Prologue - Bulletproof

Before debut...

"I'm nervous," I say to my best friend, not knowing how Taehyung will react.

"It's fine," my best friend, Ha Yoon, says, being chirpy, as usual.

I smile, despite the panicky feeling in my stomach.

The smile disappears once Ha Yoon drives up to the huge building.

BigHit Entertainment is labeled on it in huge letters, and I won't lie, I am a little intimidated by it.

"It's going to be fine," Ha Yoon says again when she sees how the color was drained from my face.

I force a smile and Ha Yoon parks her car. I step out, the high heels that I had been forced to wear making sharp sounds on the pavement.

"These were not your greatest idea," I say, grimacing as the heel twists and my ankle bends.

"Yeah," Ha Yoon stifles a laugh and helps me walk to the door.

"I'm going to take these off once I get into the studio," I say, pain written all over my face.

That's when Ha Yoon bursts out laughing.

"It's not funny!" I say, fake glaring at her.

"I'm sorry!" she says, and tries to stop laughing.

I roll my eyes as we approach the door.

"You're getting used to it, so I'm gonna leave right now," she says as she lets go of my hand.

"Bye!" I say as I turn around.

She waves at me and gives me a thumbs up.

I give her a heart sign with my thumb and index fingers.

She laughs and shoos me into the building.

Almost as soon as I open the door, I can hear fighting going on inside.

I quickly close the door behind me and walk over to the help desk.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" the man behind it asks me, not once looking directly at me.

"I am looking for room" - I look down at the card I was holding in my hand - "412?"

"Oh," and he looks at me. "You're the new camera member, right?"

When I nod, he smiles and stands up, offering out his hand.

"It's such an honor to have you working for them," and he shows a bright smile as I shake his hand.

"Thank you, but I'm not nearly as special as they'll be," I laugh, the nervousness I had been feeling slowly dissipating.

"The room is located on floor 7, take a direct left and you'll see it." the man says, sitting back down.

"Thank you," I bow and walk over to the elevator.

A couple of boys are near it, continuously pressing the button.

"You're going to break it," I say as I approach them.

"I think it's already broken," a boy with a ridiculous haircut says. The sides are shaved, and the middle strip sticks up like a mohawk.

"Fun," I say sarcastically, inwardly groaning because 7 floors is a long way to walk with heels.

"Even funner for you," says another boy with black hair covering one of his eyes.

I look down at my feet and glare at the floor.

"Yeah, fun," I say again, this time my voice dripping with sarcasm.

Another boy continues pressing the button, ignoring the others. I can tell he is very angry at it because every time he presses the button, it gets a little more aggressive.

"Easy," the boy with the weird haircut says.

The aggressive guy rolls his eyes and continues pressing the button, this time VERY aggressively.

"Yoongi, calm down," Black Hair says.

Yoongi ignores him.

Weird Hair eventually has to pry him away from the elevator door and we all walk over to the staircase.

I walk over to the help desk and tell the man there that the elevator wasn't working.

"Oh, so sorry, I'll call the repairmen right away," and he rushes away from the desk, leaving me with Yoongi and his friends.

Weird Hair is the one to introduce himself.

"I'm Kim Namjoon," he says, holding out his hand for me to shake. I take it and bow my head in greeting.

"I'm -" I stutter, not knowing what name to use.

When my father killed himself, my mother had wanted to name me Mei, after his mother. Lin was her maiden name, so it became my middle name. Our last name was Jeong, so my full name was Mei Lin Jeong.

We had moved to America to be with my father, which was why my name was like that when I was born. When my father was found dead in his apartment, we moved back to South Korea, where I was made fun of because of my name. The name I thought was my real name.

My mother would always find me crying in my room because of the people who had treated me awful and eventually said that Mei Lin was just a name that she called me to remember my father. Hwa Young apparently is my actual name (the one she wrote down on the birth certificate sheet), and she told me to tell everyone that I knew that I had a real Korean name.

But when I stutter, he winks at me.

I become flustered and feel my face heating up.

"Sorry, but are you one of those who changed their name a couple of days ago to impress us?"

I am completely taken aback by his question and shake my head quickly.

"Oh," he says apologetically, "I thought you were."

"My mother calls me Mei Lin, but my real name is technically Hwa Young," I say, to clear things up.

"Lin-Lin?" Black Hair asks.

I smile at the cute nickname he's already given me, and he smiles back.

I admit, Black Hair is certainly handsome, as are Yoongi and Namjoon, but I keep it to myself.

"What room are you going to?" I finally manage to ask.

"Room -" Black Hair is cut off by Namjoon.

"412."

I almost gasp when I finally realize I'm standing in front of BTS (pre-debut).

I immediately bow in front of them and straighten up to find Yoongi smirking, and Black Hair looking at me weirdly.

"I'm sorry," I apologize awkwardly. "I'm part of the camera crew."

