California: January 1^st, 2015, 0:45 a.m.

It had been forty-five minutes, and the fireworks were still cracking. Kim Yugyeom looked out to the garden, where Mark and the Tuan clan were happily throwing firecrackers and lighting firework candles. Yugyeom had his fun, but decided to head back indoors after all. Mark didn’t seem to notice. He was just happy he could finally spend New Years’ with his family.

            It was the first day of 2015, and Yugyeom had decided to spend the holidays in the States with Mark. And it was a blast. But when the final 2014 bell rang, Yugyeom found himself feeling a little homesick. Maybe he should have stayed back.

            Nonetheless, he was thrilled. This was going to be his very last year of being a minor. It would, by default, also be his best friend, Bambam’s, last year of being a minor. And Yerin’s. And Jimin’s, too. The maknaes of the company, finally growing up. A little thrilling.

            Okay, very thrilling.

“Yugyeom-ah!” he heard Mark yell from outside. Yugyeom looked down from the guest room window, where he saw Mark waving to him to come on out. Yugyeom politely shook his head and turned to his cellphone, opening up his group chat with his fellow 1997-born friends. The chat had actually been long abandoned, but Yugyeom was sure they would respond.

“Happy New Years’!,” he wrote. Thinking again, he wondered if the others would respond, since the time difference can cause a headache. For the holidays, Bambam was in Thailand (where he was properly referred to as Kunpimook), Jimin in Korea and Yerin in New York. However, he did get a response, first from his loyal Bam.

            “Yah, New Years’ passed years ago~,” Bambam wrote sarcastically, mocking the time difference. Soon after, Jimin’s icon (circled over her username, babyjamie555) popped up, signaling that she came online, too.

            “(Yawn) Yugyeom-ah, America is so slow~,” Jimin followed. Yugyeom could just hear the “BamMin” pair cackling all the way from the East, making him a bit more homesick. In a bittersweet way.

            Several speech bubbles of “ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ” later, Yerin finally popped into the conversation.

            “Hul, don’t mock us, if we experience New Years’ later, then we’ll live longer, as well.” Yerin added her rare sarcastic tongue. This only added more waves of "ㅋㅋㅋ" texts. Yugyeom now knew everyone was online, and took this chance.

“Hey, guys… since we’re all over the world for the holidays this year, let’s celebrate together next time, okay? Let’s go out to drink when we become adults.”

            A bit of a silence followed, making Yugyeom nervous, however Yerin was unexpectedly the first to respond. “Count me in, Gyeom! I’m so lonely in New York this year ㅠㅠ”

            A bit after, Jimin and Bambam followed. “Sounds good, let’s drink, let’s drink~” “Call! I’m in.” "Did you just say 'Call'? You're becoming so Korean." "Yah, Miss Jamie, I am Thai as all Hell." Yugyeom giggled to himself at the conversation.

Maybe the other three thought nothing of it, but Yugyeom was quite excited.

Seoul: December 1^st, 2015, 4:23 p.m. (Present day)

“Yah!” Yugyeom yelps as a freshman bumps into him in the hallways.

Being tall, and part of a powerful company, it should come as no shock that the younger students are a little afraid of him. Of course, the freshman stands back up and bows at ninety degrees.

            “Please forgive me!” the younger yells and runs off into the hallway. Yugyeom scratches the back of his head, wondering why kids seem to hate him.

Jimin appears from behind him, on a juice box. “, man, scared another one off again?”

“Yeah,” Yugyeom sighs, hunching his shoulders and not looking back at his friend.

To fans of JYP, there are certain images that the artists have set for themselves. Take, for the sake of the story, the 97-liners.

            Yerin has set the image of a cute, shy girl who is obedient and introverted. Maybe even tops her class and is quite popular. Jimin is known for her loud mouth and bubbly personality, so fans might imagine she’s popular for that. Yugyeom would be thought of as the class’s best friend, the naïve young man that is so hard to hate because he is just that cuddly. Bambam is probably on the same boat as Jamie, as a funny, popular idiot known for running his mouth longer than he should have.

Those descriptions are a little off.

The truth is, Yerin is chic. She’s stylish, as her social media suggests. Her image in school is pretty similar. She’s smart, quiet and introverted, but not in a cute way, contrary to fan beliefs—she was cute, once upon a time, but as she sang her way closer to graduation, her school motivation became almost nothing in comparison to her career. Her classmates can find her even rude, with the way she barely speaks in class yet still manages to get top grades. She does have her clique of girls who understand her, though they know she can have her moments.

          Jimin is funny. She’s bubbly, she’s loud, and that has, of course, made her a noticeable student to boys, as the fans correctly guessed. But “popular” is far from the right term to describe her—in the eyes of other girls. No doubt, women can fear her. Great vocals, a big company to back her up as well as best friends all her classmates are fans of. But man, she can be a delinquent. She’s already missed so many school days because of “After School Club”, but sometimes she skips out just to sing, giving girls the impression she’s a bad kid. If her teachers ask why she was absent, she’ll reply, “I’ll sing until my throat bleeds.”

