Hulloo~ this story are updated! A rather lengthy update to be exact, I'm making up for the lost time, I know, yes I'm bribbing you, sorry but well, enough with my rambles. ENJOY!!!

***

The silence is deafening and the cold were stabbing right through the flesh like a scorching knife on a butter, hurting the bones but Kim TaeHyung hold his pose, sitting stiff on the couch with elbows on top of his opened knees with fingers tangling as he fiddling his thumbs, lost in thoughts. Deep frown adorned his handsome features,

The second he arrived at the palace he immediately tuck himself away into the dark corner of the foyer, finding the nearest couch to sat his trembling body and tried to composed himself. The reason why he’s trembling so much? He didn't even get exactly why. Is it from the rage? Sadness? Or maybe relief? But relieved for what? For finally finding out the answers for his most feared questions? For finding out the fact that he finally saw his best friend true nature? He’s confused,

The boy shake his head as he squint his eyes shut at his running thoughts, gripping his hands harder as he released a shaky breath,

I have to see her. Need to

He bit his lip hard. He knew that he should have to go see his brothers first the first thing he stepped into the palace, he knew that they’re still in the same room he left for the Lee’s manor earlier this evening but he couldn't, the urge to see her win over the urgency and he found himself waiting for her return. Seeing how her scents didn't mingle thickly with the others has told him that she still have not back yet from her date with JungKook so he waited. What will he say to her when he see her? What will he do?. Begging for forgiveness? Pretending to be indifferent and tell her everything while masking his true feelings like usual?. This suspenses are killing him,

At the very last, his ears perked when he heard noises comes from the distance, a melodious chuckles and familiar voice, each with their happy tones and he straightened instantly,

JooYeon stopped dead in her tracks when he spotted the blonde, halting JungKook in the protest as he raised an eyebrow, finding his friend a second later than his mate,

“TaeHyung?” the girl called after a seemingly long lasting silence and it’s like the spell suddenly broke as the next thing she know she found herself pulled inside the said boy arms as he slouched down to bury his nose on the crook of her neck, arms tightly bound around her like an unbreakable chain. Kim TaeHyung decided to just let his instinct handled everything and it tells him to be as close as possible to his mate and beg,

She staggered on her feet, taken aback by the sudden action before composing herself back, brows disappeared beneath her vermilion bangs as she turn her head slightly to exchanging a confused looks with no less confused JungKook before ever so slowly brought one hand up to the older male’s back while the other find their way into his golden locks and scratch his scalp slowly in calming manners instinctively,

JooYeon has lose count how many times she found herself thrown off of her mind by the youngest Kim bizarre actions lately but so far this is the most bizzare one and it rendered her speechless,

“I’m sorry, sorry- I’m so sorry-”,

JooYeon frowned at the incoherent words of apology and her finger stilled, “there’s many things that I think you should be sorry for but what’s this one for exactly?” she answered, trying to joke with her usual sarcastic comments to lighten the atmosphere a bit but TaeHyung didnt even took the bait and snapped like he normally do, he fell silent instead and it confused both JooYeon and JungKook greatly,

“hyung, is everything alright?” JungKook finally speak, concern lacing his every words as he stepped closer but this too answered with another silence before finally -after a long waiting- TaeHyung pulled back, moving his hands to grip on JooYeon’s elbows instead as he look into his mate silver eyes and found his heart ached as the mixed emotions that pummeling him and he’s sure that JooYeon felt the surge of emotions too by how her stormy eyes widen a bit despite of the confusion,

“we need to talk,” he croaked - voice sounding as harsh as if he’s been mute for a long time- and paused, gulping before he continued to look at both his mate and younger brother “all of us”.

