Starting Over •JJK• ✔️

Nine

Music was softly echoing through the hallway as I walked towards the door. I froze when my hand wrapped around the door handle, hearing his voice. I closed my eyes and listened for a few seconds as he finished his verse. His voice had the power to make every ounce of stress vanish.

I peeked into the large room before stepping inside. The boys were all perched on bar stools as they sang, working out some vocal arrangements. I made my way over to the couch in the corner and took a seat, curling my legs underneath me.

I love watching them practice. They told me that I was always welcome to come down here, something that I didn't do as often now as I used to. I'll have to remedy that. I forgot how much I loved to just sit and be a silent spectator while they worked.

I scanned back and forth between the seven of them as they sang and settled on JK as he finished out the song. His eyes were closed in concentration, hitting every note perfectly. Goosebumps appeared on my arms.

They all smiled and stood as I gave them a small round of applause. They set their microphones down on the stools and quietly discussed a few things amongst themselves before everyone, minus Joon and Jimin, headed in my direction. Hobi joined me on the couch to my left and JK to my right with the other three sitting on the floor in front of me.

"What? No laptop?" Yoongi smirked and leaned back against his hands. He stretched his legs out, crossing his ankles. "I'm shocked that we were able to peel you away from your work for five minutes."

I glared at him and Jin laughed. "She's seriously going to clock you one of these days and none of us are going to stop her."

I glanced over when I saw Joon approaching. The top of Jimin's hair was peeking over his shoulder as he walked behind him. Everyone else turned to look at them when my attention was diverted and they all smiled.

Jimin stepped to the side to fully reveal himself. He had a cake in his hands.

My confusion was probably written all over my face. Neither of the boys were having a birthday. It wasn't my birthday, either. So what were we celebrating?

My silent question was answered when seven voices suddenly exclaimed "happy anniversary!" all around me. But I was still confused. "Wait, what? What's the date today? I thought my 1-year with the company was three days ago."

"It was." JK rested his arm around my shoulders as he spoke. "But today is the anniversary of the first time we met you."

I looked down at the cake as Jimin handed it to me. The frosting was white with purple icing piped around the edges. A small purple candy heart sat in the center on top. It was such a simple gesture but it meant so much. Hobi gave me a quick peck on the side of my head as I looked around at all of them. Tears were welling in my eyes and my voice was quiet. "Thank you."

Tae reached forward to take the cake from me and Jimin came over with his bright smile. "Don't cry!" He wiped my cheeks with the long sleeves of his shirt. "Come sit down here with us so we can celebrate."

Hobi, JK, and I slid onto the floor with the other boys and we all sat in a circle around the cake. Joon handed each of us a fork and we dug into it. They even got my favorite marble cake.

I looked around at each of their faces. "Can I ask a question?"

"No."

Yoongi laughed and recoiled when I lunged at him and smacked his leg.

"Anyway, I'm just curious." I took another bite of cake as I contemplated how to word my question. "Of all people, why me? So many amazing people work here and I know that you have great relationships with a lot of them, but I feel like we all have a different bond together."

Joon spoke up. "I think it's because you came into this a little blind. You knew who we were but didn't know a whole lot about us individually."

Hobi nodded. "We got to learn more about you as you learned more about us. You have something in common with each of us and I think that's what made us comfortable with you right away."

I shrugged. "I came here with a job to do. I guess I just never anticipated it being like this." I looked over at Jin with a smirk. "At least you finally stopped calling me Maggie after a full month of knowing you."

"Hey! At least I was close!" Jin stuck his tongue out at me. It was tinted purple from the frosting.

JK nudged my shoulder with his. I turned to look at him and his familiar gentle, smiling eyes were looking right into mine when he spoke. "I don't think any of us anticipated it being like this."