~5 Months Later~

"Shuuuu-ger! Time to wake up!"

The boy felt something heavy land on the end of his bed and small hands on his back. He groaned and pulled the blankets back over his head, "Can't this wait? I'm sleepy."

"You're always sleepy," A familiar voice replied, "Come on Suga, today is important!"

"Okay, fine. Bring me some coffee. I'll be up in a minute."

The weight from the foot of the bed disappeared and was soon accompanied by the sound of little feet running on the hardwood floor. Suga heard the door slam shut and begrudgingly opened his eyes. The boy sat up and stretched as he rubbed his tired eyes and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He reached for his phone and unlocked it to see the date displayed above roughly 50 unread texts. March 9th. It's been a whole year already? Time goes too damn fast...

The door to the bedroom opened and a girl stepped in, holding two mugs with whipped cream and sprinkles on top. She smiled brightly and climbed on to the bed next to him, sitting with her legs crossed. Suga accepted the hot drink, "Good morning, lovely Nari. Did Jimin make this?"

"Uh huh," The girl nodded, "It's not coffee though, it's hot chocolate." She looked up at the boy, "Suga, don't you know what day it is?"

"Hm?" He took a sip from his mug, "It's March 9th."

"Well yeah, but today is special." Nari insisted, "Come on, did you forget?"

"Of course not! March 9th is very special, it's the day that the Russian Bolshevik party became the Communist party in 1918-"

Nari giggled, "Suga! That's not it and you know it!"

"Alright fine," The boy chuckled, "I'll stop teasing. March 9th is special because it's National Meatball day. Final answer."

"That's not it either," His smaller companion exasperatedly shook her head, "Shu-ger, it's your birthday."

Suga yawned, "Oh, I forgot about that one. Are you sure it's important?"

"Of course it's important!" She declared, "You are important, Suga."

"If you insist, lovely girl," He smiled, "But today is special for another reason too. Nari, have I ever told you that you're my favorite birthday present?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Lovely, it's been exactly one year since I met you," Suga explained, "That day we went to the orphanage where we met you, it was my birthday."

"Suga! Why didn't you tell me?" Nari reached across the bed and squeezed his hand, "I could have told you happy birthday."

He laughed, "Sorry, I guess I didn't think of it back then." The boy's voice became quieter, "I can't believe it's been an entire year."

"I know, right?" She agreed, leaning against his shoulder comfortingly, "I feel so...alive. Like the first 11 years before I came here didn't matter at all."

"Of course they mattered, Nari," Suga gently pressed a kiss against her head as he placed his mug aside, "Every part of your life matters in its own way.

"Even the bad stuff?"

"Even the bad stuff," He repeated reassuringly, "The hard times in your life are there to help you grow."

Nari spoke softly, "Be kind to yourself too, Shu-ger. Remember that."

"Ah, did I make you worry yesterday?" Suga asked, remembering the events of the day before. He had holed himself up in the downstairs studio for the day, hoping to get some songs done and make a few new ones, but unfortunately frustration and impatience took over before long and the mood quickly turned sour. The boy spent the majority of the day cursing himself for being so bitter.

But even on the darkest of days, Nari's quiet love never failed him. He smiled as his eyes came to rest on the coloring page that she had slipped underneath the door. The flowers were a calming shade of lavender that matched the encouraging notes in the margins. She hugged him a little tighter that night, and Suga could only thank the universe for her presence.

"I worried a little," The girl admitted, "But it's all okay now, right? You're feeling better?"

The boy gulped down the rest of his hot chocolate, "Much much better. Now let's go, I can't wait to have cake for breakfast without Jin and Namjoon yelling at me."

They walked hand in hand to the kitchen where the rest of the boys cheered excitedly as they entered. J-Hope took their mugs and pulled out a seat from the table, "Into the chair, birthday boy," He commanded.

Suga sighed as he accepted his fate, "You know you guys don't have to do this, right?"

"Too bad," Taehyung replied and placed his hands on the girl's shoulders, sneaking a kiss on the top of her head, "Jin, bring the cake. Nari, please lead us in a round of happy birthday."

The girl nodded and began to sing with the rest of the boys joining in. Jin placed a cake on the table, complete with a candles in the shape of the number 28. Nari smiled as she watched Suga blow out the candles. If she had learned anything about him in the past year, it was that despite his grumpy demeanor, he truly is sweet.

