Jungkook stepped into the trainee's dance practice room and found Maia relaxing in the corner with her laptop in front of her and her earphones in.

        "Maia?" he called out, confused as to why she wasn't dancing.

        She burst out into laughter randomly and took a sip of water. Jungkook cautiously inched closer, not wanting to scare her but he wanted to make his presence known. He wasn't sure how to not make it awkward so he carefully sat beside her and she gasped at the sudden appearance.

        "It's just me." he held his hands up innocently as she saw the look of panic on her face.

        She visibly relaxed as she took off her earphones. "Hey."

        "Whatcha doing?" Jungkook looked over at her screen and Maia blushed as he realized that he and his band members were on it.

        "I- um ...I just wanted to get to know you guys better!" she hurriedly explained. "I can't be a good manager if I don't know your history and your personalities and stuff...so I decided to watch this when I could and ...yeah..."

        Jungkook blinked as she squirmed at being caught red-handed. Then he burst into laughter as her explanation sunk in. Maia continued to turn red with embarrassment.

        "Or you can just hang out with us too, you know." he commented.

        Maia smiled, now relaxed that he wasn't judging her too harshly. "OR I could do both. These videos are hysterical!"

        Jungkook grinned as he slid closer to her. "Scoot over then. I love watching these."

        Maia handed him an ear bud and continued where she left off.

~

        "Probably shouldn't have downed all that water." Yoongi sighed as he stepped out of his studio to make his way to the bathroom.

        He paused when he heard loud laughter and fits of giggling echoing down the hallway.

        "What is that girl doing?" he mumbled as he changed his destination to the dance studio, where he knew Maia spent her time when she was babysitting him.

        He cautiously peeked and found Jungkook and Maia clapping their hands obnoxiously and wriggling their bodies, unable to contain their laughter. They were sharing a stack of crackers and earphones nonchalantly. Yoongi squinted at the unprecedented scene. He knew the maknae always took time to warm up to strangers, especially females close to his age. What was Lee Maia anyway?

        He flattened his back against the wall as whatever they watched ended and the two exhaled while collapsing on the ground.

        "What gave you the idea to get to know us?" Jungkook questioned as he stared at the ceiling, realizing he hadn't been this relaxed in a while.

        "Mmm my dad always told me that managing idols is much like managing your friends and children. You can't treat them all the same because they each have their own needs, their own personalities, and their own way of doing things. I finally realized what he meant when I met you guys." Maia breathed.

        "But it's more so to try to figure out how to handle Yoongi hyung, right?"

        Maia smiled and hummed in agreement.

        "Did it help?"

        "Not really." Maia chuckled. "The Yoongi I see in these videos remind me of the Yoongi I see at fan signs and performances. None of these help me figure out the Yoongi I have now."

        "I think you're doing a good job already Maia." Jungkook complimented shyly. "You don't have to try so hard."

        Maia continued to stare up at the ceiling, contemplating. "But I want to try hard."

        "Hm?"

        "You all are trying so hard to accomplish your dreams in your own way. As nasty and as condescending as he appears to be, he works every night until early morning. There's definitely more to him."

        "There's definitely more to you too." Jungkook glanced over at her.

        "What?" Maia looked at him and he hurriedly averted his eyes.

        "I said that's probably true too." he sat up and ruffled his hair. "Yoongi hyung always takes care of us subtly. It just hurts all of us that he can't lean on us with whatever's happening with him now."

        Maia stood up and stretched. "I think the most negative person has a back story that turned them that way. Don't tell him I told you, but I really don't think he's all that bad."

        Jungkook chuckled and nodded, "My lips are sealed."

        Yoongi looked down at the ground blankly. He wasn't sure what he was feeling about what he had overheard. Was he touched by her sentiments? Was he scared someone would try to come in again? Was he happy someone was actually trying? He shook his head and walked to the bathroom as he had initially intended. He wouldn't dwell on it. He had more important things to do

        Jungkook jumped up from his sitting position and rummaged his pockets.

        "I almost forgot why I came here in the first place."

        Maia tilted her head questioningly. Jungkook chucked a USB towards her and she fumbled to catch it.

        "What's this?"

        Jungkook smiled slyly, "It must be a little hard to spy on the trainees' practices between work."

        Maia blushed. "Y-you saw?"

        "Don't worry. It was just me that saw. I figured this would make practicing easier." Jungkook gestured at the USB.

        "What's in it?"

        "You'll have to plug it in to find out." he hooked his backpack over his shoulder suavely.

        Maia watched him curiously then grinned, "Thank you, Kook-ah."

        Jungkook tried to hide his blush with a composed nod. "See ya."