"Really?" Black Hair asks, looking me up and down as if I'm an idol.

"Yeah," I shift on my feet, my heels hurting.

"You look a little young," he says honestly, and Namjoon hits him on his arm.

"Ow, that hurt!" he says playfully and rubs his arm.

"I graduated when I was thirteen," I say, shrugging. The comment didn't bother me that much, I'm glad he thought I'm young.

"And you're - how old?" Yoongi asks, looking me up and down just like Black Hair.

"15."

Yoongi whistles.

"Doesn't it take a few years to get your master's in photography?" Black Hair asks.

"Yeah, but I was taking my first year when I was twelve, and when I graduated, I was already done with my second."

Now it's Black Hair's turn to whistle.

I blush and breathe out a sigh of relief when I see the stairs.

As we walk up, Black Hair starts a conversation.

"I'm Jimin, by the way."

I look over at Black Hair - no - Jimin with a look that reads Cool-But-Did-I-Ask?

He smiles and then asks me, "So how many more years until you finish college?"

"About two more years. I'm in the advanced level, so I learn things at a faster pace."

Jimin nods. "Cool," is all he says.

I smile and continue climbing the stairs.

"Yoongi and I are gonna speed up, don't wanna be late, but you two take your time," Namjoon says suddenly.

I nod and slowly reach floor 4.

We both walk in silence and finally reach floor 7.

When my foot finds the top of the step, I put all of my weight on it confidently.

That's when I made a mistake.

The heel wasn't on fully and I fall backwards.

As my eyes widen in horror and I feel myself fall, I feel arms grab onto my waist, wrapping around it securely.

"Jimin-ah," I say softly as I see his face peering down at me.

He smiles and pushes me up so that I can stand correctly.

"Thank you."

He nods, but I can see the blush spread across his face as he runs a hand through his hair.

We make it to room 412 just in time.

The director isn't there yet, so I take a seat and take off my awful high-heeled shoes.

"Hurt much?" a deep voice above me asks as I massage my poor feet.

"Yeah," I say before I realize who it is.

As I look up, I see Taehyung standing over me, smiling down at me.

"Tae!" I cry and hurriedly jump up, giving him a quick hug.

Taehyung laughs and returns the hug before letting me go.

I drop my hands back to my sides and feel a soft feeling underneath my feet.

"The carpet is soft," I say as I see I didn't put my shoes back on.

"Yeah, that's what Jin said," Taehyung says.

"Jin?" I ask quizzically.

"Oh, that's right!" Taehyung facepalms. "You haven't met the other members!" He takes my hand and leads me to where the seven figures are.

I immediately recognize Yoongi, Namjoon, and Jimin from earlier, and I wave.

Namjoon is the only one who waves back, but Jimin smiles at me.

Yoongi just stares at me, glaring slightly.

"Meet the members, Mei," Taehyung says, gesturing to them with a hand.

"Hi!" I say energetically, smiling at them all.

"Hi!" a taller guy says, smiling back at me. He, too, has black hair, but is also wearing eyeliner.

"I'm Jeon Jungkook," another boy says. He looks only a few months older than me, and very handsome. I smile and bow my head slightly.

"Kim Seokjin," Eyeliner says.

"Jung Hoseok," another boy says. He's only a few inches taller than me, but I can tell he's way older than me.

"And I'm Kim Taehyung," Taehyung says as he mockingly bows formerly before me.

I giggle and smile at them all.

"It's so nice to meet you all," I say finally, "I'm Hwa Young, but you can call me Mei Lin."

Seokjin looks at me quizzically but eventually turns to talk to Jungkook, who can't take his eyes off of me as I talk to Taehyung.

"I didn't know you were going to be filming us," he says.

I can't keep the smile from appearing on my face and nod. "I wanted to surprise you."

"Well, it worked." Taehyung laughs.

I smile and then feel a tap on my shoulder.

I turn around to find Hoseok looking at me with a burning intense stare.

"Uhm - hi," I say, smile wiped off my face.

His brow furrows as he looks at me.

"You're pretty," he says plainly.

My cheeks turn pink. "Uhm - thanks, I guess."

"Knowing Hoseok, it's a compliment," Seokjin perks up, walking up behind him. "And he's not wrong," he adds.

The blush spreads and I smile.

"Jungkook is gonna like you," Hoseok says, and then turns to leave.

I look at Jungkook, who is now talking to Jimin. Seeing the two cute boys talking to each other sets my heart aflutter, but I push the feeling down when I feel Taehyung's hand on my shoulder.

"You should probably put your shoes back on," he says, and he gives my shoulder a squeeze.

As I turn around to face him, I notice something.

"You dyed your hair?!" I gasp as I see his now brown-ish hair.

I quickly pull out my phone, check my photos, find Taehyung's original hair color and hold it up to compare.

"Yeah," Taehyung says sheepishly.

