Prologue

Stay Sane

"Oh my God, unnie!" a girl, an aggressive freshman who obviously went to the Seoul National University's cafeteria on the first day of her first semester just to see the exhibition of handsome upperclassmen hanging out together, squeaked as she shook her friend's arm.

The other girl, a sophomore, looked up to her and scowled, pulling her arm away with annoyance dripping from her expression. "What?"

She pointed to the table on the opposite end of theirs. There was a man, sitting quietly and alone with a book on his table. He looked handsome with his messy brown hair and a simple ed flannel and light wash jeans. "Is that—"

"Jeon Jungkook, a sophomore like me, majoring in Architecture, girls dig him but he's out of our league," the other girl answered her childhood friend, suddenly feeling excited herself. She bounced on her seat.

"Isn't he—"

"The grandson of Mayor of Seoul and the next-in-line to JBC Group's empire. His older brother which was supposed to be the first heir had given up his position to join the army. So, he's stuck with it since he doesn't have younger sibling," the sophomore nodded frantically, "I studied all about him and his friends!" she added when freshman girl looked at her in surprise.

"He must be rich," freshman girl muttered dreamily.

"Rich?" the sophomore scoffed, "He's extremely rich. Don't you know how big JBC Group is? It's one of the biggest multi-industries company in the world! Everyone thinks he's a brat though," she whispered her last sentence, because no one got to openly talk bad about Jeon Jungkook. That was an unwritten rule in the campus.

"Really? Why?"

The sophomore shrugged. "I guess he hates being socially involved with other people. He only wants to hang out with the Architecture students who are in the same year as him. But even they think that he only befriends them out of formality, you know, because they're in the same year. He's really close only with six other rich guys. They form a group and have known each other since they were babies or around that age because their parents are friends and colleagues. Talk about rich people communities," she answered quietly.

Freshman girl stared at her friend in wonder. "How hot those guys are?"

The sophomore laughed. "Do you only think about hot guys?"

Freshman girl was about to answer when they heard a ruckus and everyone, except for Jeon Jungkook who looked like he had a safety bubble around him that separated him from the rest of the world, turned their heads to the two boys at the top of the stairs that connected the outdoor cafeteria with the indoor one. One boy had orange hair while the other dyed his with a lavender colour. The lavender dude had a style that was not considered neat for some lecturers, with a pair of ripped jeans, white t-shirt, black leather jacket, and Puma's white basket sneakers, holding a lollipop on his right hand and a backpack hung messily on his left shoulder. He was laughing loudly at the other guy's joke. The orange-haired boy seemed to be a bit more calm, but there was a boyish smile on his small face. He wore a simple black t-shirt combined with black jeans and a pair of yellow Chuck Taylor All Star Vintage Canvas sneakers from Converse, his left hand was holding three thick books. They both looked so carefree. The lavender boy definitely was throwing smiles here and there but the orange boy was more collected, and somehow those two charms worked in the eyes of the girls because a lot of them were talking happily with one another about those boys.

"Those, my dear, are two out of the six of Jeon Jungkook's close friends," the sophomore whispered.

"Can't even imagine how the other four look like," she replied in daze, "tell me about all of them."

"The orange guy? That's Park Jimin, a senior in Mechanical Engineering Department. While the lavender guy is Kim Taehyung, also a senior, majoring in Business."

"Oh, I've heard their names, but exactly how rich are they?" freshman girl asked without taking his eyes off of Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung who finally joined Jeon Jungkook on his table. Jungkook looked careless as both of his friends sat down on his sides and made a mess around him. After a while, he looked up at his friends and let out a wide smile.

"Park Jimin is the heir, by the way they're all heirs of something—he's the successor of Park Auto while Kim Taehyung is the successor of Kimdae Inc."

Freshman girl widened her eyes. "No way."

The sophomore's smile saying told you so. "Way."

"Park Auto is like the biggest automotive company in this country right now and Kimdae Inc. has like so many hotels everywhere!"

"I know, sweetheart, I know. Like I told you, they're all rich so stop being so surprised," the sophomore giggled as she sat closer to her friend so they could talk more privately without anyone eavesdropping, "those two were probably twins in their past life, because even that they're going to different departments, somehow they're always together, with Jungkook too most of the times, but they are more social than Jeon Jungkook. They love throwing parties and inviting everyone they know in the campus, it's still limited to certain groups but it's a lot more than Jungkook's circle of friends. Usually, they use Taehyung's condominium in Seongsu-dong. And, if you wanna see all seven of them together in a room, you can go to their parties or to Kim Seokjin's places."

"Kim Seokjin?"

"We'll get to him later," the sophomore waved her hand distractedly to her other friend that passed by.

"Oh wait," freshman girl frowned, "hasn't the heir of Park Auto died like a few years ago or something?"

"Seven to be exact, and that's Jimin's older brother," the sophomore answered solemnly.

"What happened?"

"No one really knows because it was kept private by the Parks. All we ever heard is that Jimin and his brother had a car accident and Jimin was the only one who survived. Tragic, isn't it? The heir of the biggest automobile manufacture company died in a car accident," she said and when freshman girl opened to ask more, she shook her head timidly, "don't talk more about this or any other sensitive topics about them so openly, okay? The three of them are really protective toward one another, especially Kim Taehyung, that boy is too easy to lose his temper in general but when it comes to his friends, he'll break you. There was one time, a senior bullied Jungkook who was still a freshman right in front of his eyes, and Taehyung beat that guy very badly that he almost got expelled. Fortunately for him, he has a powerful link."

