Yong Sun was tired. So ing tired of everything.

Sunny, as she was known to her best friends (They thought it was hilarious because she was anything but Sunny), shuffled into the tiny studio apartment, throwing her bag into a corner before falling into the nearest bundle of blankets. She shared the tiny space with her younger sister Mina, as well as the five girls that were once part of her Kpop group. Rose, Lily, Ruby, Hana, and Nara. All the girls except Nara had their names legally changed while they were still trainees. Even Sunny and Mina, because Sunny’s old name represented evil to her. She chose Yong as their new last name. It meant Dragon. It made her feel strong. And she had to be strong for her girls. For her sister, who was her entire world. It was Mina’s dream to be an idol, and it made Sun happy to help her. They still treated Sunny like she was the leader of their group. The group that never got to debut that is. They’d all left that horrible company that they’d trained at for years together. And now they all starved together. Yay sisterhood.

 Sunny sighed and looked around. There was no real furniture anywhere. They couldn’t afford it and didn’t have space. Just seven bundles of blankets, a plastic dresser for all of their clothes, and her keyboard in the corner. She looked at it for a second, debating whether she felt like playing, and decided against it. It would take an act of God to get her to move right now. She’d just finished another agonizing twelve-hour shift at her most recent ty job at a grocery store, and it felt like every bone in her body ached. Unfortunately, she was also hungry, but the chances of there being anything to eat in the house were slim, so she decided to just sleep it off. 

She’d finally started to doze off when her phone rang. She assumed it would be her sister, so she answered without looking. She shot up as she listened to the person on the other end, eyes widening, unable to say more than yes or thank you and goodbye. Sunny pressed the end call button and stared at her phone. This was going to change everything. They had a chance. Sunny almost felt like crying. She’d been trying so hard to keep everything together for her girls. 

She heard keys turn in the lock, and looked up to see everyone returning together, a couple of them with shopping bags after going to the convenience store for a cheap dinner. 

“Holy you guys! You will not believe who the hell just called me. Bang freaking PD.” She was practically screeching at this point. 

 “What?” Mina looked at Sunny like she’d finally lost it, setting her groceries down and sharing a look with the others. 

“I know this sounds insane, and I still don’t really believe anything. Like, why the hell would he call us? And why would HE call us, not a secretary? But he says they want to try out putting together a girls group. And guess who they want?”

“Are you kidding me right now?” Lily screamed. “How does he even know about us?”

 “I guess someone from our old company mentioned us, and that would be perfect for what he had in mind, but he wants us to come in and show him what we can do in person. We’re going tomorrow at noon. Tomorrow is a new beginning.” Sunny grinned at the group of six girls in front of her, everyone squealing in unison. 

---

The next day they found themselves in front of a group of people, all of them feeling a bit like performing monkeys, but excited. Sunny did her best to not show how nervous she was, hiding behind a veil of skepticism. It wasn’t that hard to fake though. She still wasn’t sure if this was really happening. On the table before them was Bang PD himself, along with a handful of other people, and one face she recognized. Obviously, this was the culprit that must have told Bang PD about them. Her old vocal coach from the company from hell. He shot her a cheeky grin, and she raised an eyebrow and snorted at him in response. 

One of the people at the table before them, a very scary looking older woman, gave them the nod that indicated they wanted them to start. Sunny looked over at her girls and gave a similar nod, and they all got into position. Rather than using some song or dance that they no doubt had seen a million times before, the girls had decided to use one of their own original pieces. Though they’d left their previous company, they’d still kept up with their practice and creating on their own. The music started and Sunny blocked out the faces in front of them, focusing on the music. She didn’t need to watch and see if her girls were doing well; She knew they would. Sunny lost herself in the song, throwing every bit of desperation and hope into it that she could. They had to make it. As the last note died down, she came back to herself, putting her shields back up and smirking at the people before her. Eyebrows were raised, Coach Nate was all smiles and thumbs up. She was pleased with the response, but only one of their opinions mattered. She looked over at Bang PD and suddenly felt lightheaded. He was smiling too and clapping. They were saved!

