I can't believe that I'm past 700 votes. What kind of amazing dream is this? I love you guys. I hope you all have a wonderful day.
"Wake up, princess," Yoongi gently shakes B's shoulder, trying to convince himself that it's just his imagination, and not that she's thinner than the last time she stayed over. She promised to eat, didn't she? She wouldn't break her promise, right? "It's time to start the day!"
"I don' wanna get up." Her sentence is hardly recognizable though the fabric of Yoongi's covers, but he somehow manages to interpret the foreign language. With a softness that Yoongi rarely uses, he pries the blankets away from her pale face.
"But you get to spend a whole day with oppa and the guys!" Yoongi attempts to persuade her, pulling at her pale cheeks as a gummy smile spreads across his face, "Doesn't that sound like fun?"
"But I don't wanna get up!" B protests, her puffy eyes glaring pitifully at her attacker, "Can't we just stay in bed and cuddle all day, oppa?"
Yoongi pauses, considering her proposition. The idea of wrapping the tiny girl in a burrito of blankets and snuggling her against his chest does sound appealing. But her health comes first, not Yoongi's cravings for cuddles.
"Nope! You gotta eat breakfast, Byeol-ah!" Yoongi is extra careful, as always, as he pulls her into a sitting position. The mint-haired rapper lovingly brushes her metallic bangs out of her eyes as she blinks sleepily, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! It gets your metabolism going, and it-"
"-gives you enough energy to make it through the day. I know, oppa." B sighs, finally giving in to her older brother's awful nagging as she carefully stands up, "You've told me all that before. I remember."
"You better remember!" Yoongi huffs, his mind travelling back to the days when they were younger, when every morning he woke her up with the exact same speech, "Breakfast is important."
"Breakfast is important." B woefully agrees; an amused smile fighting it's way onto Yoongi's face at the sight of her usual morning moping. With a lazy groan she flops onto the floor next to her suitcase and rifles through its contents, drawing back with a TOP tank top and black jeans in her hands. Then B turns to look back up at her awaiting brother, and Yoongi can already tell by the way her eyes sparkle that she's going to ask for a favor.
Not that Yoongi minds. He loves spoiling her.
"Oppa?" Her soft voice is just too sweet. Yoongi can't imagine how anyone could ever say no to her, "Can I wear one of your sweatshirts again?"
"My sweatshirts?" Yoongi grumbles, pretending to be upset even as he wanders over to his closet, "Why would you want to wear one of my boring old sweatshirts? They're nothing special."
"They're special because they're yours, oppa," B admits quietly, barely loud enough for Yoongi to hear. Yoongi's ears burn as he pulls out his softest sweatshirt and tosses it to the girl behind him, trying to ignore the fact that her sweet words just made his day.
"You happy now?" Yoongi's fake frown fades into a genuine smile as he watches her happily bury her face into the soft fabric. Her eyes shine with happiness, crinkling cutely at the edges when she finally looks back at up him.
Oh~ my poor heart. Why does she have to be so freaking cute?
"Very!" The quiet giggles spilling from B's lips remind Yoongi of chiming bells and everything bright and happy. Yoongi wishes she could always be this happy. That he can always be by her side. Sadly, life isn't that easy.
B scampers off to Yoongi's small private bathroom and shuts the door to change, leaving Yoongi alone with his thoughts.
* * * *
"How come you get to go first?!" Taehyung whines, his lip curled into the most pitiful pout he can muster, "I want to go first!"
"Yah!" Jin scolds immediately, "I'm oldest, so I get to go first! It's common sense!"
"I'm your hope!" Hoseok challenges, flailing wildly in objection, "I'm your angel! Why don't I get to go first?"
"All of you, shut up!" Yoongi roars, quite tired of their useless bickering. With a disappointed sigh he slouches further into the couch, pulling a frightened Byeol tighter against him, "I'm her brother, and I decided that Jin was going to go first because: one, she had met him previously and is more comfortable around him than she is with you maniacs; two, he is the oldest and the most responsible out of all of you; and three, I trust him to make sure that she is happy and safe at all times, unlike the rest of you violent brats. Any objections?"
"I'm not a violent brat!" Jimin says in defiance, looking downright offended.
(Lies!!!)
