The snow continued to fall heavy that day, Nia looking over at her watch as she stood near the doorway, her hands rubbing against one another. Even in their small apartment, Nia still felt the cold of the winter air rushing in from underneath the door.

December.

It was finally here, it's cold days and relentless wind unforgiving of everyone who was to get caught in it.

"I'm really going to be late if we don't hurry,  May what's taking you so long-"

Nia had been waiting for half an hour for her friend to finish getting ready, a low sigh leaving her out while she went back to drag May out of her room.

Nia's eyes fell on the curled-up body of her friend, her hands clutching a pillow between her chest and her knees. She was crying, her tears dropping fast onto the top of her hands, May using her palms to rub the tears away.

"What happened May?"

"I just- Namjoon came out in a commercial with another girl. He's cheating on me Nia look at his sly grin, I can't believe he'd do this to me," her friend cried, Nia immediately running to her side.

"It's ok it's ok. I'm sure he wouldn't dare date. He knows better than to date when he has us, his loyal fans, waiting for him, it's okay May, let's just go and have a good day. Forget about it, it's probably fake, for the advertisement, " Nia reassured her, pulling her friend off the bed and towards the doorway.

"Fine. But I swear I'm going to petition for BTS to stop doing advertisements with women. You'll see, we'll have them away from those foxy women soon enough, Jin too!" May yelled, her tears once again tumbling down her cheeks.

Nia rolled her eyes, pulling her friend along with her and out the door

She didn't remember when her respect for BTS had become an obsession, when had Nia's obsession become like one with her friend. It wasn't always that way, but there was no turning back now.

Nia remembered well the first time she had met May, the only person who shared the same interest as her for the seven young men. But slowly, May's love had turned into an addiction, an infatuation with men she would never obtain, Nia simply supporting her and occasionally indulging in the same fangirling moments.

"Let's go have some coffee May, I have a day off anyway. How about brunch at that shop Namjoon is known to go to?"

~

Namjoon sat quietly with his bandmates, all of them eating food together.

The snow, it continued to fall all throughout the day, the sound of sizzling meat and the smell of freshly charged veggies making all of the men's stomachs grumble.

"Tell me Joonie, you planning on going with your family this year right?" Jin, the eldest member of his group asked, handing Namjoon some salt to add to the meat he had taken off the grill.

They had all agreed on eating meat together before they all started setting up for their flights home in a couple of days. The youngest members had gone to get the meat while Namjoon had arrived a couple of minutes late with a cake in hand.

Jin placed the meet down on a patio table, the youngest members running around behind them while Hoseok and Yoongi set plates down on the table.

"I do. I just haven't set the flight yet. Been a bit busy," he confessed, taking a piece of meat to his mouth in hopes of keeping the questions of what had him busy from being asked.

"Busy? You? Shouldn't you be resting hyung?" The youngest member Jungkook asked, concerned as to why their leader was doing things instead of enjoying his time off, Jin pushing them all to sit on the patio chairs.

"Although I would love to rest, my body doesn't feel at ease when doing nothing. I like actively doing things. Keeps my mind from becoming neglectful."

"Ah, I see. What has had you busy? Is it in public? Are you planning on doing a Christmas soundtrack? Any new mixtapes?" Jimin interrogated as he gave Jungkook a soju bottle to open.

Namjon simply sighed to himself, Jungkook pouring wine to the cups of all the members.

"I heard from Mark you were doing some charity work at a nearby mall. Mind telling us what kind of charity?" Hoseok inquired, Namjoon's eyes widening.

All the members turned to look at Namjoon, their faces having the word worried written all over it.

"That son of a-" he whispered to himself.

"It's nothing major. I want to keep it on the down-low since I've found a way to keep myself from getting trampled by fans, " he urged, Yoongi scoffing at his mention of the word fans.

"Fans? Fans don't trample. Fans have our health and safety in mind, like those girls from the airport," Yoongi complained angrily.