A slight movement caught her eye and she peered over at the double doors in the back of the room. Min Yoongi himself stood there, watching them. Sunny would die before admitting this to anyone, but she’d had a thing for him for awhile. He was so very talented. And pretty. She wondered if he was unhappy about this new change for his company. His face gave away nothing of his opinion on the performance. He noticed her looking and stared for a minute before turning and leaving. Sunny was a little disappointed, but she shrugged and turned her attention back to Bang PD. He was telling them that they were in, and what to expect from now on. As the people left, Nate came over yelling with excitement.

"Am I great or what? I knew he’d love you, girls!” They all rushed to hug him, except Sunny, who elected to grin at him from the table she was leaning against.

“Ah, but the question is, what are you doing here Nate?” She asked in a slow drawl, curious but not unhappy. He was, after all, one of the few people she had been able to stand at that God forsaken place.

“It’s Coach, or Coach Nate for the millionth time, Sun.” He chuckled. “I left them a while ago. I had been thinking about leaving there for some time, but about six months after you guys left, I found out the truth of WHY you left. That was the last straw. I decided that I would sing your praises to any that would listen. I got this job last month, and I’ve been bothering everyone here about you guys since then. I’m sorry for what happened. I feel like that I didn’t know and wasn’t able to help. I’ve sent anonymous tips to newspapers and stuff since.” He looked apologetically at Mina, and she patted his arm.

Sunny didn’t like to talk about that time, so she cleared . “Moving on to other matters, let’s go pack! They said we can move into our dorms on Monday, so we have to get everything taken care of. Luckily for us, we’re the poor girl’s club, so there’s less to do.” Sunny chuckled, shrugging back into her leather jacket, and leading her girls to the exit like ducklings.

“See ya on Monday, Nate!" 

"COACH!”

“Whatever.”

---

Monday came and they found themselves staring up at the building that was to be their new home. The woman that introduced herself as their manager explained that they would be on the second floor, with two girls to a room. The funny thing was, she said that like she was apologizing, not knowing that it sounded like heaven to the girls. Manager Kim showed them around the
spacious dorm room, apologizing over and over again about size or sharing rooms, or even that there was no vanity lighting in the bathroom. Sunny just wanted her to shut up because she was just thrilled there seemed to be working hot water.

“Now, the biggest issue is that you are not the only group using this building. The top floor is being used by BTS. There is security roaming the buildings inside and outside, and of course, I will be available for you 24/7. However, with a group that big, there are always fans trying to find the place or the ones that HAVE found it are always trying to take pictures or sneak in. Therefore, you won’t be able to leave the dorms without an .” Manager Kim rambled as she
made her way back to the front door. “I’ll leave you girls to get comfortable. Be sure to call me if you need absolutely anything. I’m on the same floor.”

Finally, she was gone and the girls turned to each other, squealing. They paired off rooms with each other, leaving Sunny to have a room to herself, at Mina’s insistence. Sunny didn’t mind at all. She’d never had a room to herself before, and it was kind of exciting. Before doing anything, she set up her precious keyboard in front of a window in the living room that had a great view of the outside. 

She the keys and smiled. She was actually looking forward to playing again. Finally, she made her way to her bedroom and threw her bag on the ground before looking around. It was already partially furnished. Bed, desk, nightstand…already more furniture than she’d had before. She flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. This all felt so much like a dream, and she really hoped it wasn’t. 

She hadn’t felt this hopeful…in a long time. Not since both she and Mina had passed auditions at the other company. That hope had died out after years of bullying and harsh training, only to get passed up again and again as newer trainees debuted instead of them. She needed this to work. THEY needed this to work. She was tired of having nothing, tired of seeing her girls hungry and exhausted. She was just tired….

