⋆ ☄︎. · ̊ * 🔭
chapter thirty-eight

The moonlight is a diffuse ocean above them, lessening the inky blackness of the night, but not so bright as to dull the stars that speckle and glitter in the heavens above.

His head moves upward to gift his undivided attention to the moon, mesmerized by the lights that let him and the girl in front of him shine.

He whispers slowly, adoration evident in his voice, "A full moon, indeed..."

Then, he looks down on her, and his eyes start to smile. Unhurriedly, he leans down and cups both sides of her face with his hands.

That's when he pulls both of them into another galaxy, his emotions telling her that he needs more of a connection than they're used to.

If it were anybody else, she would've dropped her gaze, but with him she's drawn closer - always wanting more.

The depth of the sky's blue is as their love, that only over the years to they notice the strength of the hue. Up close, it is as clear as pure water, yet when they see the miles, it is the blue of fairytale dreams.

Instead of letting his rational mind dominate, his heart starts speaking for him, "I love you, Yona."

He smiles at her, before slowly leaning closer. Her hand is shaking slightly, her mind repeating the same sentence over and over, "Don't do this... don't do this."

But the sound of her heart is beating so loud, she couldn't concentrate. It feels like it's going to explode.

Their lips are about to connect, but...

-

Yona awakes without warning, eyes flung so wide, each iris is a perfect orb of rusty chocolate.

"Are you okay?" Jeongguk asks carefully, sitting down on Ahri's bed. His widened eyes hold concern, as if he knows what she's dreamt of.

After a second or two, her head turns like some Halloween dummy, mouth slackened, "Yeah..."

As he notices her flushed face, he innocently places the back of his hand to her forehead to check her temperature. "Your forehead is pretty warm."

Sitting up, she shakes her head in denial and takes his wrist to pull it away from her. "No, it's okay."

"Did you dream of something..." He searches for the right words, whispering the last part, "Weird?"

Her dilated eyes stare into his for a few seconds, processing how he's aware of such thing without her saying anything. So she slowly answers, careful and unsure, "Kind of."

Humming softly, he thinks for a while, before mumbling, "I've dreamt of a kiss as well. It's kind of weird to dream about things that never really happened."

"Wait, you never had your first kiss?" questions Ahri in disbelief, stunned and surprised at the same time.

Jeongguk shakes his head, becoming coy. "No, not really." He plays with the hem of his sleepwear, mumbling unsurely, "It was not a real 'kiss', it was just a little peck."

A small laugh escapes her, smiling in adoration. "You're literally so cute!" She pinches his cheeks, causing him to cringe.

"No, I'm not. I'm a man!" Jeongguk places his fists on his hips, looking up confidently.

But Ahri doesn't stop, the smile staying upon her lips. "You can say that when we're above the age of eighteen, but right now..." She pulls herself up and wraps her arms protectively over his head. "You're my baby."

"I'm literally older than you..." he mumbles in a tired tone, as if he's used to the babying.

"Only two weeks," whispers Yona, pulling him tighter while smiling softly.

The youngest boy rolls his eyes. Nevertheless, a smile forms on his lips as Ahri doesn't pull away, embracing her himself now.

As a silence passes through the room, Ahri hushes it away and says, "I never kissed somebody as well."

"That's okay." He nods his head in acknowledgement. A small smile takes place on his face, rubbing her arm comfortingly. "Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality."

Pulling away, a big smirk changes places with his pure smile. He wiggles his eyebrows teasingly, mumbling in a sensual voice, "They say kiss is the language of love. Want to have a conversation?"

Ahri starts laughing at his corniness, shoving him away playfully. He starts laughing along, waving a reassuring hand while saying in between waves of laughter, "I'm just kidding... unless?"

After their laughter died down, he stands up and informs her on the way out while whistling peacefully, "We're having breakfast."

"Fool," states Ahri while throwing a pillow at his head, the smile on her face radiating warmth and joy.

Untangling her legs from the blanket, she hastily stands up and makes herself ready for the day.

"Ahri-ah!" Seokjin yells, harshly and repeatedly knocking on the bathroom-door. "Get out now! You've been in the shower for more than 30 minutes! What are you even doing in there?"

