It all started when I decided to an all-school dance mob at our first assembly to the BTS song “Permission to Dance”. I rehearsed with the teachers, then taught my students, our grade level, and our kindergarten buddies. At our assembly, we surprised everyone, and it was EPIC! All the teachers had coordinated our outfits, which confused some of the other students, but not enough to worry them. I pretended to have an important announcement, took the microphone, then had our counselor start the music, while I acted confused about being interrupted. After a few beats, I handed the microphone off to her, got my class up, found our kindergarten buddies, and we did the most energetic and hilarious dance anyone had ever seen. I had no idea at the time, but multiple parents had recorded it and somehow it went viral, unbeknownst to me.
Well, somehow BTS saw it and their staff said they wanted to do a live video with me about it, but I was hesitant. I didn’t expect much, since they were famous and lived far away, while I was just a teacher, doing my best to encourage my students every day. I reluctantly agreed to the video call, but the only day they had available was my birthday, which I was bummed about, but I knew it was important, so I traveled to Seattle anyway, willing to give it a chance. Once I arrived at the assigned location, I was met by a staff member, had to go into their hair/makeup/wardrobe area, then was escorted into an empty room, with just a computer and a desk, with a chair, completely empty otherwise, blank walls, no windows, obviously on purpose, so nobody would be able to tell where I was.
I had the staff member help me join the call, and to my complete surprised, all seven members were there! I couldn’t hide my giant smile and happy tears, but once we started chatting, it was easy to see how friendly they were, so time passed quickly. They asked why I chose their song, how I choreographed the dance, how I decided the outfits, and wondered if I was going to try another one anytime soon. I was laughing and having so much fun that when Jimin asked if there was anything special happening today, I was caught completely off guard- I had totally forgotten about my birthday! I blushed and covered my face with my hands, then Joon said, “We know it’s your birthday today and we sent you a surprise to open with us during our video call.”
The staff members brought in a little cake, balloons, and a huge box, to my complete and total surprise! I had to duck off camera to take some deep breaths because I was so overwhelmed at their kindness, then I pretended to have dropped something, but they knew the real reason and thought it was cute. I let them sing happy birthday, then I blew out the candles, and told them how thoughtful it was of them to think about me, when Joon’s birthday was literally the next day, so they should be focused on his instead. They all insisted that making others feel special was something they enjoyed, so I thanked them and started unwrapping the giant box.
Each of them had put something special inside for me, like gifts for my students or items for my classroom, so I was extremely grateful for their kindness. Soon, an hour had passed, and it was time to end the video call, so I thanked them each and waved goodbye, then the staff told me to end the video. A few moments later, another video call came through, so the staff answered it, and it was the guys calling back, checking to make sure I was ok, since they could tell I was overwhelmed by the attention, so I assured them I would be fine. I am not used to being the center of attention outside of my school, so it was strange, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
One by one they all left the call, until only one member was left, Jimin. He was so happy and cute when he said he wanted to stay in contact and asked if it would be ok for him to get my phone number. I was not sure if it was ok, since I hadn’t been told what was or was not allowed, so I asked a staff member if I could- they talked with each other for a minute, then agreed, if I didn’t give his number to anyone or make anything public. Why would I want to display a private, friendly conversation for the world to see? That made no sense!
Anyway, I gave Jimin my number and he sent me a smiley face right away, so it must have worked. He asked if I could fly over to visit them in Korea, but since school was in session, there was no way I could abandon my students, so I politely declined. He was disappointed, but understood, so agreed that for now, we could just stay in contact using our phones. I thought he was just being kind, but then he started talking about how hard it was to meet nice girls who don’t care about fame or money, or even good friends because of all the pressure they face every second they step outside.
I assured him that since I was just a normal teacher, there was no need to worry about impressing me, which made him laugh. Soon after, the staff told me to end the call, so I told Jimin I had to go, and he waved, then ended his video. The staff had to help me get everything downstairs to the car, by which time I had several texts waiting for me from Jimin, trying to start new conversations about random topics, but I had to drive, so I wrote for him to give me some time to respond.
By the time I got home, an hour later, there were over fifteen texts, so I carried everything inside and quickly started reading his messages, most of which were short, thank goodness. We continued chatting easily, never short on topics, and even when one of us was having tough days, we always encouraged each other to never give up. Even though the time difference was a little challenging, we never stopped trying to stay in contact and soon it had been several months. November is a crazy month for teachers, with parent-teacher conferences and Thanksgiving break, so when Jimin asked if I could travel to Korea now, I had to decline again. Instead, he decided to make things happen his own way, without telling me.
