Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/8905846.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Underage
  Category:
      F/M, F/F, M/M, Multi, Other
  Fandom:
      방탄소년단_|_Bangtan_Boys_|_BTS, K-pop, Big_Bang_(Band)
  Relationship:
      Lee_Seunghyun_|_Seungri/Original_Female_Character(s), Kwon_Jiyong_|_G-
      Dragon/Original_Female_Character(s), Bangtan_Boys_Ensemble_&_Original
      Female_Character(s), Bangtan_Boys_Ensemble/Original_Male_Character(s),
      Bangtan_Boys_Ensemble/Original_Character(s), Kim_Namjoon_|_RM/Original
      Female_Character(s), Kim_Taehyung_|_V/Original_Female_Character(s), Jeon
      Jungkook/Original_Female_Character(s), Jeon_Jungkook/Kim_Taehyung_|_V/
      Original_Female_Character(s), Min_Yoongi_|_Suga/Park_Jimin, Jung_Hoseok_|
      J-Hope/Min_Yoongi_|_Suga, Kim_Taehyung_|_V/Park_Jimin, Kim_Namjoon_|_RM/
      Kim_Seokjin_|_Jin, Jeon_Jungkook_&_Park_Jimin, Jeon_Jungkook/Jung_Hoseok/
      Kim_Namjoon/Kim_Seokjin/Kim_Taehyung/Min_Yoongi/Park_Jimin, Jeon_Jungkook
      &_Jung_Hoseok_&_Kim_Namjoon_&_Kim_Seokjin_&_Kim_Taehyung_&_Min_Yoongi_&
      Park_Jimin, Park_Jimin_(BTS)/Original_Male_Character(s), Jung_Hoseok_|_J-
      Hope/Original_Female_Character(s), Kim_Seokjin_|_Jin/Original_Female
      Character(s), Min_Yoongi_|_Suga/Original_Female_Character(s)
  Character:
      Original_Female_Character(s), Min_Yoongi_|_Suga, Jeon_Jungkook, Kim
      Taehyung_|_V, Kim_Seokjin_|_Jin, Jung_Hoseok_|_J-Hope, Park_Jimin_(BTS),
      Kim_Namjoon_|_RM, Original_Female_Character(s)_of_Color, Original_Male
      Character(s), Original_Characters
  Additional Tags:
      Romance, Fluff, Angst, Smut, Drama, Family, Family_Drama, Relationship
      (s), Past_Relationship(s), Past_Child_Abuse, Animal_Death, Death, Alcohol
      Abuse/Alcoholism, Drug_Use, Past_Character_Death, Past_Violence,
      Emotional/Psychological_Abuse, Emotional_Manipulation, Break_Up, Love,
      Friendship, Male-Female_Friendship, Friends_With_Benefits, Sibling_Love,
      Falling_In_Love, Fights, Sex, Semi-Public_Sex, Dom/sub, Daddy_Kink, Light
      Bondage, Spanking, Love_Bites, Biting, Scratching, Light_Masochism,
      Breathplay, Sexual_Content, Sexual_Experimentation, Explicit_Sexual
      Content, Oral_Sex, Safewords, Safe_Sane_and_Consensual, Teasing, Dancing,
      Dirty_Dancing, Dirty_Thoughts, Dirty_Talk, Grinding, Possessive_Behavior,
      Jealousy, Face-Sitting, Eating_Disorders, Weight_Issues, Illnesses,
      Mental_Health_Issues, Physical_Abuse, Suicidal_Thoughts, Minor_Character
      Death, Fame, Adopted_Sibling_Relationship, Adoption, Song_Lyrics, Music,
      Musicians, Past_Underage, Underage_Kissing, Underage_Sex, Consensual
      Underage_Sex, Implied/Referenced_Underage_Sex, Underage_Drinking,
      Underage_Smoking, Original_Character-centric, Drinking, Smoking, Drinking
      to_Cope, Implied/Referenced_Underage_Drinking, Drinking_&_Talking, Family
      Feels, Family_Reunions, Car_Accidents, Car_Sex, Mile_High_Club, Makeouts,
      Anxiety_Disorder, Anxiety_Attacks, Crying, Laughter, Happy, Lingerie, Age
      Play, Nipple_Piercings, Piercings, Leather_Jackets, Partying, Sexting,
      Adult_Content, thigh_riding, Love_Triangles, Threesome_-_F/F/F, Threesome
      -_F/F/M, Threesome_-_F/M/M, Threesome, Protective_Bangtan_Boys, Drugs,
      Past_Drug_Use, Drug_Abuse, Praise_Kink, Masturbation, Anger, Anger
      Management, Rage, Sad, Polyamory, Polyamorous_Character, Bisexuality,
      Bisexual_Male_Character, Bisexual_Female_Character
  Series:
      Part 1 of Beauty_Within_the_Beast
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-12-19 Updated: 2017-08-04 Chapters: 2/? Words: 20055
****** The Lotus in the Swamp ******
by kizlu_sparkles
Summary
     This is under heavy editing, and the tags are a mess and i might be
     missing some, but i'm making this as best as i can.
Notes
     For the purpose of the story, certain events have been changed.
     This chapter had been edited. (July 7,2017)
See the end of the work for more notes
***** The Beginning *****
            “NO ONE WILL EVER LOVE YOU!” A woman screamed, anger evident on her
face. The stench of alcohol reeking from her mouth and the bottle in her hand;
the lack of affection was evident in everything else. She screamed in outrage,
throwing the bottle against the wall, causing it to shatter over her little
girl’s head.
            The almost-six-year-old was crouching against the wall, clutching
her head. She only wore a t-shirt and everything else was bare. Her hair was a
mess and her face was tears-stained. Her eyes were red and puffy and her chest
heaved with the sobs that shook her entire body. She could barely breathe. She
didn’t deserve such suffering.
            The girl thought the screaming wouldn’t stop. She expected another
beating like the one from the previous day, but it never came. Instead, her
mother walked out the door with the car keys and left. She left her child alone
again for the millionth time that week, only to show up the next day with a new
man, still drunk off her ass. Maybe the thought of her never returning was
something to pass through a five-year-old’s mind. Maybe that shouldn’t have
happened; but it did.
            “No one will ever love me…”
===============================================================================
                                     2014
            “Starlie! Where are you?” A female voice called out, walking
around, searching under every table, chair or piece of furniture she thought
Starlie could be. The female kept walking around her large apartment in search
of the feline and sighed as she stopped in the middle of her living room. She
pulled her phone out of her back pocket and checked the time, not failing to
notice that she had been searching for ten minutes. On her lock screen was a
picture of herself, her brother and the mentioned feline; a_white,_Persian_cat.
 Just as she was about to tuck her phone back in the rear pocket of her shorts,
it began to ring. A different picture of her and her brother was displayed on
the screen. Just above their faces, the name: “War God” was typed.  She sighed
as she threw her head back and answered the phone. Immediately, as she swiped
her thumb to answer on the screen -her acrylic, claw-like nails clacking
against the screen-, a voice was shouting.
            “Where the hell are you, Mo-Mo? We’ve been waiting for fifteen
minutes!” The voice exclaimed through the noise surrounding them. In the
background, she could hear overlapping voices; the voices of her friends. The
voice that was speaking directly into the phone was -none other than- her
brother’s; Ares. She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, becoming
frustrated.
            “I can’t find Starlie anywhere; I’ve been looking for over ten
minutes.” She informed into her mobile, her voice sounding full of fear and
frustration. She was becoming anxious; what if something had happened to her
beloved feline? She would perhaps crumble if something happened to her Persian
cat; a gift from her mother. “What if something happened to her?” She asked her
brother, the lump in her throat was evident as she spoke. Her eyes were glossy
and she was close to shedding a few tears.
            Down in the car -where the boys were-, Ares put his phone on
speaker and the boys shut up and paid attention to the call. Ares thought for a
moment and tried to remember anyplace Starlie liked to hide. The rest of the
boys listened as their female friend muttered words under breath as she
continued to look through her vast apartment. “Tulip, baby, was anyone at your
place today?” One of the female’s friends asked, his voice deeper than Ares’,
but had a soothing tone. Suddenly all movement and noise stopped on the other
end of the call.
            “Yeah...” The female answered as she thought for a moment.
            “Then go check if she’s at Mrs. Min’s place; that’s where she
usually goes.” The same voice said into the phone, smirking at the fact that
their friend had “gotten some action” the previous night.
            “Yeah, G. Maybe when Boy-Toy opened the door, she snuck out.”
Another voice said into the phone, also smirking at the fact that the female
hadn’t been alone. His teasing tone made the other boys snigger and the female
to roll her eyes where she was. This voice had an accent; an English accent.
Suddenly, on the other end, the sound of wind could be heard, letting them know
that their friend was running; the sound of someone knocking on a door was
heard before the female’s voice was heard again.
            “Thanks, guys. Be down soon.” The girl said before hanging up
abruptly, leaving them to laugh at their friend. Meanwhile, up on the last
floor in the building, the young woman was waiting for Mrs. Min to open the
door. She was shifting her weight from leg to leg, softly nibbling on the black
nail polish coating her_nails. She was grateful that no tears were spilled and
that her makeup was intact. Although she didn’t wear much makeup for the
occasion, she didn’t want to ruin the glitter freckles she’d done. Her
cheekbones were nicely accentuated with a little bit of white, sparkly
eyeshadow.
            She waited for the old lady, switching from nibbling on her nails
to playing with her many rings, checking her watch every moment that she began
to get too worried. She took off the black cap she had on and checked her
braids, putting it back on backwards over her head before leaning forward to
knock again. Just as her knuckles touched the wood once, the door opened
gently. She sighed in relief when she saw Mrs. Min at the door and a certain
white, Persian cat at her feet, trying to get out as she recognized her owner’s
scent. Starlie was excited to see her owner and brushed past Mrs. Min
immediately.
            “Starlie!” The young woman said happily as she crouched down to
grab the cat that had pushed through the old lady’s legs. She picked up the cat
and stood back up, looking at Mrs. Chester. “Good evening, Mrs. Min!” She said
-in what had become her main language for a little over a year and a half;
Korean- with a bright smile. Said old lady smiled and stared at her up and
down, deducing or simply assuming what the girl had planned for the night.
            “Hello, Tulip. I'm sorry that I didn’t call; I forgot. She’s been
sleeping most of the day and I fed her a couple of hours ago.” The old, Korean
woman replied with a small smile as she crossed her arms over her chest due to
the cold of the hallway.
            “It's okay, Mrs. Min. I was just very worried and I had to clean
the apartment today, so my head wasn’t in its place. Thank you for watching
her.” ‘Tulip’ said as she looked at Starlie with a smile. She suddenly
remembered that the boys were waiting and continued. “Oh, I would love to chat,
but I'm afraid I have to go quickly.” The young female spoke quickly as she
began to turn away.
            “Tulip, you can just leave her here for the rest of the time; while
you’re gone.” Mrs. Min offered nicely as she noticed that the girl was going
out.
            “Oh, no. We wouldn’t want to bother you anymore, Mrs. Min.” The
young woman quickly declined her neighbor’s offer, feeling like a burden.
            “Oh, come on, Tulip. You guys could never bother me. If it makes
you feel better, think of it as payment for the help you always give me.” The
old lady insisted on taking care of her neighbor’s cat. After a moment or two,
The young woman sigh and chuckled.
            “Fine, Mrs. Min. I owe you one.” Tulip said as she gave the white
feline to Mrs. Min.
            “No problem. Have fun, child!” The woman said, smiling before she
turned back to shout at her son, whom was almost forty and still living with
her. The young girl chuckled and waved goodbye, walking away.
            The young girl smiled and chuckled at her strange -but kind-
neighbors, walking back into her apartment. She grabbed her phone, the remote
to the basement gate and her keys, rushed out her door, locked it behind her,
and got onto an elevator as quick as she could. She looked at her phone and
noticed she had a few messages from Ares, asking if everything was alright. She
replied with a simple “On my way” and waited for the elevator to reach the
lobby. She was appreciative that it made no stops and that she could get to the
boys quickly. As she stepped out into the lobby, she greeted Mr. Wong at the
desk and Mr. Yang at the door. The pretty female admired the late noon sky and
it’s ambient, feeling a cool breeze against her face. It was the beginning of
autumn and she had always loved the season, which always had her in a good
mood. She smiled as she saw DJ’s SUV parked out front and walked to it quickly,
tapping on the window to the backseat. They all smiled and became excited at
the sight of her. Sammy opened the car door and pulled her in.