        With that, he made his way out of the room, trying not to look back so he would look cool. But the door shut a little too early and his backpack got caught in between. He panicked and became flustered as he pushed the door back open and ran away. Maia giggled and plugged in the USB into her computer.

~

[Flashback from the end of last chapter]

        Jungkook propelled himself back to his hiding place until they disappeared. Quickly, he scurried into the trainee practice room, out of breath. The dance teacher paused and surprised at his unexpected appearance.

        "May I help you Jungkook-ssi?" he asked, amused as the young maknae's eyes widened.

        He didn't have a plan. What should he say?

        "I umm..." he glanced around, as he thought. "I need a favor..."

        "What favor?"

        "Well...there's someone who's a trainee but not a trainee. But they should be a trainee! They're fantastic at dancing...and singing...but I guess that part doesn't matter cause you're a dance teacher. But anyways she's amazing at dancing and because of reasons she has to train secretly and not with other trainees so she watches from outside and practices what she could and..."

        The dance teacher was staring at him, unsure of what Jungkook needed.

        "Do you think you could film yourself like you're training the trainees so she'd be able to practice without sneaking around?" Jungkook mumbled his request.

        The dance teacher blinked at him, stunned that his shy prodigy was asking for a favor for someone else.

        "You want me to make dance training videos for someone that's a trainee but not a trainee here?" he questioned.

        "Yes."

        "Ahh..." the dance teacher remembered the audition of Yoongi's current manager, and grinned. "I almost forgot, considering I didn't actually see how well she could dance."

        Jungkook bit his lip.

        "Sure, I'll do it." the dance teacher grinned and Jungkook beamed.

        "But you'll have to do me a favor in return."

        Jungkook's face fell. "Wh-what is it..."

        The dance teacher chuckled and patted his shoulder comfortingly. "You'll come be a guest every so often to help me teach and get those trainees motivated." His teacher winked as Jungkook's face morphed into a terrified expression. "Now, let's film those videos and set up the cameras before the trainees get back."

        Jungkook sighed and obediently followed his teacher's instructions.

~

        Maia covered as she found a plethora of videos with the dance teacher's specialized instruction in the USB. To say she was touched was an understatement. She was overwhelmed by Jungkook's kind gesture and she was near tears. She hadn't done anything to deserve this kindness. Tears streamed down her cheeks when she heard the beginning of the first video.

        "Hey, I'm the dance teacher here. Hopefully you remember me from the audition. Jungkook tells me you're absolutely talented at dancing and gave me a rough picture of where I should start with training. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to come ask me during trainees' lunch breaks. You know where to find me. Anyway, I'm assuming you have really good potential if my prodigy here is begging me to train you secretly like this --"

        "I did not beg!" Maia heard Jungkook's voice in the background and the dance teacher grinned cheekily.

        "Anyway, he thinks you're really good so be prepared. I'm not going to go easy on you." the teacher pointed at the camera and squinted playfully. "Let's start with the basic warm ups. This is ESSENTIAL before every practice."

        Maia wiped her tears and stepped away from her laptop to follow the video happily.

~

        Yoongi grumbled as he made his way back to the studio the next day. He had stayed up pondering about what to do about Maia and her intent on finding out why he became so sour. Part of him wanted someone irrelevant to know, another was terrified of recounting his mistake. It didn't help that she insisted on accompanying him to his hang out with his only celebrity friend Zhoumi from Super Junior. He just wanted to be alone and to complain without her breathing down his neck and watching his every move. But no matter how he argued, she refused to budge. She stated that she would sit far away and he was free to badmouth her without fear. He kicked his stuff in annoyance as he searched for his charger.

        "Stupid girl." he mumbled.

        "It's by your desk."

        He flinched and whipped around, growling. "No. You can't BE in here. It's MY studio!"

        Maia raised her hands and stepped away from the door, highly amused by his possessive outburst. "Sure thing. I figured you wouldn't want to be late is all. I'll be outside."

        Yoongi glared at her figure as she disappeared from his doorway. He kicked his couch in frustration then winced as the impact inflicted pain on his toe. Irritated, he grabbed his charger and locked his room. The car ride was silent as Yoongi kept his arms crossed and brooded like a pubescent teen in his rebellious phase. That's what he felt like anyway. Maia was his overbearing, protective parent chaperoning his outing. She parked and he jumped out of the car, happily distancing himself from her.

