Maia cracked her knuckles and exhaled.

        "Sorry about your juice, Tae."

        "Um..." Tae glanced at her and the unconscious Yoongi nervously. "It's okay..."

        "Sorry." she scratched her head. "I might've gotten carried away."

        "Um so okay uhhh..." Jin was panicking externally.

        Namjoon exhaled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yoongi hyung was just so exhausted after the performance, wasn't he?"

        Jin stared at him, not catching on.

        "Ahhh." Taehyung caught on and clapped his hands. "Right? He really does sleep anywhere and at anytime anyway."

        "I guess we should take him to the van." Jimin chuckled as he threw Yoongi over his shoulder.

        "After we dry him off a bit." Hobi giggled.

        "T-thanks." Maia looked down, embarrassed.

        "Nah. He's had it coming." Namjoon smiled and patted her head. "Don't worry Noona. We'll cover you this time."

        "But please refrain from violence from now on." Jin frowned.

        "I will. Sorry..." Maia bit her lips guiltily.

        Jungkook giggled and ruffled Maia's hair. "You have to teach me that hook one of these days."

        "Oh goodness, please don't!" Taehyung pleaded with wide-eyes. "He's going to hit us harder!"

        "Don't say that! I don't even hit you guys!" Jungkook complained and lightly punched Tae's shoulder.

        "Ahhh!" Taehyung clutched his arm dramatically.

        Maia smiled, "This'll be the last time, I promise."

        "Awww..." Tae frowned. "I wanted to see a fight again."

        "Taehyung!" Jin nudged.

        "But yes, violence is never the answer." Tae immediately deepened his voice and changed his expression to a serious one.

        Maia giggled at the drastic change and nodded, "Yes, Sir Taehyung."

~

        Yoongi gasped and his eyes fluttered open. He floundered about his bed, trying to remember where he was and what he was doing when he realized he was in his own room. His eyes landed on his roommate across the room.

        "Oh, you're up?" Jin was lying on his bed comfortably.

        Yoongi groaned as he tried to sit up, his jaw in pain.

        "You gotta keep the ice pack there or it'll leave a terrible bruise." Jin instructed nonchalantly.

        "What the hell happened?" he growled as he rubbed the ice on his jaw.

        "Well you were being dumb and rude so Maia knocked you out with one punch." his roommate relayed the events to him without looking up.

        "She what??" Yoongi bellowed. "She better have gotten fired!"

        "Actually quite the opposite." Jin closed the cookbook he had been scanning.

        "What do you mean?"

        "She won all the kids over. They're overflowing with respect and admiration for her."

        "I'm going to get her out of this company." Yoongi spoke through gritted teeth.

        "Or you can just keep her around." Jin shrugged.

        "Are you serious??"

        "She keeps you grounded, Yoongi. When you cross the line, she puts you back in place."

        "THROUGH VIOLENCE SEOKJIN. VIOLENCE."

        "Okay, I disagree with her methods, but I haven't been a fan of yours lately either." Jin furrowed his brows together as he stared at his roommate. "She's hard working and she's sweet. You fell asleep while she was doing make-up which means she's fantastic at what she does and adaptable. She keeps up with your pace and stands her ground against your verbal attacks and tantrums. The members get along with her too. So I actually want to keep her as our manager."

        "Then you can take her. I don't wa--"

        Jin slammed his hand down on the book on his lap, causing Yoongi to flinch.

        "Is it so hard to trust people, Yoongi?"

        "Yes!" his roommate breathed incredulously. "These people just come and go. They have no attachment to us!"

        "She's just doing make-up." Jin sighed, puzzled and frustrated at Yoongi. "You know she's already good with that, and if you don't like it, she can always reset and restart on your make up until you like it. Isn't it tiring to always be on guard and to be nasty? I know that's not who you are."

        Yoongi refused to answer and lay back down on his bed.

        "Being silent means you know I'm right." Jin smiled triumphantly. "I'm not telling you to open up your entire life story to her. If it makes you feel better, keep your distance, but at least let her do her job."

        Yoongi groaned softly, "I don't want to repeat the same mistakes."

        "What?"

        "Nothing." he rolled into his comforter. "I'll think about it."

