When Nari woke up she was covered in sweat and her heartbeat echoed all throughout her body. She could feel nausea overpowering her senses once again, making her mind spin. Tears ran down her face without her even noticing it.

She felt her dinner rise up into her throat as she threw open the door to her bedroom, barely making it to the bathroom across the hall. Nari took a shaky breath. She missed Namjoon's gentle hand on her shoulder. She missed Taehyung's warm hugs that never ceased to calm her anxious mind. She missed Suga's soft voice that lulled her to sleep. And more than anything, she missed their presence by her side.

"Nari, are you okay?"

The girl turned around to see Hyo standing in the doorway of the bathroom. Her face flushed and she hastily stood up from in front of the toilet, "I-I'm fine."

"You cry in your sleep," The woman said softly, "I've been hearing you for weeks. Come downstairs and we can talk, okay?"

Nari nodded and followed her mother to the living room where she sat in silence on the beaten up couch. She pulled her knees up to her chest, gently resting her chin on top of her thin arms. Hyo sat beside the girl and handed her a cup of warm milk.

"Angel milk," She explained, "Warm milk, sugar, and a little vanilla. It always makes me feel better."

The girl took a sip from the mug, "Thank you, Hyo." Nari's voice softened, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, anything."

"Do you know what happened to me?"

Hyo paused, her cup halfway to her lips, "What do you mean?"

"There's a part of my life that I can't remember," Nari said slowly, "I want to remember it and I try so hard, but it only comes in my dreams and when it does it's so scary." She placed her head inbetween her knees once again, "It's so terrifying and awful and I hate it so much...but I can't seem to stop wondering what happened."

"I get it," Hyo nodded, "But Yon-sorry, Nari-I don't know what happened either. You were taken from me when you were so young, and I was on so many awful things. If I'm being completely honest, I struggle with that too every day of my life." The woman placed her mug on the coffee table in front of them, "I'm really sorry. I don't have the answers that you're looking for."

The girl sat quietly as she tried to untangle the web of emotions in her mind. No one knew what happened to her, not even her own mother. She'll never know. No one will ever know. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she nodded and tried to focus on the heat emanating from the cup in her numb hands.

"I know that it's hard to accept," The woman continued quietly, "and trust me when I say that. But you can't let the past consume you. If you're going to live, you need to find a way to move on. You need to find a purpose."

Nari raised her head from her knees, "What did you do? How did you move on?"

"Well, I focused on other people," Hyo thoughtfully replied, "I didn't want other people to go through what I did, so I traveled all over the world to speak out against human trafficking." Her voice softened, "And I kept looking for you. I wanted to find you."

"Really? You were looking for me for that long?"

Hyo nodded, "Of course I did. You're my daughter, after all. I looked for you from the second I got out of there and I never ever stopped." A small smile stretched across her face, "And through looking for you, I met Kyong."

"Did he help you?"

"I really hate to say this," She sighed, "But he did save me. I never thought that I would be able to be loved. Kyong helped me get through the darkest parts of my life and I will always be grateful to him."

Nari picked up her cup and took a sip of the now lukewarm liquid. "I guess you found your Namjoon." She said softly.

"Yeah," Hyo chuckled, "My Namjoon, huh?" She looked the girl in the eye, "Nari, you're not happy here, are you?"

"Not really," Nari mumbled, "I'm sorry, Hyo."

The woman leaned back on the couch, "It's okay. I know that sometimes found family is more important."

"No, it's not that you aren't important to me," She shook her head, "I just....don't like it here. I can't even go to school without everyone treating me like I'm just an extension of the people I love. I feel like I can't just be normal anymore."

"That must be hard."

Nari nodded, "It is."

"Well," Hyo said after a moment of silence, "If you aren't happy, I shouldn't make a case to keep you here."

"But I feel bad," The girl protested, "You spent all this time looking for me and I feel like I should give you more-"

"You don't need to worry about that," She interrupted, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder, "I will be happy as long as you are too. You should be with the people that can give that happiness, the people that make you feel safe and loved. It's okay if that isn't me."

Nari bit her lip, trying to stop the tears from overflowing down her rosy cheeks, "I'm sorry," She whispered, "You deserve more."

"This isn't about what I deserve," Hyo said softly, "It's about what makes you happy. I'm not going to force you to stay here when I know that you could be with the people who truly make you feel loved." She gently wrapped the girl in a hug, "You have your Namjoon, the person who is precious to you. Hold on to him and the rest of the boys. I can tell just by the way they talk about you, that they love you more than anything. They are your family and I won't keep you from them."

The girl nodded and allowed the tears to fall, leaving wet stains across her tired face. She leaned into the woman's hug and noticed something different. The spark. The spark that connected her to Namjoon, to Suga, to J-Hope and Taehyung and the rest of the boys: It was there. It was finally there.

"Hyo?"

"Yes?"

"Can I still visit?"

"Of course you can visit," The woman answered with a chuckle and gently kissed the top of her head, "Just because we aren't living together doesn't mean that we can't talk. We can text or call and even meet up anytime you want."

Nari breathed a sigh of relief, "Good. I still want you to be in my life, you know?" She pulled away, "And when the baby comes I want to be there. I've never had a younger sibling before, so I want to help too!"

"I promise that you'll be the first family member that'll see it," Hyo laughed, "I'll call Namjoon the second that the baby is born and you can come to the hospital as soon as the doctor says it's okay. I know that you'll be the best big sister that you can."

"Thank you," She replied, "So, do you know whether it's going to be a boy or girl yet?"

"Yup."

"Well, which one is it?" Nari asked excitedly, "Am I going to have a little brother or a little sister?"

Hyo smiled playfully, "That's a surprise."

"What?! You can't do that!"

"I can too," The woman teased, "You'll know in about 6 months."

Nari pouted, "That's not fair."

"Tough luck, kid." Hyo replied without skipping a beat, "I'm just as stubborn as you are, you know. Don't even try arguing. You're never gonna win, and I can promise you that."

"Fine." The girl sighed and accepted her defeat. It wasn't often that she met someone who could rival her own strong-willed attitude. Well, Suga could, but never towards her. She was his weakness and Nari knew it. "Oh, and Hyo? Thank you for putting together my birthday party."

"You're welcome," She said, "Did you have fun?"

Nari nodded, "Lots of fun. I'm sorry that I didn't get to spend much time with you guys though. I'll make it up to you, I swear."

"You don't have to make anything up," Hyo shook her head, "Like I said, if you're happy then I'm happy. You had fun with your boys and that's all that matters." She laughed, "That librarian though, what was her name? Chelsea, I think? She said she's going to miss you when you leave. You should try to keep in touch."

"We will," The girl answered nonchalantly, "I'm pretty sure that Namjoon got her phone number."

"He did?"

"Uh huh. They talked for a while too."

Hyo couldn't help but smile. Maybe Nari and Namjoon would back to visit soon after all. "Alright now, we should get to bed," The older woman stood up and stretched, "This was a good talk. Come to me if you have any more trouble, okay?"

Nari nodded, "I will. Thank you, Hyo."

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and this is the first chapter without any of the boys! i hope that it wasn't too boring for you guys. the hyo and kyong arc is pretty much over now! i know that yall are here for the boys lmao, but i hope that these past few chapters that focused more on nari were entertaining as well.