        Maia exhaled and shook her head. It wasn't like she wanted to watch him either. These days, the amount of crazed fans and anti-fans surrounding BTS was at an all-time high so Manager Sejin asked her to keep an eye on him just in case. Besides, she was embarrassed to be seen drinking and grilling meat by herself so the frustration was a two way street. With a sigh, she put sunglasses on and headed to the restaurant. She found a spot far from the two celebrities where she could keep watch and ordered her meal.

        "She just walked in." Yoongi grumbled.

        "Aww she seems cute. She's about your height." Zhoumi grinned, earning a glare from his friend.

        "She's suffocating me."

        "So why are you keeping her around?" Zhoumi questioned. "You've chased the others away."

        Yoongi pursed his lips and turned his attention to grilling the meat in front of him. He really wasn't sure why he kept Maia around. Did he just feel indebted to her after saving him...twice now?

        "It'll just be exhausting and a bother going through other terrible managers again." Yoongi explained, although both he and Zhoumi knew it was a shallow excuse to end the topic.

        "Well how's everything else going? Your music? Got out of the block you've been having?" Zhoumi questioned and Yoongi shook his head.

        "Nothing I make is just good enough."

        "Maybe you're being too hard on yourself. Have you let someone else listen to it?"

        "I don't let people listen if I'm not happy with it." Yoongi curtly replied.

        Zhoumi nodded.

        "Let's talk about how things are with you." Yoongi poured him a glass of soju and they drank.

        Zhoumi chuckled and began chatting. Maia exhaled as she stuffed herself while alternatively glancing at the two and their surroundings. She rolled her eyes as some girls kept eye-ing the two and nudging each other to approach them. Others took pictures from afar while other female customers were fixing their make-up to make sure they looked decent.

        She did feel sympathetic for them and a little sorry that she was an obstacle in his attempt to just have a normal outing. But it's hard to go back once you're loved by many. She admired that they still continued to go out even with the dangers though. Her thoughts wandered to how she would handle the fame in the future. Would she feel uncomfortable and avoid it? Or just like the two, ignore the watchful eyes and pretend like she wasn't a famous singer?

        A beautiful female customer smiled and waved at Zhoumi and caught his eye. In a friendly manner, he bowed and waved happily in return. Since she was directly in his visual range, their eyes kept awkwardly meeting and they would shyly look away. Yoongi was too busy eating to notice the exchange. However, the customer's quite bulky date did notice someone was taking his girl's attention away. He turned around and glared, spotting Zhoumi's panic.

        "Uh... Yoongi..." Zhoumi stammered.

        "Hm?"

        "You have something to say to me or my girl?" the guy growled as he marched up to the table.

        Yoongi's eyes widened as he and Zhoumi stared up at the tall and muscular man. Maia watched, wondering what was happening.

        "N-no. Not at all sir." Zhoumi answered respectfully.

        "Cause you've been staring at her this whole time and making googly eyes at her." the male snarled.

        "Oh no. Not at all. There was no googling eyes. Nope." Zhoumi shook his head. "She seemed like a fan so I greeted her from afar."

        "Oh?" the guy scoffed. "Is that how you think? All women must be interested cause you're famous?"

        "Not at all."

        "Look big guy." Yoongi exhaled. "You're clearly dating her and this guy has no intentions of hitting on your girl, so there should be no problem."

        Zhoumi glanced at the girl for help and she winked at him. His eyes widened as her boyfriend caught the interaction and roared.

        "You WINKED AT MY GIRL?!"

        "She winked at me! I didn't do anything!" Zhoumi retorted.

        "Are you saying my girl is winking at YOU? HA." the guy laughed. "You're accusing her of cheating now, huh?"

        "What?!" Yoongi stood up. "You're just making stuff up now. We're all just trying to eat and drink here. We won't look at your girl any more so please just leave us alone."

        "So you WERE looking at my girl!"

        Yoongi groaned and placed his hand on the man's shoulder, "Sir, my friend here didn't mean harm. He just thought he was doing a fan a kind gesture."

        "Seems like I need to beat some sense into you guys!" he shoved Yoongi away easily and grabbed Zhoumi's collar.

        The customers screamed as Yoongi's body slid over to an adjacent table.

        "I really think we should talk about this." Zhoumi was flustered at the turn of events.

        There was a shriek as Yoongi opened his eyes and found himself under a woman wearing a dress.

        "You trying to take a look at my girlfriend too ?!" the girl's date pushed away the table.

        "Boys, boys." Maia walked over, announcing loudly. "I think everyone here has had a little too much to drink, hm?"

        The two males eyed her, still poised to attack the celebrities.

        "Clearly he was hit towards your table." Maia explained as she helped Yoongi up, while dusting him off. "And not trying to take a peek."

        The male frowned and Maia held her hand over the other man's fist, hoping that he would loosen his grip on Zhoumi's shirt.

