The living room was tense as Jimin's voice boomed, "You have a boyfriend?" His body language was rigid, his eyes ablaze with intensity, as he forcefully struck his palm against the coffee table, the sound echoing through the room.

“Had.” Abigail corrected her brother.

“And that fucking asshole cheated on you?” The handsome man with his golden locks was consumed with fury. His little sister had appeared in the doorway moments ago, and all hell had broken loose. She was crying, an unusual sight, especially in front of others. Jimin could count on one hand the number of times he had seen her cry since childhood. When she was younger, she used to cry a lot, but that was understandable given what she had gone through at such a tender age.
“I hope you punched his face or, even better, his balls!”

The irritation was written all over Abigail's face. She blinked at her brother a few times until she opened her mouth. “I'm not a violent person, Chim.”

Abigail was uncomfortable as she sat in a room with three pairs of dark eyes staring at her. Jungkook, seated on the right next to her, let out a frustrated huff and slammed his back against the armchair. Taehyung, on the other hand, remained silent, but his unwavering gaze never left the girl before him.

Jimin, Abigail's brother, paced up and down the room with a deep frown, clearly agitated by the situation. "Gail, that was a situation to get violent. He deserved it. Fuck, you flew more than eight hours to see him!” He sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his blond locks, the same color as their mother's and older sister's.

The sound of Taehyung's deep voice made her shift in her seat. She could feel the intensity of his presence as he watched her. "Why are you here, Galileo? Summer break hasn't even started yet!" he exclaimed with a boldness that caught her off guard. Despite her stoic nature, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance at his audacity. She wondered how he managed to be so carefree and unapologetic all the time. And the nickname he gave her made all the hair on her body stand right up.

The men's eyes fixed on her, waiting expectantly for a response. Abigail took a moment to compose herself, closing her eyes for a brief second and taking a deep breath. Then, in a calm and confident tone, she revealed, "I had intended to tell him that I received an acceptance letter from Harvard College.”

Everyone in the room was still for one- two- three- heartbeats when suddenly, Jimin and Jungkook let out a loud whoop of excitement, their faces breaking into huge grins. They jumped up and embraced each other tightly, their excitement barely contained. After a few moments, Jimin turned to his sister and swept her up in a tight embrace, twirling her around like a fluffy ball. “I knew you would make it!”

However, when he put her back down on the ground, she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. Jungkook, seeing his chance, stepped forward eagerly to do the same, but she quickly held up her hand, stopping him in his tracks. "Don't touch me," she said firmly, "I hate physical contact!”

More laughter filled the room. “Gods, how did you get a boyfriend when you don't like to be touched?” Jungkook patted her head gently instead and brushed his mouth teasingly against her ear, “You haven't changed a bit, Abs.”

Her elbow met his ribs, and Jungkook huffed a joyous giggle. Abigail's gaze went to the man sitting on the armchair, his hands in his pockets and the goddamn piercings stained through his black shirt, doing nothing to hide the sinful jewelry. She was happy he and Jungkook put on a sweater after all. Taehyung was always the quiet one in the trio; he was the cranky bad boy, the opposite of Jungkook's quirky and loud persona, but they were equally famous with the girls, well, even with the boys.

They never showed interest in boys, though. Maybe they hid it from curious eyes. All Abigail could remember was that she had seen them, including her flirty brother, with girls all the time. Their school was in the same building as hers, so she heard many rumors about the trio’s achievements and skills. Her stomach turned at the thought of it. She shook her head to get rid of the imagination and studied her brother's apartment.

Dirty dishes, clothes, and trash were tossed around the place. Her toes curled up in disgust at the sight of their kitchen counter. Jimin was never the cleanest person, so weren't his friends. She even caught a glimpse of red lace underwear on the kitchen counter. “Eew, is that a slip?” The guys followed her gaze and landed on the counter. A grin decorated their faces in amusement.

Jungkook walked toward the tiny red material and hooked it with his fingers. Abigail’s lips creased in disgust at seeing the material hanging on his tattooed fingers. “This is a thong, Abs, not a slip!”

“It is what it is. Something to wear underneath and not to decorate your counter where you eat.” She inhaled sharply as she went on. "That's gross!”

“Well, I think someone had a fabulous meal on top of this_”

“Gross, gross, gross!” Abigail interrupted Jungkook from talking and covered her ears with her palms. Jungkook, however, laughed wholeheartedly, took a deep sniff of the red lace cloth, and put it in one of his pockets. “Chim, can I stay the night?” Abigail asked as she was already headed toward his room. Jimin nodded immediately, and that was all she needed before she entered his room and closed the door with a light thud.

The room was silent for a moment as the three men adjusted to the information Abigail had dropped on them. “You think she's okay?” Jungkook asked carefully after gulping a glass of water down his throat.

Jimin shook his head and folded his arms before his buffed chest as he answered, “I don't think so. She may look fine on the outside, but she's a master at hiding her feelings.” He was Abigail’s confidant, someone she always went to when she needed to talk. She emptied her heart to him, especially during the most challenging time.

She was still a kid back then, but she couldn't talk to their parents. They were so busy searching for a solution, someone who could help her, that they forgot to stay with her when the medication hit her, and she hurled her guts out. Or when she wanted to get rid of her hair because they were falling out, she couldn't stand to wake up every morning seeing she lost more of her dirt-blond hair. Jimin was the one who took her to the nearest hairdresser and held her hands when tears streamed out of her beautiful amber-colored eyes.

