Hair still damp from the shower, I finish the last paragraph of my essay and set everything aside. Just as I lay on my bed, my fully charged phone buzzes on my night stand.

---

Taehyung: Come to the pond? I’m waiting…

Me: Did you finish your homework?

Taehyung: Of course I did.

---

Psh, liar. I let out a snicker and throw my phone on my bed. I grab one, of the two, jackets he’s given me and throw it over his burgundy sweater as I walk out of my room.

A lantern floats peacefully on the pond, occasionally moved around from the water bugs. I amble silently so he doesn’t hear my footsteps. He sits alone, but doesn’t appeal to be lonely. Once I reach him, I crouch behind him and wrap my arms around him from the back. I pull him back to put the majority of his weight on me. Our cheeks barely slide against each other as he lets himself sink into me. He puts his hand on my arms instantly and I already know there’s a smile on his face.

“Annyeong.” His voice is low, but loud. A simple word coming from his mouth makes my heart flutter drastically. “Can we switch places? I have something to say… but I want to say it while your in my arms.”

I find myself blushing, forgetting everything and staying in this moment with him. He’s lets me release my grip and move around him. I hadn’t noticed until now, but he had a fuzzy brown blanket with him. Immediately as I sit in front of him, he locks me in tight with the blanket and pulls me even closer to him. His tepid body shares its warmth as I melt myself into him. With his eyes closed, he rests his head on my shoulder and makes snoring noises, causing me to laugh. He grins and chuckles as he hears it. I feel his laugh vibrate from his chest. I breathe slowly and settle myself down with a smile.

“What did-” He clears his throat, swaying me side to side. Our eyes on the floating lantern. “What did you do in Seoul? ...With Suga?”

“Nothing… really.” I nod my head, playing through the past night. “Actually, now that I think about it, all we did was bring Jungkook to Buncheon.”

“That’s all?” He questions, double-checking.

I sit upright and turn around to meet him in the eyes. “Why, you don’t believe me?”

“No, I do… but, it’s just-” He lets out a quiet exhale. “Did he kiss you?-”

My hands, acting on its own, throws the blanket in his face and stands up. He pushes the blanket to the floor and gets on two feet, grabbing my wrist.

“Did he hurt you? Did he take advantage of you? I want to know.” His actions show a hint of desperation. As he speaks, his voice grows quieter. “Please, tell me he didn’t.”

Guilt strikes me. Hard. He’s only worried.

I turn around and throw my arms over him. His upper body bends forward slightly as my arms wrap tighter around his neck. Expressionless and speechless, he straightens his posture, forcing me to lean in closer to him. From the light of the lantern, our shadows are casted over the grass and the blanket.

“Earlier, you told me something- something I never thought I’d hear from anyone. I was so startled, I couldn’t answer you. I’m sorry for that…” As he speaks, he returns my embrace, closing the space between us. What is he talking about? “Jaemi.”

“Yes, Taehyung?” I answer with a whisper and I feel the hairs on his neck stand up straight on my arms.

“I love you.”

My heart stops beating and I feel my body burning hotter than it already was. As Taehyung buries himself deeper into our embrace I can’t help but smile. I let go of him slightly and shift my position to see his face. He gazes at me with pure eyes and a cocky smile.

I open my mouth to say something, but he prevents me from saying anything by leaning in and pecking my lips. I blink thrice and soften my eyes. His cocky smile grows wider and lands another, longer, kiss on my lips. I find myself giggling stupidly as my lips burn from his touch. He’s too cute.

------

10:30pm
Room 24

Every time I try to push Taehyung out my room, I fail. “Gooooo. Jungkook is going to be suspicious. Isn’t he staying with you in your room?”

“Don’t worry, he fell asleep before I went out to the pond.” Taehyung shakes me gently. We lay in my bed together, his cheek rests on my stomach with one hand on around my waist. I peer at him, revealing his closed eyes. “Can’t I just sleep here with my cheonsa? It’s like I’m in heaven.”

His cheesy phrases makes me smile, but I catch it quickly. I stroke his hair and I feel his arm wrap around me tighter. “You going to fall asleep like this?”

Taehyung gets up lazily and crawls to surpass my head on the bed. He pulls me close, making me shift my position to the side. He rests his head on mine and rubs my back.

We stay in this position, talking about the little things, sharing a few laughs and fiddling our hands together.

