Above linked is 'Outro: Wings', the last track on 'You Never Walk Alone', released in 2017. It is a very upbeat song that just makes you feel like a winner. Perfect to listen to while driving.

Outro: Wings is similar to Interlude: Wings on their WINGS album, which was released a year prior.

The outro is about flying. Because yes, here they are, higher than anyone expected them to go. Triumph. Since the very beginning, BTS has used this concept of flying and having wings as a metaphor to achieving/following their dreams. 

The interlude is about taking the leap.

The outro is about flying.

In this song, their dreams are their wings, while their success is their flight. Just like wings allow people to fly, dreams allow people to succeed.

It's time to be brave, I'm not afraid
Because I believe I'm different from what I was
I won't cry on my path, I won't hang my head low
That is the sky and I'll be flying there, fly

(✿)

Areum fell on her bed with a thump as soon as she stepped through the threshold of her room. 

Thoughts more than she could stomach crowded her mind. They had just come back from the dinner with Mr. Kim and his family.

Seokjin kindly offered to drop them off to their house before they could even get up from the table after the absolutely-worth-every-penny-paid dessert. It had some fancy name Areum couldn't recall and did not bother trying to pronounce; but was thankful that Singularity wasn't keen on the miser-like behavior other five star restaurants were infamous for showing towards food helpings. They were served plenty and the food was absolutely satisfying. 

She saw a very familiar car in the car park. It was the same corvette (a car that made her whistle, internally of course) she had seen drop her mother off home sometimes when it was late. Seokjin held the car door open on the passenger side where Areum's mother got in and then again, for Areum in the back seat. She got in with a polite "Thank you" 

Thinking of it now, of all the times this car stopped on their doorstep how many timeswas a Bangtan member occupying the driver's seat?

Seokjin was a smooth driver and an eloquent talker, she found out. He drove with ease while also making small talk with Areum's mother in a way that suggested camaraderie. He smiled at Areum through the driving mirror once when they met eyes and caught her off-guard. Although it was a formal one, the gentle curve of his lips had no hidden maliciousness. It was nice.

The expensive car itself gave her the feeling of well, rich. It was so comfortable, and Areum was not sure if the silent gliding of the wheels was because the driver was one with good practice, or because the absolute beauty of a car came with no loud exhausts. It had neon blue illuminated wheel rings, accentuated by its matte obsidian colour, and LED lights of the same colour inside the car too. No, she was not drooling over this sexy car, just appreciating it's aesthetics, thank you.

The silent hum of the car and her mother's and Seokjin's quiet conversation was oddly comforting and the combination threatened to lull her to sleep. She willed herself not to. They soon reached Rain and Areum got out herself, while the ever-gentleman Seokjin opened the door for her mother. What surprised her was the observation that her mother did not invite him in. 

If anything, she was hospitable almost to a fault, inviting random neighbours for tea that ended up staying for lunch or dinner too, much to Areum's exhasperation. (She did not show it on her face though. That would be rude.) 

But Ms. Hwang just smiled at Seokjin and patted his shoulder in a familiar way, wished him good night and gently ushered her daughter in. Areum looked at Seokjin once before leaving and smiled at him, which seemed to surprise him, but he returned it nonethless. He then got in the car and revved up the engine, driving to disappear at the corner. Areum went inside.

What they didn't know was that the car waited in the shadows at the corner of their house- neon blue lights turned off to provide camoflauge in the darkness of the night- for fifteen more minutes, its driver watching the windows of Rain light up through drawn curtains before finally leaving.

.

She got out of the bed and made her way to freshen up before going downstairs, deciding to voice out her question.

"Mom!" she called out to Ms. Hwang who was in the kitchen, most likely preparing for the breakfast next morning.

"Yeah, hon?"

"I have something to ask you."

"I can see that. Let me just finish this and we'll talk, okay? Go sit." 

Ms. Hwang was a bit on the edge. Of course she would be, for it was the 'first meeting.' Hospitable as she was, she couldn't turn away the apprehension that knocked on the doors of her mind. Sang-Yeob's kids were good boys and Min-ah raised her daughter the best she could. The boys to her at first were closed-off and too polite to be fine but they never misbehaved and she knew they would not be so to Areum too. They would not hurt her regardless of whatever reputation they held at school. She believed that. She knew her daughter and knew that she did not raise her to be a person to judge someone quick or take rash decisions without consideration of the people involved. 

