“I used to be a trainee at BigHit.”

They were genuinely surprised by her answer. Then they bombarded her with questions such as ‘when was this’, ‘why didn’t we see you before’, and so on. It turned out that Jane became a trainee when she started middle school, which meant around 5 to 6 years ago, and way before any of them came to the company.

So they asked on her talents. She said she sang a little and sang their song ‘Just One Day’ with a little bit of her own rendition of the song. They were amazed by her smooth vocal and how her voice strangely suited the song very well. They asked of her other talents as well, of composing and others.

“I rapped a little.” Hearing this, Namjoon looked at her with eyes widened in disbelief.

“A little?? Noona, you’re incredible! You can rap alright.”

He went on telling s on how he saw her at the club the other day. How she rapped that made other rappers wanted to hide in a hole.

“If Namjoon praised you to this level, this means you’re VERY good.”

Jane just shrugged while giving her best grin at Yoongi. And it was Hoseok’s question that made that grin dropped from her face.

“Wow, you sing and rap. Did you dance too?”

“Um…no, I don’t.”

“Why not? Are you like Seokjin hyung and Namjoon? You can’t dance?”

He laughed along with Jimin and Yoongi while earning a dissatisfied groan from the said pair. To this, she just smiled weakly and shook her head. She didn’t look at anyone and just stared at the wooden floor. Before anyone could say anything, Jungkook suddenly spoke.

“We should clean up. It’s late.”

He started to gather the remains of their dinner and shove them into a plastic bag. His hyungs were surprised by his action but agreed anyway. The wall clock was showing 10 minutes past twelve in the morning. It was considered late for Jane as she needed to go back to her own house. Bangtan offered her to stay over but she politely refuse. When she was about to leave, Yoongi called out her name. When she turned, she was greeted with all seven members looking at her.

“We’re glad that we knew you. It’s like you’re already our family.”

“Wow, I never knew Bangtan was this cheesy.” She laughed along with them before waving the goodbye. When she was out the door, Jimin spoke.

“I really, really like her, hyung.” He grinned. When he saw a weird expression of Yoongi, he realized.

“Not like that hyung, you know that.”

He pouted when Yoongi laughed and ruffled his hair. They were really happy knowing Jane. It was like they were blood related family.

~*~

It was one of many days that Jungkook needed to go to school. Although he had a very busy schedule, he needed to go to fulfil his minimum attendance. And being the self-proclaimed ‘closest hyung’ to Jungkook, Taehyung would wake up early in the morning to prepare for him knowing that the younger will wake up late from his sleep.

Taehyung will iron his uniform which consists of a white shirt and black pants; the yellow blazer wasn’t really in need of ironing. Although Taehyung couldn’t prepare a lunchbox for him (because he will cut his fingers every time he uses a knife), he will make sure the younger will have snacks in his bag for school.

That was, for a few months ago.

Now that Jane was here at the dorm, she did every single thing that he wanted to do for Jungkook. Taehyung will wake up early in the school morning just to find Jungkook’s uniform neatly ironed, hanging in the living room. And today was like those days. He woke up to that scene while Jane was already cooking breakfast in the kitchen.

He sighed through his nose, feeling a little bit irritated that one of his ways of showing Jungkook his love for the other was now being done by another person. He shouldn’t be feeling any of this, as they already agreed that Jane was already their family. Jane became aware of Taehyung’s presence by the sound of the nasal sigh.

She greeted him and he gave her a slight smile. As if she knew what was on the other’s mind, he asked him to help her.

“Taehyung, do you mind filling some of the dishes in the container? It is for Jungkook’s lunch.”

Taehyung beamed at the request and agreed. At least he was doing something for Bangtan’s youngest. Jane swore he heard a small squeal from the deep-voiced singer but she just ignored it and thought it was cute. While she resumed her cooking for the last dish, Taehyung sat on the dining table and quietly filled the container.

“Taehyung.”

“Yes, noona?”

“You really like Jungkook, didn’t you?”

Despite not eating or drinking anything at the moment, Taehyung suddenly broke into a cough fit. He choked on his own spit which caused his whole face to turn red at that time. He stole a glance at her but she had her back towards him, finishing her cooking.

“What are you talking about, noona–”

“Come on, Taehyung. It’s kind of obvious, you know.”

It is?? He didn’t think it was that obvious because if it did, Jimin would about it all the time. He thought hard whether to answer her or not. Many thoughts filled his mind; would she tell it to the other members, or worse, would she tell Jungkook about it. Either way, he didn’t want any of it. He wanted to confess to Jungkook himself.

Just then another thought came. What if she’s asking so that she wanted to support me? Well in that case he wouldn’t have to hide anything, right? He would need all the help he can get.

“Uh…yeah. You kinda caught me there.” He laughed softly but awkwardly.

“Do you…love him?”

He was surprised by the sudden question. He was flustered and he felt that his own cheeks reddened at the question. Is what he felt for the youngest was love? Even he himself was not sure. He looked at the lunchbox that he finished packing for him and felt his heart beat shot up uncontrollably.

“Well. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I think I do.”

He felt himself blush at his own confession. It was not like Jungkook was there but still he was nervous. After he zoned out for a mere few seconds, he realized the silence that has been filling the air for a while. There were no more clanking sounds of the Jane’s cooking, the sizzling sound of the dish cooked, and no more water running in the sink where Jane washed the pot used.

Taehyung looked up from his stare at the table to look at her. He was taken aback when he saw she was staring at him with an unreadable expression. Happy? Sad? Angry? Jealous? He couldn’t decipher it. Her face was just…blank.

“Okay.”

Huh? ‘Okay’? What was she talking about? What did she meant by okay? Taehyung had his eyebrows furrowed. Jane took off her apron and hung it near the fridge. He didn’t realize it when she was right to the chair he was currently sitting. She bent down until her face was right beside his face. She half-whispered to his ear.

“In that case, we’ll just have to wait and see who he’s gonna pick between us two.”

She gave him a playful smirk and left, not before telling him to wake Jungkook and the others for breakfast. Taehyung was left, blinking rapidly trying to process what just happened.

Is that a challenge??