"Let a girl cry in peace!" shouts Ahri defensively.

Seokjin pauses for a second. His eyebrows scrunch together, mouth parting. "I don't even know how to respond to that," he mumbles to himself in a dumbfounded voice. "Literally, what is wrong with this girl?" And with that, he walks off.

Time falls like the soft rain does outside, but Ahri is still way too unbothered to be in a rush. So she exits the shower and applies cosmetic products on her face unhurriedly, no negative thoughts lingering in her mind.

"Why are you always taking so long?" whines Yoongi. All of the boys are lined up in the bedroom by now, their fierce stares directed at her.

"I just don't understand why you're in such a big time rush." Yona replies in a deadpanned tone, directing her gaze at him.

Jeongguk joins them, yelling with his arms in the air and pointing toward her, "Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh~"

"I literally love you, Koo," she mumbles in a sad tone, wiping a false tear away while blowing a kiss at him.

Hoseok adds, dramatically clutching his chest, "Remember when she used to not wear make-up? Those days were gold."

"Yeah, and remember when she used to be the quiet one?" Yoongi states as a matter of fact. "Now, those days were gold."

Ahri repeats in a mocking tone, "Yeah, and remember when you were annoying? Those days were go— No, wait, you're still annoying, old man."

Yoongi stands there, completely still. The other members are watching with widely opened eyes, their mouths gaping in utter shock.

In the corner of her eye, Ahri can see Jimin smirking and winking at her, sending the female member a thumbs-up.

She chuckles nervously. "R-Remember when I said that you are my favorite? Those days were gold. No, wait, you're still my favorite, haha..."

"Patience." Yoongi whispers to himself, as he makes his way outside of the dorm. "I need patience with this girl."

Member by member, all of them exit the bedroom and leave Ahri to herself.

"All in all, the oldest are annoyed by me," she starts talking to her reflection. "But do I care? No, I don't."

Unbeknownst to Ahri, her members go behind her back and leave the dorm to go to the company without her knowing of it, but the girl is so occupied in thediscussion with herself that she doesn't even notice.

As she is still in the process of getting ready, she receives a call and has been talking to her friend for a small time. "But, dude, I got to tell you something," she says while putting a comfortable outfit on to practice in.

"Tell me, dude," Dongmin mocks her from the other line. While being on his small break, he decided to call her since he couldn't see nor talk to her in quite some time.

She continues, "So, I don't know if you know this company, but, like, I've been practicing in SM Entertainment for a week now, because of a few issues and all..."

"Okay, wait, I'm babbling. Let me repeat myself..." Clearing her throat, she re-starts her sentence, "I was in SM, and then I just saw this dude and acted all loco."

"Sounds pretty normal to me," he mumbles, resting his exhausted head on the wall while sighing. As he realizes something, he looks up and asks, "Wait, isn't Jaehyun in SM as well? Maybe it was him"

"What, really? I didn't know that!" she exclaims in joy, smiling lightly. But her eyebrows furrow after a while of thinking about it. "Do you think I don't know how my best-friend looks like, or what? Of course it wasn't him."

Dongmin sighs. "Well, what did the look like then?"

"Not going to lie..." Ahri trails off slightly. "He was really cute. He's pretty tall, brown hair. But I feel like I know him from somewhere, I just can't tell from where. And, oh, my God, he has such a cute smile—"

"Jaehyun has a cute smile as well," he cuts her off mid-sentence, causing her to pause.

Hesitatingly, she asks, "Why are you always bringing up Jaehyun?"

"N-No reason," responds Dongmin, his voice sounding rather panicked and unsure.

Yona accuses without any mercy nor hesitation, "You're hiding something."

"N-No, I'm not," he denies, shaking his head excessively.

"You're a bad liar, and you know it." Ahri clicks her tongue, putting her jacket on to go outside. "I just don't understand why you and Jaehyun are acting so weird—"

"What, PD-nim? You need me to clean the entire company, so that I'm not able to talk to anyone right now?" Dongmin interferes her sentence again, yelling loudly. "That's fine by me! Bye, Ahri!"