            Yugyeom is sweet, just as IGOT7s had believed. And there’s not much more to it. Anyone can see that from afar. He can walk in and smile, and whoever saw him would suffer from a melting heart. The only problem is his height. He looks cute from far away, but as soon as he approaches someone, they’re reminded he’s bigger than everyone else. Physically and popularly. Nobody wants to mess with the guy with thousands of crazy fangirls.

            As for Bambam, the biggest mistake fans made was assuming he even goes to school in the first place. The boy dropped out in middle school because of  Korean language struggles and hasn’t looked back since. It doesn’t stop him from slapping on Yugyeom’s pre-growthspurt uniform and joining their class without permission every now and then. If he’s not doing that, he’s dragging Jimin out of class to skip. Mix that with his ever-changing hair colors, and you've got a little delinquent punk right there.

            In the eyes of the school, they're all delinquents.

Back to the present, Yugyeom stands, still dumbfounded by what had just happened. The freshman had run off to his friends, whispering about how he almost started a fight with giant Kim Yugyeom. After a bit of concerning silence, he turns around to face Jimin.

            “Hey, Jimin-ah…” he purses his lips, trying to find the right words, “For idols, we’re not very popular, are we?”

            There’s another silence, and Jimin simply ignores that question. She crumbles up her juice box and tosses it in the bin next to her. She looks at the clock, which reads a few minutes past the final bell. “Wanna go home?”

            “Yeah,” Yugyeom sighs. “Did Yerin already go home?”

            “No, she’s out.”

            “With?”

            “Um… Olltii Oppa?” She tilts her head trying to remember. “Or was it Girin Oppa… hm…” A few more seconds, then she pops up again. “It was Namjoon Oppa. Definitely Rap Monster.”

            Yugyeom begins to walk towards the exit, Jimin following. This concerns him, just slightly. “Are they working on a song together?” He holds his hands out, offering to hold Jamie’s bag.

            “No, they’re just out,” she says, politely shaking her head to his offer and his question.

            “Just out? On a date?”

            “Yugyeom-ah…”

            Jimin is one of the few people who knows for a fact (instead of knowing from rumors) that Yugyeom has a hopeless one-sided crush on Yerin. She rejected him once in freshman year, and Yerin assumes he’s over her. The fact that she’s beginning to find more guy friends isn’t helping his situation.

           He sighs again. Jimin looks at her helpless friend and rolls her eyes. No use worrying over him, he’s only beating a dead horse at this point. It’s not like he’s even doing anything to get her attention anymore. Anyhow, it’s the last day of school. They should have no more worries.

            Her phone vibrates and buzzes in her skirt pocket. Picking it up, it’s Bambam.

            “Bam contacted you?” Yugyeom asks, snapping out of his trance and looking over her shoulder as they walk by the JYP building. “Hey, ask him why he didn’t swing by today, it’s the last day of school.”

            “No, shush, lemme read this one,” Jimin nods. “He says, ‘Jamie, don’t go home. Come by the building, PD-Hyung and CEO-nim want to talk to us.’ I wonder why.”

            They stop walking, having luckily just passed the JYP Entertainment HQ.

            “Should I wait for you and walk you home after?” Yugyeom asks.

            Jamie looks up, happy he’d say such a thing. “Oh, sure! But I don’t know how long it’ll take.”

            “If you take longer than twenty minutes, I’m out of here. Fair?”

            Jimin smirks.

            “Fair.”

Bambam turns around to the door when he notices JYP’s eyes fall there. Jimin walks in after knocking and bowing. Park Jinyoung, the company producer who Bambam shamelessly calls “Hyung”, sits at the big desk next to the company’s CEO, Jeong Wook. Two big figures next to a little idiot they call Bambam. It looks funny, so Jimin almost giggles. But she keeps a straight face.

            “Am I… in trouble?” Jimin becomes wary at the sight of Jeong Wook. However, the power duo simply smiles. Bambam grins at the thought of Jimin being worried.

            “No, no, Jimin! We don’t want to make this seem like a big thing,” JYP laughs, “We were just thinking of New Years’.”

            Jimin sits down in relief. “Ah, okay. What’s up?”

            Jeong Wook speaks this time. “We were checking up on JYP Entertainment artists’ B.E.P. debts, and it looks like you, Jimin, have really paid off any debt you owed us.”

            “Oh, great!” Jimin’s face drops again in confusion. “What’s that, uh, gotta do with Bambam or New Years’?”

            “We were just wondering if you wanted to accompany our Kunpimook to Thailand for the New Year’s. Considering you want to see your old friends and such,” JYP offers, “Because we noticed this kid is also way out of debt, as well, and we accidentally booked two flights to Thailand instead of one.”

            "What kind of perfect mistake is that?" She almost yells, but contains herself in front of the CEO. However, her smile reaches the end of her ears, her puffy cheeks expanding to one or the other end of the universe. “What kind of… yes! I’d love to!”

