His prior thoughts had been proven wrong, for Chaeyoung later came to hang out with them more and more, courtesy of the boys who had gotten her phone number after the basketball game. Chaeyoung had not had many girl friends at school, when they asked her why, she simply said she had different interests. The first few times she tried to get along and hang out at the mall with a few girls in her class, they had made funny comments about how she spent too much time on the sports station, pondering over different types of basketball shoes. Afterwards they spent hours at the food court area, mainly gossiping and not eating (Chaeyoung had quickly got bored after she had scurfed over her lamb kebab the first 15 minutes) “I couldn’t fathom how those girls took one bite, then talk for the next 30 minutes. Then the cycle repeats over. I couldn’t even concentrate to form words when there are food placed in front of me” she pleaded.

So after a while, she had fitted right into their cozy little circle. Awkwardness and little crushes had been gotten over, she later become a vital presence in the gang. Her parents have little problem too, with Chaeyoung hanging around so many boys in a long period of time, sometimes even having sleepovers on movie marathon nights. Her parents had spent most of their married life before Chaeyoung in New Zealand, and only moved to SK when Chaeyoung was 7 years old, so they’re a bit liberal in principle. Moreover, there was Taehyung, and they also had sleepovers at her place a couple of times, so her parents had gotten to know each and every one of them well.

Chaeyoung, it turned out, was a no-nonsense, straightforward kind of girl. Gone was the shy, pristine girl they had first met (although she still appears to be a picturesque, chic girl at first sight), replaced by a girl with dorky laughs who tends to hit when she laughs too much. Skinship also was like a second nature to her. He had first cringed at the picture of her snuggling on the sofa with Taehyung on marathon movie night, and first thought that they had a thing going on, but she soon became comfortable with the rest of the guys and smothered them all with hugs and cuddles all the same. Yoongi was never a touchy-feely kind of guy, and maybe his quiet, brooding appearance, adding to the fact that he was also a bit older than the rest of them along with Jin, made her tend to shy away from him on the skinship, but sometimes she would lean her head on his shoulder when he softly patted her head, after noticing that she’d been nodding off when watching the guys do a Nintendo game match, and occassionally slinged her arms through his while skipping happily after he had bought her ice cream (he had protested because then he would have to walk faster to keep up with her alleviated-sugar level-induced jumping).     

Maybe it was the first week into a new school year. Yoongi and Jin had settled in as sophomores, while the rest were excitedly looking forward high school as juniors. They had hang around together all through summer holiday except for Chaeyoung, who had signed off on a basketball camp abroad and departed as soon as the start of the holiday, and was scheduled to come back only after a week into the first term. Yoongi was lazily trudging along the school front yard, when someone had jumped on his back, startling him and almost toppling him over. When he was about to yell at the bastard, he turned around and found Chaeyoung beaming back at him, breathless, with a grin so wide it looked like it made her cheek hurt. Her grin was infectious, and he soon found himself grinning back, gums and all, and spontaneously smothered her in a hug. She squeaked in surprise and faltered for a moment before catching herself and hugging him back, that nervous, dorky laugh coughed up from . They soon were joined by Jimin, who had arrived a moment later and crashed onto them to hug her from the back, only causing her laugh to grow much louder. Yoongi had hesitantly let go when Jimin began shaking Yoongi’s arm off of her to usher her inside the building, excitedly asking her about her trip and promising to show her around after she had gotten her schedule. Chaeyoung turned back towards Yoongi who had frozen in his spot, gave him a shy smile and waved, which he didn’t return because he was too engrossed in thoughts, as to why his heart was racing so hard like it was going to burst through his throat. He clenched and unclenched his suddenly aching palm. A moment later, after he had calmed himself down and his heartbeat had returned to its normal pace rate, he waved the unfamiliar feeling off, claiming that it was because she had caught him by a surprise piggy back, and because her hair had changed into a mesmerizing strawberry blonde color.   

Yoongi had his fair share of girls. When Yoongi had entered high school, his growth spurt had stopped, making him stand about a quarter foot shorter than the rest of the guys. It didn’t help that he was apparently the shortest in the basketball team. It didn’t hinder his performance at the slightest, but apparently his coach was a sleazy bastard who undermines his ability only because of his height. His teammates didn’t bother defending him either, because most of them were upperclassmen who didn’t know him that much, so after a few heated arguments with the coach and getting benched almost all time as a consequence, Yoongi decided he didn’t want to stick in an environment that doesn’t appreciate him. So he resigned off of basketball team at the beginning of sophomore year (he remembered how Chaeyoung had pouted, glassy eyed whe she heard). He had meanwhile rekindled his passion for music, having touched his old brown piano on one humid day during summer break, the first time he had ever done so since elementary school. Since then, he had drown himself in exploring further and further on music, listening to all kinds of music, from alternative rock, hip-hop, to even jazz and blues. He could almost be found all the time with a hi-fi headphone glued to his head, eyebrows scrunched when he heard some interesting parts, and eyes closed to better hear the lyrics. Namjoon, who had been the most invested in musicality amongst the guys, were delighted to found that he finally had a partner who shares the same interest in Yoongi, so he showers him with his treasured playlists and even went as far as signing them up on a music production course for beginner over the break. Namjoon also shared his habit of keeping a journal, in hope that maybe it could someday be used as an inspiration to write lyrics or songs. So even when the new school term had started, Yoongi always carried his headphone, pen, and journal with him as a habit. Apparently girls quite dig that. That, added to his pale complexion, raven hair, soft features, and quiet demeanor, apparently made him seem mysterious, artsy, and y (courtesy of Chaeyoung who had eavesdropped on a girls bathroom gossip). Chaeyoung had giggled when he blushed as she relayed the information to him. The guys had mad a loud commotion and cahooted, giving him hard shoves here and there. He ducked his head in embarassment, but glanced over at Chaeyoung (who was hitting on Jungkook’s arm while laughing really hard), secretly wondering if she had thought that about him too. 