        "Good." Jin opened his book once again as his roommate went back to sleep.

~

        Maia shifted back and forth on her heels as she stared at Yoongi's dressing room the next day.

        "What should I do? Should I apologize? No." she mumbled to herself, worried.

        "Are you just gonna stand there or do I have to shove you over to get into my room?"

        She froze as she stepped aside, not turning around. Yoongi scoffed at her clearly flustered behavior from his presence and walked into the room, leaving the door open.

        "Well?" he called as he sat down, crossing his legs.

        Maia bowed slightly and timidly entered.

        "What happened to the person who poured water on me?" Yoongi chuckled and raised an eyebrow.

        "What?"

        "You look like a deer in headlights right now. Why? Scared of me now?" he teased. "You're free to quit if I'm intimidating. We can both live a quiet life."

        Maia pursed her lips and stood up straight. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

        Yoongi rolled his eyes.

        "Didn't get much sleep, huh?" Maia questioned as they looked at each other through the mirror.

        Yoongi grumbled. Jin's voice had kept him up all night, whispering "Isn't it tiring to always be on guard and to be nasty?" constantly. He had tried to deny it, but acting this way consistently was exhausting.  

        "Just foundation and a LITTLE eye shadow and I can do the rest, alright?" he scowled.

        It was just make-up. She couldn't do anything harmful with make-up.

        "Sure thing." Maia chuckled as she quietly took out her bags.

        This time Yoongi glared at her the entire time she was working on his face, but she didn't pay him any attention. She expected as much and it didn't bother her as long as she was finally getting to do something.

        Finally, she took out her eye shadow and dabbed a hint of black at the ends of his eyes. "Done."

        "What the hell is this?" he examined his eyes in the mirror.

        "You said a LITTLE eye shadow." Maia defiantly shrugged. "There you have it."

        "Are you friggin kidding me? You're so frustrating!" he grabbed the brushes from her.

        "Coming from YOU?"

        "I wouldn't HAVE to put make-up on if you didn't give me a black and blue and kept me up all night!"

        "I wouldn't have punched you if you stopped being an ! And like I was physically there keeping you up!"

        "Guys..." Manager Sejin walked in calmly. "You're scaring the people passing by. Can you argue a little bit...softer?"

        "Like I care." Yoongi crossed his arms.

        "You should care considering you're all about image, hm?" Maia crossed her arms.

        "What is that supposed to mean?"

        "Let's go, you two. The fan meeting is going to start." Manager Sejin hurried.

        Yoongi snapped his fingers at her. "Hurry and finish my face, slave."

        "Wh--"

        "Maia." Manager Sejin rested a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

        She grumbled and quickly finished his make-up. Yoongi was trying hard not to smile at his sense of accomplishment. He felt like he had maintained his level of authority and was able to finally get a decent face of make-up on to boot. Glancing up every so often, he saw Maia was wearing a scowl the entire time she was putting make-up on him. He swallowed back a chuckle.

        "There you go." she stepped back, still unhappy.

        "Alright, let's go." Manager Sejin pulled Yoongi up.

        Yoongi finally let himself smile and thought, "Yes, Seokjin-hyung. It's tiring."

        "Yoongi?" Jin questioned as he found his roommate uncharacteristically smiling before getting on stage. "What happened?"

        "What?" he blinked and returned to his neutral expression. "What do you mean?"

        Jin squinted suspiciously at him then realized he had a full face of make up on for once. He smiled to himself, knowing that his advice was taken.

        "Oh? Yoongi hyung has make-up on!" Taehyung whispered.

        "Does that mean Maia-noona won?" Jimin questioned softly.

        Jungkook scanned backstage for her and found her exhaling tiredly beside Manager Sejin. He grinned. "Hopefully."

~

        "Hi everyone!" Yoongi grinned widely. "I'm Suga!"

        The fans screamed excitedly as he acted cutely during the introductions. Maia gave him a look of disgust and confusion from where she was watching, hidden. She decided that it was merely fan service and continued observing the fan meeting. However, when the fans came up one by one to interact with them, she saw someone completely different from who she had been spending time with. He smiled warmly and talked softly, with a look of worry and genuine care in his eyes.