It was the Wednesday of Thanksgiving break, so a half day of school, and the BTS staff had asked me to come to Seattle for another video call with the members, since I finally had time during the day, but this time, they sent a car to take me to a different location, which should have made me suspicious, but I was so happy to have a long weekend to recharge I did not care! I arrived at 3pm, then immediately was taken to hair/makeup/wardrobe because apparently, they didn’t like my teacher clothes… I laughed, not even offended at all. Once I was “stylish”, according to them, I was taken to a large room this time, with a huge meeting table and at least twelve chairs around it, which also should have made me suspicious, but I was clueless even then.
There was a giant TV screen on the wall, which the staff told me would be used for the video call, so I faced it, sitting in one of the random chairs with my back to the door, facing the blank wall, to the left of the TV screen. Within ten minutes, the guys were all on the screen, so I was happily chatting away, being super excited to see them all again, since I had not seen them all together in one video for a while- Jimin always video called me himself, and would grab whoever was around, but it was rarely all six other members. We had been talking for a few minutes, when Joon and Jin made excuses to get up and leave, followed soon after by Tae and JK, then J-Hope and Yoongi, leaving Jimin alone on the screen, but I still had absolutely no idea something was up. Jimin was struggling to hide his giggles, but I thought he was just happy to video chat with everyone again, until he said he needed to leave suddenly, leaving me facing a blank screen, my back still to the door, wondering what in the world was happening.
The staff suddenly left the room, saying they got called to another room for some sort of briefing, leaving me perplexed and now wondering what in the world was going on. The door never closed, because after the last staff member had exited, the first BTS member was ready to enter, right behind me, and once they were all seven in the room, Jimin ran over to me and everyone yelled, “Surprise!” I was so startled that I literally fell out of my chair, which Jimin thought was hilarious, as he also has trouble with chairs, so as he was helping me up, he was laughing uncontrollably. After I was standing, I looked at all their handsome, very happy faces and asked, “How in the world are you guys here?! What is going on?!”
I was approached by each member, hugging me as they went by, while Jimin explained, “We wanted to surprise you during your time off because you are so special to us and we knew you wouldn’t be able to travel to Korea during school. So here we are to see you face to face and we are so happy! You are better than we imagined!” I was still in shock, extremely embarrassed, that they traveled so far for just me, but Jimin’s face was so excited I could not disappoint him.
I took a deep breath and joined in their celebration, laughing and jumping right along with them! After a few minutes, a staff member re-entered the room and told us we needed to go downstairs because the cars were waiting. I had no idea what she was talking about, but Jimin’s face told me he knew exactly what was about to happen, so I covered my face and shook my head, which he saw, and came over to hug me, then told me, “I promise you will have so much fun with us! We will give you lots of happiness when we are together! Please spend time with me!” I looked into his beautiful face, wanting to trust him, then smiled and took his hand, letting him lead me out of the room to the elevator.
After we were downstairs, we entered the cars, then were driven to a restaurant nearby, which they had closed down specifically to keep their privacy safe. We entered through a parking garage door, away from cameras and street access, so nobody saw me or any of the BTS members, which gave us so much confidence and allowed them to be themselves. Before long, we were laughing and chatting like we had been friends for years. I laugh loudly like Jimin, Jin, and J-Hope, so it was tons of fun to join in when they got started giggling. We had a loud dinner, me having the time of my life, not paying attention at all to Jimin individually or I would have seen the looks he was giving me, or the number of times he sneakily reached over to touch my arm, pat my leg, or rub my back.
I was on my way back from the bathroom when Yoongi caught me in the hallway. “I see the way Jimin looks at you and I wonder how you feel about him too.” I paused, staring back at his serious face, slowly understanding what he was saying and asking me, then replied, “I don’t know how he has been looking at me, but I can assure you I want nothing but great things for Jimin and all the other members, including yourself.” He gave me a tiny smile, then asked, “If I can prove how Jimin is feeling, would you then be able to decide how you feel about him in return? I am worried about his heart being broken.” I nodded, then replied, “Yoongi, you know I would never break anyone’s heart on purpose, so yes, I will absolutely tell you the truth about Jimin, or anyone else for that matter. I do not want you to be afraid to spend time with me- I want you all to trust me.”
He reached for my hand and squeezed it, then nodded and continued down the hallway without another word, leaving me standing alone, thinking about what he had just asked me. I was on edge when I returned and sat down, which caused Jimin to raise his eyebrows at me, but I shook my head and gave him a fake smile, then purposely asked a question of Tae across the table, so Jimin would be distracted. We continued eating and chatting for another hour, then it was time to continue to the next destination- I was now excited because I had no idea where we were going, but I loved their surprises so far. We had to get back in the cars, this time Yoongi made sure to sit next to me, with Jimin on the other side, so I was the filling in the middle of the happy BTS cookie sandwich.