"I wasn't talking to you, Jiminie." Yoongi sighs, once again amazed by his members' ability to argue about literally anything, "Anything else in particular you animals want to bicker about?"
Silence greets the scowling rapper's sharp question, and Yoongi nods in satisfaction.
"No? Good." Yoongi looks to the oldest member, "What's your plan, hyung?"
"My plan?" Jin's face brightens exponentially, much like Jimin's does every time B walks in the room, "I didn't want to force B-ah out of her comfort zone too much, so I thought that we could just stay home and make brownies. It isn't too complicated or stressful, plus, who doesn't like brownies? It's not much, but I think it'll be lots of fun!"
"Mm." Yoongi grunts in appreciation of Jin's thoughtful idea. Byeol really does hate places with too many people, and she wasn't very keen on the whole one-on-one bonding time thing either. So in Yoongi's opinion Jin's idea of just staying home and relaxing is perfect, "Do you want the rest of the guys out of the house, then?"
"That'd be preferable." Jin admits, guilty eyeing the looks of betrayal scattered across the other members' faces.
"Alright then," After carefully lifting B up off his lap and setting her on her own two feet, Yoongi stands up from the couch and points vehemently towards the door, "Then shoo, all of you! I don't want to see any of your ugly faces for at least three hours!"
"Three hours?" Taehyung splutters as he's physically lifted from his seat on the floor and pushed towards the door by Yoongi's surprisingly strong arms, "What am I supposed to do outside for three hours?"
"Watch a movie, go to an arcade, go shopping..." Yoongi lists with ease, hauling both a pouting Jungkook and a flailing Hoseok behind him, "I don't care, just get out! Out! Out!"
"We're out! We're out, hyung!" Namjoon attempts to calm the nearly fuming second eldest as he's violently pushed out the front door, "Calm dow-"
Yoongi slams the front door closed, brushing off his hands with a satisfied hum. He turns back to the only remaining inhabitants of the house, his voice noticeably more controlled.
"I'll be in my room if you need me, princess." And with that, Yoongi too is gone.
Jin stares at the girl standing across from him. In a way she's like his new little sister; not that Jin would ever call her that in front of possessive Yoongi.
Her skin is just as pale as her older brother's, and the features of her face are similarly doll-like and delicate. Her eyes lashes are longer than Yoongi's, and her nose is a little slimmer, but her beautiful, dark eyes remind Jin of Yoongi so much that he has already almost called her Yoongi twice! Even the way the girl talks -when she talks, which is rare- is almost identical to her older sibling. Jin isn't surprised that B turned out to be Yoongi's little sister after all, because she really does take after him.
But then again, in some ways she's extremely different.
Yoongi has never had problems meeting someone's gaze like Byeol does. The girl's eyes always seem to be nervously flickering from left to right, as if she's afraid that some sort of predator may leap out at her at any time. Yoongi also doesn't flinch when someone raises their voice, but Jin helplessly noticed the way that B jerks in fright every time one of the members yells or shouts.
And last but not least, Yoongi has never been terrified of other people like Byeol is. He had social anxiety when he was younger, but that was the fear of interacting with people and being judged by them. Byeol's fear isn't quite like that. Her fear is a lot more... physical.
Jin will never forget the look of utter terror in her eyes when Taehyung moved to hug her last night. Yoongi was quick to push the younger boy away, but the damage had already been done. Taehyung and Jin could only watch on in confusion as Yoongi carried the trembling girl away, bidding them a hurried goodnight.
Therefore, Jin has come to the conclusion that the beautiful mini clone of Yoongi is afraid of them. And he's going to do his best to change that.
"Do you like brownies?" Jin asks, sending a brilliant smile at the quivering girl. B raises her eyes from the floor for a split second before lowering them again. Hesitantly, she nods her head.
At least I got some sort of response out of her.
"Me too!" With as much positive energy as he can muster, Jin leaps up from his seat and motions for the small girl to follow him into the kitchen. With wide eyes, B obediently follows, hesitantly watching Jin's every step along the way. In an effort to make Byeol feel more comfortable, Jin continues talking, "Have you ever made brownies before?"
Hesitantly, B nods, her silver bangs falling in front of her eyes.
