(i'm so sorry i haven't updated in 46 years ahsdakjshd and i can't even say i brought you a worthy chapter because idk what this hot mess is. at least it's long-ish? i'm trying to get a feel for how i want this book to finish off, so please bear with the slight--multitude--cringe. enjoy, maybe, try?

and it's *unedited* so it's even more of a mess ashdhjds i'm such a flop)

✧･ﾟ: * twenty-seven *:･ﾟ✧

Madeline walks onto the campus with pursed lips, holding the map tightly in her hands. There's students everywhere; lounging in the grass, studying on benches, crowding the walkways. It's the first day of university, in a college she never thought she'd get accepted to. She supposes her sob story helped quite a bit, especially with the scholarship she was offered.

It's been a month since she's returned home, and she had no intention of starting school just yet, but her mother had put in an application months ago without her knowing. It was easy, since her mother has always needed all of Madeline's information before. Her mother had written the essay to get the scholarship, which Madeline assumes is illegal, or at least frowned upon. However, when Madeline got the acceptance letter and she immediately called to clear up confusion, the people were even more impressed that she had her sight now.

They practically begged her to come.

Madeline hadn't wanted to, honestly, but the opportunity was a dream come true. Students would kill to have a full ride in such a great college, which is why she decided not to take it for granted. She'd still given her mother a piece of her mind, though.

"But, honey, you've always wanted to go to school there," her mother had argued. "I was only trying to help."

It's true. Madeline has always admired this college, but she didn't want to use a sob story to get accepted. She wanted to be good enough to be accepted, not pitied. She doesn't want to be this person with this mind-boggling experience. She just wants to be Madeline.

And Madeline is certainly not bright enough to get accepted here on her own.

Regardless, here she is. Luckily, it's in the same town as she lives, so she doesn't have to worry about roommates, but she does have to deal with being the clueless new kid. She knows she isn't the only one in those shoes, but majority of the freshman are straight out of high school. Meanwhile, she's twenty and was homeschooled when she went blind.

This definitely is going to be a disaster.

She straightens her shoulders, settling to find the admissions office first to get her schedule. The map doesn't make any sense, so she barely uses it, relying on where most people are headed. First day of college typically means everyone would be headed to their schedules, right?

Here phone rings as she walks.

Automatically, she smiles. "Helloooo."

"Good morning to you," Taehyung replies. His English has improved beyond Madeline's comprehension, and his confidence in it has skyrocketed. "It's your first day, right?"

"Indeed. I'm here now," she tells him, then glances at the time on her phone. "You're supposed to be asleep, sir."

"I wanted to tell you good luck."

"I appreciate it. But your comeback is tomorrow, isn't it?"

Taehyung's voice drips with excitement. "Yes, it is! I cannot sleep anyways."

"You need to, though. I want to see you at your best on that stage," she teases, knowing he'll already perform as hard as he can for the fans.

"I wish you were here to see," he responds, disappointment hinting in his tone.

"One day," she promises.

He pouts on the other end. "It has to be soon."

She chuckles, then spots a booth where two administrative assisstants are listing off students for their schedule. Taehyung talks to her as she walks up, smiling kindly at the lady but focused intently on what Taehyung is trying to describe. He still gets his wording mixed up, of course, and his accent is still thick, but he could nearly call himself fluent.

If he didn't get therapist and veterinarian mixed up.

"My puppy was sick yesterday. I had to take him to the, uh, therapist."

She bites her lip to keep from laughing while the lady explains to her which buildings her main classes are in. She nods respectively, thanking her as she walks off.

"Veterinarian, babe," she murmurs, still holding a laugh in.

"Eh?"

"Not a therapist. A therapist is for people with problems, not pets."

"Oh, well it is same thing."

"No," she laughs. "It isn't."

The two talk for a few moments longer about his new puppy and how he's better now before she notices everyone else heading inside. She looks at her watch, sighing dreadfully. "I gotta go. Pray for me?"

"You don't need pray. I believe in you," he says, sounding completely sincere.

She exhales heavily. "I'll use that as motivation."