The doorbell woke her up two hours later, and Sunny shot up, startled. She hadn’t even meant to fall asleep, but the bed was so comfortable. She got up and stretched, knowing her back was going to hurt her later after years of sleeping on the floor and padded her way out to the living room.

“PIZZA DELIVERY!” A deep voice boomed as Rose opened the front door to reveal six members of BTS holding a ton of pizza boxes. They all gave a quick bow and started walking inside, as the girls exchanged looks of amusement.

“We remembered our first night in the dorms. There was no food, and we were too shy to ask for some sent to us, so we thought we’d bring this by. It’s also so we can get to know our new neighbors!” Hoseok explained, grinning as introductions were made.

The girls had obviously been exploring while Sunny had been napping, because they’d found all the dishes and cups they’d need and set the table, talking and laughing with the boys like they’d known each other forever. She’d merely exchanged polite smiles and accepted the pizza that Jin handed her. She’d never been great with meeting people, not knowing what the hell she was
supposed to say. Hoseok seemed to know how she felt because he plopped down next to her at the table and started asking questions, mostly about the music and what they knew how to do. She had to admit they were all nice. They seemed to know how to make all the girls comfortable and were fun to talk to. Although, the blushes that kept showing up on Mina’s face whenever
Hoseok talked to her were worrisome.

“Aren’t you guys going to get into trouble for being here? I’m sure they would freak if they found out.” Sunny asked, looking at Namjoon.

He shrugged. “They’ll probably say something, but they haven’t stated any official rules yet. You’re the first girls in the company, remember? I’m sure as long as we behave ourselves, it won’t be a big issue.”

“Aw, do we have to? I’m not good at the whole behaving thing.” Hana joked, earning a laugh from around the table.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang again, and the girls looked at each other like they just summoned trouble.

Namjoon saw their faces and chuckled, getting up to get the door. “Don’t worry. I texted Yoongi to let him know we were here if he gets hungry. He was writing earlier and couldn’t leave.”

Sunny stiffened at that and held her breath. She wasn’t really sure why she would react like that, but ever since she’s seen him watching them the other day, she’d been wondering when she’d run into him again. She watched as the door opened to reveal a tired looking, and slightly uncomfortable, Min Yoongi. Namjoon led him over to the table where he simply nodded at everyone,
accepted a plate of pizza from Jimin, and started to eat without saying a word. Sunny thought she caught him glancing her way a few times, but decided she must be thinking too much into it.

An hour later everything was cleaned up and they were all relaxing in the living room, the boys telling stories of the year they debuted. It helped now that the girls had an idea of what to expect, and they appreciated the advice. Even Yoongi had chimed in a few times. Jungkook was being nosy and looking around the dorms when he spotted the keyboard. 

“Oh, who plays?” Jungkook exclaimed, pointing at it.

“Sunny does! She’s so good too. When we were in training, it only took a couple months before she started sounding like she’d been playing her whole life.” Mina was smiling at her, making Sunny feel like a spotlight was shining right on her face. She knew what was coming next.

“Play something, Sissy!” Mina clapped and pointed at the keyboard.

With a groan, Sunny got up and started walking over. As she sat, sneaked a glance over at Yoongi. She was a little embarrassed to be playing in front of someone who was known to be good on the piano, but a part of her wanted to show off a little too. He wasn’t the only one in the world who could be good at something. 

She looked down at the keys, them in thought, before looking out the window she’d placed the piano in front of. She’d always wanted a spot like this for her piano, so she could play and look out at the world. She let her hands move across the keys as she stared out into the sky. She put everything into the song. All of her hopes for the future, her love for her girls, her desire to happy for once in her life, despite the demons that lived inside her. 

