After a hearty meal, the band and I split ways – them to practice and I to wherever. With no exact destination, I wander the streets. My earpiece is plugged in but I do not play any songs. Like that, I walk and walk until the sun goes down and the streetlights come on. It is only when I stop walking do I realise the ache in my legs.

 

“Where is this place?” I ask myself, looking around at my surrounding. How far have I walked? Spotting stairs of some kind, I limp over and sit. The muscles in my calves burn and my stomach rumbles.

 

“Isn’t that the girl from the club?” I hear someone say. Without music, I hear every single thing people around me say. Global issues, political issues and personal issues – you name it, I’ve heard it. The past few hours have made me realize how lost in music I had been all these while to be so ignorant of the world around me.

 

“Excuse me…” A pair of boots parks itself in front of me. I look up but only see the silhouette of a man. Thinking it’s some random homeless guy, I tell him to go away. The boots remain rooted.

 

“The you want?” I ask, pulling out my earpiece. He takes a step back and as light comes through, I see that he’s actually Suga. In shock, I quickly stand to give my apologies but my legs give way beneath me. Suga catches me in time before I fall on my .

 

“You okay?” He asks with fingers closed tightly around my arm.

 

“Yes… Sorry about that,” I apologise for my earlier outburst.

 

“Yoongi hyung!” Jungkook calls as he comes running over. “Hello, noona!” Looking towards where the kid came from, I spot the rest of the group gathered there. When I catch their attention, I bow in greeting.

 

“Schedule nearby?” I ask, releasing myself from Suga’s grip. I stable myself by holding on to the railing. My calves throb under me.

 

“You want to sit down first?” Suga asks, and I delightedly oblige. Jungkook sits down beside me.

 

“We just ended a photoshoot nearby,” Jungkook replies in relation to my question. “But, noona, what are you doing here?”

 

I give him an awkward smile. “Where is ‘here’?” Jungkook looks at me funny. “I… I was walking randomly and kind of just ended up here,” I admit.

 

“How long have you been walking?” Rap Mon comes up from behind Suga and asks, eyeballing my current distressed state.

 

“I left the café at around 1PM so…”

 

“Eh?!” Suga exclaims.

 

“I see you haven’t gotten rid of this bad habit yet,” Rap Mon says, or so I thought. Suga shoots a look at him.

 

“No wonder you’re legs are all jelly,” Jungkook says empathetically. “But noona-“

 

“Will you please stop calling me noona, please?” I cut him off. “I’m not really that much older than you, you know.”

 

“Then what else should I call you? You haven’t given me a name yet.”

 

I look up at Rap Mon, and then to Jungkook. “I’m Byeol,” I tell him, officially introducing myself.

 

“Hi Byeol,” Jungkook says, dropping honorifics. “I’m Jungkook.” He holds out a hand and I shake it, a smile on my face.

 

“I’m Yoongi,” Suga tells me out of nowhere.

 

“Wait, so now we’re in the exchange names kind of relationship now?” I ask, genuinely curious. Suga – Yoongi – shrugs.

 

“Let’s just be friends,” he says, holding out a hand to me just as Jungkook did. I hesitate a moment before taking it. My stomach chooses this embarrassing time to growl. With my hand still in Yoongi’s, he pulls me up.

 

“We’re about to go for dinner,” he tells me. “Join us?”

 

“Yeah! Byeol-ah, join us for dinner!” Jungkook bounces like a little kid who just got granted candy.

 

“I…” I want to reject Yoongi but don’t know how to make it sound nice.

 

“Won’t take no for an answer.” This comes from Rap Mon, who’s been quiet this whole while. “I’m Namjoon, by the way.”

 

“I know…” Taking this as an okay to his invitation, Yoongi pulls me by the hand towards the group of guys. He introduces me.

 

“Guys, this is Byeol.” To me,” Byeol, this is guys.”

 

“Hi, I’m Jin.”

 

“I’m Jimin!”

 

“Hoseok, but you probably know me as J-Hope.”

 

“Taehyung!”

 

“Hello, I’m Byeol,” I introduce myself again, bowing slightly.

 

“Byeol’s my new friend!” Jungkook links arms with me, announcing excitedly.

 

“What is wrong with you?” I ask jokingly.

 

“Nice to meet you, Byeol-ssi,” Jin says, smiling at me. I return the smile.

 

“Please speak comfortably,” I tell him. “I’m born in the 96.”

 

“So we’re almost the same age?” Taehyung smiles widely. “Let’s be friends too!” He takes my free hand and shakes it on his own.

 

“Can we go eat already?” Yoongi speaks up from some dark corner where I can’t see him. “I’m starving.”

 

“Let’s go,” Jin gathers the kids and leads the way. Jungkook pulls me along, his arm still linked in mine. Rap Mon falls into step with us.

 

“You’ll get used to them,” he whispers to me.