The two hang up, and she tucks her phone into her back pocket, hurrying to re-skim the map and her first class. She starts in one direction, then frowns and heads towards another. It isn't like a movie where someone feels bad and offers to help. No one else knows where they're going either.

She makes it in class with thirty seconds to spare, the professor walking in the moment she finds a seat in the back and plants her butt into it. It's a mandatory biology class, despite the fact that she's an English major.

She organizes her space, putting her phone face up on the desk, her notebook flipped open with a pen nearby. She's nervous, if she's honest. Homeschooling was a breeze; she knows college won't be as merciful considering her mother isn't her teacher, nor is her mentor when she was blind.

There's a girl sitting beside Madeline that lets out a small gasp when Madeline's phone lights up because of a text from her mom, wishing her a good day.

"You like BTS?" she asks, her eyes wide. "How do you even have that picture of V? I've never seen it before."

Well, he sent it to her, but she doubts the girl would believe that.

And V? It's odd hearing his stage name, albeit she knows that's what he's most popularly known as.

"So he's your bias, right?" she asks, fully engaged now as she turns to face Madeline in her seat. "I think Jungkook is mine. Sometimes Jimin, though. Rap Monster can—"

"RM," she says, utterly instinctual. "Namjoon prefers that."

The girl blinks at her. "Whoa, okay, so you're in super deep, then."

Madeline blushes, returning her attention to the professor who's rambling about the coursework and conduct of his class.

"I just found them, like, yesterday," the girl says with a quiet laugh. "K-pop is so trendy now, I couldn't avoid it."

Madeline purses her lips, hoping the girl will leave her alone, as rude as that sounds.

"But really, could you send me that picture? You're like that rare account that has secret photos and crap, aren't you?"

Well...

She does have pictures that Taehyung has never posted, but she doesn't intend on sharing them either. The selfies he sends to her, she'd like to keep them specifically for her, as selfish as that may be.

"Sure," she lies as the girl writes down her number. "I'll do it later."

She planned on that being a hint, but the girl doesn't take it."

"Hey, you should come to our K-pop club later this afternoon. We just got into doing dance covers, even though they aren't very good."

Madeline fakes a smile, shrugging. "I'll think about it."

"Personally, I'm more of a GOT7 fan. Now I have never before seen pictures of them."

Madeline gives the girl a look, but doesn't question her.

"My name is—"

"Miss Dickens, my apologies for interrupting your gossip sesh," the professor says in a mocking way, using a teenager voice. "How about you save your voice for our discussion later, yes? Thank you."

The girl scowls at the professor, but goes quiet.

She's obviously well known for her blabbering.

Madeline hurries out of the class in hopes of losing the girl, simply so she won't be peer-pressured into this club, but she isn't so lucky. At the end of the day, "Miss Dickens" appears again, a bright smile on her face as she waves. Then Madeline feels guilty, and decides she owes it to the girl to be more decent.

"Hey! I never got to tell you my name. I'm Sage."

"Madeline, but Maddie is fine."

"Nice to meet you, Maddie. Anyways, did you want to come by the club? You don't have to stay, but maybe give it a chance? We need more members."

Feeling guilt-tripped, Madeline gives her best smile. "Sure, I'll pass through."

The grin on Sage's face makes Madeline slightly relieved. "Really? Yay! So do you like to dance? Sing? Is BTS your only bias group? How do you feel about girl groups? What if—?"

"Wow, okay, I didn't know it was an interview," Madeline half jokes, raising her eyebrows.

The girl's cheeks flush. "My bad. I get too excited. We can talk about all of that later. Let's go!"

And Madeline can't believe what she's gotten into.

The club is outside, but the moment she gets close, she hears Twice blaring through a boy's speaker. He seems to be taking the role of a choreographer, instructing a group of about five that, "No, no! It's 'seollena me likey,' like this!"

Madeline checks the time on her phone.

Three hours until the comeback recording.

She has to be home by then.

"Tony!" Sage shouts, still smiling from ear-to-ear. "I brought someone who might be interested. She's into BTS."