***

I turn to look at my mates face one by one before finally set my eyes on the youngest Kim who's been as silent as a rock since he finished his story approximately a minute ago to let the truth sink into the other boys head with his head down, hiding every little emotions beneath his poker face as always but still, he cant stop me from sniffing them out of him. The guilt and anger was eating him alive and its keep getting stronger every times his eyes clashed with mine,

The heavy atmosphere lingered as they sat there, each with their own thoughts while I observed from my spot at the corner of the room, leaning my elbow onto one of the ornament with crossed arms. I gritted my teeth at the scene,

No matter how, that dear sister of mine will always found a way to ruin something. Either its my life, day, or now in this case, the boys heart. Props for her I guess. For being the biggest on the land

I know how disappointed and betrayed the seven boys feels right now. At some points in their lives, Nara was their innocent little angel, one who they thought would never hurt a fly, even after I told them my side of the story. Sure, I've seen how they put some distance from her lately -she’s acting weird they said- but they still couldn't completely bring themselves to hate the girl completely and tried to fix our relationship. I’ve always commented how blind and naive they could be but now I see how devastated they are by the truth, I Couldn't help but wanting to bite Nara’s head off for being such a pain in the ,

Couldn't take the tension anymore, I sighed out loud before straightened my back as I spoke flatly,”is that all we should hear?”,

Taehyung head shot up at the sounds of my voice and the other jumped on their seat, snapped their eyes towards me as if just remembering me being present in the same room and I roll my eyes at their reactions,

“uh, um- yes” TaeHyung stuttered clearly get my question being thrown at him as he meet my eyes for a second before averting the pair of black orbs away from my silver ones,

I sighed, “I’d be lying if I say that I’m not boiling in anger right now,”, I watch as their body stiffened at my sentence but I let a light chuckles fly out of my lips and wordlessly tell them that the subject of my rage was another person,

“but…” I mused, pausing as I turn my head away to the window, watching as the sky turned pink and gold before continuing, eyes still seeing far into the horizon, “ I say, it's good that you finally get to know the truth, it's a painful truth, I understand that. I do” I said as I turn my eyes back to look at them and give them a sad smile,

“I’m not lying when I said that I forgive you, even if the wound that scarred me because of your action when you decided to believed her lies over mine back then still haven't healed completely, no, I think it will forever be there to haunt me but-”,

I trailed off, frowning as I felt the familiar tug of heartstring and winced a bit as I recalled the fateful day, the day that pushed me to make a reckless decision to run away and follow my grandmother but then shake the feelings. It's all in the past now, just a mere fragments of bad memories and nightmare, I already found my resolve,

“I wanted to make a new start” I confessed, holding their gazes at me as I did so,

“and I couldn't help but seeing this as the right time to finally realize it,”,

“I suggest you guys did the same, I don't want Nara keep on having this effect in all of us,” I keep my narrative going and they seems to have no intention to stop me anyway, so I pushed on,

Small smile grazed my lips “I know it hurts to know the truth but can we just forget all of this?”,

I watch as my mates processing my request in silence, almost all of them have the similar expression on their faces, only TaeHyung and Yoongi keep their poker faces intact, gives nothing away  of what exactly running through their minds,

Feeling quite satisfied after voicing all of my thoughts, I decided to leave them alone for now, nodding my head firmly before start to move towards the door across the room but stopped when SeokJin voice called for me for the first time since all this heavy talk took place, “JooYeon, we’re-” he began but a cut him in mid sentence with a shake of my head, already knowing what he wanted to say,

“no, keep it, I’ve told you to forget it already, so please” I asked, smiling before turning my head back to my mates as they fixated their eyes on me, guilt layering thickly on each one of them and I gave out a sad smile,

“look, I have a rather pleasant night and prefer to keep it unspoiled, so I hope you guys keep the guilt in a decent level, as much as I find it alluring, too much of it will suffocate me, you know?” I half joking remarked nonchalantly, smirking as I watch their taken aback expression and wave my hand, chuckling to myself before my eyes meet JungKook’s as I continuing my way to the door and instantly remembering the small paper bag in my hand. I grinned as I pass him the thing, taking him by surprise as he catch the small bag in both hands the last second and throw me disapproving looks,

“give it to them for me, will you?”,

JungKook eyes shifting slightly towards my ears and catch a glimpse of the crescent moon diamond that now fitting perfectly on my right ear and he shot his own trademark grins my way. A genuine mirth playing in his black orbs as he did so and I couldn't help the laughter that left my lips when I peek on my other mates confused faces as I make my way out of the room and closed the door behind me with steps as light as a feather.

