The apartment door slammed open and a massive cardboard box crashed down in the entryway.

"Remind me again why we didn't just get the delivery guys to bring the bed over here?" Yoongi's breathing was hard as he leaned against the boxed-up bed that sat in the middle of their living room.

"Because we can't just go around throwing our address out like confetti. You know that," Namjoon gave him a serious look.
"Yeah whatever, let's start putting this thing together," Taehyung clapped his hands, a happy smile on his face, and started to rip the tape off the box.

While the younger boys were busy trying to figure out the page of instructions that came with the bed, Jimin wandered into the kitchen to look for a snack. He tugged open the fridge door and seeing nothing but leftover takeout containers, shut it. He was about to walk away when a slip of paper stuck to the refrigerator door caught his attention. Jimin pulled the paper out from under the bottle opener magnet that held it and skimmed over the words. Only to read them again. And again.

"Guys?" The bickering in the living room came to an abrupt halt when he called for them. "Read this."

Putting one foot in front of the other, Jimin walked slowly to the living room and relinquished the note into Namjoon's waiting hands. The other guys crowded around their leader, reading the note over his shoulder.

Meeting with my parents tonight at Dongdae Central. I should be back by 9 or 10 at the latest. Rescue me if if I'm not back by then.
–Izzy

"Did you guys know that she was meeting with her parents?" Jin asked the others in confusion. He couldn't recall her telling them about this.
"She's never said a word about them," Jungkook whispered.
"And we never asked," Hoseok concluded.
"Guys." Yoongi's voice caught their attention. "Look," his hand pointed at the clock that was built into the microwave. It read 10:10.
"She should be back by now," Jin's eyebrows furrowed and he cast an anxious glance at the others, who mirrored his worry.
"We have to go get her." Jimin couldn't ignore her any longer.

Staying away from her these past few days was hell and he understood now that it wouldn't do anything to solve his problem. His problem was that he was jealous and he didn't know why it bothered him how close Izzy and Jungkook had gotten. He loved them both, they were his best friends, it made absolutely no sense for him to be jealous. And yet he was. But that didn't matter right now.

"Leave the box and let's go," Namjoon wrenched open the door, leading them quickly out of the apartment. He wasn't anything if not fiercely protective of his friends, and that now included Izzy. The boys moved through the city at breakneck speed, sprinting through the South side and into the Central city. The familiar blue lights of Dongdae Central Hotel loomed over them. They had been here not three days ago for a poker game that they had—once again—won with the ace hidden in Yoongi's sleeve. But this time they were not here on business, they weren't dressed in Italian suits, and the mob of news reporters outside paid them virtually no attention. Clad in ripped jeans and leather jackets, they dashed up the hotel steps where a startled doorman hurriedly yanked the doors open for them.

"Gentlemen, I-I'm afraid there's no game tonight," the hotel manager came scampering up them, looking stressed.
"We're not here on business, we actually need to find someone," Namjoon informed the man, "And fast."

Jungkook cast a nervous look at the golden clock above the hotel desk. 10:47 and since they hadn't run into her on the way there, it was safe to assume that Izzy was still somewhere in the hotel.

"Of course, who are you gentlemen looking for?" A look of relief settled onto his middle aged features.
"Her name is Kim Izzy," Jimin jumped into the conversation. He couldn't help the anxious tapping of his foot or the broken rhythm that his fingers drummed out on his thigh.
"Uh, I'm afraid I do not recognize the first name. But we do have a Kim party dining tonight and I believe a young lady joined them." The information he was giving them was confidential to the hotel and it's visitors but the manager didn't hesitate to tell them everything he knew.

"Take us to them." The manager nodded at the request and hurriedly led them to the hotel restaurant.

The glass doors of the restaurant parted for them and they entered the dimly lit atmosphere. Couples littered the room, murmuring softly to each other, not caring who saw the occasional kiss or the tangled feet beneath the table. It was meant to be a romantic place, and it would have been if not for the furious voices coming from the far corner. The hotel manager led the boys to a secluded corner where three figures sat at a round table. She looked so different tonight, but it was impossible to mistake those tense shoulders for anyone but Izzy.

