Jungkook made his way into the familiar apartment, dumping his bag onto the floor before stretching his sore muscles. He looked around the rundown apartment and sighed as he made his way to the kitchen, his feet catching on the many articles of clothing across the floor. He opened up the fridge and a look into it told him that it was empty as he expected it to be. It had been a while since he had a proper meal, what with the crazy practices for their upcoming debut. He wasn’t complaining though, he was doing what he loved to do and the 16 year old boy couldn’t be happier.

It took a while for Jungkook to get used to staying with strangers. He had moved from Busan to Seoul and at his age, it was way too early to say goodbye to his family. He felt lost and helpless the first few weeks in the city but he always found practices to be liberating. When he was put into a group though, he was afraid. Jungkook was a shy boy and it took him a while to get comfortable with new people. Most people wouldn’t give him the chance to even do so before they write him off as ‘weird’ or ‘anti-social’. They didn’t give him the chance to be himself.

The first day he moved into this very apartment, he came across a tall male who looked vaguely familiar. His egg-shaped face and stern look told Jungkook that he wasn’t one to joke around with. But when Jungkook bowed and introduced himself to the male in a rather clumsy way, a smile broke out onto his face, revealing a cute one-sided dimple. He introduced himself as Kim Namjoon and the motors started turning in Jungkook’s head, remembering Bang PD’s explanation that the tall male in front of him would be the leader of his group.

After the horribly awkward introduction - at least that was how he remembered it - between he and the leader, Jungkook met the other members who were all older than him, making him the youngest member. That day, the group went out for dinner and Jungkook couldn’t help but feel out of place, seeing how the other members communicated so easily. Some of them even knew each other prior to the formation of the group. The whole dinner, Jungkook struggled to keep up with the conversations but he did note how his older members took care of him by placing food on his plate, inviting him into the conversation or just smiling at the male to ease his nerves.

Years later, here he found himself, sipping on a glass of water as he eyed the messy living room come bedroom that the seven males shared. This was the place where they shared their concerns with each other, where they had arguments but also where these arguments were resolved. This was the place where a family was built between the seven friends and Jungkook couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the shy boy at the beginning of his journey. With the help of s, the real, chatty, mischievous boy he really was came out. It was a side of him that many are not familiar with, seeing how easily others abandoned the boy before he had the chance to get comfortable.

Their debut was in a few months and he couldn’t wait to share the stage with these 6 people.

* * *

‘Bulletproof Boy Scouts’, Taehyung typed into the search bar. It had been a day since he was announced as a member to the public and he was so afraid to see their reactions. He closed his eyes as the page loaded and with a sigh he scrolled through it to see the comments from netizens.

Netizens had been buzzing about the new boy group ever since their debut was announced. They went crazy reporting about the six members and Taehyung couldn’t help but feel left out. They kept him in the dark, telling him that he was a surprise they had install for the public but he was afraid. He thought that the agency didn’t believe in his talents and keeping him from the public eye made it easier for them if they ever decided to drop him from the team.

While the other members posted logs on their Youtube channel, Taehyung sat at the side, watching as his friends did the talking while he stayed silent - something the male was not known for. While the members interacted with fans online, all he could do was read their conversations and pretend to be non-existent.

So when the teaser pictures for their debut was released for all seven members without any explanation, Taehyung avoided the internet, fearing what their fans had to say. What if they didn’t like him? What if they had already envisioned a perfect group of six boys and an additional member would just be too much for them? What if he was nothing but a side member to the group? The other members already had fans and fansites all over social media. They were loved and many were excited for their debut. What if Taehyung did nothing but spoil their excitement?

Taehyung kept his finger on the mouse, scrolling through the comments with a racing heart. Slowly, the fear he had in him was replaced with a feeling of immense warmth as he read the many positive comments. Most of them complimented his looks and he couldn’t help but chuckle at the curious but positive questions some asked. “Who’s the 7^th member? He looks cute”, “Is he a rapper?”, “Can’t wait to hear his voice!”. Taehyung stopped scrolling as a comment posted a few hours before read, “Please post a log and introduce yourself to the fans!”.

He grabbed the camera the other members had used so often over the past few months and placed it in front of him, making sure that he was in clear view for the fans. He planned to make a serious log but with the wide smile on his face, he knew the fans would recognise his cheeky attitude. He the camera and stared into the lenses, his smile impossibly wide as he prepared to explain how he was there the whole time. How he had been watching the interactions and he couldn’t wait to take part in them. How he was so grateful for their many open-minded fans and how he was going to work hard to make them proud. With a deep breath, his low voice echoed throughout the empty room.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Kim Taehyung and I am a vocalist of BTS.”