She didn’t even notice the room had gone quiet or feel the intense stare of the man watching as she let a piece of her soul exit through her fingers. Sunny finally came back to herself as she played the last note, and just stopped, looking down at her hands. Cheers erupted and they were all clapping behind her. She could hear the boys occasional “WOW” or “So Cool.” Embarrassed by the attention, she waited until she could compose herself before turning back around, only to catch Yoongi’s eyes. He just stared, expressionless, just looking at her. Finally, there was a small smile, that left as quickly as it had come.

“Well, this has been fun.” He drawled, getting up from the couch. “We all have to get going now though. Busy day tomorrow.” He walked out the front door, not even checking to see if the rest of the boys were behind him. The others got up, apologizing, and they left too, promising to stop by again soon to see how things were going. As soon as the door closed on the last member, all the girls looked at each other, before laughing.

---

The next few months were a blur of activity. None of the girls needed much training since they’d already trained for years. Most of what needed doing were promotions and getting their songs put together. Luckily, everyone had loved the original music that the girls had been working on, and all that they needed to do was record everything. They’d released their first full music video last month, and it was being well received. They’d been able to stay true to themselves and go with their own style. Part of the reason they’d hadn’t gone far in their old company was that they hadn’t been willing to go Bubblegum pop. Sunny still had nightmares of the fluffy dress they’d tried to make her wear. They’d even had a say in the naming of their group. Sunny named them Phoenix. It seemed fitting for the group that died and came back to life. Fans were popping up everywhere and saying how excited they were for an edgy, fierce girl group. All of the girls were getting excited. This was it. They’d made it.

---

Sunny was having the time of her life. She was starting to feel like everything was going great. All of her girls were happy. She was happy because Mina was happy. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen Mina frown. She knew to keep her guard up, but maybe, just a little bit, she could try to let loose and enjoy this adventure.

She was in her little studio, her second home as the others called it, working on a new melody that had been stuck in her head all day when someone came in to hand her some mail. They’d started receiving fan mail recently, and most of the girls were loving it. Sunny thought most of it ridiculous since nine times out of ten it was someone proposing. Occasionally, she got a letter from someone worth reading. Her favorite had been when a little girl sent her a letter and a picture of her learning the piano so she could play their song. She had to admit she had a bit of a soft spot for kids. She’d starting taking over reading the fan mail herself when Ruby screamed after getting her sixth pic. Sunny pointed out with a grin that it was actually sweet since they took the time and money to print it out for her. Ruby was not amused. 

Chuckling at the memory, Sunny reached in and picked a letter at random. It had no return address, which was odd. She shrugged and opened it, pulling out the letter.

My dearest daughters….

Oh dear God, no. ing no. 

The letter was shaking in her hands and she wanted to pass out, but she forced herself to read the rest of it, before letting it fall to the ground.

Mina, she had to find Mina. 

Sunny ran to the dance studio, where she knew Mina would be practicing. Slamming open the door, she looked inside and found her in there, along with a coach and some of the boys from BTS. It looked like they were teaching her some of their dances. They all looked over at the sound of the door, but she didn’t spare them a glance as she stared at Mina. When she finally felt she could talk without screaming, she grabbed at Mina’s wrist.

“Have someone take you home. Close all the curtains, lock the door and prop something in front of it. I’ll make sure that there is security in front of the door.” Sunny knows she’s growling and sounding insane, but she doesn’t care. All she knows is Mina needs to be safe.

“Sun, what’s going on? It’s not…” Mina whispered, her eyes going big and Sunny could feel her start to tremble.

“It is. Go. Now.” Sunny yelled, watching as the girls left, confused and worried, Mina following behind them starting to cry.

Sunny hated seeing her cry.

Not realizing she wasn’t alone, she finally let loose her inner rage and slammed her fist into the dance mirror, screaming. She welcomed the pain in her hand and looked down. She’d managed to keep hold of a shard of the glass. She stared at it. It would be so easy. No one really needed her. Mina was with a company that could take care of her now. It was obvious Sunny would never be happy. She’d had a glimpse of peace and now he was here as if to remind her that she was and always would be. She couldn’t let him get a hold of her again. She couldn’t handle that nightmare. She closed her hand around the glass. If she just ended it now, she would be free.