***

“he hasn't come out from his room, it's been three days, we need to do something”,

I took my attention away from my mother’s journal on my lap temporarily to look at the owner of the voice as he make his way to me while speaking with the rugged looking HoSeok,

Jimin sighed when they finally reach me, immediately taking the spot on my left side while HoSeok take my right, lying on his back with head on top of my lap after he moved the journal out of the way,

I reach out to wipe a smudge of dirt from Jimin’s forehead with one hand while the other find its way into HoSeok’s mahogany locks, running my fingers through the shiny threads as he sighed in appreciation for the gesture,

“talking about TaeHyung again?” I asked as I took their disheveled state then shift my eyes towards the garden where they have their usual training session, Jimin and HoSeok just finished their session before joining me, hence their disheveled state, I could make out NamJoon and JungKook -now in turn- have their sparring time in the distance with SeokJin observing from the side, a cup of tea in his hand while Yoongi watching the mock fight with eagle eyes not so far away from where the oldest sit,

Jimin hummed, taking my hand from his forehead and start playing with them, I found myself smiling fondly at him as I let him play with my pinky finger. The crescent moon earring that I gave them gleaming softly under the moonlight on his right ear,

“he refused to come out when we called, not even when Jin hyung told him to, which is a rare case, you know how he always obey him before” Jimin said as he glanced to the oldest Kim brothers and I followed his action, now that I pay attention to it, his posture was rather stiff and a rather deep frown evident in between his perfectly shaped brows, which is completely out of character from his usual relaxed self,

So that's the reason why he had that annoyed scowl this entire time

HoSeok shuddered as we keep looking at SeokJin and commented “he’ll make Jin hyung explode if he keep this rebellious act, he almost bust TaeHyung’s door open if its not for Yoongi hyung and Joon holding him back this evening”. I pull my attention away from the man and look down at HoSeok, chuckling as I bring my fingers to trace the hair line from the side of his head to the newly punctured ear, poking it gently and make him jolt from the sudden touch. I smirked when he scowled at me. I was the one who put that hole three days ago, by his request of course. Turns out, he really did scared of the needle and keep jumped on top of my bed every time I make a sudden move as I put the piercing tool on his ear. I asked him if he really did want the piercing when I had enough of his little yelps, I could easily ask the artisan that made the earring to maybe turn it into a necklace or something, I originally gave the earring for him as a mere joke anyway but HoSeok said no, he wants the earring so now, the jewel fitted perfectly on his right ear just like the other boys,

“he took it the hardest, that boy, even harder that all of us, I mean me and JungKook was once Nara’s closest friends too,” Jimin said quietly, glancing at me nervously as he bring Nara into the conversation but I just looking straight ahead indifferently at this, fingers still combing HoSeok hair subconsciously and he knew that I didn't mind it so he continued, “but Taehyung was her best friend, they practically glued from the hip down”,

“he’s been having this doubt of Nara’s acts since the day you disappeared but still stubbornly denying his suspicion while the rest of us actually questioned her behaviors,”

Jimin paused as he look down, leaving his words hanging and HoSeok clucked his tongue as he continuing the younger male sentence, “Nara’s lies has been crushing whatever faith he has left for her”,

Nobody talking after HoSeok finished and the silent prolonged. I honestly didn't know what to say to respond for that because this is something between Nara and TaeHyung, not to mention my relationship with that one mate of mine is not something we called buddies, well I’m pretty sure we are not enemies anymore judging by how he acted around me lately and we did agreed to act more civil towards each other before but still, we weren't that close for me to just left some thoughtless comment in this case,

HoSeok look up and lift his hand to my chin to make me meet his eyes, I felt my brows furrowed in confusion as he open his mouth to speak,

“talk to him, love, help him recover”.

