"W-what?" Izzy's nose scrunched up cutely, her head falling to the side. Taehyung let out a ringing laugh that echoed throughout the apartment and couldn't help but poke the tip of her nose. It scrunched up even more, which made him grin widely before wrapping his long arms around her from behind, where he still sat on the couch.

"Yeah Izzy, move in with us!" The adorable smile never left his face as he lay his head on her shoulder so he could look at her stunned expression.
"I uh—" Izzy gulped down the lump in her throat, unsure what to do.

On the one hand Izzy loved these boys. They were sweet and fun and albeit a little weird, but that's what made her like them in the first place. But on the other hand... she had lived in three places throughout her life and none of them turned out too well. Her parents tried to bury her beneath six feet of pearls and designer shoes, and when she refused to conform to their lifestyle they kicked her out. Youngkyun had managed to convince Izzy that he loved her and then he cheated on her... before kicking her out. And now she had unceremoniously taken up residence on the shag-carpeted living room floor of Cassie's beer-stained apartment and was swallowing pills like they were Sour Patch Kids. And though Cassie hadn't kicked her out yet, Izzy somehow felt that living under a bridge would be better than continuing to live with Jae and his roaming hands.

"I don't know guys," she admitted, "I don't know if it's a good idea." Seeing the smiles drop from their faces sent a pang of guilt through Izzy's heart.
"But why not?" Hoseok scooted closer to her, an adorable pout on his face, and grabbed one of her hands.
"Don't you like us?" Craning her head around was a bit difficult with Taehyung still pouting on her shoulder, but Izzy managed. Jungkook sat on the couch behind her. His face was blank but Izzy saw the hurt in his eyes, and it killed her to hurt any one of them.
"Of course I do, Jungkook! You guys are the best people I've met in my entire life," she rushed the words, trying to make the pain in his eyes go away. "It's just that," she gulped, "I tend to end up getting hurt by the people I live with. I don't want that to happen with you guys."

Namjoon and Jin both opened their mouths to protest but Izzy quickly cut them off.

"Besides, I don't want you guys to worry too much about me."
Jin sighed at that and crouched down in front of her. "Izzy, you're our friend and you're a part of our group now. We take care of each other. And trust me when I say that we already worry about you, and we would worry a lot less if we could keep you close by us."

Izzy stared up at the older boy, silently mulling over his words. "Are you sure I won't be a bother to you guys?" Her words were so quiet that they almost didn't hear her speak.

All of a sudden Yoongi, who hadn't spoken a word this entire time, came forward, sat down by her side, and placed a gentle hand on her knee. "Look Izzy, we don't really 'make nice' with new people, and we don't have any friends outside of each other, we're the only people we can trust. So we wouldn't ask you to move in with us unless we wanted you to. You're not a burden. You're one of us, Izzy. We take care of you." Tears began to well up in her eyes. Yoongi didn't talk much— as Izzy had noticed— but whenever he did open his mouth it was always worth hearing.

"Please?" Jimin's soft voice whispered, one of his hands squeezed hers and Izzy looked up into his pleading eyes.

The tiny nod of her head was almost invisible as she whispered, "Okay."

Seven loud voices screamed happily as the boys tackled Izzy onto the floor in a massive hug. "You guys are ridiculous!" Izzy had meant to sound stern but the laughter in her voice kept the boys from taking her words seriously, instead they just laughed along with her.

"Alright! Alright! Whoever is on my back better get off before you get punched," Yoongi grumbled as Hoseok burst out in giggles while poking at his friend's sides in an attempt to tickle him. In a very uncoordinated display, the boys clambered over Izzy and each other, trying to get upright but failing miserably due to all the tangled limbs.

Izzy continued to lay in her spot on the floor, smiling happily until Namjoon grabbed both of her hands and yanked her to her feet. "Come on Short Stack," he pulled her into his side with a grin and started for the door, "Let's go get your stuff." Izzy took a look at the other boys as they followed behind them, laughing and joking happily, and it made her smile. She couldn't deny that she liked having them around.

Izzy and Namjoon took the lead as she led the boys away from their South side apartment and into the West side where Cassie's building was located. She treaded carefully past the familiar knocked over trash cans and the clubs that hadn't opened yet, due to the fact that it was barely one in the afternoon.