         (For the sake of sanity, let's give these men names - the one grabbing Zhoumi will be nicknamed Bulky while the other is Lean with Yoongi.)

        "Let's just all forget what happened and continue our meals." Maia grinned.

        "Buzz off, princess. This isn't any of your business." Bulky growled.

        "That's right. We need to protect our women!" Lean taunted towards Yoongi's direction and Yoongi instinctively glared. "This man wants a piece of me! Look at his face!"

        Yoongi's eyes widened and he shook his head, trying to take back his expression.

        "This guy is too pathetic so I'll only use half my strength. He needs to learn his lesson too." Bulky balled up his free hand into a fist. "Helpless, weak women should stay out of this."

        Maia's eye twitched, irritated at the comment and Zhoumi closed his eyes, bracing himself for the punch. But it never came. Everyone in the restaurant gasped collectively. Yoongi's mouth was agape and Zhoumi slowly opened his eyes to see what was happening. Maia smirked and stood in front of him, gripping the man's fist strongly.

        "Too bad that I don't fit that category." she chuckled as with her free hand, she pulled back Bulky's pinky from his clasp on Zhoumi's shirt.

        The large man winced and Zhoumi was immediately freed.

        "Now let's all go back to our drinks, hm?" she raised one of the glasses of soju from Yoongi and Zhoumi's table.

        Giggles ensued from the customers watching and the man was seething with a whole new level of rage. He was embarrassed and he wouldn't stand for it. Yoongi stepped back and bumped into the same underwear girl that had gotten him in trouble in the first place.

        "He's still at it!" Lean pointed out. "Let's get them!"

        Maia exhaled and chugged the shot of soju.

        "Step back, Sunbaenim." she instructed to Zhoumi as she studied the table in front of her. "And I'll be borrowing a few things."

        "Come here girl. You got a lucky block in! I'll deal with you first then these two pansies." Bulky growled.

        "Sorry, I'm kind of in charge of them." Maia snickered. "So I'll be the ones dealing with you two."

        The two men yelled and charged at their targets. Maia flicked a bottle cap at the man attacking Yoongi as she ducked to avoid the initial punch of the one in front of her. Lean screeched as the bottle cap hit him on the temple and he knelt down in pain as Yoongi backed away in horror.

        "Come here!" Bulky continued swinging strongly left and right. Maia moved away swiftly and got a few hits in to slow down his movements. By that time, the owners and customers were both panicked and in awe at the events unfolding.

        Maia evaded another punch and grabbed his arm, quickly folding it behind him as he struggled to get out of her arm lock. She giggled as he flailed about in her grasp. However, she hurriedly let go when she spotted Yoongi scrambling to get away from the newly risen Lean.

        "Sorry, I need to catch a ride." she muttered as she kicked off her attacker's back and did a back flip into a spin kick towards the other. Lean flew back and landed on the ground, coughing.

        Yoongi looked at her horrified as she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Really? You're going to look at me like that?"

        "Watch out!" he yelled as Bulky charged at her with a table in his hands.

        "Oh boy." Maia grabbed Yoongi's wrist and sprinted to where Zhoumi was, avoiding the collision. "Stay."

        "I'm not a dog." Yoongi scowled.

        "Ajhumma - have you contacted the police yet?" Maia called out as she studied the position an behaviors of the two males who were clearly and violently drunk. They were both getting up from their injuries, stumbling around.

        "Y-yes..." the old lady stammered.

        "Alright. Let's do this." Maia rubbed her hands together and bounced on her feet, getting ready to run.

        "Sure. Let's just go CHARGE at them!" Yoongi sassed. "That'll show 'em."

        Maia smirked, not paying attention to his remark, and sprinted forward. She used the wall to kick herself up and landed on top of the larger customer's shoulders, earning a few light applauses from the crowd.

        "Time for a nap." she wrapped her legs and arms around his neck as he thrashed about for a few seconds. Soon his body crashed down onto the ground, unconscious. Maia crawled off of him and dusted herself off.

        On cue, Lean stood up and rushed towards her and sloppily threw out a punch, which she easily evaded. Looking around, she grabbed a tray and lightly bopped him on the head with it, knowing he was already losing consciousness from the alcohol. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed on top of Bulky's body. Maia smiled and walked up to the owner shyly.

        "Sorry about the mess, ajhumma. They're both just unconscious and will probably have a hangover tomorrow, so don't worry too much."

        The owner shook her head and smiled kindly. "It might've been worse if you hadn't stepped in."

        The police arrived at the restaurant and Yoongi scowled as he came face to face once again with Officer Choi.