        "Who's that and what did he do to Min Yoongi?" she whispered to the Manager.

        Manager Sejin chuckled, "That's hope, Maia."

        "Hope?"

        "The little hope everyone has to see the real Min Yoongi again."

        Maia glanced at Yoongi showing off his gummy smile and tender eyes towards his fans, and laughing along with s.

        "So that's the him before?" she mumbled.

        "Mhm. All the members were so close with him. Although he didn't show it as obviously as the others, he loved everyone, he loved what he did, and he enjoyed it."

        "What happened?" Maia sighed.

        Manager smiled sadly. "I wish we knew."

        Maia watched observantly at the alternate version of Yoongi that she wasn't used to seeing, utterly confused. 

~

        "Hey, do you have one of those wipey things?" Yoongi walked into the room after the fan meet.

        Maia stared at him, surprised by the gentle tone of his request.

        "What?" he furrowed his brows as he dabbed a napkin over his forehead.

        Maia shook her head. "Make-up remover?"

        "Yeah, that."

        "Here." she handed it to him.

        "Thanks." he took it and walked to the mirror to carefully wipe his make-up away.

        Maia turned around to stop herself from gawking at him. What was with this change in personality all of a sudden? She was afraid to comment on it. She didn't mind this calm version.

        "Slave." he called.

        Mood destroyed. She turned and glared at him.

        "Gather my stuff and get it into the car." he instructed.

        Maia clenched her teeth at being addressed in such a manner, but obediently followed, knowing he was smirking as she did so.

        "Just 11 months more." she mumbled to herself. "You can do this for 11 more months."

        She pouted and silently whined and stomped her feet frustratedly as she left the room with all his things.

        "Mai-mai?" Jungkook looked at her questioningly and she hurriedly changed her expression.

        "Hey!" she greeted, slightly hoping he hadn't witnessed that.

        "What're you doing?" he glanced at her arms full of items.

        "Oh." Maia laughed nervously. "Suga-ssi wanted me to put his stuff in the van since he's too tired."

        "Oh..." Jungkook trailed off. "Let me help you then since I'm going there too."

        "Oh no, it's okay. I'm sure you have your own stuff." Maia blushed.

        "Yeah, let her do it herself." Yoongi appeared with his arms crossed, smugly leaning on the doorway. "It's her job after all."

        Jungkook blinked at his hyung. "Well, there's no harm in getting help then. I'm sure you want to get home faster since you're so tired."

        He grabbed some things from Maia's arms and walked ahead defiantly. Maia and Yoongi both were shocked at his behavior. Coming back to her senses, Maia grinned and hurried to catch up with him happily.

        "Was he always so helpful?" Yoongi muttered to himself then shrugged as he returned to his room.

~

        "How're things going, honey?" Maia's mom questioned.

        Maia exhaled as she collapsed on her bed with the phone beside her."I don't know. It's different every day."

        "What do you mean?"

        "This guy has serious mood swings. He can be the devil one day and then...."

        "And then?"

        "Sometimes I can see he's a nice guy with a sarcastic attitude. But I don't know who he is and when he'll be nice or rude." Maia complained. "It's like I have to get permission to even help him. I don't really know what he likes or dislikes. I'm just going through things blindly."

        "Why don't you ask him?"

        "It's not that easy."

        "Why isn't it?" her mom asked.

        Maia froze. Why wasn't it?

        She heard her mom chuckle. "Do you remember when your dad was talking about his job when you were younger? You had asked him how he got along with all of the members even if they were all so completely different?"

        "Yeah?"

        "You remember what he told you?"

        "Mmmm..." Maia furrowed her brow.

        "Mira! We need you!" another voice called for her mother.

        "Just think about it, sweetie. I have to go. Love you!"

        "Love you too." Maia smiled as they hung up.

        Sighing, she stared up at her ceiling trying to recall that memory.

[Flashback]

        "Daddy." Maia chuckled as she swung her feet on a bench outside of YG. "How do you get along with all of my Oppas?"

        "What do you mean?" her dad questioned.

        "Well they're all so different, but you can take care of each one as well as the other. How do you do that?"

        Her dad smiled and knelt down to her level. "Well, Maia, I got to know them."