            “Gem!” They all shouted as they each tried to hug her. DJ and Ares
waited, knowing that it would be uncomfortable due to them being in the front.
Sammy and Andy, who were both in the back seat, pulled her, crushing her in a
hug. They hadn’t seen each other in almost a month and a half, which was
horrible for all of them, but at the same time, it was a very much needed
break. They were all very close friends and exceptional band members, but they
needed a break from all the work, especially after coming back from their
‘Smashing the Atmosphere’ Tour. After what they had planned for the evening,
they were supposed to start working on their Korean EP, which they were going
to work on with a South Korean record label. It had something they had been
working on for a long time-even before and during their latest tour. They were
supposed to start working with some really good music producers soon. Gem and
DJ had been separately working on songs and texting each other what they
thought, but none of them -apart from the siblings- had seen each other in a
while.
            “Oi! Watch the makeup!” Gem exclaimed through her laughter as the
two boys placed small kisses all over her face. She smiled when they left one
last kiss (each) on her cheeks and let her sit between them. Samuel Jones
mostly known as Sammy or Scarface, the boy with dark brown hair, dark brown
eyes and distinctive scars on his face; he sat at her left. His arm was lazily
draped over her shoulder as she perched her feet between the two front seats.
On Gem’s right side was Andrew Johnson a.k.a. Andy or Kid Moon; the boy with
dirty-brunette hair, dark brown eyes and an English accent as he was born in
London, England. The English boy made himself comfortable, placing his legs
over Gem’s lap as he went back to his phone to text his girlfriend. In the
front seats were two of the oldest; Dylan James Beck, mostly known as DJ or
Blondie, who had brunette hair, blue eyes and a ‘lady-killer’ look; and
finally, but not least appreciated, Ares Nicolai Mohinder Zoraliada Graham
a.k.a. Zomoni_or_War God. Best known for his energetic attitude and life-style.
His black hair and dark brown eyes make the girls swoon during concerts, when
he’s playing the guitar -or sometimes the drums. The girls usually drool over
his adorable smile and his ability to go from good boy to bad boy. He is Gem’s
adopted sibling. He is two years her senior and was adopted the same day as his
female sibling by Isaac J. Zoraliada and Lily-Mo Graham.
            Gem Jupula Tulip-Mo Zoraliada Graham a.k.a. Zotumoju_or_Baby
Girl,was nine when they were both adopted by the couple. She had naturally,
brown -almost black- hair, and green eyes. She is rather small compared to most
of the people she surrounds herself with and had a very slim figure. She isn’t
very fond of having female friends and had always surrounded herself with
males. She is the leader of their band (“Gem and The Stars”), since she was the
one who created the group and manages most things. When Gem turned thirteen,
she had already mastered several instruments (like the keyboard and the piano,
the acoustic and electric guitar, and the ukulele) and began to compose songs.
She continued to develop herself in music and with the help of Ares and their
friends, they created “Gem and The Stars” just before she turned fifteen. After
debuting, she continued to learn different instruments and by the time they
were moving to Korea, she’d mastered the drum set and the violin too.
            “Hey! What about us?” Ares exclaimed from the front as he turned to
her, displaying a look of disbelief. He and DJ were both looking at her,
waiting for her to move and hug them. Ares looked like he forgot he had plans
given that his hair looked disheveled and -from what Gem could see- he threw on
the first thing he found in his closet. Meanwhile, DJ looked nicely dressed and
his hair looked taken care of under his cute hat.
            “I’ll hug you when we get there.” She said with a cheeky smile, not
wanting to move from her spot. “It’ll be more special for the two of you.” She
added as she blew a kiss their way. She smiled one more time and watched as
they looked at her with squinted eyes before turning back towards the front.
Slowly, DJ pulled out from the spot where he had parked and they made their way
to their favorite restaurant.
           
            It wasn’t a long ride and it wasn’t an uncomfortable one. Andy
spent the whole ride texting his most recent girlfriend, Sammy and Gem were
thumb wrestling and laughing the whole ride and, DJ and Ares were arguing about
becoming vegan after watching Cowspiracy. Ares thought becoming vegan would
make no sense given that the production of meat -and other foods obtained from
animals- would continue. DJ had already begun his diet to become a vegan like
Gem, who had been a vegan since she was three years old. Gem was helping him
with his diet and was suggesting certain recipes. She was a little bit hardcore
with her diet, but she went easy on him. Her “hardcore vegan diet” is what
usually scared Ares into becoming a vegan and kept him a vegetarian.
            As they approached the restaurant, they all cheered when they
noticed it wasn’t full. After getting out of the car, Gem approached Ares and
they shared a tight embrace and cheek-to-cheek kisses. She and DJ hugged and
walked into the restaurant together. The female’s arm was around his waist and
his was over her shoulders. They walked towards the counter and began to order
their usual meals. They recognized the woman to be the one who always took
their orders and greeted her kindly -as they always did. They paid and made
their way to a table with their food in trays. They managed to sit in the
corner booth, not failing to notice a group of Korean boys at a table near
them. Gem didn’t fail to notice how they stared at her group as if trying to
figure something out; as if trying to remember where they’d seen them before.
She also didn’t fail to notice how attractive and familiar they looked.
            She sat with her back against the window and her legs on the bench
-against her chest-, sometimes extending them to lay on Ares’ lap. DJ, Sammy
and Andy sat opposite to them. They were sharing stories from the time they
spent apart. It was strange for them to be speaking their native tongues again.
Each of them had become accustomed to the Korean of Seoul. It was one of the
few times in three weeks that Gem was speaking English in a complete
conversation. She was ecstatic to be with her friends again; with her family.
            Meanwhile, less than ten feet away, sat a group of boys. They were
trying hard not to stare, but the group of youngsters that sat by them reminded
them of themselves and their loudness was attracting. There was also the
undeniable fact that some -perhaps most- were staring at the young girl with
the four boys. She was irrefutably attractive and she wore an outfit that
attracted their attention (and not in some perverted way). She looked adorable
in a pair of baggy, high-waist shorts with a striped top tucked into them and
black suspenders on top. Under her shorts she wore dark tights and a pair of
black, knee-high Converse. The oversize, bomber jacket she wore was adorable,
with tiger patches over the breasts and its cute soft pink color. She had two
chokers, a simple necklace that said: “Baby Girl” and longer necklace with a
moon and -not to forget- the simple bracelet she wore on one hand. On the neck
of her tee, hung a pair of silver sunglasses and on her head, was a backwards
cap. She had various rings on and many piercings. She had her left nostril and
her septum pierced, but the rings are small. On her left ear, she had a
standard lobe and two upper-lobe piercing that she adorned with earrings that
made it look like a claw and three forward helix piercings. Albeit, on her
right ear she had the standard lobe piercing, two upper-lobe, single orbital
and industrial piercings, and single, daith and rook piercings. Although she
looked heavily pierced, she made them work and managed to continue her
“adorable_look”.
            A couple of the boys were staring; practically drooling over the
girl. It was only when she turned her head that they looked away. She had been
in a fit of hysterical laughter when she turned her head and simply smiled
sweetly their way when she noticed them. When they look away, she giggled
softly and wore a subtle smirk. The girl looked back towards her friends and
resumed the conversation. Although she recognized them to be one of the rising-
to-the-top, K-pop groups, she decided against making a scene. As an artist, she
knew what “time off” and privacy meant to fellow artists.
            Gem knew a lot about BTS, or Bangtan Boys. They were a group of
seven, talented, young boys that could sing and dance. Not to mention, they
could certainly make Gem cry with more than a handful of their songs. Gem was
very aware that she’d be working with their record label. Gem was absolutely in
love with them and that’s why she’d and her bandmates had collectively chosen
Big Hit Entertainment to work with. BTS had also released a new music video
recently; War of Hormone (She had laughed the entire time as she watched it).
The video had proved that they’d chosen correctly. Although they’d been offered
by other record labels like: YG, SM and JYP Entertainment, Gem and the others
thought that BigHit seemed like a nicer choice.
           
            “Okay, Zomoni, truth or dare?” DJ asked, still laughing from the
previous dare. His voice broke Gem away from her thoughts and dragged her back
into their game
            “You already know the answer to that.” Ares replied with a smirk,
preparing himself for the worst. He sipped on his drink and rubbed his hands
together as he waited. Gem laughed at the sight and prepared herself as well.
No one was ever safe when playing truth or dare.
            “Okay. I dare you to… finish that extra-large soda in twenty
seconds or less.” The brunette boy dared, looking at the full cup of soda in
front of the raven-haired boy. Ares looked at him with wide eyes at first, but
accepted the challenge nonetheless. “Ready, set… go!” DJ exclaimed after Ares
agreed. They all watched as he tried to chug all of it. He was almost done when
he choked and spit it all over DJ. They all broke out into frenetic laughter,
having noticed how soda had come out of Ares’ nose. In the meantime, the long-
haired boy was wiping his face with a napkin, looking quite annoyed at how
everything had played out.
            “Who’s next?” Ares asked, still laughing, lacking oxygen and his
face was as red as a tomato.
            “Tulip goes next.” Samuel informed, pointing towards the female who
was still laughing without control. Her breathing was becoming short and her
sides hurt from so much laughter. Gem wiped her eyes carefully and look at
Ares, waiting for the question.
            “Truth or dare, Jupe?” Her brother asked, still chuckling. He
watched as she thought for a moment. She usually chose truth when in public
places, but she was debating herself.
            “I choose… dare.” She answered, making all of them look surprised
towards her. The boys leaned forward, waiting for what would happen. Gem, on
the other hand, was nervous, but hid it well and made herself comfortable in
her place, sipping her water. Ares looked around and his eyes landed on
something perfect for his dare.
            “I dare you to casually walk up to those boys and sit on one of
their lap.” Ares dared, grinning like the Cheshire cat. He had a glint in his
eyes, letting her know that there was no backing out. She immediately regretted
saying “dare” or playing at all.
            Although Gem was not one to do such thing, she exited the both
after smacking Ares in the head and telling him to move. She straightened
herself, brushing her clothes. She rolled her eyes at her friends and
approached the table full of boys. As she did, she chose one to be her victim.
She had to choose wisely and with caution. It had to be one of the boys at the
corners and he also had to look like he could hold her weight on his lap. The
selection was quick and she took a deep breath before smirking and casually
walking towards one of them. He had blonde roots and pink-ish hair; lightly
trimmed at the sides and back. He also had the cutest dimples one could
imagine. He looked like a sweetheart! His eyes were so tender and had a child-
like glint in them, they were full of serenity and passion.  
            Gem was grateful that his leg was sticking out and that she could
easily sit on it without too much work and for the last time, she breathed in
deeply. She easily sat on his leg as he was deep in an argument with another
member, earning his and his friend’s attention as she made herself comfortable
and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table, looking at all of them.
They were all very attractive even in their shocked and surprised states.
            “I’m sorry. You can proceed.” Gem said in their native tongue as if
everything was normal, but her cheeks were beginning to feel tingly as they
were dusted with pink and she wanted to shy away. She was watching as they
looked at each other in confusion. She felt so disrespectful and hoped that
they wouldn’t say anything, despite her deserving it. After a moment of ongoing
silence, she gained some confidence and sighed, leaning back into the boy’s
chest and making sure to drape her arm around his shoulder. “Listen, I’m really
sorry. I know this is really disrespectful of me and my friends, but my brother
dared me to come over here and sit on one of your laps. I really don’t want to
be their slave for two days, so please, help me out. And again, I’m very sorry
that we dragged you into our game.” She explained as she looked at all of them
with a serious yet -in a way- pleading face. They all nodded, understanding and
looked at each other again, shrugging. They silently agreed to help her out and
simply introduce themselves.
            The one she was sitting on suddenly changed his demeanor and became
more confident. A dimpled smile appeared and his eyes looked into hers, sending
a nice warmth throughout her body. He wrapped one arm around her waist and
pulled her a little closer, placing her in a comfortable position for the two.
She went stiff for a moment, but soon relaxed a little and blushed a deeper
shade. She adjusted herself to the new position and relaxed. The young man used
the other hand to the one she didn’t have around his shoulder, bringing it up
to his lips.
