"Guys, I need to talk," Taehyung flushed a bright red all the way to his ears and neck. "About Jae.... Jaeyoung..."

A loud, cacophonous chorus of "OOOHHHH"s filled the room. Taehyung rolled his eyes in response, heaving a deep sigh. Hoseok pinched his shoulders and shook him whilst screeching as Namjoon nodded in approval and made an "O.K." hand gesture. Taehyung feigned patience as he waited for the noise to die down.

"It's exactly what you think." He continued. "I think I like her."

"Yeah? So go talk to her. Tell her." Yoongi urged.

"I would, really, I would." Taehyung shook his head. "But she has become such a special friend to me, and I feel like I've become the same to her. I don't want to risk what we've built together. What if we break up on bad terms? Everything will have all been for nothing."

"Look, Tae," Jimin answered. "I understand where you're coming from, but if it feels right to you, if you really want this girl, then go for it."

Taehyung opened his mouth to protest, but he closed it upon seeing that the others were nodding in agreement. His gaze fell to his hands, which lay in his lap. His fingers curled into determined fists as his jaw clenched slightly.

"Okay." His previously lost eyes had become bright and eager once again. "I want Jaeyoung to know how I feel."

Again, he and Jaeyoung went to Starbucks one afternoon after school had ended. He nervously and repeatedly eyed his white chocolate mocha and then glanced up at Jaeyoung, who was carefully observing her green tea frappuccino. Slowly, she broke away from her drink and turned her attention to the boy sitting in the seat across from her.

"Are you alright? You've been so quiet today. You're not getting sick, are you?" There was concern in her voice. Concern.

"Jae," He took a deep breath. "Jaeyoung. I have something very important to tell you."

"Go on." She replied nonchalantly, as if it couldn't have been something that would totally change his life.

"Um, so..." He stalled for a moment, trying to articulate the words that were jumbled in his love-stricken head. "I've been thinking about it and, uh, I li-live... no, l... l..."

"You're definitely not alright." Jaeyoung remarked, her brows knitting together in confusion.

"No, no! What I want to say is... I... like... you." He anxiously swallowed a huge gulp of his coffee. "I like you, Jae."

Her piercing brown eyes became gentle and warm. She even blushed a little, fanning herself as she sipped her frappe to cool down. But then, her expression became more solemn and serious, making Taehyung's heart drop. He had no idea what she could possibly be hinting at with her body language. In a way, this ambiguity was worse than rejection.

"Don't get me wrong, Taehyung." She reached out and held his hand reassuringly. "I really like being with you, and you have made my life so much brighter than it had been before. But, I think it would be best if I slept on it for a little while, because I'm kind of dealing with a lot right now and I need to give myself time to consider my feelings whilst dealing with all of this crap."

He hummed in acknowledgement and understanding. Yet, even in her kind grasp, his hands still felt so cold. For the first time in what felt like forever, Taehyung felt afraid.

"Like," She added, lowering her volume. "My brother got into another fight and got fired from his job, and we don't have the money to keep him out of the trouble that comes after all that. And my dad is suddenly trying to show up in our lives again, calling my mom after he got into an argument with his new wife, her ex-friend, all like 'I made a huge mistake by leaving you.' What makes it worse is that my mom is ranting about it all over her Facebook, like, don't give him that satisfaction, please! Ugh, god!"

"You're not totally powerless. You can try to change this for the better." He encouraged. "I know you don't really like to speak your mind, but now is that time, in my opinion. People walk all over those who are afraid to take a stand. This is your chance to do something about your life."

Jaeyoung gripped her cup with her free hand, bending and crumpling the plastic with the weight of her fingers. She knew that Taehyung was right. It was done, then. She would return home and give her mother a piece of her mind and make her call her dad back and tell him to leave them alone. Despite all of the drama that her brother was prone to causing, she would silently stand by his side and support him like any sister would.

That night, Jaeyoung entered her home and kicked off her shoes at the door. She dragged her feet to her room and let her backpack drop to the wooden floor with a heavy thud. Then, she shuffled into the living room, where her mom was sitting on the couch reading a tabloid magazine.

Okay, she could do this.

"Mom?" Jaeyoung called softly.

Her mother looked up from the magazine through thin brown frames. "What is it?"

"It's just–" Jaeyoung sat down beside her mother. "It's Dad."

Her mother went tight-lipped. "What about him?"

"I know he's been calling you. I know what he's been saying to you. You have every right to your feelings and opinions about him. I know that everyone copes differently, whether they do it silently, by talking to others about their issues, or by writing it out in any medium. But in situations like this, I feel like he just feels this way now. Once he makes up with his wife, you'll feel stupid for permanently engraving all that on social media, you know?"

"Honey, listen to me." Now it was her mother's turn to talk. "I use my Facebook like a diary. A more public diary. It doesn't matter to me who sees or comments or likes or whatever. It's sort of therapeutic for me, I guess. If people don't like what I post or how I use it, they can just block me. I don't care."

"But–" She stopped herself mid-sentence. "Never mind. I get it. You're really open about yourself, even if it hurts you. I can't change that."