        "Know them?"

        "It is a job, yes. But I think of them like how I think of my friends. We don't have the same exact types of friends, they're all different but we all get along, right?"

        Maia nodded.

        "You have to get to know your idols so you'll know how to best take care of each of them." her dad smiled and patted her head. "It's as simple as that. You can't take care of someone properly if you don't know them."

[End of Flashback]

        Maia opened her eyes and sat up.

        Get to know them.

        She hurriedly dialed Se Jeong's number.

        "Hello?"

        "What's the best way to get to know the BTS members?" Maia gushed.

        "Um? Talk to them?" Se Jeong answered, confused.

        "Other than that!"

        "Umm well watch their Bangtan Bombs and variety shows I guess? Mai, what's this --"

        "Thank you so much! I love you! Bye!" Maia smiled excitedly, leaving a very stunned Se Jeong on the other line.

        "Oh...kay..." her best friend looked around her room and put her phone away.

        Maia, on the other hand, whipped out her computer and sat at her desk, scrolling through the website at all the videos.

        "Guess I'll just have to start from the beginning." she took a sip of water and hit play.

~

        A few days went by in tranquility. Yoongi and Maia had come to an understanding, and he would obediently get his costume on and sit still for make-up, which he usually ended up falling asleep in the process. While he was asleep, Maia would slip away to an empty hallway or the rooftop and watch their old videos on her phone. She laughed hysterically and enjoyed them thoroughly, feeling a bit closer to them as she watched their beginnings and growth. What astounded her the most was the Suga that she was observing through the screen. The "real" Suga as Manager Sejin had stated. What had happened to him?

        Usually, she would watch as much as she could until someone came looking for her. Then she hurried to the main dressing room to observe and hang out with the other members herself. She smiled; their personalities hadn't changed much from the previous years. She found that she could appreciate their humor more, now that she had a slightly better understanding of how they were. As she sat in the room welcomed by the boys, she couldn't help but be reassured that things were going to be alright.

~

        Or so she thought.

        "I don't want to go to that schedule." Yoongi complained a couple of days later.

        She had finally been entrusted with fixing up his personal schedule, but with new responsibilities, come new arguments apparently.

        "I don't want to give them the song." he whined.

        "How about this schedule then?" she handed him another tentative plan for the day. "We can at least meet them and discuss the song and their demands?"

        "I don't want them to even hear the song, got it? Actually, just cancel everything today and push it to tomorrow. I'm exhausted."

        Maia exhaled, overwhelmed. "But you haven't even performed yet. And that'll overbook you for the rest of the week."

        Yoongi glared at her. "If I push my schedules to tomorrow you push all the others to the next day, got it?"

        "Some of these are radio shows that only air that day. That's not possible."

        "Aren't you my manager? Find some type of way to please them. That's not my problem."

        She exhaled, thinking she finally didn't have a way to outsmart him without kidnapping him against his will. But she knew he would throw a tantrum at any point before the cameras so she decided not to press further for now. She exited the room with a disappointed sigh. Yoongi massaged his temples. He had had a pounding headache all day. He hated people asking him for songs. He hated the company for sending out the guide songs without ever consulting him on whom to send it to. Looking around to make sure Maia was completely gone, he slipped out of the room. He knew she would come back to convince him again but for now, he didn't want to be bothered. He wandered around until he found an empty room in one of the further hallways.

        "Ahh perfect." he smiled as he curled up on the couch in the darkness. There were no footsteps or loud voices. It was pure, peaceful silence.

        "Just a few minutes then." he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

~

        "Seriously that Min Yoongi. I can't appease the radio stations. Everyone has their set schedule too." Maia grumbled as she walked around to clear her heated head.

        "Okay we're starting performances. Make sure you lock all the doors that aren't in use so we don't have to do it later." one of the staff members instructed.

        "Sure thing." another staff member took out his set of keys and walked away.

        Maia continued staring at the schedule as she marched passed them.

~

        "Where is he? Where is he?" Manager Sejin mumbled along with the other staff members.

        Maia hurried backstage, having lost track of time as she rearranged the schedule. She wasn't worried though, Yoongi had always been out and ready to perform without her anyway.