            “Okay, then. I’mKim_Namjoon, but you can call me Rap Monster or
Joonie.” He said against the soft skin of her hand, finally kissing it after
introducing himself. He looked at her with kind eyes and a joyous smile. “I
hope you’re comfortable.” He added with a blush on his cheeks as he looked
away, making Gem smile as she nodded shyly. She looked next to him and there
was a cute boy with a big smile. He had black hair and a cute, bunny smile and
Gem recognized him to be the “maknae” of the group, a.k.a. the youngest.
            “I’mJeon_Jungkook, you can call me Jungkook or Kookie, if you
want.” The boy said, extending his hand, shaking Gem’s free one. He looked shy
and adorable, and was blushing, which made him look even more charming. The
thing that caught the female’s attention was the fact that he seemed to
recognize her and he was -in a way- “fanboying” inside. He was radiating
excitement. She hoped he wouldn’t say anything, if that was the case. Aside
from that, he was obviously, almost drooling over the poor girl, but he had
this look. A looked that was so innocent, but a glint in his eyes betrayed his
secretly savage nature.
            “Hi, Kookie!” She smiled with a small wave. He smiled at her shyly
and a blush crept up to his cheeks at the sound of her voice pronouncing the
cute name. Up next was the person sitting next to Jungkook, which was a boy
with brown hair and the most beautiful lips on the planet. He was looking very
adorable with his beanie and although he looked young, she remembered him to be
the oldest of the group. She hadn’t delved too deep into the group’s
background, but she knew the basic information about them; she never memorized
their names.
            “Hi, I’mKim_Seokjin. Call me Jin.” He said softly with a rather
handsome smile. He shook Gem’s hand gently and his hands were as soft as her
own. “It’s nice to meet you.” He added as he looked at her with another bright
smile that made his eyes close completely. She could already tell that the two
of them would get along really well.
            “You too, Jin.” Gem replied with a bright smile of her own, still
not introducing herself properly. She would wait until all the boys introduced
themselves. After Jin, the boy next to him extended his hand and offered a
smile. His hair was a mix of silver and purple and he had a blank stare on his
face at first as he observed her.
            “I’mKim_Taehyung. You can call me V or TaeTae.” He said in a deep
voice, suddenly becoming more jovial. He had a very sexy tone that she never
imagined would escape those delectable lips. He offered a huge smile and a
fist, making her giggle at his enthusiasm. She laughed as she bumped his fist
with her own. He was absolutely adorable! Next to V, and in front of Jin, was a
boy that looked like the definition of sunshine. His smile was so bright; it
could probably leave someone blind. He had brown, red-ish hair and looked like
a ball of light and happiness. He was one of the few that had been staring her
way while she had been sitting with her friends. Although his smile alone could
not make her sure of the brightness of his personality, the aura emanating from
him did.
            “I’mJung_Hoseok. You call me J-Hope or Hobi.” He introduced with
enthusiasm, his voice loud (not in annoying way) as he shook her hand. She was
entranced by his smile. Never had she seen such a bright aura in one person.
Gem offered a smile and a giggle as she shook his hand. Her eyes sparkled,
making him blush. Next to Hobi was another male with a similar hair color, but
his looked more like a copper tone. He looked serious and like more of a calm
person. He looked like he was usually the opposite of Hobi, but he still smiled
for her. It made her heart melt as soon as she saw his “gummy smile”.
            “I’mMin_Yoongi, but you can call me Suga or… just Yoongi. Whatever
you like.” They boy said, his voice soft and relaxed; he was offering a shy
smile, but seemed to be trying to make an impression. He obviously knew who she
was and where she stood in the music industry. Yoongi looked like the type of
person to be able to sleep for an entire week -like the type of person to
hibernate. After letting go of her hand, he sat forward with his elbows on the
table and continued to look at her interactions with everyone, curious as to
where it would all lead and waiting for a chance to have a decent conversation
about music.
            Finally, in front of her was another boy with brown hair. He had
plump lips and beautiful features in general -just like all of them. He
reminded her of Jungkook with his slightly shy attitude, making her giggle a
bit as she took his hand. As if something had taken him by surprised when he
took her hand, his eyes widened slightly and he suddenly smirked. He leaned
forward, pressing her hand up to his lips and kissed it. He was admiring her
eyes as he did so, making her blush lightly. He was the “rude” one from the War
of Hormone video. The one in the tight, red pants.
            “I’mPark_Jimin.” He simply stated softly and flirtatiously. “It’s a
pleasure to meet you.” He added, letting go of her hand slowly. He smiled at
her and she returned the kind gesture before turning back to look at all of
them.
            “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet the Bangtan Boys. I think you
already recognize that I’m Gem Zoraliada.” Gem finally introduced herself with
a big smile. The laughed lightly as they nodded, amused by the whole situation.
Albeit, they were surprised that she knew who they were. “You guys can call me
Mo-Mo, Jupe or Baby Girl.” She added, pointing at her necklace as she said the
last one. She waved at them adorably and watched all their slightly surprised
expressions. “What? You thought I wouldn’t know about one of South Korea’s best
k-pop groups?” She asked with a smile and a laugh. She laughed when they all
shook their head and she shrugged innocently.
            She was delightfully fun, friendly and outgoing, immediately being
liked by the boys. Well, they already liked her as an artist and as someone
they weren’t acquaintances with, but they immediately liked her true
personality. They all began to smile at her as she sat there, giggling. They
all stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. Gem was going to tell them not to be
so awkward when she noticed her friends and brother; they were staring at her
in shock. They had not intended for it all to go the way it did. Their facial
expressions made Gem smirk and chuckle, motioning for them to come over. “Oh,
please let me introduce you to my brother and our friends.” She said as they
neared the table, going to Gem’s side.
            “Hi.” Ares said as he waved at the group of boys in an awkward
manner. His cheeks were blushed and he was avoiding eye contact as he looked at
his shoes.
            “Boys, this is my brother, Ares. The one to his right is DJ and the
ones to his left are Andy and Sammy.” The girl introduced with a smile as she
pointed towards each. They all shook hands and smiled at each other. And
suddenly, it all clicked to the boys. They recognized the bunch.
             “Ares is the one who dared me to come over here.” Gem said with a
smirk as she looked at her brother, who blushed more. She laughed at his
awkward demeanor and stood up to hug her brother. She kissed his cheek and
noticed their stares of amazement. “What?” She questioned in confusion. Ares
wrapped his arm around his sister’s shoulder and let her place her hand in his
back pocket. He kissed her temple and chuckled. Gem continued to stare at the
group of Korean boys in confusion.
            “It’s nice to meet one of favorite bands. Especially in such a way.
We love Gem and the Stars.” Yoongi commented from his place, a smile on his
features. Gem and her friends blushed and looked down at their feet. “Your
song-writing skills and production skills are amazing! We’re really big fans!”
He added.
            “Huge fans!” Jungkook commented excitedly as he smiled widely. He
looked like he wanted to ask for an autograph.
            Gem smiled with a light blush and was about to say something, but
her phone chimed. She pulled it out of her pocket and noticed it was just a
message from her mother; saying: “Good luck on the EP! I know it’ll be great! I
love you; kiss the boys for me. -Mama Star”. Gem smiled down at her screen and
replied with: “Thanks, mom! I love you too! I’ll do it right now. -Baby Star”.
In no time, she received a few emojis from her and was satisfied with the
little communication. She took the opportunity to look at the time and noticed
it was almost 17:30. They had to get going back to her place so they could
finish planning.
            “Crap, we should get going.” The young girl groaned as she threw
her head back, speaking in English. “We have a lot of stuff to do when we get
back to my place. Also, mom sends kisses.” She informed to her friends.
            “True, tomorrow we have to have at least five to seven drafts.
Also, tell mom I’ll call her later.” Ares agreed with a sigh and watched Gem
type a quick text to their mother. Although, Ares wanted to stay and talk to
the boys, he and the others had work; important work. Wait, something about
that sentence was wrong; he couldn’t exactly call it work since he loved it. 
It was his passion, which made it seem to him as if he just messed around all
day; the same applied to the rest of his friends. Gem turned to the boys at the
table and smiled sadly.
            “We’re really sorry, but we have to go. We’d honestly love to stay
and chat, but we have work to do. Thank you so much for the compliments! I love
your music too, it’s wonderful! Also, thank you so much for the wonderful time
and, once again, we’re really sorry.” Gem explained, watching them all frown
and pout.
            “Don’t worry, we understand. And you don’t have to apologize, the
outcome was more than payment. It was really nice meeting you!” Namjoon said
with a soft chuckle, standing up. It was only then that Gem noticed how… lanky
he was. He probably stood at five feet and eleven inches tall. “We look forward
to seeing you again.” He added, looking at all of them. The rest of the group
stood as well and bowed to them, waving.
            “Yeah, just look me up on any social media. I’m the only Gem
Zoraliada you’ll find. Plus, I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing each other
soon and often. Oh, and Min Yoongi, we have pending conversation about music.”
She began speaking to Namjoon and changed her line of sight towards Min Yoongi,
who looked surprised. She then turned back to look at Namjoon. She looked at
him with a playful smile and mischievous eyes as she shoved her hands in the
pockets of her jacket. He looked down at her with a smirk and let out a small
chuckle, shoving his hands into his pockets. He bit his lip lightly and broke
into a huge smile, watching her grin as well. She took one of her hands out of
her pocket and pushed his shoulder lightly, laughing. Should they meet again in
the future, they were bound to become great friends.
            “I’ll do that. I hope you have fun composing.” He said in plain
English as he laughed, staring into her green eyes. She smiled and waved
goodbye to them, turning to look at her brother as she silently told him that
she was ready to leave. He nodded and motioned for them to follow with his
head, wordlessly asking for the car keys by extending his hand towards DJ. The
oldest of the group gave the keys to Ares without hesitation, knowing that he
wasn’t a careless driver unlike the other male youngsters.
 
             Moments later and they were already pulling out of the
establishment’s parking lot. This time, Gem sat in the front, scrolling through
her phone. She was looking through her Tumblr, looking through the fashion tag.
Suddenly, her screen flashed and a picture of her with a familiar male popped
up, his nickname above it. She chuckled at the sight and answered the call,
placing her phone against her as she smirked.
            “It’s been hours since we saw each other; are you that desperate?”
Gem questioned jokingly into her phone, looking at her feet, which were propped
up on the dash.
            “There are many reasons why I’m with you; desperation has never, is
not and will never be one of them. You know how I feel about you, baby.”The
voice stated, sounding smug. Gem could sense that the male was smirking on the
other end.
           “Sure thing, oppa.” She responded sarcastically as she rolled her
eyes and a chuckle escaped her. “What did you need?” She asked seriously.
            “Can I stay over today?” He requested after sighing. He hated it
when she got that way; when he could sense that she was rolling her beautiful
eyes at him and that she didn’t completely trust his intentions yet. “Please,
baby.” He added in his imperfect English.
            “Why?” Was her only question. She was so confused she simply asked
in English.
            “I want to see you again; I want to sleep by your side tonight.” He
explained, almost whining as he realized that his reason might not be enough,
whether it was true or not. “Please, I know the boys will be there, but I don’t
care if they know.” He begged and something was definitely off. He’d never been
so eager to be at her side and display his affection.
            “I don’t know; I have work to do and we really need to
concentrate…” She trailed off as she turned to look at Ares, who had a
questioning look. He knew who his sister was talking to, but he didn’t exactly
know what was happening since he could only hear one side of the conversation.
            “I’ll be in your room. You won’t even know I’m there.”He proposed
as if he had just cured cancer. He was also very hopeful that she agreed. He
would have loved to ‘mess around’ with her again in one day, but she had work
and the boys were going to be there (four, over-protective, brother-like boys).
He was even crossing the fingers on his free hand. The man hoped that she at
least said: “I’ll think about it”. When he heard her sigh in defeat, he
mentally cheered.
            “Fine, but only in my room and with Starlie. I’ll try to go up
whenever I can.”She explained as she postulated the conditions of his stay.
            “Perfect, baby. I’ll see you soon.” He said, sounding extremely
grateful.
            “No problem. I’ll see you soon, oppa.” She stated before hanging up
with a smile as she shook her head and her brows were still furrowed in
disbelief. Gem placed her phone on top of her thigh with the screen facing
down. She didn’t even bother returning to Tumblr, knowing that boys would have
questions. She knew well enough exactly how overprotective they were and the
conversation would raise some flags. They might joke about her hookups, but
when they knew someone was staying over, it was different. She didn’t
understand why, but it was always the same. If it was a simple hookup, they
would be fine with it, but when things were serious between her and someone,
they would over-react and be against it. And now they had overhead that someone
was staying over,which meant that things were sort of serious, which meant that
they would get over-protective.