Abigail loved her lengthy hair, although she had always complained about the color. She wanted them to be as golden and shiny as their mothers. Hers were not blond yet not brown either; it was somewhere between.

Jimin saw the slow change in her eyes. He saw how, with every session, the light in her vanished. Abigail was a quirky kid, always had a bright smile on her face, and her sass would be dangerous if she had kept that fire till now. At some point, she locked herself completely. She stopped shedding tears because she knew it saddened their parents when she was hurt. So, she pretended she wasn't in pain and decided to stay quiet when she struggled through a thunderous hell of pain. She was only eight years old then.

“Bro, you okay?” Jungkook questioned when he noticed Jimin’s face was losing color. The man played the ring in his bottom lip with his tongue and plunged onto the couch beside his blond friend. They shared glimpses of encouragement.

Taehyung played with the tiny ring on the chain around his neck and hummed. “Give her time, mate, she will be okay.” Jimin nodded at his friend's remark, and before he could lose himself again, his bedroom door opened. Approaching steps were audible when Abigail stood in the middle of their kitchen, rubber gloves on, a towel on her shoulder, and brushes of all kinds in both of her hands.

Without an announcement, she threw all the empty boxes and bottles into separate bags.
“Wow, she is separating the trash?” Jungkook clasped his chest dramatically as he watched the girl work inch by inch through the chaos.

“As we all should!” Taehyung added and got a weird look from Jungkook as if saying really, we never did. Taehyung stood up, collected the clothes on the floor, and turned on the music through the speakers. Somehow, he waited for a reaction or a scolding, but Abigail didn't. That was when he noticed her earbuds. He smiled and muttered, “I'm curious if she's listening to science now.”

Jimin was about to grab his things for the shower but answered his curious friend, “Nope, I think she's listening to an audiobook. She loves that shit—fantasy stuff about demons, angels, wolves, and fae. I tried to listen to it, but that was nothing for me.” he sang the last words as he locked himself in the bathroom.

Jungkook and Taehyung helped Abigail clean up the mess they had left for a week. Neither of them liked it, and it always ended in chaos till one decided to start the cleaning. The guys were humming to the blasting music, entirely consumed by the melody and beat. Jungkook took all the trash bags and exited the apartment to throw them out.

Their apartment was finally clean and smelled of citrus and mint. It had never smelled like that when they cleaned. Just as Taehyung wanted to grab a drink from the fridge, he noticed that Abigail wore Jimin’s shirt and sweatpants. A grin creased on his lips. The girl was swimming in her brother’s clothes.

“Didn't you bring a little suitcase?” Taehyung teased behind her; his voice was low with a hint of amusement. Abigail put one of her earbuds out and turned to look at him, confused. "You're wearing Jimin's clothes; it's too big on you. Don't you have your own clothes?”

Abigail blinked a few times, considering what to say, but she bluntly said, “Those clothes would be inappropriate to wear in front of my brother and his guy friends, I suppose!” She held his gaze behind her glasses a little longer than he was used to. Taehyung wondered how she could stay so still without showing a fling of emotions—a straightforward, striking face.

The man’s nostrils flare, trying hard not to react to her statement. His mind went to places where it shouldn't go. Pictures of his best friend’s little sister in sexy lingerie were undoubtedly forbidden. He wished he could've pulled on her hair tie, to see her wild hair down. Taehyung remembered she had big waves. He once saw her in the middle of the night, in the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water—she didn't notice him then; it was dark, and he was hiding with Jimin and Jungkook as they sneaked some girls in the basement.

Their hormones then were crazy and at their peak. As teenagers, they had the worst ideas, and often, to Abigail’s dismay. No wonder she had ignored them whenever Jungkook and Taehyung stayed for the weekends in Jimin’s basement.

A buzzing sound interrupted the silence. Taehyung watched Abigail pick up her phone. She was reading a message but tossed her phone back to the counter right after. She plugged her earbuds back in and pushed the play button. The message was still visible, and Taehyung couldn't help but read it. It was from her ex-boyfriend, Rhys.

‘Hey, darling, I'm exhausted. I have been working on a presentation till now. What are you doing? Missing me? I wish I could hold you.’ *heart emoji*

Taehyung scoffed at the message; something inside him was raging. Rhys didn't deserve Abigail— he thought to himself. Holding her? What the heck? He was holding a woman, straddling his lap while his girlfriend watched. For fucks sake. Taehyung picked up the phone, shifted closer to Abigail, took a picture, and typed a message.

‘Not your darling anymore. Caught you cheating, you prick!'

The phone buzzed immediately; a new message chimed in, and Jungkook entered the apartment while Jimin exited the bathroom. Taehyung watched Abigail read the messages with anticipation and smiled when he got the reaction he aimed for.

“What have you done?” She turned to the man standing behind her, his smirking face on full display. Her eyes were wide, and her brows furrowed in anger.

“Helping you!” Taehyung replied.

“Helping me?” Abigail’s voice was louder than usual. Jimin and Jungkook shared a confused look before glaring at their friend as she continued. “You made things worse. Now he thinks I am cheating!”

“Gail, what happened?” Her brother asked and approached the two fighting humans, as in his sister and his best friend.

Abigail held her phone to Jimin’s sight, “This happened!” Her brother's and Jungkook's eyes opened wide, amusement creasing up on their lips as they looked at a photo of Taehyung placing a kiss on top of Abigail’s hair. But what cracked them up in laughter was the message under the picture;
‘MINE!!!’ *middle finger emoji*