"What a bad liar," Ahri mumbles to herself, rolling her eyes. Nevertheless, she steps out of her room and looks around. "Boys? Where you at? I'm ready!"

As the realization hits her, she whispers in utter betrayal with narrowed eyes, "These fake bitches."

━━✦ :･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

"Loneliness is starting to become my best-friend, and I am not here for it."

Ahri sighs in devastation, breathing heavily as she collapses on the hard floor; simply tired of all the practicing without the company of any of her members.

Suddenly, a loud ringing noise slices through the silence, causing her to jump in shock, but also to run to her smartphone in complete joy; thinking that her members are calling her.

"Hello!" Yona beams with a wide smile on her face.

But her face immediately scrunches up as she recognizes her manager's voice, "Ahri, I'm glad that you're feeling well. But I need you to come to the company, because I have something important to tell you guys."

"Oh, okay," mumbles Ahri, curtly nodding her head and hanging up after nodding farewells.

She sighs deeply, hands on her hips while she examines the empty practice room. "Well, at least I'll get to see the boys."

And with that encouraging thought, Yona packs her belongings into her bag and strides outside.

Her gaze is casted downward to her device as she receives a message from somebody. Smiling to herself, she responds to it.

But she also doesn't notice that someone is walking quickly from the opposite side, his mind so full of thoughts that he doesn't recognize the girl in front of him.

That is until he harshly bumps into her shoulder, causing Ahri to groan and hiss in pain, clutching the spot immediately.

With excessively widened eyes, the boy turns toward the girl, who mumbles to herself, "Man, just needed to dislocate my shoulder."

"I am so sorry!" he almost yells, gasping and watching her with widely pried eyes.

His cheeks are tinted a dark shade of red, his shyness shining through his confident-looking facade.

He bows many times, repeating over and over again, "I am extremely sorry! I didn't see you! I was just so stressed, and it just got—"

"Oh, it's cute-smiley-boy," Yona cuts him off with a soft smile, bobbing her head to the side.

Realizing what she just blurted out, her eyes mirror his and widen in shock, blinking.

He is able to make the impossible possible through Ahri's bluntness; flushing even more and causing his face to represent the color of a tomato by now.

"I, um..." Ahri clears her throat, bowing many times after that. "It's not your fault, I should've watched where I was going."

"Again, I apologize!" He bows again, resulting in Ahri bowing as well.

As a polite smile takes place on his face, his mouth parts in realization, slowly mumbling, "Wait, aren't you the girl who is allergic to men?"

Cheeks a soft shade of peach now, Yona bows again and runs away in embarrassment. "N-No. Bye!"

Swiftly exiting the big building, Ahri is quick to run away from the embarrassing scene.

But not before the laughing winds creeps up to her. She has underestimated the cold tonight, not like her at all, and she can't run with this load to warm. She's marching, but the night air is wicking her heat away faster than her body can replace it.

"Cold, cold, very cold..." Ahri mumbles in a cute tone to herself, as she enters her actual company and makes her way inside with her stiffened body.

After knocking on the door, Ahri enters her manager's office and sits down next to her members, ignoring them.

"Hi," Taehyung whispers from beside her as he pokes her arm, smiling lightly, whilst the CEO of the company is busy with looking into his papers.

Ahri slowly moves her gaze at him, examining him and her members that are watching her. She raises her eyebrows, flips her hair with her hand and dramatically spins back around to cross her arms.

All of their eyebrows furrow at that, not understanding why she won't talk to them. "I said 'Hi'," Taehyung remarks, a pout on his lips as he keeps on poking her shoulder.

"And I didn't respond," counters Ahri, shrugging her shoulder and keeping her eyes on her manager, her back toward her members.

Namjoon asks the others, "What is she mad about now?" But all of them simply shrug their shoulders obliviously.

As fast as a falcon, she spins back toward them and says, "Maybe I am mad because you guys didn't wait for me."

"Or maybe you are just acting like your attention-seeking self," states Yoongi, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly as she throws him a fiery look.

"Says the one who is acting all cold and detached but is actually the softest squish on the planet." Ahri's eyes stay keen on him.

Yoongi gasps, offended. He points his finger at her accusingly, complaining, "Hey, take it back!"

