the songs you'll come across in this chapter:
• ready for it by taylor swift
• into you by ariana grande
• dynamite by bts
• i like it by cardi b
• no lie by dua lipa, sean paul
• capital letters bye hailee steinfeld
• first man by camilla cabello

it's gonna be a very musical chapter. vibe while u read it! let's it rawwrrrrr!!! 🦖🦖🦖🦖🦖

______

"are we ready?" aera looks over to the crew, earning a thumbs up from the director and smiles, holding her mic and moves back behind the curtains, "alright awesome. let's do this everyone!"

the crew cheers in excitement, pumping up their energy along with aera as she takes a sip of water, hearing everybody settling in the otherwise empty auditorium of their agency. she had no plans today, but made sure her group and her brothers were busy enough to not notice her return from her very own tour after the release of her mini album followed by a grand chart-topping hit.

she did have a great time interacting with fans all over the world and performing for them, but she also missed her members and home. which is why just two days ago aera lined up her team, not eating or letting anybody else eat as she had got an awesome plan to end her tour in her way. laying up the grounds for her idea included a lot of work, connections and payments for getting both bts and vns free on the specific day today.

according to them aera is still in the flight from japan to korea and is supposed to arrive later in the evening. even aera did her best to act and make it look like their imagination was true, from sounding sleepy and faint music playing in the background and a lazy selfie posted in the group chat and then weverse, she convinced everybody that she's travelling and will arrive to korea later. even hiding in the agency was a tough job, due to which she had to sneak in at two in the morning, still having her baseball hat and mask on to avoid any interaction with the idols who may recognise her.

the noise quietens on the other side of the stage, making her peek through the curtains and smile on seeing that the bts members have arrived with their managers and staff. the next minute, vns enters too and greets the senior group with bows and subsequent hand shakes. they all get seated in second and third rows and aera sighs deeply, watching a staff member heading up to them and asks them to take the front seats instead.

"they are really something," aera shakes her head, making her manager laugh beside her. she heads inside to the dressing room, letting the stylist fix her clothes, make up and hair one last time and pats her back, nodding with a smile.

"this is a great idea, they're gonna love it," one of the stylists say and aera grins, nodding her head as she hugs her tightly.

"please tell pd-nim to get their reactions precisely! i can't afford to miss those million dollar smiles," aera laughs, "oh and some might even cry, let's see."

"jimin's gonna cry," the manager predicts with a chuckle.

"jungkook might cry as well," the stylist shrugs.

"mia unnie will definitely cry!" aera bets too, "let's see who cries first okay? if jimin oppa cries first, manager-nim will pay for our dinner. if jungkookie cries first, stella unnie will pay for our dinner. and if mia unnie cries first, i'll pay for our dinner. deal?"

"deal!" the older girls agree, getting chuckles from the rest.

"aera let's go, it's time!" one of the directors shout over the music that has already started playing on the speakers outside, letting them know that the big screen on the stage is probably showing up the digital banner especially made for today, for bts and vns to be surprised.

aera giggles, peeking from under the stage on the screen which displays a picture of her, facing a huge crowd in los angeles, blowing them a kiss. then it fades down slowly and in huge letters 'riri's back!' is written. the lights dim down and aera takes her position as the stage gets laden with smoke while the platform she's standing on raises up to come with the level of the main stage.

the beat drops and she knows her brothers and members can't see her yet, with music starting up again, she brings her mic closer to her lips and smiles, seeing the smoke clearing slowly, "are you ready for it?" she speaks in a low voice, raising up her hand with a mischievous grin lining her lips, seeing the bts and vns members gasping in shock.

the background dancers have taken their position behind aera as she walks up to the front of the stage, glancing at the camera on the front down and then at her limited audience for this special show. the boys and mia look shocked but soon accept the reality and smile widely, cheering as loud as they can for jake even stands up on his place, whistling for aera, which nonetheless earns him a weird look from jungkook.

"knew he was a killer first time that i saw him
wonder how many girls he had loved and left haunted
but if he's a ghost, then i can be a phantom
holdin' him for ransom,"

aera performs the choreography along with her backup dancers like it was a real show for her fans. the place despite being smaller and less crowded than her sold out stadium ones, it still felt nice. maybe because she had her favourite faces in front of her after a long time and she was performing especially for them today.

"in the middle of the night, in my dreams
you should see the things we do, baby mmm
in the middle of the night, in my dreams
i know im gonna be with you
so i'll take my time
are you ready for it?"

aera almost let's out a laugh when jake starts copying th choreography as her and clay pulls him down, smacking his head so he would leave some of it for aera to dance too. mia and jihun are both smiling wide, clapping and cheering for their maknae with proud smiles just like bts from where hoseok and taehyung often stands up and starts dancing. 

