Night came rather quick and it was New Year’s Eve. At that moment, she sat at the dinner table with her family and Jae. It was a normal dinner, like what they usually have, except that they ate at exactly at twelve o’clock, after having a countdown for the New Year’s. The wall that was made of all window had its blinds up, giving them a view of their garden that was still illuminated with Christmas lights and the sky that was dotted with firecrackers. It was beautiful, indeed, and having it celebrated with her whole family plus the boy she loved, made everything perfect. But like any other New Year’s Eve, she would still feel empty.

“Oh, Joohyeon, I got firecrackers. Do you want to light it up now?” Joonmyeon asked but Joohyeon looked so out of it that she just continued staring at her food. Joonmyeon pressed his lips to a thin line before having hundreds of thoughts running in his mind. He knew this look of Joohyeon quite well. Actually, he was so good at figuring his sister’s expressions to know whether she is happy, sad, excited, doubtful, and right now, he knew she was troubled, and in turn, he felt the same as well. Not waiting for another second to pass, and discarding his thoughts away, he called, “Joohyeon?”

Having heard her brother and feeling the looks of the people with her, she looked up from her plate and to her brother who looked at her worriedly and she felt suddenly embarrassed. She grinned a little. “Sorry. I was just…thinking how…happy I am. I mean, it’s been a long time since we got to celebrate New Year’s Eve together. I’m just really happy.” She didn’t want to lie but it was better to keep her true thoughts to herself. She smiled at them and her parents gave her a loving smile. Joonmyeon also smiled a little, although Joohyeon could tell that he didn’t believe as much as their parents did.

“We’re also happy, Joohyeonnie. It’s been really a long time, isn’t it?” Her mom said, her eyes getting teary. “Don’t worry, we could go to America for the holidays this year.” Joohyeon smiled a little and nodded. She couldn’t say that she wanted to have it there again, at least not with her brother around because for sure, he would object.

“Were you saying something a while ago, oppa?” Joohyeon asked, turning to her brother.

“Ah, yes. Well, I know you love playing with firecrackers and…yeah, your other oppas told me so since they couldn’t come and do it with us like when we were kids, I bought some. They told me to get a proof shot.” This made Joohyeon chuckle a little but make her yearn more for her oppas who she hadn’t seen for a few days.

“Then shouldn’t we do it now? It’s only…quarter so I guess it’s not too late?” Jae said after checking the time on his wrist watch.

“We’ll just pass it, kids. You know we’re too old for that,” their father said with a sympathetic smile and the three youngsters nodded chuckling a little before the two elders stood up and left the dining room. The three exchanged some looks and smiled before they rose up and run up to the roof deck.

They stood by the railings as they held out the firecrackers, writing in the air. Jae also took a photo of Joonmyeon and Joohyeon holding the firecrackers for the proof shot. They spent a good half an hour playing around and talking before Joohyeon felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She got her phone out of her pockets and checked who the message came from and she felt her breath hitching in as she saw who it was. She looked back at the two males and found them busy in a conversation so she took that time to read the message.

As her eyes glazed over the words, she could feel her heart beating hard against her chest in both nervousness and excitement. She bit her lower lip anxiously as she thought of something to reply. She looked back at her brother and boyfriend and after more than a minute of contemplation, she finally typed in a reply and kept her phone in her pocket.

It was already two in the morning but the city of Seoul seemed to be still alive and busy. Maybe it was because of the New Year’s Eve although two hours had passed since that time. There were still a few fireworks in the sky coming from different places. But seven boys stood and paced around at a dimly lit park.

Sighs and groans was being heard here and there and although complaints of the night being so cold, no one of them left.

“Is she even coming? I mean, it’s been almost an hour since you texted her and she replied.” Yoongi huffed, slumping on the bench.

Taehyung just stood there, leaning on the bench and tapping his foot. He wasn’t really sure what he was doing there except for the fact that they would usually really gather for the occasion but then, that tradition had been cut since Joohyeon was gone so it was slightly a surprise when Namjoon sent a text that they’ll be meeting at the usual place that night. He didn’t even had to ask as soon as he got there what the sudden meeting was for as Jungkook had announced immediately that she had replied.

He should’ve have just left because he was still a little worried of what would happen if they did something like this, knowing this could trigger her memories. He tried convincing them to not do it and leave but Namjoon, being the wisest said, “Are you going to hold her back from knowing the past as she wanted because you are too afraid of getting her hurt, when there she is, taking all the risk? You are the man, Taehyung. You should be the one strong for her.” That got him to shut up for the rest of the hour.

He was still thinking about what happened earlier that morning and it got him really aggravated. He could remember the surprise in Joohyeon’s eyes when Jaeha introduced herself, called him oppa and all the aegyo she used, even plastering herself to his side and even if he wanted to just push her off, he couldn’t because Joohyeon was watching, thus acts like that won’t be good. The smug look on Youngjae's face irritated him though but he couldn't even do anything.