"Well, these aren't gonna be like any other brownies you've ever had!" Food is Jin's true passion, and it isn't hard to tell by the way his voice thrums with excitement when he's just talking about the stuff, "We're gonna be making my special recipe, 'Bangtan Brownies', and believe me, they're the bomb."
B curls into her sweatshirt, which is technically Yoongi's, and Jin wishes he knew how to make her feel more comfortable. She has already met Jin more than three times, so Jin can't help but feel confused as to why she's still so afraid of him. But then again, if Jin was a girl, he'd be afraid of men he didn't know either. So Jin can't blame her.
Yoongi, the boys, and Byeol-ah are all counting on you to make a good first impression, Seokjin. You're the one who has to get the ball rolling. Don't mess this up. Be nice. Be courteous. Be thoughtful. After all, she's only just a girl, and what girl in her right mind won't fall for my beautiful face?
Not that Jin wants adorable little B to fall for him, per se. After all, she's Yoongi's little sister, which makes her feel like a baby sister to Jin too. It would be nice, though, if she was a little more comfortable around him. So that's the goal that Jin sets for this little one-on-one bonding session.
To make Byeol feel comfortable.
"Can you get the eggs, vanilla extract and butter out of the fridge while I get the dry ingredients?" Jin asks pleasantly, already reaching up to open the cupboards, "It'll be faster this way. Plus, cooking is so much more fun when you're with other people! Well, as long as Tae and Joon aren't cooking. They'd destroy the kitchen."
Wordlessly, B wanders over to the fridge and rifles through it as Jin's talking; eventually pulling out all three ingredients that he asked for. Without so much as a glance in Jin's direction, B sets the ingredients on the counter top and once again hides her hands inside the extra-long sleeves of her sweatshirt. Jin glances at her silent figure and sighs quietly.
I want her to open up and feel more comfortable around me, but how can I don't that if she won't talk? The eldest member stretches up to pull the sugar down from the top shelf, where he had hidden it to keep the pesky maknae's thieving fingers away. What is something that she and I both like? I hardly know her, how am I supposed to know what she likes to talk about?
"What do you think of the other boys so far, B-ah?" Jin asks politely, partly out of his own curiosity and partly out of desperation to get the small girl to talk. For a moment silence is his only answer, but Jin is patient. He pulls the flour down from the cupboards, and searches around for the container of salt, letting B have as long as she needs to answer.
"They're alright." The soft, timid voice doesn't sound anything like the few sassy comments Jin had heard her add while at the dinner table.
"Alright?" Jin questions with a smile as he places the dry ingredients on the counter next to the ones B pulled from the fridge, "You don't see them as annoying, bratty, wild, childish, loud, sarcastic, hyperactive and tiring?"
"Well..." B seems a little caught off guard by Jin's harsh yet accurate description of the other members, excluding Yoongi, or course. With a thoughtful look on her face B gently tries to counter the negative description, "They're not bad. They're funny, and they try their best to be thoughtful and sweet. And Tokki* is always so adorable."
"I've known all of them for around three years now, and they're all good people." Jin agrees, leaning down to pull out a large metal bowl from the bottom cupboard. Jin can feel her dark, swirling eyes following his every move, but he doesn't let it put him off. After all, he can't blame her for staring. He is worldwide handsome, you know, "Jungkookie was super shy at first, but now he's a bit of a brat. He's a good kid, though, and I know I can always count on him. Taehyungie has always been a sweetheart, and sometimes I'm a little worried that he'll befriend the wrong type of people, but I can't see the boy ever hurting anyone."
B hops up onto the counter as Jin multitasks with talking and mixing the ingredients at the same time, and normally Jin would flip out if anyone thought it was a good idea to sit on his beloved marble counter tops. But for once Jin lets it slide. Plus, how can he be angry at the adorable mini Min? Her cute little face is impossible to hold a grudge against.
"Jiminie is sometimes a little air headed, he's too much of a perfectionist for his own good and he can be a bit of a frazzled mess, but I've never met someone so willing to sacrifice their own time to help someone else," Jin pictures the third youngest with a hint of a smile on his face. With practiced ease, Jin cracks the eggs into the large bowl, "Joonie is either too smart or too thick-headed, but he's a thoughtful dork when it comes down to it. He's our leader too, if you didn't know. Hobi-ah is often too blunt or too hyper, but he's always willing to help out."