***

Izzy's heels clicked on the marble flooring of the hotel lobby, she was sure that if they weren't frozen her feet would ache from long walk she had just made. The snow was sure to come down any minute now and she realized—again—just how stupid she had been to not wear a jacket. Ignoring her frozen limbs, Izzy made her way to the desk.

"Excuse me?"
"Yes, Miss?" A kind-looking, middle aged man with tired eyes looked up from the computer.
"I'm supposed to meet Kim Sanghyunk and Jisoo here, do you know where they might be?" Izzy wrung her hands together, and while it could have been from the cold, she knew that the shivers on her spine was because of the two people she dreaded seeing again.

"Ah yes, your party is in the restaurant. I will take you there," he stepped out from behind the desk and walked purposefully to the restaurant with Izzy lagging behind. She dreaded facing her parents. They entered the dim restaurant and the aging man led her to a secluded table.

"Here you are, Miss." He pointed her to the table, not coming within twenty feet of it himself.
"Thank you," she mumbled quietly as he speed walked away, but she felt anything but thankful.

She shouldn't have come here tonight, and yet she did, and she allowed the manager to lead her to what very well may be her doom. For a moment Izzy considered the possibility that she was being over dramatic, but then a voice like rusty nails in her ears ripped the thought right out of her head.

"Iseul, nice of you to finally join us, but you're late. Sit." Her fathers voice was just as she remembered: monotonous and hoarse from years of smoking the cigars he was so fond of. Izzy gritted her teeth at the command he gave her but pulled out a chair regardless, if she complied for this one evening then she would be free of them for good. At least that was the deal they had made.

"We have something important to discuss with you, Iseul." She spared a glance at her mother, who sat looking cold and regal, allowing her husband to do the talking. Izzy knew that her mother wouldn't jump into the conversation unless provoked, and Izzy knew exactly how to do just that.

"Yes, you told me that. Now get on with it and tell me why you wanted to meet so I can leave soon," Izzy didn't care that her attitude was less than cordial; she didn't care for these people, she had no respect for them and she wouldn't pretend as if she did.

"There is no need to be so rude to your father, Kim Iseul," there it was. Izzy had hit the big red button on her mother's temper that said "do not push", and she did with every intention of pissing the woman off; there was no quicker way to irritate Kim Jisoo than to disrespect her husband.

"The reason we called you here is because we have an important matter to discuss—"

"You know, you keep saying that you have something super important to talk with me about and yet I've not heard a single word of what this matter actually is. So please, enlighten me and do it quickly," Izzy wanted to go home.

The clock on the wall read 9:30 and it would take a while to walk home. She hoped the guys wouldn't worry too much about her when they found the note, she'd only been kidding with the 'rescue me' line.

"We want you to come home." Although, it looks like she might need that rescue after all.

Izzy didn't even have a chance to pick her jaw up off the ground before a tiny portion of something that looked suspiciously like foie gras was set down in front of her.

"We ordered for you since you took so long getting here," of course they did. Izzy grimaced down at the dish, she'd always hated foie gras.

"What the hell do you mean you want me to 'come home'?" She barely managed to push the words out of her mouth.

"You've been away long enough. I'd say two years is plenty of time to understand that the outside world is not fitting for you," her dad casually sipped his Bordeaux, as if he wasn't in the middle of insulting and demeaning every decision she'd made for the past two years.
"You are to come home with us and pick up your life where you left it." Her jaw felt like it was going to break from clenching it so hard. It figures that they wouldn't understand that while her life was a complete pile of crap, it was still a life. They would never understand that life doesn't abruptly stop when you step foot out of the Central city. These people lived in a fantasy world; real life could only be found beyond the golden hotels and five star restaurants.

"You want me to go home, wear the pearls and the stupid dresses, and pretend like I'm the perfect daughter." Those words were acid on her tongue.

Her father finished chewing his mouthful of the disgusting dish and took another sip of wine before even sparing his daughter a glance. "Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying." He didn't even bother denying that they just wanted her to pretend to be a good girl. Izzy realized that these people didn't give a single damn about her, they just wanted their image restored.