Both being on the same year and similar schedules made Yoongi and Jin stuck together most of the time. Jin’s pretty face, tall stature and broad shoulder that made girls dizzy, reeled in group dates invitation here and there. Jin usually ignored most of them. That one time, however, Kim Jin Ah from neighbouring class approached them during lunch break and invited them over a dinner date on Saturday Night. One of Jin Ah’s friend had a crush on Jin and didn’t have the courage to ask him out, so Jin Ah volunteered to arrange a group date. Jin Ah told Jin to contact her no later than Friday if interested, and to bring 2 friends. When Jin was about to ask her regarding the identity of her friend who had a crush on him, Jin Ah made a move to leave, but not before glancing over at Yoongi and said “See you around, Yoongi” with twinkling eyes. Jin had pondered over the invitation which made Yoongi questioned as to why he had not flat out rejected it as he usually did. It turned out Kim Jin Ah was in a same circle of friend as Kim Ji Soo, the proclaimed prettiest girl in their year. If he didn’t want to seem like a hopeful, he had failed, because he had accepted Jin Ah’s invitation as soon as the last school bell rings.  

Jin had decided to bring Yoongi along on the date, because he also did not miss the way Jin Ah’s suggestive greeting towards Yoongi. Yoongi had hesitated, but kept it to himself in the meantime. He hated the way Jin could be persistent and clingy if he would flat out refused, so he waited until the time Jin would ask the guys, and maybe if more than one would be interested, he would pretend to let one of the guys go in his stead instead. As he had predicted, almost all the guys were begging for Jin to pick them. Namjoon were to busy with his books and Jungkook was playing thumb wrestling with Chaeyoung, so he guessed that two was out of the picture. Eventually Hoseok was chosen because he was the most bright and easygoing. Yoongi spotted Jimin’s hunched shoulder and pout as a chance for him to offer his spot, but as he was doing so, Jin protested loudly reminding him of his little exchange with Jin Ah. This made everyone’s head at the table shot up, including Chaeyoung who was immersed in trying to pin Jungkook’s thumb with her slender one. The rest of the guys immediately , including Namjoon who had abandoned his books, calling Jin Ah his “little girlfriend”. Chaeyoung had smiled along good-naturedly, seeing that, Yoongi could not stop himself from asking “What do you think Chae?” while he nervously fiddled with his fingers, waiting for her response. Chaeyoung had looked a little taken aback, but she recovered quickly and nodded coolly “I think she’s cool oppa. if there’s a girl i would allow to be with you, i think she’d be it. And i’m really protective over you!” she joked and scrunched her nose cutely. The rest of the guys boomed with laughter, but inside Yoongi, their laughter were barely heard, drowned by the cracking sound emitted from his chest, overwhelming his entire cavity. The hurt from his heart spreaded to the tips of his finger, and he coughed up a breathy laugh to  try to release the constricting feeling around his throat. He went along with Jin and Hoseok the following Saturday Night, the buzzing pain in his chest has dulled, but still there.       

Jin Ah was an avid fan of R&B music, she showed him a few song covers she’d done but never had the guts to share. She was an awesome vocalist and knew her way around the music field, so at the date, they hit it off pretty quickly (her friend who had a crush on Jin turned out NOT to be Jisoo, so Jin was quite mum during the date and left a bad impression on the girl). Surprisingly, Yoongi found himself excitedly typing away his number on Jin Ah’s cell when she had ask him for his contact. After a couple of months of keeping contact and a few short dates (mainly cafe dates with him/her showing each other samples of music they had been working on, Jin Ah had jokingly suggested it as a date, but Yoongi had not objected either). At one occassion when they’d been lounging around the park bench, sharing earphones, Yoongi had found their close proximity stragely cozy, so when she had turned her head towards him, mouth slightly agape as she was about to say something, he had impulsively landed a peck on her lips which caught her by surprise, but made her giggle albeit blushing furiously. That was the day they officially became a couple. Yoongi was really satisfied to be able to call Jin Ah his first girlfriend, afterall she’s pretty, she hangs around one of the most popular cliques in the school, and she fits his picture of an ideal girl. He couldn’t stop a grin forming on his face when he got heavily teased the moment he told  the gang, but he also couldnt help to ignore the slightly sinking feeling in his stomach when he saw chaeyoung cheering and clapping along with the rest of the guys upon hearing the news.