B cocks her head to the side, much like a cute puppy would, and Jin has to force himself not to stare at her overabundance of cuteness.
Wah! She's got the natural aegyo of Jimin, Tae and Kookie combined! No wonder Yoongi-ah always talked so sweetly about her, and babies her worse than he's ever babied the whole maknae line. Who could ever resist her cuteness?
"And then there's your oppa." The tall eldest chuckles, shaking his head, "He likes to pretend to be this grumpy, swag hyung in front of all our dongsaengs, when in reality he's a big softie. He loves hugs, he loves puppies, and he loves you more than all of his Kumamon merchandise combined."
With a neon orange spatula Jin carefully begins mixing the sweet batter, turning the light brown cocoa power and white flour into an ooey gooey mess. B stares at the tempting mixture as Jin continues to stir, her eyes slowly growing wider and wider.
"Cooking with your oppa is definitely the best, B-ah." Jin smiles as he sets the perfect mixture on the counter next to the slim girl, "He can cook meat like a pro, and he's a blast when he's not being so grumpy. Would you like to pour the chocolate chips in? You can put in as many as you like."
Wordlessly the silver haired midget accepts the bag of Nestle Dark Chocolate chips, and she proceeds to dump the majority of the bag into the bowl.
And yet again she proves that she really is Yoongi's little sister. Jin sighs, his left eyebrow twitching, as he accepts the almost empty bag back. Aren't brownies supposed to taste like brownies? Why do they both feel the need to use so many chocolate chips! If you want that much chocolate, then just eat chocolate!
Jin isn't left with much time to pout about the excess of chocolate chips in his precious brownies, though. As Jin's sliding the pan into the pre-heated oven, the feathery soft voice behind him finally speaks of its own free will.
"Yoongi oppa makes really yummy chocolate chip pancakes," Her tone is so sweet and respectful (unlike when she stood up for her precious 'Tokki'), that it takes all of Jin's willpower to not quickly turn around and scare her with obsessive fanboying, "He would always make smiley faces with the chocolate chips, and then he'd kiss me on the nose and tell me to eat every bite so that I'd grow up to be big and strong!"
Jin slowly turns around so as to not startle the poor girl, and he finds her timidly playing with the ends of her sleeves. For once she doesn't look scared or straight faced; instead a soft smile graces her lips as she talks about the person who means the most to her.
"I didn't get big or strong, in the end," Her soft giggle sparks a smile onto Jin's face, "But that doesn't matter. I still have my oppa, and that's all I care about."
"I think that's what matters most to him, too," Jin keeps his voice as soft as he can, and nearly jumps for joy when the smile doesn't fade off B's face at the sound of his voice, "You should've seen him after he discovered that you'd run away at the age of eleven. He was a mess; crying alone in his room for weeks. You really mean a lot to him, B-ah."
"He was crying?" B looks honestly surprised, as if the thought of her own brother crying over her is absurd, "Over me?"
"For weeks." Jin quickly checks his reflection on the polished surface of the oven door before he leans up against the counter. The sweet smile fades off the silver chibi's face, replaced quickly by a sad, guilty frown. Jin freezes at the sudden change of emotion, and scrambles for something to say to cheer her up, "He was like a zombie for months while we searched for you, but as soon as we found you, he's been happier than I've ever seen him, B-ah. Because of you. You make Yoongi so happy, and I can't thank you enough for that."
"I do?" The crease in her eyebrows lightens just the slightest bit.
Have you seen the way he looks at you? He'd do anything for you, Byeol-ah. You mean the world to him.
"Of course you do!" Jin says enthusiastically, "He's been jittery and impatient this past week, and he deep cleaned the entire dorm twice. He's been so excited for your week long visit that I almost feel bad taking these couple hours from him."
B blushes shyly, overwhelmed by her brother's hidden acts of affection for her, and covers her cute pink face with her sweater paws.
"He really missed you, Byeol-ah." Jin freezes, realizing that he just called Byeol by her full name, "Is it alright if I call you Byeol, B-ah? Yoongi's been talking to me about you for years, and calling by your full name is a hard habit to change."
"I guess so." B uncovers her face, the shade of her clear skin now back to normal, "But nobody else."