        "Manager Maia!" Sejin rushed to her. "Where's Yoongi?"

        "What?" Maia's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

        "He's not here yet and we're on standby to perform."

        "What?!"

~

        Yoongi woke up with a jolt at the sound of the alarm on his watch. He exhaled as he searched around the dark room for the light switch. When he lifted it up, it remained dark.

        "What the heck?" he questioned. "Oh well, I have to head out anyway."

        He felt through the darkness and found the door knob.

        "There you are." he grinned as he turned it.

        But the door didn't budge.

        "What?"

        He wriggled the knob and pulled at the door, but it didn't move. Frantic, he searched his pockets for his phone but it wasn't there. He had left it behind to avoid annoying calls. His breathing became shallow as he started to panic. Sweat dripped down his face.

        Did someone purposefully lock him in? He had let his guard down. They were going to strike again.

        "The performance." he breathed and he began banging on the door. "HELP! SOMEONE'S IN HERE! HELP!"

        Flashes of his broken memories flitted through his mind and immobilized him.

        "Sorry, Min Yoongi." the voice echoed in his thoughts as he teetered between consciousness and losing it.

        "Wha--what..." he struggled to move his arm as he stared as his phone just beside him. But he didn't have control over it.

        "We're sorry, but we need to do this..." another voice whispered.

        "For our family..."

        A hand pulled his USB out of the studio computer.

        He began to gasp for air. Was this happening again?

        "HELP!!" he cried and clawed at the door. "SOMEONE'S IN HERE! Someone..."

        He sobbed as he fell to his knees in front of the locked door.

        "Help me."

~

        "He's not in his room!" Maia huffed, returning from checking every place he usually went to.

        "Did he finally run away?" one of the coordinators questioned.

        "Yeah, he was acting like he would be better solo anyway." a stylist shrugged.

        "Maybe he just finally decided he was too good for BTS." another staff member spoke.

        Maia stared at them in disbelief and called out. "Why is no one looking for him and just gossiping about it?"

        "It's not like he wants to be found." a stylist responded. "Good riddance."

        Maia clenched her fist.

        "And he's been treating all of us terribly, especially you. Why would we or you care? Not like he cares at all about us."

        Maia felt her eyes water at her comments as she looked around. Manager Sejin was talking to broadcasting company's staff members, trying to appease them.

        "Maia." Jungkook scurried to her, seeing her flustered. "Do you know where he is?"

        "I don't." Maia looked at him worriedly.

        "Why're you looking for him? He's been nothing but a pain to you." Jungkook frowned.

        "Kook-ah, can I ask you something?"

        "Sure." he nodded.

        "Has he ever been rude or mean to you or the other members?" she stared into his eyes seriously.

        Jungkook thought about it, trying to recall.

        "Never." Jin chimed in, followed by the others.

        Jungkook nodded in agreement. "He's never acted that way to us, just the staff members."

        "I thought as much." Maia glanced up at them determinedly. "I'm going to find him."

        Jungkook looked at her questioningly.

        "He has been a big pain in my and I can't say that I know much about him. But what I do know..." she smiled, recalling Yoongi's expression during the fan meets, during performances, times they had won first place, how he interacted with everyone in variety shows she had been watching. "....what I do know is that he would never disappoint his fans and s."

        The members stared at her in surprise then nodded in agreement. They were touched at her understanding and determination.

        "How much time do you need?" Jungkook asked.

         "How much can you buy?"

        "Maybe 5 minutes max?" Namjoon looked at his watch. "If one of the maknaes throws a tantrum, maybe 8...."

        "I'll do it!" Taehyung grinned, raising his hand to volunteer.

         "I'll try to find him as fast as I can. I know he's here somewhere."

        "We believe in you." Jungkook nodded as they stared at each other and with that, Maia sped off. 

~

        Yoongi sat with his back on the door limply. This was it. They had won. They had ruined him. Now everyone would realize they never needed him in the first place.

        Who was it? Who had betrayed him this time?

        He thought back on all of his encounters in panic. There were too many people. Was there no one who was on his side? No one was looking for him. Were they all celebrating and sighing in relief?

        He curled into his knees.