"Your turn." Namjoon placed a cupcake in front of the girl, furnished with only a single candle, "Happy gotcha day, my darling."

Nari blew out the candle without a second thought, "You guys are the best. Thank you." She grabbed a present from under the table and pressed it into Suga's lap, "Open this. I made it for you."

"That's our Nari," Jungkook chuckled, "Always thinking about others."

Suga carefully tore the wrapping paper, "Namjoon, I thought you told her the deal: We don't get eachother anything on our birthdays."

"The deal is dumb," Nari declared, "I've broken it for every person in this room. And besides, I made this for you. I want you to have it."

The boy smiled as he lifted a handmade journal out of the papers. The cover said YOONGI in fancy lettering surrounded by delicate carvings in the leather cover. He flipped through the pages, "You made this, Nari?"

"Uh huh!" She nodded, "Well, Jin and Jimin helped too, but I did all the designs myself and I sewed the spine."

"This is beautiful, thank you," Suga rose to give the girl a hug, "I love it so much."

Nari pecked his cheek lovingly before letting go, "You're welcome, Shu-ger. I'm so glad that you like it."

"So does this mean that you'll finally let me read some of your poetry?" He asked with a playful smile.

"Nope." Nari shook her head, "My poems are for me and that's it."

The boy laughed, "Got it, lovely. You don't have to tell me a single word."

"Come on guys, let's eat," Jin urged them, "We've gotta be at the studio in half an hour."

So they took their places at the table while Suga did the honors of cutting the cake. Nari passed a plate to J-Hope beside her before reaching for one herself. The boy nudged her shoulder, "How did you sleep last night, Nari-bun?"

"Good," The girl replied.

"Did you have any nightmares?"

She paused, a forkful of cake halfway to her mouth, "Only one."

"Just one?"

"Just one." Nari repeated, "It woke me up around 2 am but I practiced the breathing techniques that Dr. Kang showed me and I fell back asleep a little while later."

J-Hope let out a sigh of relief as he ate, "That's good to hear. If you ever need anything just let me know, okay Nari-bun?"

"Got it," She giggled, "Hobi, you have icing on your face."

"Dammit! Jungkook! Move your fat lazy ass, I need a napkin!"

Namjoon looked up disapprovingly from his slice of cake, "Hobi! Language."

"Whatever," J-Hope brushed it off, "Jungkook, I still need a napkin."

The youngest boy made an exaggerated groan as he tossed him a roll of paper towels, "Fine. And hey, do we have any whipped cream?"

"Yeah, we should. I bought a couple cans last week." Jin answered.

"Where is it though? I don't see it."

Nari stood up and joined Jungkook by the fridge, "It should be there. I had some yesterday." She reached into the very back and pulled out the familiar red and white cylinder, "Here. Got it."

"You're the best, little Nari," He smiled and eagerly took the cap off, squirting the whipped cream directly into his mouth, amid the complaining of the other members.

"Dude! You're gross!" Jimin exclaimed.

Suga shook his head, "Jungkook, you suck."

"Why do you have to ruin these things for the rest of us?" Namjoon sighed, "Is that the only can we have?"

"Yes." Nari answered and took the whipped cream from the youngest boy, repeating the same gesture with a playful smile.

"Look what you did!" Taehyung scolded him, "You're teaching her bad habits. That's not very big brotherly of you."

Jungkook shrugged, "Well you guys don't have to like it if you don't want to!" He grabbed a marker from the table and carefully labeled the container, "Nari and Kooky's whipped cream." The boy gave her a high five, "There! It's just ours now and we don't have to share. Especially not with them 'cause they're mean."

"Uh huh. Just ours." She giggled, "And don't worry, Jungkook. I think that you're a great big brother."

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part three!!! the last section in this fic! this part is way less sad and is more abt nari's growth as a character so it doesnt focus on the boys quite as much, but i hope that you guys like it :) also whipped cream straight from the can to the mouth just hits different ok. and thank you rose for helping me a lil with this chapter 💕 ilyyyyyyy

bts things im thinking abt: that one time they went to the beach and jungkook wandered off into the ocean while the camera crew was setting up and he picks up an entire dead ass fish and just points at it excitedly until someone notices him. the raw power of that lad is unbelievable.