It should be fine, but of course, the kids were still kids, young adults or not. All had grown in rough environments (her daughter included) and even if they never disclosed anything about that, Min-ah had the eyes and heart of a mother. She could see the darkness surrounding the boys. But she could also see the darkness fade away whenever they were together in the comfort of each other. Ms. Hwang would also dare say, there was light in their eyes when they saw her and while she was proud, it was quite sad that the light had dimmed in the first place. 

Min-ah was a single mother and thus no stranger to the fact that the world and the society in it could be very, very cruel when it wanted to. Whatever caused these sweet kids pain, was not supposed to do that and clearly affected their daily lives a lot. Now all she could do, was hope they did not have to go through the experiences again. Never again.

Ms. Hwang sighed to herself and rushed to finish her chore before joining her daughter on the settee. "Okay. I'm here now. What's bothering my darling?" Areum smiled before asking what was bothering her.

"Mom, why did you not invite Seokjin inside?"

The question she received was not what she expected. It relieved her that Areum's tone did not contain any distaste, but sheer curiosity. She also knew Areum was asking a lot more questions in the guise of this one question. 

"We decided to let our children invite each other home whenever they felt comfortable doing so. It would've been very awkward if one day one of you came home and found some stranger sitting there like 'Hi I'll be your stepsibling!'" She imitated a high pitched voice and made a funny face while saying so, which made Areum giggle out loud. "Me and Sang-Yeob talked about this years ago, when we just started dating."

"There's more to it, isn't it?"

Guess she gave her daughter less credit than she deserved. Areum was sure observant.

"Yeah," Min-ah looked sheepish and scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "Well, Sang-Yeob is quite well-off, CEO and stuff and I did not want to be seen as a gold-digger and he did not want to come off as high-handed. His sons were not too keen on coming in without knowing you and I know you wouldn't want to go there just like that too. It just feels like being in strangers' house and rises a sense of unnecessary insecurity we did not want you guys to feel."

"I understand the latter half of this, but the former, Mom, why would you look like a gold-digger? And how would Mr. Kim come off as high-handed?" Areum furrowed her brows in thought and her lips formed a frowny-pout, clearly trying to find an answer to her own question, which she couldn't come up with. 

'My precious baby,' Ms. Hwang thought. Her daughter was not one to immediately see the bad, if she ever did. She smiled a bit before continuing.

"I felt like you would go there feeling obliged to, not on your own if we asked, sweets. It would come across as high-handed. Introducing you all to each other so soon into the relationship would really be wrong. The gold-digger part is the obvious difference between our pay cheques. Another reason I don't really want our relationship to be public. Sang Yeob and I will have a lot of criticism, and as an aftermath, the eight of you too. Media and the public are not kind. " 

Areum hissed at the vision the explanation drew - camera flashes and invasive questions, comments on social media that judged the smallest movements they made - and wondered how Mr. Kim dealt with this shit daily.

Ms. Hwang took a breath before continuing, "Also if you had to go there unwillingly, without the boys' knowledge, I did not want you to have trouble with  them later at school or something. Back then I did not know them well and also was worried for your safety. Eight men in one room with you would have been too uncomfortable."

Ms. Hwang went quiet, visibly steeling her resolve in equal parts determination and concern for her daughter before saying, "Since we are on this topic already, Areum-ah, let me have you know this, the boys and Sang-Yeob have earned my trust well enough to let me let you alone with them and not worry every passing second, but your thoughts as a girl matter. In the future, if you feel even the tiniest bit of discomfort around them, any time," she was now holding both of Areum's hands in her's and was looking into her eyes with equal parts determination and desperation," you will tell me. " 

One of her hands cradled Areum's cheek, "My child, your safety and comfort matters to me more than anything else. I could never live with myself knowing my baby is uncomfortable or feels unsafe. Just-just please, tell me if something or someone bothers you, okay?"

"Yes, Eomma." Areum  nodded with Ms. Hwang's hand still holding her cheek. Ms. Hwang smiled at her before planting a kiss on her forehead and pulling her in for a tight hug, one that turned into an impromptu cuddle session. Not that any of them complained.

It was true, Ms. Hwang would put Areum before her always. None of this would ever have proceeded without her get-go. Hwang Min-ah loved her daughter more than anything and anyone else.  It was not any different for Kim Sang-Yeob who treasured his seven boys with the same fierceness  a dragon would to its hoard. Their love for their children was something that just added to their attraction to each other and threw them deeper into the rabbit-hole of adoration. 

