Poke. Poke. Poke.

Izzy waved a hand around her face, trying to get the prodding on her cheek to stop.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

She huffed a breath and grumbled, turning to shove her face into the back of the couch.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

The prodding moved to her side. Her very ticklish side. Izzy grumbled incoherent sounds of protest and wiggled in her place on the couch.

Poke. Poke. Poke. "Izzy, wake up." A quiet voice floated into Izzy's hearing.

Her only response was a groan.

"Come on short stack, you've gotta get up now," the voice persisted.

"Nhm," a muffled sound left her mouth.

Poke. Poke. Poke. "Come on shortie, we made breakfast," the voice coaxed.

Izzy craned her neck around, pulling her face out of the couch cushions. "Breakfast?" Her first coherent word of the day.

"Yup. But if you want it you're gonna have to get up."

Izzy managed to pry open one sleepy eye. Yoongi's greenish blue hair swung over his eyes as he tipped his head to the side where it hovered over Izzy.

"I have to say, short stack, you're not exactly a sleeping beauty," he cracked a cute smile.

"Who are you calling short stack? You're not that much taller than I am," Izzy fired back. "Besides, nobody wakes up looking like they came out of a beauty parlor." If only.

Yoongi grinned and turned to shout over his shoulder, "She's awake!"

"Finally!"

"Thought she'd never wake up!"

"Took long enough!"

A chorus of voices called back to Yoongi's yelling. Izzy huffed and pulled herself upright. She probably looked like Dracula rising from his coffin. The light from an open window hit her right in the eyes and she hissed at the bright light that was now blinding her. Great, now she sounded like Dracula too.

Yoongi chuckled at her morning struggles, "Get up, it's breakfast time!" Izzy pushed aside her grumpy morning alter ego and swung her legs off the couch.

Yoongi draped an arm around her shoulders and led an uncoordinated Izzy towards the kitchen. She tripped a few times over her own feet, her eyes not fully open yet, but Yoongi managed to keep her upright until he could dump her on a stool at the kitchen counter. She groaned and propped her head up with her hand, eyes closing again. Izzy was just beginning to drift off once again when someone's fingers knocked her hand out from under her and her head crashed down on the counter.

"Ow! Damn it!" Izzy screeched while cradling her throbbing nose. "Who did that?" Her eyes shot lasers into the guys. They tripped over themselves in turning away from her glare or staring 'innocently' at the ceiling or pretending to be looking for something in the cabinets. But one of them gave it away.

Taehyung had stuck his head all the way into an empty cupboard and started whistling loudly. But Izzy could see his tomato-red ears which weren't covered by the cabinet door. Slowly, she eased herself off the stool and stepped softly towards the boy with green-streaked hair. His whistles echoed loudly through the now quiet dorm. The other boys had grown silent, flattening themselves against the counters to get out of Izzy's path.

"Taehyung?" Her cavity-inducing, sugar-sweet tone sent all the guys reeling in shock. The boy in question froze at the sound of his name. He pulled his head out of the cabinet and turned slowly, eyes guarded against the oncoming assault.

"Yes?" He asked, hesitation clear in his voice.

Eyes big as saucers and a sweet smile on her face, Izzy spoke. "The next time you do that to me, you'll wake up bald. Are we clear?"

Taehyungs eyes bugged out of his head and he nearly broke his neck from nodding so fast. He did not want to wake up bald. And despite the fact that Izzy was several inches shorter than him and looked about as intimidating as a kitten, she sounded so capable of actually doing it that Taehyung didn't want to take any risks.

"Excellent!" She beamed up at him and turned back to look at all the boys. "Now, I heard something about breakfast?" The entire group scrambled around the kitchen, putting together a plate and hastily pouring coffee while Izzy walked calmly back to her stool. A plate of pancakes was set down in front of her along with a massive cup of coffee, steam rolling off the black liquid. Izzy mentally laughed at the boys who were anxiously watching and waiting for her reaction.

