"Alright, text me when you board and when you land please, and remember what I said about social media," Crystal warns over the phone.
"We know, don't engage," both Cheyenne and Natalie echo, exasperation in their voices.
She'd bet her last they were rolling their eyes.
"Okay, love you guys, bye," she says, hanging up after hearing everyone's goodbyes.
Taking the phone down from her ear for the first time in two hours, she places it on the charger on the bedside table and falls back onto Yoongi's lap.
"Sounds like everything is squared away," he says and she nods.
"Yup, they've all agreed to be home schooled for at least a couple weeks. That way we can gauge how people are going to react. If anyone goes to the school looking for them, we'll be notified; and their social media is still active so if someone threatens them or something, they know to let us know. Cheyenne's not the happiest about it, but she'll be fine," she says, looking up at him.
"What about Christian? Will he be okay having to break routine so suddenly?" Yoongi asks and she shakes her head, touched that he asked.
"He'll be okay. His routine is already broken right now from this trip. Mom will definitely have to add some structure soon though or he'll get restless," she says, closing her eyes as he runs his fingers through her hair.
"The chauffeur and the security has been handled. They'll be escorted to the jet and security will be waiting for them when they land," he says.
"Hm, Thanks," she says, stifling a yawn.
"One less thing for you to worry about. You should get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," he says, leaning down to kiss her forehead.
As a result of their family meeting, they would be doing a relaxed, interview style live stream for ARMY. All of BTS as well as Sehee and Crystal will be present and the BTS members are going to ask she and Sehee things about themselves, occasionally picking questions from the live chat. The PR team had already released the statement they'd discussed prior, so they were waiting on things to simmer down a bit before doing the stream. Not to mention, BTS has practice at the stadium again the next day—one they'd have to cut short so they could prepare.
"Only if you do this until I fall asleep," she grins sleepily.
"Deal, but you're going to have to actually lay up here on the pillows," he chuckles.
"Right," she groans, sitting up.
She was too worn out to change into pjs so she slides her joggers off and places them at the end of the bed before getting underneath the covers.
She lays her head on Yoongi's outstretched arm and he resumes running his fingers through her hair as promised—the action lulling them both to sleep.
~The Next Day~
"I can't believe you haven't opened your birthday gifts yet! I would've torn into that shit right away," Sehee exclaims, making Crystal chuckle.
"I was busy that night and went out with my family yesterday as soon as I woke up," she shrugs.
"Yeah, busy. Busy getting that back blown out. I went to sleep and woke up to the music still playing," Sehee cackles.
Crystal couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head at Sehee's bluntness.
"Mind your business," was her reply before she was captivated by Yoongi practicing his stage for Shadow.
"I think this album may just be my favorite. Every single song is a banger. ARMY is not gonna survive this," Sehee says.
"I know right? I hope they have some medics available for JK and Jimin's solos," Crystal chuckles, absentmindedly bobbing her head at the hype part of the song.
"That's what I said! They both decided to be grown man sexy for this comeback," Sehee replies.
This was true. Filter and My Time were more than enough to make ARMY swoon. They were already going crazy over the audio. Just wait until they see the visuals. MOTS:7 as a whole is a masterpiece and she couldn't help but feel blessed to see it on stage before anyone else—even if it was just practice. Call her biased, but Shadow was her favorite. The instrumental, the lyrics, and the intensity in which Yoongi delivered them had her hooked. The dark concepts alway fit him so well and he looked breathtakingly good right now with his hair swept back from his forehead with a black bandana.
As if sensing her heated stare, he smirks down at her when he's finished, sending her a teasing wink before he leaves the stage.
Sexy motherfucker.
"Oop—" Sehee says, raising her brows as she notices the interaction between the two.
"Hush, I just know you and JK are about to be sickening," Crystal replies.
Sure enough, they were—the extra thrusty performance he put on for his soulmate making Crystal so uncomfortable she had to look away. Disgusted, she leaves Sehee seated in the empty audience in search of her own soulmate.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
A few hours later, Crystal sat on the floor of she and Yoongi's room, finally opening her birthday gifts. Sehee leaned against the door frame—a combination of her nosey nature and wanting to see her reaction to her gift.
"Okay, this one's from Jin. It's a RJ neck pillow and a shirt that says....Savage," Crystal chuckles when she unfolds the shirt and reads it.
"Perfect for you," Sehee laughs.
"Yeah yeah, the next one is from...Joon and it's noise cancelling headphones. I'm sure these will come in handy," she grins.
"Definitely, those are expensive too," Sehee says, recognizing the popular Korean electronics brand.