            “Who was that?” Ares was the first to speak, glancing away from the
road towards his sibling. He was ready to give her a speech until she was on
the verge of strangling him to the point of turning purple.
            “Lee Seunghyun.” Gem answered as she took off her cap and fixed her
braids, placing the cap on top of the dash. It didn’t let her rest her head on
the seat correctly.
            “Oh! Is Seungri coming over?” An excited voice popped up between
the two. When Gem turned her head, she noticed it was a very excited Andy. He
had always been a major fan of Seunghyun, maknae of the K-Pop band, BIGBANG.
One of the best k-pop groups. They didn’t have much time to get to know many of
the Korean bands, but they were forced to know BIGBANG. This was because once
word got out that Gem and The Stars was in South Korea looking for a temporary
record label to help produce their new EP, YG was already calling their
manager. When they met up with YG himself, he introduced them to BIGBANG, but
Gem had already met Seunghyun during their first six months in Seoul.
           
            It had been one of those hectic days where she couldn’t find
anything and nothing went as planned. After having slept only an hour due to
composing, Gem had had been in the worst mood possible. When she went to
prepare some breakfast, she noticed that they had run out of milk -she and the
boys were all living under the same roof at the time. She couldn’t make
anything for breakfast, including coffee. She couldn’t find one of her shoes,
one of the boys had spilled something on her favorite jacket and she couldn’t
find her phone or wallet anywhere. She grabbed a pair of fluffy slippers,
grabbed a flimsy cardigan and found her phone under her bed, taking DJ’s
wallet. She was wearing long pajama pants that belonged to Ares and a huge t-
shirt that belonged to Sammy, having her hair in a simple, messy bun. On her
way to the grocery store, it began to pour rain and she stepped on a puddle,
her phone fell and cracked, and she almost got hit by a cyclist as she went to
grab it from the street. Her day was just the worst! When she was finally at
the store, she went over to the fridge and noticed there was only one gallon of
milk left. She rushed to it and tried to grab it before someone else could, but
failed. Just as she was getting closer, someone opened the door and grabbed it,
making her cry out in frustration. The feeling was so overwhelming that she
began to cry and beg for the person to give her the milk. The man couldn’t help
but feel bad and gave her the gallon after listening to her rant about her
terrible day. She was surprised by his actions and cried even more from how
grateful she was. He looked at her with a warm smile on his handsome features
and he shrugged off his leather jacket.
            “Take off your sweater.” He said with a smile as he extended his
jacket towards her. So far, the only good thing that was going on for Gem was
that she was fluent in Korean. After all, she had to know the language of the
place where she’d been living for almost five months.
            “I can’t take your jacket.” Gem rejected the offer and waved her
hands in front of her. She backed up a bit and shook her head.
            “You can and you will; think of it as a loan.” He said, leaving no
room for argument. Not that she had any; she was shocked by his words; shocked
enough that her mouth hung agape, staring at the man in surprise. She looked
terrible; she was soaking wet from head to toe, her eyes looked sunken in from
the lack of sleep, her hair was tangled and messy, her feet were all muddy and
squishy, and now she looked like an idiot as she stared at the man.  A loan
meant that she would have to pay him back. By the looks of him, wearing an
expensive leather jacket, leather boots and his sunglasses, the man was
wealthy. He was also handsome and there was a high percentage that he was aware
of his good looks. He wasn’t stupid; the price she would pay would be high. The
man laughed at her expression and insisted.
            “I don’t mind, I swear. Just take it.”He said with a smile, pausing
for a moment.“As payment, you can give me your number so I can call you and
pick up the jacket. And maybe you can accompany me to dinner.” The man proposed
as he flirted, a cute smile on his face as he watched her process his words.
She looked surprised by his proposal and looked at him in disbelief. Gem
finally made her choice as she extended her hand to grab the jacket with a
sliver of hesitation.
            “T-thank you.” She said slowly as she shrugged off her own
outerwear.
            “No problem…Baby Girl.” He replied with a smug smirk as he noticed
her tense up. Having read what her gold necklace said in good English. “My
name’s Seunghyun, but you can call me Seungri.” He introduced, chuckling at her
awkward behavior and beet-red blush after he mentioned the nickname.
            “I’m Gem.” She introduced, still blushing hard enough to make
tomatoes jealous. “It’s a pleasure to meet you and thank you for the milk and
the jacket, Seungri.”She added, standing straighter as she had his warm and
expensive-looking jacket swallowing her small frame, grabbing the gallon of
milk from where she had placed it on the floor.
            “No problem at all, hope your day gets better.” He said as he
watched her begin to walk away, still facing him. He had forgotten all about
her number as he stared at her wearing his jacket. The girl was so attractive
it messed with his thoughts. He recognized her from somewhere, but couldn’t
quite remember from where. He was surprised she didn’t recognize him, just as
she was surprised that he didn’t recognize her.
            Just as Gem turned away from looking at him, she remembered that
she owed him her number. She turned around quickly and walked towards him at a
fast pace as he stood in the same place, but looking in another direction.
            “Hey, I forgot to give you my number.” She stated as she reached
him. He turned and acknowledged what she said, smirking. He took his phone out
of the back pocket of his jeans and unlocked it, handing it over to her.
Seunghyun watched her save her number under the name “Baby Girl” and he
couldn’t help but smirk with more sinful intentions.  “There you have it.” She
stated as she returned his phone to him, smiling softly and looking up at him
through her lashes before walking away. He watched her walk away again before
typing a text and sending it. Moments later a phone chimed and he stared at Gem
as she took out her phone and read a message, squinting at the cracked screen.
            She turned around slightly and grinned, chuckling at his text. A
simple: “Looking forward to the date, baby girl ;)” in English. She shook her
head and continued to walk away a she replied with a: “Just give me a call,
handsome :)” before saving the number into her phone as “Fukboii Alert”.
           
           After that day, Seunghyun called the next day asking if she was free
the next night and she accepted his request to dinner. He took her out for
dinner at his favorite restaurant and they ended up talking a lot more than
they thought they would. He told her about his band and she told him about her
own. He recognized hers and realized why he had recognized her. They had a fun
night and ended up just hanging out often as friends, who soon (2 months after
meeting) started an odd relationship. They didn’t see each other as a couple at
first, but after some time (2 and a half months of a mutually beneficial
relationship), they began to expand their relationship and make it into
something more. That had been going on for a little of three months and now,
there Gem was, sitting in the car with her brother and best friends (which were
practically her brothers too), knowing that she had to tell them. Something
inside of her was telling her that she should tell them about her strange and
progressing relationship with the youngest of their favorite K-Pop band.
            “Yeah; he’s gonna stay the night.” Gem answered Andy’s question.
            “Why would Seunghyun stay over?” her brother questioned in
confusion, knowing something was up. Gem sighed and closed her eyes, preparing
herself for what she was about to say.
            “Because we’re together.” Gem informed in small tone as she looked
down at her fingers. Suddenly, all the boys were looking at her with their jaws
hanging. Ares’ grip on the steering wheel tightened and Andy backed away in
fear off what could happen. Ares could explode at any moment with his
overprotective brother speech, which was usually just said very loudly and
dramatically. That usually ended when Gem hit him and made him shut up.
            “What?!”Ares questioned through gritted teeth as he looked at her
with anger in his eyes.
            “Oi! Calm your tits, assface!” Gem stated with a growl as she
noticed where the situation was headed.
            “I will not calm my non-existent tits! How long have you been
keeping this from me- from us?” He asked, speaking loudly.
            “First of all, it’s none of your business. I am an adult and I
you’re not my mother. Second of all, it’s been happening for a while, but we
didn’t think it would last so we didn’t say anything. We were also afraid of
your reactions.” Gem informed in an angry tone, not believing her brother’s
attitude. She tried to calm herself and turned away from her brother, deciding
to look out the window for the rest of the day.
            “Explain to me how you’ve managed to keep this from all of us.”
Ares asked after he calmed down a little.
            “Well, the fact that we haven’t seen each other in almost two
months helped. And whenever I said: ‘some random dude’ was over, I was with
him.”
            Ares took a deep breath and relaxed, exhaling deeply as he
momentarily closed his eyes (they had stopped at a red light). He composed his
behavior and turned to look at his sister, who was staring out the window. She
was upset with his reaction, meaning that it was important to her for him to be
okay with it (just like with everything else). He decided against saying
anything else and the boys made the right decision by not commenting.
           
            It was no longer than ten minutes before they were in the
underground parking lot of Gem’s apartment. The boys followed her, conversing
about what they would like to try out for the new album. Gem was quiet and
ignored the constant chiming of her phone. They all rode the elevator up to her
floor and tried to avoid doing anything that might make the brunette blow. She
opened her apartment door and let them in, but she made her way to Mrs. Min’s
apartment to get Starlie. Once she had Starlie in her arms, she was much more
relaxed. Gem stepped into her_apartment (her_penthouse), immediately placing
Starlie on the floor and locking the door. Gem was staring at the beautiful
tree, that was illuminated by the night_sky and demanded all eyes. Starlie
purred at Gem’s feet, sensing the need for comfort. The feline followed her
owner up to her room and watched her get undressed from a spot on the bed. Gem
took off all of her clothes and wiped away her makeup, undoing her braids too.
            Meanwhile, Andy and Sammy plopped down on the couch in the living
room and DJ stayed at the kitchen doorway talking to Ares. Although DJ didn’t
like the idea of Gem being with someone either, he was keeping is comments to
himself and letting her be happy. She deserved a little freedom after all she
did for the band. She was the one who took care of most of them when they were
feeling down and she was the mom of the group. Not only that, but she believed
that if they could date, why couldn’t she? Because she’s a female? No way they
were going to be that sexist.
            “Hey, Gem?” Sammy called out as she walked down the stairs wearing
pajamas. Her hair was loose and wavy, and her face was clear of makeup and
fresh. She’d brushed her teeth and done her beauty routine for the night. After
she finished working, she planned to just sleep.
            “Yeah?” She responded, letting them know she’d heard them.
            “Can we pillage your pantry?” He added with a grin, quoting Bilbo
Baggins from The Hobbit. Gem laughed and nodded as she descended the stairs
with Starlie by her side.
            “The use of the word pillage in that sentence was (in a way)
incorrect, but go ahead.” The brunette replied with a small laugh as she
plopped down on her couch, letting her cat settle in her lap. She crossed her
legs, letting her black flip flops drop to the carpet and leaned back against
the sofa as she proceeded to pet her feline with her free hand (in her other
hand, she had her phone). Her white, oversized t-shirt smelled freshly cleaned
and of fabric softener. Not to forget her comfortable, black, silk shorts she
was wearing that made her thighs feel cool and soft. Gem was wearing a simple
tank top under her big shirt and a pair of regular panties under her shorts.
            Gem opened her phone and looked at all of her notifications. A big
smile made its way onto her face as she noticed that BTS had begun following
her on Twitter. They’d posted a few tweets mentioning her and some were
screenshots of them playing her music. The rest of the notifications had been
fans getting excited about their encounter. Some fans of the boys were now
following her and some of her own fans were following them or writing tweets
about them. She ignored anything that seemed like hate and scrolled through the
good stuff. Some of the fans were already making edits of a BTS x GATS
collaboration. She smiled brightly when she was so much positive feedback to
them collaborating.
            Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone rang. Seunghyun’s face
beside her own made her smile as she slid her finger across the screen to
answer, still unable to not smile and giggle at his nickname; “Kinky Maknae”. 
She held her phone against her ear and spoke.
            “Hey!” Gem said plainly in English.
            “Open up, baby; I’m at the door.” Seunghyun said softly and Gem
could tell he was smiling.
            “Okay; hold on.” Gem replied with a similar smile, placing Starlie
to the side before she jumped off the couch and quickly jogged to the door. The
brunette ignored her flip flops and ran barefoot to the door. She had her phone
in her hand as she grabbed the doorknob and used her free hand to unlock the
lock above it.
            The very second that she opened the door, Seunghyun stepped inside
and hugged her. He wrapped his hands around her waist, burying his face in her
neck and made her giggle as he kept his hands on her small waist. He felt happy
because he didn’t have to hide their relationship from their friends anymore.