“Taehyung, do you recall anything before you came to the orphanage?” I ask, taking a deep breath after guffawing at the hilarious stories he told me. My eyes indirectly look at his face.

“I wish I could, but I don’t.” Taehyung smiles plainly. “Byeol says that childhood memories are sometimes hard to remember. I mean, do you remember being two years old?”

“No.” I chuckle and play with his bangs. “Is that the age you were sent here? Two?”

“I think I was seven or eight? I don’t know.” Taehyung shrugs and tugs at me to come closer. “What about you? What were you doing at that age?”

I purse my lips and playback the memories I’ve stucked in the back of my head. “Let’s see, I was in fourth grade around that time, with Jimin and Jungkook. Our elementary years seem like a blur, but all I remember is that we were never apart from each other. Our families were in harmony with each other. We even-”

My eyes widen slightly. That was the year Jungkook, Jimin and I went to Daegu with our families for Spring vacation. The year Taehyung was admitted here was the same year we went to Daegu. 2008. Yoongi brought me to Seoul the same date Jungkook and Jimin misbehaved in Daegu.

"You even what, Jae?" Taehyung questions and gazes down at me. My eyes avoid him, staring cluelessly at his chest.

Taehyung doesn’t remember anything.

------

Jungwon High School
12:14am

The clocks ticks slowly as our teacher walks along the aisles of the classroom. On the chalkboard, in large letters, “Self-Study” is written carelessly. My Korean history textbook is open and my hands scribbles down notes. However, as I blankly read the textbook pages, my mind can’t stop thinking about last night.

He doesn’t remember anything. Why doesn't he remember?

My head turns slightly and I watch as Taehyung doodles on the top left corner of his notebook. His page is full of notes, but they were written a few days ago. I gaze the other way, almost startled to find Yoongi staring directly at me. Jimin focuses on his calculator, doing who knows what. I haven’t spoken to Yoongi since yesterday during lunch. Should I apologize to him?

The big hand on the clock moves down on the ‘3’ and the lunch bell rings. Most students pack up almost immediately and leave the classroom, racing to be first in line at the cafeteria. Hoseok, Seokjin and Jimin being three of them. Our teacher dismisses herself, leaving Suga, Taehyung and I in the classroom. Alone. I sit in between them, unable to budge. My pencil stays in my hand, the tip on my notebook. I leave my sentence in my notebook unfinished.

Taehyung, after packing up his own belongings, starts to clear my desk. Yoongi sniffs his nose and scratches his nape with one finger before standing up and walking towards us. “Taehyung, would you mind heading to the cafeteria first? I have something to say to Jaemi.”

If stares could kill, they’d both be dead by now.

“Come Taehyung, I’ll escort you there.” Our heads turn to the classroom door.

Namjoon waves at me with a warm smile, leaning against the door. From the side, I catch Irene standing next to him, barely revealing herself. Yoongi brushes past me, reaching a hand towards Taehyung to help him up. Taehyung puts both hands on his desk as he stands himself up. He glances at me quickly before twirling around to face Yoongi. The stand a few feet away from each other, Taehyung being only an inch taller.

“If you think I’ll let you take Jaemi away from me again your wrong.” Taehyung says, projecting his voice halfway through talking. I have to know about the files though. Regardless I’m going to have to get through to Yoongi.

“And what if I make you?” Suga tilts his head with a cheeky smirk. Out of instinct, Taehyung grabs Yoongi’s uniform with two hands. As I stand up and stand next to them, Namjoon starts for us, but Suga buts a hand up. I place a hand on Taehyung’s arm, but he doesn’t acknowledge my actions. “Oh hoah, looks like Taehyung’s stepped up his confidence. Finally.”

I watch as Suga takes my hand, that rests on top of Taehyung’s arm, and pulls me behind me. Namjoon comes over and puts an arms around Taehyung, causing him to let go of his grip on Suga.

“Yoongi.” I say, quickly and he barely moves his head so that one eye glares back at me.

“What, you don’t want to talk? After what went down at the garden you don’t want to speak to me again?” This time he turns around fully to face me, still holding me by the wrist. Using my far side view, I focus on Taehyung, who’s listening our conversation.

“Creating a commotion like this is unnecessary.” I heave a short sigh and use my other hand to rid his grip on me.