"Not even Jimin?" Jin asks, genuinely curious. After all, Jimin is the one who met her all those months ago, and by the way the pair of them act, Jin wouldn't be surprised if they labeled themselves as BFFs, "He is your best friend, isn't he?"
"Well- yes." B's dark eyes sparkle, and her cheeks start to turn a bright pink again for no apparent reason, "B-but he already has a different n-nickname for me that I l-like better."
"One you like better than B?" Now Jin's genuinely intrigued. What sort of nickname could turn the savage girl's face bright pink from just thinking about it?
"Y-yeah." B stares at the oven door, her pink face unreadable, "Did you set a timer?"
"What?"
"For the brownies." B's voice becomes monotone once again, "Do you intend to burn them?"
"Oh, a timer!" With a sheepish smile Jin quickly sets up a timer on the oven, "Thank you. I probably wouldn't have noticed until it was too late."
"I figured." Her silver hair sparkles as she nods her head. The movement abruptly stops before she speaks again, as an afterthought, "I like my brownies extra gooey."
* * * *
Jin doesn't understand why people like extra-gooey brownies. The steaming chocolate pastry on his fork is practically the consistency of pudding, and aren't brownies supposed to be solid? The fact that most of the treat is melted dark chocolate instead of actual brownie doesn't help either. In any case, Jin doesn't understand.
Byeol, however, seems to understand perfectly. She spooned not just one, but three streaming brownies into a bowl, and is eating them with a blissful smile plastered on her face. And that beautiful smile is all Jin needs to convince him that gooey brownies are worth it.
It takes the girl less than five minutes before she's back to the pan for more, piling another two into her chocolate smeared bowl. She's amazingly clean for how fast she eats; not spilling a single drop of the delicious chocolate treat.
"If they make you this happy, I should definitely make them more often." Jin states, amused, as B shoves a heaping spoonful into her mouth, "Did Yoongi ever make you brownies when you were younger?"
"Rarely." B mumbles around a mouth full of chocolate, "Eomma used to make them, so they always reminded him too much of her."
"Oh- I'm sorry. I didn't know." The smile is wiped right off Jin's face at the mention of the Min's mother. Jin had learned to be very careful about what he said about mothers when around Yoongi, because he'd caught the second eldest crying his eyes out over the deceased woman on multiple occasions. Jin can only hope B isn't the same way; Jin doesn't know what Yoongi will do to him if he accidentally makes B cry.
"It's fine." B shrugs, her face devoid of any emotion, "I don't really remember much of her anyway."
"You don't?" Jin pauses at the revelation, shocked. But then it strikes him that she was barely five when her mother died. It makes perfect sense that B doesn't remember her. Yoongi was a lot older, so of course their mother's death would be more painful. At least, in some ways.
At least Yoongi remembers their mother. B probably doesn't even remember what their own mother looks like.
"Everything that most people relate to mothers..." B trails off, a faraway look in her dark eyes, "The person who fed me, helped me with homework, washed the dishes I should've washed, read me bedtime stories even though I was a little brat, the person who scolded me, encouraged me, held my hand when I was scared, gave the warmest hugs when I needed somebody, spoiled me rotten even though I really didn't deserve it, and did everything they could to protect me, even at the cost of their own health... that person, I-"
B's head bows in shame, and she sets the unfinished bowl of chocolate down gently. Jin tenses, ready to hug her or make a run for Yoongi at any second. After a half a minute of tense silence, she lifts her head. Her dark eyes glimmer with a collision of regret and adoration.
"I don't picture my mother." A soft smile pulls at the edges of her mouth, "I think of oppa."
She tiny hands cup the bowl of now cooled brownies, and she lowers her eyes to her treat as she continues speaking.
"Oppa is the only one I can remember taking care of me," Her taffy pink lips quiver a little, "He was always there. The kids and teachers at school were awful, so oppa tutored me just so I could advance to his grade so he could always protect me from them. And even then, he pushed me to become better, told me that I can do more with my life than he'll ever be able to. We didn't have much to eat at home, but whatever food we had, oppa always tried to give most of it to me. He was older, and bigger. He needed it more than I did, and I told him so, but he always tried to give it to me. I didn't let him.