He was happy because his girlfriend was ecstatic. He was happy as Gem squealed
and pulled him into a hug again, letting him hide his face in the crook of her
neck. She continued to run her hands through his short hair and continued to
giggle uncontrollably.
            Finally, after a minute or two of their embrace, Seunghyun stood up
to his full height -towering over her- as he kept his hands around her waist
and she moved hers to his shoulders. He looked down at her with loving eyes and
a toothy smile that showed true happiness. Gem was looking at him with the same
emotion as she played with the short hairs on the nape of his neck. He leaned
down and kissed her cheek, not wanting to show too much affection too soon.
After all, her “brothers” had only found out about them less than an hour
before.
            “How are you?” Seunghyun asked softly against her ear, smirking.
            “I’m good!” Gem replied with a small giggle as she felt him trail
kissing along her jaw until he was back in the crook of her neck. It was his
favorite spot and her most sensitive one. He proceeded to bite her neck softly.
“I’m fantastic!”She said as she turned her head a little and kissed his hair,
almost moaning at the sensation his lips caused. She’d groaned when Seunghyun
pulled back and smiled, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the open living
room, where all the boys were waiting for them. They had been listening to the
couple and were waiting.
            “What’s up, guys?” Seunghyun greeted in a jovial manner as he sat
on the love seat and pulled Gem to sit by his side, simply holding her hand. He
hadn’t seen any of the boys in a while. He was glad that he could spend time
with all of them again. It was awkward between all of them, especially between
Ares, Gem and Seunghyun. Ares only continued to look at the two with a
contemplating look, narrowing his eyes on Seunghyun.
            “If you hurt her, I’ll beat the life out of you, Lee Seunghyun. Is
that clear?”Ares finally spoke after an eternity of silence. He sounded deadly
serious and Seunghyun was definitely crystal clear on what would happen if he
hurt his baby sister.
            “Crystal, man. I would never hurt this cute little thing.”The
Korean man said with nod of understanding as he squeezed Gem’s hand, placing
their laced hands on his lap after turning to look at her lovingly. He knew
what would happen if he broke Gem’s heart, yet something was off.
            “Good. Let’s get ready to work, then.” Ares said, his attitude
changing in an instant.  
            Gem was shocked at her brother’s change in demeanor, but was happy
and felt a weight being lifted off her shoulders. She didn’t think it would end
like that. Arguments like those usually took days to get resolved. She guessed
that it was because they knew Seunghyun well enough and because he wasn’t some
stranger. Seunghyun wasn’t just some random dude from a bar or some “nobody”
that was looking for fame; Seunghyun was one of the most famous idols of Korea.
He was the maknae of BIGBANG, he wasn’t some punk, wannabe; he had talent and
he’d already made a name for himself.
             “O-okay.” Gem said as a smiled crept up to her features. She
couldn’t help but squeeze Seunghyun’s hand, a squeeze that he returned. The
relief they both felt was indescribable. “Thank you.” Gem said towards her
brother with a smile, getting a nod of approval in return.
            “You can kiss now. Apparently, Sammy and Andy have been shipping
this for a while. It’s time to make it canon.” Ares laughed, looking at the two
boys to his right. DJ, Gem and Seunghyun joined in on his laughter, but the
other two just waited in anticipation. The couple shared a look, but they
didn’t quite agree. While Seunghyun was ready to dive into a kiss, as soon as
he leaned forward his lips were meet by Gem’s fingers.
            “Sorry, pervs, but not yet.” Gem said as she turned her head to
look at the boys, making them groan and pout. When she turned back to
Seunghyun, he was also pouting and she giggled, grabbing his hand as she stood
from the sofa. “I’ll be back in fifteen.” She added with one last look towards
the boys a she dragged Seunghyun up the stairs to her room. Starlie was
following closely behind them.
            “Fifteen minutes?Ri, are you thatgood, man?” DJ joked as he and the
boys laughed.
            “Better.” Seunghyun smirked as he looked back at the boys, winking
at them. His actions only made the boys laugh harder, to the point where Sammy
fell off the couch and DJ was clutching his abdomen.
            Gem and Seunghyun entered the_master_bedroom and Gem let go of his
hand, running to her bed and jumping on it. She was sprawled out like a
starfish, closing her eyes as she listened to her boyfriend laugh. He was
getting closer to her. She opened her eyes again when he didn’t finish walking
towards her and lifted herself on her elbows to look at him. She hadn’t taken
in his appearance, aside from his nicely-styled, white hair. He wore black,
skinny jeans; a black, long-sleeve turtleneck that was tucked in nicely, a belt
and the black, leather boots he hadn’t stopped wearing for three weeks. In his
hand was the same leather jacket he had been wearing when they met. He looked
ravishing!
            “What are you looking at?” He asked as he noticed staring at him,
looking at him from head to toe.
            “I could ask you the same question.” Gem replied with a smirk as
her eyes settled on his face, looking at the way his lips formed a smirk.
            “Me? I’m just staring at my beautiful girlfriend. Wondering how
I’ll keep myself from devouring her at this very moment.” The young man said as
he threw his jacket on the love seat that was five feet away from the bed. He
stepped closer to her, making her move further onto the bed as he crawled up
and held himself up above her.
            It took less than a second for Seunghyun to lean down and capture
her lips with his own after she smirked up at him. At first, Gem felt something
was off, but after he began to pull her closer by the neck, she brushed off the
odd feeling. Gem couldn’t help but sigh in relief at the feeling, reaching up
to caress his face as she also pulled him closer with her legs. Seungri began
to grind against her as he deepened the kiss, beginning a battle for dominance
with their tongues, but Gem was always one to yield.
            It felt like forever before one of them pulled away, not sure if
they could go further without turning the situation into something much more
intimate. Seunghyun pulled away, pulling her bottom lip between his teeth. His
action was rewarded with a moan and a whine. He knew how low Gem’s self-control
was and she proved him right by keeping him from moving away with her legs
around his waist, her hands on his shoulders.
            “Baby, you have work to do and our fifteen minutes are almost up,
you have…” Seunghyun paused to take his phone out of his back pocket. “…four
minutes left.” He finished saying, making the female groan as she let go of
him. He pulled away completely and stood tall, running his hand through his
hair as Gem sat up and stood as well. She looked to her left and noticed
Starlie on the love seat, rubbing herself on the male’s leather jacket, causing
her to giggle.
            When she turned back to look at him, Seunghyun had been looking at
something on his phone, but as soon as she spun and was looking at him, he
blocked it and placed it back in his pocket. He looked concerned about whatever
it was he was looking at, with his brows furrowed and slight shock in his eyes.
She brushed off the odd feeling once more and smiled lightly, walking up to
him. He looked down at her lovingly, yet a small glint of concern still
lingered in his eyes and she closed her eyes, her hands in his chest.
            “Is everything alright?”Gem asked when she reopened them, looking
up at him through her eyelashes. She looked at him with a slightly concerned
expression and he nodded his head quickly, too quickly.
            “Yeah, yeah. Everything’s fine.” He quickly replied, shaking off
his previous concern from when he was looking at his phone. “Oh, I almost
forgot to tell you. GD-hyung told me to ask you if you could perform with us
next week. One of the dancers had a family emergency and is out of the country.
He said you would be a perfect replacement since you know the entire
choreography to “Bae Bae”. You’d be replacing the girl that dances with him.”
Seunghyun added, quickly changing the topic. He was acting suspiciously, but
the information managed to distract Gem perfectly. Her eyes grew wide with the
information and the man could see how her mind was cleared and excitement took
over her.
            “Wow, that’s great! I’ll give him a call tomorrow. That’d be so
amazing!” Gem exclaimed in excitement, pulling Seungri into a tight hug, but
pulling away quickly, her eyes wide. Seungri was concerned for a second, but
when she spoke, his concern disappeared. “I can’t believe GD thought of me for
that. He’s always acting so odd around me.” She spoke in confusion.
            “Hyung, would be stupid not to think of you. You’re incredible!”
Seungri internally, sighed in relief and smiled at Gem.
            “You’re such a dork. I can’t wait to talk to him about and to go
practice and—” Gem was cut of by Seunghyun’s chuckling.
            “Okay, okay, baby girl. You can focus on that tomorrow. Right now,
you need to focus on working on your EP, which will only be a work of art if
you pour your heart into it.” The man said, chuckling as his girlfriend began
to falsely pout.
            “Says the dude that sings “rice cakes” repeatedly in his song.” Gem
joked in a light scoff, laughing as Seungri pretended to be hurt by her words.
            “Aish, that hurt. Anyway, go on; get your cute tushie to work.”
Seungri chuckled as he pushed Gem out of the door, lightly spanking her ass as
he said “cute tushie”.
            “Alrighty, alright; I’m going. See you later, baby.” She laughed as
she smiled at him, but she saw his hand already at his back, ready to grab his
phone again. She ignored the look of slight impatience and continued to smile.
Her eyes were suddenly distant and Seunghyun could see it. She was suspecting
something and that wasn’t good. She was beginning to distance herself to make
the whole situation less painful if the problem had no solution.  He had just
promised her brothers that he wouldn’t hurt less than twenty minutes ago and
for some reason, they both had a feeling he had already fucked up.
            Gem began to descend the stairs and sighed. If he was doing
anything he shouldn’t, she would be ready for the outcome of the situation. In
that moment, she couldn’t afford to get derailed. They had an EP coming out
soon and after the EP with BigHit, Gem and DJ had to focus on building their
own empire. She could not afford to lose focus. She put on a big smile and made
her way to the boys, ready to work.
           
            “Let’s get to work then.”
***** Already Falling *****
Chapter Summary
     A chaotic start to a new year...
            “No one will ever love you! You’re a worthless prude.” Her now ex-
boyfriend growled as he smirked at her. He was disgusting enough to laugh in
her face as the girl on his bed made a comment about her. Tears were streaming
down her face, but her face began to scrunch up in anger. She never did have
any self-control and the next thing she knew, her knuckles were in an immense
amount of pain and she saw the poor excuse of a human stumble back. He was
holding his jaw, knowing that she had dislocated it.
            The female on his bed ran to him for aid and screamed at the crying
girl. The sixteen-year-old ran out of the boy’s home and drove herself home.
            “What’s wrong with me?” The girl screamed at herself as she stopped
in the middle of the empty road. Her fists pounded against the steering of the
BMW her adoptive parents had gotten for her. She cried out as her knuckles hurt
even more.
            “No one will ever love me…”
===============================================================================
 
                              New Year’s Eve 2014
            “Who is she?” Gem asked calmly as she held herself up against the
counter, hands clenched tightly into fists. She was looking at Seunghyun with a
face that could kill. If there wasn’t so much distance between them, he would
be backing away slightly; an angry Gem was not someone who should be messed
with.
            When she was only answered with silence she looked directly into
his eyes, narrowing hers almost into slits, and asked: “Who the fuck is she?”
She asked in an angrier tone. It was serious enough for the conversation to be
happening in English. Gem would have been calmer if it wasn’t that it was her
birthday and she had enough problems as it was. In that moment, the only thing
going through her head, was letting him go.
            She’d finally met the Bangtan Boys professionally and they were
shocked that they’d be working “together”. She’d simply be working within
BigHit, meaning that she’d been spending a lot of time with the boys. Out of
all the bad that had been occurring recently, that was one of the good things;
she’d made great friends. She’d even celebrated Taehyung’s birthday the
previous day. But the rest was going downhill.
            Gem and the guys were forced to put the EP on hold when her mother
fell ill in November (shortly after Gem and the guys met BTS). Gem and Ares had
to fly to California to visit their mother. Thankfully, after a month, her
mother got better and Gem could return to Korea in the beginning of December,
but not in time for Jimin’s birthday. When she was back home, she submerged
herself in her work, spending her Christmas Eve at BigHit Entertainment, trying
to finish some details for the release of the EP.
            After only sleeping an hour, she went home in the morning, only to
find evidence that Seunghyun had only been there a short while; everything was
too neatly placed and just as she had left it. He was supposed to take a bag of
clothes -that was in her room to the cleaners-, but he’d just gone in, sloppily
given Starlie her food and left. Gem was speedily getting more frustrated with
him; his odd behavior, his paranoia, and his inability to let go of his phone
or leave it unattended. She knew what was happening, she’d known since that
night. The hickeys that she couldn’t remember doing, the scent of another
woman’s perfume, the after-sex glow he’d have when he came home, and the
distance he’d began to put between her and himself.
