course you'll say that, you're my mother."

**********************************************

Aliya didn't get to see Yoongi again after that mall episode. It's already Monday and she knows he'll be going back to Japan with Sara. She meets Nari for lunch and she's filling her with what happened the day before. She couldn't believe that Aliya and her mom saw him and Sara at the mall.

"That is so insane. Like fate is making your cross paths as some kind of a joke." Nari said.

"I know. Seems like their relationship is serious. They were holding hands at the store. Imagine Yoongi holding hands with a girl in public. He's different with her." Aliya tells her friend hiding how unhappy that statement made her.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. That just sucks, he just had to meet her when he goes to Japan after things ended with you two. But tell me, how did you feel about that?" Nari asks.

"Oh my gosh, you just sound like you're giving me one of your sessions." Aliya jokes. "I felt a lot of things honestly. I was shaken and it made me realize that is reality. I can't be living in a fantasy and chase a dream."

"So you're saying you're giving up?"

"After everything, I have to. I don't want to be in a relationship with anyone yet but I will be meeting up with other guys." Aliya tells her.

"What about Jin?" Nari asks.

"What about him?"

"Well, you two seem to be close lately. Seems like he likes you. Did he say anything to you about it?" She asks.

Aliya laughs. "Jin is a close friend just like Jimin and Jungkook, you know that. He's just sweeter lately since he and Miya broke up and I helped him during his recovery stage."

"I don't know, it seems a bit different." Nari tells her.

"Relax. It's nothing, I'm meeting with him tonight. You and Namjoon can join us, I'm sure it's fine with him. Then you'll see it's really nothing but a friendly date." Aliya tells her.

********************

That night, she meets Jin for dinner. She called him after her lunch with Nari and told him she's invited her and Namjoon. He didn't seem to mind.

They arrived at the restaurant early. He picked Aliya from her place so she could leave her car there. He's very chatty and cracks his never ending jokes. Aliya couldn't sense anything different from the way he treats her as Nari had pointed out. He, just like the rest of her friends is drop dead handsome and is a nice person although he acts a bit cocky and full of himself sometimes. She didn't find it annoying at all, she found it rather cute.

"Aliya, lean closer to me, let's do a selfie." He tells her. Aliya leans her head against his wide shoulders as she gave a big smile. They tried to do funny poses which he posts on their gc.

We're almost there. Namjoon types.

How come we didn't get invited? That was from Taehyung.

Tell us where you guys are and we'll be there, the three of us are together. Hobi tells them.

And so, the planned quiet dinner with just Jin and Aliya turned into a group dinner.

Jin leans closer to Aliya and whispers. "This isn't really what I planned for the night."

"Really? What exactly have you planned?" Aliya asks back.

"I'll tell you when I drop you home." He answers.

Jimin butts in the middle of the two. "What are you two whispering there about?"

Jin sits back with a smile. "Nothing, I just told her nana."

"Nana?" Jimin tilts his head back in wonder.

"Yeah, nana, nana'f your business." He said before breaking into a laugh. Aliya throws her head back and laughs along. Jimin's face turns red and hit Jin's arm as he joins them in.

************************

It's just the start of the week so they all left as soon as dinner gets done. Jin takes Aliya home and she invites him to her place. He notices the painting at her wall right away.

"Wow, this is beautiful. Who's the artist?" He asks her.

Aliya hesitated before she answers. "A friend made it for me."

Jin walks closer to the painting to look at the signature at the bottom. "Yoongi made this for you?"

"How did you know?"

"I've seen his signature on his art works. He's good." He says giving the painting another close look before walking away. "How's the two of you doing? Did you part ways in good terms with each other? You don't have to answer if you think I'm being too nosy."

Aliya looks at him and studies his face. He trusted her with his feelings when he opened up about Miya. She owes him one but Yoongi is his friend too and it feels strange. "We did. We're not really committed with each other in the first place. We both agreed to that."

Jin nods his head and sits on one of the chairs. "So you're good if he gets into another relationship?"

Aliya looks at Jin studying his face. He's serious right now watching her as she looks at him. "Of course. Like I've said, we didn't really promised anything and it's been clear from day one that we're not tied to each other."

"How far did you get to know Yoongi. I mean, about his personal life?"

"I didn't ask. I did know that he had been in a relationship with someone. He kind of slipped one time." Aliya said sadly recalling that moment at the woods when he said it's not his first time to be there.

"But he didn't tell you directly who it was?"

Aliya is curious with Jin's questions. Did he know too? She thought Namjoon was the only one who knew. "No he didn't. But if you're going to ask me if I know about his current relationship, my answer is yes. I well, me and my mom actually sort of bumped into him yesterday."

Jin's mouth dropped open. "You and your mom?" He shakes his head in disbelief. "What did he say?"

"Nothing really because what is there to say anyway?" Aliya tells him with a smile. "I am happy for him and Sara. They look good together. And if they ended up meeting each other again while they're in Japan then perhaps they were really meant to be with each other."

"Holy shit, you even know her name. Sorry, I am just surprised." Jin said shaking his head again in disbelief.

"She introduced herself to us." She tells him with a chuckle as she sees his reaction. "How did you know about it? I know Yoongi isn't the type who'd go around telling his friends about his relationship." Aliya sits next to Jin as she asked.

"By pure accident. I picked up my brother when he arrived at the airport Friday night when I saw them. Yoongi didn't look very happy." He laughed quietly. "Anyway, are you ready to move forward and entertain a man in your life."

"I might entertain them but not commit to one." She confesses to him.

Jin turns and looks at her. "Do you trust me Aliya?"

"Of course, you're my friend." She replies with a scowl. Maybe Nari is right, Jin is acting a bit strange.

"Ok, good, please continue to trust me because I care about you." He tells her before moving forward to kiss her forehead.