"This one is from JK so I'm sure you know what it is," she says, pulling it out of the gift bag.
"Sure do, I picked it out of course," Sehee says, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
It was an Apple Watch with a set of sparkly watch bands to go with.
"Woah, I love these," she smiles, looking up at Sehee.
"I figured you would. I have the same set so we can match. Speaking of matching, open the small one next," she says, pointing to a small rectangular box wrapped in a ribbon.
Curious about what it could be, she unravels the ribbons and lifts the top off the box. She couldn't help but laugh when she sees the gift inside.
"Really Sehee?" she laughs, pulling the bracelet out of the box.
"Yes, really! It's real gold too so you don't even have to take it off to shower," she says, crossing her arms over her chest proudly.
"Why am I even surprised?" Crystal chuckles, shaking her head in amusement.
"I don't know because you're stuck with me at this point. We are 4lifers bitch. I'm not going nowhere. You're not going nowhere. We're not going nowhere. Plus, it'll dispel the stupid ass assumptions people are already making saying we won't get along," she replies, putting her hands on her hips.
"That's the internet for you," Crystal says, rolling her eyes as she clips the bracelet around her right wrist.
"I know right. Not gonna lie. I'm a little nervous about tonight. Any little thing we say can be blown way out of proportion," Sehee says, clasping her hands together worriedly.
"That's natural. We're about to be introduced to millions of people. I don't think you should worry about that too much though. The toxics are going to crucify us either way so you may as well be yourself. Say what you want as long as it's not harmful or offensive, you know," Crystal says, picking up her next gift.
"Gee, thanks. That made me feel so much better," she chides sarcastically , making Crystal chuckle.
"Did I lie though? Some of them hate our very existence right now and you know everything a person you hate does annoys you," Crystal says, reading over the cute little strip of paper in her hands.
"Like look at that bitch eating chicken," Sehee says, making Crystal burst out laughing.
They'd just heard the popular TikTok sound earlier that day and it was perfect for this situation.
"Exactly! That's ridiculously funny," Crystal laughs, clutching her stomach.
"What are you two cackling about?" Yoongi asks, coming out of the bathroom.
He was dressed comfortably in ripped black jeans and a blue button down that featured lots of palm trees. The first two buttons or so were left open, revealing just a sliver of chest where his red, beaded necklace lay.
"Nunya," Sehee sasses, making him roll his eyes.
"I see you're finally opening your gifts," he says and Crystal nods.
"Yup, haven't gotten to yours next. Tae's is too cute though," she says, showing him the "best friend coupon" she'd received.
We have plenty shopping filled days ahead of us. Now that Sehee has inducted you into our unofficial soulmates club, take this as a "you're welcome" in advance for all the things I'll end up buying you two. -Your new best friend, Taehyungie
"Expected of him," Yoongi chuckles, passing her the paper back.
"Check out the bracelet I got her," Sehee says, pointing down at her wrist.
Yoongi picks up Crystal's wrist and scoffs, making them laugh.
"Open mine next jagi," he says, pointing a matte black bag with a jewelry store logo on it.
Crystal grabbed the bag and pulled out the two boxes inside, trying not to let it show that the pet name was melting her internally. She opens the first box and gasps when she sees what's inside. It's a white gold and diamond snowflake pendant necklace with matching earrings.
"This is beautiful Yoongs, thank you," she says, her voice soft with appreciation.
"Aww Crystal snow, I'm gonna throw up," Sehee says, making them laugh.
"Actually, a little birdie told me her nickname was the ice queen, but Crystal Snow works too," Yoongi shrugs.
"I just know that little birdie goes by the name of Nadia," Crystal says, sucking her teeth as she opened the next gift.
It was a white gold watch that had a white snowflake background, two loose diamonds, and a snowflake made of diamonds that moved around within the face of the watch.
"Damn this is nice," she says, turning the watch in different angles to see if the diamonds would interfere with the clock mechanism inside.
"There's two layers of glass so they don't interfere with the way the watch functions," he chuckles, knowing that would be her next question.
"Woah, I don't even want to know how much you paid for this, but thanks," she says, puckering her lips when he leans down to give her a kiss.
"Eww, hurry up and open the rest so I can go get ready," Sehee groans, covering her eyes.
"Girl hush, I watched JK impregnate the air today. A peck on the lips won't kill you," Crystal says, making Yoongi laugh.
She didn't have to open the next gift because it was too big to be wrapped. Hobi got her a black LV luggage set as well as a nifty luggage organizer to go inside.
"This was extremely thoughtful," she smiles.
