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I'm in a bakery.
The air is alight with a warm fragrance of chocolate and cinnamon and spices, notes of vanilla floating through. Wide windows let in radiant sunlight that caresses each curve, edge, and dip in the simple room.
Honey-golden wood floors and rustic, light tables fill the space with airiness and openness.
A long glass bar showcases freshly basked muffins, cinnamon rolls, and a tray of chocolate chip cookies.
I inhale deeply through my nose, reveling in the ambiance.
A cheerful voice pulls my attention to the doorway to the kitchen.
In it stands a man in a soft, creamy sweater, whose smile makes a calm, peaceful feeling settle in my chest.
"Hi, Namhyuk!" you breathe, staring at the tray of sweet rolls he's cradling to his chest.
His dimples make an appearance as he motions back to the doorway through which he came.
"We've been waiting for you," Namhyuk says sweetly."Jin made your favorite brownies. Everyone's in the back."
I nod and namhyuk whisks the tray off to the counter to put the sweet rolls inside.
Meanwhile, I wander through the door into the back, peeking my head around the frame.
Within is an elegant man in an apron, stirring a bowl of dough with a wooden spoon in the midst of a homey kitchen. He's splattered with flour, his rosebud lips pursed in a slight smile.
Behind him at a round table sit two more men, chattering with each and other and with the cooks.
They're all dressed in shades of white and cream and eggshell, the slightest glow gracing their skin to the point that I have to almost squint when you look at them.
The way the two at the table speak to each other reminds me of a pair of close siblings.
"Jin" I murmur absently "Kyo, Kenma".
The three look up from their playful banter, each gifting you with a bright smile.
"HIKARI!!!!" Kyo cheers. He pops up from the table and embraces you for a moment, then motions back to the table "You're here! Look, these are for you and your..." he trails off, shooting a sly grin at kenma and wiggling his eyebrows "...your man."
your man? my man?
My peering gaze of confusion doesn't register with the men as they all laughing at Kyo's statement.
Kenma passes off a plate of thick, chocolate-studded brownies in my hands.
"Peanut-butter chocolate chip" chirps Jin "These are your favorite. Eat them all or I'll stuff them down your throat."
okayyyyyyyy
I break off an edge of one and pop into my mouth, gasping at the vivid tumult of flavors that cascades across the surface of my tongue. My shocked expression prompts another round of laughter from the men in the kitchen.
"That face gets me every time," Kenma giggles "You always look the same when you eat Jin's brownies."
Always? Something about this whole situation is off, but I can't put a finger on why....,
The kitchen door swings open to admit a sweet baby face with the nose lifted into the air, like a hunting dog on point.
"Brownies?" Yuki questions eagerly. "I smelled brownies." and when he smiles, I have to blink in surprise to make sure that adorable gummy grin is real.
"Those aren't for you!" says the oldest "Get out, you Vermin!"
Yuki groans and persistently tries to reach around his elder, his long, pale fingers grasping for the plate in my hand.
"I'll die without them," groans the man dramatically "Hikari, do you want me to die?"
"Hobi!!" Jin yells as he simultaneously runs interference. He's swatting Yuki's hands with weak blows, mainly using his tall body as a shield between the smaller man and the plate.
Like a knight prepared to slay a dragon, the lean hobi comes roaring into the kitchen at his friend's call.
"protect" jin shouts, pointing at you and the brownies.
Hobi performs a tiny military salute and then takes the brownies in his hand, throwing me over his shoulder in one smooth movement.
I let out a tiny oof! when all of the air is forced out of my lungs at the impact.
"I needed to find you anyways," Hobi says his voice jumping up and down in pitch as he runs.
Once I make it out of the door and into the front gate, his footsteps slow down."He asked me to come and find you.:
He?
"This feels so weird," you mumble to yourself. It's not normal.
This isn't normal.
Why am I letting these men lug me around wherever they want?
My mind is foggy and vague. How did I get here again?
Hobi carries me through another staff door, into a small room that's equipped with a table, refrigerator, and a microwave. It looks like a break room of some sort.
At the table sits another man.
His black eyes are trained down on a sheet of paper, fingers clasped lightly around a mechanical pencil.
His full lower lip is trapped by his white teeth, nibbling as he concentrates.
When Hobi lets me down on the floor, my feet thunking to the floor, the man looks up.
And when his gaze clashes with mine, all of the breath is knocked out my chest, like someone just sucker punched me in the lungs.