            “She was no one.” He replied softly, avoiding the fight, but he
made a mistake; he lied. Not only did he lie, she saw straight through him.
            “You don’t get nudes from just no one; much less with the words
‘For Daddy’.” She said, elevating her voice. She began tapping her foot on the
wooden floors, displaying how her patience was quickly dissipating. Her heels
made it sound much louder, making Seunghyun flinch.
            “She meant nothing, baby.” Mistake number two, don’t call her baby
when she just found out you’re cheating on her. Gem closed her eyes, rage
evident in her features.
            “If she meant nothing…WHY THE FUCK BE WITH HER IN THE FUCKING FIRST
PLACE?” Gem screamed, completely losing it. “AM I NOT GOOD ENOUGH? Oh, hell no!
No! I’m better than that!” She slammed her palms against the marble counter
top. She was getting frustrated with herself because she’d fallen into her
mind’s trap; she’d begun blaming herself for the occasion. Despite having
fallen into the trap, she had quickly recovered and acknowledged her worth. “I
should have confronted you about it that night. I shouldn’t have let it get to
this point. I am completely aware of my worth and that I don’t deserve this.
And I, honestly, don’t want to hear any lies.” She paused to breathe, her
throat already feeling sore and her hands hurting after she’d smacked her palms
against the marble.
            “Baby, please stop! I broke it off—” Seungri tried to speak, but
Gem was already too angry.
            “No! Please, just shut the fuck up. I really don’t want to hear any
of your bullshit.” Gem sighed, holding her hand up to stop him from talking.
Her eyes were closed as she calmed herself. “I can’t believe I fucking thought
I could have a nice and committed relationship with BIGBANG’s playboy maknae. I
can’t believe told my brothers about us! I fucking told my parents about you
when I went to America!” Gem turned away from Seungri, taking a deep breath as
she began to lose her cool again. A second later, she turned and began to walk
towards him. Her posture was rigid, her head was held high, her steps were
merciless and expressionless demeanor didn’t falter. Whatever it was that she
was going to do, was completely indefinite.
            “Look at me in the eyes.” She ordered, her look of hurt, deceit and
anger was burning into his eyes. “You told me you wouldn’t hurt me. You told my
brothers -straight to their faces- that you wouldn’t hurt me. And yet that same
day, you were already fucking hurting me, weren’t you? You’d been hurting me
for days, weeks even. I hope you understand that I don’t give a single fuck
anymore.” Gem spoke calmly, yet in a deadly tone as she pressed her manicured
finger at him. Touching him was a mistake from gem to herself. Her love for him
was strong enough, that at first touch, her emotions were breaking through the
wall she was trying so hard to keep up. She felt her chest become tighter and
breathing became harder. She was getting choked up and the pain in her chest
wouldn’t go away. Stupid anxiety. Her eyes would betray her at any second, but
would he notice?
            “Gem, please listen to me. I swear I broke it off weeks ago, but
she won’t leave me alone! Read the conversation. Baby Girl, I’m begging you;
please believe me!” He was pleading with everything that he could. He wanted
her to believe him. And despite Gem seeing the truth in his eyes and the
absolute shame, hurt and pleading stare, she closed her eyes. She let a single,
stray tear escape and turned away from him, becoming cold as she distanced
herself, both physically and emotionally.
            “Please, grab your things and get out. I don’t want you here when I
get back.” Gem said softly, her voice betraying her. After a moment, she
completely turned away and walked out of the kitchen. She went straight to her
room and closed the door softly as she pushed her body against it, letting the
tears escape her. She turned and leaned back against the door as she silently
cried.
            After a minute or two, Gem stood tall and walked towards her
vanity. She looked at herself in the mirror, looking at her tear-stained face,
ruined makeup and at the not-so-revealing clothes she wore. She had dressed
that way for him, because she wasn’t the kind of woman to flaunt herself around
when she was obviously taken and because she knew Seunghyun could be
possessive. She’d worn a knee-length dress with ¾ sleeves and a simple pair of
heels. She’d worn his leather jacket on top. He’d only been twenty minutes
late, but she had already been angry about finding a message notification on
his phone two days prior. The message was from an unknown number and there was
a picture of a naked woman. She hadn’t showed her face, but Gem had a slight
idea of who it could be. The words she’d sent had made Gem jealous, sad and
angry. And then, that day, he was twenty minutes late, with a bouquet of
flowers and an immense smile on his face. She could only think of the worse.
She’d finally had enough.
            Gem stood up and grabbed a makeup-removing wipe. She cleaned her
face and primed it again. Gem discarded the jacket with disgust, not wanting to
lay her eyes on it. She threw it onto her bed, not caring for it. The dark-
haired woman pulled her dress over her head and threw it onto the floor, taking
off her heels and leaving them at the foot of the bed. She grabbed her silk
robe and covered her stark-naked body with it. She rubbed lotion on her legs
and the rest of her body, making it silky smooth. She sat back at her vanity
and redid her whole makeup in a much more attractive way, readying herself for
the fun night ahead of her. She wasn’t going to let Seungri ruin her birthday.
            The female walked into her walk-in_closet and made her way to her
dresses first. Gem searched through the organized section and looked through
the “Party Dresses”, grabbing her favorite dress for clubbing. It was a short,
tight, and strapless, sequin dress. She proceeded to walk over to her shoe area
and chose a pair of sky-high, Christian Louboutin’s. Next, she walked over to
the over-wear section and searched through her fur coats, choosing a light
green, Gucci coat. Gem went ahead to dress herself in the closet, and hurried
to her accessory area. She grabbed a red, velvet choker; an arm cuff on her
right arm, a Saint Laurent brass cuff on her left wrist and a set of gold rings
placed randomly on her fingers. Finally, she grabbed her favorite pair of Dior
sunglasses, thinking about the blinding lights of the paparazzi that would be
everywhere. She also chose a black, mouth mask, keeping it and the sunglasses
in hand. She done thick, dark makeup on her eyes and a matte, stainless, dark
red lipstick. She untied her -recently bleached and cut- hair from its high
ponytail and let it fall nicely on her shoulders. She’d been told that her new,
white hair combined with the color of her skin was perfection. Jin had been the
one to make the comment. Just as Gem had predicted, he’d turned out to be a
great “girlfriend”.
            Meanwhile, Seunghyun stood in the kitchen for a couple of moments,
trying to analyze what had just happened. He had dropped the flowers on the
table after he’d found Gem in the kitchen, sitting with her chair facing
towards the entrance of the kitchen. She’d been waiting for him and something
had been off about her. The flowers had been part of her birthday gift, but
something was weighing down his pocket. The flowers were what had made him
twenty minutes late, not to mention the fact that he’d left his phone at the
flower shop and had to go back. He’d been so nervous to get to his girlfriend’s
house, that everything was going wrong. Finally, the girl at the flower shop
helped him become more confident about what he was going to do.
            Seungri stood unmoving, barely breathing as he slowly placed his
hand inside his jacket pocket. He felt the small velvet box. He remembered
requesting the customized pink velvet box along with what was inside it. He
pulled it out and sighed, silent tears escaping him and he sniffed, breaking
the painful silence, he’d been left in. He shoved the box back into his pocket
and decided to try again. He’d fucked up at some point, but he’d tried to fix
it. He was still trying to make up for his mistakes.
 
            Gem looked at herself in the mirror and checked her makeup once
more before leaving. She quickly grabbed her phone and keys from the bed and
stole a glance at Seunghyun’s jacket. After opening the door, she found him
standing in front of the door, ready to knock. He tried to speak, but cut
himself off as he looked at her. Despite wanting to ask for a few short minutes
to explain, he ended up derailed. He wondered where she was going, he would
have thought that she was just going to go to a friend’s house. Technically,
she was.
            “Where are you going?” He asked in surprise as he looked at her
from head to toe, forgetting his original words. Seunghyun had to bite the
inside of his cheek to keep himself from saying something that could piss her
off. Being possessive of her, after everything that had happened, would be a
grave mistake.
            “The party.” She simply answered as she stood in front him with an
annoyed look. Seunghyun’s “possessive boyfriend side” was ready to ask her a
list of questions, but the side that gave unconditional love pushed that aside.
He shook his head as he rid himself of the thoughts.
            “Could we please talk?” He asked softly.
            “What is there left to talk about? I already said everything I
needed to say.” The bleach-blonde said as she closed her room and pushed past
him.
            “Well, I haven’t.” Seunghyun expressed, making Gem stop in her
tracks as she turned to him, wearing an expression of disbelief.
            “Do you seriously think you have a say in this? After everything,
you still think that whatever you say is going to change my mind? I don’t think
so.” The female scoffed as she took a single step towards him. After, she
turned and continued walking down the hall. Just as she reached the stairs,
Seungri jogged up to her and grabbed her hand to stop her. She flinched and
pulled her hand away.
            “Look, you don’t have to change your mind about anything. Just,
please, listen to what I have to say. If you don’t believe me, that’s okay. At
least, you’ll know the truth.” Seungri tried to get her to listen, but there
was no way that she would listen. Perhaps, if he tried at another moment, but
in that moment, she wouldn’t listen.
            “No.” Gem descended the stairs, texting her friend that would be at
the party. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Seunghyun stepped in front
of her ready to speak, but Gem lifted her hand to stop him. “I don’t want to
hear anything else, we’re done. I expect everything gone in two days; I won’t
be here.” She informed, walking towards the door, where Starlie was sitting by.
Gem picked her up and opened the door, leaving Seunghyun behind. The young
woman walked towards Mrs. Min’s apartment and gave the lady a quick and vague
explanation before leaving. She had thanked the old lady for taking care of
Starlie for a few days. Gem had given the old woman a copy of the key to her
apartment, telling her where the feline’s supplies were.
            After making her way down to the underground garage, Gem uncovered
her car and admired it for a moment -it had been months since she’d last driven
it. Her sleek-black, convertible Maserati_Gran_Turismo was before her, clean
and ready to be used again. Gem got into her car, loving the feel of the red,
leather seat under her exposed thighs. She gripped the steering wheel and
turned on the engine, sighing as she heard it growl to life. After settling in
to the feeling of the car, she opened her eyes and revved the engine, pulling
out of the garage safely, but speeding away carelessly. The female stopped at a
red light a few moments later and waited to for it to turn green as she changed
the radio from station. As she was doing so, the loud roar of a car zoomed past
her. She could see a blurry small, white Porsche and its lights. She ignored
the similarity of the car with Seungri’s and when the light changed, she drove
at a fast speed towards her destination.
 
            Zotumoju arrived at the building in no time and left her car in the
valet. One of the guards that stood at the door -greeting guests- helped her
out of her car and let the valet take her car. Gem was escorted through the
paparazzi and the fans into the building. The female said her name and thanked
the guard when he escorted her all the way to the elevator. She pressed the
button to the top floor and waited, leaning against the wall of the elevator
and sighing. She needed to forget and as soon as the elevator stopped on the
top floor, she forgot. The music was loud in the elevator, the bass making it
vibrate. When the elevator doors opened, the lights began to flash into the
small space and her friend was waiting for her by the entrance.
            “Zotumoju!” T.O.P exclaimed as he pulled her into the party, taking
a moment to admire the female’s attire. “Happy Birthday! You look absolutely
stunning, baby!” He shouted over the sound of the music. Gem laughed and
followed him in after thanking him. “Now, I know you’re mad, but have some fun
and forget all about Seu— him! He’s an idiot! Let’s get you a man for the
night.” He said, looking at her and she took off her sunglasses and mask. T.O.P
was the oldest member of BIGBANG and he was one of the rappers, a very good one
too. He and Gem had become instant friends after bonding over art, wine and
furniture. Seungri had invited her over for dinner to T.O. P’s home and she’d
fallen in love with the artwork that decorated the walls, the magnificent home
décor, and the delicious choices of wine. Choi Seunghyun looked like an
intimidating man, but he was, truly, a sweetheart.
            T.O.P continued to weave through the crowd and greeted some people
he hadn’t seen, along the way. While getting through the crowd, Gem spotted CL,
leader of the k-pop group, 2NE1. They were the closest of friends. Better said,
Lee Chaerin was one of the very few female friends the young female had. Once
she’d spotted Chaerin in the crowd, a huge smile had taken over her features.
She dragged Seunghyun-hyung through the dancing bodies towards Chaerin.
            “Chaerin!” Gem exclaimed, grabbing the other female’s attention.