From the back, Taehyung suddenly pulls Suga back, switching their spots. He stands, back to me, a hand on my arm. “What happened at the garden?”

I can’t tell if he’s asking me or Yoongi, but I can’t seem to make of words to explain anything to him. Yoongi sighs and smiles at the same time. He plops himself on Taehyung’s desk and sets both feet on his chair. “Nothing that should be of your concern, Tae. Just like what happened in Seoul. Nothing of you concern, but I’m sure with your personality you already asked Jaemi about that.”

Taehyung looks down, recalling last night. My stomach growls and I shake my head once as my lips purse. I brush past Taehyung, avoiding Yoongi, to my backpack and pull out my lunch. I leave the classroom without another word, not once acknowledging Irene’s presence in the hallway. I can’t handle this. Yoongi and Taehyung in the same room with Namjoon watching and Irene hiding from them.

I stop myself in my tracks. Taehyung’s outnumbered.

Without taking another second to think over anything, I dash back to the classroom. When I get there, Suga stands at the door, waiting for me. Alone. “So you came back.”

My eyes roll as I turn back around and walk the other way. I hear his footsteps inch closer and he throws an arm around my shoulder. My body starts to heat up and I avoid eye contact with him.

“So.” Yoongi smiles, which is unusual for him. “I want to invite you to come over my house.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Why.”

“To meet my parents and siblings. We're having a celebratory dinner bringing guests and friends” He gets straight to the point with a blank face. “If you don’t want to it’s fine. I was just offering.”

It takes me a few minutes to answer him. If Yoongi has the three files, it must be at his house. Somewhere safe. He wouldn’t have it on him 24/7. If I go with him, I might be able to find them and see what he’s hiding.

“Alright. What day? I can’t go tonight because I’m working. I’m free on the weekends though.” I gaze up at him. I feel his hand on my shoulder squeeze with slightly.

[A/N: If you’ve been keeping up, it’s Friday in the story. She works on Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s every week. The other days Jaemi is free.]

“Seriously?” He smiles wider and we stare for a few seconds in silence. I look down, finding myself blushing. I pat my cheeks with my free hand. Get yourself together. “How’s Sunday night?”

“You have my phone number?” I question. “Let’s exchange them when we get to the cafeteria.”

“Call.” He answers, rather giddy.

We sit across each other at a table in the cafeteria. I scan around and find Taehyung on the other side of the room with Hoseok, and Jimin. He’s safe. That’s good. Seokjin isn’t there. Oh, that’s right, he’s excused himself for the rest of the day to see Gaejin off…

Yoongi snaps a finger, bringing my attention back to him. With his other hand, he holds he phone out to me. I take mine out and type in my contact information.

“Why do you need your phone to write your contact info in my phone?” Yoongi asks, shoving a spoonful of food his mouth.

“I forgot my phone number.” I answer, my eyes don’t leave the screen.

I save my contact and accidently exit the contact app. There’s a notification on his messages. I gaze up at him quickly. He spaces out, chewing his food slowly. I almost smile from his dorkiness. I click on his messages and scroll down to his chat with Jungkook. The notification comes from his conversation with Jungkook.

I click on Jungkook’s contact information on his phone and my own. The phone number’s don’t match. I have both of Jungkook’s phone numbers (the valid # and the # no longer in service), but this one on Yoongi’s doesn’t match. What-

“Are you done?” Yoongi says with a dead voice. His interruption makes me jump slightly. I reopen to my contact information, acting like nothing happened.

“Yes. I’m just texting myself.” I nod my head, he looks back down to his food and takes another bite. So… when he showed me those text messages from Jungkook when I first met him… they were fake. Yet. He knew my identity and that I’m related to Jungkook- and Jimin.

I hand him his phone just as mine vibrates from an unknown number. He puts a hand on mine and I gaze into his eyes. “I can’t wait.”

Another hand flicks Yoongi’s hand away. “Don’t touch her. I told you that already.”

Taehyung stands next to me, arms crossed. Yoongi chuckles in entertainment. “That’s too bad. I’ve touched her many times.”

At that moment I mentally stab myself and die. I can’t even enjoy my lunch when they’re in the same room.

------

Orphanage
Cafeteria
7:30pm

Byeol sits across from me and watches me finish every last drop of the soup she made.

“How was work?” Her hands fold neatly on the table and a smile is smacked on her face.
“Good.” I nod my head. She’s hiding something behind that fake face of hers. “How’s Seokjin.”