Tony hums, giving Madeline a head-to-toe look that makes Madeline squirm like she's being interrogated. "Really? Are you a bandwagon fan?"

"No," Madeline replies, slightly confused.

"Show him your lockscreen," Sage whispers, elbowing Madeleine gently.

Uncertain, Madeline holds up her phone, exchanging looks with both of them.

Tony's eyes widen slightly. "Is that the heavenly god Kim Taehyung with a headband? How did you get this picture?"

Madeline, a bit annoyed now with their obsession over her lockscreen picture, huffs, throwing her hands up. "He's my boyfriend."

"Oh, girl, me too," Tony says, shaking his head. "Trying to stay loyal is hard."

"Loyal?" Madeline blinks.

"You don't know K-pop slang but you're into a K-pop group?" Tony scoffs at her. "Honey, you need some lessons. Sit."

Startled by the command, she instantly does as she's told, confused with her own actions and this Tony person. She can't quite tell if she likes him or not.

Everyone else sits too as Tony yells, "Pop quiz, everyone! First question. Easiest of them all. What's a bias?"

A girl raises her hand, answering proudly, "A member in the group you feel connected to most."

"What's a bias wrecker?"

The same girl says, "The asshole that won't let you be connected to said member, thus making you be unloyal and switch lanes."

Madeline inhales a breath. She didn't realize a genre of music could be taken so... seriously. She understands now how it could be impossible to get out.

"So," Tony looks at her after a few more questions. "If Taehyung is your bias, who's your bias wrecker?"

Madeline looks around as if someone can help her out of this situation. "Um... I don't have one?"

"Lies!" Tony proclaims. "One simply cannot stan BTS without being unloyal to their bias. What other member just steals your attention, makes your eyes pop and your heart race?"

Madeline feels so pressured. "I-I don't have one."

Tony squints at her, suspicious. "A true stan has a bias wrecker, which inevitable is OT7."

"OT7?" she questions.

He ignores her. "If Taehyung didn't exist in BTS, which member would you let pin you to a wall?"

Madeline's lips part. "W-what?"

Sage giggles, but says, "Tony, you can't talk to strangers that way."

"An ARMY would have no problem saying Jimin could slam them down on a bed."

Madeline's eyes bulge. She already knew she was too innocent for her age, but is she really that innocent? Her cheeks are hot. She wonders how the boys would feel if they heard someone talk about them like this. Taehyung can definitely be flirty and suggestive, but not quite to that extent.

"Okay, fine." Tony rolls his eyes. "What member would you guiltily watch their aegyo instead of your bias?"

Madeline knows what aegyo is—Taehyung has given her plenty of examples that have made her melt—but she still can't say any member is a "bias," as opposed to her boyfriend. So, simply to get the attention away from her, she names the only member she's talked to, and the only one who knows about her.

"Namjoon," she murmurs, unable to look Tony in the eye with how passionate he is about all of this.

"An impressive choice," Tony says approvingly. "Certainly not picked enough. And you used his real name, which debunks my suspicions of you being a bandwagon fan. Well done. You may join our club."

Well now she's fucking petrified to.

Tony seems very... corruptive.

Mentally.

"Next question," Tony says. "Do you know any group dances?"

Her cheeks tint pink again. "Almost all of BTS," she admits sheepishly. She's rewatched their performances one too many times. "Some BlackPink... a little of a lot of groups."

Tony is grinning. "Finally. A prodigy pupil."

And Madeline can't quite believes that she spends the rest of the evening learning K-pop dances with a filthy-minded yet actually very kind fanboy.

***

In the dressing room preparing for their comeback, Taehyung gets caught. He was in the midst of going through his camera roll, to clean it up and to—as pathetic as it sounds―see Maddie's face. He has the picture of her on the gondola, her eyes peacefully closed with her hair gently blowing, as his home screen considering anyone could see his lockscreen. It's still his favorite picture of her.

He hadn't noticed, though, that Jimin was behind him. "Ya!" Jimin shouts, scaring Taehyung into jumping two inches out the seat. "Who was that?"