.

That night before bed Areum thought back to dinner, where all of the boys introduced themselves to her and she did the same. Contradicotry to her initial worries regarding Bangtan, they were definitely better than her imagination. She couldn't help but feel endeared at how chaotic but somehow organized yet intimidating they were.

A few hours ago, after Seokjin and Yoongi's introductions

Hoseok spoke a few words more than the first two. "I'm Jung Hoseok, the third oldest, but same age as Namjoon and you. As you must know already, I study Software Engineering and am also the Class Representative of SE-II. "

He also donned the same professional but princely smile as Seokjin but his aura was like that of Yoongi's and his tone of voice akin to the bright lights that were hung overhead on pastel green ceiling of Singularity. Altogether, it combined to look sharp but in the good kind of way. His heart-shaped smile, although just as practiced a his oldest hyung's, looked genuine if not a bit amused. 

Areum knew Hoseok through his reputation as a member of Bangtan and a fellow class representative. Jung Hoseok was deemed to be one scary man behind all those charms. 

Namjoon spoke up next. Areum looked to her side where he was sitting only to find him sitting up straight and nod to himself like she had seen him do before important Student Council meetings. He looked at Areum then everyone and back at Areum.

"I'm Kim Namjoon," -wait this sounds familiar-" President of Student Council-OW!" 

The sudden shout made Areum, her mother and an unsuspecting Jimin who was about to reach for his glass of water flinch a bit. Both Namjoon and Jimin- in a rare display of synchronization that only comes upon living together for a while- directed a glare in the direction oppsite to Namjoon, where the culprit of the cruel calf-kicking looked at the victim with no apparent guilt.

"What, you're using the same line since first year SC speeches"- so that's why it was so familiar- "I would like a new intro, I'm sure Areum-ssi too." and smile-smirked at Areum in fake- innocence. "Right, Areum-ssi?"

"Uh-" 

Before the poor girl had to come up with an answer, she was spared by another "Ouch!" this time from Hoseok followed by his whispered profanities, where she was sure she heard a " long-ass-legs" somewhere in the mixture. 

Namjoon had scored his revenge and gone back to being the epitome of calm and authority, all while Mr. Kim and the rest of the boys watched with resignation, Ms. Hwang with fond amusement and a speechless Areum. This was her first time witnessing something so domestic in the boys known to be cold and rather unfriendly. Being allowed to see this felt illegal, as if she just saw something she was not allowed to. Namjoon straightened up again and as if nothing happened, restarted his part of the intro.

"My name is Namjoon, I'm studying law and am also the Student Council president. We're the same age; you, me and Hoseok. It's nice to meet you."

Ah, there it was, the pretty dimpled smile. Unlike the previous trio, Namjoon smiled genuinely, looking down at her beside him. Areum was by no means short for a girl, but the guy beside her was sure a hulking tower.

"Nice to meet you too, Namjoon-ssi." She immediately hit herself on her head internally after she replied. Wow, what an intelligent reply. Is this how you talk to the SC President?!  Areum blamed her lack of social interactions for that. 

Oh, he was offering his hand for a handshake. She fumbled a bit before reaching out her own. His hands were at least two times bigger than her own and felt warm with confidence and calloused against her cold-from-nervousness soft ones. If he felt her palms being sweaty, he did not mention it nor did he seem to mind.

Jimin decided it was his turn next. "Areum-ssi, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Jimin and am a senior in high school along with Taehyung here." The mentioned brunette sitting beside her mother caught her gaze and instantly Areum felt like he was looking right through her soul. She tried not to fidget around.  "We're only a year younger than you. Ms. Hwang talks about you a lot." 

Areum would have replied with a 'good things only, I hope' if she was any less shy. For now, all she could do was raise her eyebrows in surprise and glance at her mother who squeezed her hand under the table before Jimin spoke again gaining her attention. "Don't worry, good things only." 

Areum looked at him with a smile, "The pleasure is mine, Jimin-ssi", and took the full force of an adorable eye smile head on. She thinks her heart might've just burst into the biggest aw.

It was no secret that Jimin was beautiful. He treaded the hallways of the school with an air of sultry danger and confidence. He recieved tonnes of letters of admiration everyday from anyone and everyone, for the boy was just so. Letters only because no one had the courage to face him in real life, especially with the rest of Bangtan breathing down their necks. But now that she has seen the power of eye-smile, Areum would also add cute-squishy-cute to her mental description of Park Jimin. 

