8th member?

- All good?

Joy sits at the head of the table, feeling uneasy being back at the dorm she got kicked out of 7 months ago. 'So. You live with Ateez sunbaenim now?' Joy nods at Jungwon's question. 'They were the only one I could go to and they welcomed me.' Jake sighs. 'Please be honest. Did you and Hongjoong sunbaenim ever do anything?' Already started to feel annoyed Joy looks at Jake. 'We worked on songs together, songs for Ateez and songs that were supposed to be for Enhypen.' 'Nothing else?' She looks at Jay. 'No nothing else. Is that why you wanted to talk because then I'm going again.' Joy wants to get up but Jake stops her. 'No wait.' He looks at her with pleading eyes. 'I wanted to ask how you are doing?' Joy sits back down on the chair and sighs. 'I'm starting to feel better. Working on more music as I have my solo debut next month.' 'Which entertainment?' She looks up at Heeseung. 'KQ. I got the contract offer about 2 months ago and signed it.' 'So there is no chance you would return back to us?' Sunoo's voice is soft, like he is on the edge of crying. 'No. I am moving on from HYBE and my past.' She looks at Jake. 'It would be the best if you do the same. There is no chance of us anymore.' Jake shakes his head as he looks down. 'I can't.' 'You have to.' 'No!' He stands up. 'I can't Joy. I was stupid okay. I know that now. I made the worse mistake in my life by letting you go.' Joy feels a knot in het stomach. Hearing and seeing the 7 boys she shared so much love with hurts her heart yet she knows she can't return to them. She sighs. 'It broke my heart to see the anger in your eyes. You were so angry about some rumor.' Joy locks eyes with Jake. 'We threw away 3 years of friendship, 3 years of love, because of some stupid mistake.' She looks back at the other boys. 'I know I should have talked with you about it but at the time it wasn't sure yet if the songs would be for Ateez or Enhypen. On that day we deiced to split the songs for both groups and I wanted to surprise all of you with the news at dinner. But I never got the chance as non of you listed to me.' Joys looks down at her hands. 'And we were stupid to not listen to you. I don't know why we believed them.' Joy looks at Heeseung and sighs. 'It happend. We can't turn back time. We all need to move on.' It stay quiet for a minute before a very soft voice talks. 'Noona?' Joy looks up at the boy, Niki. He has his head down but Joy can see the tears in his eyes. She feels the need to protect him once again but stays seated. 'Yes Niki?' He looks up as a tear leaves his eye. 'I'm sorry.' Hearing the young boy's voice break makes her tear up as well. 'It's okay Niki.' He shakes his head. 'No. I said that I hated you but I don't. I really don't hate you noona.' Joy stand up and wraps her arms around Niki. Although the younger boy is much taller then Joy, he looks so much smaller in her arms. 'It's okay Niki. I never blamed you or hated you. You are still my Niki.' She pulls back a bit to look him in his face. While there are still tears rolling down his face he now smiles up at her. Niki wraps his arms around her middle and hides his face in her neck. Joy looks around at the other boys. Jake, Sunoo and Jungwon also on the edge of crying while Heeseung, Jay and Sunghoon are staring at their hands. Joy her phone goes of so she pulls back from Niki to check who is calling her. Yunho. 'Give me a second.' She walks to the living room and picks up. 'Oppa?' 'Is everything okay there? Do I have to pick you up?' Joy looks back at the table. The 7 boys are looking down waiting for her to get back. 'Yeah you can come pick me up.' 'Okay. Enhypen dorm?' 'Yes, thank you oppa.' 'No problem.' Joy hangs up and walks back to the table. 'I'm getting pick up soon.' Jake nods. 'Will we see you again?' The two make eye contact, both feeling so much love yet pain. 'Of course. Our paths will cross again. It will be different but I meant what I said when I walked out here last time. I will always love all of you.' Jungwon gets up and walks towards Joy. 'We love you too noona.' He hugs Joy and the other boys follow. The Ateez dorm isn't that far from here so Yunho should be arriving in a bit. Joy lets out a loud sigh causing the boys to let go. She walks to the door and puts on her jacket and shoes. 'I still have your phone numbers so we can chat, right?' The boys nod. They all unblocked her after finding out the truth a couple months ago yet non of them found the courage to text her. Her phones goes of again. She picks up. 'I'm waiting outside, take your time.' 'Thank you oppa.' Joy ends the call and looks up at the 7 boys. 'I'm going now.' Jake steps closer. 'Are we good again?' Joy smiles and nods. 'Of course Jakey.' He smiles brightly and hugs Joy. They stay wrapped in each others arms for a minute before Joy pulls away. She opens the door and turns to the boys. 'Till next time.' The boys smile and wave at her when she closes the door. Last time she walked away from the door in tears, now she walks away with a smile painted on her face. Happy that the 7 boys and her are back to being friends, yet there is a strange feeling between her and Jake. Joy leaves the building and looks around. 'Here.' She looks towards to voice and sees Yunho waving at her. 'Thank you for picking me up oppa.' The two enter his car. 'No problem. How did it go?' Joy smiles as she looks at Yunho. 'All is good again.'

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The story is almost over. Only 1 or 2 more chapters and then this book is at it's end. I will upload the last chapter(s) before the end of the month. Much love to you all!