"And t-that man." The small girl visibly swallows, and Jin can't help but picture that overweight, smelly man that Yoongi had nearly attacked all those months ago, "Whenever th-that man was home, oppa always protected me. If he wanted to yell, oppa told me to hide, and he l-let that man yell at him. If he wanted to drink, oppa told me to lock myself upstairs and only come out when he told me to. And if that man wanted to h-h-hit somebody, oppa always told me to run. He told me to r-run while he stayed behind and threatened to leave for good until that man stopped.
"So I don't remember my Eomma." The smile that's on B's face when she finally meets Jin's gaze is fierce, like that of a survivor, "I only remember oppa. And I'm glad he left, that night. I'm glad, because not only did he leave for the sake of both of our futures, he also left for himself. To follow his dream. And I'm glad that he finally did something for himself, instead of for me."
B frowns, and the fire in her eyes falters.
"He's already done too much for me." When the girl looks back down at the bowl in her hands, it's like she's snapped out of a daze. Her eyes simmer down to a faint glow, and she glances up at her companion with a sheepish look, "Sorry. I didn't mean to rant."
You call that a rant? I call that opening up! But then again she's probably just as lacking in social skills as Yoongi is, so she probably doesn't know the difference.
"You're perfectly fine, sweetheart." Jin's head nearly explodes from the mass amount of words that just left her mouth (AN: and my keyboard. Goodness, that was a long bunch of dialogue). Jin had expected it to take the whole week for Byeol to open up to him and the other members, so this sudden divulge of old memories and emotions is more than welcome, "I enjoy talking to you! You can come rant to me anytime."
"Really?" Byeol giggles at the funny look of overenthusiastic sincerity on Jin's face, "I'm not that interesting."
"You are too!" Jin huffs, taking a large bite of his own brownie, "Everyone's interesting in their own way."
"I guess that's true."
The room falls back into silence; B too busy with her brownies to bother talking, and Jin too wrapped up in what she's already said. If it were any of the boys (with the exception of Jimin who loves to read, Namjoon who loves to think, and Yoongi who likes to sleep) the silence would worry Jin. But Byeol eyes sparkle in the light of the little kitchen, and a faint, shy smile assures Jin that she's happy just the way things are.
"Uhhh..." Jin whips his head around at the sound of Yoongi's voice. The second oldest awkwardly pokes his head into the kitchen, his nose scrunched up as he scratches nervously behind his ear, "I know I'm not really supposed to be interrupting but... c-can I have some?"
"No!" The shout that leaves the girl's throat nearly gives Jin a heart attack. With a speed that Jin didn't know she had, Byeol swipes both her own bowl and the entire pan of brownies off the counter and into her arms, "They're mine!"
"Yours?" Yoongi's eyes narrow dangerously, and fear bubbles up in Jin's gut from experience of the aftermath of that particular look, "And whose house are you currently residing in, young lady? Who fed you? And whose permission did you have?"
"Jin's!" B wobbles back a couple steps, willingly protecting the precious brownies with her entire body, "And I already shared with Jin!"
"Uh-" Yoongi is stumped for a second before he stalks slowly around the corner. The wicked grin on his namdongsaeng's face makes Jin want to run for his life, "But didn't you know sharing is caring?"
"I don't care!" The silver haired girl bravely shouts before descending into a fit of giggles that has both of the boys' hearts melting, "You can't have any! They're mine."
"Not if I have anything to say about it."
Jin never knew that Yoongi could run that fast.
IMPORTANT
Okay, so I've had people ask me about the ship names for Byeol x Jimin, so I thought I'd hold a vote. Which is your favorite ship name?
Bmin
Jiyeol
Others...?
Sorry that it took me so long to write this stupid chapter. I had to reboot my iPod, and I lost everything off it. I had all my pictures on there, as well as all of my notes and plan for this book. I'm so upset. I worked so hard on it, and it's all just gone. All my plans. I almost cried. But don't worry. I'm not giving up on this book anytime soon. I've worked too hard to stop now.
And then a caught yet another cold from my friend (she always insists that it's just her allergies. She doesn't have allergies), so I'm currently violently coughing as I'm finishing up this chapter. Hope you guys stay healthy and well! Having a cold in the summer is miserable.
Thank you guys for all the love you've given me, and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter a lot more than I did.
Don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT. ILY <3
~singformeangel
*Tokki means "bunny" in Korean, if you didn't know.