"Thank you!" She beamed at the boys and dug into the stack of pancakes. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

Dealing with furious businessmen at a poker game? They could handle that, no problem. But dealing with a girl who had just been resurrected from a twelve hour slumber was a whole new ball game.

Now that Izzy was happy, the boys relaxed, grabbing their own plates and cups for breakfast.

"These are amazing! Who made them?" Izzy mumbled around a mouthful of the fluffy pancakes. The boys chuckled at her.

"Jin made them," Hoseok patted his friend on the back while Jin grinned proudly.

"A short stack for a Short Stack," Yoongi laughed to himself and then received six swift punches. It looked like Yoongi was going to melt under the fiery glares the other boys shot at him.

Izzy observed them with a smile creeping onto her face. She let out a light laugh, making the guys look away from Yoongi and towards her. These boys were ceaselessly amusing, and the more time she spent with them, the more she grew to like them.

Izzy's laugh was interrupted when her phone rang. She wrestled the slab of plastic from her pocket and pulled it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Kim Iseul don't you dare hang up on me." A shrill, irritating voice warned.

"Why are you calling me?" Izzy growled into the phone, smacking her fork down on the counter. She glared down at her lap.

"Well I tried to tell you the last time I called but you hung up on me. Now, I'd like to have a meeting," the woman commanded.

"A meeting?" Izzy hissed.

"Yes, you pronounced it perfectly. You will meet us at Dongdae Central Hotel at eight o'clock sharp this Saturday evening—"

"Us?" The woman's sentence was cut off by Izzy's low question. Her tone was so quiet and angry that it startled the seven boys who were watching Izzy with concerned eyes.

"Yes Iseul, us. Sanghyuk and I—"

"I don't want to hear about him." Izzy growled at her through the phone.

The fork clenched in her hand began to bend under the pressure of her palm.

"Look sweetie," the woman began, "This petty issue has to be put to rest. I don't care if you're still mad about what happened two years ago, because frankly it was your mistake in the first place. But we are a family and we have an image to maintain," she droned over the line. "Your father and I gave you space. We let you go off and move in with that miscreant boyfriend of yours. We allowed you to be away from our family for two years now. But it is time that you come home and take your proper place." Her lecture drew to an end and the phone was silent as she awaited her daughters reply.

Izzy drew an unsteady breath into her lungs. "Look. I am never going to forgive either of you for trying to force me into a life I never wanted. Never. And as far as I'm concerned, your image can go to hell and take your family with it. Because it's your family. Not mine. I don't give a damn what happens to you people, just don't call me again."

Izzy hung up the call, slamming her phone down on the counter beside the bent fork. She sat there on the stool, trying to steady her breathing. There's nothing like family to ruin your morning. Her eyes snapped open at the sound of a voice.

"Izzy?" Her rage faded at hearing him call her name. "Are you okay?" Jimin's warm hand rubbed across her back, making Izzy's tense shoulders slump.

"No. I'm really not." Izzy wasn't just talking about the phone call. She was talking about the fact that she didn't have a house, that her boyfriend cheated her, and that on top of all it, she was itching for more of those while pills that Jae had given her. Her fingers tore mindlessly at the flesh of her arm until a gentle hand on hers made her freeze.

Jimin took her arms and gently pulled her off the stool so she now stood. Her tired eyes blinked at his shirt covered chest. As if in slow motion his arms slid around her shoulders and pressed her tightly to his chest. Izzy's arms hung limp at her sides. Slowly, unsurely, she wrapped her arms around him as well, accepting the silent comfort that he was offering.

Just as Izzy was about to pull away, another heavy chest collided with her back. And suddenly she was cocooned between all the boys. Their long arms were wrapped around her and around each other, weaving together in a blanket of limbs. Izzy chuckled at their silly behavior, a wry smile on her face. She really hadn't expected them to be the hugging type.

"Thank you." Her voice was muffled by the strong chest her face was pressed into, but the boys all heard her gratitude.