"Wow, okay, lesson learned. Now, tell me more."

The sophomore hummed. "Those three are considered as the maknae line. Now, we're going to talk about their hyungs. First, we have Kim Namjoon and Jung Hoseok who are a year older than Jimin and Taehyung. Jung Hoseok was in the Civil Engineering Department, but he got transferred with full scholarship after only one semester here to The University of Tokyo. He just graduated and became the youngest Vice President of Jung-Hwang Operation right after he got back. It's a merger construction company between South Korea and China, but now the Jungs has most of the share, so it's practically his in the future."

"He's a VP?"

"Yes, VP, at the age of just 23, it's a mix between being born as the only inheritor and being extremely smart" the sophomore said proudly, like Jung Hoseok was her boyfriend, "let me tell you that all seven of them are hot, but Jung Hoseok is exceptionally charming and the friendliest of all. He's like a sunshine, always has a smile on his face and is very cheerful. He is considered as the Casanova of the group; rich, handsome, smart, and charming, who wouldn't want him, right? Hm, next, we have Kim Namjoon, their 'leader'."

"Leader?" freshman girl tilted her head in confusion, "They have a leader?"

"That's what people usually say about him. Kim Namjoon has this authoritative aura. He's another genius like Hoseok, he's excellent with words, and very mature. Whenever any of them, especially the younger ones, is in trouble, Kim Namjoon always comes to the rescue. He went to Law School, which was very suitable for him. Do you know where he went?" freshman girl shook her head, "Harvard Law School. Harvard. American's Harvard. And he finished it in only three years."

"Damn, I feel really stupid right now," freshman girl commented and the sophomore laughed pitifully.

"He has his own law firm and he's one of the brightest young lawyers in Korea right now. He is also the grandson of Mayor of Seoul, Jungkook is his younger cousin, and rumour has it that he's projected to be the successor of his grandfather. Some people said that he's going to be politician too soon enough."

"I seriously don't even want to hear about the last two anymore, unnie. I mean, is there any hottest bachelor group out there?" freshman girl slumped down on her seat.

"You already heard about the five, you have to finish listening about the other two!" she exclaimed and freshman girl put her hands up in surrender, "The last two are Min Yoongi who's a year older than Namjoon and Hoseok, and also Kim Seokjin who's a year older than Yoongi and also the eldest. Yoongi is currently the COO of Min Broadcasting Station, MBS. He was studying in London School of Economics and Political Science, which is one of the best for Communication and Media Studies. He wasn't a particular bright student or something I heard, but still, getting into that school would require a lot of brain cells," the sophomore stopped and sighed, "he's actually another Jeon Jungkook. Or, Jeon Jungkook is another Min Yoongi. He's really cold and doesn't like to be around people. He has one serious incident though," freshman girl leaned forward and the sophomore whispered, "around two years ago, right after he graduated and got back to Seoul, he was disappeared from the public for six months. Some people said that he got into rehab for serious drugs problem."

Freshman girl gasped. "He was an addict?"

The sophomore shrugged. "That's what I heard, but, again, with the powerful link, the Mins were able to cover the rumour up. He was promoted to be COO right after he made his first public appearance again after a while."

"Rich people's things, huh?" freshman girl shook her head in disbelief.

"And, finally, we get to talk about Kim Seokjin. He's a soon-to-be Internist and a successful young cook as his side job. He owns a bakery in Itaewon at the lower ground of his own apartment and a very hot nightclub in Cheongnam. Have you ever heard about We Heart Foundation?" when freshman girl nodded, the sophomore continued, "That is Seokjin's father's. His family owns most of the hospitals in South Korea and is a very generous family. His father helps a lot of poor people to get the proper medical attention through that foundation. He's the one with the cleanest reputation among the seven of them. If you want to see all seven of them, you should come to Seokjin's club. Sometimes, they showed up and have a private room right above the dance floor, so you can see them hang out and do their things. That's what we fangirls do," she snickered proudly.

"Their life sounds so cool and complex at the same time," freshman girl said.

The sophomore agreed. "They're very lucky, you know, to be born in the powerful families? They could just cover things up with money and links everywhere. It's also very fun to talk about them, it feels like their life came straight out of movies. That's why they're all so interesting, don't you think so too?"

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
lia_jiyoo #1
Chapter 3: Ah and I'm so sorry for you loss.
And I hope you are doing great on your work!
lia_jiyoo #2
Chapter 3: I smell something bad is coming. Jimin-ah, take care.
ainkyu #3
I'm so sorry to your loss...
thank you for keep updating.. this is good, i mean real good story
lalluvia #4
Chapter 3: I'm so sorry to your loss but thank you for come back! I always enjoy this story.
ichalibel #5
Chapter 3: I'm so sorry for your loss

I almost forget this story so i need to reread from the first chapter but i still read and enjoy the whole part without skipping a word.
You describe their personalities perfectly and i love their beautiful friendship !
ainkyu #6
Chapter 2: i am so looking forward to this story. it is soooooooooooooooooo good, i read resignation too, and i cried, so hard bcz it was a sad and beautiful story , keep writing...
lalluvia #7
Chapter 2: I just fell in love with this story. Keep update author nim!
lia_jiyoo #8
Chapter 2: It's super long but I like it! ❤
lia_jiyoo #9
Chapter 1: Woah, I feel like a gossip girl while reading this prologue