•••

as the first song comes to an end bts and vns  have asked the staff to bring them the light sticks which they get quickly, and aera starts up with the second song without stopping after the first one.

"i had no idea this was about to happen!" jungkook turns to his hyungs, shouting over the loud music.

"when did she even come back?!" taehyung asks, then turns to the younger group, "did you guys know about it?!"

"no!" clay shakes his head, "but this is so fun!"

"yeah right!" jake shakes his four light sticks in the air, standing up again, then, starts lowering down slowly, sticking out his butt, throwing a flirty smile to aera, making her almost laugh and miss a line.

"oh, baby, look what you started
the temperature's rising in here
is this gonna happen?
been waiting and waiting for you
to make a move," she turns, looking over her shoulder and jake mimics her actions, "before i make a move,"

"so baby, come light me up
and maybe i'll let you on it
a little bit dangerous,
but baby, that's how i want it
a little less conversation, and
a little more touch my body
'cause i'm so into you
into you
into you"

"damn..." jake stops, clutching clay's hand and making him watch aera too as she does a powerful walk to the front of the stage and continues the choreography.

"close your fucking mouth or i'm shoving that light stick in there!" jungkook gives the boy a displeased look, making jake stumble and fall from his seat as he snapped out of it too hard.

"no, hyung you're misunderstanding! i was just showing clay how to dance properly. he sucks y'know? and ri is a great dancer! just like you!" jake justifies and jungkook rolls his eyes at him, focusing again on the stage where his sister is killing it.

the song changes again and this time it's their song, dynamite. aera's heading down with a wide smile, waving at her members and the brothers. with her back up dancers with her, she dances and sways her way to main aisle which has enough space for her to do the choreography without any hurdle.

she walks up to the guys, leaning over jungkook's place and grins at him, singing his part, "shoes on, get up in the morn'. cup of milk, let's rock and roll. king kong, kick the drum, rolling on like a rolling stone. sing song when i'm walking home, jump up to the top, lebron. ding dong, call me on my phone. ice tea and a game of ping pong, huh,"

jungkook chuckles at her, almost going for a hug but she pulls away, interacting with the rest too and gets back on the center, dancing the main lines of the song. after three hyped songs all with choreographies and wide vocal range, aera gets back on the stage, now stopping to take a sip of water while one of the staff member changes her mic to the one attached to wires and securing the mic belt above her skirt on her waist.

"hey," she smiles widely, waving at her oppas and her own group members, "is it working? it's too loud isn't it?" she touches the mic, bringing a little farther from her lips and nods, "yeah great, thanks," she gives a thumbs up to the technical staff and sits on the high stool placed on the stage for her.

"hello everyone, i'm back! yayy!" she squeals, clapping her hands, studying the faces of her elders sitting in the audience seats and grins, "i know y'all didn't know about this. it was all planned by your managers, our staff and me. we all planned it to surprise you guys, because i wanted to wrap up my tour like this." she says, gesturing towards them, making them smile.

"did you guys like it? are you enjoying? shall we continue?"

"yes!" they all cheer, waving their light sticks in the air.

"go on aera! you're killing it!"

"woohooo!"

"you're doing great!"

"yeah? well, let's move forward then," she laughs, standing up and adjusts her mic, "this is for my rapper oppas,"

"and me," jake voices.

"yeah you too," aera scrunches up her face, "sit down and stop interrupting my show. you're a nuisance here,"

"i'll walk out,"

"go ahead," aera smiles sarcastically, knowing he won't and sits on the edge of the stage with a smirk on her face, "go go, i'm not stopping you."

"you're..." jake mutters, covering his mouth from the elders and mouths to her, 'a bitch,'

"i can be," aera laughs it off, jumping down as the music starts playing, "now i like dollars, i like diamonds, i like stunting, i like shining
i like million dollar deals, where's my pen, bitch i'm signin',"

"woahhhh!" they all cheer, including the staff and that's enough to boost her confidence to another level, chewing on her imaginary gum which she secretly learnt from taehyung.

"i like those balenciagas, the ones that look like socks
i like going to the jeweler, i put rocks all in my watch
i like texts from my exes, when they want a second chance"

"i like proving niggas wrong, i do what they say i can't
they call me cardi bardi, banging body, spicy mami, hot tamale
hotter than a somali, fur coat, ferrari,"

jamming with her all the members are up on their feet, shouting the lyrics with her as she pulls out the rappers from both the groups to rap with her.