Next to speak was Kim Taehyung. The boy was reputed to be the most intimidating right after his mint-haired Hyung. Areum saw why. Just making eye-contact with him felt like every part of her soul was being examined carefully for any blemishes or unflattering details. She wanted to hide behind her mother but it wouldn't help her hide for he was sitting right beside the said woman. Hiding behing Namjoon would work because he could cosplay The Incredible Hulk and Areum was relatively hidable behind him but that would be awkward. Disappearing under the table was not possible now. As the rumors went, he was the human-barometer for Bangtan that is- he had a very good judgement of character. You'd have to pass his vibe check in the first meet. If you think he's judging you, he is. Not many cleared this first test. Mom did, her brain supplied. 

She had her nth almost-heart attack of the night when the Kim Taehyung blessed her with a smile.

So pretty, ohmysocute, look at those cheekies were her instant thoughts. If she thought of him as a tiger before, he was now a bear cub. "Hi Areum-ssi, how are you? I'm Kim Taehyung, the second youngest here. But I'm the same age as Jimin. He was right, Ms. Hwang does talk about you, but you're prettier in real life." 

Wow. 

Areum's brain would've processed the compliment earlier if it wasn't busy already wanting to give all of her worldly possessions to the cute guy here and at the same time trying to come up with an answer.

"O-oh, uh, hello and thank you, Taehyung-ssi, I'm fine, hope you are too." She could feel the tip of her ears and cheeks heat up in embarrassment. 

"Oh, you can be informal with me if you want Areum-ssi." Areum went speechless for the nth time today but felt so fond and could feel her features soften immensely at the endearing approach. Apparently her mother had the same thoughts and pulled at Taehyung's cheeks with an "Oh you sweet boy."

Same Mom same. 

He smiled wider when Areum said "If you're okay with it, Taehyung-ah. You can call me informally too," before adding quickly "only if you want to, of course." 

Taehyung smiled wider making a somewhat of a box of his mouth. Shit. Areum would now give him anything if he asked for it. Just look at the adorable boy.

"Sure Noona!"

"I'll do that too, if it's okay," Jimin chimed in.The immediate effect made Areum turn redder. She nodded at Jimin, who looked happy at the permission. 

Mr. Kim nudged at both his sons' feets and gave them a proud-dad look. His boys were the sweetest and no one could convince him otherwise. Except maybe the guests back at the farmhouse. Or the guests they escorted to the netherworld. 

Jimin squeezed his soulmate's hand softly under the table, a gesture in solidarity- while his other hand squeezed Jungkook's- this time in comfort. It was his turn to speak at last.

Whatever was left of Areum's heart after the seniors of high school attacked it with cuteness twisted in sympathy over how the last boy shifted in his seat at the sudden mass attention. He then looked at her, almost shy, and mumbled out, "I'm Jungkook, the maknae. I-it's nice to meet you Areum-ssi. And uh, I'm also a senior at high school." before going all red and ducking his head as if to hide from all the stares directed at the poor boy. 

Areum could relate to him and felt her own confidence rise up, instincts screaming to comfort the little guy (he actually looked like a wall in front of her, but let's understand her feelings as an older person to the maknae) and said mustering more confidence than she could the entire evening, "Hi Jungkook-ssi. It's nice to meet you too. You look very cute in this suit." and proceeded to go just as red as the maknae. 

Both sat in pure silence for an entire duration of 6 legal seconds before looking at each other and smiling shyly, both still red as the others present looked on in amusement. 

"Okay," Mr. Kim decided to continue seeing as to no one spoke again. "Areum-ah, go ahead, please." he told her gently. The fondness in his voice garnered amazement from the boys. He did speak of her with the feeling, but watching it in reality amazed them just so much.

"I'm Hwang Areum, sophmore in Architecture and am also the class representative of AR-II. It's nice to meet you." She was rewarded with a chorus of nods, and 'nice to meet you too's which she could swear she heard a two 'Noona's and one Areum-ssi (and Jungkook was among the four nodders) before Ms.Hwang called in the waiter to order food.

. 

Now, laying on her bed the only thought occupying her head before she gave in to the temptation of sleep was This will work out just fine.

Hello hello.

Wow, this one's a monster compared to my previous chapters with a whopping (3.6k) words we're on a roll!

How was it? The introduction part is finally done.

Did you watch the members' lives? 

Stream the music ARMY!

(3648 words)

(✿)