Her smile drops instantly and she puts an elbow on the table, catching her head. “I don’t know. I feel guilty for not telling him anything sooner. But the good things is her parents will allow Gaejin and Seokjin to meet at least once a week.”

“That’s lucky.” I stand up and bow, dismissing myself. “Thank you for dinner, Byeol. I have homework to finish. Please excuse me.”

Still in my dance wear, I sneak out of the cafeteria, heading for the studio. When I get there, one of the lights are on, dimming the room. Seokjin lays against a wall, face unreadable. As I open the door, he immediately stands up. “Are you going to use this room? I can-”

“Stay.” I smile and put my jazz shoes on. He sits back down and waits for me to come over to him. I slide down the wall to sit next to him, letting out an exhausted sigh. “How are you feeling?”

“I… don’t know.” Seokjin says, unable to give me a direct answer. “I came in the studio for some silence and quiet. Apparently word got out that my sister was getting adopted. Everyone’s been asking me the same question the entire day.”

“Those girls were annoying. They wouldn’t leave you alone in the morning.” We share a short, but warming laugh. “Sorry to ask you that question. Again.”

“No, it’s okay. Hearing it from you gives a different effect then hearing it from a stranger who knows almost everything about me [A/N: Sasaeng Fans that you bwaha]. I don’t even know why I came in here. I can’t dance, or, well, I don’t know how to.” Seokjin smiles weakly. Anyone can tells he’s hurting. Maybe if he does something else, it can get his mind off of Gaejin.

“You don’t have to dance to be in a studio. Do you sing?” I stand up and hold a hand out to him.

He accepts my offer and I help him up. “Only to Gaejin when she asks me to. Other than that I don’t.”

“How about when I ask you. Can you sing something for me to dance to?” I smile and watch him laugh slightly.

“Alright.” Seokjin sits at the piano and plays a low key song. His voice is soft and eloquent and matches perfectly with the piano. Almost as if his voice marries the piano through the song. I realize I’ve only been staring at him, and not dancing.

I leave the piano and start to free-style, throwing some contemporary. His voice is music to my feet. In love with his small, but powerful voice. I hear the door click open. Taehyung, Jungkook and Jimin walk into the room, quiet, and careful not to disrupt. I gaze at Seokjin, catching his just as he closes his eyes, already aware of their presence.

Taehyung and Jimin sit and watch as Jungkook joins me. I can’t help but smile as I experience the feeling of dancing with him all over again. The feeling of having a partner when dancing. I’ve yearned for this unexplainable sensation when dancing with him. As we continue to dance in harmony with one another, I realize dancing with Jungkook is what I missed most from him.

When Seokjin ends the song, I laugh as tears stream down my face. Taehyung and Jimin clap together, Taehyung going overboard and cheering. Jungkook warmly embraces me and pats my back repetitively, our bodies somewhat sweaty and burning hot. I must’ve of missed this… a lot.

“Hey.” Jimin looks around the room. “Where’s Hoseok?”

“Didn’t he come home with you guys after school?” I ask, wiping the last tears that fall down my face with my arms.

“No…” Taehyung shakes his head.

If he isn’t here and didn’t come home from school with Taehyung or Jimin… that could mean two things. One, he’s at the diner, library or anywhere studying for something. But we don’t have any upcoming tests or exams, that’s not it. There’s only one option left… Yoongi. Irene. Namjoon.

Notes

Konichihwa Readers~ (hello in Japanese)

Here is what I originally wanted to update on Tuesday, but that previous chapter HAD to be included. SO YEAH. but, uhm *cough* Happy Thursday er'body.

This chapter has many things going on. Taehyung VS. Suga is a legit thing now. Remember Hoseok and Namjoon have a past. Don't think I would've left that part alone. Jaemi and Irene have yet to make up, on top of that Irene explaining herself to Jaemi. Seokjin has a passion (because you guys know how "amazing" of a dancer he is LOOOOLLLL.) SINGING!!!

If BTS could perform their solo's live, that would kill me even more than their comeback.

Diction, diction, diction... SORRY BAE (Cypher Pt. 4)

VOTE///COMMENT///SUBSCRIBE to hear more from meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Let me know in the comments who you ship Jaemi with currently~

LOVE YOU ALLL~

See you in the next chapter!
~Alexis Thao