"Well, it is kind of true..." Hoseok mumbles from the side, but shuts up right after receiving a death glare from Yoongi.

"Quiet now, guys," Si-Hyuk cuts their playful fight off, shushing them down. "I wanted to have a little meeting with you about what is about to happen and what has already happened."

Taking the group's quietness as a sign to continue, he does, and states, "I'll be honest... Your first album 'Dark & Wild' didn't gain much popularity, and you guys are probably aware of that."

Their faces fall as fast as a corpse, looking down in embarrassment for not making the CEO proud that puts his everything into the group.

"But I am quite delighted to announce that another first fan-meeting will be in a few days," reveals Si-Hyuk, smiling as he notices the gazes of the others jerk upward.

All of them are smiling brightly by now, glancing in between each other and celebrating. "Wow, really?" Hoseok exclaims in slight shock, chuckling while an unbelievable expression is on his face.

"Yes, but it's not the only thing I want to talk to you about." As soon as he says that, the group falls silent again and continues on listening to their respected elder.

"First of all, I am proud of every single one of you for giving your best. I couldn't imagine having another group than you guys." The smile stays upon his face, growing sentimental. "And I know, I am sure, that you will have success. Maybe not now, but later on, I promise. And for you guys to succeed that, I will continuously try my hardest, because you deserve that. You are not just anybody, you are somebody."

The smiles on the group's' faces enlarge, not being used to such a praise but appreciating it with their entire being.

Yona wipes a false tear away, mumbling, "Man, you're going to make me cry."

Si-Hyuk's face falls for a second and grows deadpanned. He sighs deeply. Breathes in and breathes out. "As I was saying... I am thankful. Incredibly so."

"And I already booked a lot of interviews for you guys," he reveals, which makes the group even more joyful. "But I want all of you to listen for a second and to follow these rules that I'm about to say."

"Firstly, fan-service."

Their minds blossom into utter confusion, forehead creasing. They glance at their leader for an explanation, but he simply shrugs his shoulders with a perplexed face.

As he notices the confused stares from his Idols, Si-Hyuk declares, "That means that you are supposed to please your fans, and there are many different ways on how to. You should act cute, flash some body parts, go live, post a lot on social media, and be more close with each other."

Jimin slowly puts his hand up, asking in confusion, "What do you mean with be more close with each other?"

"For example," their manager begins, motioning to the two maknaes with his hands. "People think that Ahri and Jeongguk would make a cute couple, and just adore their relationship in general. That's why they should act even more close with each other when the cameras are playing. They ship Yonkook."

"I'm sorry, but what?" blurts out Ahri, not understanding anything. "Ship? Yonkook?"

"It's both of your names combined," Si-Hyuk explains, nodding along. "And 'ship' simply means that it is a desire from your fans for you two to be in a romantic relationship."

"What?" she asks in an extremely high voice while her body jerks away, staring at Jeongguk now, who is avoiding her gaze.

Their manager's eyebrows furrow themselves. He asks, "Didn't you see all of the comments in the interviews and Bangtan Bombs?"

"I didn't!"

"I did..."

"What?" Ahri blurts out with the same high voice again, simply yelling like a lost puppy at this point. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Jeongguk's gaze is casted downward, his cheeks a bright shade of red. He mumbles, his voice slow and unsure, "I thought that you'd feel uncomfortable around me if you found out..."

Her lips turn downward at that, pouting. Yona unhurriedly speaks up, mumbling, "I would've hugged you if you weren't on the other side of the table."

"This is not even necessary to talk about right now," discusses Si-Hyuk, interfering their personal conversation. "Deliver fan-service, and you'll gain more popularity."

"What if we don't want to act up on camera, though?" Yoongi questions critically, frowning in slight irritation.

"You are a K-Pop Idol. Your life is a whole act from now on," Si-Hyuk declares in a deadly serious tone.

Yoongi mutters aside while uncomfortably shifting in his seat, "Wow, empathetic, I see."

"Okay, next topic." The older man continues, folding his hands on his desk. "I have already said this, but Ahri didn't listen, so I'll just repeat it."