"Alright last one is from Jimin," she says, grabbing the little rectangular gift box and opening it.
"SuperM tickets," she says, her eyes wide.
"What?! I just know that other one is for me," Sehee squeals, making her laugh.
"Of course, but can we even go now?" she asks, looking up at Yoongi.
"Yes, but you'll have to watch from the sky box now," he says, already having talked to Jimin about it.
"Cool, I have to tell everyone thanks when we get down there," she says, cleaning up the remnants of paper from the wrapped gifts.
About an hour later, she was showered, dressed, and putting the finishing touches on her makeup. She decided on a fairly simple outfit—high waisted khaki pants, a white cropped top, and Yoongi's navy blue YSL cardigan she loved so much. She pulled her hair back into a wavy ponytail and applied light makeup—brow gel, eyeliner, mascara, highlight, and clear lipgloss.
"Noona!" JK yells as he enters the room.
"What now?" Yoongi asks from his place on the bed.
"Sehee is having a meltdown about something makeup related," he says, looking absolutely stressed.
Crystal shakes her head, grabbing her makeup bag off the counter.
"I'll bet it's the eyeliner," she tsks and JK shrugs.
"She won't open the door for me," he says, looking defeated.
"Don't take it personal kid. It's a girl thing. When we're nervous, that's when we're most likely to fuck up out makeup and then effectively make it worse when we panic. Be right back," she says.
"We're heading downstairs to check on everything, We've got 15 minutes," Yoongi says and she nods.
She walks into the next room and knocks on the bathroom door.
"Open up bitch. We've got 15 minutes to fix it," she says and the door swings open—a clearly distraught Sehee behind it.
"I look terrible, I know. I'm wiping it all off now," she groans, wiping the black streaks off her eyes.
"I figured it was the eyeliner," she chuckles, setting her bag down and going over the the sink where Sehee's makeup was set up.
"Every fucking time! And the shits so stubborn I can't get it off without fucking something else up," she growls.
"Calm thyself child. I'm about to change your life.," Crystal says, pulling a vile of oil from her makeup bag.
"What's that?" Sehee asks, looking at the intricately colored glass bottle.
"Unicorn oil. Long story short, it's a bunch of oils mixed together and a bunch of botanicals that are good for all skin types in here. Your skin is clear enough to skip all this if you use this," she says, gesturing to her foundation and concealer.
"Really?"
"Yes, really come on. We don't have much time," Crystal says, gesturing for her to sit on the counter.
Once she's seated, she takes a small amount of the oil and rubs it into her skin. She does her brows next, not needing to use much because they were naturally full. Next, she pulls a new black eyeliner pen and some mascara out of her bag.
"This applicator is the cheat code to the cat eye liner you were going for. Just line it up and press it down and then fill it in," she says as she applies it for her.
"That was fast!" Sehee exclaims when she'd done both eyes in less than two minutes.
"Yup and it's waterproof. Even if you cry, you'll still look like a bad bitch, not a sad bitch," Crystal giggles, making Sehee join in.
Next, she applies some highlight just along her cheek bones, Cupid's bow, and nose—finishing the look off with a light sweep of pink blush on her cheeks.
"Done, just put on some lip gloss or something and you're set," she says, stepping back so Sehee could hop down.
"Wow, this looks amazing. Thank you so much Crys. I swear I would've lost it if it weren't for you," Sehee exclaims, pulling her in for a hug.
"Uh, no problem. Anytime, Crystal says, patting her back awkwardly.
"Your Yoongi is showing again. You'd better get used to hugs around here," Sehee teases as she pulls back.
She swipes on some pink gloss and brushes one side of her hair behind her ear.
"How do I look? Is this too casual?" she asks, referring to her outfit.
She had on black jeans and a striped, black and white cropped top paired with cute platform sandals.
"You look cute. It's not too casual when JK is wearing sweats. We should go before they come looking for us," Crystal says, looking down at her watch.
The pair make it downstairs just in time seeing as most of the members were already seated. The sitting room was now set up with lighting and three cameras pointing towards the two sofas that were now angled towards one another.
Yoongi patted the seat next to him and she sat, crossing her legs as he slung his arm around her shoulders.
"Crisis averted?" he asks and she nods.
"Yup," she answers as JK sits next to Yoongi, pulling Sehee down to sit next to him.
Tae and Jimin, the last ones downstairs, seat themselves on the floor in front of the coffee table between the two sofas.
"You two ready?" Joon asks, waving the cue cards he made back and forth.
"Nope."
"As I'll ever be," they answer at the same time.
Either way, this was happening in a few short minutes.
Time to meet ARMY.