"Jungkook?" Nari popped her head in the doorway to his room, "Can I talk to you about something?" She held back a laugh as she saw the foil on his head, "Oh, are you busy?"

The boy looked up from his phone and waved cheerfully, "No, it's okay! I can't leave this bleach in for more than 20 minutes but we can make it work." He scooted over on the top bunk and patted the space beside him, "What's up, little Nari?"

"We might not be as close as the others, but I know that out of everyone you'll tell me the truth." Nari climbed the sturdy ladder and sat cross legged on the bed beside him, "Jungkook, do you think I should live with Hyo and Kyong while you guys are on tour?"

Jungkook stared at her blankly, "Uh, is everything ok?"

"It's all good." The girl nodded, "I just want your opinion. What can you tell me about the tour?"

"Well, I know that management wants it to be a couple months long," Jungkook said, "There's going to be a lot of press events like photoshoots, interviews, and fan meetups. It's going to be super busy."

Nari's gaze fell to the floor, "And if I went with you guys, would I be annoying?"

"You're never annoying!" Jungkook declared and paused for a second, "But it would make things a bit more difficult in some ways, I guess."

"I see." She replied, "It would be easier for me to live with my mom while you guys were on tour."

The boy put his arm around her supportively, "Technically, yes, but we'll miss you. Especially Namjoon. But wait, don't you want to spend more time with your mom?"

"I don't know," Nari admitted, "When I met her I didn't feel like I thought I would. I thought that she would feel like you guys, you know? But it was different. I didn't feel anything."

"Well, remember back when we first adopted you. It took a while for you to warm up to us," Jungkook suggested, "It'll probably be the same way with her." He smiled and poked her cheek playfully, "But you got a pretty good family out of us, huh?"

Nari giggled and embraced him, "The best family. Also, what color are you going to dye your hair?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure yet. What's your favorite color?"

"Purple."

Jungkook lightly kissed her head, "Purple it is! And hey, if you live with Hyo and Kyong you'll be able to go to school again."

"That's true." She agreed, "I miss going to school."

"I will never understand that," The boy shook his head, "The only classes I liked in school were gym and music. Then again, I'm not as smart as you." He let out a small gasp, "Oh wait, your birthday is in a few weeks! November 9th, right?"

Nari nodded, "November 9th."

"So. What do you want?"

"No, no, I don't need anything," The girl vigorously shook her head, "It's okay. I'm happy with what I have." She exhaled deeply and pulled away, looking into his deep brown eyes, "I just want you guys to be here with me. That's all."

Jungkook smiled, "I can't guarantee anything because of tour, but I know that we'll try our best to be there for you."

Nari reached for his hand and noticed something that wasn't there before. She ran her fingertips over the dark symbols, "Whoa, when did you get these? I never realized you had tattoos."

"We really need to hang out more," The boy laughed, "I got the first one a couple weeks after we adopted you, actually, and I've been adding to them for the past few months. Management doesn't like them though, so I usually wear long sleeves or put patches on my hands to cover them. They even edit them out in most photoshoots. "

"I think they're really cool!" Nari exclaimed and squinted as she read the letters on his knuckles, "A-R-M-Y. Army. That's what you call your fans, right?"

Jungkook chuckled, "Yeah! That's our army. I also have the BTS symbol on one side of my hand and a heart on the other."

"I love them," Nari replied enthusiastically, "Do you have any others?"

"Just a couple more for now," The boy rolled up his sleeve, "I have a skeleton hand and lyrics from a band called Nirvana. Plus a tigerlily and stripes from the South Korean flag." He let out a sigh of relief, "I'm so glad you like them. It's been a while since I've talked to someone who's as excited about tattoos as I am." The boy ruffled her hair with his free hand, "I'll take you to get some when you're older, okay? Just don't tell Namjoon, he might get a little mad."

Nari nodded, "Thank you, Jungkook. I'll have to decide what I want first though. I think that a flower would be pretty, maybe a lily like my name."

"That sounds beautiful," Jungkook smiled widely, "But don't worry about that yet, little Nari. You've still got lots of growing up to do." He sighed nostalgically, "I sometimes wish that I could have taken the time to do that like everyone else. I got recruited by BigHit when I was 13, a little older than you, so I had to grow up pretty fast while in the industry."

"Was it hard?"

"In some ways, yes," He admitted, "I never really got to experience childhood like everyone else, you know? I even started high school late because of all the work that I put into BTS. I didn't have a lot of friends my age due to that either, and I was pretty shy," Jungkook paused, "But I guess we're alike in that way, little Nari. You didn't have a normal childhood either. We both had to grow up a little too fast."

Nari nodded, "Yeah, you're right." She matched his dark eyes, "Jungkook, if you could go back in time, would you do it differently? Would you rather have a normal childhood like everyone else?"

"That's a good question," Jungkook replied after a minute of silence, "But no, I wouldn't take it all back. I'm here today with you and BTS because of that childhood. Some of it did kinda suck, but look at everything I have now," He placed a kiss on the top of her head, "I get to dance and make music for a living, I have six brothers that I love very much, millions of people that I help with my art, a nice house, money for my family, and you of course. You're my little sister and I finally get to be a big brother."

The boy's voice softened, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that this will all make sense in time, you know? I've never been through the horrible things that you have," He shuddered at the thought, "but I believe that everything happens for a reason. You'll find your reason someday, little Nari, and all of the bad stuff will feel like another notch on your bedpost; just a stepping stone to the person you've become."

"Thank you, Kookie." Nari said and nodded securely and started to make her way down the ladder, "I'm gonna go pack for Hyo and Kyong's house. "I feel a lot better now. I love you!"