"No dating. You are banned to date someone until three years of your contract is over," he states.

Si-Hyuk's gaze moves toward Ahri, who is not listening at all, being too focused on observing her nails.

Taehyung nudges her side, resulting her to mumble obliviously while looking at him, "Huh?"

Their manager sighs. "No dating." He also adds, "And I allow no dating within group-members, obviously. That'd be way too unprofessional and will mess up the whole group."

"Understood, Ahri?" He looks at the girl, who is simply pursing her lips, with a firm gaze. "No dating."

"Of course. As if I'd date these dumb-asses." Ahri snorts while pointing back at her group as her gaze is on their manager, earning death glares from her members in the meantime.

"You're not quite flattering yourself, Nana," Yoongi barks, all of them nodding along to his statement.

Swiftly, Ahri sits up, staring at him unbelievably. "Boy, have you seen me? I'm talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show-stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before—"

"Just don't date, okay?" Si-Hyuk cuts her off irritatedly, holding one hand up while glancing in between them. "You're dismissed."

After a quick walk, they arrive in their dorm and immediately direct their feet toward the kitchen, ready to eat something.

"So, what are we eating today?" asks Yona, standing behind Seokjin while smiling at him faintly.

He slowly spins his head to look at her, his eyes blank. There's no warm expression on his face, which confuses Ahri. Seokjin also doesn't respond, resulting for her to mumble, "Hello?"

Seokjin ignores her, turning back around and continuing to cook while some others are helping him.

The female rapper gets the sign, thinking that he may need his space or that his mood isn't the brightest.

Nevertheless, she moves toward Namjoon, whispering, "Is Seokjin hyung okay?"

As Namjoon averts her gaze and keeps silent as well, Ahri's lips part and her eyebrows furrow in perplexity and slight irritation.

She casts her gaze at Hoseok, who is also ignoring her with slightly pouted lips. "Hyung?" Yona calls out, her shoulders slouched. But as there's no reply from his side whatsoever, Ahri looks around to the younger ones of the group, who are also avoiding her.

"Did y'all become deaf or something?" questions Ahri in an irritated and louder tone. As everyone is still in their own universes without her, she scoffs and goes to the bedroom, muttering aside, "I ain't hungry for your act. Have fun eating."

Slamming the bedroom door closed, Ahri sits down in front of her desk and pulls some pieces of paper out while connecting her headphones to her device.

Ahri scribbles down a few notes, mumbling the written lyrics to herself, "The long night is following you as it flows..."

"Time follows you and fades," she continues. Yona taps the pen on her head to come up with new words that rhyme, humming a small melody to herself while the music flows through her ears like an opened dam.

Nodding her head, she writes down decisively, "Why are you getting farther away? So far, that I can't reach you."

The loud bang is so loud, that it can even be heard through the loud music that is blasting through Ahri's headphones. She takes them off, a frown on her face while looking around the empty room.

There's another loud noise, and a muffled voice that says in slight anger but also surprise, "How could you break that while standing five meters away from it?"

Indecisively, Ahri takes slow steps toward the door and opens it, her feet leading her to the living room.

As the boys notice Ahri's presence, they halt in their motions. She stares in between every single one of their faces, and what she can get out of it is that they all resemble shock, their mouths slacking open.

Many balloons are swaying through the air like a soft melody. The living room is adorned with many colorful decorations. Yet the biggest one is hanging from one wall to the other, saying, "Happy Birthday, Yona!"

Just as Ahri is about to say something, Yoongi begins to rap while stepping forward in a cool way, "Ayo, happy birthday to you. You may be annoying, but we still want you."

"That's not how we wanted to do this," Seokjin deadpans. After sighing, they start to sing while Hoseok is filming everything, "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you~"

There is a joyful bird song from outside, yet a silence to her soul. She feels the chill in her blood, grief bringing the sypnases of her brain to stand still.

They think that she's simply shocked and speechless to say something, so the boys huddle toward her and begin to hug her with huge smiles.

"We're sorry for acting so like that an hour ago," Jimin exclaims, his eyes crinkling at the ends because of his smile. "But we wanted this to be a surprise."