Someone suddenly grabbed her and pried her hand open. 

“Drop it,” Yoongi growled in her ear, wrapping his hand around her wrist and applying pressure.

She gave in with a cry, the glass shattering at her feet, her palm dripping with blood, and he moved his hand from her wrist to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her closer.

“I wasn’t actually going to do it. I was just…” she sobbed.

“I know. Believe me, I know.” He sighed, propping his chin on her head.

They stayed like that for awhile, letting her get it all out. Finally, she started to calm down and wiped at her tears.

“I’m fine.”

“Okay.”

“Really, I’m fine.” She just couldn’t stop trembling. 

“Alright,” Yoongi kept his arm wrapped around her torso. “Just be fine sitting here with me for a few seconds, yeah? My legs are pretty tired…”

“Do you want to do that really gross thing where we sit here and talk about our feelings?” he asked, pulling her down to sit on the practice room floor.

She let out a weak chuckle and nodded. She needed to tell someone in case the worst happened, not because she wanted to actually tell Yoongi her ed up story.  

“He’s back.” she started, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She ing hated feeling this way.

“My Father. He left a long time ago. Not that we minded. He was a monster.” She explained, looking at the floor, not wanting to see the judgmental look that she was sure would be there on his face. “He hurt us, a lot. I did everything I could to spare Mina, but he got to her too sometimes. There were…other things too, but…yeah. We went through a lot after he left, trying to take care of ourselves, and we were sure we’d never have to see him again. We even changed our names, and he hasn’t seen us since we were young. I didn’t think he’d recognize us. He sent me a letter saying he wants to meet.” Sunny closed her eyes again, trying to calm herself mentally. 

“Do you want to meet up with him?” Yoongi asked, grabbing her chin gently and forcing her to look at him. 

“ no!” 

“Then don’t.” Yoongi lifted an eyebrow at her as if that should have been the common sense answer. 

“You don’t understand. If I don’t meet up with him, probably to give him money or something, he’ll go after Mina. That can’t happen.” Sunny explains in a rush, clenching her teeth. “He knows I’ll do anything to keep him away from her, so that’s exactly what he’ll try to do.” 

“We’ll talk to everyone that needs to know and let them know you guys need extra detail. Make sure you carry something with you at all times for protection. We’ll even let you borrow Sejin; He’s huge.” he grins, and Sunny gives a weak chuckle. It’s not untrue. Manager Sejin was a teddy bear, but a HUGE teddy bear. 

“Thank you Yoongi.” Sunny whispers, pausing before adding, “For everything.” 

“Yeah. It’s…look, I’ve been there alright? Just…talk to me if you feel like that again. You know where to find me. Now go get that hand taken care of. It’s going to leave a badass scar. Tell them you fought off Ninjas or something.” 

Yoongi helps Sunny to her feet and walks out of the room without another glance. She watched the back of him until he disappeared around the corner. She wasn’t sure if what she was feeling right now was the beginning of love or if she just felt really grateful, but she felt something. 

---

A week went by without issue. Yoongi had obviously talked to someone, probably Bang PD himself because security had been tightened not just around the dorms, but whenever the girls left as well. They usually had at least three big security guys with them at all times. Sunny had also gotten back into her childhood habit of glancing around every room she was in to make sure there was something nearby to be used as a weapon. She kept knives strapped to her ankle whenever they left. Most importantly, she made sure Mina was protected 24/7. 

Today had been a long day. They’d had their first TV performance, and it really drained Sunny. As much as she loved music, it was hard getting used to the thousands of stares and knowing everyone was judging you. She sighed as she got out of the company van and started walking up the cobblestone path to their dorms. A hand s out and slammed her against the side of the building, where the view was shadowed by shrubs and a large tree. 

“Did you miss me?”