            Bambam grins, as well. “You can stay at my place! Bank, Beer and Baby really want to meet you.” He mentions the nicknames of his siblings, all of which match his well. Jimin can't stop grinning.

            The BamMinTV duo celebrates amongst themselves. JYP and Jeong Wook smile softly at the sight. They nod, signaling that the short meeting is over. The duo takes their leave, with a bit of a jump in their steps.

            JYP stops Jimin as they head out. “Oh, Jimin-ah. If you see Yerin, can you ask her to come over, too? We need to discuss her B.E.P., she’s a little overdue.”

            She looks back. Overdue debt? Looks like Yerin won’t be flying overseas soon. “Sure.”

Both Thai travelers exit the room to find Yugyeom sitting outside on a box in the hallway. He pops one earphone out of his hearing range when he sees them, and an eyebrow.

            “That barely took a minute,” he says, standing up and packing away his phone.

            “Yeah, PD-nim and Jeong Wook CEO were just offering me a flight to Thailand with Bambam!” Jimin can barely contain her excitement by the end of the sentence, and begins jumping around. Bambam, caught up in her happy-virus personality, begins jumping about as well. Soon enough, Yugyeom catches on and starts jumping with her. These boys, of all people, know how much she wanted to visit Thailand the most.

            “Wait, wait…” Yugyeom stops jumping and catches his breath. “So when are you going? In January we’re going to start promoting again…”

            “Yeah, we’re going during New Year’s. We come back and start promoting,” Bambam explains, holding Jimin’s hand so she stops jumping as well.

            Yugyeom pauses and tilts his head, giving his neck a stretch. New Year's? Really? “Wait, but then… you two will be in Thailand, and Yerin and I…”

            Jimin’s eyes widen and she pats Yugyeom on the back. “Hey, what are you bringing up Yerin for? If she’s staying in Korea this year you can spend that special midnight with her!”

            Bambam giggles at his friend making fun of Yugyeom again. But he stops when he sees Yugyeom’s expression drop to a slight pout. That baby-face is really what helps Bambam remember this giant is in fact younger than him. Why is he pouting?

            “Hey, Yugyeom… what’s wrong?” Kunpimook asks, concerned at the sudden change in mood, “Yerin will be here, right?”

            “Well, yeah, but…”

Yugyeom wants to tell the truth. That only eleven months ago, they made a promise to spend the New Year’s together; they only become adults once in their life! And he really wanted to experience that first drop of booze with his three fellow alcohol-rookies.

            But looking at this little boy all the way from Southeast Asia, who only wants to see his family, and this homesick international schoolgirl, who just wants to re-experience her childhood, he bites his tongue. They’re so excited. Who is Kim Yugyeom to stop his friends from being happy?

            He smiles. “No, nothing. I can probably hang out with Yerin on New Year’s. You know, adulthood! Yay,” he faintly celebrates to himself.

           Jimin snaps her fingers. “Right! Yerin. I need to call her. She has a meeting with PD-nim, too,” she says as she grabs and dials in her phone.

            She motions the boys to start walking home by waving her hands back and forth. She starts walking as well so they get the gist. Bambam and Yugyeom watch her as she takes her call.

            “Ah! Yerin! Hey, just a reminder that PD-nim and Jeong Wook CEO want to talk to you about your B.E.P. debt, so hurry on down here,” she announces once Yerin picks up. Jimin doesn’t know it, but she must be basically borderline deaf. Her phone is so loud, that the boys can clearly hear the other line.

            “, now?” they hear Yerin respond lazily. Her crude tongue indicates she's still out with her rapper friend. But it doesn’t sound like she would skip out on a meeting like this—Yerin takes her career more seriously than anything. “I’m out with Namjoon, it might take me a while to get back from here. Why? Did PD-nim say anything?”

            “I think you’ve stacked a little more debt to JYPE this year because of your trip to New York, so you’ll have to stay in Korea for the New Year’s.” Hearing Jimin say “have to stay” makes Yugyeom annoyed. They all really forgot about the promise, huh?

            “Oh, I see,” Yerin responds, her voice a bit more chipper, “But that’s cool. Olltii Oppa wanted to hang out with me at that time, so it’s alright.”

            “Alright, bye!” Jimin says and they hear Yerin return the greeting. She hangs up. Jimin shrugs.

            “Guess you’re not hanging with Yerin on New Year’s, either. Hey, Youngjae Hyung is still bad at drinking so you should go out with him to make fools of each other,” Bambam suggests casually, laughing at the thought.

But all Yugyeom can think about—despite caring for Jimin’s homesickness, or Bambam’s rare family, or Yerin finally coming out of her shell and making new friends—is that these 97-liners, really, sincerely, at keeping promises.

If he could have one selfish wish, it would be to have his minor friends with him for the New Year.

A/N: Hi, hope you enjoyed that! I'll try and update soon so we can get to the New Year's chapter soon enough! Thanks for reading and criticism is very welcome, please tell me if my English is a bit weird or hard to understand. See you! ^^