"That's right." Her mom agreed. "And you know what else you can't change? That you're my daughter and I love you no matter what."

Her eyes brimmed with tears of guilt. She suddenly loathed herself for blaming so much on her mom. She hadn't realized how much her mom cared: she packed Jaeyoung's lunch every morning, always made dinner whenever she was home, and never abandoned her daughter for more selfish exploits. Jaeyoung wished that she had known that, despite her mother's many flaws, she still loved her children.

"I love you too, mom." She sniffed. And I'm so sorry.

Unfortunately, her mother never dealt with her own ex-husband. Jaeyoung took it upon herself to shoo him off. She dialed his number, which had purposely not been saved in her phone. Much to her surprise, he answered right away.

"Jae? What's wrong?" Her father's gravelly voice sounded through the speaker. "It's not like you to, you know, talk to me."

Usually, Jaeyoung was reserved and restrained. Today was not that day. 

"I'm calling to tell you that everything is wrong. You're wrong." She seethed. "What the hell do you think entitles you to call my mother after you chose to break your vows and get with another woman, her best friend of all people? Why should you tell her that you miss her, that you made a mistake by leaving her? Haven't you caused enough of a crisis in her life already? Are you trying to break her? Huh?"

"Jaeyo–"

"Did you like it," She continued. "When that woman pressed her lips to yours for the first time? Did you like it when you were inside her for the first time? Did you like it when you ignored Mom's worried phone calls and text messages to run off with that woman? Did you like it, Dad?"

"Jae, please–"

"Listen to me!" She nearly screamed through the phone. "You got into one bad argument with your wife, that damned woman, tough . You don't think that married couples occasionally get into really ugly fights? You don't think that most of them can make up and still live happily? You need to get yourself together and apologize to her. Move on. Move on from us. Stay away from me. Stay away from my brother. Stay away from my mother. Stay away from my family."

"I... fine." The line went dead.

She shed tears of relief.

Of course, there was always another person who tried to mess with her. At the front gates to the school, Song Minho cornered her, cackling as she struggled to break free from his tight hold. She stopped resisting and instead glared daggers at him. He only continued to laugh.

"Well, well. Look what we have here. The Abominable Snow-, Jaeyoung." Minho received a high-five from one of his boys, Kang Seungyoon. "So, I heard your brother's having trouble, eh?" 

"So what?" She nearly spat. "It's none of your business. It's a family matter."

"Not really, since it was my dad who fired him." Minho shrugged. "Maybe if he kept his mouth shut, he wouldn't be such a low-life bum."

"Yeah?" She snapped, a new fire forming in her eyes. "Maybe if you kept your mouth shut, you would actually be able to graduate this year!"

There was a sudden rush of complete silence. A few students even stopped conversing to eavesdrop on Minho and Jaeyoung. A few amused "ooh"s were scattered amongst the crowd. Seungyoon even uttered a small "damn," prompting Minho to punch him in the shoulder.

"Why do you stand up for him, anyway?" Minho pushed. "He's never done anything for you but give you trouble."

"Because he's my brother!" She shot back. "He's family, and you don't get to choose that. I know he's outspoken to a fault, and I know he has some anger management issues, but turning him away wouldn't change a thing. He needs me by his side to support him. He needs to know that he isn't in this alone."

This certainly shut him up. He whispered somethings to his boys and then turned back to face Jaeyoung. She was still wearing an intensely dark stare and refused to break from Minho. If looks could kill, he would have been brutally murdered.

Finally, they left. Jaeyoung exhaled deeply as she slid down the brick wall onto the concrete path. Her vision seemed to turn cloudy as she entered a daze. She didn't even notice that Taehyung had rushed to her side.

"Hey, Jae! Jae!" He shook her gently. "Are you okay? I heard everything."

"Yeah, I'm fine." She brushed off her skirt before standing up again. "It wasn't a big deal."

Students were still staring at Jaeyoung, and now Taehyung. A few continued to whisper and gossip while others moved on inside, stealing a glance before they entered the building. 

But then, a strange noise erupted from the back of Jaeyoung's throat. She quickly slapped a hand over , her eyelids curving into upward arcs. A giggle. It was a clear, pure, childish sound. Her eyes began to squeeze tigher as she removed her hand to cover them. 

It was at this moment that Taehyung's breath hitched. Her teeth were an angelic white, her lips forming a wide, straight grin. Jaeyoung's smile was absolutely beautiful. No, Jaeyoung was absolutely beautiful.

She didn't know why she was laughing. Maybe it was all of that pent-up frustration at her family that had finally been let out for good. The invisible chains that once bound her to silence had been broken. She was free.

Actually, she had one last hurdle to bypass.

"Tae, I have some news for you." Her smile faded. "We're moving to Mokpo next month."

Alternative title for this chapter: Jaeyoung stops giving a .

Sadly I am going back to college today (Saturday 1/9) so I have no idea when I'll get l FINAL chapter up. Hopefully it will be soon, and then I can work on Freedom or Rewrite (if I get the motivation smh) or start Fire and Blood. 

Honestly I originally was miserable writing this fluff but lowkey enjoy it. I am either turning into even more of a masochist than I was before or I have lost my morals.