Hani's POV

      The bus ride seemed eternal, it felt like I had been there for almost a thousand years, and I wasn't even on the plane yet, let alone the final bus ride that would lead me to my desired destination. I paid not a heed of acknowledgment to any of my surroundings, keeping my head against the transparent glass that separated me from the outside world, but the setting was blurred out by my own personal daze. I still questioned if this was a good idea, but at the same time, how could I know if I hadn't tried it out yet? I was going to sign up for this, I had to learn to deal with the discomfort of not having my friends by my side, they had most likely already adjusted without me. I couldn't tell if it was day or night at that moment because it all seemed opaque to me. The only thing that I could focus on was the smiles of the ones who I couldn't see. My mind plagued with different scenarios of how my family and friends were doing at that moment, knowing that I had left, but then I thought about it...I had never dropped the news to my parents...

      Bvvvrrrr! Bvvvvrrr! Speak of the devil. 

     Hesitation tensed my muscles the moment I fished the small wallet-sized smartphone from the pocket in the back of my pants, hissing at the contact name that read 'Mother'. My gut instantly overturned and mix around as if it were a washer in the spin cycle, causing me to be overcome by nausea. After waiting for a decent two seconds, I swallowed a gulp of oxygen, before sliding my thumb across the green icon and lifting the device to my right ear. 

     "What do you want?" Was the first thing I said, in the coldest tone that I could, instantly earning dumbfounded expressions by the people that sat nearest to me, but I had played it off as if I didn't notice. 

      "Where are you? Why didn't you come home?" The husky female voice interrogated, which I had just rolled my eyes at. "I'm not wanted in that house, or even in that town, so what was the point in staying? So I could continue my role as a burden?" I seethed in a low volume to refrain from causing a scene. "What the hell do mean by 'what was the point in staying?', Ahn Heeyeon, where are you right now?" The clear agitation in her voice overpowering the question, making it seem more like a demand rather than a question. "Why are you calling me? I thought you didn't want anything to do with me?" I snapped off, hissing into my phone with my sharped tongue. I knew that she was aware of where I was, but I wanted to know HOW, and I had my answer after only seconds of waiting. "Tae called me and asked me if you had left already when I told him that you hadn't come home, I heard Jin say something about the Marines. Heeyeon, please don't tell me you're joining that ." She explained, her voice in a low growl. My tongue stirred in the side of my cheek, a habit that I had developed as a child; showing my irritation and frustration. I wasn't angry at Tae, at all, because at least I knew that he probably did want to wish me goodbye, in person, just as Jimin had, just he didn't get there on time. I was pissed at the fact that she was now going to shoot me down, the same way Jeon Jungkook had done the night before. 

     "Are you out of your damn mind? What the hell are you thinking?" And here it was. Downgrader number two. Why did no one have faith in me? Why did everyone see me as such a weak that can't do anything right? I get it, I'm a pure up, but can't I get a chance? At this point, I was numb to words, so I was curious about what she had to say. Jungkook, alone, had shot me down, ripped the organ from my chest and tore it to shreds right before my eyes, leaving nothing, but hey, I had to thank him for that; My heart couldn't carry any more of that choking sensation, because there was nothing left to strangle. I wanted to hear what she had to say though, so I pressed on, wanting for her meaningless words that were only meant to put me to guilt. "I am joining the Marines, I got on the bus at sunset. I didn't think you'd care, but I probably should have told you, but hey, now you and my father can have a celebratory party that you have finally gotten me out of your hair. I mean, that is what you wanted right? To get me out? Well, ta-da! Your wish came true." I said with a horrid attitude. "Do not talk to me like that. Get your off that bus right now and wait for me to pick you up-" "You know, I think there is some leftover pot stashed in my sock drawer, go ahead and smoke it, that's all you care about and that's all you're good at. You have no control over me anymore, you wanted me out of your life, so I'm getting out. Bye." I said, then without giving her a chance to speak, I ripped the phone from my ear and slammed my finger on the rectangular, crimson-red icon, hanging up the phone, then letting my body fall limp with my elbow against the window sill and my hand pushed against my cheek. 

     "Pretty rough relationship with your mom, huh?" A light male voice said, immediately capturing my attention, so I shifted my head to his direction. The bulky male stared at me with concerned dark eyes that sparkled with pity, as if he could relate, his paper-white flesh glowing from the only light source from the black night, the car headlights. He seemed rather young as well, along with his friends who sat on either side of the rows before us. "Yup, really rough," I confessed, desperately trying to refrain from the salty substance that desired to spill from my glassy, blue eyes. "I feel you, I don't have much of a good relationship with my parents either, none of us to do, to be honest. We are all outcasts of our families." The built man smiled at me. The curl of his lips was full of afflicted emotions; I could tell because, well, that was the smile I had worn for years until I had grown weary of upholding a smile that wasn't even accurate. "I'm sorry about that." I laughed out painfully, knowing how hard it is. "I'm Lee Hoseok, but you can call me Wonho." He introduced, his cheeks instantly lifting with the ends of his lips. 

