"Is it really that hard for me to get what I ask for?" Jimin's gruff voice put a sudden halt to everything happening in the chaotic dressing room.  

Sora could feel all the eyes focused on them "No. I'll get right to it," Sora huffed and left the room in search of the precious necktie that had gotten Jimin this agitated.

As Jimin's eyes fell away from Sora's back, he noticed how everyone was stealing glances at him, except the boys. They were staring right at him, their concern clearly showing. Taehyung raised his eyebrows in question. Jimin dismissed him with a shake of his head and continued scrolling on his phone.

Meanwhile, Sora was in the storage room, drowning under all the discarded clothes, searching for the necktie that Jimin insisted on wearing even though it wasn't part of the original look that had been decided for the photo shoot. 

"It's a freaking necktie..." Sora muttered under her breath as she dug through the third box of neckties, failing yet again in finding the checked necktie that was so high in demand. 

"I would like to meet all those people who claimed that they were different. That they weren't like the other groups who had let success get to their heads. All it took was one missing necktie for their charade to fall apart. Of course, it would be my luck to be assigned to them. Stupid necktie..." Sora grumbled as she sat down in the middle of the room, with yet another box of neckties on her lap. 

"Cut us some slack would you?" 

Sora looked up to find Taehyung leaning against the door frame, an amused smile tugging at his lips. She immediately got up, the forgotten box on her lap falling with a loud clatter. 

"I-I...um.. didn't-" 

"I am going to stop you right there," Taehyung said cutting her off. "You don't have to say that you didn't mean it or anything along those lines. You just want to take back your words because I happened to hear you." 

"No, no, that's not-" Sora tried only to be cut off again.

 Taheyung pushed himself off the frame and walked into the room. "Sora, I'll let you onto a little trade secret. Never trade your opinions for acceptance. Your opinions make you. Disregarding yourself just to fit in somewhere is the closest thing to betraying yourself you could do."

"That being said and your opinions being respected, I don't agree with it. God forbid we behave like ordinary human beings and get frustrated once a while, suddenly we are conceited jerks that people had secretly believed us to be all along." 

"Taehyung, I might have been quick to judge all of you but you can't really blame me when it comes to Mr. Park. If he has a nice side to him, I am yet to see it," Sora said speaking her mind.

She could very well lose her job over this and that would complicate things beyond belief but something about Taehyung put her at ease and knowing that made Sora uneasy at the same time. 

"Mr. Park?" Taehyung sniggered as he imagined Jimin being called that. "You call him Mr. Park?"

"Not really. At this point in time, we have settled into addressing each other as 'umm' followed by poking or prodding to get the other's attention," Sora said.

"And I am assuming Mr. Park was the one who started this?" Taehyung said, a snicker escaping him as he decided on renaming Jimin as Mr. Park forevermore.

"Pretty much. If he chooses to not even call me by name then there isn't much that I can do but extend him the same courtesy," Sora shrugged. 

"I have been observing how Jimin is around you and I understand why he is acting the way he is." Taehyung saw Sora's eyebrow raise up high in question. Taehyung's eyes opened wide as he realized how his words could be taken in a different light and immediately shook his hands in front of her as if trying to brush off whatever she was thinking.

"I didn't mean it in that way! What I was trying to say was that I can understand his actions because I know where he's coming from. I hope you wouldn't let this cloud your impression of him. A lot of things have happened and Jimin is just trying to find his bearings. Give him some time. I am sure you'll soon become the best of friends!" Taehyung exclaimed, his face breaking out into a teasing smile while his eyes sincerely appealed to her to give him another chance.

"I am not here to make friends," Sora muttered under her breath, as she rolled her eyes at the prospect of her and Mr. Park ever becoming friends. 

"Well, aren't you straightforward? I would like to let you know that the staff and members don't mingle in the way you are planning to," Taehyung wiggled his eyebrows and winked at her.  

"What..."

"Nevermind. Also, if you are so quick to judge us based on one incident, then I am going to be frank with you, you are not going to like what you see when we go on tour. If this made you dislike us, I am sure you'll start hating us by the time we come back. So you need to take a call if this isn't your cup of tea," Taehyung said, still smiling but his eyes now devoid of any amusement.  

Sora stared at Taehyung and wondered to herself. 

Wouldn't it be them hating her at the end of it all?

---