"I love you too!" Jungkook called as the girl eagerly headed out the door, "I'll practice drawing flowers until you turn 18!"

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A few days later, Nari yawned as she slouched against the side of her bed. Packing was exhausting, she had no idea how the boys did it so quickly. Maybe her procrastination made it feel longer than it was, but still! The girl sighed and pulled another suitcase out of her closet. She already had a bag for clothes and a bag for school stuff, but she felt like it wasn't enough.

I need something else, She thought, Something to make me feel at home even though the boys are far away.

The girl picked up a few books from her nightstand and placed them in the bottom of the suitcase. She promised Suga that she wouldn't read any more of The Catcher In The Rye without him, which was a little disappointing, but there were plenty of other unread stories on her shelf. Nari put the thick book of fairy tales in as well. Out of all the items in her room, it was one of the most important.

She moved to her bed next and gathered up an oversized sweatshirt and fleece blanket with Super Mario characters on it; both stolen from Jin. Nari smiled and rummaged around in the drawers of her nightstand and pulled out a small journal. Namjoon had once said to her that he kept a diary, she supposed that maybe while they were apart it would help her to keep one too.

Most of the journal was blank, but there were some short poems written on a few pages. Inspired by Namjoon and Suga and the many, many, notebooks that filled their shelves, Nari tried to write as often as she could. Poems made her the happiest. There are no rules in poetry and she really liked that. A poem can be interpreted differently by every person that reads it. Those ideas of individuality reminded her of all the little beautiful things in the world. They're overlooked by some, but to others they shone brighter than any star.

"Nari! Are you almost done?" Jin called from in the hallway, "We have to leave in 10 minutes, you know."

The girl opened the door, "Really? That soon?"

"Yeah, kiddo," Jin stepped into the room, "Hey, is that my Mario blanket? And my hoodie?"

"Maybe," Nari admitted bashfully, "Do you want them back?"

Jin shook his head and smiled, "Nah, you can keep them. I don't mind. Actually, I came here to give you something." He handed the girl a small polaroid photo, "This is one of my favorites. If you get lonely just look at it, okay?"

Nari took the photo gently. One of Jin's favorite pastimes is collecting polaroids and he almost never shared them. It might not seem like a lot, but just the action of him giving one away meant more than most people realized. This photo was especially important: It was one of all of them together.

"Thank you, Jin," The girl said softly, "I'll protect this with my life."

He laughed, "You don't have to go that far, kiddo. I'm okay with just your love." Jin picked up the two full suitcases, "I'll take these downstairs for you. Hurry up and pack so you can say goodbye, okay?"

"It's okay, I'm pretty much all done anyway." Nari put her items in the last bag and followed Jin downstairs where she was greeted by six loud boys.

"Nari Nari Nari Nariiiiiiii," J-Hope drawled out the last syllable of her name as he hugged the girl tightly, "I'm gonna miss you, Nari-bun."

"I'll miss you too, Hobi." Nari kissed his cheek, "You promise that Sonia is going to be taken care of?"

J-Hope nodded, "Of course. My sister is going to look after her. She loves her already."

"Don't hog the affection, it's my turn!" Jimin smoothly picked the girl up and spun her around, "I'm gonna text you every day." He promised, "When we first debuted I used to text my mom a picture of the sky and she would send one back. It was our way of shortening the distance, you know?"

Nari smiled as he put her down, "Please send me pictures of the sky. I'll send you one too."

"Anything for you, sweetheart," The boy smiled and ruffled her hair, "I'll get little souvenirs from everywhere we stop too so when we come back it'll be like you didn't miss a thing."

"Nari, what do you want for your birthday?" Taehyung popped up behind them.

"I don't want anything," The girl repeated and hugged him lovingly, "I just want you guys to be here with me."

Taehyung kissed the top of her head, "We'll try our best, princess. But even if we don't end up being there, we love you very very much." He let go and gently pushed her towards the quiet wavy haired boy next to him, "Now go say bye to Suga. He's gonna miss you the most."

"We both know Namjoon will miss you more," Suga argued playfully as he gently accepted the girl into his arms, "I love you, Nari. I gave you the list of all of our bookings and shows, right?"

"Uh huh."

He let out a deep breath and squeezed her a little tighter before letting go, "Good. You'll be able to watch us anytime so you won't be lonely. I care about you so much, lovely."

"I love you too, Shu-ger." Nari stood on his tiptoes to kiss his cheek, "I'm going to see all of them."

Now the only person left was Namjoon. The tall boy kneeled to Nari's level and gathered her in his arms. The girl could feel tears welling up in her eyes. This would be the first time she would be without him in almost 6 months.

"You know what they say, darling," Namjoon softly said, "Absence makes-"

"The heart grow fonder." Nari finished his sentence, "But not this heart. I want to be with you."

The boy chuckled, "I know, I know. But it'll be good for you to be with your mom. You get to go to school too. Remember to make lots of friends and always be true to yourself."

"But what about my nightmares?" Nari pulled away, "They haven't stopped, you know."

"I want you to talk to Hyo about them," Namjoon gently brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes, "She went through the same things as you, Nari. Your mom will understand better than we ever could, okay? And you can always call us too. We might not answer right away, but I promise we'll make time for you. That's what family does, darling." He tenderly kissed the girl's forehead, "Don't miss us too much, Nari. We'll be back before you know it."

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 i hope u guys like this one bc i like it a lot <3

i love jungkook's tattoos sm and i wish that he didn't have to cover them up so much :( also i hope that you guys are enjoying this arc of the story. i always get a little bit worried when i start to transition away from pure fluff into actual plot. if you have any advice or constructive criticism pls let me know!