    The rest of the way, I was introduced to the rest of the men; Yoo Kihyun, Lee Minhyuk, Lee Jooheon, Son Hyunwoo, Chae Hyungwon, and Lim Changkyun, seven males that understood my struggle just by listening to my brief rant. We stuck together for the plane ride, and the last bus ride, drawing me to be closer of a friend to them. However, just because seven more male friends walked into my life, didn't mean I was still completely over the ones that I had left behind. No matter how tempted I was to text Jungkook or even Yoongi, no matter how much I longed to have a decent conversation the way we used to, I knew that they wouldn't want the same right now. 

    Since I only had a couple hours left before I was officially into the boot camp and could barely communicate with them after, I sent Jimin a text that asked him to wish me luck, which he immediately replied with a selfie of him with a thumbs up saying 'Good Luck! I believe in you! Kick out there! Love ya!' with a shining heart emoji right after; his favored amongst the heart emojis. 

    "That your boyfriend?" A feminine voice suddenly asked from beside me, causing me to shift to look at her. The girl seemed about my age, probably a little younger, lips that were full, adding a glow to her fair skin, her long dirty blonde hair was picked up in a high ponytail as she stared at me with her doll-like, dark chocolate orbs that sparkled like the waters of the Hudson River, giving a sense of youth and naiveness; A quality that I had lost by the time I was twenty. 

    "No, he's not my boyfriend, he's one of my best friends." I chuckled out nervously, the blood in my cheeks boiling from a sense of embarrassment. "Ah, he's cute." she winked, causing me to laugh because I knew it was true. I mean, I couldn't deny that my friends were, indeed, very attractive, I just never seen them in a relationship manner, I would cuddle them, kiss their heads, cheeks, and even noses, hug them from behind and even feed them, but that's because I was so comfortable with them. "He is, isn't he? He's a sweetheart, but also kind of a pain sometimes." I whispered to her, causing us both to break into a fit of laughter. "I'm Lisa." She introduced, holding out her hand to shake with mine. "I'm Heeyeon, but you can call me Hani." I beamed but instantly frowned at the sight of Jimin's picture, missing him already.  "You left your friends behind too, huh?" She asked me, both of us instantly falling into frowns as we thought of our best friends. My brows furrowed as she lightly nodded before pulling out her phone, opening her gallery to show me the picture of her and three other young females, each other similar height and similar thin body types. Two of them had long, shining, jet-black locks and one, besides the girl speaking to me, having wavy blonde hair. "That's Rose. She's a bit of a pain sometimes, but overall pretty fun to be around. The one, right here, is Jisoo, she's the eldest of us but acts like a two-year-old, I swear. The one next to me is Jennie, don't be fooled by how intimidating she looks, she's actually got the heart of gold. Jennie introduced me to Jisoo and Rose three years ago, we've been inseparable ever since." She explained as she stared at the picture with fondness in her eyes. The smile never left her lips as she stared at the picture, showing me that she really did miss them and was glued to them like sisters. 

   "These seven goofballs right here were my best friends. You can already, probably, tell there's Jimin right there, he is usually very clingy, but technically, we all were pretty clingy to one another. These two right there, that's Jin and Namjoon. Jin is kind of like a mother, scolded us for absolutely the dumbest things. Namjoon wasn't allowed around our things because he breaks things easily, he once snapped sunglasses after having them for only five minutes. Here is Hoseok, we called him J-Hope because he always loved saying that he was our hope and would get us through everything with a smile. The one that appears to be judging everyone is Yoongi, he may seem cold, but loved napping on us, no matter where, I was once laying down on the beach, reading a book and he just decided to lay on my stomach and fell asleep there, he also loved holding our hands, he'd get upset if we didn't let him. The weirdo right there is our alien Taehyung, he is pretty unique, I guess you could say. Tae even made his own language, which I had yet to comprehend. Last, the one next to me is Jungkook, our little muscle bunny who was soft but also a brat. He also has a habit of stealing my food and drinks then returning them after they're halfway done. " I laughed out painfully, once again, remembering how we used to be versus how we were now. 

    I missed them, but I had to do something to better myself.