Chaerin spun around and noticed the young female, squealing as she made her way
to the younger female. They were both the top female divas at the party. They
had become the “friendship goals” of South Korea and anyone who knew of them.
            “MoMo!” Chaerin exclaimed as she neared Gem. They hugged tightly,
not having seen each other in months. “Happy Birthday, girl!” The other female
added as she pulled away lightly. They looked at each other, admiring one
another.
            “Thank you! Bitch, you look so fucking sexy!” Gem exclaimed in
English as she looked at CL.
            “Me? What about you? How did you let your man let you of the house
in that?’ Chaerin laughed as she looked at Gem’s attire. Her words made the
younger female lower her head and CL realized what was wrong. “Oh, honey, I’m
so sorry.” The blonde said as she pulled her into another hug.
            “I’m fine. He was… um… cheating on me and I just came here to
forget everything. I just want to have an unforgettable time and a great
birthday, and I don’t want to think about Seungri.” Gem said into her friend’s
shoulder, pulling back after a moment. They smiled at each other and Gem broke
the silence. “Well, I’m gonna go; TOP’s gonna get me a man for the night.” She
laughed as she began to walk away. She laughed even harder when CL made a
comment about her needing to try “getting it on” with GD.
            Seunghyun had been standing to the side, watching the girl
interact. He grabbed Gem’s hand again and they continued to make their way
through the huge apartment. A moment later, T.O.P stopped walking and smiled as
he saw the person he was looking for. It was a person that had always had an
interest in the young female, but since she was already with Seungri, he
couldn’t do anything. His fellow band member was taking pictures with guest as
he had a drink and a lit cigarette in hand.
            T.O.P knew about Gem’s secret heart eyes for the leader of BIGBANG.
She’d told him about it when they went to dinner once. They’d gone out, just
the two of them, for some wine tasting. During their conversation about their
sex life, he’d asked if she would date another member if she could. The
question popped into his head after he remembered they’d been playing a little
game with the other members of BIGBANG a few days prior. She’d answered that
she would date any of them, but G-Dragon was the one at the top of her list.
And now, he had the best opportunity to put the two of them together, even if
it was just for one night.
            “GD!” T.O.P shouted as he tried calling for his friend. He had to
try several times before Kwon Jiyong turned his head and noticed Seunghyun with
a stunning Gem Zoraliada. She stood confidently next to T.O.P and was looking
at him with a smirk. He felt angry at Seungri for cheating on such a gorgeous
and extremely intelligent, young woman and for not appreciating the chance he’d
gotten. GD noticed the way that -since she was not with the maknae-, she stood
confident and less shy, especially with him. Especially after they’d danced
together for the recording of “Bae Bae” live. He knew what the maknae was like;
he was a kinky bastard and Jiyong could imagine that little Gem didn’t want to
get punished. GD smirked at his thought and motioned for the two to step closer
as he walked towards them, intending to meet half way.
            “Hyung, who is this exquisite creature you’ve brought to the
party?” Jiyong jokingly gasped as he placed his free hand on her Gem’s
shoulder. “It can’t possibly be the Gem I know.” He added with a laugh, causing
Gem to blush slightly and chuckle at him.
            “Ha. Ha. Very funny, Ji!You’re absolutely hilarious!” Gem laughed
sarcastically as she went to hug him. She gave him a one-armed hug as he placed
his hand on the small of her back and pecked her cheek. Gem could feel the
cameras flashing around them -GD had let two paparazzies inside. She welcomed
the greeting and smiled widely when he kept his hand on her lower back. It made
her skin prickle and her heart speed up. Since when had he shown so much
skinship with her? Never -that she remembered or ever noticed-.
            “I know.” He accepted with a smug look, pulling her tighter against
his body. “Happy Birthday, gorgeous.”
He looked at T.O.P and had a small conversation as Gem was too distracted
looking at her feet as she blushed and was too wrapped up trying to remember
any past, odd behavior from Jiyong. Certain things stood out; like lingering
stares and avoidance of eye contact on many occasions. She took notice of two
types of odd behavior in her memories. There was the odd behavior he had when
Seungri was around and there was the odd behavior from when Seungri
wasn’tthere. When Seungri was present, he would avoid eye contact with either
and sometimes act like a douche towards them. Sometimes, he simply avoided
talking to Gem in specific and acted like an ass towards Seungri. Gm was
getting a small idea of GD being aware of Seungri’s affair, but buried it.
There were also times when the maknae wasn’t around, he would be shy and she
would be able to feel his eyes on her. He would be very aware of everything she
did; Jiyong would be paying attention to all her needs.
            Gem dragged herself out of her mind and looked up to Jiyong. He was
already looking down at her and she noticed that T.O.P was nowhere in sight.
The brunette looked back at the older male and decided that she should use the
confidence she could never have when Seungri was around. She leaned up and got
close to his ear.
            “Let’s dance.” She said close to his ear, dragging her nose along
his jaw as she lowered herself back to her original posture. She was looking at
him with a smug smile and flirtatious eyes. She left no room for objections and
pulled him along towards the crowd of people that were dancing. She recognized
some of them, but the rest were strangers. She didn’t care about them though.
She was simply observing. In that moment, she only cared about dancing her
troubles away with Jiyong.
            Her heart was hammering in her chest along with the beat of the
music. She could feel the heat radiating off the bodies that surrounded theirs.
Gem shrugged off her coat and Jiyong grabbed it from her hand, discarding it to
a nearby sofa. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her flush against him.
Her back was pressed against his chest as they swayed to the music, moving
sensually. It reminded them of when they were practicing and performed “Bae
Bae”. His hands roamed her sides, sliding up her arms as she had them in the
air. She moved them to caress his hair, sliding them all the way to the back of
his neck as he buried his face in the crook of her.
            Moments passed before things began to get more heated than they
intended. There were only thirteen minutes to midnight and people were getting
excited, grabbing partners to kiss at twelve. Meanwhile, Jiyong was kissing and
biting Gem’s neck and shoulder, places he had seen were her weak spots -
excluding her collarbones. His hands were on the front of her thighs, rubbing
up and down, slowly lifting her tight dress higher and higher. Gem was softly
moaning and sighing in pleasure as she rested her head against his shoulder,
her eyes closed as she grinded against him. She could feel how excited and
aroused he was in her lower back and she couldn’t help but feel proud that she
was the reason behind his arousal.
            After what felt like forever, but was only a few minutes, Jiyong
grew eager and spun Gem around, kissing her hungrily. She reciprocated his kiss
and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself tightly against his lean
body. She felt one of his hands on her ass and the other was still on her hip.
He broke the kiss and trailed sloppy kisses along her jaw towards her ear. In
that moment, neither of them noticed the flash of the cameras.
            “Let’s go upstairs.” He said huskily into her ear, biting at the
skin bellow her ear. She nodded immediately and followed Jiyong, clutching his
hand tightly to not get separated. They passed by many people that were already
making out in the open and almost fucking on the expensive couches. Other
people were too high or drunk and laughing uncontrollably. As they were going
up the steps, they noticed the silence that was on the second floor. Gem looked
to the first floor and noticed the crazy party that was plain insane. She
giggled when Jiyong pulled her along into a room and was immediately on her. He
pressed her against the door and devoured her mouth as she moaned. All sense of
innocence was lost. This was a new side of Gem for GD. She was beyond wild and
he had been hoping she was that way. She had her hands everywhere and he was
loving it. After what felt like forever, she placed her hands exactly where he
wanted them. She was palming his erection shamelessly as she bit her lip,
looking at him through her eyelashes. Jiyong threw his head back and relished
the feeling of her small hand massaging him.
            “You have no idea how many times I’ve fantasized about this. You
were my forbidden fruit.” GD moaned as he threw his head back in pleasure. A
sudden roar of cheers and applause was heard and the fireworks could be heard
going off. Jiyong grinned at Gem and their lips connected hungrily. Gem pulled
back with a smirk and leaned into his ear.
            “Happy New Year.” She whispered, biting the lobe of his ear, being
careful with the earrings he wore. He groaned and buried his face on her bare
shoulder. Jiyong roamed one of his hands around her torso in search of the
zipper of her dress and found it at her side, easily pulling it down. He pushed
the dress down as well and she stepped out if, kicking it off to the side. GD
took a moment to appreciate the fact that she wasn’t wearing anything else and
smirked.
            “Naughty girl.” He commented as their eyes met. He was surprised
that her confidence didn’t falter and she just stood there, letting him observe
her. She looked amazing in only a red, velvet choker, an arm cuff, and her
Christian Louboutin heels. Her rings still adorned her fingers and her bracelet
had been discarded after making too much noise. He also couldn’t help but
notice three piercing he’d never seen before. He stepped back away from her as
he gaped at her torso. The two piercings on her nipples were the most
captivating and the one on her navel was very attractive and a very big turn
on.
            In any other situation, in which she would have shared her sexual
preferences with Jiyong, she would have surrendered all dominance to him, but
since that wasn’t the case, there was bound to be an equal amount of dominance
from both parties. Still, Gem enjoyed being submissive, which led to her slowly
getting down on her knees. She got on all fours, keeping eye contact with
Jiyong as she seductively crawled to him, swaying her hips. She noticed the way
his eyes darkened even more and he bit his lip, palming himself for the
slightest bit of relief. He groaned as she reached him and took his hand away,
slowly undoing the fastenings of his pants, staring into his eyes as she did
so. She pulled them down slowly and he groaned when she hooked her fingers on
the hem of his underwear, playing with it just to tease him. Not only that, but
she was breathing onto his clothed erection. His eyes hardened a little and she
smirked when he silently told her not to tease. She bit her plum, bottom lip
and began to slowly pull the garments down, looking at him through her lashes,
making him groan.
            Just as his erection was going to spring free of its confinements,
a loud knock was heard at the door. They both snapped their heads towards the
noise and groaned. GD motioned for her to ignore it and Gem was ready to do so,
but the person kept pounding on the door.
            “Guys, open up; it’s important!” T.O.P shouted from the other side.
He sounded worried and like something was seriously wrong. GD pulled his
bottoms up, not caring to button them, and threw a large t-shirt he’d left
lying around to Gem as he made his way to the door. He unlocked it and T.O.P
came into view, tears brimming his eyes as he held Gem’s phone in his hand. He
looked serious and angry, but there was pain in his eyes. He held it out for
Gem and she ran to it, looking at Seunghyun worriedly as she pressed it against
her ear.
            “Hello?” She questioned.
            “Hello, is this Gem Zoraliada?” An unknown voice replied.
            “Yes, this is she. Who is this?” Gem asked hurriedly to the
stranger.
            “Ms. Zoraliada, I’m afraid there’s been an incident…” The woman
over the phone began to explain what had occurred and Gem had put her on
speaker. After being informed of what happened, T.O.P hurried to inform Kang
Dae-Sung (another member of BIGBANG) and they hurried to a van. Jiyong told the
others not to wait for him or Gem, they would take his car. The female was
getting dressed hurriedly, pulling on her dress as tears threatened to spill.
She and Jiyong rushed to his car and they sped towards the hospital.
 
            Hours. They’d spent hours in the waiting room. The police officers
had asked Gem diverse types of questions. Seungri had decided to believe he was
Speed Racer and got into a terrible accident. His car was totaled and he was
rushed to the hospital at once. Gem had been listed as his first emergency
contact. After talking to the officers, Gem had sat down, wearing her party
outfit. Tears were silently escaping her as she was curled up to T.O. P’s side
and Jiyong was at her other side, rubbing her back as he let a few tears trail
down his cheeks. Daesung and Youngbae were drinking coffee as they stood,
letting other people sit. Given that many incidents occurred on New Year’s Eve,
the emergency room was full of people. Although most people recognized them to
be famous idols, they respected the situation and those who didn’t, were
stopped by the police officers tasked to guard them.
            Gem kept her phone in hand as she occasionally replied to one the
guys. Ares had gone to America to spend the holiday with their parents, but
she’d stayed behind for Seungri. DJ went to Australia to spend the holiday with
his two brothers; Sammy was spending it in Fiji with his mom, and Andy was
spending the 30th, 31st and the 1st with his most recent girlfriend. Gem only
texted Ares and DJ, not wanting to bother the younger members with the issue.
            At some point, Ares called Gem and she went outside to get some
fresh air and explain everything. Ares was equally as angry as Gem had been at
first and threatened to kill Seungri, but once he heard Gem’s silent cries, he
stopped cursing and tried to comfort his sister. She simply said everything was
fine and hung up, crying in the darkness of the night, relishing the cold
against her pale skin. Her nose was red and the trails of tears were freezing
on her cheeks. Her fur coat kept her warm enough, but it was still very cold.