Taehyung, instinctively, locks his screen and turns around. "Don't yell like that!" he scolds, slapping the elder in the arm.

Jimin is letting it go, quirking a brow. "Did you save pictures of Jiwon again?"

Taehyung blushes. That was before he met and became close friends with her. "No. Mind your own business."

"What's going on?" Hobi asks curiously, getting out of his stylist's chair and walking over.

"Nothing." Taehyung groans, slouching in his chair. "Jimin-hyung is being a snoop."

"Who's a snoop?" Jin asks, appearing next.

Taehyung rubs his forehead, knowing the other three are close behind.

"What snoop?" There's Jungkook.

"Who would want to snoop through Taehyung's things?" Yoongi.

"We promised not to snoop through each other's things, guys." Namjoon.

"If someone says 'snoops' one more time..." Taehyung groans again, shaking his head. "We should be rehearsing right? Let's go do that."

Taehyung stands, but now all six of them are facing him, suspicion on each of their faces, apart from Namjoon, who already knows.

Taehyung's shoulders deflate. "You guys aren't going to force me to tell you, aren't you?"

"We won't force you," Yoongi says. "We'll harshly persuade you."

"You've been acting different," Jin remarks. "We've all talked about it. You never used to be so secretive over your phone, and you've never gone to bed two hours early before. Every night, it's like a rush for you to leave the dining room."

The way Jin sounds hurt, Taehyung frowns. "I-I don't mean for it to seem that way."

Namjoon sighs. "You should tell them, Taehyung. I told you prolonging it wouldn't make a difference."

Taehyung's frown deepens at the lack of support from Namjoon, but Hobi interrupts the exchange. "Tell us what?"

"Yeah, what are you prolonging?" Jimin queries.

And now all of them look hurt and offended that Taehyung is keeping something from them.

Taehyung purses his lips, looking to his toes. He's twiddling his thumbs like a child who got caught doing something wrong would. "Well... You see..."

"Taehyung has a girlfriend," Namjoon blurts, shrugging when Taehyung's bulging eyes meet his.

"Hyung!" he shouts, his anxiety spiking.

"Like a bandaid, right?" Namjoon smirk a little. "Quick and... almost painless."

"A girlfriend?" Jungkook murmurs, as if he's never heard the word before. "But how? When? Where? Who?"

Taehyung wrings his hands together, unable to meet any of their eyes. "W-when I was on break. I... met someone. She's American, but she's so nice and gentle and—"

"American?" Jin ponders. "So that's why you listen to English lessons in the shower now?"

Taehyung blushes.

"Why did Namjoon know about it?" Hobi asks with a frown. "Why didn't you tell all of us?"

"I was scared," Taehyung mutters. "I didn't want any of you to think that I wasn't going to put as much effort in the group."

"None of us would've thought that," Yoongi scoffs, shaking his head. "Dimwit."

"What Yoongi-hyung means," Namjoon says with a point look, "is that you underestimated them, Tae."

Taehyung looks to the floor in shame.

"I've spoken to her a few times," Namjoon adds. "I can confirm that she's a really good fit for Taehyung. She passed my test."

Jin makes a weird noise in his throat, putting his hands on his hips. "Well, she's gotta pass mine, too!"

"What does she look like?" Jimin asks, already leaning over Taehyung's shoulder.

"Does she speak Korean?" Jungkook questions.

"She's learning," Taehyung tells him, hesitantly pulling out his phone to get a picture. He doesn't know why he's blushing or why he's so nervous. Like any of them will judge her crudely. Like she's Taehyung's secret fiance. "I have an album of all the pictures I took during my trip. You'll find some in there."

The boys fight over who gets to hold the phone, then all of them are peering over each other's shoulders, pushing each other aside.

Namjoon stands beside Taehyung and grins. "See? Like toddles. Easy-peasy."

Taehyung puckers his lips in a pout. "They better not be this way when they meet her in person."

"They'll be worse," Namjoon assures. "But that's a good thing."

Taehyung blinks at him, but decides not to question it. After all, he's trusted his leader since day one, and it's gotten him this far.

Something tells him he shouldn't doubt the hyung now.