"hop out the stu', jump in the coupe
big dipper on top of the roof
flexing on bitches as hard as i can
eating halal, driving the lam'
told that bitch I'm sorry
'Bout my coins like mario
yeah they call me bardi
i run this shit like cardio"

"oh, damn!" they all shout together, making aera lose track of her performance and laugh in between.

"c'mon everybody! pd-nim you're not dancing!" she points and the man lifts up his arms in defeat, "i said i like that!"

it ends with a loud cheer and claps which aera becomes a part of too. she lifts up her hands, motioning it over for the manager who quickly jogs up with more mics and gives to the rappers, "now with me, c'mon!" she claps up her hands, standing up on of the seats as another music starts playing.

"feel your eyes, they all over me
don't be shy, take control of me
get the vibe, it's gonna be lit tonight,"

yoongi cracks his neck, taking up his line and aera cheers, "baby girl, yuh a carry ten ton a phatness, gimme some a dat
mixed wid di badness, look how she hot
shaped like goddess, but a nah jus dat
is a good piece a mentals under di cap,"

then namjoon comes up, pushing yoongi aside with fake aggression and starts, "hot piece of game an' mi love how yuh trod, watching every step a di pepper deh weh yuh got
stayin' in my brain, memory nah detach
mainly my aim is to give yuh this love,"

aera dances with the rest of the people, not letting the excitement die down and hoseok comes in the center now, "hypnotic, the way you move. let me acknowledge the way you do
and i would not lie, baby you
beam me up like scotty,"

"it's so hypnotic, the way you move
that's why i wanted to get to you
and i would not lie, cah baby you
move so hypnotic"

"let's go aera!"

"no lie
feel your eyes, they're all over me
don't be shy, take control of me
get the vibe, it's gonna be lit tonight. no lie," aera sings, swaying in her place and decides to let go of the song as it's too fun to be focusing on singing. so she gets up on the seat again, gesturing to the staff to play the recorded song and let her just vibe with everyone.

with a lot of hip hop and free style and jumping and screaming, the song ends on a fun note and aera can't help but cheer with everyone as well. she jumps down from the seat, almost squealing when a pair of arms wrap around her on her on, crushing her body in a tight hug, "i missed you!" jake yells in her ear, pressing  a long kiss on her cheek, making aera laugh as she throws her head back, trying to pull herself away from his clingy self.

"i missed you too," she says, pulling away and hugs clay, jihun and mia too, "i missed you all so much!"

"we missed you too," mia says, hugging her back tightly.

aera pulls away from them, kissing jihun and mia's cheeks and gives a weird look to clay when ge shows her his cheek too, waiting for a kiss. the girl shakes her head, pushing him aside and squeals like a little girl, jumping in jungkook's arms, "i missed you i missed you i messed you i missssssedd youuuuu!"

"i missed you mooooooooreee!" jungkook sing songs, kissing aera's cheek a few times before finally pulling away. "you could've told me that you were coming back,"

"and miss the opportunity to surprise you? nope!" aera giggles at him, moving to the jimin and jin, hugging them together, "wah have you guys been working out or something?" she says with a light gasp, poking their chests with her index finger, then turns back to jungkook, poking his chest too.

"a little," jimin nods, "and you've been dieting if i'm not wrong," he says, poking her arm and aera shrugs.

"not really, the tour was so busy i just ended up losing weight," she says, hugging yoongi, then namjoon and hoseok, "my rapper oppas i missed you the most! y'know the post i made about you guys, after that everybody kept mentioning you and i kept on missing you,"

the three laugh at her dramatic story and yoongi pinches her cheek, "when are you planning on growing up huh?"

"never," aera hugs his arm tightly and shakes her head, "i'll grow up and start acting like a mature person the day i become taller than you all,"

"that means never," taehyung snickers, hugging her from behind and kisses her cheek, "how was the tour?"

"great! i met new people, had so many interviews and i had to handle everything alone. i missed jihun oppa and unnie," she smiles sadly, looking over that them, making them smile.

"you did a great job though," jihun says, "now c'mon, don't cry here and carry on with your show yeah?"

aera nods quickly, sending him a flying kiss and jogs back to the stage, "the next song is... credits to my idiot boys who wrote it with me," she sighs, bringing up her guitar and sits stands in front of mic stand after switching from the wireless to a normal mic with a stand.