She sniffled as she threw her head back, closing her eyes to feel everything
around her. What’s wrong with me?
            “Nothing.” A deep voice said, starling her. Had she said the words
out loud?
            “Seunghyun oppa, I didn’t notice you there.” Gem informed as she
placed her hand over her heart.
            “I followed you to keep an eye on you.” He informed, making her nod
as she looked at him. “There’s nothing wrong with you.’’ He added after a
moment, interrupting whatever she was going to say. She looked down and her
flew all over due to the wind. She was startled when she suddenly felt his arms
around her.
            “It’s my fault that he’s in there. This is all my fault. I should
have stayed and talked to him.”Gem informed, hugging the tall man closely. “You
know, I haven’t had a serious boyfriend in years and then Lee Seunghyun came
along and I let him in; I shouldn’t have, but I did. And now he’s hurt because
of me and we don’t know what’s going to happen.” She added softly, nuzzling
into him, feeling the chilly air send shivers down her spine. She began to sob
again and he squeezed her tighter.
            “He’s okay, Gem; I promise. He’s fine and this will be over soon.”
He comforted. He hoped for the best and tried to make it seem as if nothing bad
could happen. He needed to reassure both Gem and himself. Neither of them could
handle a loss like that; Gem had already spent a whole month stressing over her
mother’s critical condition. T.O.P knew Gem very well; he knew that because of
the accident, Gem would start to reflect upon her actions and begin blaming
herself. Not only would she blame herself, but she would start to beat herself
up for almost sleeping with GD, one of Seungri’s best friends and his bandmate.
Gem would definitely beat herself and she would never let herself live.
            Gem continued to cry into T.O. P’s chest and he smoothed her hair
as he squeezed her with his other arm. Moments later, Seunghyun turned his head
at the sound of the door opening. He noticed GD standing there, looking at them
with pity. He stood there for a moment and proceed to make his way towards them
after staring at them for a full minute. He was looking at Gem knowing that no
matter how much she hated Seungri for his infidelity, she still loved him. Kwon
Jiyong knew that Gem would still love Seungri and that she would most probably
regret having sex with him, with or without the accident. Knowing that, he
still took the chance and he was willing to have fun and release all his pent-
up frustration for her in one night. After dragging himself out of his
thoughts, he cleared his throat and stepped forward.
            “YG’s here; he’s handling things. Seungri’s family is coming in a
couple of days. The doctors came out and said he’s fine, but he’s resting, so
we won’t be able to see him for a while. They said we should go home, shower,
get some rest and come back in the morning.”GD informed as he looked at his
feet, hugging himself for warmth. He snuck a glance at his expensive Rolex and
noticed the it was late.“It’s 3am, we should do as the doctor says and come
back in the morning.” He informed as he watched Gem pull away from Seunghyun
slowly sniffling as she wiped away her tears softly.
            “Someone should stay here, just in case.” The young woman suggested
as she pulled her over-wear closer to her body; she was beginning to feel the
cold intensely. She was about to say that she would stay, but T.O.P beat her to
it.
            “I’ll stay; you guys should go home and rest. I’ll go home when you
guys get here and I’ll get some rest.” The tallest of three said, placing his
large hand on the female’s back, rubbing softly as she looked at him
questioningly. He wordlessly told her that he was staying whether she liked it
or not and she was too tired to argue with him.
            “Okay.” She whispered softly with a sigh. She leaned into him and
let him kiss the top of her head. She squeezed his torso with one arm as a sign
of affection in return and pulled away. She looked at the floor as she made her
way past Jiyong and back into the hospital. Jiyong opened the door wide for her
and she softly thanked him. She was preparing herself for the ride back to -
what she knew would be- his place. Her car was there and she was expecting the
others to already be gone. She only confirmed the information when they stepped
back into the emergency room and the others were nowhere in sight.
            Jiyong patiently waited for her to make any movement that would
tell him that she was leaving with him. A minute passed and Gem turned to him,
eyes still brimmed with tears and telling him that she just wanted to leave. He
nodded and silently moved towards her, placing his hand on her lower back to
lead her outside. They walked towards his car and he opened the door for her,
getting into the driver’s seat quickly to get home fast. He wanted for Gem -and
himself- to get some rest.
 
            On their way, Gem stared out the window, her knees up against her
chest. She’d removed her heels and dropped them on the carpet. Her arms were
crossed on top of her knees and her head rested on them. The blonde was still
crying silently; the tears wouldn’t stop escaping her eyes. She wished she was
crying about Seungri, but she was crying over the fact that she’d almost slept
with one of Seungri’s best friends. She hated that she’d dropped so low and
that she’d led Jiyong on. She hated the fact that the air felt so awkward
because they both knew they wouldn’t sleep with each after what happened. She
simply hated the awkwardness that would always linger if neither of them
cleared the air.
            Gem saw a familiar building as she stared out the window and
prepared to jump out of the car once it stopped. She didn’t need any more
situations occurring. Just when Jiyong stopped outside the building, Gem
grabbed the door handle to exit, but the male quickly grabbed her by the hand.
Gem turned to him with wide, puffy, red eyes and let go of the door.
            “Stay at my place tonight; I don’t wanna leave you alone. Grab your
thing and come with me.” Jiyong requested with pleading eyes.
            “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Gem said softly, her voice soft
as her throat felt dry.
            “I’m not leaving you alone.” He clarified. Whether he took her home
or he stayed at her place, he wasn’t leaving her alone. She looked thoughtful
for a few moments and the silence was intense.
            “Fine. You can stay here then.” Gem compromised as she looked at
him for a second.
            “Okay.” He agreed without hesitation and took directions from Gem
as to where to park the car. Once they were parked safely, they made their way
inside the building. The young woman led the idol up to her penthouse and
breathed in the scent of her clean home. The scent made her relax, but at the
same time it brought back memories about her fight with Seungri. Gem turned to
Jiyong and noticed him looking around at her apartment; he’d never seen it
before. She wanted to say something, but the words were stuck in her throat.
Her throat constricted and any sound was cut off from escaping. Jiyong turned
to her and noticed that she seemed to want to say something, but he also
watched as she closed her mouth and quickly turned away from him, walking out
of the room. He watched her walk into what looked to be the kitchen from where
he stood.
            Gem turned the light on and opened her fridge, pulling out a bottle
of water. She gulped half of it down, closing her eyes as she let it calm her
nerves a little. The water was cold, but not too cold; it was enough to soothe
her throat and make her relax. Her eyes slowly opened and she saw GD at the
entrance of the kitchen through the corner of her eye. Once again, she meant to
speak, but as the sentence formed on her tongue, she noticed something odd on
the dining table. Gem placed the bottle of water on the counter top and strode
over to the table, grabbing the small velvet box. Her eyebrows furrowed in
confusion, not recognizing it and she opened it, gasping as she saw what was
inside.
            The matching rings made her free hand fly to her mouth, covering
the gasp that escaped past her lips. She dropped the box onto the table and
stepped away from it, staring at it in disbelief with wide eyes. She stumbled
backwards until her back hit the counter top. Jiyong was instantly at her side.
She couldn’t stop staring at them. Seungri knew she didn’t believe in marriage
and there they were; a set of promise rings, meant to bind them until marriage
was arranged. She turned into the male’s chest and let him enclose her in his
warmth. The thought that was put into the gift was overwhelming, and the fact
that he bought them, must have meant that he was done with the affairs. But
could Gem forgive his infidelity?
 
            Jupula woke up to the feeling of a warm hand being placed on her
shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. The room
where she was had a clean white color and smelled heavy of cleaning chemicals.
She quickly remembered that she had fallen asleep in the chair next to
Seungri’s bed. She had watched him sleep and fell asleep in the process. Her
eyes adjusted to the lighting of the room and she sat straight when she noticed
that the hand on her shoulder belonged to Seungri himself. She cleared her
throat and took her hands out of her grey, Thrasher hoodie. Before going to the
hospital, she got dressed in sweatpants, her hoodie, socks and her black All
Stars. She’d grabbed a mask, her iPod Shuffle with her earbuds and Seungri’s
leather jacket. Jiyong had driven them back to the hospital after he’d showered
and taken a nap. Gem had tried to take a nap, but she couldn’t seem to be able
to sleep at all. She’d stared at ceiling for a while, but then she pulled a
chick-flick move; she opened her charging phone and scrolled through the many
pictures of her and  Seunghyun.
            Seungri was looking at her without an expression on his face. He
was deep in thought, wondering what she was doing there. She didn’t exactly
know either; except for the feeling of guilt, there was nothing making her sit
there with him. She had feelings for him, but she would never be able to call
them love. After that day at her home, she hadn’t been feeling confident in the
relationship. Whatever emotions she felt before that day, diminished and she
knew it had, by the simple fact that she couldn’t trust Seungri anymore. The
trust they’d built for months and months, collapsed in weeks -maybe even days.
All that Seungri could think was that she was sitting there, ready to tell him
that she hated him and never wanted to see him again for the rest of his life.
He was ready to hear her say that he was idiot for getting into an accident.
            After several moments of an awkward silence, one which had never
existed up until that moment, Gem sat up straight in the chair and cleared her
throat. She removed the single earbud from her ear and paused the low, calming
music that was playing. She placed her iPod back in her pocket and accommodated
her mask.
            “Hey, you’re awake.” What a dumb thing to say, doofus.Gem
internally rolled her eyes and facepalmed at how stupid she sounded as she
stated the obvious. For someone with an IQ of 151, she wasn’t too bright
sometimes.
            “Yeah; I’ve been awake for a while.” Seungri informed, making Gem
internally panic. For how long had he been watching me sleep? Why didn’t he
wake me up before; why now? Why--Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of
Seungri chuckling. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t that long ago. You looked like you
needed to rest.” Gem was shocked by his words. She wondered how he knew her
train of thought. Before she could voice her doubt, Seungri spoke, once again
surprising her. “Your brows always furrow when you’re thinking about something
that requires depth.”
            Those words amazed Gem. Since when did he pay such close attention
to what she did? Since when had he started noticing those small details about
her personality? Since when had she lost so much faith in what he was capable
of? Had all her bottled anger made her blind to what he was doing for her? Was
she to blame, in part, for what was happening? After all, he’d arrived at her
home with her favorite flowers and the promise rings in his pocket. He’d been
ready to bind himself to her. Albeit, he’d done something that was
unforgiveable in her eyes.
            “I didn’t think you paid that much attention to what I do.” Gem
sassed as she looked down at her hands as she folded her earbuds. “Didn’t think
you’d care that much about me at this point.” She added as she lifted her gaze
to him, looking expressionless.
            “It’s funny how I was just thinking the exact same thing. Yet, here
you are, sitting next to me in a hospital room.” Seunghyun said, sitting up. He
hissed and Gem unconsciously stood up, hovering above him to help him. “See;
you don’t hate me as much as I was thinking.” He chuckled softly, making Gem
sigh. She stood straight and put her hand on her forehead as the other one was
on her hip. She closed her eyes momentarily and breathed in deeply. She
slouched as she released all the tension in her body and dropped her arms at
her sides before plopping down on the chair again.
            “I don’t hate you at all.” Gem informed as she looked in his eyes,
letting him know that there was no lie behind her words. She was being
completely honest and she wanted him to know that. “I don’t think I’ll ever be
able to. You’ve become too important to me for me to hate you.” She added with
a sigh.
            “Well, that’s good to hear. I still owe you an explanation, I
think. Only if you’re willing to hear me out.” Seungri said, earning a nod from
the female. She turned and reached into the pocket of Seungri’s leather jacket,
grabbing the small, pink velvet box. She placed it on the edge of the bed and
shyly looked at Seunghyun.
            “You owe me more than one explanation, Lee Seunghyun.” She said,
looking down at her hands as they were clasped together and then looked back up
at Seungri, with an expectant look. His eyes were sad and she sighed as he
reached for the box.
End Notes
     Original Characters:
     Nicola Peltz as Gem Zoraliada
     Ezra Miller as Ares Zoraliada
     Austin Butler as DJ Beck
     Miles Teller as Samuel Jones
     Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Andrew Johnson
     Robert Downey Jr. as Isaac J. Zoraliada
     Winona Ryder as Lily-Mo Graham
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