"Why?" The question was simple. The answer was a bit more complex. But pigs would fly before Kim Sanghyuk allowed a truthful answer to slip from his lips.

"It is in our family's best interest that you resume your life with us." That was it? That was the only answer she was going to get?

"Well, then I guess it's too bad that your family's best interests are not any of my concern." The shocked look on her mother's face gave her a sick sense of satisfaction, and Izzy reveled in it. Her father remained unfazed however.

"I don't think you fully understand what we're offering here, Iseul. You will have your own house, access to our money, including your trust fund, you can live however you please." Izzy's eyes narrowed at the proposition. Her father was a businessman and he didn't make any deal unless there was something in it for him. He made sure that he held the strings in every deal he made. Beacuse a deal was not successful unless the other party was reduced to nothing but a puppet, reacting to the strings that he tugged at as he pleased.

"What's the catch?"
"No catch," that was lie. "You simply have to attend our events, accept whatever man we choose for you, and stop seeing those friends of yours."

Izzy's eyes went wide. How the hell did they know about the guys? The thought of her boys being anywhere near these despicable people made her skin crawl and an angry fire began burning through her veins. With fingers that trembled with the effort of holding back her fury, Izzy pushed the untouched plate of foie gras away from herself.

"Listen closely to me, father," she spit the foul word at him. "My life is not up for negotiation. I will not attend your events. I will not marry whatever middle aged pervert you planned to saddle me with. And I will never give up my friends. They are a better family to me than you people ever were." At this point she had stood from her seat, fully prepared to storm out of this restaurant and leave those beastly people to their poisonous lifestyle.

"Izzy," that voice sliced straight through her anger and she felt a familiar calmness seeping into her body. She spun on her heels and looked at the group that was standing not two feet from her. Her eyes immediately snapped to the clock on the wall. 10:49. No wonder their faces showed so much concern.

"Izzy," Jimin called again, taking a step forward, "Are you okay?" She stared, speechless, into his soft brown eyes. And then she smiled. He was talking to her again.

"Izz," he gripped her elbows, leaning down to get a better looks at her.
"Can you hear me? Are you okay?" His voice was nothing more than a whisper, worry lacing his words. She nodded to let him know that she was alright, and Jimin sighed in relief, pulling her into a suffocating hug. But she didn't mind one bit, she welcomed his arms squeezing the air out of her lungs as she wrapped her own around him.

"You!" The hiss from behind her was practically lethal with all the venom it held. Izzy pulled away from Jimin's hold to see her fathers slitted eyes piercing through the boys, and the weird part was they were glaring right back at him.

"This clown again?" Yoongi hissed beneath his breath.

"Get your damned, cheating asses away from my daughter and stop poisoning her mind with your business." 

"Daughter?" The startled shouts made Izzy wince. This is exactly what she hadn't wanted to happen. She didn't want the boys to know that she came from such toxic people.

"No wonder you never talked about your parents," Jungkook mumbled.

"Iseul, step away from those miscreants right now." Her fists clenched. In the course of an hour her father had insulted her life choices, attempted to bribe her, and commanded her to give up the only real friends she'd ever had, and Izzy had taken it all, albeit not well. But the one thing she would not stand for is this heinous man insulting her friends. These boys were her family and she would be damned before she took an insult towards them lying down.

"Listen closely to me," Izzy stalked up to her father, ignoring the hands that tried to pull her back. "You are not my father. That woman," she stabbed a finger at Jisoo, "Is not my mother. You people are nothing to me. Family takes a hell of a lot more than just sharing the same blood. You were never family to me. Those boys are the only family I will ever need. So understand that I want nothing to do with you. Take your bribes and shove them up your ass with the rest of your family obligations because I'm turning down your offer. I don't care what you give me, because none of it means anything to me. I'd rather have nothing to my name than go back to the hell that you want to put me into."

With the final word said and done, Izzy grabbed Jimin by the hand and strode away from that table, with the boys right at her side.