"never was a leader
never had a thing for fairytales
not really a believer, oh-oh
small voice in the quiet
guess i never dared to know myself
can my heart beat quiet? no,"

"but then there was you
yeah, then there was you
pull me out of the crowd
you were telling the truth, yeah
i got something to say now
'cause you tell me that there's no way i couldn't go
nothing i couldn't do, yeah,"

"i want to get louder
i got to get louder
we 'bout to go up baby, up we go
we 'bout to go up baby, up we go
we're blowing out speakers
our heart a little clearer
we 'bout to go up baby, up we go
we 'bout to go up baby, up we go,"

•••

after a few more songs, aera's up again, sweating with the choreographies she did before this and takes a sip of water, wiping the sweat off and jumps to the backstage, returning fresh and dressed in a white dress that goes down till her thighs and a tiara on her head. grabbing her guitar again, she smiles, sitting on the chair placed in the aisle in front of bts and vns.

"this one's for you oppa," she smiles, "i haven't released this yet, today i'm doing it. they'll record it and it'll be the official video."

"what?" jimin frowns, looking around and finds the camera directors ready, giving him an assuring nod. "wait, really? you're releasing a song like this?"

"yep," aera giggles, "i didn't think of doing it like this. but i couldn't stop myself... meeting you after six months is a big deal for your riri, oppa. i don't remember dad, i don't even know what kind of person he was. but i'm sure he must've been nice because he raised a son like you and jungkookie. you're the only one i've seen and known as my parent, my brother, my family, my first friend, my prince and king
and just everything. you're no less than a father to me, so this one's for you,"

jimin stares at her with a soft gaze, already feeling emotional with her words as aera smiles at him softly, moving her fingertips holding the strummer on the guitar strings,

"yes I'm gonna stay with him tonight
i'll see you in the mornin'
no of course, he won't drink and drive
can you say bye to mom for me?
oh you'll like him, he's really kind
and he's funny like you sometimes
and i found someone i really like
maybe for the first time,"

jimin glances down, taking a deep breath as an light chuckle escapes his lips, nibbling on the lower lip and nods slowly, paying his full attention to his sister's beautiful voice, not even minding the cameras anymore.

"no i don't need a jacket
it's not that cold tonight
and you worry, i get it
but he's waiting outside"

"i swear on my heart
that he's a good man
i know you'll stay up late
just waiting for me
you held me so tight
now someone else can
but you were the first man that really loved me"

jungkook nibbles on his lip, glancing over at jimin who's trying hard not to cry. though his eyes still betray him, dropping a tear down to his cheek bone. leaning back, jimin lifts up his gaze, fixing it on aera who has a teary gaze and a knowing smile at jimin, smiling when she sees him rubbing his eyes and takes a deep breath to get himself together.

aera stands up from her chair, keeping her guitar away but the music keeps playing and she takes off the mic from the stand, walking to empty seat beside jimin, making him chuckle lightly, shaking his head as he wipes his tears and looks at her.

"i swear on my heart
that he's a good man
i promise he loves me
he'd never hurt me
you held me so tight
now someone else can
but you were the first man that really loved me
now you're on the driveway
faking a smile,"

"you wish you could tell him he doesn't deserve me
so I had to stop the car and turn around
to tell you, you were the first man that really loved me,"

a tear slides down from aera's eye too, seeing jimin crying listening to her. though her voice stays stable, wiping her tear and her brother's, cupping his cheek like he does to her and gives him a smile,

"and before they open up the doors
i say i've never seen you cry before
You say "you've never looked so beautiful
you know you'll always be my little girl"

"you're looking at me, while walking down the aisle
with tears in your eyes, maybe he deserves me
you don't even know how much it means to me now
that you were the first man that really loved me, that really loved me
you really love me"

the music slows down eventually and aera lowers her mic, taking the breath that has been caught in her throat till now and leans forward to hug jimin, "i love you oppa,"

"my child," jimin whispers, closing his eyes as another lone tear falls from his eye. he kisses the side of her head, stroking her back gently, "you have no idea how much all of this means to me— how much you, aera, mean to me. thank you, princess. i love you beyond words,"

"you always say such beautiful things, my 'i love you' looks so small!" aera pouts, pulling away, making the elder chuckle as he wipes off his tear and cups her face, kissing her forehead.

"it's not small, it's just enough for me to know that my little angel loves me."

"yeah," aera giggles, hugging him again, "so can i go home with you today? i'll be busy from tomorrow again so...?" jimin nods with a smile and she pulls away, turning to her members, almost going to say something to them as well. but jihun gives her an assuring nod, smiling as he gestures her that there's no need to explain anything.

"you can go home and spend time with your family for as long as you want," jihun says, "get some days off, you must be tired from the tour."

"i will, but not now." aera says, "i've got some interviews and also a recording in the states again. but yeah, i was thinking about taking some time off once i'm done with everything."

"what recording?" mia asks.

"with maroon 5, a collab for their album," aera says.

"wah when did this happen?"