Jeongguk chimes in, throwing his arm around her shoulder to squeeze her body. "My baby turned seventeen now." He wipes a false tear from his eye, whispering dramatically, "Aish, what a girl."

Jimin slaps the back of Jeongguk's head. "You aren't older than her."

"No," Jeongguk states as a matter of fact, shaking his head sassily. "I'm three weeks older than her."

The group notices her expressionless face. They notice that the usual smile has evaporated from her eyes. Now there's only emptiness.

"Yona?" Taehyung calls out, a worried frown graving his face.

Jeongguk keeps on tugging on Namjoon's sleeve, asking quietly, "What's wrong? Does she want us to sing it in German? But we can't do that..."

Ahri's eyes cast downward, as if the floor could assure her. She mumbles in a numb voice, slow yet clear, "I don't celebrate my birthday."

Every year on her birthday, she feels like she dies a little more. Every year, it is a reminder of what tears her apart the most.

The past is beating inside of her like a second heart, but she feels like getting a heart-attack every year on the 21st September.

Confused, the members glance in between each other. "Why?" questions Seokjin for all of them.

"Because there's nothing to celebrate," she states, shrugging while smiling weakly.

All of the boys gaze at Namjoon and Seokjin expectedly while Ahri's eyes stay fixated on the floor. The leader and the eldest look at each other, sighing.

"What happened on your birthday, Yona?" Namjoon asks in interest, placing his hand on her shoulder assuringly.

She shrugs, then says in an emotionless and nonchalant voice, "Nothing much, there were just always fights on my birthday. Oh, and I got disowned when I turned twelve as well, so."

"So, you never celebrated your birthday?" Jimin asks in a tiny voice, a pout on his lips. "Not even with your grandmother?"

Nodding, Ahri replies, "We did." There's a sad smile on her face while she continues, "She used to bake me a chocolate cake, and then later on, she always told me fairytales of how life changes positively when you find yourself."

The smile extinguishes, as she adds, "But it all got ruined as my father kept on calling. At first, my grandma tried to calm him down. I mean, it was her son, you know? It didn't work, though. He always reminded me how much of a failure I am on every single one of my birthdays."

As Ahri notices that a few tears fell from their eyes, she laughs slightly and says, "Oh, my god, don't cry! It's completely fine, I'm used to it by now."

"That's why I never want to tell you guys anything," Yona reveals, still chuckling quietly. "Because you are all just emotional wrecks."

"T-That's not true!" Hoseok disagrees, wiping the tears from his eyes. He pulls Yona closer, embracing her tightly. "Celebrate your birthday with us, and I promise you that we'll show you how needed you actually are!"

With widened eyes, Yona yelp as Hoseok hugs her a little too tight, causing her breathing to malfunction a tad bit.

Seokjin smiles sadly, pushing the strands of hair out of her face with his warm hand. "It's hard to forget pain, but, trust me, it's even harder to remember the beautiful moments in life."

"There are no scars for happiness, but we can help you paint your own delight on the black canvass, until you realize how colorful your own world can be," Taehyung continues, smiling.

If Yona could find one word to describe her members, it would be a gardener. They are the sweet gardeners that make her soul blossom with more and more rain and warmth.

The rest of the day is spent with many smiles and laughter. After making a competition on who bakes the best chocolate cake, Jimin and Yona clearly win.

The duo smiles mischievously, fist-bumping each other underneath the table. What the group is not aware of, though, is that the cake is bought and that they didn't bake it themselves.

One of the simplest actions can create the most beautiful moments in life, and Yona is simply grateful to spend it with them.

She goes back to where it happened. Yona wants to take away the power of the painful memory for hurt, prove to herself that she could choose to move on.

So she takes the ones she loves the most, her members, and on that spot, they make a great memory, a happy one.

Now when her brain goes back there, she diverts it only to the good memory, the healing one.

It's as if she wrote a good story over the top of a bad story, and in time, the ink of the bad story fades away until only the good one remains.

━━✦ :･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

"2, 3, Bangtan. Hello, we're BTS!" Namjoon introduces the group with a big smile, bowing in front of the fans that are eagerly waiting to interact with their favorite Idols.