"They run us over with no care in the world, invade our hotel rooms, hack our computers like they did last time with Jungkook's old PC, climb fenced off areas at concerns, heck, have you guys all forgotten the time one of them threw bras at Jin? Disgusting. That's what that is. Disgusting."

"Hyung, don't say that," Jimin begged, grabbing Yoongi's arm and pleading for him to say no more.

"No Jimin, Yoongi has a point. It's just getting worse since we became even more well-known. Nowhere is safe. The apartments we live in, the hotel rooms we've been at, the agency's practice rooms, the airport, our parent's homes, heck even the fucking toilet.  Might as well move to fucking Antarctica and find refuge in solitude there-"

"That's enough Taehyung. Let's just eat. We shouldn't discuss negative thoughts before eating, it disrupts your digestion. On that note, why don't we praise the well-behaved, wholehearted support we get from Army? We've finally been nominated for a Grammy and have a high chance of getting it. Things like these are what we must appreciate and never ever forget," Jin reminded them.

"I agree with you Jin if we keep picking apart the negative actions we'll get nowhere. We should always remember that without our fans we wouldn't be where we are now," Hoseok added on, placing some meat in each of the member's plates.

"I would love to keep myself as optimistic as you hyung, but Taehyung is right on this one. We can't just keep ignoring it. Worst case scenario one of us gets badly injured and then what? Will we keep downplaying the risk factors just to appease our actual fans? Will we get ourselves hurt while staying silent and not addressing the issue or attempting to rectify the problems at hand?" Jungkook argued.

They kept going on and on, Namjoon eating quietly while looking over at Jin, whose face had gone pale.

He was annoyed, and Namjoon could tell, Jin finally slamming his fist on the table to get everyone's attention.

"Yaaaaaah!!! Would you guys fucking knock it off? It's been a while since we shared a meal together, would you guys act like civilized people and keep the conversation positive. Besides, I'm just happy Namjoon seems like he's been enjoying his time at the charity, right Joonie?" Jin shouted.

Namjoon had been caught off guard, nodding frantically at Jin's words while continuing to eat.

He didn't want to talk about it, much less let them know that not only was the clarity not very public service, but also that it was  one that had him working with a fan who appeared to be both the same fan who had saved them at the airport and the same type of "fan" they worried about

"What kind of work is it?" Hoseok asked.

"Just some charity nonsense you guys don't need to worry about. Besides, why don't we talk about what we have planned with our families? Jungkook? Any plans on finally talking your grandparents into renovating their old cottage of theirs?" Namjoon chuckled nervously, deviating the conversation once more.

"Yeah, my grandmother is too old to do it on her own so I plan to get some of my cousins and uncles to help out. My dad and I will be using this time to bond. I miss the old man. Been so long since I last got to talk to my dad and eat my mother's home-cooked meals. I can't believe I've come to almost forget how my mother laughs. Sounds stupid, but I really wish I could remember," he said, his words hitting every member in their hearts.

He'd been far from his family for so long that he had forgotten something so simple. He longed to return, just like the rest of them. They loved one another so much but came to realize how much they had sacrificed in exchange for their dream.

"Do you regret it?" Yoongi mumbled to Namjoon.

Jin had begun to get the cake for them, the younger members following close behind to help. Jimin continued to ruffle Jungkook's hair, teasing him about his new tattoo and how his mother would probably faint at the sight of it.

Namjoon smiled sadly to himself, his eyes lingering in each of his members.

The three youngest were making Jin mad, fighting to get the biggest slice while Hoseok grabbed plates to take to the patio.

"No. I regret nothing. I now have two families. One through blood, and one through our hard work. I wouldn't change that for the world."

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🐨 Since this is supposed to be a short story, I decided to write one chapter tonight. I have no idea when the next time I update will be so I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for your love and support, the votes and comments, and all the sharing you do of my work.

This means so very much to me.

I am trying to finish at least two books before winter, so please wish me good luck in doing so!!

Mama KoalaBeaw
~♔~