Jungkook, who had been too sure she would come was slowly doubting too, until he saw a figure running from the other side of the grassy field. “She’s here!” With that, all the other boys turned to the direction he was looking at and found the girl they had been waiting for looking around, obviously looking for them. “I’ll go get her.”

Taehyung gulped as he watched Jungkook approach her, instead of him. He his lips wet when the two made their way back to them. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he tilted his head and saw Jimin smiling at him.

“Relax, bro. Everything will go fine.” He nodded, convincing himself on believing those words and hoping it was true.

Soon they found themselves standing opposite each other with her small smile on her lips, and as he stared at her face, he missed her more.

A few minutes had passed since she came. They sat in a circle on the thick blanket on the ground. They shared a few chips and some with a cup of coffee and some with hot chocolate. It wasn't much, really, but Joohyeon felt so light…and happy, as if the empty feeling had been filled a little.

The boys were cracking up jokes making her softly laugh once in a while. Right then, she could see more of their carefree side compared at the noraebang where she first formally met them.

“…he ended up knocking on a post that night because of his drunkenness,” Hoseok said making Yoongi punch him on the shoulder while the rest of them cackled in laughter except for Taehyung who just softly smiled, staring at Joohyeon and admiring her. He snapped out of his trance when he felt a nudge on his side and Seokjin whispering, "You might turn her into a goo if you continue that," making his face turn bright red. When the laughter turned soft, Seokjin said, “How about you, Joohyeon? Do you have a story to tell? Or just anything?”

“Or perhaps, want to ask something?” Jungkook said earning a nudge on his side from Jimin. “Just maybe?” He pouted at Jimin who smirked at him.

Joohyeon sat thinking as the boys focused on her making her feel a little uncomfortable. Looking down on her lap, her eyebrows creased in the middle, she racked her brain for something interesting to tell, like how the rest of them did but nothing seemed fun for her to tell, and it made her frown a little. Looking up, she grinned a little. “I…uh…don’t have any interesting memory I can remember. I mean, I just have a very normal life…not.” She whispered the last words but smiled a little.

The boys felt a little sad but didn’t show it. Instead, a person who hadn’t said that much since she had come suddenly spoke up. “I thought LA is a fun place. Maybe not?” Even with the shock of him suddenly talking, the boys just shrugged it off and thought of it as a good start.

Joohyeon couldn’t explain what she felt the moment he had talked. She had been wondering since the time she came whether he was mad at her or something because he looked like he was avoiding her. It was the same during his birthday and it felt really bothering, and she couldn’t tell really why than thinking that she just hates not knowing if she had done something wrong to be treated that way.

“It is. Just that there’s really nothing much going on in my life,” Joohyeon replied, shrugging. “Sorry if I’m a no fun person—“

“No no! How can you say that?! You’re perfectly a fun person to be with, you know!” Hoseok said and Joohyeon smiled a little.

“You think so?”

“Yup. I mean, you ride our craziness even if it meant you getting scolded by your parents and getting out of your way,” Hoseok said, too late for him to realize what he had just said.

It placed them in total silence as they all kept silent while Joohyeon’s eyebrows creased. She was trying to figure out what they meant by what he just said but no matter how much she thinks of it, she just couldn’t remember anything where her parents or brother scolded her or her going out of her way just for them, except for that moment. Probably…were they…

“What he meant was that, you being here is already enough. We know you have strict parents and knowing that you went out to meet us here tonight, is pretty much an amusing thing for us to know we were that worthy of your time,” Seokjin said, trying to save the situation and although a little regretful she just nodded, smiled.

“Thank you.” The boys gave her a smile, with others giving Hoseok a reprimanding look. “But…” This caught the boys' attention as they all turned to her.  She looked at them, trying to see whether it was okay to ask of them that but she did anyways. She doesn’t know whether she was making the right decision or not but she knew she could trust them. 

A/N: PLEASE READ

Hello? Uhm... I don't know what to really say than sorry. I know I've not been updating in ages (in almost 1 and a half months). I don't want to make any excuses anymore than to hope that you would understand and still stick with me 'til the end. I'M NOT ABANDONING THIS, that I could say. I just hope you could give some time. Right now, I have a lot of things to mind so I don't think I could update really often. It might take me a week or two. I don't really know but I hope you could stay with me 'til the end, although I understand if you would lose interest and leave. It's okay because I know that I'm also at fault.

But until the end, I'm thanking all of you for giving this much support and for waiting long enough for me to update. Thank you very much. I would try to repay your kindness by doing my best in writing this fanfic. Kamsahamnida, yeorobun. :)