I playfully smack him on his head.

"Dying your hair kills it!" I scold him.

"I know," he replies, rubbing his head where I had hit him.

The other members are now all watching us.

"That's what his hair color was before?" Seokjin asks as he walks over.

"Yeah," I say, swiping through my photos of us together.

It stops on a picture of him giving a peace sign to the camera with a goofy expression on his face. I'm standing next to him, beaming an extra big smile.

Seokjin starts laughing and I quickly put my phone back in my pocket.

Taehyung covers his face with his hands as Seokjin impersonates Taehyung in the photo to the other members.

Soon everyone is laughing except Taehyung and I.

"Fun," he whispers under his breath and takes a seat in a nearby chair.

I grab my shoes and sit down next to him.

"Sorry," I say as I put my shoes on quickly.

"It's fine," he chuckles quietly.

I smile, but it vanishes when the director walks in.

"We should begin," he says as he sits at an official-looking desk. "I expect that you have met the boys?"

I nod and stand up, thankfully used to the heels by now.

He nods back and motions me over.

I walk over and clear my throat before saying, "Sir?"

"You're V's old friend, so we all thank you for joining us, but we understand why you came."

"I'm sorry - who?" I ask, totally lost.

"Me," Taehyung says, walking up behind me.

"Oh, right." I frown, slightly less confused.

The director clears his throat and places a pair of keys on the table.

"Since this was the only way to actually pay you until you become of age, here."

I take the keys and bow my head, thanking him over and over again.

He turns back to look at the papers on his desk and finally ends the conversation with; "The address is on the tag."

I walk out of the room without another thought but am stopped before I can walk down the stairs by a hand in mine.

"What's the address," a voice asks me.

I turn around and find all of the boys looking at me, but Taehyung holding my hand.

He looks so innocent with his wide puppy eyes and messed-up hair.

I almost melt, but I don't. Instead, I shake off his hand and let him take a quick glance at the key before taking off my shoes, putting them both in one hand, and start running down the stairs quickly.

It becomes a game quickly, and I hear Taehyung yell, "You two, take the elevator to ground level," before thunderous steps follow me as soon as I hit floor 6.

I giggle as I run down the steps, skipping a few at a time.

As I reach floor 5, I can hear the footsteps catching up to me.

I giggle again and this time skip about 4 steps at a time.

This makes me go down the levels quicker, and I can barely hear the footsteps as I reach floor 2.

Once I make it to ground level, I see another set of stairs leading to the basement.

"Car garage."

Bingo.

I head down the steps and open the door at the bottom.

Just as I had guessed, the car garage is down there, and I pull out my phone quickly texting Ha Yoon "Car garage".

She responds quickly with "Ok".

About twenty seconds later, I see her car pull up in front of me.

"Get in," she says sternly and opens the passenger side.

"Thanks," I breathe as I get in.

"You're welcome," she says and looks at me.

"What?" I ask, buckling up.

"Why here?" she asks, gesturing to the garage.

"Taehyung."

She smiles at me and then I hear a door bang open and Jimin standing there, breathless.

"Go!" I laugh as I shut the car door closed.

"He's cute," she says, leaning over the wheel, not starting her car up again.

"Ha Yoon!" I giggle as she steals the words in my mind.

In truth, he's very cute with his hair sticking to his forehead with sweat, and his eyes seeming to pierce my soul.

Taehyung steps out from behind him and mouths, "Text me," before Ha Yoon finally presses the gas pedal and drives me out of BigHit.

A few hours later... that same day...

"A few more..." I mutter, looking at the buildings. They're all fancy, but I'm looking for a certain number.

"Why 122?" I grumble, seeing 121, but no 122.

"It's down the hall," a voice behind me says.

I turn around and see Taehyung standing there.

"Tae!" I stand still, shocked.

"You live here too?" he asks.

"Now I do," I say, holding up the keys and making them jangle.

It's 12:22 now, at night. Technically, in the morning, but it's dark outside, a new day.

I'm tired, and I can tell Taehyung is too.

"Late night?" I ask, trying to keep a conversation.

"Yeah," he says, rubbing a hand over his face, then rubbing his eyes.

"Where's my room, again?" I ask, totally forgetting where he had told me it was.

"Down the hall. Here, I'll show you."

He leads me down the hall and points to a door labeled "122".

"Thanks," I let out a sigh, "you're a lifesaver."

Taehyung smiles at me as I unlock the door.

The apartment is huge, bigger than my old house.

"Wow," I breathe as I take it all in.

"Yeah, it's a little intimidating at first," Taehyung says, and I remember that he now knows where I live.

"Where are you guys staying?" I ask, suddenly curious.

"121."

I smile and turn around to see my luggage lying on my bed.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yup."

And just like that, he's gone.

I lie down on my bed, not even bothering to take off my clothes, and dream peacefully.