Jin was just about to crack the punchline of one of his favorite dad-jokes when Izzy's phone rang. She pulled the phone out of her pocket while Jin huffed about having his joke interrupted. Izzy didn't bother to look at the number, a fatal mistake.

"Hello?"
"Good afternoon, Iseul." Oh god.
"What the hell do you want?" Izzy's teeth ground against each other, making her jaw ache from the pressure.
"Do not speak to me that way, Iseul," he growled into the phone. "Your mother has tried calling you numerous times and you have been incredibly rude to her. So I am calling now."
"Is that supposed to be any better?" Izzy's shoulders tensed, which did not go unnoticed. Namjoon rubbed a comforting hand on her shoulders while the boys walked silently, pretending as if they weren't listening to her phone conversation.

"Now is not the time for your insolence young lady. Your mother and I need to speak with you," he did nothing to hide his aggravated tone.
"I don't care what you need," she hissed.
"You will meet me and your mother this Friday evening," he continued as if Izzy hadn't said anything at all.
"And why would I do that?" They were nearing Cassie's apartment now.
"I will make this proposal once, Iseul. If you meet us on Friday at Dongdae Central Hotel and listen to everything we have to say, then we will not bother you again." The proposition made Izzy freeze, Hoseok and Taehyung bumped into her back with shocked grunts. She stood silent, contemplating the offer.
"One meeting?" She somehow suspected that one meeting wouldn't be enough for them.
"Yes." No. She should say no. After all the years she'd lived with her father she should know not to make a deal with the devil.
"Fine," Izzy tried to ignore the burning pit in her stomach. "One meeting. Nothing more. Goodbye." Izzy hung up the phone and squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the furious voice in her head that was screaming bloody murder.

"Izzy, are you okay?" Namjoon's quiet question cut through her whirling mind.
"No," she admitted with a sigh. "But I can't think about that now." Izzy gave a wavering smile to the boys and put her arm around Joon's waist in a half hug, leaning her head on his shoulder as the other boys rubbed her back comfortingly. "But thank you. Now come on, I thought we were going to get my stuff back?" Izzy did the only thing she could do and put one foot in front of the other. It was Wednesday afternoon and she was determined to ignore the issue for at least two more days.

They finally made it to the front door of Cassie's run down old building and Izzy rang the bell for apartment for 3F until the door buzzed open. Izzy crawled slowly up the steps with the boys right behind her. She stood in front of the peeling red door and swallowing the cotton in her mouth, knocked swiftly before pushing past the door.

"Hey girly! Did your work finish early or something?" Izzy shook her head in disbelief. It was amazing that it was only one o'clock and Cassie was already drunk.
"Yeah, something like that," she mumbled and approached the drunken girl. "Listen Cassie, I really appreciate you letting me stay here for so long but I'm going to go now. I just came to get my stuff." A toilet flushed down the hall and the bathroom door creaked open, a practically naked Jae stepped out. He froze at seeing the the seven men who lingered in the middle of the living room, scowls on their faces. His eyes narrowed at them but he said nothing, and instead lumbered over to the couch, collapsing down on it in nothing but his wrinkled boxers.

Izzy slunk over to the corner of the living room and picked up the single duffel bag that she had brought with her when she left Youngkyun's place. It wasn't much but it made moving from place to place a whole lot easier. While she gathered her bag the boys glared around the smelly apartment. Yoongi and Namjoon glared lasers at the small pile of pills on the glass coffee table. It was a miracle that nothing burst into flames with the way the boys glared around at the place.

Izzy slung the duffel over her shoulder and met the boys back at the front door. "Bye Cassie," she didn't bother to spare a glance at Jae before practically sprinting away from that place, the boys right behind her.

***

Jae sprung forward to grab his phone from the coffee table as soon as the peeling red wood slammed shut behind the last scowling guy to leave the apartment. He dialed the number as fast as he could. Youngkyun would kill him if Jae didn't relay what he'd just witnessed.

"What?" The growling voice on the line snapped as soon as he picked up.
"I have more information."
Youngkyun huffed into the phone, "This better be good."
"Izzy just came by Cassie's place to get her stuff. I guess she's moving out." Jae paused to pick up and swallow one of the little white pills from the coffee table.
"If this is the 'important news' that you had to tell me, I'm going to strangle you." Jae knew it was probably a bluff but he still didn't want to test Youngkyun.
"She was with them."