        "This guy is EVERYWHERE!" he hissed.

        "What?" Zhoumi questioned.

        "Nevermind." Yoongi exhaled as he eyed Maia scratching the back of her head, embarrassed at his presence.

        "How did I know it was you?" Officer Choi chuckled.

        Maia blushed shyly.

        "What happened?"

        "That girl has it recorded." she pointed. "But..."

        Officer Choi followed Maia's gaze towards Zhoumi and Yoongi, and nodded understandably. "We'll make sure to protect their identities if we can help it or at least stop defamation or alteration of the story."

        "Thank you." Maia smiled then turned. "Ajhumma! Make sure to charge these guys for new furniture! I never laid a hand on any of it!"

        Officer Choi chuckled.

        "It's true! She avoided it all!" the girl who had fully recorded the event claimed. "I have the events leading up to it too. Zhoumi oppa never flirted with that girl!"

        Zhoumi blushed and shook the girl's hand. "Thank you."

        "But I think other people recorded it and uploaded it already..." the girl bit her lip.

        "Oh boy." Maia glanced at Yoongi, who was wondering if the footage showed him cowering away and was more worried about that.

        "We'll take care of it on this end. Go tend to yours." Officer Choi nodded. "I would say stay out of trouble, but you never really could."

        Maia chuckled, "Trouble seems to find me a lot these days. Thank you sunbae."

        She hurried and gestured for Zhoumi and Yoongi to follow her out. They settled into her van as she took out the first aid kit to tend to Yoongi's cuts and bruises from the hit that threw him to another table. Her phone rang and she clicked her blue tooth headset, expecting it already.

        "Hi Manager Sejin." she greeted casually, as she poured alcohol onto a gauze pad and fought with Yoongi over lifting up his sleeve.

        She smacked his arm and he winced, giving in.

        "WHAT HAPPENED?"

        Even Zhoumi who was sitting in the back, laying down heard Manager Sejin's voice.

        "Suga-ssi took a peek at an innocent lady's underwear." Maia teased and Yoongi snarled.

        "Shut up!"

        "Maia, there's a video of you...I don't even know what you're doing here." Sejin breathed.

        "It's FREAKING AWESOME!" Maia heard Taehyung's voice cheer in the background. "Jungkook-ah, play it again!"

        "It's a long story, but Zhoumi sunbae-nim and Suga-ssi are innocent. Those guys were just drunk and looking to pick a fight to assert their masculinity and apparently show off to their girlfriends." Maia snickered. "But that epicly failed."

        Zhoumi snorted and Yoongi glared at him as she continued to treat his light wounds carefully.

        "Are they okay?"

        "Yeah. Suga-ssi has a few scratches but sunbaenim is perfectly fine." Maia reported then glanced at Zhoumi. "Do you need anything?"

        Zhoumi shook his head and she chucked an ice pack at Yoongi carelessly before stepping out of the van to continue her conversation outside.

        "But if you ask me, the real culprits are those girlfriends. They could've done something to stop their boyfriends, but they just sat still...."

        Yoongi slouched in his seat as the door shut, and pressed the ice pack on top of the bruise on his head. Zhoumi grinned and sat up, hugging the head of Yoongi's chair.

        "What?" Yoongi snapped.

        "I like her." he chuckled. "You should definitely keep her."

        Yoongi rolled his eyes then found his gaze wandering to Maia, who was sterilizing her own cuts and scrapes outside while she chatted seriously.

        "Yoongi! Here's the video! It's gone viral already!" Zhoumi gasped and played it on his phone. "I think the police released the truth first before the reporters could manipulate it."

        They watched her undeniable agility, strength, and self-defense skills in awe once again. Yoongi cringed as he and Zhoumi's shameful cowering made it into the clip, but Zhoumi didn't seem to be embarrassed about it. Zhoumi continued to replay it enthusiastically while Yoongi turned his attention back to watching Maia pace outside. He caught her brow furrowing then flattened as a sad expression enveloped her face. A thought flitted across his mind and sent a mixture of fear, confusion, and anxiety throughout his body.

            Would she have to quit because of this incident? 

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been updating lately --_--' I'm job hunting and it's not going so well. Can I just write fanfiction for a living? (don't we wish) But here's a little update because YOONGI'S MIXTAPE GAHHH! I love the extra characters (Zhoumi, Officer Choi, Bulky, and Lean). Is there more to Officer Choi or not? dundundun (but really, idk what I'll do with him just yet) I'll try to update again this week ~ because the story's getting to some of my favorite parts soon :) mwehehehe. Hope everyone's having a great summer!