"when they came to one of my shows in la," she grins and everybody cheers in excitement, engulfing her in a group hug.

•••

"jungkookie," aera grumbles.

"what is it now? i told you i'm not staying up—"

"c'mon! please just one last match!"

jungkook rolls his eyes, taking the controller from his sister's hand and throws it on the couch, dragging her to the kitchen and makes her sit, "do you know the reason i came down at 2?"

"because you were posting weird stories?" aera sits on the counter, picking up a pan that was just placed next to sink, probably because someone forgot to put it back in the drawers. a smile tugs her lips as she turns to jungkook, holding out the pan for him, "remember when i was small and we would get hungry, you'd cook and i used to sit here and keep talking to you because that was my way of helping you?"

"yeah," he chuckles, turning on the stove and puts the pan on it after wiping the top, "mac n' cheese?"

"yes!" aera giggles, swinging her legs back and forth as she shifts a little to make space for jungkook to work. her eyes admire the tattoos on his arm and the body he has build for himself, "how would you react if i get tattoos like you?"

"you want tattoos?" jungkook smiles, "you used to draw on yourself when you were younger,"

"yeah, but like for real now," she shrugs, "maybe on my hand or shoulder? or on my back?"

"if you want," jungkook hums, "it hurts though,"

"that's okay," she says, "and also, how long did you have to workout for the abs?"

"you want abs too?" he chuckles amusedly, glancing at his bare stomach and then at aera, who's poking the soft skin of her stomach under her t-shirt.

"yes, so i can rip off my shirt on the stage like you and other idols,"

"i never did that,"

"but you do show your abs, right? i wanna do it too. it looks so cool,"

"if you ask me, i'd say no,"

"that's why i'm not asking," she grins, "i'll do it, once i have the body,"

"it's not as cool as it looks y'know? once you have abs, people start expecting more and more. you'll have to workout whether you like it or not, and the flashes get more common,"

"it's not like they haven't seen my tummy," aera says, "i always wear crop tops and all,"

"damn right," jungkook stops to look at her and nods, "then why do you wanna  rip off your shirt?"

aera suppresses her smile, staring at her brother with a mischievous glint in her eyes that jungkook never fails to miss and shakes his head, "no, ri you won't do all that on stage in for millions and millions of people watching you. you're still young, and you shouldn't put your body and good looks on for a show,"

"but people love it,"

"doesn't matter, you're not understanding the burden that comes along with it, kiddo,"

"okay old man," aera sniggers, "have you seen jake and jihun oppa though? they both have real nice abs,"

"yeah, we workout together sometimes, me and jihun mostly,"

"he told me once, you running into each other,"

"jake never took off his shirt on stage, how do you know about his abs?" jungkook arches up a brow.

"we live in the same dorm, you know that right? and just like you and other oppas, jake, clay and jihun oppa, don't like wearing shirts either,"

"you don't like wearing shirts either..." jungkook speaks with horror and aera nods, "no, tell me you don't roam around without a shirt on,"

"i do," aera laughs, "it's crop top or sports bras, and shorts of course,"

"and mia?"

"she wears clothes like a good person," aera laughs.

"you're spoiled,"

"i am," aera says, "i wake up everyday and say, i am healthy, i am wealthy, i am rich, i am that bitch,"

"i don't know you. get away," jungkook mutters, cooking more than paying attention to aera who just laughs it off, slipping down from the counter and hugs jungkook from the side.

"i am still your baby,"

"mm-hmm, you didn't write a song for me though,"

aera gasps, shaking her head quickly, "that song— uh no... oh! that one— no... uhm y'know, you don't need a song, oppa. you're a super hero. if it weren't for you i'd just keep getting scolded all the time," she says, making jungkook chuckle as he nods.

"relax, i was just kidding," he says, turning off the stove and places the pan on the counter, taking two forks. he gives one to aera and ruffles her hair, "what you did today was special, not just for jimin but me too,"

"how?"

"well, that i don't know, but i gotta say that i'm really proud of you, ri. you're amazing," he smiles, taking a bite of the pasta and so does aera, giving a thumbs up for the taste.

"i know that, but thanks," she speaks with full mouth,"can we do a song together? your birthday is coming,"

"you'll rap," he hums.

"yeah and you can be the all-time-vocalist of hybe, and yoongi oppa will be our producer,"

"great idea,"

"yes!"

__________

a/n- how was the chapter did you guys like it? 🤩🤩 i had fun writing it because of the songs yk 😂🤝 comment and let me know what is your favourite song!

see you later again with a new update! till then, goodbye, take care, lots of love 💜❤️💜❤️💜❤️💜

_______

4.9K words