After a quick introduction, the members sit down and are literally jumping up and down in their seats in excitement.

Yona sits the furthest from the first line, right beside Hoseok. As she notices the happiness radiating from their smiles while they interact with their fans, a smile forms up on her face itself.

Yet her smile crumbles as many fans skip her, deciding to act like she isn't in the group and ignoring her, some of them even throwing her dirty glances.

But it curls up as the first person halts and stands in front of Ahri, causing the female member to smile widely.

"Hello—" Yona starts, but gets cut off almost immediately with the rude remark, "Could you just leave the group already? You're making it even harder for my oppas to succeed."

And with that, the vulgar girl leaves and Ahri is left with a hurt expression, genuinely taken aback by that.

While more fans pass her, her members throw her a few worried glances, trying to make sure that she isn't feeling too bad. Not wanting to worry them, she nods assuringly and smiles, her lips not reaching her eyes.

With a low-hanging head, Ahri plays with the hem of her sweatshirt, a small pout on her lips.

That is until she hears someone clearing their throat in front of her, causing her head to jerk up with cute, big eyes.

"Hello," exclaims the small girl. She is around the same age as Yona, waving at the female member with a big smile and flushed cheeks. "My name is Seola."

Yona smiles widely, sudden joy warming her chest up. "Hey, Seola. I'm Ahri!"

Seola chuckles, mumbling sheepishly, "I know that. I'm a big fan of yours."

Gasping slightly, Ahri's eyes widen and she stares at the girl in front of her in mesmerization. "Really? Why?" she asks in a shocked voice.

"I love how you rap. You should be a part of Cypher!," admits Seola, smiling while giving Ahri a piece of paper to sign. "But not only that, I just admire your personality in general. You can be really serious and laid-back, but also extremely dorky when you're with the boys."

The wide smile stays upon Yona's face. She mumbles with big eyes to herself, "I think I'm about to have a crush on you."

Laughing loudly, Seola hides her red face behind her small hand, feeling coy all of a sudden. "I wish!"

"No, but, really," Seola begins. "I'm glad that you're in the group. It's really risky when it comes to the media, but it can also change the whole industry. So, thank you."

With a bow and a new autograph, Seola makes her way out, and Yona watches her leave dreamily with a small smile, positioning her head on her hand and sighing softly.

She leans back and whispers to Hoseok, "I think I'm about to fall for a girl."

Hoseok pauses for a moment, a puzzled expression on his face. "Wait, that's unprofessional..."

Ahri leans back in as another person comes in front of her. It's a boy this time, probably one or two years older than her. She's slightly surprised by that, not being used to guys coming to their fan-meetings.

"Hello!" she exclaims at the handsome stranger, waving.

To say that his smile is astonishing would be an understatement. His pearly teeth are aligned just right and show the warmest of smiles she has ever witnessed. "Hey, Yves."

"What's your name?" asks Ahri, glancing up to meet his gaze.

"I-I'm Yuta," he replies shyly, scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry, Korean not good."

"No, no, no! Don't apologize for that!" Ahri is quick to disagree, smiling. "My Korean is not that good either. Where are you from, Yuta?"

As he says, "Osaka, Japan," Ahri's eyes widen slightly, chuckling and stating in Japanese, "Hello, Yuta. It's nice to meet you!"

"You speak Japanese?" he asks in disbelief. There's a sigh of relief leaving the crook of his neck, still smiling widely.

After he gets an acknowledging nod from her, he says, "I've been a fan from you even before debut. I really like all of the members, but you're my favorite! It's been kind of hard to understand everything you say in Bangtan Bombs since there are no subtitles, but I was so happy when you released your Japanese album!"

"Thank you for supporting me!" beams Yona. "And I will make sure to write more Japanese songs in honor of you!"

Yona takes his hands in hers and wags with them, smiling. Yuta's cheeks resemble the shade of a bright tomato by now, nodding shyly while mirroring her smile.

After Yuta got told by the staff that he needs to leave, they bid farewells.

"Hyung," Ahri calls out, gaining Hoseok's attention. As he awaits for a response, she states with a smile, "I'm happy."

Be believing, be happy, don't get discouraged. Things will work out.