        How he wished he could have performed one last time before they kicked him out like this. Now his fans would be disappointed. Would s? He had been pushing them away too. Maybe they could finally breathe easier too, without him dragging them down. He closed his eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks.

        "Ah...I wanted to be Min Suga a little bit more." he exhaled as his body shook, sadly.

        "Min Suga, you idiot! WHERE ARE YOU?" he heard a familiar voice calling for him and his head shot up.

        "He couldn't have gone far right? Ahh the others can only stall for 3 more minutes. Dammit." Maia cursed.

        Yoongi's eyes widened. Someone had been looking for him. Someone was searching for him. What more, s were buying time for him to be found. He scrambled up and slammed his hand on the door.

        "I'M HERE! MAIA, I'M HERE!"

        Maia froze as she heard a faint voice. She shivered, having to tell herself it wasn't a ghost.

        "Suga-ssi?" she called.

        "I'm here! The door's locked!" he bellowed.

        Maia hurried to the door where the sounds originated. "What're you doing here? Oh my goodness!"

        "Hurry and open it!" Yoongi yelled.

        "Let me go find someone with a key. Hold on, okay?" she breathed.

        "Mhm." Yoongi nodded as he heard her footsteps disappear.

        She'd come back right?

~

        "He's in a room that's locked! Please, come open it for him!"

        "Sorry miss, I can't leave my post. We're starting in a few."

        "But that's the thing, he's part of the next performance!"

        "Yeah, yeah. I'll get to it later." the staff member brushed her off.

        She exhaled, extremely irritated. Glancing down at his badge to take note of his name, she huffed. "I'll get him out myself and I'm going to report you."

        The staff member scoffed, not believing her.

        "Aish." Maia hurried back to the room.

        "Maia?" Yoongi pressed his ear against the door.

        "Sorry, they didn't want to help you." she placed a hand on the door. "But I've got it."

        "Got what?"

        "Just trust me." Maia pulled out hair pins from her pocket and began moving it around inside the lock.

        Yoongi paced the room as he waited for her, his heart beating fast. Will he make it in time? He stared at the door impatiently and finally they both heard a click.

        "Did I get it?" Maia turned the door knob and pushed it.

        As soon as it creaked open, she was flung backwards as Yoongi wrapped his arms around her gratefully.

        "Thank you." he breathed.

        Maia smiled and embraced him back, glad she had found him.

        They realized what they were doing and hurriedly pushed each other away with wide eyes. Immediately, they gave each other a disgusted expression then Maia remembered why she had been in such a hurry.

        "The performance!" Maia breathed.

        "I have to go!" Yoongi gasped.

        They sprinted hurriedly to the backstage area. The members were already on the stage lined up, prolonging their introductions by asking the fans questions. Yoongi was about to rush to the stage when he felt a hand on his wrist.

        "Wait!" Maia called and turned him around, patting powder on his face to cover up his tear-stricken face. "There must've been leaky ceiling pipes in the room, right?"  

        He watched her, filled with gratefulness, as she straightened out his messy hair and tightened his loosened tie.

        "Go get 'em, Min Suga." she smiled as she spun him around and pushed him forward. "Fighting!"

        Yoongi froze, not having heard someone other than his fans cheer him on in so long. He smiled to himself and walked towards the bright lights, being welcomed by the screams of his fans. s visibly relaxed at his appearance. Jungkook glanced over and smiled at Maia who chuckled, gesturing for him to pay attention. He gave her a thumbs up before turning his focus back forward.

        "Thank you." Manager Sejin breathed as he appeared beside her.

        "Hope, right?" Maia smiled as she watched them begin the performance.

        Manager Sejin nodded, taking note of how much more energetic and enthusiastic the boys were on the stage. "And a little bit of faith."

        "Hm?" Maia glanced up at him.

        Manager Sejin shook his head, smiling. 

Author's Note:   Happy 3 year anniversary to BTS & ARMYs <3 I decided to power through and finish this chapter for their anniversary today because a performance will never be complete if one of them is missing, and I know they'll always be there to support each other even in the midst of doubt and negativity ~ We finally get a little peek at nice Yoongi and also small hints about his personality-changing past! Dundundun! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed :D  Who saw their Happy Birthday BTS performances? <3 Gahh!