***

Help him

That’s what he said but how in the freaking world would I do that?! It's been two days since HoSeok ask me to talk to TaeHyung but that boy managed to avoid me and the boys all together successfully like a slimy eel in between a rock bottom,

He went to the academy earlier than us, marching out of the class the second the bell rang and even vanished like a puff of smoke once school ended to lock himself in his room again. He practically behaving like a freaking ninja. I felt SeokJin emitting more and more dark aura around him these days regarding his younger brother behaviors, he’ll definitely exploded like we feared if this continued on,

I watch as SeokJin’s chest slowly move up and down in his sleep, breathing calmly, contrasting how he literally swelling in anger just a few hours ago when TaeHyung boldly ignored his calls from the hallway to hide in his room again, we managed to catch a glimpse of him earlier when we came back but no avail, the boy is as stubborn as a mule,

I practically need JungKook and NamJoon help to drag the enraged man from banging on his younger brother’s room to mine to calm him down and it's been hours since then, dawn should be breaking the night anytime soon but I cannot put myself to sleep,

Shifting my head slightly to the side, I push the fallen threads of hair from SeokJin’s forehead and leaning down, planting a soft peck on the corner of his lips. He stirred as he smiled, humming lightly and wriggled under the blanket a little before letting out a deep sigh as he fall back to sleep again with one hand above his head, I giggled as I pull the blanket up to cover the bare skin of his broad chest then move out of the bed, stretching my body like a cat as my feet touched the carpeted floor before pick a thin black robe from the bedroom couch to wear and walk out of the door into the empty hallway,

Cold wind caressing my exposed skin as the satin material of my sleepwear swayed from the wind. I found my feet walking towards the source of the wind, watching the curtain on every windows dancing slowly as I finally reached the end of the hallway,

Light frowns formed on my forehead when I see the familiar figure sitting on the balcony with their feet dangling freely outside,

Golden threads flying everywhere under the already pinkish sky, creating an illusion of hallo on top of his head from the light, his own deep blue robe flapping behind him as he keep them untied, he looked like an angel and I found myself worrying if he’ll jump out of the balcony anytime soon. I bring my feet to move closer and stand beside him, facing the horizon,

We keep the peaceful silent between us as we watch the sky turn colors. Slowly, I turn my head towards him and found myself appreciating what the light did to him. Kim TaeHyung looked amazingly beautiful. I couldn't tell which one more beautiful, him or his oldest brother, but who am I kidding now, as much as I wanted to deny it in the past, the fact that each and every one of the heirs are beautiful in their own ways was undeniable, I was just way too stubborn to admit it because, hey, who would ever say they found their bullies to be attractive, right? And I used to hate them to their cores anyway so everything about them I tend to imagine as green and gory. Extreme, I know,

I traced his features with my eyes and blinked twice when I found a familiar shape on his ear. He put on the jewelry I gave, I was almost sure he won't even bother to keep it but then again, TaeHyung keep on making these unpredictable acts nowadays,

“she’s my best friend, you know?” TaeHyung said out of the blue, startling me as I gasped, blinking rapidly to shake myself awake from my running thoughts and answered dumbly “huh?”. Damn these Kim brothers and their genetics!

TaeHyung frowned and I was so sure that he will snapped at me as usual, calling me names and mocking me for not paying attention but instead he sighed and repeated his sentence,

“Nara, she was my best friend”,

“oh”,

I noticed the past tense,

He turn his attention back to the gold lining, watching when the shadows grows thinner and fade into nothing as the light grows brighter in every seconds,

“I knew of her dislike of you,”,

Oh gee, that's an understatements, she hates my guts, you know?

Seemingly noticing my grimace, TaeHyung chuckled as he look at me with a slight tilt of head and continued on, fixing his choice of words this time “alright, that dislike grews into hatred”. I turn my head to face him and smiled sourly, scrunching my nose in annoyance before it changed as soon as it came into my usual poker face. TaeHyung let a small laugh at this and I felt my stomach flip at the sounds, there’s no malice, no sarcasme, no negative feelings in those laughter and it's sounds