"Taehyung" I breathe.He tilts his head, watching you with haunting doe eyes the color of the deepest space, the darkest storm."Hey, princess!" he saysHis voice rumbles through my chest like a bolt of thunder, the name sending waves of warmth screaming through me. Without my consent, my body drops into the chair across the table from him.Hobi sets the brownies on the table and slips out the door, leaving me and Taehyung me alone.said ebony-haired man drops his pencil and stretches his arms over his head, yawning."Mm, you brought me brownies!" he groans reaching for the plate. He takes one and chomps a big bite out of it, chewing happily all the while as I work to process what's going on?parallel universe?new life?did I die in a car crash?I DON'T UNDERSTAND."here'' mumbles Taehyung through a mouth
I rang the bell as I stood at the doorstep of The Orions's manor-like-building!I heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door from behind with a twist of the doorknob Someone opened the door "well, well, well" said a soft voice abruptly "look who decided to show up!" I saw Kyo standing in the doorway his eyes making their inspection of me."Hey HIKARI!!!" Jin says with a cute smile, lingering in the open doorway. His tone is that of an old friend that I haven't seen in ages.I bow my head slightly to greet them while kyo tugs on my arm and drags me inside."Woah!" I gasp at the sudden action "Hi there!!" I say as I'm still being pulled by kyo."Hey Hikari!!!!" kyo replies as he finally stops dragging me.Jin sees my hesitation and laughs. The motion stretches his beautiful lips thin, flashing a toothpaste-commercial-worthy smile."It's okay, make yourself comfortable! The other members will be here no time, her
"No no, it's not going to be a problem for me at all, besides it's you guys that need to be careful"I said cheerfully but the guys took the statement in the wrong way and started giggling and smirking, they thought I meant that they should be careful not to fall for me!"oh no no no! you got the wrong idea probably" I giggled hesitantly while kenma shifted his position to placing his elbows on his legs and leaning towards me a little."So what did you mean by what you said then?" my eyes widened at how close he was to me and I gulped and smiled."Going in a relationship with someone else might affect your career, so you need to be careful with that." I tried to explain and everyone went "oooooh" after listening to my comment."Okay so do you know what all you have to do?!" Kenma asked while re-entering the room followed by Taehyung and both of them sat on the sofa, beside me. I almost stiffened up, engulfed between two towering muscular m
I woke up as the rays of the radiant sun hit me in the eye, crawling past the curtains of my room. I sat up straight in my bed and rubbed my eyes, stretching out my arms, and then turned around to check the time, "HOW THE HELL!" I yelled out loud as I saw that it was noon. I was supposed to wake up at 5 and wake them at 6, I've messed up things on my first day, Great! I clapped my hands sarcastically for myself before I quickly got up from my bed, washed up, and wore a red t-shirt with black shorts along with a ponytail and ran downstairs, and while in a hurry I accidentally missed the last two steps of the staircase and fell all the way down.All the members were already up and were doing their respective works. The noise caused due to my abrupt fall had caused everyone to move their attention to me. I got up instantly rubbing my back and walked towards them, bowing down to apologize."Looks like you forgot at what time you had to wake up huh
I fixed my gaze at Taehyung as he got up from the floor where he was resting and began walking towards me, with his hands stuffed in his grey sweatpants and I gulped as the distance between us seemed to diminish by every second passing. I looked up at him as he stopped inches before me, I could feel the warmth radiating off his body. He slowly lowered himself and brought his face closer to my ear, I shivered unconsciously as his fingers touched my right arm. He brought his face so close to my ear that I could feel his lips touching my ear. "Get us some juice, would you?" he spoke in a low raspy voice, I could feel him smirking against my ear and I bit my lip and nodded before rushing out the door swiftly. (KENMA'S POV) "ahhh...isn't she cute?" I spoke out my thoughts and sighed as I thought of her small fragile form "I agree, plus she's hot, isn't she?" k
"So Hikari, all of us decided to know you better, like go out with you one on one and have discussions with you about yourself and all. And wanted to know if that's fine with you?" Namhyuk asked me with a serious look on his face.'If that's fine with me? seriously? how can I even say no!!! This is on point my dream come true, them implying and intending on spending more time with me' I thought to myself and then answered back thoughtfully"Yeah, sure that's absolutely fine with me. You have the right to know about me as much as I know about you guys!" I smiled and showed a thumbs up in agreement with their thoughts. I could hear a few of them controlling their chuckles and I had NO idea as to what they found funny."So you'll go out with each of us individually. We're going to go in ascending order, starting with Kenma." Jin said with a slight annoyance on his face while KENMA seemed happy?"So come to my room later this night. We'll ta
WHAT?!Before I could get a hold of the person he vanished into thin air as if he wasn't even here. I blindly waved my hands in the air, in the darkness. I truly was afraid of a million things, one of which is the dark. I didn't quite share very fond memories of the darkness.Suddenly the lights were back on. Everyone came rushing towards me to check on me as I yelled as loud as I could. My yelling caused everyone to be worried over me, which was kind of sweet, to be honest, I've never really had this kind of affection in a long time."Yah! are you afraid of the dark?" Yuki asked with great concern."I mean yes! obviously? who isn't afraid of the dark?" I said in a panic, still trying to figure out who was it, the one earlier who was talking to me. Honestly, it sounded like Taehyung, I glanced at him and he smiled genuinely, which made me re-consider my doubts."We're not? I mean it's not something to be afraid of. It's in the dark
"So first of all we need to ensure that we go someplace where there won't be any risk of me getting seen with you." Kenma looked at me with his doe-like eyes as he spoke and I nodded in agreement to his words. "That's right! but I don't think there's any place nearby where we wouldn't get noticed and-" I was interrupted by the sound of the door being opened, both of us turned around to see Taehyung walking in and towards where we were, he wasn't looking up as he walked. "HEY, kenma do you have-" his eyes landed on me as he walked into the room. There was always something about the way he looked at me, his eyes conveyed so much more than words can. They're a vast galaxy of emotions, with stars that shine brighter than Alpha Centauri, his eyes are illusory. I suppress a smile. He clearly didn't convey a happy vibe towards me in the moment. "Hey Hikari, what are you doing in his room? aren't you supposed to be asleep?" Taehyung asked me t